Christmas Spirit

If you’re a working photographer, you know it’s always a good thing to get out there and do something in your community that not only makes you feel good, but gets your face in front of potential customers. One of the events I really enjoy is an annual Christmas Party held at a local non-profit club.

Each year the club holds a party and donates toys for local kids, and they always make sure no child goes away without a gift. It really is a great time and a lot of fun.  The whole purpose of this particular club is to provide a safe and healthy environment where fellowship, education, resources and other activities provide a direct impact on our community and it’s great to be part of something having such a positive impact on my area.  

I’ve been lucky enough to shoot this event since the club opened three years ago. I also donate my services on a few other fun events they offer.  It’s a win-win situation because not only does it make me feel good, but it gets my face out there in front of potential customers.  



Over the last 3 years I’ve gotten to know a lot of the parents of the kids and have booked family sittings, some weddings and a few other events because of it. Now if you’ve ever been involved in anything like this, you realize how much work goes on in the background to make it a reality. There is always a core group of men and women that goes the extra mile to make sure everything goes off smoothly and I enjoy donating my services to such a good cause. Plus, I like taking photos of the kids with Santa.  Afterwards, this club has a little party for the adults and it gives me another chance to meet some great people.

If you’re not doing something like this in your area, you might want to look into it. It feels good to get involved in events like these and it’s an excellent opportunity to meet some great people  (potential customers) and get your face out there…… Plus, did I mention, it’s a lot of fun! 

Remember,as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

I don't know about you, but I've been busy, busy, busy.  I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and get ready for the upcoming holidays. You can look forward to a new post in a couple weeks.  Remeber, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk

Well the leaves are turning (or have already turned) for most of us in New England, and the Holidays are just around the corner. I recently went on the 5th annual Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk and it was a great time.

This year’s Photowalk was held on Saturday October 13th and I was part of one that was held in Marblehead, Mass. It was a lot of fun and I met some really great people. Our trusty guide was a local photographer and a Marblehead resident himself, Rick Ashley (Not Rick Ashley.com)  Just for the record, that’s Rick Ashley and myself kneeling in the front row, Rick’s on the left side. Rick was a great guide and definitely knew the area well.

Marblehead is just north of Boston and is famous for its many contributions to the American Revolution and Civil War. It’s a very scenic seaside town, with many historic buildings and homes from the 17 ^th and 18^th century. I love getting out with the camera anywhere around the ocean and Marblehead is definitely a place to check out if you've never been there. I’m sure everyone else on our Photowalk felt the same way. If you’ve never been on one of these Photowalks, you owe it to yourself to sign up for one next year, they can be a lot of fun.

The day of the Photowalk, I actually went up to Marblehead a couple hours early because I wanted to shoot another local attraction, Marblehead Light. Marblehead Light was built in 1835, but the original brick and wood tower was replaced in 1895 with a skeletal frame, the only one of its type in New England. I hadn’t been there in a few years and was hoping I’d get some autumn colors, but they we’re kind of lame?  Oh well, all in all, it was a great time either way. Like I always say, keep shooting and have some fun right?

I've been involved in few other projects on the side and should have my new blog / website set up soon. Until then, remember, keep shooting and have some fun!

Happy Halloween

Hello to all my blogger friends. If you’re like me and are living in New England, you know we're slowly making the transition into Fall.  Before you know it we'll be shooting Christmas and winter photos. In the past month or so, I've actually had a chance to get out and shoot just for fun a few times. Just recently, I was lucky enough to hit a very popular local Halloween attraction called “Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular” held at a nearby zoo and it was a great time.

Every year they put up a display with over 5000 carved pumpkins all lit up in different themed displays set to their own music along with fog and other special effects.  I've been meaning to go for years, and I’m glad I finally made it. I would have loved to get more photos than I did, but the event was pretty crowded and it was very hard to stop moving long enough to get any shots. Plus, they didn't allow flash, tripods or mono-pods which made it even more difficult to shoot.

I like to cruise around when I get a chance and explore the area looking for nice Halloween displays. This year, I did find one that impressed me, and I was able to go there a few times during the day and a couple times at night when it was all lit up. Fortunately, on one of my night trips, I had plenty of time and space (nobody bumping into me or people walking through my shots) and got some really colorful shots that I was very happy with.

I'm hoping you were able to get out and shoot some award winning photos (or at least some that you enjoy)  I'm still working out the details of my new blog and website. I'll be in touch.......

Remember, keep shooting and have some fun!

Wedding Season

I hope you are enjoying your summer, it's been a crazy summer but I've actually been able to get out and shoot quite a bit, hopefully you're doing the same.  I hope to get my blog set up with a new host soon.

Remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Wedding Season

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. For me, this is wedding season and I'm taking a little time off from writing blog posts. Things are starting to slow down now and I hope to get my blog set up with a new host soon. I've got a ton of new info to share and I'm looking forward to getting back to "normal".
Remember, keep shooting and have some fun! See you in the fall..........David

Photographing an Air Show

Thanks for coming back.  I'm putting the finishing touches on a new post "Photographing an Air Show".  Check back soon to see this new post!

Quick Sepia Effect in Photoshop

Every now and then people ask me “what is the easiest way to create a Sepia toned image in Photoshop?”

Well, if you’ve been using Photoshop for a while you already know there are always a bunch of ways to achieve the same result, but if you just want a really quick way to create Sepia toned image follow along with me here, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be.

Open your image in Photoshop.  Note: I always work on a duplicate layer (just in case) but for this lesson I’ll just work on a copy.    See Image 1

If your image is in color, go to up to Image > Adjust > Desaturate   
See Image 2

Now go up to Image > Adjust > Variations  
See Image 3

   

In the top of the dialog box move the Fine-Coarse slider down to one notch less than the middle.  See Image 4

Now, click on More Yellow once and then click once on More Red. Then click ok.  
See Image 5

Now you’ve got a pretty simple Sepia image, but we can still beef it up a bit, try these next steps. 
See Image 6 

     

Press the Ctrl Key and tap the letter J to duplicate the layer (Ctrl+ J) On the top layer, switch the Blend Mode to Multiply and lower the Opacity to your liking, I’ve lowered mine to 40%. Each photo will be different – experiment!   See Image 7 





Now flatten the image by pressing (Ctrl + E). Still want to spruce it up a bit? Lets use a Vignette just to darken the edges a bit. Open up the Lens Correction filter by selecting Filters > LensCorrection.

Note:  I’m using CS5, on older versions of Photoshop you would select Filters > Distort > Lens Correction. Now make sure you click the Custom Tab at the top of the panel and then under the Vignette box, move the Amount slider to about -50 and the Midpoint slider to about +35 for  a good starting point. This is also a matter of taste, experiment.   See Image 8

Now that was pretty easy huh? Most versions of Photoshop come with an action for Sepias under the Default Actions, but I prefer my own. If you’re familiar with creating Actions you could create one from this tutorial, but that’s another blog post.



Remember, there are many ways to accomplish the same tasks in Photoshop, so play around with different methods and find one that works for you. These days there is so much information online. This method is pretty quick and simple, I hope you enjoyed it.