Birthday Princess

I've been really busy the past week or so getting everything ready for my baby girl's first birthday. She's growing up. *sniff*

Who needs a model

I was graciously invited over to my photography friend, Sheba Wheeler's, house along with a couple other photogs that I met at the Denver night shoot. The plan was to take some pictures for a newbie model that needed to beef up her portfolio. She had agreed to let us practice with her and in exchange would not have to pay for the session. For some unknown reason, she did not show up, but that didn't deter us from making the best of the situation. We posed for each other and practiced adjusting the lighting and manual settings on our cameras. We also exchanged helpful tips and information about photography in general, though I have to admit that I was largely on the receiving end of the exchange. I had a great time and this may have worked out better than having a model there. 

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the night. My lovely "model" is Sean Donnelly. A very friendly and upbeat guy but could mean mug a camera with the best of them.

Thanks again Sheba for having us. Can't wait to do it again.

School's in Session

I just marvel at what people are able to do with Photoshop. I have been wanting to take a class, but with the holidays, funds are in short supply. I decided to try to teach myself and started reading The Adobe Photoshop CS3 book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelly. A really good read and very detailed for people need step by step instruction like me. 

I'm still on the first chapter, basic essentials and importing pictures into Bridge so I decided to try my hand at some minor touch ups with out the books help. This is what I ended up with.

The following is a picture of some Lincoln Logs at my daughter's preschool. I liked the texture and the little pops of color with the red blocks. I thought the picture overall was a little dark and I wanted to crop out the plastic container the block were in.
Here is the edited image. I guess it's better. 

I try to look at this lack of PS knowledge as a blessing in disguise because now I force myself to get good shots right from the camera. 

Here are a few more pictures taken from my visit to Jocelyn's school. No photoshopping.

Night Sky

Here are a few sky shots from Friday night's shoot.  

Downtown Holiday Lights

Last night I braved the cold Colorado weather and met up with other members of the Denver Digital Photography meet-up group. Our goal was to get some night shots of Denver's holiday lights. There were about 40 of us but we ended up breaking ourselves in smaller crews before scouting out the perfect spots to shoot.

A friend of mine works at the Denver Post and we were able to sweet talk the security guard into letting us up to the balcony on the 10th floor. We got some great pictures.

We later made our way right up to the front of the Civic Center.

Tips for night shooting:
Slower shutter speed
Large aperture
Tripod
Remote/or Timer

Denver Civic Center

Denver Art Museum


Random Building just right of the Civic center

Denver Capitol Building
Nativity setup and Santa in front of the Civic Center