NoBs Digital Dogbowl
The NoBs Digital Dogbowl Newsletter:
Keeping you up to date and informed on the latest, coolest, and outrageous happenings inside the world of NoBS Photo Success.
Loaded with Free photography tips, Photoshop tutorials, photo reviews,
and other totally relevant essentials. Be sure to check out the whole thing!
Hungry for more? Visit our digital photography forum.
February 2009 Digital Dogbowl
NoBS Holds Its First Ever Webinars!
NoBS founders Rob Provencher and James Hodgins held the very first NoBS webinar earlier this month and it was an overwhelming success. In it, they discussed marketing techniques and strategies to build exposure and revenue. If you missed it, there is a new forum in the Downloads section which is dedicated to the NoBS Webinars. In there, you will find this link to that webinar.
The second webinar was held on March 2 with the amazing Ricky from Venezuela. He shared some Photoshop tips, Lighting setup, and about his photography.
If you attended one of these and now you are hooked, the good news is that NoBS plans to have regularly scheduled webinars, so be sure to sign up for them.
Rob is looking for more ideas for future webinars, so please pm him with some of the topics that you'd like to see!
NoBS Member/Photo of the Month: Jillian Bickle
I always enjoyed photography as a hobby growing up, but never imagined it was something I could do for a living! It wasn’t until my second year of University – I was taking all the required courses to go to med school – that it hit me…I’m not doing the right thing. I had just got married and my husband and I took three weeks and went to Africa to a little orphanage in Kenya to volunteer for three weeks. This trip opened up my eyes and made me realize my passion for photography. I knew that one day, I would like to use photography to bring awareness to African orphanages. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that yet, it’s a work in progress.
If You Build It They Will Come
You read a lot about how visualizing and writing down things that you want will attract those things. Many a motivational speaker will tell you the same thing. Positive thoughts attract positive things. Well, we have recently had a couple of threads here on NoBS that are in the same vein. These threads were started by NoBS member Soup, himself a motivational coach, who is always trying to get members to clear out the cobwebs and start thinking about what they want and how to achieve it.
The threads, "Your wildest dreams..." and "Part 2 of Your Wildest Dreams" try to engage NoBS members in visualizing their dreams. It's a fun exercise and one which may just get you going down the path to the success you desire for yourself.
To read the first installment, click: here. Part 2 can be found here.
The NoBS Effect Continues
The NoBS old timers know what we're talking about here, right? It's a typical scenario in these parts of the photography forum mecca of the internet. Newbie joins NoBS. Newbie learns, posts, asks a gazillion questions, and continues applying what they learn. Newbie succeeds. Newbie is no longer a Newbie, but a successful, seasoned pro.
This is the NoBS effect. We've had quite a few success stories here since NoBS started. This month, the latest success story is none other than village-people-policeman-turned-pimp king-professional photographer, Danny "The Batman Beltguy" Rabalais.
Danny is a full-time police officer and together with his wife Dianne, they own a very successful photography studio and frame shop in California.
Danny has been an extremely active member on NoBS and recently shared how, unbeknownst to him, he had earned nearly six figures with his photography business in 2008. To read more about how he did it, go to this NoBS link. You can also catch Rob's interview with Danny in the 2009 Monthly Success Interviews .
Radio Interview: Jill Davidson
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with Expert Jill Davidson
 of VTalkRadio Photography Spotlight  Sponsor www.nobsphotosuccess.com  Read Transcript  Play Show  |
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Trying To Break Into The Seniors Market?
A new member recently posted a thread asking about how to get into the seniors market. What's the big deal about this thread you ask? Well, from this oft-asked question came a very thorough and compelling argument for investing first in yourself via attending seminars. The proof is in the pudding when you earn back the money spent with the new business you generate from what you've learned. Here's the response given by NoBS' foremost seniors photography expert, Steve Harrington.
WPPI: What Did You Get From It?
WPPI is one of the biggest annual professional development events for professional wedding and portrait photographers. It is a veritable smorgasbord of seminars with some of the industry greats, and WPPI's print competition is also one of the more prestigious events with many professionals vying for the ultimate in professional recognition. Sounds perfect doesn't it?
Well, NoBS members who attended had varying opinions on whether it was worth the expense of traveling cross country for this year's event. To read more, go to this NoBS link.
NoBS Welcomes Another Baby!
NoBS moderator, SarahM, welcomed her new little girl last month. She was born on Jan 13th at 8:20 am and weighed 6 lb and 10 oz. Congratulations, Sarah!
Renowned South African wedding photographer and esteemed NoBS member, Jaco, recently shared a trash the dress video shot with a Canon 5D Mark II. Check it out.
At the NoBS Inferno in Nashville last year, NobS co-founder James Hodgins shared one of his cool wedding package products, the Snaptote. If you have been thinking about offering these to your clients but just aren't sure about the strategy, go to this post , in which members share how they price and sell them.
NoBS member, Kyle, recently started a thread about his inadventent jump to #1 and #2 in Google thanks to a couple of Wordpress videos he posted. Even more surprising is that he managed to do this without having any incoming links or content. To read more and to find the link to his website, click on this NoBS link.
Extracting in Photoshop
It is better to give than to receive. Words never rang truer than these. How are you involved in your community? What better way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only are you giving back and helping others, but you are also spreading the good word about your studio for free. You can even start your own charitable cause like NoBS member Sandy Puc' did with NILMDTS. Get out there and put your best foot forward; it will feed your soul and your business.
What would you do if your camera stopped working, you forgot your backup, and you forgot a crucial piece of lighting equipment? Oh and this all happens when you have a line of hundreds of people waiting to have their portrait taken. NoBS member photosensitive recounts in this thread how she overcame these obstacles to make her event a success.
This month we're featuring the standard workflow with Hodgysoft tutorial over at Andy Armstrong's design|house website. Here's the link to this video tutorial . Enjoy!
WPPI Winners
NoBS members once again had a good showing at WPPI's print competition this year. To see some of the scores and winners go to this link. Congrats to all!
NoBS member, JillD, was kind enough to post renowned photographer David Beckstead's WPPI Competition Tips. If you didn't compete this year or did and were not happy with your results, this is a must read for next year. To read more, click here.
NoBS member, Improv, posted this burning question on the forum. You would be amazed at the number of members who do peek-a-boo shots. To see some samples and post your own peek-a-boo shots, go to this linky.