2nd Annual Photo Walk - Washington, D.C.

On July 18, 2009, I packed my camera bag and headed down to Washington, D.C. for Scott Kelby's Second Annual World Wide Photo Walk. About 40 photographers gathered to walk the street around the Verizon Center (Chinatown to the locals).

Along for the ride was my good friend, blogger, photographer Puna (check out her site for some good stuff). Special thanks to Woody Machalek for snapping the above photo for us.

As we walked the streets we took photographs of pretty much anything and everything.

I found lots of "textures" (i.e. peeling paint)

Some really cool old buildings with hand painted numbers.

Of course there were memorials and statues....

But my favorite part of the walk were the people we ran into along the way. I didn't run across anyone who didn't want to have there picture taken (all you had to do was ask!).

I met this guy at the car wash.

This guy was really interested in what we were doing.

Here is Puna shooting.

And my favorite photo was of this guy I met at Fuddruckers. I saw him in the line to fix his burger and on my way out I asked him if I could take his picture. I gotta tell you, he was the most gracious, well mannered person I met that day. He told me after that he was in a rock band. I'm just sorry I didn't ask for the name of the group. If any one knows, please pass it along.

I'm so looking forward to the 3rd Annual World Wide Photo Walk. I had a blast on this one. Thanks to Jeff Revell for being our group leader and organizing our walk. Thanks Jeff!

You can also see loads of photos (by me and the other photographers) at the Flickr group. Check them out.

Scott Kelby's Second-Annual Worldwide Photo Walk

Q. What is a Photo Walk?

A. It’s a social photography event where photographers get together, usually in a downtown area or trendy section of town, to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.

More pictures from todays walk coming soon. Thanks to our leader Jeff Revell for trekking us through the streets and buildings around Washington, DC.

Sports in Action

This past June the gym my daughter has attended for 4 years closed their doors (in part to the economy). On her last day we were told we could photograph and watch their final practice. This image is of my baby girl, leaping off the balance beam (onto a cushy mat). I just love her grace and style! Fly Baby, Fly!!

Be sure to head on over to www.iheartfaces.com to check out all of the beautiful face entries this week!

Happy Birthday America

Meet Lilly

(Thanks to Leanne for the following write up.)

The Douglas family proudly introduces the newest member of the family. Lilly is our brand new baby sugar glider. She is between 8 and 12 weeks old. Most people don't know what these cute little critters are, so I'll tell you. She is a marsupial, (NOT a rodent) sort of a cross between a koala bear and a flying squirrel. Fully grown she will only be about 5" long not including her tail.

Lilly will be spending the next two days alone in her cage....de-stressing from her long trip and getting used to the smells and sounds of her new home. After that, we will all be loving her MANY hours a day so that she will bond with her new family and come to trust and love us. We plan to take her everywhere with us once she is fully trained. We have small travel pouches that we can carry like a purse to keep her with us but safe and secure.

Everyone (maybe not me so much....I really wanted a dog) is so excited to finally have a pet.

Class of 2009!

Congratulations Amy! You Rock. 

JJ Heller

Meet JJ Heller. She and her husband David filled in and lead our church in worship this past Sunday. It is always great to support and welcome Christian artists to our church. JJ and David sang several songs (a few originals) and I feel in love with them. You can visit JJ's website and and give them a listen. You may just like what you hear.  

David Ziser's Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009

For those of you who don't know David Ziser, he is a popular photography instructor at Photoshop World and Kelby Training, a daily blogger (Digital Talk Pro), and a leader in wedding and event photography. David has taught tens of thousands around the world, and he's ready to teach you.  

On March 30, 2009 (in Jacksonville, FL), David Ziser's "Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn" will be kicking off a 58 city tour. (Link Here) I am sure he is coming to a city near you!

Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn will focus on 3 areas:

1. Master You Lighting - Master Your Market

David will present an intensive session on creative lighting and exciting composition.  Considered by many to be a "master of lighting", David will demonstrate just how easily and quickly you can light your images beautifully and dramatically, making them stand out from the crowd.  Watch how he uses on-camera flash, off-camera flash, filtered flash, bounce flash, and many other lighting techniques to create images that really rise above the crowd in a wedding market that has been diluted with so much flat, one dimensional photography.

In This Lighting and Photography Segment David Will Show You:

• 32 ways to make the best use of your on-camera and off-camera flash for creative and dramatic effects;
  
• Composition - the secret ingredient of a great photograph; lens selection and camera settings for the best possible results with your gear;
  
• How to get the best results out of the new ISO cameras;
  
• And lastly, how the new video capabilities of these new cameras can transform your product offerings.
  

 

Don't shoot weddings - no problem. David's techniques work equally well for the portrait and senior photographer seeking to differentiate their creative look and style from the "rest of the pack." 

2.  "Magic Bullet" Techniques to Make Your Production Headaches Disappear.

Are you tired of hearing the term "workflow-this" and "workflow-that" everywhere? Well, it's about time we move beyond mundane digital production processes and open our eyes to new, streamlined methods of running our digital studios efficiently, effectively, and profitably.  David will be discussing 5 major software "Magic Bullets" in the course of his presentation.

• Lightroom 2.0 - 5 Wedding/Portrait specific techniques guaranteed to shorten your time at the computer and make your images sing.
  
• How to use other software "magic bullets" to add pizzazz to your wedding/portrait images and make digital workflow nearly effortless, highly efficient, and fun. 
  
• David will discuss and demonstrate one today's software best kept secrets.  He will show you how to design an album with only one mouse click and then "fine-tune" it to perfection with only a few more clicks.
  
• He will discuss album design - good and bad, but concentrating mostly on how to make your albums become a reflection of your studio's identity.
  

3. Making Your Business More Profitable

Whether you are a seasoned pro, or part time professional, or just getting started in your business, David will point you to creative, profit building strategies for growing your business.  Digital has changed the rules for many photographers.  David will discuss and suggest how "digital" opens doors to new possibilities for all of us wanting to grow our business.

He will share with you his very successful marketing strategies that have enabled his studio to reach the best clients in his market and deliver his highly profitable and most beautiful products ever.

David's discussion will include 20 new products and solid marketing ideas to increase your sales using today's digital technologies.  These products and marketing ideas are targeted to today's customers and work for any photographer - aspiring pro to seasoned professional - and will add substantially to your bottom line.

David made a special offer for the folks who read DannyDouglas.com. Enter code (ZDDDWC09) to get in for $59 – a savings of $20. That’s an incredible deal considering that you’ll go home with materials worth $250 more than you paid to get in:

• Tour Handbook including: program notes, photography, marketing and more
  
• 2 Hour DVD with extended program content
  
• $100 Rebate from American Color Imaging
  
• 1 year membership to WPPI and Rangefinder magazine, a $99 value
  
• FREE 3 month membership to DigitalProTalkPlus.com, a $45 value
  
• FREE 3 month subscription to PPA Magazine, a $15 value
  
• FREE PPA Indemnification (no-fault) insurance for all new PPA members, a $50 value
  
• Over $2,500 in door prizes awarded each evening
  
• And a chance to win 1 of 4 Grand Prizes worth over $5,000
  

Bonus For Canon Shooters: David is a Canon shooter too. His demos are based on Canon gear.

Dude, the economy is tight! Don't worry, I may be able to get you in for free!

Just enter the "Exciting Light" contest on Flickr. 

DEADLINE: APRIL 15TH (yep, that April 15th, but this is a lot less painful than taxes).

The Digital WakeUp Call - A New Dawn tour is about exciting lighting and a lot more. The lucky reader selected by me who submits the most "Exciting Lighting" image made with portable flashes wins the free. Pretty easy, so enter today.

How to Enter...

1. You will need a Ficker Account. It's free to join and easy to use.

2. Join the Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn Group 

3. Upload no more than 3 of your photos that represent "Exciting Light" (remember to use a portable flash or two) to your Flickr account.

4. Then tag your photos with "DWC2009" (How to tag).  

5. Once the images are on your Flickr account and tagged, just "Send to Group" (it a link about you image). And select The Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn Group.  Please, no more than three entries per person. 

6. Then promise to share and tell all your family, friends, strangers about www.DannyDouglas.com

Selection Process:

On or about the evening of April 15th, I will figure out a way to decide the winner. Remember, this is about exciting lighting, this is the key for my decision.  I will notify the winner by email shortly after my decision has been made. Good luck!

 

Snow Day

Last night a storm rolled through our area and dumped between 5" to 9" inches of snow (Snow drifts were a little higher). We also lost power in the middle of the night for a few "chilly" hours. When we woke up, this is what we saw...

Then I saw this. Could Spring be far behind?

UPDATE: My follower blogger, Puna, was smart enough to actually measure the snowfall! So, the un-official official total of snow fall is 10 INCHES!! Check out Puna's blog here. Thanks meteorologist Puna!

Fix it Friday #3

The folks over at iheartfaces.com has a new Fix It Friday Post and this is what I came up with.

The above image is the original image for the "fix".

This is the image that I came up with. I basically blew out the luminosity of the image. Took a brush and got rid of the background and some of the subjects hood. Rotated the image just a bit and cropped. Thats it. pretty simple and quick. You can visit the folks at iheartfaces.com to see what they are up too.

Happy Valentines Day (Love Wins - Really!)

My munchkins decided that our back door needed a little Valentines Day love. So they decided to make paper hearts and tape them to the glass on the doors. I thought they were very clever and colorful.  

The oranges heart in this picture says "Be Fancy". 

There is a lot of love going on in these hearts. 

And a few hugs. So for Valentines Day, be fancy, love one another, and give someone a hug. Remember, love wins, always!

Fix-it-Friday #1 (The Redheaded Beauty)

My buddy and fellow photog, Puna, sucked me into this Fix-it-Friday post. After reading her blog today, well, I just felt the challenge being laid down. The challenge is to make the image of the Redheaded Beauty look better than the one that came out of the camera. So, this is my attempt.

One the left you have the SOOC (Straight Out of the Camera) image. You can see its not a bad image. It's nicely composed, however, it feels a little flat. As a photographer, we don't want our clients feeling or looking flat. So, Photoshop CS3 to the rescue. The image on the right was "refined" in PS3. My first step, adjusting the levels (Command + L on a Mac, Control + L on a PC) a tad. Step 2: Getting rid of all the flaws (i.e. blemishes, stay hairs, etc) with either the Stamp Tool or Healing Brush. There is no reason for a beautiful model to have a zit when you can easily get rid of it. Step 3: Created a second layer and and gave it a "Screen" layer style. Then created a layer mask and painting back in the eyes. At this stage the eyes look really bad so I lowered that layers opacity to about 35% making the eye look bright and lively versus "evil". Then I flattened the image. Step 4: I duplicated the layer again and gave the new layer a a "Hard Light" layer style. Again, I made a mask and quickly painted back in her hair and face. Then I drop the opacity of that layer to about 40%. Step 5: Flatten the image one last time and "bam" done. Now, if you wanted to you could have kept all the layers and saved it as a Photoshop document. But for this exercise I just flattened mine.

Thanks to Puna for making me "Play" a little today. I also want to give some props to the folks over at "I Heart Faces" for coming up with this idea. I hope they get a ton of responses. Here is thier link go check them out.

Happy Inauguration Day

(designed by Shepard Fairey)

Best wishes to President Obama and his family. May the next 4 years in Washington, DC be memorable. 

Portraits - The Carter Family

The holidays are a great time to catch up with family you don't see very often. Trey and Julia stopped by our house for me to take their Christmas photos. Here are a couple of my favorites. They were great sports cause it was FREEZING outside!

This is their daughter. By that great smile she has, I believe that Mom and Dad will have their hands full. 

Portraits - The Vinciguerra Family

During Christmas I was asked to take a family portrait for my Aunt Linda and her girls. Angie, her middle daughter, now lives in Florida and was up for the holiday. Since all the girls were together, I grabbed my camera bag and headed to their house.  

I think the Vinciguerra girls are absolutely beautiful (of course I am a little biased since they are related).  

They make my job as a photographer very easy.

I love the above set of photos. Each individual image was captured with natural light. I hope my Aunt can find a photo or two to hang on her walls. Thank you girls for letting me take your pictures. I love you.  

Giving is Awesome - Winner

A special thanks to all of you who sent in nominations for the "Giving is Awesome". I am sorry for the delay in posting the winner (please forgive me).  

The complimentary custom portraits goes to: Karen Schatz. Karen is a single mom who home schools her son Cody. She runs her own business and is an active part of her community and serves on several church ministries.

I can’t wait to work to work with Karen and her son. Thanks again and I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!