Small treasures in unexpected places
Small treasures in unexpected places
I’m pretty sure I have mentioned before that spending time in Utah is not my favorite. I love, love being able to see my boys, and spend time with my family, but other than that….meh. Until Al sells his shop, we are stuck coming back here to do the majority of our art stuff for shows. It is not a good place to park the RV, and the surrounding area is well……not fabulous.
So imagine my surprise when we stumbled onto a nice little find. It all started when my son told me that a new photo place had gone in around the corner from him. He lives in a little town, with not much to speak of, so I was surprised. When Al and I started talking about the new art idea, he went there to see if we could have large photos printed. The owner of The Photo Shop, yep that’s the real name, was very helpful and extremely nice, and said yes he could print whatever we needed. I got on the website to check it out, and learned that you could use studio space with lights and everything for a minimal cost. So I contacted Steve, the owner, and he said he could help if I needed. Since I know zero about studio photography, this was a great deal. We really needed to get better photos of a couple of Al’s sculptures before leaving one of them in South Dakota. So a couple days later, we gave it a try. Steve was super helpful, and we ended up with some nice photos.
After we got back from South Dakota, I started going through more photos to print and use for art shows. I really, really love the 3 main horses in this photo, but was having a very hard time photoshoping out the background horses. I’m a self taught bumbler at Photoshop anyway, so this was a daunting task.
I emailed the photo to Steve to see if he could fix it for me, and what would it cost. He emailed right back and told me to come to the store anytime, and bring my computer. I went that afternoon and had a great photoshop lesson, stuff I was kinda close to doing, but he told me ways to do it so much better. Plus, I learned some other short cut tricks that will be very helpful. After a few hours, and some instruction, I ended up with this.
Ya, quite a difference. Steve gave of his time and knowledge, at no cost to me. Of course when we do get ready to print big stuff, he will get my business.
I hope very much that Steve and The Photo Shop can make it. I would like to think that the community can see value in the photo services he is offering. I love to see small business’s thrive, but I also know first hand how hard that really is. And it just goes to show, that true gems can be found where you least expect them.
So if you are a photo enthusiast, and find yourself in Utah County, Payson to be exact, check out The Photo Shop. And tell Steve hi.
That would be a dream having someone sit down and show us how to use photoshop better. That photo is amazing!
Amazing sculpture (as always.) You and Al are a very talented pair.
The picture with the 3 horses turned out very nicely – great capture of a moment.
Hello, I love the horses and the background! The edited version is pretty. I agree it is great to support the small business owners. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!
Amazing! Love how you show both photos — and the end result is even better given it came with such a generous gift of someone’s time and talents!
Al’s sculptures are stunning. Wow!
Oh I wish I had such a nice pro on my side too…. there are a lot of things on my cam I never used and I bet I could learn a lot…
We love to see small businesses thrive too, so glad you found them! Love Dolly
A very nice photoshopped one :)
That last shot is stunning!
Wow, what you did with the horse photo is really something! I’m glad you found that little treasure, and we also hope that his business is a success. I think customer service is a dying art, and shouldn’t be, so how wonderful to know it is still alive and well!
I would really love to figure out Photoshop. I have a copy at work but it’s such a daunting task for me that I haven’t even tried. The photo looks super cool! I’m guessing that you used the grass background to duplicate it and covered the horses instead of cropping them out. Is that how it’s done?