Photo Tip - Lenses

I often get asked "What Camera Should I Buy?". A better question is about "What Lenses?". The big issue here is budget. Buy the best you can afford. What if you only have $300? What if you have $5,000 to spend?

I put together a quick video to help shed some light for you.


A few things I want to make note of. If you own the Nikon D40(x) or D60 be careful on purchasing lenses. They must be Nikon AF-S lenses because the Nikon D40(x) or D60 lack a focus motor. This means that if you buy the Nikon 50 1.4 AF lens and put it on your Nikon D60, you will only be able to focus in Manual Mode. The D50, D70, D80, D90, D100, D200, D300, D700, etc... can use any lens. The good news is that you can pick up a used Nikon D70 on Ebay for around $250 - $300! Just because it is older does not mean it makes bad photos.

Also Prime lenses range from $100 to Thousands of $$. Obviously the more you spend, the better the lense. However, YOU can create great images with them all!

B&H Link to some options

Good Luck!

The New Nikon D90 and Chase Jarvis

As you all know I am a loyal Nikonian and am always excited when Nikon brings out new products. Whether the product is Professional or Amateur, Large or Small, I honestly believe in and support Nikon. My Nikon products have served me very well over the years and I have no plans to ever leave them ;-)

That being said, Nikon just released the Nikon D90 which is geared towards the Advanced Amateur. This camera looks to be incredible! One stand out feature is that it does Video too! This camera may very well make its way into our arsenal and be my go to camera for all of our family and personal shooting. It sure is a lighter load than my Nikon D3! So if you are in the market for a killer Digital SLR for a reasonable price, look no further.

This brings me to Chase Jarvis. Chase Jarvis is a Commercial Advertising photographer that is just incredible. I have yet to meet him, but look forward to it someday. His work is so out of the box and extraordinary. He is highly regarded in the commercial industry and among photographers alike. I am an admitted blog stalker of his. His work is so inspiring as well as his personality and willingness to share.

Low and Behold Chase is a Nikon Shooter. He is big time. Nikon gave Chase and his crew pre release versions of the Nikon D90 so they could put them through the ringer. That they did and what they came up with is extraordinary. I encourage you to watch the Behind the Scenes video and then view the image gallery. After doing so you will be headed to B&H Photo to make your purchase. You can thank me later!

Enjoy!

My New Friend - Riz

This morning I had the pleasure meeting Riz Crescini. Riz found me on Facebook, via our common connection to Kenny Kim. How cool is that? Riz has been living in Japan for the last 9 years with his wife and 2 daughters, educating students in the English Language. He also has a ministry and is looking to incorporate Photography into it.

I always love meeting new friends and especially when we have common interests ;-) We talked shop quite a bit and learned about each other. It is neat to discover how many things we had in common. I hope that I shed some useful light for him! Riz promised to keep in touch and let me know of his progress.

Riz it was awesome meeting you. Maybe someday we will get together with Kenny Kim too! God Bless Bro.

Here he is in his Cubs Glory (Cubs are in town beating the Pirates):

Silhouette on White Seamless

I had an assignment to create a Silhouette at High Noon on a Sunny Day... I thought things through and decided to go for it in studio instead. We were Very Excited with the results! Here is the shot we chose. What do you think?



I used to think that I would not like Studio Photography. I feared being boxed in and forcing images into a cookie cutter shape. I am finding more and more, how wrong I was. I am loving the options I have. Actually shooting more studio images lately, has been a blessing for me. I am starting to see things entirely differently. This can only help my vision going forward, on all of my assignments. I am having too much fun!

Out of the Office :-)

Just a quick FYI. I will be out of the office until Monday August 25. I have very limited email and phone access as well. I will return calls/emails as soon as I can. Thank you!

David

Shoot N Learn #3 Recap

What a great time we had last night! I think we had 16 people here, which was awesome! We had a very productive evening discussing off camera lighting.

My inspiration for wanting to touch on this subject comes from none other than Zack Arias founder of OneLightWorkshop. Zack is an incredible human being that happens to be an incredible (and giving) photographer. I took his workshop in Atlanta last year and it blew me away. The best investment I have made in my career, as far as fundamental/practical knowledge. If you have not taken his workshop, DO IT. You will not be sorry. Incidentally, he also has released a DVD of his workshop! I am eagerly awaiting my copy. Thank you for the inspiration Zack!

So last night, I had the opportunity to share a few tidbits just to get people thinking differently and not fearing their flash so much. It was so much fun setting up the shots and seeing people say 'Ahh, that is sweet!'. I am hoping that everyone shares some images that they grabbed of Kristen, Beth and me.

Thank you to all that came out to have fun and learn! Hope to see you at the next one!
Here are a few of my own shots. (All shot using Nikon D3, Nikon SB-800 off camera, Pocket Wizards, 60" or 45" umbrella adjustments made in Lightroom Only and then sharpened for web)

Shoot and Learn #3 - Off Camera Lighting

**Update - THIS SHOOT N LEARN IS FULL - Please check back for the next one**We are having our 3rd Shoot and Learn Next Tuesday August 12, 2008 @ 6:00 PM here at our studio. The topic of discussion will be:

"Off Camera Lighting" - You have more options!

I will do a mini-presentation covering the concepts followed by us moving to the alleyway for some shooting. All you need to bring is your beautiful self and a camera! I will have the light setup and Pocket Wizards for you all to share. Please email me and let me know if you will be attending with "Shoot N Learn" in the subject line.

I am really looking forward to this one and hope to see you all here!

Here is an example of Available Light vs. On Camera Flash vs. Off Camera Flash. Thanks to Beth for modeling ;-)

Fast Track Photographer - Dane Sanders

My friend Dane Sanders is a photographer/entrepreneur based out of Orange County, CA. He is a wonderful soul, husband and father of 4. Recently he released his first book entitled "Fast Track Photographer" that is aimed towards the budding photographer eager to take the leap into the profession of wedding photography. I can recommend this book to Pros as well. I have only gotten through Chapter 3 so far and can tell you that it is LOADED with nuggets that make you think (yes actually use your brain) about where you are and where you want to go. Dane talks about discovering who YOU are as a photographer. It is so easy to get caught up in the commodity we sell (prints, books, files) instead of the experience and being the best YOU possible.

Dane also has the Fast Track Photographer Founder Membership that comes with all kinds of perks. I am a member and have been blessed with many friendships through this experience. If you are looking to get the ball rolling I suggest jumping on board to jump start your success.

I can't say enough good things about Dane Sanders and what he stands for. He started Simple Photo Minute, which morfed into CutFrameTV.com. CFTV is an online video community, much like YouTube, but specifically for photographers. Individuals share tips, stories, fun clips, etc.. Check it out!

I love what I do and cannot imagine doing anything else. The relationships that I have made and continue to make are absolutely incredible. I have never been in an industry quite like it. We are all in it together, so lets continue to make it a wonderful place to be!

PS - We can only accomodate 3 more people for Next Weeks Shoot N Learn, so please let me know if you want to come ASAP. :-)

What is your favorite photograph?

I have soooo many favorite photographs (mostly of my children)! However, stepping aside from family images...

What is your favorite photograph (that you didn't make)?

If I had to pick 1 image. It would be this image from the 1960 World Series featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates and the NY Yankees.


This image was captured as Bill Mazeroski hit a Game 7, 9th inning home run to win the World Series for Pittsburgh.

This image was created by photojournalist George Silk.

Here is what I love about the image:

• Real - not contrived.


• Timeless - this image never gets old.


• Black and White - My favorite!


• Excitement - you cannot see a face or the action, however you KNOW there is joy!

This image has been on my mind this week, so I thought I would post. Angela's (our bride from last weekend) father loves this image as well. He has it framed and signed by Bill Mazeroski in his study. When I saw the image I said, "That is my favorite photograph! He said "Me too!" The funny thing is that I am not even a huge sports buff. I enjoy sports, but cannot recite stats and names like most of my friends. LOL!

So I would love to know what some of your favorite photographs are.

My second favorite image (hands down) the National Geographic Afghan Girl (captured by Steve McCurry)


This image is widely recognized and beautiful. Real. Natural. No Photoshop. Gorgeous.
Love it.

Have a great weekend!

Shoot N Learn

**Quick Update**
I was unable to schedule a Shoot N Learn for July, however we will be back in August Full Force! I am sending out an email to all on the list as well. I will put the new date and topic on here ASAP. Thanks all and I can't wait for the next one! We have some great ones lined up for the next few months.

David

Grand Opening Party Wrap up!

Well, we had our official Grand Opening Gala last Thursday, July 3rd and we can honestly say that it was a huge success! First and foremost, so many people that play an important role in our lives were there to support us. We are so thankful and blessed to have all of you around us. Thank you!

Secondly we raised $500 for the Pregnancy Resource Center! We could not have achieved this without the donations from the following sponsors:

• Bangz Salon (Bridgeville)


• Create a Frame/Handworks Gallery


• Discover Organizing


• Enrique's Biscotti (Mt. Lebanon)


• Geno Levi Spirit of Style Salon (Bethel Park)


• John Rattenni Insurance Agency (State Farm Insurance) (Bridgeville)


• Julie Marckisotto


• La Pomponnee


• Los Chiludos


• Mineo's Pizza


• Parma Sausage


• Salon Vivace


• Studio Dei Capelli


• The Angel Reserve

For the winners that were not present when the tickets were drawn, you will be contacted today! Congratulations!

I also want to thank Justin, Mark and Diedre for performing wonderful melodies for us throughout the evening. It was awesome.

Here are a few snaps from the evening. Thank you to my buddy Peter for being the shutter bug. ;-)
Click through the images by selecting the number of the slide.


**Update** Also be sure to check out my buddy, Armin Defiesta's Blog for some more pics. He and his wife Denise made the trip from Washington DC to be here for the party! Thanks For being here!

LensRentals.com

One of my favorite lenses (Nikon 70-200 2.8 AF-S VR) had to go in for repair, so I am without it. I feel naked, not having it. LOL! I was going to purchase another copy of the lens, but then I discovered Lensrentals.com! This is such a great asset for photographers. This is a great way to "try before you buy" as well. I was going to spend $1,700 for a second lens, that would likely sit on the shelf for a long time, when I can rent the lense for 1 week (mine will be home soon) for under $100. So cool!

There are a few other places where you can rent lenses as well. I chose LensRentals.com, because they responded so quickly to me and they are in Tennessee, which means I can get it shipped faster for less money as well. It was also very easy to place the order. I will be renting another lens very soon for one of my upcoming weddings. The Nikon 200 2.8 AF-S VR. I have been wanting to shoot with it for a long time. I only shot with it once and it was so beautiful.

Kenny Kim and David Burke - Philadelphia Engagement Shoot

I have the pleasure of being in Philadelphia this weekend to shoot a wedding with my buddy, Kenny Kim. Today we met Daisy and Devon and had an engagement shoot. We had an absolute blast. D & D were so great to work with and very great in front of the cameras! We shot sooo many images. It was very hot and sunny, but we really didn't even notice. I whipped up a video/slideshow of our "Good Times" (I hope Kenny permits me to use his phrase on my blog. LOL!!!)

Kenny Kim and David Burke - Philadelphia Engagement Shoot from David Burke on Vimeo.

Shoot n Learn #2 Recap

Tuesday evening, I had the honor of hosting Heather Lahtinen. Heather is a sweet soul. Period. She is a wonderful photographer and teacher. Man can she teach or what??? I know the attendees can vouch for that!

We had a great time going over the basics of a Lightroom workflow. One attendee shouted "You are changing my life!" :-) It was awesome to see the lightbulbs going off. Heather showed us some of the new features in Lightroom 2.0 Beta. For me, I am thinking that Photoshop is going to be a thing of the past. Only to be used for Very detailed retouching (that does not happen too often). LR 2.0 is going to be THE BEST software for a photographer. Amen.

We are working on Shoot n Learn #3 and it looks like we are going to hone in on using Off Camera Lighting with One (1) Light. I attended a great workshop last fall called the OneLight Workshop and it blew me away. Zack Arias is extremely talented with lighting techniques. I am putting together a VERY condensed version that will give you a head start when using off camera lighting. Stay tuned for details. Here are a few snaps from Tuesday. We need to start videoing! Any videographers out there want to volunteer??? LOL

Shoot and Learn #2

In an attempt to come out of Blog Slacker status, I am happy to post about Shoot and Learn #2. SandL 1 was great! We all met in Mt. Lebanon and created some available light portraits. We had some great discussions and we all made new friends. That is a success to me :-)

This time, I am super stoked to have my good friend and original photography mentor, Heather Lahtinen of weddingsbyheather.com. Heather is going to join us and lead the discussion on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom tips. Heather is a fantastic photographer and she has the talent of being a master of Post Production as well. Wait until you see her fly! We will be touching on topics, such as importing, organizing with keywords and collections, and creating presets. When you are shooting, especially high volume, it is crucial to have a tight, reproducible system on the back end. Of course we cannot cover it all, but it will give you a great feel on how powerful this Tool really is.

We hope you can join us!

Here is a fun image of Heather and I at a wedding earlier this year.

An Interview with Kenny Kim

My good friend Kenny Kim was recently interviewed for F-Stop Beyond. Kenny is a fabulous photographer and more importantly, a wonderful friend. Kenny is one of the most giving people I know. If you are not familiar with him, I have no doubt that you will be eventually. Kenny has experienced a meteoric rise in his recognition as a photographer. He will soon be a household name when the Big Wigs of the industry are mentioned ;-) (Actually he already is!)

It is a wonderful interview and it gives the listener a great inside view of Kenny as a person, photographer and friend. He truly does have the heart of a servant. If you would like to listen, you can by going to Kenny's Blog or F-Stop Beyond to hear.

I am also excited because Kenny is coming to stay with my family for a few days this week. This will be his first visit to Pittsburgh, so it will be a pleasure hosting him.

Shoot and Learn was a blast!

We are behind on blogging some fantastic shoots. I promise they will all get here eventually. This past week has been a whirlwind of excitement. New Studio, LifExpo and our first Shoot N Learn workshop. I am about to run out and shoot the engagement session of Jill and Joe so I have to make this quick.

I thought I may get 2 or 3 folks out for the workshop, but we had 10! I was blown away. The people that came were awesome. I made some new friends and cannot wait to do it again. We are brainstorming on what we can do each time to make it super useful. We are putting together a survey to send out to see what you all think. Thanks to everyone that came out and look forward to seeing you again!

Here are a few of my snaps from the night. We did Available Light Portraits. Fun!!

My beautiful Wife, Bridget, was our model. Bray Bray made an appearance too.

(these are from my flickr page, sorry for the small size)

Shoot and Learn with me!

**This Post will be pinned here until 5/1/2008**

Hi Everyone!
In effort to reach out, teach, learn, shoot and most of all have fun, I have decided to put together some Shoot & Learn workshops for anyone wanting to learn more about digital photography with a focus on documenting life. I have been wanting to put this together for quite sometime and am happy that we can now move forward.

Starting Thursday May 1, 2008 and the First Thursday of each month, I will be hosting a Shoot and Learn Workshop that will cover at least one aspect of photography. This first one is going to cover Exposure: Available Light Portraits. We will be shooting in Manual Mode :-). I will help you step out of the box and "Auto Mode"...

Click on the Picture for more info:



This is designed for users of Digital SLR cameras that want to learn how to create better images straight out of the camera. My intentions are to help you understand some fundamentals that can push you along your way. I plan on leading to the location and shooting, all the while telling you exactly what settings I am using so that you can begin with a foundation. I will then help you get set up and shooting. I will be available for assistance and to answer any questions you may have.

I absolutely LOVE what I do. I cannot imagine doing anything else. Life is so precious and I believe it is my job to capture it exactly the way God wants it to be :-) I also want to help others do the same thing.

At the very least, we will create a great community and make new friends. How cool is that?

If you are interested in coming along, please email me at david@davidburkephoto.com with Shoot and Learn in the subject line. There is no COST to you, except for your time. I promise that you will walk away with more confidence and hopefully more ideas when you approach a particular subject to shoot.

Pittsburgh Photography Classes - David Burke Photographers - Shoot and Learn

LIFExpo 2008 - Come and see us!

**Update. We also have an awesome announcement to make later today**

We were invited to be a part of LifeExpo this weekend down at Heinz Field. We are very excited to be there and will be shooting the entire event this weekend. TWe would love it if you would stop by and say hello.

Here is some info:
Come Down to the LIFExpo at Heinz Field this Thursday May 1st through Sunday May 4th!

It’s a FREE Event where you’ll have the opportunity to:
See Tunch Ilkin of the Pittsburgh Steelers for autographs on Thursday from 12-2:00
See Jennifer Antkowiak speaking on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 1:00
Experience the Steeler’s Heinz Field Coca Cola Great Hall
See How You can “Go Green” Everyday right here in Pittsburgh!
Go Online at the KidZui Internet Cafe as seen on WTAE’s “Plugged In”
Enter Prize Drawings and Giveaways for All Ages
Introduce the Kids to the Pirate Parrot, Pirate Peroggis, and Kenny Kangaroo
Learn How to Lower Your Cost at the Gas Pump
Bring Your Home Products and Toys to Test for Lead Content
Visit the booths of many regional companies and non-profit organizations!

LIFExpo Times: Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 12 PM – 8PM and Sunday: 12 PM – 5PM

Visit the website at www.lifexpo.com for much more information!

And on the website, check out the Schedule of Events for more info on the Stage Schedule and Special Attractions!
(All scheduled times are subject to change)

We look forward to seeing you there!

Lots of exciting things going on...

Hi all! I am sorry I have not updated in so long. We have been super busy on a number of projects here. One is HUGE and I cannot wait to share.

In the meantime, I have been shooting tons and meeting a lot of wonderful people. I will be updating the blog with some images soon, but I have to run for now.

But I can't leave you without any images, so check this out and then be sure to check my friend Heather Lahtinen's Blog for more. I shot a beautiful wedding with her on Saturday and as usual we had a wonderful time! She is awesome! This is an image I created that she posted on her blog.

And, if you get the opportunity to shoot with friends, DO IT. Enjoy It. You will grow.

Lots Of Kids!

Had a really fun shoot with 7 children last week. They were all so great to interact with. Our goal was to get a non-traditional group shot and individual shots of each. It is always a challenge photographing multiple people (especially children :-) ) at once, but we pulled it off nicely.

Once we got some of the group shots we just observed and took some random shots as well. Once the children were rested enough, we moved into individual portraits. I love the individual portrait time with kids!

**Shooting Tip**
It is so great to be on their level and find things that we can connect with, such as cartoons, food, school, bikes, sports, etc... When I am shooting portraits of children, I talk and talk to keep that connection going. This is a very important component of my children's photography, because it breaks them from the "mold" of "say cheese" or "sit this way, do this". I love natural portaits, so this is one of my ways to achieve the best results.

Here are some images from the shoot:
















Had a really fun shoot with 7 children last week. They were all so great to interact with. Our goal was to get a non-traditional group shot and individual shots of each. It is always a challenge photographing multiple people (especially children :-) ) at once, but we pulled it off nicely.

Once we got some of the group shots we just observed and took some random shots as well. Once the children were rested enough, we moved into individual portraits. I love the individual portrait time with kids!

David Burke Children's Photographer, Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

Update on Brayden and Apple Aperture 2.1

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. They are working, so please keep them coming.

Bray is coming along, but he is still pretty sick. We decided to take him back to the Dr. today because he was so lethargic. He is definitely making progress and we should see him getting back in the groove by Thursday. His little voice, 'Da Da, I don't feel good...' Man it breaks your heart when you hear it!

Apple Aperture 2.1
Well my love affair with Apple Aperture has come to an end. I was LOVING Aperture. Totally LOVING it. Until they released the update for 2.1. Now I cannot keep the application running. It CONSTANTLY crashes. To the point that it is unusable. I am so heart broken. I have begun using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom again, until they get the quirks fixed in Aperture. I have faith that Apple will fix the issues, but still need to be productive with my time in front of the computer.

Has anyone else had this experience? Do any of my blog readers even use Aperture?? haha.

Peace out.

This week's Workflow Savior:

The [ b ] School

Al-righty folks (especially photographers) if you have not checked out Becker's the [ b ] school, you need to! the becker is a wedding photographer in Southern California that has been shooting amazing weddings for many years. He is hilarious and a fountain of knowledge. He has been published in major magazines and books on wedding photography.

The [ b ] school is going to be an online learning environment that will be unlike anything else out there. See the the [ b ] school blog for many tips and tidbits on photography.

I met him last year at Mike Colon's 4-day intensive, when we had a poker tournament the last night. I am terrible at poker, but it came down to Becker and me. Becker is also an excellent poker player (check becker's blog for his run at the World Series of Poker!), so he ended up smoking me. After the game we hung out a bit and talked shop. I then saw him again in Vegas at WPPI 07 and again this past week.

This year he was doing free headshots outside of Paris, so a few of us went out to get some shots and of course be entertained! He is a joy to watch work and interact with. Here is my headshot:


So a big thanks to [ b ] for the headshot and a note to all of you to check out the [ b ] school. He has posted about 60 mini videos that are filled with golden nuggets of information about business, photography & personality. I guarantee you will be entertained and more than likely become a student.

Good Night :-)

Bryleigh is much cuter than me :-) (and some Photo taking tips)

So Cute, originally uploaded by burkedt.

I just love having a daughter. She is so stinkin cute. Her face is perfectly round. I think she looks just like mommy. I can only hope! Mommy is so beautiful!

*Tech note* (and a few tips!)
Window Light Right
Nikkor 50 1.4

ISO 400
f-stop 2.0
shutter 1/100
WB - 5300K

When I am shooting available light, To nail my exposure I typically pick an ISO that I want to use. After that, Aperture is most important to ME so I then select that (I like large apertures 1.4 - 2.8). Then, I dial in the correct shutter speed for a good exposure (using my viewfinder meter) and finally set the correct white balance (I use my RGB histogram on my LCD for review). After a test shot or two, I am off shooting. At this point I am thinking about composition and focus-points, etc...

When recomposing your image ALWAYS be aware of what is in your viewfinder, because it can affect the overall exposure. You may need to adjust your shutter speed to compensate.

I will post some examples later.

Interview with Michael Gerber

Michael Gerber, Author of The E-Myth, was recently interviewed by Tim Ferriss. It is an excellent read for you budding entrepreneurs out there. Gerber has a new book coming out on March 4 "Awakening the Entrepreneur Within". I will be picking up a copy of this book too. The E-Myth is one of my all time favorite business books. He has a way of writing that really gets your fire going for success.

One thing he touches on that is VERY VERY important is that successful entrepreneurs today, seek Meaning rather than Money. This is not to say that the entrepreneur is not interested in money, but money without meaning is too big a price to pay. I cannot agree more.

Meaning is what has driven me to continually create and improve my business and purpose. We all need money, but the meaning of making a positive difference in people's lives far outways the weight of any dollar I can ever make.

3 months OFFICIALLY today

OK, so yesterday I posted a video for the out of town family members to see. Today is Officially 3 months old for Bryleigh. We love her so much. She is eating and sleeping so well. She is growing so quickly, that we already miss the things she did last week. It is amazing how quickly they grow. True miracles.

Bryleigh is developing some really cute wrinkles. I called her "Chubbers" and Bridget was like "Don't call her that!!! She is a little Girl, not a boy!" My Bad, Lack of experience with daughters I guess. Now I just call her "Cutie". Another interesting tidbit is that when Brayden, Christian and Damon were 3 months old, they could all lay on their tummies and hold their heads up. Bryleigh is still a little dainty here :-) We are going to work on that.

Brayden woke up from his nap and joined in for a few pics too. I could photograph my kids around the clock. Sometimes they just want me to play. I do play, but it is hard to resist taking pictures.

Here are a few from our little shoot. We put up our grey seamless backdrop and used window light. I processed these all with Aperture 2.0 (I am really diggin it, can't ya tell!) and added a few Film Filters (mainly Ilford B&W 100 grain) from Alien Skin Exposure 2.

Enjoy!

Christian and OneLight

It was FREEZING this afternoon, but Christian and Brayden insisted on going outside. (Brayden lasted a whole minute before going back in the house!)

Before Christian went in, I wanted to capture the coldness (notice the little moisture under his nose) and the blue skies. I set up my onelight (Nikon SB-800, Pocketwizard Plus II, Light stand and 28" umbrella) camera left to create this image.

Isn't he a cutie!

Feedburner!

Hi Everyone! You can now subscribe to this Blog via an rss feed reader, such as Google Reader . You can also subscribe by entering your email address and having updates sent right to you. This is a great way to keep up to date and prevent you from spending countless hours surfing your favorite blogs :) You will be notified when new posts are published instead of checking only to find out that there is nothing new.

Time is precious so subscribe to the feed. I placed the tools to do this on the right-hand sidebar ----->

Have Fun!

Engagement Session - Anne & Sean

We had beautiful weather on Saturday, in Pittsburgh! I met with Anne and Sean for the first time and shot some engagement photos. We had a great time and I can't wait to get to know them better!! Thanks guys and see ya in May!!!









*Photographers* - These images are straight out of camera and were processed using the new Aperture 2.0 from Apple. I am really working with this software and have to tell you that it is fantastic. I will never say a bad word about Adobe Lightroom, but this version of Aperture is a HUGE upgrade. Blazing Speed, very intuitive, plug-ins that make sense to me and of course Aperture's stellar file management. I may actually change my flow... We shall see :-) I will write a full review when my 30 day trial is up. You may want to try it yourself

Apple Aperture 2

Today, Apple announced Aperture 2, the successor to version 1. I tried Version 1 and 1.5 and it just was missing some key features that I really liked in Adobe Lightroom. I am excited to try this version for a few reasons:

1. It's Apple Baby! They get it right more often than not.

2. It looks to be improved as far as User Interface and Speed, not to mention key image adjustment features

3. Like I said in an earlier post, workflow is ever changing. If Aperture 2.0 has something to offer that can make my life easier, I will take advantage of it.

I will let ya know what I think.

Master Your Craft - Mike Colon & Bob Davis

We headed down to Baltimore, MD last week to attend the Master Your Craft workshop with Mike Colon and Bob Davis.

There was a few additional bonuses to this workshop, 1. The hotel had a pool, so Bridget, Christian, Brayden & Bryleigh joined me for a mini-vacation. 2. My good friend, Kenny Kim was accompanying Mike and Bob on this leg of their tour. We headed down Thursday so that we could hang out with Mike, Bob & Kenny to catch up and grab some dinner.

The workshop was fantastic. I love 1 day workshops. They really get the juices flowing for shooting & business. Mike and Bob are so passionate about teaching and sharing. I am happy to call them friends. I picked up a lot of new things and relearned some old things. It is like sharpening your sword... Learing and continuing to learn is awesome. If you are in one of the upcoming cities, be sure to attend!!

I met quite a few photographers that I hope to see again in the future. I am heisting some collages that Kenny Kim created and some images a few of my new friends captured. I didn't take any pictures this trip! I was on vacation....hahaha

Thanks Mike, Bob & Kenny for a great time! I also want to thank Michelle and Maureen from Graphistudio for hosting/coordinating such a great event. It was nice to talk and spend time with both of you! And to all of my new friends especially, Peter, Armin, Asim and everyone else! I hope to see you in Vegas next month.