Saturday, July 22, 2006

Around and about and IN FRONT of the camera?????

So, about a week or so ago, Holly emailed me and yelled at me for not putting up anything cool and Europe-like on my blog. This trip I really haven't seen anything new...with Comm law I dash to On the Hoof for a sandwhich and get back to class (or the procrastinating avoidance thereof)--whether that's pretending to read my textbook, pretending to do my homework or, my particular favorite, pretending to be awake in class because I was attempting to read Comm Law late into the night and then get up at 7am. So here are a few quick shots and adventures within walking distance of home.

The bell-tower of the church across the street.
(Yes, there's an ancient stone church across the street from our house. It also has a lovely seating area on the opposite side of the street from us where you can eat lunch, study Comm Law (ha!) or various other activities to numerous and scandalous to mention.)

The gate to said lovely sitting area.

A stream behind University Park adjacent to yet another lovely sitting area perfect for the afore-mentioned activities

A very unflattering picture of Shaley and her temporary pillow, Kendra. Kendra is the girl who sleeps in the bed next to me and this is our room. Notice tight crop to avoid A) an even more unflattering view of Shaley and B) our extremely cluttered floor.


Now here's a little somthing you don't experience every day:
So one day, we're having class in University Park and a reporter and photographer from the Oxford Mail come up and start talking to us. Europe is currently experiencing record heat waves, and these two gents were doing a story on all the people who were too hot to stay indoors and do thier various normal activities. Most UK homes and businesses do not own airconditioners--all the chocolate at the 9to9 had melted into a gooey mess! In any case, places were canceling work, school, you name it. So the Brit reporters were shocked to hear that their "heat-wave" (high 80's, low 90's--in direct sunlight, mind you!) is almost cold weather to us.
And it really was kind of chilly, sitting in the shade with the breeze blowing. Tiffany Gaunt had the towel she was sitting on wrapped over her legs, Kendra was trying to tough it out and not move into the sunlight, and I had my standard worn-out green jacket on. So the reporter gets into a conversation with Mr. Pybus about media ethics and the photographer does a doubletake when he sees me in my jacket. Before I know it, he's talked me into going out in the sunlight so he can take a picture of the crazy American who wears a jacket in 90degree weather...and the next day, we bought our copy. I made page 4.

click any image to make it larger



my one complaint with the whole affair--they called me a Texan!

Can you find the mistakes? Leave a post if you find one!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Photoshop is my friend

Yet another post delayed by wedding planning and Comm Law--thankfully, this post catches me up for my internship posts! Europe pictures on the way (just as soon as I take them ::grin::).

You might recognize Tia from our Paramount Shoot earlier this summer. We did that shoot to send pictures of her to her husband who is in Iraq. This shoot is to send pictures of his dog, Radar. Radar is a German Sheppard trained by the police accademy (it's kind of weird, taking pictures of a dog while it's owner is commanding it in German) and is only about two years old. Radar was also just diagnosed with cancer and probably will not live to see his master come home from Iraq. Hence the pictures. But the question you might ask is: why spend the money to hire a professional (meaning Mike) to photograph a dying dog??? The answer: because a professional (or his intern) can photoshop fur.





This is a close-up of the above picture BEFORE I edited it. The dog had just had a biopsy and, though he didn't appear to be in pain, looked like, well, you can see for yourself.

And a cute shot of Trace just cuz I liked the funny lighting.

Playing Ketchup (or Catch Up, whichever you like)

So, I'm still in Oxford and Comm Law has been royally kicking my butt! However, this weekend is a travel weekend (and since I'm getting married in October and have absolutely no money, I'm taking it easy in Oxford, enjoying the empty house and the quiet) so I have time to catch up on my blogging and picture editing.

This post is an engagement session I double shot with Mike and Holly right before I left for England. The couple both have Airforce backgrounds--believe it or not, she's a jet engine mechanic studying to be a paralegal--and the baby, Chandler, is the absolute cutest baby I have ever met. He was quiet, agreable, responsive and he doesn't like grass, which made him have the cutest unhappy expressions I've ever seen. Really. If I were going to have a munchkin, I'd want it to act like this one.

I discovered three things during this shoot:
  1. I love red and green together, the color combination really makes me happy!
  2. Shooting in RAW is AWESOME! It really gave me control of the colors and let me bring out my reds and greens.
  3. If I'm going to continue in this business--which I intend on doing--I definately need to quit talking to dogs and babies the same way.
Now the pictures!








Let me know what you think!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Melissa's Bridal Portraits

Here is Melissa's very public proofing session. On July 5, I took her bridal portraits (with the help and direction of Holly) and, regrettably, am just getting them back to her. The session was a lot of fun. We shot the first half at the Windsor Ballroom and the second half at Erinshire Gardens, both in Abilene TX. It was a tough decision narrowing down the 300+ images to a mere 29. Let me know what your favorites are!

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