Creating a Perfect Slideshow - Do You Know the Basics?

By Skip Cohen (with a little help from the Proshow Team)

It's another Photodex Friday and I want to hit on some key ingredients as we go into a holiday weekend. Many of you are photographing weddings over the weekend, but there are also plenty of non-bridal events going on. Let's come up with some key components to help boost your creativity. 

If you're not offering slideshows as part of your services, you're missing an incredible opportunity to build stronger revenue along with goodwill and your brand. Photodex has made it so easy for you to match your skill set as a photographer with your creativity as a storyteller.

Remember - there's all kinds of support for you in the Photodex Blog. I'm just sharing a few of the key links.

Focus on Your Concept: All of you know how to focus your cameras and make sure your subject is tack sharp. Well, your vision for your slideshow needs to be the same. Take the time to storyboard your idea. Think about the client who's going to be featured in the presentation. You've got to see the world through their eyes to create a slideshow that exceeds their expectations.

Make a Shot List: You don't have to identify every image you want in the final presentation, but you should have an idea of some key anchor images to help tell your story. It's not much different than putting together an album covering a special event.

Narrow Down the Images: You're going to have a lot of images to consider using, because you're not just shooting for the slideshow.

I love the Proshow Slide Calculator which allows you to put your music and images together. For example, I entered three and a half minutes as the length of my music for my slide show in the example to the right. The Slideshow Calculator did all the work for me.

Based on the slideshow calculator I'm going to want at least 40 images for the presentation. Just click on my example to use the slideshow calculator and load in your own specifications. You'll start with either the music length or the number of photos and video clips. Then, move to music length and finish with establishing the tempo of the music. It couldn't be easier to estimate the number of images you're going to need.

In terms of the video length - ideally keep your presentation in the 2-3 minute range. You can obviously go longer, but be careful. Less is more! If your images are terrific and tell the story you want to keep the slideshow exciting.

What's Your Theme? Proshow makes it so easy to help you determine a theme. Check out this short video on creating new wizard themes.

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Pay Attention to Key Graphic Elements Like Colors:

Proshow has created seasonal colors to help give each slideshow more impact. It's summer time - so check out another short video about the summer palette below. 

And, while it may be summer now, fall is right around the corner. Check out the complete Fall Color Palette Guide by clicking any of the color choices.

My screen shot to the right only represents a handful of the color selections they're suggesting. Just like those key colors and elements you've used in building your website and blog, you need the same connection to your slideshow presentation.

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The Proshow team is working hard to make it as easy as they can for you to create outstanding presentations and achieve every artist's goal of making themselves habit-forming.

Visit their blog for more help on virtually every aspect of creating high impact slideshows!