Who are we?

Rob….aka fineart….I believe my experiences shaped me, and molded my gifts into what they are.

And I get to tell my story, my challenges to others, and help them, anyone who is like me, looking for direction, for council, for someone to look ‘em in the eye and ask with strength and conviction: what do you want? who are you? where do you want to go? how much do you want to make? create? let’s go!

Currently, I run a full time portrait and wedding photography business from our home studio location. In spite of many full timers struggling, many failing and packing it in, I can say we haven’t had to pack it.

To the contrary, business is great and I personally believe marketing and personal passion plays a huge role in this.

I am co-founder of No Bs Photo Success Inc™. I am affiliated and have taught many times at Niagara School Of Imaging. I was a writer for shootsmarter.com going on about 7 years so far, maybe more (who’s counting). Traveled to many places on my motorcycle, including Alaska in 2008. Played in a blues band for a while (guitar, sing, harmonica). I’ve the coordinator and master brains behind the Inferno 3 Day Workshop…

I’ve organized and presented at many other workshops. I don’t get out that often to speak, preferring to stay close to home and helping others via the forum or skype and gotowebinar….

life is good. My website HERE

My extendo biography is HERE in case you’re super bored.

Ernie Basciano, “I love photography of any kind…except maybe weddings and newborns. (both because I hate being shit on)

Long time sufferer of equipment envy for which I have tried rehab several times. Proud member of the geek community. Starving artist on a diet.

I am also a proud “Cat Daddy”.I have studied graphic design. My thirst for knowledge and ADD combine to take me to some strange places on the internets, some of which kind of scared me. Always striving to improve, I try to be my own harshest critic. Some day I will complete one of the many personal projects I embark on. Ernie”

Bill Guy….He’s the certified, qualified, yodafied photoshop guru in the forum.
He’s so smart we even dedicated a forum with his NoBull Photoshop webinar replays for members to watch at their convenience

Bill has been around since the days of film. For those who don’t know what film is it was a long roll of plastic type material that we would load into the back of cameras and after we shot only about 15 to 36 images had to take it out and hope that we did not misplace it before we mailed it off to a lab. Film cameras were unusual in that we never knew how the images would look before we got small prints called proofs back. There were no images on the back of the camera and in most cases we only had two controls on the camera itself, shutter speed and F stop plus we even had to advance the film to take another shot using a crank or a lever. What this meant was photographers had to understand lighting, posing, and exposure when working with clients. Plus we couldn’t afford to shoot random things because each time we clicked the shutter it cost us money. I don’t think any wedding shooters in the days of yore would ever think about shooting thousands of images so we would just have to be careful and really think about what we were shooting.

After he inhered Arthritis from his mother in his knees (he would have preferred cash) he had to sell his studio in Northern Arizona and become a house husband (or as his kids referred to this as Domestic Dictator) but since his studio was the first in Northern Arizona to start using Digital for copy and restoration he really got into Photoshop and this new world of digital photography. Were other photographers would disregard the new world of digital (“Digital is never going to take the place of film”) Bill was going around and teaching many of these same photographers just what could be done with Photoshop without them admitting to other photographers they have gone over to the dark side.

Bill has been a part of NOBS for a long time, almost as long as Rob and James, as the resident Photoshop Guru. Along with others who share here he is available to answer questions and provide creative ideas to whoever asks.

So why does Bill teach and feel so passionate about Photoshop and Lightroom? Well he love teaching these programs and as he is often heard saying “It is all about the Love”. He has taught in classes ranging from just a few to a couple of hundred. He also offers a One on One class which he does as Computer to Computer lessons. Clients are able to see his screen or with permission he can see the screen of the client. This means that he can teach anywhere in the world where a client has a fast internet connection.

Holy krap! Check this out…from his website: “Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University and is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop. Additionally he has more than 20 years as a professional photographer.“

Some say he’s an old guy. I say he’s wise beyond his years, and has a razor sharp sense of humor. He’s been around the NoBs Photo Success universe a long time and you can rely on answers, in depth ones, on any photoshop, or photoshop related question or challenge

I mean nobody is as crazy and out there as Danny Rabalais