Body Combat, Tiffiany Style

At the local World Gym, they have Les Mills Body Combat classes. Every 3 month Les Mills sends out a new class routine to keep things fresh. Tiffiany and the other group exercise trainers work 3-4 weeks learning the routine before teaching it to the class. Tiffiany asked me to shoot a few photos for the upcoming Body Combat launch. These are some of the images we shot for the launch poster.



















This is the final launch poster created by Tara Larrimore.


The new Body Combat launch is scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2010. Call World Gym (410-286-7575) for more details.

Tiffiany is a group fitness instructor (teaching Spinning, Les Mills Body Pump, and Les Mills Combat) and personal trainer at World Gym in Owings and Prince Frederick, Maryland. To take one of her classes or to hire her as a personal trainer, please call World Gym (410-286-7575) or e-mail her at navyfitness@yahoo.com.

From the Les Mills Web Site: BODYCOMBAT™ is the empowering cardio workout where you are totally unleashed. This fiercely energetic program is inspired by martial arts and draws from a wide array of disciplines such as Karate, boxing, Taekwondo, Tai Chi and Muay Thai. Supported by driving music and powerful role model instructors strike, punch, kick and kata your way through calories to superior cardio fitness.

BODYCOMBAT™ is a non-combat, martial arts-based fitness program with moves drawn from Karate, Tae Kwan Do, Kung Fu, kickboxing, Muay Thai and Tai Chi. Each 55-minute BODYCOMBAT™ class is choreographed to 10 tracks of the latest music, providing an exhilarating exercise experience that delivers ultra-fast fitness results.

Click Here to visit the Les Mills Web Site.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

Love Wins - Giving is Awesome

I am joining with photographers worldwide in the “Giving is Awesome” call to action to help make a difference for one deserving individual or family this holiday season.

You know someone. You know someone who's experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can't afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family's spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography -- $500 worth, to be exact. Whether it's canvas or albums, prints for Grandma, or a slideshow to watch over and over, it's in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $250 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in the southern Maryland area (Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, and Prince George's counties). Tell me who you know, what they're experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : danny@studiodouglas.com

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve (or shortly after that) -- get nominating! I can't wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season -- and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

Love wins,

Danny

December Photo Project - Day 10

The Larrimore family photo shoot continued...

Thank you Tara for inviting me in to shoot your beautiful family. 

My photo friend and work out mentor Puna told me about this photo project. I have decided to take the challenge of posting a new photo everyday until December 25th. I hope that you will stop by to see what's new and maybe even see something unusual.  

Here is my first photo. It's one of my favorite mother-daughter images. You can't see it but this was taken in temperatures in the low 40's. They both were freezing but were great sports. Thanks Caroline and Amy!!