About technique and more.

Easy fix for red eyes in Photoshop on the iPad

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We all know them…
Those terrible red eyes….
Well what is it actually?

When we take a photo with flash from the same location as the lens (on camera) it can happen that the flash is reflected back from the inside of the eye (pupil) and that colours the pupil red which in a photo looks absolutely terrible.

There are solutions for this luckily.
First of all you can make sure the flash is not on camera, and this will also greatly improve the quality of your images I might add. But you can also use a system called “red eye reduction” this means the flash will give a very faint pre-flash which will close the pupil and reduces the effect a lot and often even removes it. And you can also solve it in retouching of course.

In this video examples on how to do it without any AI or plugins, in case your software doesn’t have a one click fix it all button.

How to (not) keep your customers

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Most of the time it’s all about photography on the blog, but I know you guys also love some business tips in between.
Let me start by stating that both me and Annewiek have been running our own companies for over 25 years so we definitely know how running a business works.

Customer care and happiness 
One of the most important things is keeping customers happy and giving them the feeling they were treated fairly. This doesn’t always mean the customer is right, it means that in the end the customer understands the solution and in most cases is happy with it. Let’s be clear, some customers you can never satisfy and they will try to get the utmost out of a situation and even don’t feel any shame to threaten with courts even if they are 100% not right, in all cases they will actually not push through but at that point for us as a company the trust and willingness to work for a customer is also gone, so always be careful how far you push a well willing shop/company

let’s give you a recent example and als the reason I think it’s important to write this as a business tip.
It’s no secret I love playing guitar and recording music. So during the pandemic we build a nice small studio setup at home, which we also use for the digital classroom episodes that stream from our home (something we couldn’t do before and now half of the streams are done via this setup)

The heart of a setup like this is the console
I bought a second hand console which worked like a charm but due to my switch to the M1 macs I needed to upgrade it and the choice was a behringer x32, the problem…… it was out of stock everywhere and when calling around delivery times of June this year would be expected (this was November last year)

Musicstore.de
To my surprise a huge music store in Germany did claim they had stock, even 2, so I immediately ordered the console and because the next digital classroom was 10 days later I expected it all to work out great, however my order didn’t update to shipped, at first I tried some emails and when I got an answer it was always the same “I see it in the storage and it will be send out tomorrow” now in the Netherlands a day is 24 hours and unless I missed something major it should also be in Germany. In the mean time we were almost 5 days further and the weekend was approaching so I tried to call them to hear the same, delivery on Saturday was absolutely no problem, it was on stock as they have been telling me from the start, they were actually surprised I asked because the site said stock…. Somehow they didn’t seem to understand that if I order something on Sunday that’s on stock I expect it to be shipped the latest on Tuesday. But we were now already on Friday.

via a friend of us we found another x32 that was offered via Amazon and decided to order that one also because mails and telephone calls to musicstore.de were very problematic with vague answers and more an attitude like “we send stuff out when we think it’s time and now stop asking”

the next day my x32 from Amazon came in and much to my surprise on Monday the x32 from the German store, because the other one was already installed we immediately send the x32 back to the German store unopened and the next day we got it in, of course we did mail them about it and because they have a 30 days money back option we didn’t expect any problems. Also because on their website the x32 still was not send out so although I did receive it there was no tracking number etc. If this was the case I have some understanding of what happens next.

much to our surprise we did not get our money back, in fact we got the message after asking a few times that we had store credit and that they did this manual, so I had to order for 1699 products and mail them and they will then handle that. This was the moment I started to protest and feel uncomfortable a lot.

Finding excuses to not pay up
excuse me…. Why do I need to buy 1699 in products (which I don’t need)?

Their response was pretty shocking and shows little to no customer support
According to musicstore.de the product I ordered COULD be used for a commercial product and send back, and their rules are simple, if you order something that could be used for a concert or event and send back they never give money back……

This is a bit like saying, we sell clothing and have a 30 days money back if you don’t like it,  but if it’s a product that could be worn for a day you don’t get your money back.

For people that don’t get this….
Almost 100% of music products that are being sold could be labeled like that.
You could use an effects unit for a show, a guitar, speakers for a mix, mics to record etc.  The only thing you can’t really send back of course are strings. So in essence they claim they can decide if they feel like giving money back or not and for us it was the end of the line, we had to spend 1699 otherwise there was no option, we even offered to pay restocking or for shipping, but no…. 1699 in credit.

now luckily we still have income during the pandemic but also for us this is boatload of money that just disappears now and can’t be used for food, mortgage etc. I can imagine for people that save for a year to be able to buy a product from musicstore.de will get into financial problems for the simple reason 1699 for most people (including us) is not the kind of amount you just spend for fun

but if you think it ends there….. no way
I decided to order 3 products which in essence I might have bought in the next 1-2 years. So my Xmas and birthday presents came early for the next 2 years.

Two products were in stock when I ordered, one not
It took us at least 4 hours calling to get everything in order, of course you never get a call back, and waiting times can be huge while another time you get someone within 10 minutes. But hey its a lot of money.

by the time we had the store credit it was another week after my order, and now…. One of the products was sold out but because I ordered it I expected to get it anyway (when we take orders the products are locked to that customer, even with backorders they are delivered in order of the order time)but no such luck, after a few mails demanding they deliver at least what’s on stock I never got an answer but the first product did came in.

after 4 weeks we saw that product 2 was on stock and I expected to see it delivered…. No luck so after a week (we are not unreasonable) started mailing again, no responses, so tried different mail addresses, no response, after a more demanding mail we still didn’t get an answer but two days later the product…. So it seems that keep pounding at the door does seem to help.

we are now months later and my third product also came in, so that was the time to write this article (first wanted to make sure it all was in) Now for us, the bizarre thing is that they claim that my mistake was not cancelling my order, the story that I did call them several times and also mailed them I would send it back a day after receipt because someone else did deliver out of stock all doesn’t count according to them….

so what is the learning part?
First of all…

Listen to your customer
without customers your company doesn’t make money, and customers have to come back, also mouth to mouth is the best advertising you can have, one angry customer can do more damage than 100 happy customers. So listen to your customer

reply emails
We have a rule of 24 hours, if you mail us we respond asap, even if we don’t have the answer.

Keep your client updated
This can be done via your site and order system, or just answer their mails when they ask about orders

service also beyond
You can always mail or call us about the products we distribute. Even if you didn’t buy them from us, we stand behind our company and if someone is unhappy about a product a dealer delivers and doesn’t have the answer this could be negative for our products while in real life 99% of the problems are easily solved. So we always try to work seamlessly with our dealers. Which helps the reputation of them, our products and our company, for the simple reason they trust us to also get other products from us.

the customer is almost always right
As mentioned before not all customers are equal but in our book the customer is always right unless it’s 110% sure he/she is not. But even if we find the customer not to be right we will try to find a solution he/she is happy with even if it means we have to take a hit financial (to a certain extend)

 

What could they have done better?
Well they broke almost every rule
We didn’t feel taken serious because we were treated like a nagging child waiting for it’s gift while in essence we were waiting for an expensive piece of gear that I clearly told them had to be in before Saturday.

when they didn’t deliver due to their mistakes in communication or transport we were held responsible for the costs and had to buy other products which they again messed up in their communication and even when the site said stock it took us several mails pointing them towards that fact before they send it out, all without a response from them by the way. So ok we didn’t cancel the order via the website, but this is like we make 10 mistakes and we don’t give a f7ck but you don’t mail us to cancel so bad news for you……

So how to make the customer happy?
Simple. First of all, just deliver what you promise, stock means we send it out today or tomorrow or the first working day. When you have a customer that is not happy mark that customer and make sure that someone in customer support picks up that customer and makes sure from that point on everything does go smooth.

the most bizarre part,… my x32 on my customer page is still…. In transit…..

Conclusion
Musicstore.de is huge, they have a very nice site and what I can see store, but this was my first and last experience with them, we regularly order gear from Baxstore, KeyMusic and Thomann and never ever had problems with returns or customer support, in fact all three call you up and when there is a problem all three are super easy with returns, and that way they will always see me back and I send a lot of friends to them. Musicstore.de lost us as a customer but did gave me the perfect example on how not to do business…

 

feel free to add your ideas or experiences

Best accessories for your new MacBookPro

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After working with the new MBP for a little while now I can say that it’s here to stay, it’s still not as smooth sailing as I wished for and a lot of things are still missing that will make the experience even better, but that all said it’s an awesome machine and lighting fast…. so for today let’s take a look at the accessories I would advise you to buy with your brand-new MBP.

Now if I would have written this article 10 years ago I would probably just advise some laptop accessories, but now a days the new MBP is so insanely fast I would (without any doubt) just replace my desktop PC/Mac and use the MBP on location and in the office/studio, so just be aware of that when you read the rest of the article. Some accessories are only meant for fixed locations and some are for on the road.

The MacBookPro…
Let’s first take a look at the MacBookPro itself.
I actually bought the 10/10 version with 16GB and 1TB drive.
I’ve seen a load of reviews from the “old” M1 laptops and the conclusion could be made that for 99% of us the M1 is already more than enough so the M1 pro with 16GB should probably be overkill for almost everything we do, unless you’re really into heavy lifting stuff I would advise this machine to give a great balance between price and performance.

The 13″ I never really liked, but the 14″ is actually a home run for me. Awesome size for travelling and working on your lap but still more than enough screen real estate so personally I would opt for the 14″ and the 16″ only when you really need the extra space.

And let’s kick off with the accessory I use the most.


LaCie SSD
This super small and super fast SSD has been in use almost daily.
I actually use some Velcro on the back of the drive and have the same patch on my laptop and iPad Pro, with a small USB-C cable I connect the drive to both devices (depending on which I use of course), this essentially gives me a super fast extra harddrive without adding too much weight plus due to it’s form factor it’s really securely attached with the velcro. I really can’t say enough good things about these drives.

BenQ Adobe RGB monitor
I didn’t mention a certain type for the simple reason the choice for an external monitor is very personal, but it’s a huge improvement and also one of the reasons I bought the 14″ which is the perfect size for travelling and working on my lap, but when connected to the external screen you can have a much larger workspace. The choice for BenQ I made a few years ago and I still strongly believe they have the best monitors out there for the best pricing, PLUS they support hardware calibration and are mostly delivered with a sunshade cover.

And let’s be honest an external monitor is a must have with a laptop when using it in a fixed location.

OWC Thunderbolt docks
I’ve tried different convertors and in essence they all work but never gave me the complete line up of ports I need. When we take a look at the OWC docks they are not cheap but they are very complete, my version (the Thunderbolt 3 version) has all the ports I need including network and display port, add to that a fast charging port for USB-c and card readers and a great design with the ports you switch between the most and card reader on the front and the rest in the back it will also keep your desk nice and clean.

Power cable for the powersupply
I really don’t understand why Apple doesn’t include this in the box, well I probably do understand because Apple earns another 25.00 bucks by you ordering this cable. Maybe you don’t need it when you sit next to the outlet but let’s be honest, most of the times you need a little bit more range so the extra cable is a must in my opinion, even if you don’t use it constantly.

LaCie rugged drives
Oh man I can’t say enough good things about these drives.
First I love the orange covers (being Dutch) but most of all the drives can take a beating, are fast enough for photo and video editing and they are available in different sizes of course, whatever you need, they will have something for you.

LaCie big dock
For the desk this is an amazing solution, also here you can get them in different sizes ranging from loads of space to insane amounts of space, so whatever you need…. they have one 😀
The main reason for me to chose for systems like this is that there is an extra layer of protection for your data by using drives in a RAID setup (or mirroring), and it just works a lot better than just some external USB-C drives. So if you care about your data you hopefully will invest in a good and solid backup solution also. In essence I would always advise to backup your data on at least two locations (plus in the cloud for the really important things)

Synology NAS
Not really something you probably buy when you think about a laptop but I still include it to just give you a little bit of warning that data is never safe if you only use an external hard drive (not even when it’s in RAID), so using a NAS is a very good solution. For years I’ve been using Synology and they are a really good choice for photographers seeing they are very active with new solutions like the recently released Synology photos which is an awesome solution to backup your images on the road to make sure they are safe when you are home.

However we also use our NAS for external access for our clients, my portfolio and for downloads that are too big (expensive) to store online, in essence a NAS that you use the right way will earn it’s investment back in a few years, and when you ever experience a crash of your hard disk you will agree with me they are worth every cent.

I do have to add that Annewiek and I ran a PC store for over 20 years and almost daily we had customers with dataloss in one or another way, again… a good NAS is a great backup, but so much more… and that’s why I highly recommend Synology there is a lot more possible than just making backups.

XP-Pen 12″
Man I love this little tablet.
You do need a power connection when working with it in screen mode but it’s an awesome way to do retouching on your images and the integration with Photoshop/Lightroom etc. is flawless, no parallax errors you sometimes see with other brands and they have a great customer support department, plus…. well you can safe a boatload of money the XP-Pen series are a great value for money.

I personally use the 12″ for on the road and the 24″ in the studio. Both are totally different devices but both are great value for money, and being Dutch (just kidding) this is always important of course.

Logic Keyboard
A few years ago I got into contact with Logic keyboards during a tradeshow.
Maybe you know them from the past when they were pretty big with skins you could place over your Apple keyboard with shortcuts. In all honesty I did own one and it worked, but it was never 100% comfortable. However time goes on of course and they now have a great line top with keyboards with different shortcuts including one for most of the Creative Cloud. I love how they type (a real sturdy keyboard with great travel) but also that they all have proper backlighting, and seeing I mostly work in a darker environment this is a real big plus.

You can also use two extra USB ports on the keyboard itself even with more power-hungry devices so although the keyboard takes up two USB ports, you also get two ports back, win win 😀

Apple Magic Trackpad/Logitech MX master
Still in doubt which one I love the most.
With the way Apple uses gestures and especially the almost flawless way they work on the Magic Trackpad it’s almost a no brainer, however sometimes I also think a mouse just works better and faster and over the years I’ve tried several mice but I still feel the Logitech MX master series is a very solid contender for the “perfect” mouse, especially due to the “thumb roller” which you can setup for swipe left and right and makes working under MacOS really a lot easier, especially when browsing.

Calibrite Colorchecker Display Pro
The screen from the new MBP is absolutely awesome but it still needs to be calibrated if you want to see the colours the way they are intended (or the way YOU want them). For years Calibrite products have been the cutting edge in the calibration scene and the Colochecker display pro is also compatible with the BenQ palette software so you can calibrate both the laptop screen and your fixed screen with the same analyzer.

Native instruments M32
Yes I know it’s a bit geeky but I just love making music and with Logic Pro X it’s now possible to have the whole power of a professional recording studio in your laptop with a boat load of free instruments, and to play them it’s of course easier to use a keyboard. I personally love the Native Instruments M32 because it’s nice and small but still the keys feel very nice and although they are not full size it’s a lot better than most small keyboards, plus there are a bit more range on the keyboard. Add to this a lot of free software and awesome sounding plugins and the asking price is almost ridiculously low.

Case…
Well can’t say anything yet because I’m not able to find a case yet, but I always highly recommend using a case to protect your investment.

 

Now let’s take a look at something else…..

iPad Pro and Apple pencil
Ok now this sounds a bit weird, why mention an iPad Pro with pencil in an article about accessories for the new MacBookPro… well there is a thought behind this. With Monterey Apple promises a really awesome integration between the iPad and the MBP making it possible to drag and drop files and use mouse and keyboard on both simultaneous making it a seamless integration. At least that’s what they promise and the demos Apple showed during the keynote where triggering my mind with all the possibilities.

Think about this:
Download your card and rename the images in MacOS.
Import everything in Lightroom CC so they are synced over the cloud.
Now retouch what you need on each machine.
This works like a charm but you need Lightroom CC and the cloud making it much harder to execute when the internet speed is slow.

Now think about this:
Do everything you want on your iPad (my preferred workflow) but if you need the full blown Photoshop… just drag and drop the file to the desktop and use the iPad Pro as input device for Photoshop and when done drag the file back… sounds like a dream and I wonder if working with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro this way will really work, or if it’s more aimed at office solutions. But Apple is of course a company that was/is aimed at creatives and with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil they have one of the best solutions for retouching/painting/drawing so it doesn’t sound like a long stretched if Apple would make it possible to use the iPad Pro with pencil as a real input device for Photoshop…..

 

Now of course all accessories are very personal and have to be tailor made for your workflow but I hope that with this overview I might have given you some ideas for the upcoming holiday season…..

If there is enough interest I can also make a software version.

How to turn on lights in photoshop

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In today’s tip
How to turn on lights in Photoshop on the iPad pro (and desktop)
https://youtu.be/g8OndVHWVNM