End of the Year Sale--40% off any 1 item!!

It's that time of year again...time to make that last purchase to write off of your taxes before the new year! We are offering 40% off any one item for two days only!! So you'd better hurry cause this offer doesn't last long! Go the the photoDUDS site and check it out!

My Christmas Card

Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday....I know I sure did. I work so much that it's nice to have a few days away with my family. Anyway, this season was crazy for me and I didn't finish my card until December 23rd...(I had to finish everyone else's work first before I could even think about my own stuff) And, for all off of you all wondering out there....yes I do own a donkey as a pet and he is the greatest! And another side note these images were taken this December....we had a big snow and lost power for two days...that meant no working on the computer right before my Christmas deadlines and YES I was in a panic!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

photoDUDS Fun

One could hardly tell it was a Saturday here in this house...I was at the computer bright and early designing Christmas cards and populating galleries from my recent Christmas Special event....it's been a long day and an even longer week.....month.....and still there is no end in sight to my endless hours of retouching, color-correcting and designing.....But, I did take a short moment to do something for my self today... I designed a gift tag for my presents with my pet donkey's photo on it.....(yes, you read that correctly, I have a pet donkey..lol) Anyway, here it is...isn't he cute?!

Birthday Invitation

Just wanted to share this cute little Birthday Party Invitation I created to Garrett. It turned out so cute!! Hope you had a great party Garrett!

Black Friday Sale--Save up to 30%

Well, the photoDUDS Black Friday sale has started and we have our first winners of the fabric umbrellas from India... these people logged on right at midnight and placed their qualified orders just in time...and the winners are.....(there was one tie so we added a 5th winner)

Barry Stephenson
George Brown
Rick Fow
Cyd Byrd
Tania Finn

Congratulations to you all!!

Black Friday Sale--Save up to 30%

Shop early to save more!
Between Midnight and Noon SAVE 30% off EVERYTHING in the store.
Between Noon and Midnight SAVE 25% off EVERYTHING in the store.
No other discount codes may be applied during this sale.

Still take advantage of our "Make Your Own Bundle" quantity discount:
buy any 3 products regularly priced at $100 or more & receive an additional $55 OFF!



WELL, we have EIGHT of these uber cute umbrellas up for grabs during this sale.

How can YOU get one? Easy, we give you two ways to try:

Number 1 - Be quick:
Be one of the first FOUR customers during the sale to spend over $250 and automatically win one.
We will select a fabulous umbrella from our assortment (which varies from the above photo)
and send it directly to you.

Number 2 - Be random:
We have FOUR umbrellas for randomly selected customers.
Simply buy anything during our Black Friday sale and have a chance to win.
Only one chance to win per customer; placing multiple purchases does not increase your chance to win.

All winners will be announced on Monday and umbrellas will ship early December.

Christmas Special

It's that time of year again...time for our studio's annual Christmas Portrait Event. Every year the weekend before Thanksgiving we have this event...it two days and we shoot appointments every 15 minutes...around 34 appointments a day. WHEW!! I create a special Holiday themed set design as well as galleries and cards to coordinate with the theme. This year my background was created with DUDdrops. If you're not familiar with the DUDdrop line, they are huge graphic files that enable you to create custom designed large format inkjet prints to use as backdrops. You can change the colors, as I have done to create various backdrops from the same file. The one in the set is the Damask. I created a 10 foot by 8 foot drop and then had it printed in 3 separate pieces which I then taped together and hung on the wall with thumbtacks....I was a little worried that it wouldn't all come together, but it turned out pretty awesome!




Here are some samples of a couple of galleries I created using various pieces from some of our Christmas card sets.

Get more Mileage out of your DUDS!

1. Open the Card Template and save a copy.
The senior example above started as the TODD Family DUDlet (the DUDlet of the Month).

2. Using the guides lines, crop the image to remove the bleed area.
All photoDUDS Card Templates include guide lines indicating the bleed area for press products (not needed for photo paper).

3. Delete any layers that you don't want. (in this example the leaf word art design was deleted)
The card may have some word art or embellishments that may be specific for the card, but not the portrait.

4. Drag and drop your photo.
All photoDUDS Card Templates allow photos to be added by dragging, dropping and transforming as desired.

5. Add any embellishments or brushwork.
The example uses an embellishment from Natural, Senior Card Set v.1

6. Personalize with text.
Seniors LOVE that!

Baby Shower Invite!

Just recently had the greatest idea for add-on sales for Maternity Sessions.....Baby Shower invitations. Here is a sample of the shower invitations I created for a customer of mine. As a bonus you could also create coordinating thank yous as well. Fun Stuff!!

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation

Thanks to everyone...we were able to raise over $600 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Plus, the ribbon was downloaded 286 times helping others create awareness about the fight against breast cancer.

DUDlet of the month-Only $5

It's that time again... The FIRST Thursday of the MONTH!
Please welcome the TODD family as the November DUDlet of the Month. If you have never thought of offering a Thanksgiving Card, now is the perfect time! This downloadable Thanksgiving card template will be offered at 50% OFF (until the next DUDlet of the Month is released). That's ONLY $5.00!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As you all know October is breast cancer awareness month. So, this month we are donating $5 from every photoDUDS sale over $50 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Also, we created a special pink ribbon freebie and placed it on the photoDUDS site for you to use to promote breast cancer awareness in your area.

New Holiday Card Sets Released

We just released two new holiday card sets--Merry and Bright. They are packed with press product templates for folded and flat cards, as well as address labels and seals. there are also papers, embellishments, frames and word art so you can create your own custom designs. Act now and save 30% if you buy the bundle which includes both DVDs!
Go to the photoDUDS store and check it out!

Heraldry Release--Save 20% off

We just released the new Photographer's Toolkit, Heraldry. It is inspired by the widely popular designer clothing brands like Affliction, Ed Hardy and Sinful. I have been playing around with a few of the new things from the kit and my seniors are loving it. Almost every other senior that walks through my door is wearing at least one of these designer pieces....so we decided that in order for our studio to look hip and current we had better start using some of the "inspired" designs in our marketing pieces, galleries and our storyboards. The Heraldry kit will be on sale, 20% off, in the photoDUDS store from now until September 4th.

Heraldry--New Photographer's toolkit

The response to Vintage was so great that we are diligently working on a new photographer's toolkit. It should be released soon as we are putting the finishing touches of the set. It is going to be an awesome set geared towards the male client and in the style of the popular clothing trends like Ed Hardy and Affliction. It ROCKS!!! Here is a quick sample.....stay tuned!!

DUDlets

We have some new and exciting things in store for you at photoduds.com. Ever need a quick birth announcement, save the date card, grad card or even that obscure bah mitzvah invitation? Well, we have your solution..... quick and cheap options of downloadable templates. Now these are what I like to refer to as "quick and easy"....just pop in the photos change the text and your done. We plan to put up a couple of new ones every month and we will also feature a DUDlet of the month which will be on sale for $5 for the entire month. Go to photoduds.com to check it out.

Vintage Released

You asked for it and now you've got it! Textures, overlays, edge effects, photo masks..... Vintage is now available in the photoDUDS store and on sale until July 21st. So act now and purchase this exciting kit and receive $25 off the regular price.

Vintage to Release on Monday

Well, senior season is in full swing and I have been playing around with the new release Vintage quite a bit on my senior portraits. Here is something I created a few moments ago by altering a template which will appear on the DVD. Enjoy and watch your e-mail on Monday!

Creating a Custom Frame

I have been meaning to add some tutorials on the blog for quite sometime now. (sorry for the delay) Anyway, in the future, I hope to start adding more tips and tricks on how to use the photoDUDS products. So, stay tuned and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for future posts.

So, in this lesson I took a frame for the Modish collection and used a brush from the Bebe collection, in order to breathe a little new life into something I use all the time when designing. So here goes:

1. Open your photoDUDS frame
2. Create a new layer (make sure new layer is above the frame)
3. Grab desired brush, select desired color and stamp on your design
4. In the menu bar go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask
(this will clip the brush into only the frame)
5. Add your photo behind the frame

PS click on the images below to see larger versions

Coming SOON!!

We are working on a finishing a new product to be released soon. It's called Vintage and it's going to be a photographer's toolkit. It has lots of frames, edge effects, textures and masks, all created really large so you can use them on 16x20s and larger. Here are a few things I created using some of the new things from this exciting new kit.

WPPI Road Trip

I am so excited to be a part of the upcoming WPPI Road Trip. This September, WPPI will be bringing a mini convention cross country to a city near you. Each city will feature four speakers and I will be appearing at the Minneapolis venue on Wednesday, September 23 along with Jim DiVitale, Robert Lino and Jim Garner. Visit the WPPI website to find out more information on cities, times and speakers. Hope to see you there.

Sale!! My daughter is graduating!

We're having a sale but it's not just any ordinary sale. My daughter, Katherine, is graduating from high school and getting ready to attend college in the fall. So, the college bills are already starting to appear and I decided to have a sale to generate some extra cash for college. It's 20% off of everything in the store and the sale ends on June 5th. So hurry on over to the photoDUDS store and check it out. When you check out enter the code mygrad20 to receive your 20% off. Thanks!!

I need your VOTE!

Hey! I need your help! I submitted a photo for the WV Executive Magazine and I was chosen as a finalist and now I need your vote to win! Please go to wvexecutive.com and cast your vote for my portrait, Coal Miner, which features the late Casset Bias of Madison, WV.

Survey! We want your opinion!

Hey! We want to hear from you. We have all sorts of ideas brewing for new products and we want your feedback. Just answer a few quick questions and as a thanks for your help, at the end of the survey you will be directed to a page where you can download 2-FREE senior templates! Click here to go to the survey and to get started. Thanks for your help!!

pssst . . . we will be starting a very special sale next week in honor of my daughter, Katherine's graduation. (Yes, those college bills are already starting to add up!)

Grad Card Set

Hey! Check out this awesome grad card set I created with pieces from our newest release, Wild. Isn't is funky! I have been having so much fun with this set!! I can't get enough of it and the seniors are going crazy over all the awesome designs!! I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking where I get the 2" round seals printed. I have those and the return address labels printed at Marathon Press in the mprint section. Yesterday, I conducted my first of two webinars through Marathon Press. It was fun! I was a bit nervous at first . . . I wasn't sure if I could be an effective speaker without actually being in the room with my audience. But, people seemed to enjoy it and I received loads of kind comments and e-mails today from many of the attendees. Thanks to Marathon Press and to everyone who attended!! Be sure to join me for my next Marathon webinar on June 3rd!!

Pre-Sale Wild Grad Cards

We just announced the upcoming release of our newest release, Wild! Senior Card Set. It's a collection of senior gradation announcements, thanks you cards, seals and a signature board. It's also loaded with some cool animal print overlays. For the new few days, you can order the set for 20% off until Friday, April 10. So, head on over to the photoDUDS store to check it out!

Ron and Renee Guzlas--photoDUDS users

I just received an e-mail from Ron and Renee Guzlas who own the studio, Surf Side Photography in Gulf Shores, Alabama. They wanted to share their newest marketing piece showcasing their painter oil portraits, that was created with the help of photoDUDS. Renee writes,

Just wanted to tell you that we love photoDUDS! We have used DUDS for albums, ads and on our website. It’s a great dresser-upper. Although my husband and I are in our late 50s, our ads look cool and up-to-date thanks to you.

Thanks Ron and Renee for sharing. Your work is awesome and I really like how you used the DUDS along side your beautiful painted portraits! Keep up the good work!

Graduation cards are here!

We released our newest product today... a graduation card set, Natural. It includes all sorts of press product announcements, thank yous, 411 cards, seals, papers and a bonus signature board. Here are images exhibiting the contents of the DVD. Also, we are currently running a 15% discount on everything in the photoDUDS store. Please use the code spring15 to receive the discount.

Upcoming Release!!

We are diligently working on new products. Our next two releases consist of Graduation Announcements and accessories. Each set will include press products such as announcements, thank you cards, address labels, seals, 411 cards and a signature board. Plus, each set comes with a 10 coordinating papers. The first set, which we plan to release within the next two weeks, is shown here in the photo. The next set, which will follow in the few weeks after that will be a fun and funky set with zebra prints, hot colors and tons of attitude! So stay tuned, we have a lot of new things in the works!!