Holiday Portraits

Well, we have finally made it to the start of Holiday Portraits. We officially start shooting tomorrow (11/12/09). I think we will have a good turn out. We have been handing out flyers all around the community, as well as word of mouth. The set is very colorful, and a little bit different from the traditional red and green Christmas. Our waiting area is set up and ready to go as well. We have paper on the wall where the kids can color on it if they wish. Damian had a great idea about bringing in the fireplace prop and placing the TV in the opening. We also have a Christmas tree in there as well. However, by adding the fireplace prop, it really added that "homey" feel.

Santa Chair Search Continues

I thought I had found a great chair; however, when I spoke with George Mosca, president of Mosca Designs, I was sadly disappointed. The chair is too expensive, but it would have looked great on our Holiday Portraits set. So I won't be taking that whirlwind trip to Raleigh, NC.

Inspiration Needed

As I prepare for one of my next assignments, I am feeling a little low on the "creative juices". Must be because of the rain! I was reading some information about Ansel Adams. He was such an amazing photographer. I was reading some of his quotes and came across this one, "Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution." I repeated this to myself several times, and I have a more positive attitude about completing the assignment. I found this video of an interview of Ansel, and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Update on Santa Chair

Well, keep fingers crossed. I may have found a Santa chair for our Holiday Portraits set. It is available in other colors as well, but I think the green works best. If everything works out, such as the right price, I'll be making a whirlwind trip to Raleigh, NC to pick it up. I found a commercial holiday decorations website that has some really gorgeous stuff. They work on a large scale by decorating for malls. They have mall size Santa sets. They have a large variety, so hopefully everything will work out! I'll keep looking just in case this falls through.

Photojournalism - Fill Light Assignment

Our next assignment for Photojournalism is fill light. I need to improve in this area. I end up over-exposing more images than ones that turn out normal. As I prepare, I was researching on the internet and came up with this demo. I also found this site as well. Hopefully, it will be helpful too.

Holiday Set 95% Finished

We have worked diligently on our Holiday Portraits set, and it has paid off. We are very close to having the set completely finished. We are currently working on getting the lights right. I am still searching for a Santa chair. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know.

I'm Moving...Maybe

Our Multi-media instructor is having the class set up blogs on Wordpress. I have gotten my feet wet, but I have not made a decision as to which blog site I like best. However, for future class assignments, I will be using Wordpress. I will also be blogging on this site as well.

Amazing Article

I've just finished an article about Scott Bourne in the current issue of Professional Photographer. It is titled, "Internet Famous: How Scott Bourne harnessed the power of the World Wide Web." Please take a few minutes and read this article. If nothing else, take a look at his images. They are amazing as well. Also, he will be presenting, "Social Media Will Expand Your Business" at Imaging USA 2010 in Nashville, Tenn. This is definitely someone I want to put on my list to meet as well as see what kind of tips he can drop my way!

Scooter

This was my buddy, Scooter. He was a Miniature Schnauzer weighting about 12 pounds, and he was the best dog I ever had. I had him trained to hand signals. He was a very smart dog. I wish I had taken more pictures of him. He was a wonderful companion. As I was going through our pictures, I realized that I have just a few pictures of him, and none of those do him justice. He had silky hair and not the wiry hair like most Schnauzer's have. He was completely black when he was a puppy and turned to a beautiful silvery gray. I found two sites about pet photography and I wanted to share it with you.
One is by Digital Photography School and the other is Best Friend Photography. Also, there is an article in the September issue of Professional Photographer titled, "Animal Instincts." It is written by three pet photographers, Bev Hollis, Teresa Berg, and Barbara Breitsameter. They have formed Unleashed Workshops for other pet photographers. I wish I had read this information before we had to shoot our pet portraits. Nonetheless, life goes on and we now have another dog, a Chihuahua, but Scooter has a place in my heart that no other dog can fill.

Nikon External Battery Pack

I have the Nikon SB-800 on camera flash, and I have had issues with the recharge time. I was shooting a graduation and unfortunately it wasn't recycling quickly enough. I purchased the Nikon SD-8A external battery pack, and I have not had any problems with the flash recharging time. The following video demonstrates the external battery pack.


I would recommend this to all. I have been very pleased.

Making My Christmas Wish List

I shoot with a Nikon D100 right now, but I just got the D700. I have several lenses including the Nikon AF Nikkor 24-120mm (3.5-5.6), Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm (4-32), Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 105mm (2.8-32), and a Tamron 200-400mm (5.6-32). However, I am taking photojournalism this quarter, and I have had some assignments that needed a zoom lens with a 2.8 aperture. The lens that will fit for me is the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8.

My Camera Bag is Getting Heavier and Heavier

I have a Lowepro SlingShot 220 AW camera bag. I chose this bag because I thought it would fit all my camera bag requirements; however, it is heavy. I came across this article in the Travel Photographers Network about heavy camera bags. I found it to be interesting reading. Even the digital age can't improve all areas of photography.

In addition, there is another article in the Travel Photographers Network about Shooting Dramatic Fireworks. For those like me who don't quite get the best shot, this article may come in handy at the next fireworks display!

Flip Video Camera

I have been using the Flip Ultra HD video camera for a short period of time now. I have not had a lot of "play" time, but it seems to be simple to operate. I like the simplicity of the controls, and the easy way to charge. Simply plug it into the USB port on your desktop or laptop. I was in Barnes and Noble bookstore and found a Flip Pocket Guide, so I picked one up.

Photographing Children

I have 6 nieces and nephews all under the age of 7. I love taking photos of all of them. However, I do have difficulty catching those great expressions. I found an article on BetterPhoto.com with helpful tips about photographing children. I found it very helpful.

Business in the Boondocks, Thriving as a rural photographer

I was reading the August edition of Professional Photographer, and came across an article titled Business in the Boondocks. We live in Grayson, a suburb of Atlanta, and the photo business is very competitive, but also offers more opportunities. My husband is not too far from retirement, and we will probably retire to Hiawassee in the North Georgia Mountains. I still have both of my childhood homes, and the location is ideal. It's inside the city limits just off Main St., and offers an excellent location for a business. I would like to convert the smaller house into a studio and renovate the other house to live in. I have concerns that I would not have enough business to make a go of it. However, after reading this article, it has helped to lessen some of those concerns.

The article is about Megan Franks and Four Seasons Photography, based in Leedey, Oklahoma.

High Megapixels Magic Trick

I came across this video by Nikon concerning megapixels. I found it interesting. I use Nikon products, and I'm always looking for any information that will help improve my techniques, and give helpful tips.



I hope it helpful to any of my fellow classmates who shoot with Nikon.

A Beautiful Moon

I know the Harvest Moon is the September Full Moon, but it is huge tonight. I attempted to get some of those images that the masters capture, but I was just a little off. My images don't even compare. However, it was fun trying. I was surfing the web about photographing the moon and came across these two helpful videos by Nikon.

Santa's Chair

As we get ready for our Holiday Portraits, I am in need of a Santa chair. I don't have time to make one, and don't want to spend a chunk of money for one either. I am open to suggestions.

Oh, Do I Feel Foolish!

One of the first things that a photographer should do....IS CHECK THE BATTERIES. I have the rechargeable batteries, and they hold a charge for a long time. I shot over the weekend, and just neglected to check the level. We were working on the Holiday Portraits set, and I was going to take some shots. Well, I get my camera out, focus, and get ready to snap the shot and nothing. So I have learned a very valuable lesson.

Halloween Fun

I had a special Halloween this year. I had my sweet little niece, Taylor, and nephew, Zachary, with me for part of the weekend including most of the day on Halloween. We left Friday night to go to Blairsville to visit my daughter. She doesn't get to see them as much since she has been away at College (Young Harris College). We had big plans for Saturday. We were going to go to Southern Tree Plantation. They have a petting zoo, hay rides, pony rides, mashmallow roasting, and a kids train ride. Unfortunately, for the kids the farm was closed because of rain, so we went to Walmart, purchased 2 pumpkins and a carving tool kit. We took the pumpkins back to Katie's house. Taylor carved a Mummy, and Zachary carved Hothead. We had a bad start to the day, but it ended up well. Hope all had a Happy Halloween, we did.

Fall Colors

The fall colors in the North Georgia Mountains are beautiful. Even with the rain, the colors were still gorgeous. The weekend plans started off taking my in-laws on a trip with their church group. We had a picnic at Fort Mountain State Park near Ellijay, Ga. The weather was a major factor. We were suppose to have nice weather. Instead, we had cloudy skies and mists of rain off and on. The wind was very gusty. I believe that was the shortest picnic I've ever been on. We were at the picnic tables for a total of 30 minutes max, and I believe it might have been even shorter than that. As we started back toward home, we stopped by Reece Apple House and got some fresh homemade fried apple pies. They were very good!