NoBs Digital Dogbowl

NoBS Member Wins Hot One Award!

NoBS is proud to call Craig Minielly (aka Gruffer) a member here on the forum. Recently Craig was honored with a Hot One Award for his popular Photoshop actions, Camera Capture/Processing

Craig’s Actions Production Assistants—Creative Suite. It was selected as a winner for 2008. We recently caught up with Craig and asked him how he got started in the business of creating Photoshop actions.

"When I started in digital, there were no real solutions anywhere with the programs available, just best intentioned offerings. PhotoShop 2.5 had no layers or history, Apple was thought to be imminently going out of business, and a 150MB chip of RAM cost ~$12000 US.

To preview raw images to a client, I needed to run a batch process to convert to JPG, just so that I could use a browser to scroll through the images. At that time it took ~ 75 seconds per image for a raw conversion, and if I did it blind ( as in a batch) I would need to rotate the verticals individually after - so one of my first Actions was to rotate and resize the image to a easily managed preview size. Out of necessity, I came up with a variety of shortcut production processes that I would get my assistants to use just to be able to function in the new ( and experimental) digital realm.

In 1994, as a new member of PPOC, I entered and won a Class Award with a digital composition. I was then asked to speak to various branches and events on my techniques as it was a minefield for everyone at that time, and had a few solutions to help people get through it all. These were often called Digital Bootcamps, attended by crowds mostly made up of those without a digital camera, and it was during these early events that I would show how Actions worked and freely offer what I created.

One day, an attendee suggested that I try selling them, so I put that idea into planning, added a few new techniques (including my "Porcelain Skin" Action or "Skin-So-Soft" depending on who you heard it from...) and eventually came up with a simple contact link off of the back page of my (very) ugly website.

I sold that package for the next few years, with everyone give the same proviso - That they not tell anyone about it.

That might seem strange, but I was embarrassed at the state of my site, had no time to deal with it, and wanted to make a good impression when I eventually decided to put the Actions into active play.

Over the next couple of years, I was called on for input or ideas from many of the software companies and digital hardware suppliers, and would consult for many companies making the switch to digital including the military in three countries, and press networks around the world.

in 2002 I decided that I was going to move back out West, fulfilling a life-long desire to do so ( I lived there as a kid), and in 2003 I finally announced it and was able to make it happen.

After about a year of being removed from the day to day craziness I was accustomed to, I was finally able to conceptualize the idea of "Craig's Actions" and create it. The techniques that I had, made use of regularly, and had received feedback on for a few years now were configured to be universal in their execution and appeal. I spent an entire month cocooned with my computers and with some training from a designer friend, was able to create and launch the Craig's Action Site in Feb 2005.

I never had any burning desire to create a "retail outlet" or a second business, the internet was already full of hype and gadgetry and I had no interest in getting involved in that noise... I was simply putting my own techniques into the market in a way that I thought photographers could make use of them and presented in a manner that was built on common sense & practicality for studio operations.

The site launch went very well, and I was swamped with email inquiries and orders, which was to be the pattern for the next couple of years.

I added the StoryTeller Actions as creative tools that all could use, but still had an idea in the back of my brain that needed time to develop further... The Actions helped photographers in a huge way, but people were still behind in their workloads, and workflow experts & recommendations were driving everyone crazy.

In 2007, I finally wrapped up the concept of a "One Action Does All" and launched the Production Assistants.

In the barrage of hype from Aperture, Lightroom (and many other companies professing the worth & necessity of their plug-ins), the message that these "Production Assistant Actions" can actually make a photographer's life significantly easier has been a bit slow to sink in... That's ok, I created this series for those that enjoy thinking outside the box, and they've already discovered that what used to take days, can now be accomplished in minutes, and that their workflow does not need to be dictated to them by others. Photographers are now largely a species that need to make their own discoveries, so the site and its' rewards are ready whenever they are!

Winning an international award like the Hot One Award from PPA is a wonderful... "pat on the back" to me, as it gives a legitimacy to something that I created for others. That legitimacy is huge (to me) as there is so much available, some good / some not... so that to be acknowledged in this manner seems to say to me - " Finally - they got it ! Someone actually IS paying attention!!! " - lol...

There will be more Actions to come, one area in particular is the iTones Series. These are creative production styles that I will be adding to continually, as new styles work their way forward from the foggy depths of my brain to the Action Palette! I also have a few other areas that will receive my Action attention, but I'll save those as surprises to be enjoyed later ;-)

A special thank you to all those at NoBs. You are a great group to be a part of, and truly a breath of fresh air in a hyper-saturated world of windbags, ego's and AKIA's ( already know it all's!) - So I thank you again from the heart of my bottom, for your ongoing considerations and sanctuary from the big scary world out there! - lol...

best wishes,

Craig"

Finally, as a thank you to the NoBS group and to celebrate the Hot One Award, Craig is offering a 20% discount on his actions. Go to Craig's Actions . The discount code is HOT1. Hurry as this offer ends February 4!

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