Life, with pictures...

THE SOUTHERN LILLYS

2010-09-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

My good friend and performer Alima started a troupe from several ladies interested in doing so from her classes. I have to say it is impressive how far along they are. A good mix of a great teacher and talented students. This is an image sample from a fund raiser they had here a couple of weeks ago...

To see all 95 photos from the event on my flickr...
Click here: Southern Lillys Fundraiser

DEALING WITH MORE © VIOLATIONS

2010-09-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

I was recently sent a link by a friend of a friend that saw one of my images used for some fanart on a "Breaking Dawn" fansite. Initially I wasn't as upset as other copyright issues because of the small scale fan aspect of something like that; but the more I read comments and thought about it, not to mention the more I found out about it... the more upset I got.

The image, which turned about to be two different images taken by two different people; was modified to have actress Kristen Stewart's face and a tree with a rosey dawn in the background; also the "sparkles" were added to the skin. (If you know anything about the twilight movies, you'll know why).

When I addressed the first piece I was blown off initially, which of course added to my irritation. I was told... if it's copyrighted why was it able to be saved? Where is the watermark? etc. I guess my picture was in a bad neighborhood in a slutty dress "asking for it" (yes I went there).

First of all... watermarks are ADDED protection. My copyright notices are posted everywhere my images are displayed and I usually add copyright watermarks as well. Unless they blanket the image or cover the subject they are often easy to remove or crop out, which is what was done to mine. That does not make it suddenly not illegal. As for copy protection, some sites where my work is displayed does not offer it, but even those that do it makes little difference as it is easy to get around. Just because you can save a picture to your computer does not make it OK to use, print or anything else. If you didn't take it or don't have a written release for it, if it is not public domain then assume you should not be using it.

But the other issue that bothered me was no credit was given, no link... nothing. It did not help that most of the comments about the image were telling the posters how great the subject/reflection aspect was... which was my work and no one seemed to care about the other crap that had been added to the image.

Now, in talking to the first image's poster I found I was told they got it from another person on deviant art. This person had done the face change and tree add-in and the one I was talking to only added the sparkles and some other crap to the image. The first person that stole the image was a deviant art poster, a site I was more concerned about it being posted on do to the amount of traffic it gets. After a few days I was able to get that deleted and finally the fansite responded to my emails and deleted that image as well.

So while I'm up on my soapbox preaching about why not to steal images, I also want to point out that there are more actions than just watermarking and copy protecting to protect our images. There are legal recourse's as well. In the digital age we are in, it's impossible to protect against every instance of digital theft, but it is not always impossible to track people down after the fact. And it is not only copyright violations happening, but images can be under exclusive licenses to businesses or individuals or specific model releases can only allow certain use of images.

I know many photographers that don't post there work online because they are scared the same thing will happen. Some only have work viewable being password protected areas of their site. For me, those are not options. I am a growing business and always in need of the exposure I can get by maintaining several social site portfolios. I also work with performers and other individuals where my work will often be displayed whether it is in my portfolio or not. And the simple fact is... "asking for it" does not excuse the violation.

Please do not steal other peoples work. Personally I can say I am proud of this piece. Where many of my images I feel are good there are very few I feel came out just like I wanted and couldn't be more proud of them. This is one of those.

Thank you to my friends and family for their support and help on this matter. Many friends commented on both images criticizing the posters for stealing while I was working on the webmasters to remove them. It's always awesome when people have your back. And thank you to my model Amber (and her son Lucien) and her friend for letting me know about these images in the first place.

Now, onto my blog... I apologize for not keeping it more up to date. With my twitter and facebook fanpage though I have a much more quick and easy method of posting short comments or links. Sometimes I find photography lessons that I feel are done better than I can do (never fancied myself a teacher) and feel better posting a link to their lesson than creating my own. Or when new work is uploaded it is easier to just post a link there than create a new post on my blog. If anyone is interested in keeping up with me there (that isn't already) here are the links:

Facebook FanPage

Twitter page

Both of those are photography related pages (and can also be found on the sidebar of this blog), you can also track me down on my personal pages if you wish. I can be found if you dare.

TRICIA'S MATERNITY SHOOT

2010-02-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I'll try to pick up the pace a bit in the future. Aside from a few not so interesting shoots I've done, here is a recent maternity shoot that we had fun with. Samples and link to album after the break.

See the entire album on Flickr

TAKING BETTER PICTURES PT 5: FINAL CROP

2009-12-09T01:17:00.000-08:00

This lesson is more of a reminder than anything else. I'll be talking about some of the different things you might need to keep in mind when taking a photograph concerning what you plan on doing with the final image.

Whenever possible, it is important to know what you plan on doing with the image when all is said and done. Is it going to be a framed portrait? Used in an online ad or in a magazine? Used for business cards or flyers? etc. I usually like to pull back from a shot just a little to give myself a bit of crop room if I want to reframe an image in photoshop. This isn't always enough however.

The reason for this is because most cameras are going to shoot in a 4:3 mode or close to it. This will give you a fairly rectangular image. The thing to keep in mind is that most framed portraits are 8x10 or 11x14 and will end up slightly more squared than your image. (This is why you may have seen frame sizes at 8x12 and 11x17, though they are still not as popular). Not only that, but also magazines are similarly squared down some usually to 8.5x11.

In the above image you can see a rough example of what I can expect to lose if I wanted to make this image into an 8x10 or similar size. It can be killer on larger family photos as well. If you are not careful you could lose people from both sides of a horizontal shot of a large group. And when shooting for something like that (classes, events, etc) shooting for the "typical" enlargement size is usually a safe bet. Most are going to ask for an 8x10 before an 8x12.

But there is more to keep in mind than just frame/standard crop sizes. If you are shooting for a magazine, is it going to be a page spread? You would have to keep in mind where the page break would be.

Or if it is a cover image or advertisement, you will have to leave room for the title and whatever wording or graphics might surround the focus of the image.

And one last mention would follow similar lines to the magazine concern... Keep in mind what your client might be using them for. I shoot a lot of professional dancers and aside from just wanting nice pictures to display on their websites and flyers, they also will need to create flyers and graphics down the road. For this reason, I always try to give them an image that offers up some space to do something with if they need to create an advertisement, flyer, etc. I also try to use plain white or black backgrounds to make it easy for them to expand on their own if needed.

And occasionally you may be creating something for a unique use. Like a banner that is much more wide than tall or vice versa. Knowing where the dead space in your image is going to be before you take it can save you a lot of headache.

Hopefully this will help you a little bit in the future. The most common issue I see is the first. Sometimes you never realized it when you were taking your film in for someone else to print, I know when I worked at a photolab we only had to have this discussion with someone when the crop would cut someone off badly. Otherwise, you just handed your negative and said make me an 8x10. Now that more and more is digital people are printing their own images and realizing their "negative" size is not always equal to what their final product is going to be.

HASHMIR AT AMMOS

2009-12-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

There is a very nice greek restaurant called Ammos down on the oceanfront here in Virginia Beach. Great food and the owners are very cool as well. They are right near the peer facing the beach and they have bellydancing often on saturdays. Here are some shots from when Hashmir of Isis Rising was performing one night.

Also shot several with the flash only firing at the end of the shutter opening (sometimes called "dragging the shutter"). It let's in more background light keeping night shots from looking like they were taken in a black well. It also, as you can see on action, creates a slight ghosting effect due to the movement. (Which I sometimes like for these type of shots)

TIS THE SEASON

2009-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

I've posted some pin-up stuff before and it seems that Christmas often brings me more calls for boudoir work than valentine's day does. It always does make a good gift for a guy I would say and mixes with pin-up style work very well. Always fun stuff, check out some pics after the break.

TIMING

2009-11-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

One big thing about nature photography is timing. I live in Virginia Beach, meaning our seasons consist of: summer and a dreary rainy "winter". Don't get many opportunities for snow or fall pictures here. So when I went home to WV this last summer I was excited to get a chance to do some shooting while there. Unfortunately it poured rain almost the entire time I was there.

A great spot to shoot if you are ever around Beckley is at the Glade Creek Mill...

They have several prime spots for taking shots at the perfect angle of this mill. And if you get there when the leaves are changing, you should expect to get a shot perfect for print.

As I said, when I was there, I was standing in a downpour with a plastic grocery store bag over my camera trying to take pictures on slippery rocks along the bank with muddy water and heavy fog in the forest. It's a small miracle I got what I did I suppose. I'm sure I'll be visiting again and get another chance, but still always reminds me how important timing is for pictures. Whether we are talking about catching an emotional moment or waiting for mother earth to create the setting for you.

This is a good example of the kind of shot you can get if you are there at the right moment. Click the link to visit Joseph Rossbach's blog (and purchase prints of it if you wish):

But if you google Glade Creek Mill you will see several great shots of it, many from the same angle. As I said, there are a few spots that are pretty much set up for someone to get a good angle on the mill. You can also get another good angle by walking around the mill down the road along the opposite bank of the river. If you are ever in the area it's worth getting some pictures.

AMBER AT NAZEF'S

2009-11-27T20:16:00.001-08:00

Amber performing at Nazef's Hookah Lounge in Norfolk.

ALIMA AT NAZEF'S

2009-11-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have shot a lot of live dance over the past couple years and haven't really gotten them all uploaded. Going to try and throw some up on the blog when I have time. This performance is Alima dancing at Nazef's here in Norfolk. Very cool hookah bar. Check it out when you get a chance. They usually have dancing on saturday nights.

You can keep up to date with her schedule at alimadusana.com

COLOR WWI PHOTOGRAPHS

2009-11-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

A small collection of color world war I photographs I came across online. Very interesting. Beware though, there could be a few slightly graphic images in the bunch. Check them out after the break...

A BOUDOIR SHOOT

2009-11-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Some samples from a boudoir shoot I did. The client asked me not to display any photos that would show her face or full nudity, so the samples were selected from a few that fit that criteria.

COSTUME PARTIES

2009-11-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Went to a couple halloween parties last week. The first one was themed all redneck, which unfortunately I really didn't need to buy a lot of stuff for; lol. The other was a normal halloween party with the kids. Angela and I went as samarai and geisha, Sean went as Reaper and Colin was Duke from GI Joe!

Thanks to Jeff & Afton and Tricia & Marcus for inviting us to the parties!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2009-10-31T02:57:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween, it's always a fun time of the year between our kids and the costumes. In honor of today, a selection of pics from around the web for all hallows eve...

click on the image to be taken to the artist's page:

ANSEL ADAMS IN COLOR

2009-10-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed Ansel Adams' work, but I was never a huge, blown away fan. But I have to say, after seeing some of this color work I am. I don't know why he focused on B&W so much, this work is just as gorgeous.

Check out the book on Amazon

HARVEST FAIR 2009

2009-10-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend shooting all three days of harvest fair. It was a fun weekend, although I dropped one of my cameras and broke it while there, so that was an expensive bout of clumsiness.

Although it will probably take me a week or two to sort through all of the photos and get them uploaded, here are a few and the link to the flickr set after the break.

Click here to see the full set on Flickr

SPENCER WEDDING

2009-10-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Some images from a wedding I shot last weekend for Russell Spencer and Francis O'Reilly. Their theme was swing and colors of black, white and red so they requested the photos be processed black and white with bursts of red where appropriate.

Photos and link to gallery after the break.

Click here to see full set on Flickr

AMAZING ANIMAL PICTURES

2009-09-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Random photos of the animal kingdom from around the internet (some of mine mixed in)

WELCOME TO FALL

2009-09-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Some Random photos from across the web to celebrate the first day of fall. Enjoy.

DESKTOP

2009-09-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

I recently submitted my desktop layout to Lifehacker's Flickr Pool. They usually feature fancy desktops on their site that have been customized. Don't know that I will get picked up, but figured I would give it a shot.

Most of the desktops they choose have a lot of fancy and cool stuff done to them and they look really neat. And in my opinion, would be great if you never opened a program and just stared at the desktop all day. So where mine might be plain, it is set up for work since I will usually have photoshop, word or a browser open at all times.

Shot of basic desktop.
Nothing fancy here like a lot of tinkerers that like to use Geek Tools and the like to add clocks, calendars, etc. to their desktop.

My desktop is covered most of the time with either a browser or photoshop. Plus, I don't see the need when I have istat, calendar, gmail, weather, last.fm, etc. in the menu bar where it is out of the way and always able to be referenced.

Wallpaper is "Lit Blue" by Alan C. Davis from Deviant Art.

I located my taskbar on the left hand bottom and don't keep any programs in it. (The following image shows application view) I made the dock clear just by going to the actual folder for the dock and deleting the graphics associated with it, including indicators (since if an icon is there, then the program is open) The reason I keep them here are b/c it lets me make the browser window taller (definitely don't need it wider) and gives me more room in photoshop without a dock popping up because I go too low when I'm working.

Here is a tuturial I found that should walk you through it if you don't want to wait for some sort of "cleardock" program to come out:

localhostr.com/files/473ac0/Transparant+Dock+ 2D.zip

It's found by going to the HD, then System, then Library, then Core Services

Down to Dock icon and Control-Click to select: Show Package contents

Then open Contents and then Resources

But I would suggest downloading that tutorial, it will have a couple of files to replace, tell you which ones to take out and walk you through the process.

Also back up that dock folder so you can replace everything in case it gets messed up.

The icons themselves are "Transparent Buttons" downloaded from InterfaceLIFT that I started with, but I created all of the ones I use myself combining other icons with a clear transparent button I made as a master.

transparent master button (png file):

I use Adium as my main chat program (names are blurred to protect the innocent) and it pops up right above my task icons. I keep the contact window totally transparent so only the names show.

Same view as previous, but showing Application window open.

Have a similar folder below this one for work folders.

The Transparent buttons icon pack can be found on Interfacelift.com
But I created my own transparent button and used other icon packs to combine icons I liked with the button. In the end, I don't think I ended up using any of the icons that actually come in the Transparent button package.

Most all of the icons I used came from a variety of sites: DeviantArt, Interfacelift and Icon Factory. I used Candybar to convert them to PNG files and work on them in photoshop. Then used Candybar to replace the icons. (It's kind of a pain though when I update certain programs and have to replace the icons again because they revert to the old icon, but what can you do...)

Just a shot of my workspace. Or more like play-space since I have the internet, chat and music open.

But like I said, I felt like I needed the most space vertically in browsers and the taskbar at the bottom used to get in the way in photoshop the old way.

Well, that's the end of my desktop workspace. It's not as fancy as many of the ones I see on Lifehacker, but for me it's perfect.

COMPUTER WALLPAPERS

2009-09-02T09:04:00.001-07:00

I've uploaded several wallpapers for computer desktops at my deviant art website. I have found deviant art to often be one of the best places to find wallpaper, so I wanted to throw some into the community there as well. Some of them are my own photography, others are either artwork or stars that I like and have made some modifications to the images to make them into what my opinion of what would make the best desktop background.

Samples and Links can be found after the break.

More can be found here on Deviant Art

Or here on Flickr

All of these are obviously for personal use only and cannot be used to create prints, decorate blogs or websites or for anything else other than a computer desktop background. Most are sized at 1680x1050. I cannot offer prints of any of the work that is not my own, sorry to those that have requested.

FOLLOWUP ON STOLEN PHOTOS

2009-08-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the guy that runs the silvextribal site must have gotten tired of the harassment because he finally took the pictures down that he had snagged from myself and Kristen Wheeler. I'm not sure whose stolen photos he is using for the site now; but I doubt they are any more legit than the ones he took from us.
I would urge anyone to continue the boycott against this company. Obviously they are shady and from looking around community forums, they don't have the best customer service rep anyways.

Thank you to everyone for their feedback and support.

STOLEN PHOTOGRAPHY

2009-08-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

So for a month or more now myself and Kristen Wheeler (a photographer out of Florida) have been fighting with a website (silvextribal) about their unauthorized use of our photography. They have taken images from both of our sites and used them to decorate their website.

It's a shame between small watermarks to the edges and size restrictions on what I post online that someone still manages to steal my images. I really hate the idea of covering half the photo with a watermark so others cannot enjoy them normally, but that may be what I have to start doing in the future.

this:

looks a little bit like this:

call me crazy

The lawyers have had a terrible time getting a hold of these guys. Apparently they are based out of Pakistan and are not even properly registered to do business in the US or UK like they have listed. Also seems to be a lot of bad customer talk on bellydance forums about dealing with them from a customer standpoint as well. So after going through the PPA and letting their law team contact them, we finally get a response:

Dear Maria,

Thanks for your email ..this is the first letter which we received from you..we didnot receievd any other letter from you before.You have mentioned in your letter about the unauthorized used of pics. First of all these pics are not unauthorized ,we got the pics from one of our client we cannot disclose her name as its confidential .These pictures are all originals if they had copyright then there must be marked with it .All the professional photographers with copyright do mark there pics with water mark or etc. So how somebody will know whether they have copyrights or not .We also paid 400US$ for those pics and more over we invested another 800US$ in the website designing .

I would also like to know how Kristen Wheller claims that these pics are his/her copyrights.

Regards,

Imran
(Design Manager)
(silvex)

At this point the PPA suggested we contact our own lawyers. (Which was disappointing since that I what I thought the purpose of the PPA membership) And both Kristen and I took to contacting the website personally since we now had their email. (I have yet to get a response from them)

So the fight continues...

PAM ANDERSON PIN-UPS

2009-08-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge Pamela Anderson fan, but I came across this pin-up style works she did a few years ago and loved it. Thought I would share since they were cool, if photobucket leaves them up that is (no real nudity is showed though).

TAKING BETTER PICTURES PT 4: ANGLES

2009-07-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

This is a basic, beginner level lesson discussing the angles and distance of your camera in relation to your subject. Of course, rules are always meant to be broken, but in photography, you should know when you are breaking them. One thing a lot of beginning photographers do is shoot standing up, except for those ones that just love to shoot from extreme angles to be "creative".

Paying attention to how you photograph the world can be the difference between taking a snapshot and a photograph.

Don’t always shoot standing up straight

Now if you are shooting a headshot of roughly someone the same height as you, then shooting just standing there and pointing the camera at them is great. But most of us shoot pictures of people of all sizes and that being said, you want to pay attention to your camera level when you're shooting.

One easy way to "feel it out" is that if you are pointing your camera slightly up or down to frame your picture and you are not intentionally shooting an extreme angle, then you need to stretch up or kneel down to get your lens pointed level at your subject. This requires me to stand on my tip toes when shooting a headshot of someone half a foot or more taller than me for example to avoid that slight looking up the nose angle.

But mainly it seems to effect people that are shooting full body or 3/4 shots of someone while only a few to several feet away. In the example above, picture one was shot standing straight up and framing in full body. Whereas in picture 2 I knelt down to about stomach level to shoot straight across at the model.

A rough way to keep it in mind using the examples I just posted: Picture 1, a headshot-- the white line
cutting across the image represents the camera level. The model was about half a foot shorter than me, so I crouched a bit to shoot this. You want to shoot headshots about eye/nose level. Picture2, a 1/2 body shot-- shot with the camera about chest level. Picture 3, a full body shot-- again, shot at roughly stomach/waste level.

This might seem nit-picky but can make a difference between a picture looking like a snapshot or not. Most people take pictures just standing there and pointing the camera, even with children. We all see children looking down at them everyday. Down on a level field with them however, we can often see more. Does it mean your "snapshot" looks bad? No. But give it a try, I think you'll be surprised with the results. Not just with kids pictures either, it's just easiest to see the with them because of the height difference.

Watching Zoom Length

On all of these example shots, the model tried to keep roughly the same pose and I tried to frame in at the same place as well after moving back for each shot.

All of those were shot at f4, but you can see how the further zoom ranges also add to background blur (no photoshopping was done). The other effect you'll note is the compression, this is easy to see with the background as the tree-line closes in behind the model in each shot. But it can also make a difference in the image of the person as well, which is why you see a lot of those fashion photographers on TV with giant zoom lenses shooting a model from further away.

Image 1 is shot at a 17mm focal length, standing only a few feet away. Not a good option for shooting a portrait, though I have seen this way too often by photographers. You can see the distortion in the models body/face from the wide angle curve. Now this can make an interesting effect when done on purpose, especially on horizontal shots where you fill the frame with a lot of background while keeping the subject closer to the undistorted middle section so their body isn't distorted. Also can be interesting when used in other ways as well, shooting down on subjects at extreme angles, etc. Just beware the image distortion you will get with this wide angle shot.

Image 2 is shot at 50mm and Image 3 is shot at 100mm. This area is kind of a sweet spot for portraits. (Usually about 85mm) But it seems to pick up what the eye would naturally make of the scene. It can also be cool if you just run around with a 50mm fixed lens on your camera and see what sort of images you come up with on an outing.

Image 4 is shot at 200mm. You can really see the compression of the background up to the model and how much more out of focus it is even still at the same f4 as the other shots. I like the pop of this difference on a lot of shots, especially outdoor. Having a not too busy background should be a goal in portraits, not capturing the entire detail of the wilderness setting you are in.

The important thing to keep in mind is to give yourself options. Take pictures a couple of different ways. Most of us use digital now, so take advantage of it. Give yourself options when you go through them the next day. These "rules" usually make for better habits and then better pictures; but like I said are always good to break when done intentionally.

SUMMER BOUDOIR PHOTOSHOOT

2009-07-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

A Boudoir shoot I did with Summer. Though the samples following the break are censored, please be aware they are not work safe photos even at that.

SALVATO WEDDING

2009-06-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Photos of a wedding I shot recently for Jackie and Greg Slavato.

See the entire set on Flickr: Salvato Wedding Set

R-STRAP REVIEW

2009-06-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this review is going to pretty much consist of me gushing for this product as it seems to have been custom made for the way I work.

(I realize there has been discussion online about bloggers being given merchandise to do reviews, so I wanted to say I ordered this at regular price from the company just like anyone else would.)

I used to have the standard camera strap on my camera and carry it sideways from shoulder to hip. This often caused complications when it came time to pull the camera up to my face to shoot especially if I wanted some extra movement. It just wasn't made to slide back and forth from that position with a regular camera strap. Plus sometimes I wanted the strap gone and it's not a fast process to remove those most of the time.

All that is gone with the R-Strap...it allows me to carry the camera at my hip and has a slider that is connected to the tripod mount on the bottom of your camera. This not only allows you to quickly slide the camera up to your face, while giving you greater movement at the same time; but also keeps the camera itself, while resting at your hip, from pointing straight out to bang into stuff lens first! It comes with a small lock-nut style piece to attach to the tripod mount on your camera or you can use the tripod plate (if you have one) that normally snaps into the tripod to clip the R-Strap to. So you can quickly disconnect the R-Strap totally if you want and snap it right onto a tripod in a couple seconds.

I absolutely love this thing. Like a lot of equipment, sometimes the smallest and cheapest gadgets are the ones that seem to blow me away.
If you want to check out more about the R-Strap, visit their website: http://www.blackrapid.com/

ALIMA FOREST SHOOT

2009-06-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Had a quick photoshoot in a park, quick due to the weather

You can see more of my work with Alima at her website: AlimaDusana.com

NEW FRONTPAGE

2009-06-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

New frontpage to my website with a slideshow playing inside of the lens. I was finally happy with the way it came out after tinkering with it for days, so I had to post something about it.

There are a couple shots of the front page, but please check out the new slideshow for yourself: Jeremy Shane Photography

TINA S. PHOTOSHOOT

2009-06-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

Photoshoot with a beautiful young woman who does a little modeling on the side. Samples and links after the break.

See the full set on Flickr

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

2009-05-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

How I wish I could do what these guys do, travel the world and take photos of all the life going on out there. All the culture and creatures. But for now, I try to enjoy the great pictures they publish. If you do too, check out this post.

RETOUCHING

2009-05-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to bring a little attention to a service that we offer. It's a not one of the big ones that gets a lot of attention and it's a normal part of what we do to process our own photography. But we offer very reasonable rates for retouching and design work. As long as you have the rights or permissions for us to retouch your photo we can often put the extra polish on your pictures or save a photo that might otherwise be unusable.

The collage below are all photos retouched by us and were from a bellydance forum I post at. Every photo had different amounts of changes made. Every picture had airbrushing to eliminate blemishes and smooth skin as well as touch ups to remove anything else that might destract from the normal beauty of these young women. In addition to those changes: Picture 1 also had some antiquing effects done to it and some desaturation. Picture 2 has an entirely new background. Picture 3 had a table in front of the dancer removed as well as some clean up for grain and poor contrast. Picture 4 had some color corrections made. Picture 5 had miscellaneous stuff removed from the floor behind the dancer and other clean up. Picture 6 had a black background added for use in flyers. Picture 8 had recropping, some grain cleanup and audience heads removed from the bottom. And Picture 9 had grain cleanup, red eye removal and an item removed from foreground. All in all I've worked on about 3 dozen sets of photos for dancers from this forum of varying requests. I appreciate working with them, but also wanted to remind any readers that we do this sort of work for any and everyone.

Costs will vary depending on the amount of work needed, we will give you a quote before work is started and tell you what to expect from the work as well. The picture we have to start with can make a lot of difference in what we end up with (bigger the picture size the better always helps also). Having items completely removed or new backgrounds added obviously take more work than basic airbrushing and corrections, so keep that in mind as well.

PELICAN 1510 CASE REVIEW

2009-04-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Some basic info on the case:
Made of a pretty much unbreakable copolymer and it is water tight and air tight (also has a pressure relief valve in case of atmosphere change).
It has two very oversized and sturdy latches with two reinforced padlock holes beside each.
It has a side and top handle, good grip and sturdy...never any fear for breakage for weight.
Also an extendable handle and small wheels for wheeling around as luggage. Speaking of luggage, it is sized for carry-on luggage size as well (meeting FAA requirements).

It came with an 11 piece padded divider, but first I used a seperate pluck out foam insert in the case that I ordered seperately. After a bit of time though, some of the pluck out foam was coming out without being plucked, plus you couldn't make many changes to re-arrange equipment without ordering a new foam insert. So I eventually went to the padded divider that came with it and have been happier using that.

I have been able to fit in the case: a D40 with a battery pack on the bottom (though the camera must be turned to sit in the case face down because it is too tall with the battery pack on it. I did use a piece of foam under it and was still able to store a 50mm lens under the camera in the foam). I have four lenses of different sizes stored vertically, plus a 70-200 canon lens; though I had to store it sideways in order to fit in the case (plus the 50mm lens). I also have a D30, 2 Flashes, a battery pack for the flash, an epson backup reader and a variety of other small accessories stored in it as well. In fact, about the only piece of equipment I regularly use that won't fit inside it is my stroboframe and that is just because it is pretty oddly shaped.

The one extra piece I ordered that has been extremely useful was the lid organizer. It comes with an egg carton like foam insert in the lid, but you can pull that out and mount this organizer inside. I really don't see how the case would work without having to carry some other piece of small items without this lid organizer. (That is actually where I store the flash battery pack, the epson backup drive, a ton of batteries, filters, cords, locks, locking cables, etc).

All in all, if you need a case, I would definitely recommend this one. I'm a glutton for organizational stuff, and out of the probably ten different bags and cases I have, this one has been the most versatile and useful.

B&H photo carries it (in a few other colors I believe as well if you dont want basic black) as well as all the accessories. Can't say enough about B&H photo either, they have been great to me and recommend them for anything you might need. Review note: I was in no way given anything free or discounted for this review; I pay for all my stuff just like anyone else would have to do.

STUNNING DIGITAL ART

2009-04-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Some stunning pieces of Digital Art from around the web. I love photographer, but sometimes I envy what these artists can do with a computer.

ROTH WEDDING

2009-04-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Some shots from the Roth Wedding I did, samples and link to the full set after the break.

See the full set on Flickr

VBPD SOCCER CLUB

2009-04-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

I shot a game for my brother the other day: the Virginia Beach Police Dept. Soccer Club played Newport News. It was a good game and ended: 1-1.

Full set at Flickr: VBPDSC pics

BECOMING MOTHER

2009-03-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

Something I wanted to do with a follow-up to a maternity shoot I did months ago. I got a couple other non reflection shots I want to work on that I happened to get at the same time; but this one came out pretty much how I wanted it to. In fact, I pictured the mother not interacting with the picture and the baby laying there; but of course you have to kinda go with what the baby does. I actually like the fact that he was staring at the camera better that just laying there sleepy like. Something more powerful about that.

You can see a bigger version at my deviantart page if you wish: Click here

And thank you so very much to Amber for letting me run into the middle of her day while she is in the middle of not only taking care of a newborn and her little girl, but also getting ready to move out of the country.

Here are some other images from the initial shoot:

UPDATE: I recieved a ton of good feedback when this photo was featured by DeviantArt on their daily deviants page. Over 6,000 views, over 1,000 favorites and over 200 comments in that one day.

SPACE...

2009-03-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Even got to meet Buzz Aldrin once. Obviously I'm not one, but oh how I love seeing amazing images come back from space. I hope you do too.

TAKING BETTER PICTURES PT 3: FLASH

2009-03-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

A lot of beginning photographers don't seem to like to use flash. The hope is probably that their pictures don't come out looking like a snapshot (this is due mostly to small direct flash). I've also come across some amateur photographers that also seem to think their pictures look more artistic and prefer to shoot without a flash all the time.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a flash can be necessary and very helpful most times if you want to give yourself more options than just artistic blurs in your photography. The key thing is to learn how to best use your flash best for whatever situation you are in (sometimes it can even help those artistic blurs look better). The key is not to avoid using the flash, but to simply look like you did not use one.

Get a seperate flash unit

A seperate flash unit made for your brand camera can communicate with your camera settings when you set it on automatic settings to adjust the power of amplification of the flash to suit the specific conditions of each shot. It's not a perfect solution, but much better than the built in pop up flash on most cameras. Getting the flash unit further away from the lens helps prevent a little of that harshness and also helps get rid of red-eye.

Angle the flash

It can also give you the ability to angle the flash head as well, pointing it at a 45 degree (or so) angle to bounce light off of the ceiling if low enough and cut down even more on the harshness of the light hitting your subject. BUT... It can also cause you to have to lower your shutter speed a bit as the light is getting spread out over the room and not all blown onto your subject, this can be good though if the shutter doesn't shoot too slowly-- it can prevent your subject from looking like they were taken with a black pit behind them and let a little light fall on the background to give some depth to your picture.

Watch for flash shadow

Another thing to watch out for when you have a flash attached to the top of your camera is turning it sideways to take a vertical picture, that you may cast a huge shadow to one side of your subject if they are close to a wall. Best way to avoid this without purchasing more equipment is just to make sure your subject doesn't get to close to a wall or other object behind them when you snap a shot of them. Again, turning the flash head up and bouncing the light can help reduce this effect also. If you wish to avoid it through equipment use there are several items like the Stroboframe that allows you to swivel the entire flash unit to remain over the lens if you turn the camera.

Take note of distance

Also, be aware of the limits of your flash. Most people think of a flash as a night-time need, which is not usually the case. It is not often powerful enough to light up a whole area (you will always get that black pit behind your subject) and the flash also doesn't reach as far as people think. (You can see this in all of the flashes at concerts or shows from the crowd--those flashes will never reach the subject and are useless. In fact they are throwing off your cameras automatic settings and making it think it will get some use out of the flash when it will not).

Desire more advanced info?

I attempted to keep the advice here very basic. I intentionally left out all the tech talk and numbers. If you desire to dig into flash set up in detail I would suggest you pick up a how to guide from the book store. Something that will lay out the details over several chapters will provide a better guide than one blog post. Because there are several more sophisticate uses that will allow you to only partially fire the flash for a portion of time the shutter is open to allow some natural light from the scene before you light up your main subject (like used in some of the posted images). But even keeping in mind the simple tips posted here will give you pictures more distance between snapshot and photograph.

HARVEST FAIR 2008

2009-03-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

I shot a single performance at this years Harvest Fair since I was invited to go along with Alima and her class. (Though next year it seems I may be shooting the whole event, so stay tuned)

You can see the full set here on Flickr

NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION

2009-03-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention this for a couple reasons. One the magazine cover kind of overshadowed it to me I suppose. And two, because I had to contact the paper for using a photo without permission or credit. The permission I wasn't too worked up about because I would have given it for a dancer to use as promotion; but would have been nice to have my name under the picture instead of 'provided photo'.

They did say they would run a blurb with credit in the next issue of the magazine insert that this was published in for the paper. But oh well, still nice to see my stuff out there.

ALIMADUSANA.COM

2009-03-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to venture out past my own website and blog designs and help my friend Alima with her website. This is the design I came up with.

My main thought when designing her site was the same as mine... Keep it somewhat simple. I knew that potential clients would be coming to the site that were not very knowledgeable with computers or the internet, so I wanted as little navigation and searching needed.

The layout is the same on every page and all the information occurs between the two menu bars.

The welcome page has a slideshow playing,with a short mix of photos and all of them are converted to look an like old B&W movie slide show:

A hiring page:

Background page:

Classes:

Photo album page, which plays as a slideshow:

And performance page, which also plays as a slideshow and allows her to upload new images to the slideshow to update the page without actually having to update the website itself:

And of course you could just go there and check it out in all its glory if you wish: AlimaDusana.com

THE LACK OF LIGHT

2009-03-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures last weekend for the heck of it while watching my friend Alima perform. I have so many shots of her, I wanted to try and take some at this restaurant that is usually pitch dark except for some roving spots and see how they came out with no flash. You can see what I started with above (that was one of the better shots). What I came up with is after the break.

I probably got about a dozen or so keepers and changed most to black and white to help with cleaning them up for the colored spot lights and the grain. I put a few into the "old picture" look just for the heck of it because it seemed to fit.

CONGRATULATIONS

2009-02-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

My friend and partner Angela/Alima Dusana has been working on getting this restaurant in our area for a while now: Orapax. It's been a tough one to get, dancers as long as she has lived in the area have tried and failed. And using an idea I threw at her one day, she was able to grab the owners attention and since then they have come up with a pretty good arrangement.

If you live in the Hampton Roads area and want a fun night out, please come out and support her new endeavor. The food is great there and she is probably one of the best, if not the best bellydancer in the area (seriously).

KALAA & CO. PHOTOSHOOT

2009-02-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

Photo samples from a photoshoot I did with Kalaa and two of her dancing partners. Samples and Links after the break.

See the full set on Flickr

WHAT IF? BELLYDANCE ORIGINS SHOW

2009-02-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

A show where the theme was...What If Bellydance originated elsewhere in the world (or anywhere really). So there were performances of bellydance as Geisha, Pirates, Spanish, Transylvania, 40's Hollywood, and more. It also featured a couple of dancers from out of town: Aziza from Montreal and Arish Lam from Puerto Rico. The show was put together by Janeeda Phillips of Isis Rising.

More photos and links after the break.

See the full set on Flickr

AMARIS PHOTOSHOOT

2009-02-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Photoshoot I shot with bellydancer Amaris Ziayanah. Samples and links after the break.

See the entire set on Flickr

Visit Amaris' Website

SELL WEDDING

2009-02-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Photo sample from Sell wedding. I don't think I've ever seen such a fully fleshed out wedding planned in about a week. The mother of the bride did a bang up job putting this together.

WORLD BEAT DANCE PARTY

2009-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Some photos from the Hafla alima threw recently at the Heritage in Virginia Beach. I love these small performance parties where almost everyone is a particpant and you are experiencing all sorts of entertainment at the same time. Drumming, Acoustic Guitar, Bellydance (and bellydance from a woman 6 months pregnant!), Hip Hop, etc.

Go to Flickr to see the full set

BLACK & WHITE FEATURE

2009-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

To follow-up the Taking Better Pictures lesson yesterday, I wanted to post a feature of B&W Photography from around the web. Some great work and click the photo to visit the photographer's picture page.

TAKING BETTER PICTURES PT 2: B&W

2009-02-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

Some folks seem to think that converting a photo into B&W somehow makes it more artistic. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 1. not all pictures look better in B&W and 2. you cannot often make a quality B&W print by just dropping the color out of a photo.

This goes back a bit to my last segment: learning to use photoshop. Unless you use a particular filter when you initially shoot; you won't always get the proper contrast and range from a color picture that is simply desaturated.

Pay careful attention to what gives you the contrast in your photo...if caused by color variation, converting to black and white may hurt the image. Take for instance this kite photo:

Once you decide on a photo to convert you have two roads: a plug-in for photoshop that automates the process or making the changes yourself. Converting the color from RGB to grayscale often gives a better result than just desaturating. Experiment with the levels and curves features in photoshop instead of simply using brightness and contrast.

There are various lessons you can dig up online to experiment in other ways as well. But the important thing here is just about avoiding the misconception some have about turning an image into black and white image somehow instantly makes it more artistic. Some photos, like the one above, even lend themselves to being converted because of a lack of any real color contrast to begin with. And that is the main thing to look for: contrast. Does it come from color or does it come from balance between dark and light? That may be the biggest determination in whether it will make a good black and white photo.

TBOGN

2009-01-27T01:12:00.000-08:00

The Traveling Band of Gypsy Nomands.

A performance they did at the Heritage here in Virginia Beach. Cool band, kinda like how acoustic pop rock would be if it was invented in the middle ages.

GHOST PICTURES

2009-01-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

OK. I didn't think much about it at first, after all, the story was published in the Sun. But I have seen it picked up by actual news sites and on several forums; so I have to point out what this is.

What it claims to be is a picture of a ghost. A young boy in scotland took this picture and says it was with a digital camera and was not a double exposure and that nobody was around at the time.

What it is: a picture taken without a flash, hence the yellowish cast and the blurry picture (even the banisters and carpet-- things that don't move are blurry) because it was a long exposure. If you have a digital camera and the flash is turned off, the camera will sense this and leave the shutter open for longer to get enough light to expose the image. This is where you get the yellowish cast (from incandescent lights in the room-- it would be greenish if it were flourescent lighting).

So, if the shutter is open for ten seconds to expose the picture and someone walks by on one of the landings and nobody notices, that person would probably only be walking by for a few seconds of the exposure. Placing your hand on the banister while the rest of you walks by will mean your hand will be the one thing that is in the same spot the longest, so your body will be a blur, but your hand will be clearer. But you still are not there the whole time, so even your hand will look transparent.

Here, I spent about thirty seconds creating this picture. My camera was sitting on a desk, so will probably be clearer since it wasn't hand held. But it is a long exposure and I walked in front of the camera, stopped and moved my body around. So the only thing that stayed in one place were my feet. So the only thing you can see is my transparent feet (because even though they were there the longest, they were not there for the whole exposure). If I had moved my body around less, then you might at least be able to see it as a blur as well, but I probably moved it around more than I needed to. The other image is where I walked out of the room and stuck my head back in for about half the exposure. If I had my head there longer, then it would be less transparent and more clear and shorter it would be more transparent and more ghostly. Both of these were also taken with digital cameras:

Discussions about whether or not you believe in ghosts aside. I've never seen a convincing photo that I couldn't have faked myself pretty easily. Sometimes I think people like to come up with some supernatural explanations for things when they don't know the answer to, instead of just saying I don't know. Here you have people, that if they didn't set the photo up, took a picture and it unfolded as above and because they didn't know why it happened and didn't know someone walked by the landing; immediately assumed it was a ghost.

(And the orb thing...it's just dust floating in the air a bit in front of the lens, lit up by the flash. Calm down)

HUBBARD WEDDING

2009-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

Photos from Wallace and Tendai's wedding and engagement. A ton of her family came in from Africa, so it was a pretty cool reception.

See the full set at Flickr

BABY CHLOE & FAMILY SHOOT

2009-01-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Some samples from a photoshoot I did with Amy and her new baby girl Chloe.

See the full set on Flickr

MAGAZINE COVER

2009-01-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

Pretty cool! I was asked to submit a photo to the theme of "solace" to the editors of If Journal and they liked what I came up with:

I've never been much for trying to come up with theme pictures. I usually think my idea of a given theme is probably much different than the publishers/editors idea and the few ideas they had thrown out to me were not exactly what I was picturing. One thing I've always felt though, if you are going to do something, do something the way you'd love it done...especially when it is something artistic.

Here is the final magazine cover:

And thank you so much to my model: Angela (aka: Alima Dusana) for doing this last minute and in the freezing cold and wet grass with a big guy on a rickety ladder leaning precariously overtop of her!

I initially felt like I was pushing the envelope with the hint of nudity, even though she was covered. But after it was approved by several people involved with the magazine including the rabbi, I was pleased to see many different people "got" the image.

You can check out there website at: If Journal

Edit for follow-up: I've received tons of good feedback on the image from them as well. Thank you to everyone for their compliments (they're always appreciated).

MALIA/JALE PHOTOSHOOT

2009-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

I had a chance last weekend to shoot Malia (in town from Hawaii hosting a workshop) and the ever elusive Jale (who dances in the hampton roads area) the night before Malia had to fly back to Hawaii. After a fun day of tracking down a studio to shoot in because the one I normally use was unavailable to me (I will have my own studio one day soon!) the Heritage in Va Beach came through for me and let me use one of their big meeting rooms. Which was roomier than most studios I've even shot in (might have to work something regular out with them).

Anyways, we had a fun shoot and took about a thousand shots, I think I have about two hundred finals I'm still working on-- a bit more than normal, but Malia is a natural model in addition to dancer apparently and both of them were rolling through the shoot non-stop.

I still have another event from last month to process and get up as well, but these should be done next week or so after all the christmas fun is overwith. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a merry christmas and be safe when you are out and about!

Malia's MySpace page
Jale's MySpace page
Photoshoot Folder on Flickr

ALIMA PHOTOSHOOT

2009-01-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Some samples from a photoshoot with Alima Dusana in here white and gold costume. You can find out more about her at alimadusana.com

DAY AT THE MUSEUM

2009-01-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

A few shots from a trip to the museum with Angela, the boys and her mom when she was in for a visit.

So happy in the chocolate room!

Colin testing out the sour candy

Is Sean getting tired already?

Looks like Colin definitely is...

He needs energy!

GUINEA PIG

2009-01-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce any readers to my partner and guinea pig, Angela. She poses for me whenever I want to test new ideas or equipment. She also has a great eye and works with me sometimes as a second shooter.

See the everygrowing set of test shots with Angela on Flickr

TAKING BETTER PICTURES PT 1: PHOTOSHOP

2009-01-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most photographers encounter this...

People find out you are a photographer and if they don't want you to take pictures, they want advice on how to take them. All well and good, as long as you are willing to listen to the advice.

Now I know that photography is art and the quality of art is based on opinion, so I usually don't get too picky with certain things. And there are always rules in photography, like the rule of thirds, that get broken-- I just think you should know you are breaking them and break them on purpose for an intended "look".

But the number one rule for aspiring digital photographers that should not be broken is:

LEARN TO USE PHOTOSHOP

I'm not talking about all the fancy-smansy stuff you might see that turns a photograph into more of a piece of art than a picture. I'm talking about normal processing. And if you are a digital photographer, you need to learn to use at least photoshop elements or some similar program to do that processing. Downloading them to your computer is not processing them. Unless you are perfect, your picture will need some basic contrast and exposure correction, may need some color correction. The horizon line may need to be straightened. And all digital pictures need to be sharpened after downloaded (thought sharpening depends on the size you are going to display it at).

I've had photographers tell me they like to shoot more film-like, more natural. Well, I used to work in a photo lab processing film and we hardly ever were lucky enough to process everything someone took on a neutral setting, even professional photographers. There is a whole keypad there where we shot the light across the film to expose the paper with your negative, that keypad we used to do all those corrections I talked about above. Color correction sometimes, but nearly every picture needed some sort of exposure adjustment. If we had given someone their photos with the "natural" look of the picture they took, we would have had many unhappy customers, blaming us for their bad pictures. Well, now there is no one processing your pictures but you, so if you care about how they turn out, it's up to you to make the adjustments.

The picture above was taken by a friend and I wanted to spend a couple minutes tinkering with it with those same basic adjustments I spoke of above to see if I could bring out the color, the shadows/exposure and sharpness a bit better. It was taken with a snapshot camera on automatic setting (which can sometimes not work how you want when dealing with sunlight and shadows). There could probably be more done to work on the picture, but I think it shows the difference a little photoshop and a few minutes can make with a picture.

EARTHDANCE 2007

2009-01-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

Photography from Earthdance in 2007.

It was held at the Hunt's Club Farms and featured a ton of dancers and musicians and I ended up with nearly a thousand final shots. Link to set after the break.

Full set can be found here on Flickr