.jpg "2009 Preston Castle-2023")
CD cover
I’ve been taking an advanced Photoshop class at the local college. It is taught by a Sacramento Wedding/portrait photographer and I have learned so much. The class has also sparked interest in learning to do more with the photos that I take.
Here’s a couple of examples:
![gamer [Desktop Resolution]](http://sierrasprings.commanderdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gamer-Desktop-Resolution(pp_w358_h537).jpg "gamer [Desktop Resolution]")
Movie Poster
Ipod image
Fantasy image (the young man and yoyo are real, but everything else is fantasy)
Poster or info card
You just can’t take a bad photo when you make good use of window light…especially windows that are huge and grimy like those at Preston Castle. Here’s Brittany with a beautiful Renaissance outfit on. Just look at the light on her face, will ya? Good, huh? Here’s another:
Now this gal has got so much good stuff going on. She’s got that wonderful red hair which complements the fur coat. Her blue, blue eyes are knock out beautiful and she’s wearing red lipstick. I placed her in front of a huge, dirty north facing window (best light) and just snapped away. The only bad photos I had of her were operator error on my part.
Here’s a young man, senior in high school.
I prefer using a north facing window, but in this shot put him in front of a large, filthy south facing window and I got away with it because the sky was totally overcast at the time providing a nice soft light. Look at the way the window lights up his eyes. I love that he was wearing a tie and a nice vest. So classy.
One more window light…
Now, what’s not to like about this gorgeous gal. She’s standing directly in front of my big, huge, filthy, north-facing window. I just love this photo. Her eyes are just knock-out. The light on her face is soft and attractive. Pretty much anyone would look good in this light, but she is a true beauty.
I keep telling my husband that the reason I don’t do windows is because they make better light for photographers when they are dirty. He’s not buying it.
Where was I 19 years ago today? Oh yeah, I remember. I was in the hospital giving birth to my darling daughter. I don’t think she’s changed much from the darling little girl, to the beautiful young woman she is today. She’s still goofy, fun, stubborn (she gets that from me) and fiercely independent. She’s also a wonderful sister to two brothers and a loving daughter.
When she was growing up we used to take her to Halloween festivals on Halloween. Consequently she grew up thinking that everyone celebrated her birthday by dressing up and handing out candy. Heh.
Happy Birthday, darlin’.
So, where’s the scary photo? Okay. Here’s one I took of Preston Castle last year. I dolled it up a little to make it look a little spookier.
Happy Halloween.
She’s beautiful just like her mother. It’s so crazy how fast they grow up!
BTW, those blue glasses are crazy cool and TOTALLY 80s! If you still have them, I bet they are back in style now. 😉
This young man is a long-time friend of my youngest son. He came over for a visit the other day and I asked him if I could photograph him. He was game and he happened to bring his yo-yo with him. I thought it would make a fun prop and so we shot a couple of quick photos using my studio lights and white backdrop. The yo-yo moves very fast, so I asked him to show me a few tricks, and he was happy to oblige.
Because I was using a white backdrop, I was able to cut him out of the pic and paste him here on a New York rooftop. And he didn’t even notice. I even had time to run around behind him a do a little artistic spray painting.
And here he is with a little more serious look.
Handsome and fun young man.
Awesome images! Looks like you had some fun with this one. Hope all is well with you.
I talked my husband into going to Reno, Nv, with me on Saturday. This was a supreme sacrifice for him because he works hard all week and values his rest on the weekend.
The alarm went off at 2:00 a.m. and we dragged ourselves out of bed, showered, loaded up the camera gear and were out the door by 3:00. We were staying at Tahoe, so Reno was only about 1 1/2 hour drive. We arrived at the event about 4:30, drove around looking for a parking place and finally settled at a free spot at the University of Reno. Then we hiked about 1 mile to the park where the event took place. There were already thousands of people there. Many of them were in their pajamas, pulling little pajama-clad children in wagons, hauling sleeping bags and lawn chairs. We were obviously ill-prepared as we only brought my camera, my camera bag and a tripod, none of which is very comfortable to sit on.
The pre-dawn glow show was interesting, but not much of a photography event. There was some excitement when one of the “Dawn Patrol” balloons collapsed on itself and the operator shot the flame right through the balloon. Luckily those things don’t catch fire but it was ruined, nevertheless. This is not a very good photo, but you can see the collapsing balloon and the flame shooting through it. Emergency crews were at the ready and arrived post haste to make sure nothing bad happened.
One of the best things that happened was the fly-over of 5 jets as a tribute to 9/11/09. I was sitting on the field facing 2 balloons that were ready to launch. The announcer was giving a great tribute to 9/11 and the first balloon went up with the US flag hanging from the basket. Then, all of a sudden the jets just appeared out of the sunrise and behind the remaining balloon. I was situated perfectly to capture the amazing event. I pointed my camera toward the balloon and let it rip, catching about 6 shots of the jets. This is my best shot.
My husband and I wandered around the field watching the balloon operators setting up one balloon after another. I followed one operator (photographically…not like a stalker…heh) pilot from layout of his balloon on the field to take off. He told me he was an airline pilot by trade. He was taking a woman up with him who was writing some sort of article on the event. She had never been up in a balloon before and her comment to me was, “The things I do for an article”.
My husband and I left around 9:00am tired, but happy. We got back to our place at Tahoe and promptly collapsed. What a great day.
Amazing photos and the colors are spectacular. I’m glad you guys made the 2am sacrifice. I knew you would treat the rest of us with your photos.
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Teresa K - Rembrandt would be proud Karen.