Passion

I didn't have any model shoots this weekend, so I have been sitting here catching up on odds and ends photos that needed post processing. The following photos were taken in Charlotte near the Time Warner statium while I was waiting for Justice to show up last weekend.

As much as I like shooting models, my passion seems to be buildings and objects. Doesn't seem to matter if it is the city or decaying buildings, I like solitude of wandering around looking at objects differently.







If you would like to see the rest of the photos, please check out my flickr account, http://www.flickr.com/photos/debra_pictures/

Everyone needs a hobby

Sam, the girls and I went to Latta Planation over the weekend. Taylor is such a history buff right now and Charlotte is full of history. If nothing else, I am learning there are two sides to every story. The "Southern" version that Taylor is learning is sometimes very different from the "Northern" version I learned in school.

They were staging a Revolutionary War Reenactment at the plantation and we thought Taylor would enjoy it. We didn't stay for the actual reenactment but wandering around chatting with the people was very interesting and we had a good time.

The sun was a bit harsh for my liking but I was still able to get some nice shots.

I chatted with the blacksmith for a bit, somehow we got on the topic of snow. His wife was from somewhere up northeast. He kept working as we talked. I am not sure what he was making but he must have left it in the fire a bit too long, because when he took it out and hit it with a hammer, the tip went flying off like a rocket. He had to chase it down, stomp on it and then empty his mug of water on it. "Damn that wasn't suppose to happen". When I asked to take his photo he wanted to make sure I got his "best side".



"Benjamin Franklin" made an appearence since he was on his Southern Tour. He was supposed to debated "John Adams", only "John" didn't show. Poor Ben, he was left to take questions from the "guests". Which was a bit painful, since Ben was a bit deaf and couldn't hear the questions. And really wasn't prepared for the ones he did.



And then there was this gentleman. He was quite entertaining and when I asked to take his photo, he proceeded to tell me his photo was in the every post office for 4 states. I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't think they had post offices during the Revolutionary War. And besides I am sure he was the Jedi Knight at the Microsoft Sharepoint gig I went to.



If you would like to see more photos from Latta Plantation, please check out my flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/debra_pictures

Justice #897494

Justice and I had a wonderful shoot in Charlotte last Sunday.











If you would like to see more of Justice's photos from the shoot, please go my flickr account, http://www.flickr.com/photos/debra_pictures/sets/72157622114503097/

Great Cookie Crumble

This annual tradition of the Green Market pits Center City restaurants, chefs, and bakeries against one another to determine who is crowned the Best Cookie in the Center City. There was a panel of judges but was also open up the judging to the public for a People's Choice Award.

Reid's (Samantha's store) came in 3rd. They haven't posted the results on their site yet, but I will update when they do.

Brushes

I spent most of my time yesterday playing with brushes in CS3. Photoshop brushes are essentially tools that can be used in the brush palette of adobe photoshop. Each photoshop brush has a specific design or an effect. I enjoy playing around with the brushes to add graffitti to a bland wall or creating wings on a model.

With a bit of minor tweaking, I can create some really fun effects. One of the biggest attractions of using photoshop brushes is the fact they allow me to get over the problem of not being able to draw well. I am able to add some nice touches with photoshop brushes. And there are tons of free brushes on the web.

How to Load Brushes

1. Download the zip file to any folder on your local disk

2. Unzip the .abr file and copy it to Program files > Adobe > Photoshop > Presets > Brushes

3. After they’re downloaded, select brush tool from the main toolbar in Photoshop and open Brushes Window (or just press F5 to get the brushes window)

4. Click the arrow in the upper right corner to navigate through the Brushes Window

5. Now select “Load Brushes …” in order to activate the downloaded ones.

6. Select the brush and click on “Load”.

7. New Brushes will show up in "Brushes Window“

8. Select the Brush colour and play with the parameters.

9. Once you decide on which brush you are going to use, click on the a new layer to add it. Having it on its own layer makes it so much easier to tweak the brush as needed.

Ruth ChangThao mm#1085545

I had a shoot with Ruth Chang Thao on Sunday. She needed head shots and hopefully I was able to provide her with what she needed. She was great to work with.

















If you would like to see more shots of Ruth please check out my flickr page @http://www.flickr.com/photos/debra_pictures/sets/72157622132075578/

Why can't I take decent photos of my grandchildren?

Saturday was my grandson, Anthony's 4th birthday and once again I am totally unhappy with the photos I took. I really suck at taking kids photos. Getting down on their level I only wind up with sticky lens and lots of shoots looking up their noses or at their tongues.