Serge Ramelli,  a French photographer living in the beautiful city of Paris, France and in Los Angeles, CA. is a favorite photography instructor of mine.  I have been following Serge for several years now and find his style of teaching very easy going and easy to follow.  During this time I have learned a lot of tips and techniques in using both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.  He is very generous with his instructions and gives out a ton of free stuff, (tutorials, raw files, presets, etc.).  In fact if I post the following link to his YouTube Channel I get to choose one of his courses for free.  Now how can I pass up a deal like that.  I bet if you were to follow him and that if you have a photography blog he might just make you the same offer.  I hope you enjoy his free Youtube tutorials.
Check out Serge Ramelli's Youtube channel! He has over 400 tutorials on photography, he is the number channel on Lightroom worldwide. If you want great tricks and tips photography check him, out! https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=cmoeu

Thank you Serge.


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Here's a quick tip on creating vignettes with different colors instead of the standard black or white or shades of grey.  I got this from Kathleen Clemons Creative Live class.  Visit her website at www.kathleenclemonsphotography.com

This technique uses the free NIX software from Google.  Check it out.

I came across this article recently and was struck by its unique relationship to photography.
How to Snipe Out Your Best Shots Ever, by Simon Takk, on the PictureCorrect.com website.  I was really surprised by the number of comments from readers that were negative to the tone of the article.  I personally think it is a good article and has a direct relationship to becoming a more observant and deliberate photographer.

Here's the link to the article, ​http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-snipe-out-your-best-shots-ever/

What do you think?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are in a fixed position and your telephoto lens minimum close up focus distance is beyond the subject?  Here's one way to solve the problem.  I came across this tip in the May 2016 issue of Outdoor Photographer, in an article by George D. and Kathryn Vincent Lepp.  They suggest adding an extension tube between the telephoto lens and the camera body.
This will reduce the close focus distance.  The example they used was with a 500 mm telephoto lens with a close focus distance of 12.4 ft.  Adding a 25 mm extension tube reduced the close focus distance to 7.5 ft.  They also suggest that if you add a tele extender between the camera and the extension tube you maintain the close focus distance while increasing the magnification. Pretty neat.  This is something else this Camera Junkie will have to look into, since I don't have any extension tubes.