Tuesday, July 27, 2010

B+W Wednesday: Bethlehem


I really don't think in all my years of college, I have ever had so much information and knowledge packed into my brain in so short a period of time as I did this past weekend. Lisa, of The Long Road to China, has been teaching online Photoshop courses this past spring. Many of us asked her to consider teaching a photography workshop. Initially, she directed us to other photographers but, after a couple of months she reconsidered and organized an incredible weekend.

I can't say enough about it. The fifteen of us gathered from all over the US (and Canada too!) to immerse ourselves in our passion for photography. We arrived on Friday and spent the evening together eating, drinking and getting to know each other. Saturday we were up bright and early and had an intensive morning session on all-things-camera: manual settings, aperture, ISO, shutter speed, focus points, light metering, composition, and RAW vs. JPEG.

Two hours later, we were shooting our first models: two amazing children and a lovely preteen. We broke for lunch and then headed back out for the bride and groom session, and ended the afternoon with a family with two sweet boys.

With my head spinning (and sweat flowing) I headed back to the hotel to upload the > 700 pictures I had taken, take a shower and grab a quick nap. At 6:oo, we all headed out to another restaurant with wonderful food.

Sunday morning, Lisa led us all in an intensive 4-hour Lightroom/Photoshop session. I tried to absorb as much as I could and was quite surprised that I retained so much. Lisa is a wonderful teacher. She is organized and kept us on-task and on schedule.

It was the best little vacation I could ever have asked for.

While I will [no doubt] be spending a week or two getting through all the photographs, here are three for today's B+W Wednesday. The first is of the little brother from the last group of models. Could this little guys be any cuter??? The last two are of the bride and groom. I have to confess... I was quite shocked that ANY of them came out. Their photo session was when I had my first little breakdown. I am a language person; numbers are most definitely NOT my forte. Trying to figure out ISO and shutter speed at the same time as aperture just about did me in. When I looked on my little screen, all of the pictures looked beyond fixing. I am so glad I was able to get a few. (They were the cutest couple!)

More pictures will be coming.
Stay tuned.

[As always, click on photos to enlarge.}



the long road

What an Incredible Time!

This past weekend I joined 15 other women from across the United States and Canada for a photography workshop in Bethlehem, PA. It was led by Lisa who is an amazing photographer. Though definitely the newbie in the bunch, I knew I wanted to take my photography to a new level and so took the plunge.

Talk about being out of my comfort zone! I went into the weekend with a new camera, my favorite zoom lenses and a new 50mm 1.4 prime lens that I had recently bought (but not yet figured out how to use correctly.) I figured I might as well "go for it" and decided to shoot only in manual mode (for the first time ever), only with the new lens, and only in RAW.

As overwhelming as it was... (I had few "moments" of losing it with all the numbers to remember), I am so glad I went for it. I am still going through my pictures and can't believe the difference in my photos. It was an amazing weekend with incredible women and one unbelievable leader. Thank you so much, Lisa, for all the organization and preparation that went into making this weekend so wonderful.

And now... back to editing....

[Click on photo to enlarge]

Thursday, July 22, 2010

One More Day!!!!!!

I am so excited to be participating in a weekend photography workshop starting tomorrow. Fifteen of us from all over the country (and one Canadian gal) will be gathering for fun, girl time and (oh yeah!) honing our camera and Photoshop skills.
I can hardly wait!!!

Tick, tock, tick, tock.............

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

B+W wednesday: Jon Michael







Head on other to Lisa's blog to check out some other amazing photos!

the long road

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

B+W Wednesday: Four Generations

What an honor to be able to shoot this family. The matriarch is an amazing woman ... strong in faith and generous in love. She raised ten children, one of whom I became friends with in college. I have been blessed by all of them for three decades. I was so happy to be able to capture these images of four generations, from one year old to eighty-six.

[Click on images to enlarge and see more details]





Pop over to Lisa's blog to see more B+W photos:

the long road

Thursday, July 8, 2010

My New Love

Adobe Lightroom 3

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Black and White Wednesday


On Monday, I was able to do a photo shoot of a family I have known for 30 years. I wanted to capture images of the four generations that were together this past weekend. I love how they came out. This picture is of the two youngest generations. Amazingly, the mom here was not much older than the baby when I first met the family.

Be sure to pop over to Lisa's site and check out some other B+W shots.

the long road

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Saturday, July 3, 2010