Coming April 15th – FLASH DANCE. 30 days went by in a FLASH.
This is your last chance to see the FotoDC FLASH exhibit, featuring five of my Africa photography pieces and the works of 54 other local photographers. I’ve got a photography assignment tomorrow evening, and a client meeting then wedding bright and early Saturday morning, so I won’t be able to make the party, but I [...]
A Multimedia Presentation on Burkina Faso: When Darkness Falls / Spirit of Humanity
I was invited by the American Society of Media Photographers (Washington, DC chapter) on January 11, 2011 to give a presentation during their 8×10 Program. I’ve had a lot of requests by people outside the area or who weren’t able to make the program to post the presentation online. So here it is! I spent [...]
Emily & Jason’s Wedding Story
So if you thought I’d fallen off the blog wagon over the past week, it’s just because I’ve been hard at work on Emily & Jason’s wedding photographs and storybook album! Emily & Jason are the beautiful bride and groom who got married at the Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Virginia last Saturday. Emily wore [...]
Issy & Jason’s Wedding Joyride
After the hours of getting ready that wedding morning last Saturday, July 17th… after the ceremony, where I watched Issy’s mom wipe tears from her eyes… after the formal portraits of the newlyweds and family… and after the wedding brunch… it was time for… the wedding JOYRIDE!!! Issy’s mom and dad drove me in a [...]
Maternity Glow
Yesterday, I was over at Kristen & Dan’s house for a maternity photo shoot. Their second is due in just 1 1/2 weeks! But for the moment, while he’s still in mommy’s belly, we took the opportunity to capture this special moment in all of their lives. Owen, who’s now almost four, was also super [...]
For Budding Photographers: Secret #2 of the Exposure Triangle
In my recent blog post, “Secret #1 of the Exposure Triangle,” I talked about using shutter speed to creatively express movement in your photographs. Today, I’ll take you through Secret #2: Using aperture to control depth-of-field. Aperture refers to the size of the lens diaphragm opening; it controls the amount of light entering the camera. A [...]
Great Falls Sunset: Vision Doesn’t End with the Click of the Shutter
I’ve been contemplating the image-creation process this week, as I work on a series of images of Great Falls. I thought I’d share some of my musings about the three essential steps to great image-making: Step 1: Defining your vision for the image and the message you want to convey, be it beauty… drama… majesty… [...]
For Budding Photographers: Secret #1 of the Exposure Triangle
Over the past year, I’ve noticed that at least half of the new photography students who come to me bring along with them a misconception about the relationship between shutter speed and exposure. I’ll ask them how they decide to use a slow vs. fast shutter speed, and they’ll say something like, “When it’s bright [...]
Student Work, Art of Architecture Photography Workshop: Franciscan Monastery
I taught a full-day workshop on the Art of Architecture: Photographing the Franciscan Monastery last Saturday in Washington, DC, and my students and I had a GREAT time! The monastery is looking gorgeous as always, and my students – John, Maxine, and Barry – came back with some AWESOME work! I’m posting here a selection of [...]
If photography is the air you breathe, you will make it…
I am a fan of David duChemin, a humanitarian and international assignment photographer. I was reading one of his blog posts, “No Vision without Passion,” and his words have really struck a chord: “…If you want to succeed in your photography, whatever that means to you, then you need to fuel it with passion and [...]
Photographer Review: Irene Abdou
A member of the Gaithersburg Camera Club – Rosemary Smith – approached me a few weeks ago. She is taking an Intro to Digital Photography course at Montgomery College, and her class was given an assignment to write a report on a famous photographer. She felt strongly about interviewing a photographer whose work she felt [...]
Prepping for My Next Next Exhibit: Of Fairytale Kingdoms
Last weekend, I was prepping for my next next exhibit, picking out the 10 images, figuring out what sizes I’ll print them in, and drawing out the schematic of their placement. My next next exhibit will be at the Arlington Public Library, Central Library Branch in Virginia, and I’m calling it, “Of Fairytale Kingdoms.” Since I just [...]
Utah Parks Road Trip, Day 11: Arches National Park, aka The Day I Almost Died
OK, perhaps I’m being a little dramatic. But still, this is the day that I’ll never forget. The day my Yaktrax fell into the abyss. The day I was stuck way out in the funnel. The day I was too paralyzed to move forward, too petrified to move back. Like always, it all started out in [...]
Utah Parks Road Trip: Day 1, Arches National Park
It’s finally time for our Christmas-New Years Southern Parks of Utah Road Trip! You never would have thought it would take 4 days to get from DC to Utah, but it’s already worth it! In case you didn’t hear, the DC area’s biggest snowstorm in years and years and years dumped more than 2 feet [...]