Phase 10

I'm sure most of you will be out and about this Labor day weekend, but if you're looking to stay indoors for any reason, try playing Phase 10, a terrific fun card game for the entire family. Fe Lyn and I get together with some friends from time to time and can spend sometimes 4 hours playing just 1 game. Anyone ever play it?

Chris and Carmela's Wedding Slideshow

Here is a slideshow of Chris and Carmela's wedding. This is one of my favorites. Click here to see the Slideshow. 

The Martinez Family Slideshow

I'm having a lot of fun creating these slideshows. Here is the slideshow of the pictures I took of the Martinez Family a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy. Click here if you can't see the slideshow window. 

Slideshows

I've been trying to figure out a better way to present images on the Internet so I've been trying out a few slideshow programs. Click Here to see more pictures of Jdonald and Desiree's wedding. Let me know if you like it! 

Fast Track Photography

I've been reading Dane Sander's new book Fast Track Photographer. Dane got his start with David Jay as well. Dane was a professor at a local college before he was inspired by DJ's Photography and entrepreneurship. 

The book is a guide on how to get into a Photography and quickly work your way up bypassing some of the most common mistakes new Photographers make as they start their business. 

So far it's been really interesting, taking the pDNA (which confirmed my strengths and weaknesses as I saw them) trying to really understand where you are and how far you need to go to reach the goal you have set yourself. If you are getting into Wedding Photography or thinking about being a freelance Photographer, this might be a good book for your to read. 

Sacramento and Lake Tahoe

So my wife and I had this elaborate and detailed Vacation planned for our kids and us. To make a long story short we canceled the trip only 24 hours before we were suppose to leave, canceling hotels etc. Then 24 hours later we decided to go again, but cut the trip short to just a few days and just to visiting friends in Sacramento and super fast ride Lake Tahoe for a few hours. 

While exhausting (driving), the chance to see good friends and see Lake Tahoe made the trip worth while. 

In Sacramento we visited the families of both Gwen and Edgar. Both super nice people with wonderful families. Thank you both for your hospitality and kindness. Here is a great shot of the two with my wife Fe Lyn. 

I really like this shot of Gwen. Relaxed. 

While we took taking pictures around the Capital, there were 3 weddings in different areas with Photographers taking pictures. Of course I couldn't resist and took this shot.

Fe Lyn and I in front of the Capital building, thank you Edgar for taking the picture!

We took off for Lake Tahoe late in the afternoon, trying to beat the sunset so we could take a few pictures before nightfall. We arrived 20 minutes just before sunset! Whew! Took this shot of Fe Lyn in Emerald Bay Park. 

The Martinez Family

Tony, Sherry and Catherine have been our friends for a few years. So when they asked me to photograph them for a family picture I jumped at the chance.

You see, Tony is a Marine and he was recently deployed for 6 months. During those 6 months, it was really difficult for the family to be so far apart. So when Tony finally came home, they felt the need to have a family photograph to celebrate being reunited again. We had a really good time taking the pictures and I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did taking them.

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Free to succeed

Last night's seminar with David Jay and Jasmine Star in San Diego was a terrific display of where the Wedding Photography industry is today, what are the trends and what you need to do as wedding photographer to differentiate yourself from the pack. 

Both David and Jasmine are just as you interpret them from their respective websites, both very down to earth people, tell you how it is and are very inspiring. They both have a wonderful personality where you can't help but think of them as a friend you've known for a long time.

Thank you David and Thank you Jasmine for a very informative seminar and I hope I can apply some of the things you outlined to help my business grow. 

For those of you who still have a chance to see the seminar (touring to a city near you), I would highly recommend it.

HDR Images

I've recently found out about HDR images and have been really interested to find out how to take HDR Pictures. By using your Bracketing Exposure function in your DSLR camera, you take several exposures of the same subject then merge together to create a picture which has more range in exposure (dark to light). In the pictures below I shot 5 frames each at .7 differential in exposures and then merged them to to become HDR. HDR would be very difficult to do with moving subjects (like people), but suitable for landscape or more stationery objects. Hope you like them.

Shot a great Photo session with two good friends Tony and Sherry yesterday. Can't wait to show you, check out later this week!