DiGiTalAlTeRaTiOnS

Appologies

2007-07-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hello to anyone still checking in here. I have to give my sincerest apologies, I have been a bad blogger here. Most everything has been posted recently on my other blogs, Cyndie Planck Photography and my personal family blog Planck's Place.

Check them out if you like, someday I will get back to posting here, I just haven't had time lately! (Pant pant)

More filly fun

2007-03-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

More fun with the filly, my client asked if I could add flowers to this image, so of course I took it one step further, added "God light" and flowers, and the border, what do you all think?

Ahhh Spring

2007-03-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for our annual trek to the tulips fields, they are saying max viewing is the second week in April, so I pulled these up from 2005, just to peek a bit early......

Fun with a filly.

2007-03-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Photoshop magic, I added the edge effect from "the library" I purchased from Graphic Authority, and added the "God light" myself in PSCS2. What do you think? Looks like an easter card to me, just needs a bunny or egg or something, hey, I could DO that!

What do you think?

Camera Repaired! YAY!

2007-03-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

So I have had problems off and on since this last summer with my Canon 20D. And I have to admit, I didn't just send it in, I kept thinking to myself, well, what if it's me and there is nothing really wrong, how embarrasing would that be? Maybe I just have something really obvious set wrong....

Turns out, it got worse and worse, so I did send it in, and there were like 5 things wrong! The most serious of them being the entire electrical system was out of calibration! Bad news was the bill, but the good news is, YAY I have my camera back fully functioning like it should be! What a difference, it's like night and day, whew!

Here is a shot of my daughter in our backyard from some of my test shots after the repair today. I still have a 70-200 USM IS 2.8 Lens I rented from "rent-glass" I can't wait to go out and play more now, pray for some sun tonight or tomorrow!

Here's the rest of the photos from my "pracitce shoot" if you want to peek: http://www.cyndieplanck.com/spring07/index.htm

Spring 2007

Compilation fun

2007-03-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent "collage" more of a compilation if you ask me. A client I shot for earlier last month asked me to do this for her. I thought I would share, It's been fun having real work to do!

alteration fun

2007-02-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun project I did up today, just to play.... I love it when I get a chance to do something fun for me! I shot this horse in an arena, not a real nice background as you can see..... With all the rain, it is mud city outside these days around here.

So I extracted her and did a quick touch up and some small tweaks....

Then dropped her into a black background, but alone like this it bugs me because sheis floating on air....

So I played with the filters to make it look more like an art painting... What do ya think?

Smiles

2007-02-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Here's an image from a recent shoot, it started out bad with rain and a very "active" mare, and ended up magic!

AWOL!

2007-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been gone lately, can I just say, business is booming! I have been so busy I can't blog, imagine that! I do promise to be back now soon...... Here's a mistake shot, that I thought turned out really cool (flash didn't fire) so I played with it, and came up with this, what do ya think? Fun or too funky?

More self promo

2007-01-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

SO, here's a couple "mock-ups" I need a postcard flyer for an upcoming horse fair.

Which card front do you like best? I thought I would put this up here and get some feedback...

My new baby...

2007-01-13T15:08:00.001-08:00

OK, so I haven't been posting much around here lately. I have been working on my website, and have added a "business only" blog. Cyndie Planck Photography . It's basically a blog on my photography business site, so I can post and update my most current stuff, and it works as a sort of check in on me gallery. I will still post my private work and fun here though.

I have a few recent shots up and sample work there now, check it out if you like :)

Fun with Photoshop

2007-01-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

This morning I started a little project, I may have some work shown soon, and spent the night thinking, what could I do that would be "wow" besides just pretty photographs. I wanted to incorporate my digital skills with my photography, so what do you think? Would you do a digital presentation, or just go with the photos well framed?

Happy birthday to me.....

2007-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

OK, so today is my birthday, yay me, anyway.........

I received my very first wacom pad from my loving husband and dearest daughter. I have used these else-where, but never here at home. So I have thrown away my mouse and am adjusting quickly to my new most favorite thing ever! It's a bit sensitive, but I figure I will use it for a week this way, and what I don't adjust to, I will customize. So many thanks out to my family, love yous-guys! I can't stop playing with this thing :) :) :)

Silliness abounds

2007-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

SO this was taken a while back while photographing a friends daughter. Her Dad was kind enough to help by holding the gold reflector, being a goof ball in nature, he couldn't resist taking a lap around the field wearing the thing like a cape, and I couldn't resist a few good blackmail shots! And of course I had to disguise them with a couple of grunge overlays....

Zoo Lights

2006-12-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! I just wanted to share a little fun we had last night, we took the family and walked around "zoo lights". It was amazing really, I haven't ever been and I was amazed at all the lights and detail. OK I am a geek for stuff like this, so I grabbed my camera and hand held all my shots at 3200! So of course there is some noise and they aren't all sharp, but I was surprized at how good some came out for snapshots! Here's a few from the night, these and more on my planck's place site too :)

SNAP SHOT

2006-12-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christams or whatever you celebrate, and a happy new year! I hope you are all warm and cozy. Here's some holiday baking I did with my daughter, I thought I would cyber share with you all, sit with us, have some cocoa or coffee and a cookie won't you?

"HUM" A LITTLE TUNE

2006-12-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke to frozen frost everywhere. Everything was a gorgeous white. After driving my hubby into work so I would have the 4X for the day, (Besides the fact that he possibly has a broken knee, to be looked at tomorrow) I came home and took the camera out for a quick spin.

While the thermostat read 28 degrees, I found this little guy sitting up in our star magnolia, just a singing away happy as can be. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I think I will set up my tripod and wait for them to come to the feeders today, maybe I will get a good shot, since they are not shy in this cold, the need to eat frequently overcomes any fears they may have had.

I hope everyone is comfy and warm out there!

Christmas Love

2006-12-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight we decorated our tree, this was the very first ornament hung, and my daughter insisted that she hang it, it was cute, she is soooo very, very excited about it all this year. Oh to be 5 again. It is wonderful seeing Christmas through her eyes!

Thanksgivings past

2006-12-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

I was going through some older photos from 2 thanksgivings ago for a specific photo I needed for a current project, anyway, I came across this shot. It's funny how sometimes I shoot and come home all excited, upload my images, and then... Blah. They do nothing for me at all. Time goes by and I stumble across them and think, hey, why did I over look these?

I have learned to go back and re-evaluate my work, to give it a month and look again, it's amazing what I see after I have become less emotionaly involved. I almost always see stuff I like that I looked over, and it happens too, that I look at the images again, and what I loved the first time, wasn't good at all really. Perspective I guess...

So many times we photograph things that hold emotion for us the photographer, then don't understand when everyone picks other shots as their favorites. I can honestly say, "now I get it!" When I take out the emotion, I am a better judge of my technical skills. This shot isn't technically correct, (I hated it at first and can pick it apart up one side and down the next, believe me, I am my own worst critique, there are not many of my own shots that I wouldn't fault terribly) but I now see a liitle bit of what others go "wow" about I suppose, sometimes I just have to let the technical edge slip a bit, and go with what brings out the emotions in other people. :)

Just my 2 cents today!

Snow Fun.....

2006-11-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday took us up to Mt Hood for our "annual after Thanksgiving play in the snow trek". There was fresh snowfall, and a pending storm on the way, but it didn't seem to stop anyone, the place was packed.

It was like a magical day, we left the house late, got up to the Mt. and the parking was hopeless, and just by chance the guy in front of our rig was pulling out, so we got parking before the 200 or so ppl in line. We forgot our sled, and dd was about to be bummed out about it when someone offered us one that had been left behind by another... So we "disked" for a couple of hours.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, about 45-50 degrees, no wind, sunshine everywhere, we got by with polar fleece jackets. (Of course we brought the heavy duty stuff too, but didn't need it) and on our drive home, we happened upon the view point just as the sun was setting and it gave us the "alpine glow" effect, I snapped a few quick shots, as the window of light is about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes total.... I cannot tell you how many times I have drove up there, waited and never got the alpine glow....

So all in all, it was wonderful! Here are some shots from the day, snapshots really, I didn't go up planning to shoot except us playing in the snow, so these are all off the cuff, enjoy!

More to come!

more snow fun

2006-11-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

and of course darling daughter too :)

2006-11-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

For my action photographer friends

2006-11-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Hey all you's guys (and gals) friends of mine that shoot action, got any great football shots with the necessary release forms? Canon has an amature contest going, check it out here.... http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/NFL/index.html?id=photocontest

(They define a "pro" as someone who earns over 51% of their income taking or selling photographs)
Happy Turkey day coming up to you all!

A LITTLE MORE

2006-11-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

So I got to play a little bit more tonight with my new stuff, here's a few photos I did up. I can't believe how easy these are, and how fun it is to play around to get these looks.... I could make up templates of my own, but the time it takes, makes me crazy.... Now I might start making a few more as I go and think of new stuff. What do you all think?

PHOTOSHOP SEMINAR

2006-11-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today 3 of us from NSP went to the Photoshop for Photographers tour, with Ben Willmore. It was an intense day of photoshop, fun and lots of goodies. Pretty much the seminar was all stuff I knew and work with but we got some great tips, short cuts, and refreshers along the way. (And I did learn a couple "new" things) It was a perfect seminar for those wanting to get their feet wet, a bit redundant for some of the more advanced users I think.

I splurged and bought a "library" of graphic edges and brushes. 7 dvd's full for the price of 3, ya, I am a sucker for a sale... The bundle was also loaded with grunge techniques, backgrounds, and lots more goodies! I only had a fleeting moment to play tonight, but here are 3 edges... hours of playing left to do, lots of new collage and grungy things to come!

check out the makers here:

GraphicAuthority

The final product

2006-11-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

OK, here are the final results after asking everyone I know and getting their opinions! Thanks everyone for putting up with me I really appreciate your imput! I am sure you are sick of looking at this, so just one more time...... I ordererd the postcards today, I hope they look as good when I get em in my hands!

Here's the front:

Here's the back, I had to leave room for a mailing label and postage:

Mind boggling

2006-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, can I just say, when you really get into it all, (I am refering to the photography business) It is truly mind boggling. I cannot tell you how many sites I have looked at, comparing services and prices... I mean really, how does one come up with a reasonable rate, pricing, and make the profit margin, while giving their clients the best deal? It's crazy. I guess you pick a starting point and go with what sells..... I have been told it is much easier to lower your prices than raise them, so I aim for the mid range I guess..... I can go lower because I do not have the overhead of a studio, but I still have to consider insurance, incorporating, and someday, God willing, maybe even a studio of my own if things really take off. :)

It's crazy I tell you, and I need a break from all this business thinking I think! But if I slow down, I loose my momentum, sigh, whew! OK, so here is one dilema I am facing..... traditional pricing vs copyright free cd...

On one hand, a sitting/session fee and package prices with ala carte, and on the other hand I am starting to see with the digital era, alot of pros, shooting, editing and selling a copyright cd to their clients, and walking away from money from print orders...

It seems to me, that in the end, you make about as much from each shoot and the latter is much less time and cost intense. Let me explain.... I'm just picking a random fee and spitting out amounts for examples....

Traditionally, you shoot, edit, produce proof prints to the client, take and fill and order for prints, and return the final product. you have your time shooting, editing, printing proofs, time for pick up of proofs, or shipping proofs, time waitig for the order, time filling the order (back and forth to the lab or uploading etc), possible hassle from your lab, packaging, and returning the order to the client. Say a good order is $100 for sitting and $250.00 in prints ordered (OK I know it goes way up from there, or sometimes it's 70 bucks) So there's $350.00.

NOW.... If you shoot digitally and offer an "all inclusive session" Say you charge $400.00 for the session, (I am talking 8-12 proofs kinda standard, or whatever you normally shoot and give) an online gallery and a copyright free cd. You have your time shooting, upload, editing, then it's done, for the same or more amount really.... The customer has to pay for their prints from there, but... it's on their time and dime. You can recommend a lab or let them go where they love to have stuff done... If it doesn't meet their standards, they take it up with the lab.... not you. They make as many copies as they want, for as long as they want, so they win out with this really. (Up front it's a lot of money, but if you order or want a lot of prints it's cheaper real fast) How many folks limit their orders because of expense. Images they might have purchased in the beginning might get cut for the budget, this way, they print what they want when they can.

You as the photographer goes on to shoot more and spend less follow up time on each order. And cut out time packaging, those materials and shipping costs when applicable....

Of course you may loose out when the occasional customer that spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars comes your way on the print order, but for most of us, that's rare indeed.... And you can offer printing services if your customer doesn't want to mess with it or wants pro papers.

The cd method seems like a win-win situation to me, if I can just get over the photographer's ego, to hold all rights to our images... I would still retain release rights for publishing and whatever I want to do with the images under my name as well.
The customer wins, because they can do almost anything with those images short of publishing them. They can email them, websites, scrapbook, print, whatever.....

So I ask, what are your opinions, Come on, I know you have em! Let's hear it, from customers to fellow photogs! Whadda ya think?!!! Email me privately if you would like to express you opinion and not make it public please :) It's on my profile...

YOUR VOTES PLEASE!

2006-11-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

OK, I need some help.... I am in need of some promotional materials to hand out and send in the mail... Vista print offers oversized post cards fairly reasonable, (you can also find a coupon code for 50% online any order over 50 bucks...) so I downloaded their psd and I made these up today and wanted to share, Any suggestions? Which one of these is YOUR favorite? Votes please?!

Basically I am having a hard time picking one to use... I have a favorite, but I want to see what you all think first? The backside will be printed with my contact info, and price list for sittings etc....

Free hugs!

2006-11-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Chad, YOU ROCK! Thanks so much for the heads up, this is so cool!

I took a photo of a kid at Saturday Market a while back that had a free hugs poster, some of you may have seen it.... well this explains it all I think, I had to share with ya'll...... Below is my photo too! Now I wanna go find him again! Click on the link in the title here and watch the oprah interview! Way fun!

Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

A couple more links to check out....
free hugs campaign
free help campaign

TINK

2006-10-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

As halloween approaches, the parties begin. This is my daughter in one of her costumes for this year. We attended two parties today! Great fun!

There are more here......

Planck's Place

Saturday Shoot

2006-10-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of shots from Saturday morning....

And more....

2006-10-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday Market

2006-10-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more photos from my excursion to the Portland Saturday Market....

FUN SHOT

2006-10-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the Portland Saturday Market this past weekend, and I got some real fun shots, I have been so busy I haven't had time to even go through them all, here's one, more to some soon!

Notice the blade aimed right at his face in mid air? It's kinda hard to see on this little shot....

Back in Business!

2006-10-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

So, I took my stubborn disk into work today, and we recovered everything! Whew, I couldn't believe it, what a scare! I will have to ask tomorrow what the name of the software is, and I will post it later.... What a life saver, mostly everything was snapshots of my daughter and my Parents, but I got a couple images, I would have been really sad to have lost!

Here's a few to share!

Akkkkkkkkk!

2006-10-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

So, I finally get out today, with camera in hand, lacking much inspiration, I followed my dearset daughter around a local duck pond, shot some ducks (with the camera) nice green algea in the water, and then notice how much fun she is having, so as I tune in to her, I get some super great shots, I get home, cannot wait to download them to see them, and wahmo, it happens, my cf card fails.... nothing... nada, not one image on it. I am devastated! And I saw them on the card when I looked thru it in preview, right before I took it out of the camera, and I KNOW I didn't format it...... AKKKKKKKKKKK

We have disk recovery software at work, so I will take my disk in and try to see if I can resurrect anything from the now dead cf card.....(cross your fingers!) It's amazing what can be recovered, but I won't hold my breath, it would be my luck that mine is just gone..... So stay tuned, maybe tomorrow night I will have something to show you!

OH GIVE ME A HOME.....

2006-10-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't been out shooting this past week, I guess it could be called a break, but it's more like the ordinary hustle and bustle of life, and going back to work. Even though it's part time, it still seems to stiffle my creativity each year when I go back, so here I sit, going through older photos I have taken and I came across this one.

I took it on our journeys thru Utah this summer, and thought I would share, just to get a photo up really.... I am taking my camera out this weekend, rain or shine, so I should have some new stuff up soon, until then, I will post other stuff I guess!

Digital Magic

2006-09-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a little digital magic sample to share. A before and after shot. On the left is straight from the camera, and the right after I played a bit, this is the 5 minute version, if I had been making a print I would have been a bit more fussy over it. What do you think?

SOLD

2006-09-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

ADDITIONS

2006-09-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here's 3 more for your viewing pleasure..... This place was amazing, no matter where you turned there was something in every space, an organized sort of chaos, and completely compelling, you just had to keep looking around.

RED DOOR

2006-09-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here's another...... When I took this shot I knew that the couch out front was trouble, I even considered dragging it away from the building to shoot, but there were a lot of people around and I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I left it. Well, now after seeing it, I kinda like it there, it gives it that down home "white trash" effect :) Haven't we all looked at a place with an old couch or two out front at one point or another? Anyway, many more to come, I had time to play with this before work this AM, better go dry my hair now! (Yep, I am hopelessly obsessed!)

ADDITIONAL WINE TOUR IMAGES

2006-09-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more images I went thought tonight, enjoy!

A TRIP THROUGH OREGON'S WINE COUNTRY

2006-09-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today we drove through some of Oregon's wine country with a friends car club. We went to a few vineyards, an antique shop and a local berry farm shop. It was a blast, we did about 100 miles then ended up back home with a bbq. Here's a few of the shots, I have many many more I will add as I process them.

The first stop was at Oak Knoll Vineyard, this little guy was just calling out to model for me.
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These were stacked along side of a building and caught my eye.

Not your usual grape shot, these were "rasins on the vine"!

Cool towers, I have no idea what they use these for.

Inside the gift shop.

I cannot remember the name of the next winery, it was very small, intimate, and cozy, with lovely grounds and wonderful people. I will post when I figure it out. These were inside.

This was the view as we drove in.

One of the stops was an antique shop, it was so much fun, there were tons of things everywhere, a sort of organized chaos. This building was across the parking lot and I couldn't help but notice this corner room.

purple insulators, who woulda thunk it?

a case full of old jewlery and pins.

More to come tonight!

BLOG WORTHY

2006-09-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a few shots from last Saturday's "senior" portrait session, (she's actually a junior) there's tons more on my website under proofs.... Anyway, I was happy with them and thought I would share, there's just no way you could take a bad shot of this gorgeous girl and she was an absolute delight to work with!

GARDEN BEAUTIES

2006-09-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I felt the urge to go out and shoot something, just didn't have much time, so I found these in my backyard. I don' t usually shoot flowers, because, well, everyone does that. But it was good practice, and I am still testing the camera trying to decide if it's me or if it needs to be sent in. These were shot with cloudy skies, so there's no hot areas to clip really.... The camera did fine, it just seems to fail under real bright light. anyway, here's a couple shots for the day.

2006-09-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of what I got the other day, these are right from the camera, shot on a tripod, same settings, location, I didn't move, and neither did he. One is fine (a bit dark) and the other was blown away.... it's hard to show here, it really shows when you look thru a dozen images or so, It looks like I could just darken the light image and match it, play with the exposure in RAW and come out with something good, but when I do, it bands, gets halos around the white edges, color fringes and really goes contrasty, it's strange the info just isn't there like it should be. I am going to go out and shoot a series of specific shots now tonight, thinking I may be going crazy, lol, hoping and praying it isn't the same thing again and it was something I had set wrong. Cross your fingers for me, and I'll post more on this later. I also have to dig up my reciept from the repair, so I can determine exactly what it was they fixed last time..... Thanks for your comments, keep em coming! Please!

TOADIES

2006-09-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, last friday I shot the kids in the park, under pretty hot sun, got home, and as I was processing the photos, I noticed, my highlights are blowing way out, and I am having exposure issues... A year ago, something went out in my camera and I had to send it in for a rebuild, luckily, it was covered under warranty. Well, guess what, it's back, a year later... I am loosing detail in whites and the meter is not reading correctly. ARGH! Anyone wanna buy a 20D cheap? This time I am not under warranty, so I will see what Canon does, since it's a prior problem with this camera. The misfortune of buying the first release of anything, I got the lemon.

Having said that, to test my theory it was going out again, I shot these little toadies out in the full sun, in the 80 degree heat, yep, I see the failure, you may too, but the shots were really fun. I don't think the common eye would see the defects, but I do and it is making me crazy..... If I can hold off untilt he 26th of Sept, my back up camera will be back from Africa (my parents borrowed it) and I can send this one out, sigh....

Let me know what you think of my macros here, I had fun with these little guys... talk about hard models, there were two I was working with, try getting these guys to stay still to get perfect focus in such a shallow DOF! It was a blast.....

I took this shot for scale, I had to "pinch" this little guy between my forefinger and thumb to get this shot, he wasn't hurt, these guys are so small still, a little less than the size of my fingernail!

He turned as I snapped, and I was thrilled when I saw the image, thought it was a lost shot, but I loved the shadow coming thru the leaf!

Well, here you can see the exposure trouble a bit, no matter what I do, the blacks are underexposed, and this was RAW.... but I like how he sat in the leaf so I added it anyway.

another blown shot, or so I thought when I took it as he jumped out of the frame, I was tickled to see him all blurry, so I added this to show also.... It's so funny, sometimes, what you weren't trying for turns out great, this was fun for me.

Streeeeeeeeeeeeatch............

warty little toadie....... :)

FRIENDS

2006-09-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the shots with my daughter, these two get along so well, it's so cute for me, I have photos of them walking hand in hand since she was 2 and he was 5... All the fun of angelic siblings, without any of the squabbling!

SWEET BOY

2006-09-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

Went up to a local park today to shoot a friend's son, he's such a sweet boy, and what a trooper, he was so great to shoot, we had a ton of fun, here's a couple 3 of my favorites of him, I shot up a storm. It was kind of a practice run for me, and his Mom should get some great shots from the deal....... There are some priceless ones of my daughter and him together also, I shall post those later tomorrow, time for bed now, had to share these...

BABY GIRL

2006-09-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots I took this past saturday of a friends baby girl. I played a bit and came up with a black and white version and a sepia version of one. I think the eyes worked well in the sepia, but I am not sure you can tell they are colored? After doing it this way, I got to thinking, I am not sure I have ever seen selective colors for eyes in sepia versions? Although I am sure it has to of been done..... Not a popular technique around here I guess, I kinda like it! I purposly left the contrast real low, to keep it soft, like a baby should be :)

THANK YOU!

2006-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

No images today, I just wanted to pop in and say thank you to everyone. Thanks to Brian for the tips on blooger traffic, and thanks to all the recent "traffic" posting such nice things on my blog(s). So many of you are taking such wonderful photogrpahy, I am happy you even noticed me! It is not my style to post lengthy chatter or words of wisdom, but I love reading everyone's blogs and I hope you bookmark me and come back often! I love comments, it is wonderful to hear what others "see" in my work and images, it makes me see it from another's viewpoint and perspective and I am always suprized how I never saw it that way. It gives me inspiration to try new things next time.

OK, after reading this, now you know why I try not to ramble on, :) :) :) Again, thanks everyone! This blogging thing is fun!

Back to Basics

2006-08-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have heard, over and over again in the photography "world", go back to your roots, shoot a pentax k-1000 and black and white if you ever want to be a good photographer. Basically the logic behind this is, shoot completely manuel to know your camera inside and out and how it all affects the image, and black and white so as not to be confused with all the pretty colors and focus on light and composition.

Every once in a while, I do just that, well, not the pentax part, but the black and white part. I will take color photos (since I now shoot digital) and desaturate them to see if the image holds up and is still interesting. I strongly believe a photographer should shoot the image as it is meant to look as a final product. This means don't click away and think, "I'll fix that in photoshop" or "I'll crop it and work it over and see what I get" To me that's incredibly lazy thinking, learn how to do it right, then you can take that image and elevate it one step higher in post processing. (I realize it's not always possible, and post processing work is necessary sometimes, that's why I have a JOB! :) )

These are a couple of shots of my daughter out in the front yard last night. I am usually such a traditionalist in my photography, I am forcing myself these days to try new angles, and push my creativity. I've always shot straight forward, centered, rule of two thirds, the full meal deal, so now I am working on a more artistic approach, but still working to keep it acceptable, pleasing, and not just tipping the horizon on an angle and calling it art!

I desaturated these, and brought back just a hint of color, 'casue, well, I wanted to! (although it is very subtle and might not show on the blog, it shows very nicely in print) I think these images work very well in black and white and bring your focus to the subject. Which made me happy, and that's what counts right? What do you all think?

FIREFIGHTER

2006-08-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just sharing a shot I took this last Monday

BRINGING THE VIEWER TO THE SUBJECT

2006-08-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot I took this weekend, we just happened upon this Andalusion horse show on the very last class of the day. I clicked this shot as the horse was entering the arena, the light was low inside and coming in strong from the open doors. I liked it so I played with it just a bit to focus the viewer in on the animal and away from the distracting background. Basically I did a heavy edge burn and sharpened it, what do ya think?

HIGHLIGHTS

2006-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

I have been seeing this done in a lot of places lately. (Highlighting a section of a photograph creatively) Today while I was out I came across this shot, I vaguely remember something about no need for a model release when it's in a public place, well, I am probably stretching the limit, but it was at the farmers market, at the public fountain, and I just couldn't resist playing with this photo. My only regret is that I didn't go up and introduce myself and offer them a card so they could see this shot and I could give them a copy.... It's not like I am selling it or using it as a stock photo or anything, anyway, I came up with this... What do ya'll think?

NEW CARD

2006-08-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a new business card I did up today...

FUN WITH PETE

2006-08-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

This horse's name is Pete... I just had fun playing today with a couple of images I have of him, nothing I would try to sell, I was challenging myself to think "outside the box". Well, I think I went outside with the double image one, not sure it's the effect I was hoping for, but if you don't try, you don't (eventually) succeed! I keep looking for something new, that no one is doing right now, well with the digital era upon us, I don't think that's entirely possible now! Here's a few ways to go.... DON'T FORGET THAT YOU CAN CLICK ON EACH IMAGE TO GET A LARGER VIEW :)

Here's the unedited version, note the horrid background, berry bushes were the only thing at this location that were even half way useable, tape and wire fences, barns, houses, roads, vehicles, you name it....

An extraction on black, pretty flat if you ask me, but a lot of ppl love this look. I think it's way to fake here.

So this is double duty, an extraction on top of the original, with a filter and an edge added, pretty busy, but it could be refined..... It would be fun to do for a stallion add with is get...

Going for an old fashion quarter horse type thing here..... sepia with bright extraction over it, I could see this working if I had several images to play with and adding some text.... I reversed the image of Pete, just for a change. I would shoot both sides of the horse if this was for a real client...

DREAMSCAPE

2006-08-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

So here's a little something I have been playing with, I wanted it to be a bit surreal, without going over the top to far, a bit like a nice dream, not to far out, but not normal either, a bit hard edged, saturated, and fun, What do you think?

Here's a second version, just a few changes...

JUST CHECKING IN

2006-08-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I am just checking in, with summer coming to an end, I have been shooting a lot, and wrapping up several projects around the house, and I just haven't had time to play in photoshop or post anything here much. My most recent project is painting the interior of the house, then on to putting barkdust down in the yards, so my next two weeks are full. Hope to see me back here soon!

BEFORE AND AFTERS

2006-07-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a little digital clean up work. The left side is straight from the camera, the right is after a little clean up.

BACK FROM VACATION!

2006-07-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

WOW, I am back from vacation in Utah and needed a few days to get rested up from it! It was fantastic! I shot over a thousand images that I now get to wade thru and process, but hey, that's the stuff I love! I mostly took a ton of "snapshot" type stuff, it was pretty rainy and we were on some pretty tight time limits in places. The highlight was our flight in a helicopter around Bryce Canyon (wow) and the low point for me was that we couldn't hike the slot canyons becasue of the flash flood warnings (part of the reason we went there and chose Utah was the slot canyons, who knew summer was the rainy season? Guess we didn't research as well as we thought!) All in all it was soooooooo great. So I should have some new stuff up sooner or later as time allows, thanks for checking in!

OFF ON VACATION

2006-06-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we are off today on our road trip to Zion and Bryce canyons. I cannot wait to lug all 40 lbs of my camera gear out there and see what I can shoot. If I get a chance I may post some shots here, but don't hold your breathe... Not sure what will be available at the motels at night, and if the old laptop can handle it all..... I'm sure I will have things to post when I get back for sure.......... ttfn, Cyndie

COLLAGE EFFECTS........

2006-06-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I went out and tried my hand at shooting a friend's son at one of his baseball games.... Be easy on me, this is the FIRST time I think I have ever shot action sports stuff! Ya and I work at a school and sports photography place... Well, first time for everything. So I got home, and thought, this is a perfect opportunity to practice making a collage. Well turns out it was a couple hours of work, but mostly just the figuring out part and all..., I think it would go much faster the more I did, so, I was thinking about doing some freelance digital stuff on the side for photographers, etc. ANYWAY... here are a few samples I whipped up, (incorporating things she wanted) to show my friend, man there are so many possibilities, I could even do a custom type layout for a specific event and go from there.... it's endless....

CREATIVE JUICES

2006-06-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is an image my father shot in Africa on safari, this is as shot from the camera, (he shoots a Canon 10D) he over looked it because of obvious reasons, he didn't see anything exciting in it, but it wowed me from the start knowing where I could take it.

Here's the same photo after I played with it for a while, goes to show what color and cropping can do for you, I added a creative boarder and also removed a blade of grass from the eye.

SKY FUN

2006-06-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo my Father took while in Russia, I found it very interesting with the country and the grand churches in the background, so I decided to play a bit, and make it "WoW" here's the before:

And here is the after, I canvased it with white to make an 11x14 and of course enhanced the color and added a stock sky to the dull grey/white one. My Dad hasn't seen it yet, they are on tour in Canada right now.

BUBBLE FUN

2006-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

BEFORE: Here is the image as shot out in our front yard. My husband suggested adding fairies to the bubbles (since her new "thing" is now fairies) I took it one step farther with photos of her as a fairy below. I wish she had a better expression on her face, her eyes are a little weird for me, but if you don't know her, it's probably fine.

AFTER: I spiced up the color, added the bubble on the wand, and added photos of her dressed in her fairy wings to the bubbles (LOVING the warp tool!), I may continue with the alterations, I will post another if I work on it more, for now I am happy....but I can see a background change in the near future! Of course a bigger photo shows more detail, but I can't change that here, you can always click on the photo for a bit bigger sample...