Laura Elle wins a seat to the sold-out Voice workshop taught by Sarah and Chris Rhoads! She won the run-off in our video contest with 61% of the vote. Way to go Laura! Have fun in Oz!
Tabitha Anderson won a free 32GB iPad for taking our survey. Sweet! I don't even have one of those yet, so I'm a bit jealous of Tabitha :) THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to complete our survey. I know that some of the questions probably made your brain melt, but we learned many important things that will help make our future products better.
On that note, Kristen is out of the office for the next couple weeks, so I, Doug Boutwell, will be rocking out the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and our support, in addition to all the other super-secret things we're doing. Please be patient with me while I try to juggle about 8 balls in the air at once.
Finally, Cracked just posted a hilariously demented series of wedding photography tips, and I highly recommend you spend 5 minutes of your Monday reading it. Because you know you were looking for another reason to keep ignoring your pile of email.
Hugs and kisses,
-Doug
12 comments so far
Fabulous hosts and hostesses are holding shindigs in:
New Jersey
Kansas City, MO
Rio Grande Valley, TX
West Chester, PA (just outside Philadelphia)
San Diego, CA
If you'd like to attend a shindig, click here, find your party, and RSVP!
If there's not a party in your area, attend virtually at Ruffly Speaking, where there are treats and contests happening all day long on the 30th!
1 comments so far
I just went on an Oriental Trading Shopping Spree for my West Chester, PA TRA House Party! WOOO The theme is "Carnival", and should be lots of fun :-)
(06.24.10 @ 07:15 AM)Congrats to the first place winner of a $100 B&H Photo Gift Card, David Ruiz!
David Ruiz PhotographySan Antonio, TX
RECIPE:
Black Levels Adjustments
Bitchin Camaro | Medium
Friendly Confines | Medium
Vignette Donatello
Purple Nurple | Strong
2 comments so far
And now, major news! Doug Boutwell, creator of the Totally
Rad line of products, was sitting around thinking about how to get
TRA users to connect with other TRA users and have fun at the same
time. He took it up with the TRA team and we came up with house
parties. Boom.A TRA House Party is an excuse for peeps who use and love Totally Rad products to get together. We suggest a silly theme, a bit of food and drink, and a little bit of learning to round out your party.
TRA House Parties takes place across the globe on the same day to maximize a sense of community...you can find the details for the next party on our Facebook fan page by clicking the Events tab.
The absolutely amazing Laurel McConnell hosted the very first TRA house party, just to see if it was a good idea. Turns out it was a fabulous one, and the party was FABULOUS. Easy cheese. Zombies. Photobooth. Ring flash. Bowties.
Password tra lets you see the house party goodness. There's lots more crazy silly awesome photos waiting there...
In other words, we're planning a worldwide network of house parties on June 30, 2010. We need YOU to help us by hosting or attending a house party on that day. Sign up here. Then gather your photographer friends and get crazy.
You can download our guide to planning your house party here. It contains lots more details and ideas for making June 30 incredibly rad. Feel free to be excited and/or ask questions in the comments, lovelies!
9 comments so far
OF COURSE laurel mc connell was a party host goddess!!!!!! that's how she rolls! :) wish we could've been there, but now we'll just have to throw our very own TRA in GR, MI!!! yep..... it's gonna happen. what a fabulous idea!!! CHEERS to you all!!!
(06.06.10 @ 07:46 PM)This is such a great idea!
(05.26.10 @ 04:42 PM)i gotta see if i can make it happen. LOVE TRA, i just moved to madison WI. I have not many any other photographers yet, but this could be a good start.
(05.26.10 @ 11:25 AM)Kristin & Doug, thanks loads for offering me this incredibly fun opportunity, to kickoff the TRA House Party in silly ol' Seattle. SO glad I did it, and would love to do it again (still have lotsa paper bowties). You can always count on me for a silly wackadoodle party :) And Jason, DANGIT I wish I woulda thought of having you over. You're my favorite :)
(05.26.10 @ 10:43 AM)Sweeeeet! I'll see if I can set one up for photographers in San Diego, email me if your interested! captured@jessicahannon.com
(05.26.10 @ 10:05 AM)And to make your house party ever radder (is that a word???), add some live music! If you're in Seattle, hit me up!
(05.26.10 @ 09:47 AM)You have one week to wow us with your preset recipes -- the winner gets a $100 B&H giftcard and eternal bragging rights. The top five recipes will be featured on the recipes site and the regular blog AND Facebook for triple the exposure and happy comments.
To enter, you must include:
-- 2 images 850 px wide at 72 dpi showing your before and after
-- Your name, location, and website (Just one!)
-- The TRA Lightroom Presets recipe you used
Then e-mail the whole shebang to kristen@gettotallyrad.com by Noon EST on May 25th.
Just four clicks of a button produce dramatically different results! Original shown next to each version for comparison.
Phil's Shadows | MediumTone | Purple Nurple | Lite
Phil's Shadows | MediumTone | Purple Nurple | Lite
Skid Row | Lite
Golden Age | Lite
If you still don't have the best Lightroom presets on the planet, go ahead and buy 'em right now.
Oh, and Facebook TRA Suite winner? You're going to have to go over to our Facebook page to find out who's lucky today. Like us and then click on 'coupon' for a sweet promo code, too!
3 comments so far
Pick me, Pick me, Pick me! I love Tamara Lackey! I love taking photographs of children and I can ALWAYS use some inspiration! Plus I don't live far from Napa so I would defiantly be there!!!!! Please pick me :)
(06.02.10 @ 09:41 PM)Amazing results! I'll be purchasing some today!
(06.02.10 @ 06:29 PM)I've just started using the TR for LR. And I LOVE it! So, from the few images I have used it on, I'm sending in my choice!
(05.19.10 @ 03:36 PM)
Seriously? How old are you all? Congratulations, Laura! You really do deserve it. Do not let these immature, bitter human beings get to you. So what if this "Tessa" is an excellent person and really wanted to win and is loved by all? YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE VOTES THEN. Sore losers don't get anything out of life.
(07.29.10 @ 10:28 PM)Chris and I just want to thank EVERYONE who submitted videos! Thank you for making us laugh, for your sincere words, time and effort putting these together! You guys are all amazing!
(07.28.10 @ 09:23 AM)To the commenters that have a little bit of venom laced into your words (you know who you are):
We're glad you're passionate about our little contest, and sorry you're disappointed in the results! "Aw, shucks" is a perfectly appropriate response. Ripping on the winner is not. All the entries had merit (that's why we couldn't decide!) and I simply won't stand for letting anything within my control degenerate into a DPReview-style internet snipe-fest. Play nice, kids.
(07.28.10 @ 08:07 AM)Tessa, I think you are talented and has some beautiful images on your website. However, your last comment here seems bitter... You are a winner either way and please don't ruin it with such sarcastic comments...
(07.27.10 @ 04:24 PM)Congratulations Laura! You truly deserve this and I hope many wonderful things for you! I'm very blessed to have had the privilege to get to see your work and I have been inspired by your unique style and gifted eye for beauty. I wish you the best and am excited for you and your future.
Sincerely,
Tessa Harvey
(07.26.10 @ 09:28 PM)Guys! It was a contest and the lucky winner is Laura. Get over it and be happy for her! If someone is talented and working hard on pursuing their dreams then they will be successful even without winning a competition!
(07.26.10 @ 07:27 PM)Congrats Laura! You'll sure enjoy Australia! It's an awesome place! :)
I am so THRILLED for you Laura Ella! I am confident you have been blessed richly with a wonderful opportunity, but more confident you have been blessed with a true talent. I am sure you are a beautiful person inside and out and that you are one of the MANY gifted women in the world. ENJOY YOUR WIN! Let no one take away this victory:)
(07.26.10 @ 07:09 PM)I agree with you Sandy...very sad for Tessa. She is incredibly talented. I hate to see people win competitions based on popularity and not talent. Oh well, their loss. She's an incredible person to know and to work with.
(07.26.10 @ 06:26 PM)Congratulations Laura! Your video made me laugh :) And those tips were hilarious!
(07.26.10 @ 04:35 PM)I am highly disappointed in the selection of the contest. If you were looking for someone who is creative, unique; someone who is remarkable with others, possesses the richness in life, inspiration, creativity-which are the characteristics you passionately propose as important as a photographer- then Tessa's video representation was the best.
(07.26.10 @ 02:46 PM)LOL that's true! Sorry to get your hopes up!
(07.26.10 @ 02:24 PM)Dang it!!! I saw the name Tabitha and thought it was me :) You don't see many Tabitha's :)
(07.26.10 @ 01:50 PM)