….awwwwww!

She was the sweetest.  And she’s asleep in this one as a testament to the hours (upon hours) it took us to get her there…

Who the heck ever came up with the phrase “sleeping like a baby” anyhow?  Highly over-rated phrase.

More soon, but for now I’ve got a little incredible person of my own who is turning 4 next week to attend to, a 1st day of Pre-school to prepare for (that would be the first day ever, folks…completely consumed with anxiety over it!) a house to clean, and a few precious days of summer left to hang on to.  See you soon with a an awesome new Kaleidoscope release! – PB

Here is your chance to receive a FREE copy of The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer!!!

Photographers love the creative side of what they do.  They don’t however usually like the “business side” of their business.  Photographers often comment that they wish there was a way to make it easier for them to take care of their accounting.  Keeping track of how much your company makes (income from customers) is not the only thing you must keep track of.  You must keep detailed records of your expenses too; this is especially important come tax time.  If you have kept detailed records all year, tax-time is SO much less stressful!  However, it can be difficult to know what to keep track of, and how to categorize it.

The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer has come up with the solution!  The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer is an easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet that was designed specifically for photographers.  There is no prior bookkeeping or Excel knowledge needed.  You get not only the Excel spreadsheet, but also a detailed Word write-up which not only tells you how to use the spreadsheet, but what items to track and how to track them.

The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer is not only an accounting tool.  It also allows you to keep a customer database (good for marketing) and a job tracking tab.  One product to keep track of customers, jobs, invoicing, income, expenses, tax deductions, and more!

To win you must:

1.) Go to The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer Facebook page and click “Like” at the top of the page.  You can go right there by clicking on this link:

the Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer

Promote Your Page Too

2.) Comment on this blog letting us know why you think this would be a great product for you and your business.

A winner will be chosen at random on August 18th, 2010. Around noontime, so be certain your entry is in by noon.

All others may use discount code PBP15 to purchase a copy of The Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer at a 15% discount.  The discount code expires August 23rd, 2010.

So head on over to Facebook, show your likeness, then jot a little ditty down below.  That’s all you’ve got to do!

In the meantime, I’ve got some newborn goodness coming your way, along with several shares of sweet brides & brides to be, so stay tuned!    - PB

So much to tell you, so much to catch you up on.  And so, so many pictures to share that there is no way I can begin to cover them all in just this post.   So, I’m going to try to kill two little birds with one big post.

**Utah**

First things first, I wanted to share just a *couple* shots from the Nichole Van Lighting workshop I attended last week in Utah.   As always, Nichole delivered.   And, I was so amazed at the talent surrounding me, I couldn’t have been happier.  Hopefully I can share some fun group shots down the road, but for now,  this is my favorite little gem generated via an amazingly magical time.

I also wanted to apologize & clarify to anyone who may have emailed me recently and not received a response.   Here’s the deal:  I’m not sure why, but for whatever reason I’ve begun to receive a considerable increase in the number of emails from photographers lately, particularly with questions about locations & Photoshop.  And I just love it!   However, as many of you know, answering every single email can be tough (especially with a 3 year old running around) and although I do my best, I’m just not sure that it’s going to be entirely possible for me to continue to keep up as I have in the past.   Therefore, because I completely understand what it’s like to be starting out in Photography & Photoshop (been there, done that, got that T-shirt!!) and I can absolutely relate to your passion to learn, I’m going to be doing a few video blogs which detail my post-processing and show you exactly what I do.   You’ll get to see how I Photoshop, what products I use, and (as often as possible) you’ll get to see those products in action, along with how I tweak things.   Hopefully this will serve a dual-purpose by: ( a.)  helping those who want to learn more about Photoshop progress in their passion and,  ( b.) prevent me from feeling rude if I leave an email (or two, or twenty) unanswered.   Particularly when they relate to any content covered.   The first one is right here, all ready to go:

** Video Tutorial:  Color Achievement & Sharpening for Web**

Things to note:  1.)  I sound strange & rambling.  I actually am thinking out loud in a bit of this, so if I digress, please forgive me.  I’ll try to clean it up next time.   2.)  It’s in CS3.  I know, I know, I’m a dinosaur, but I DO HAVE CS5 installed on my Mac, and I’m getting used to it.   Not happy about it, but dealing.   In the meantime though, all the techniques should still be applicable.  3.)  After cutting this, I went back and put links to the products used below, so you can check them out if interested.

Portraiture can be found here, and I also use Noiseware quite a bit too.  ”Finish it” can be found here and  ”Finger Paint”  can be found here in the “Quickie Collection” both from MCP.   I’m going to try to cut another video soon covering how I use Adobe Camera Raw.  Don’t hesitate to let me know what else you’re interested in seeing!

Again, hope this was helpful!  Happy picture-making! – PB

]]> http://www.pattibrownblog.com/utah-video-tutorial-1/feed/ 8 http://www.pattibrownblog.com/on-his-way/ http://www.pattibrownblog.com/on-his-way/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:17:28 +0000 Patti http://www.pattibrownblog.com/?p=1386 Lucky guy.  He grew up in a sweet little community that I’m having the pleasure of discovering which sits right on the water and is packed with charm.  We’ve been in Virginia for almost 3 years now, and after having grown up in a very land-locked part of Texas, I still get excited every time I’m near the water.  This cool Senior shared my enthusiasm.  So glad to see it never gets old.

Here’s just a few shots from his recent session.  Really enjoyed spending time with this young man, and I’m anxious to see what amazing things he does with his life.

Don’t you love what the sun does?  These were all just edited with a vintage action (I used MCP’s, but any will work) and then my Celestial & Otherworldly B&W textures from Supernatural.  I LOVE putting a colored texture on a vintage or black & white image.  It gives a really subtle, unique gradient look to everything.   Enjoy! – PB

Here is the quick rundown on Supernatural:  Over 75 versions of 15 truly unique .jpg textures designed to add dimension, color, depth & flair to your photos + 15 Black & White Versions.   Supernatural is compatible with ALL VERSIONS of Photoshop, including Elements.  Check out this quick video demo to get an idea of how they work.  Also, if you’re brand new to working with textures, check out my “How to Apply a Texture” video and “Advanced Texture Techniques” video as well to help you get started.    Here are a few quick B&A’s…for more B&A’s, view the slideshow in this previous post.   It’s important to note that the ONLY post-processing done to any of these images was the addition of one of my textures in one of the blending modes: Overlay, Screen or Softlight….no additional actions were run.  If you don’t know how to use blending modes, check out the “Advanced Texture Techniques” video I mentioned above.

Here is a quick snapshot of the textures in The Supernatural Collection (Black & White versions not pictured.)

For a very limited time, please enjoy 30% off of  your entire purchase (you can add other products from the Kaleidoscope Shoppe too!)  by using the coupon code: super upon checkout.  This offer will expire on Friday, May 28th at Midnight and I will not be offering 30% off again for a while!

Please visit the  Kaleidoscope website to purchase,  learn about my other products, and view video tutorials that will walk you through everything from downloading to advanced Photoshop techniques.  As always, if you have purchased product within the last 5 days, please feel free to contact me for a price adjustment.

Again, thanks so much for your interest in my products!  I strive to answer all emails within a 24 hour period (Monday-Thursday) so feel free to contact me with questions, raves, shares or just to say hi! – PB

The entries (which have been truly randomly selected, thanks to some help from Random.org & a coolio little method I copied from my favorite cyber-DIYers) I’m pleased to announce the winners below:

Lou Stine

Merrilyn Romen

Beth Kraenzlein

Amy Hoogstad

Kim Boustany

Michelle Anderson (Pure Photography)

Martha Bravo

Paula R (Willowbend Creations)

Holly Sisson

Pamela Topping

So email me asap at patti@pattibrownphotography.com to claim your prize!  If you didn’t win, don’t worry – there is going to be another HUGE opportunity later this week on the incredible MCP blog to win all sorts of Kaleidoscope stuff!  Plus, I’ll be launching Supernatural in a matter of minutes, and will be sharing a discount code for 30% off at that time, so stay tuned!

Congratulations to the winners, and to everyone who left a lovely comment.  We are all officially cyber-pals for life! – PB

Editing on this was MCP’s Fingerpaint (medium) and Earthly Being Glow from my Supernatural Collection (available tomorrow.)