by Skip Cohen

Summer's here and it's time to think about how you can make your summer themed slideshows and images top notch.

I write almost the same thing every time, but that's only because so many of you are still dragging your feet bringing slideshows into your product/services lineup. From seniors, to thank you "notes," telling a client's special story and even your own marketing show, there's nothing that will help build your brand more than exceeding client expectations with great slideshows!

Wandering through the Photodex blog archives I found three terrific posts to help you capture great images and create terrific presentations. Plus, with the holiday weekend upon us, it's the perfect time to be capturing images for those visions in your mind's eye and then putting them together in a slideshow.

Click on the sunset image above by David FitzSimmons and enjoy his guest post of "Ten Tips for Photographing Sunsets and Sunrises," including his own stunning slideshow. David is an incredible artist and in fact, we did a podcast together last year, well worth listening to. While I know many of you are thinking this might be too basic for your skill set, think of it as a quick review. David shares some solid tips and sunsets/sunrises are clearly a major component in any summer slide show.

Two other terrific links to check out are below.

In the "SUMMER - Vacation Inspired FX Round-Up" you'll find six direct links to special effects to make your presentations even more professional. And check out "10 Songs For Your Summer Slideshows." Always remember a great story ties together terrific images together with great music. Click on the images to link to the post.

Here's my point - you're an artist and storyteller. While nobody can tell a client's story better than you, no company can help make your work habit-forming to your audience better than Photodex. The ProShow blog is loaded with helpful content together with their YouTube channel.

They never slow down in helping you raise the bar on the quality of your presentations, images and even your business!

Intro by Skip Cohen
 
When my kids were younger, my mother was always complaining about not having enough up to date pictures of her grandchildren. Here I was in the photo industry and playing out a true-to-life scenario of that old expression, "the shoemaker's children need shoes!"

Suzette Allen is back this week with eight different short videos to remind you some of the best memories you can capture this summer are of your own family! Plus, capturing those special moments with family and friends also gives you some great material for marketing your business and your skill set.

 Think about it for just a second. The busy season is in full swing, but as busy as you are you're still going to be finding the time for family outings, mini-vacations, and opportunities to demonstrate your skill as a storyteller. It's important not to forget your most important clients - YOUR FAMILY!

And, there's one more side benefit - each video is perfect content for your blog. Done right, a great slideshow demonstrates your skill set and helps to plant those seeds of ideas with your target audience; all those moms out there!

Photodex never slows down in developing the tools you need to enhance your creativity and build stronger presentations for your clients. You're working hard to capture stunning images. They deserve to be shared in terrific presentations and always exceeding client expectations.

Nobody can tell the story better than you and who better to help you market your skills than your family? Now, put your family and your memories together with ProShow8, and you've got the perfect ingredients to build stronger brand awareness and have some fun with your marketing efforts too!

by Suzette Allen

Summer is upon us and many of us are planning our vacations and getaways with the family! It’s a great time to get creative and not only share the fun you have and sights you see, but make it fun to remember the moments and good times later, when you are back to the grind and the snow is on the way! We all know that photographs are the very best aid to our memory, and when viewed with music in an audio-visual show is becomes a hook that our memories love!

Even if it is just a short glimpse of fun you happened upon, like this Balloon Regatta, it has so much potential for great memories and creativity!

We were in Page, AZ for the Slot Canyon safari and Horseshoe Bend last summer. We were packing up to go home on the last day when we heard there was a Balloon Regatta in town! We scooted out with our cameras at sunrise and had an eye-full of color and fun for about two hours. It was truly magical! This little show is a glimpse of the fun and the beautiful weather and colorful sights!  The addition of video is especially fun and so great at storytelling! Even though it was only two hours, this memory makes it even more memorable!

Most of these shows were from short events lasting only hours! What fun! But sometimes we go on big adventures where many of our family members and friends cannot go.

We climbed up to the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park this past year and it was so unforgettable! This show features a 360 degree video of the view at the top. Yes, mom loved it-because she will never be able to make that hike! It’s almost like being there—[or almost better because you get to hear the soundtrack! HAHA!]

This show is one of my favorites called “Here with Me”, where we can share our visual experiences, adding audio and movement to engage the viewer at a much deeper level, feeling and seeing what it was like to be there with us!

Pro Show Web makes the shows super easy with video or not. This show of all the places we traveled last year is ALL stills. We had so many, there was no time for video. But it is all engaging like a video because of the marvelous transition and energy created with the themes and effects. Again, everything looks more dynamic, more exciting and more polished when we take the time to SHARE our adventures with Photodex!

Plan your next adventure with a ProShow in mind and shoot a few Intro scenes, a dynamic ending shot and a few short (under 10 sec) video clips to tell your story. Then pick a theme, add some fab music to set the mood and relive your adventure – sharing the memories with much more fun added!

Even if you just want to feature a small segment or vignette of your trip, these are great “short stories” worthy of remembering and sharing!

Intro by Skip Cohen

Suzette Allen's slideshow above is the perfect example of how ProShow gives you the ability to customize your presentations without going overboard.

Think about it for a second. If you've been in the industry ten years or more, you can see the transition of trends in creativity thanks to technology. Wander back a few years and we saw a trend of too many artists becoming filter junkies. Images, that might have been fine with the simplicity of the quality of the photograph itself, were being overloaded with filter effects. Then there were bad images to start which people felt could be enhanced by adding more filters. That led me to me sharing one of my most favorite expressions I heard years ago, "You can't buff a turd!"

(Note: And yes, after using the expression a long time ago, somebody sent me the Myth Busters episode where they proved you could buff one! LOL)

The truth is, less is more, but to Suzette's point in today's post, as more artists create slideshows we're seeing the same phenomenon as we did with filters. Instead of simplicity and a clean flow of images and videos we're often seeing too many special effects. We're not able to appreciate the images, because we're distracted by too many elements in the presentation.

This might be one of my favorite posts from Suzette, because it's a solid reminder that less is more and Photodex has given you the tools to create stunning presentations, without losing the impact of your skill set to tell the story.

Photodex is constantly developing new tools to enhance your creative process. This is about great presentations, terrific results and exceeding client expectations.

Nobody can tell the story better than the photographer and no software provides the ease of use and the results you get with ProShow8!

by Suzette Allen

One of the questions I hear about slideshow services like ProShowWeb is “Why is it better?” or “Why don’t you use_______?”  Well, among the many reasons like, a) less money per month, b) all the awesome sharing options and c) huge selection of themes and music is my Number One most loved feature: the ability to customize SELECTIVELY!!
 
While the themes are great, there’s always room for fine-tuning adjustments! We want it to just flow and not have distractions--Like when certain effects are OVER-used and feel repetitive, or sometimes the effect is overpowering for the image. Or, when my video is on the shorter side and the effects gobble up the viewing time too much! I just need a simple Cut transition so I can see the full video impact!
 
In other similar services, you just have to “Rebuild, and hopefully you like it”…. And if not you “REbuild and HOPEfully you like it”…. and if not, just “REBUILD, and HOPEFULLY you LIKE it!”… and each time you get a new mix and even the stuff you LIKED is gone and remixed! AACK!

Soooo…. In short, ProShowWeb just rocks.

I can just hit Edit Show and see my show in a sequence and selectively delete or change my effects, my transitions, and even my timing if I want to see a special image just a little longer! And, an added bonus is the final credit slide—It drives me crazy when it gets sliced and diced and flung here and there….I just add Zero Motion Fill Frame for that simple statement of my logo: WHO did this cool show. I love the fact that they offer SO many options, too, BUT had the foresight to create the needed feature of Favorites, where I can save time hunting and grab the ones I know will work, if I’m rushed!

I’m thrilled with the way ProShowWeb does 98% of all the heavy lifting of making dynamite shows, but super thankful they give me the freedom to fine tune to make it Juuuuust Right! 

Thank you, Pro Show, for making me look good! (and taking the drama and frustration out of getting there!)