Month: July 2009

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Abu Dhabi and me…

It’s strange to see where some of my photos pop up.  One of my clients syndicates my news images all around the world.  Often, I can see where they are being used by doing a quick Google search.  Besides showing up in publications like the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and USA Today, I just found my images in a few more cool places.  

One publication called The National just ran one of my semi-conductor images that I took at Texas Instruments this year.  The publication is located in Abu Dhabi of all places.  It’s odd to think that people in Abu Dhabi are looking at my pictures…  Very cool.  
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Finally, a shortcut I can love!!!

I just noticed that Photoshop CS4 FINALLY has a shortcut for Canvas Size and Image Size adjustments. Why did it take them so long to add this?!? I’ve been using Photoshop since 1996 or so, and they just now add this?!? It may be late to the party, but it’s still a welcome sight! Thank you Adobe…

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Gel your flash…

I used to gel my strobes and flash head to get perfect color balance. I slowly stopped doing it, just because you could color correct in Photoshop with a little effort. For the flash head, you could just pick up one of those Lee Filters gel sample packs and pull out the ones you needed most. You know, I probably still have a couple of those sample packs stored in one of my old bags/cases, if I dig around and look for one.

Anyway, I think I’m going to start gelling my on camera flash again. I think I’ll get a better picture in-camera, instead of messing around in Photoshop. Why bother spending a few minutes trying to select and balance different parts of an image on the computer, when I can spend about three seconds taping a gel to my flash and calling it a day?!?
I found a good blog that describes the process better than I could, so I’ll just send you all here for more info:
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Photopol.us

Sometimes I forget to check in on the photopol.us website, which is a great photo-related blog with a heavy Dallas focus. Every Friday, they spotlight another area “art star”, so to speak. It’s an interview with a local photog – usually a seasoned pro – who can provide a bit of inspiration to the readers.

They also have some great images, guest bloggers, and tips of hot/cool gallery shows. Pretty much anything you might want to know, relating to North Texas photography! Try to do better than me, and check it out every day. I usually remember to check it once a week, and then I wind up going through an entire week’s worth of posts in one sitting. Either way, make sure you don’t miss a thing…
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I’m a star!!!

I just received this nice little star-shaped award at the most recent IABC function. I’ve been volunteering my photography services to the group, in an effort to help them grow their online presence. In exchange, I obviously put my name and face in front of a bunch of new corporate clients.
The group is the International Association of Business Communicators, and – as the name suggests – it is made up of people in corporate internal/external communication, marketing, public relations, and investor relations. What better group to help out, if you’re looking to network with corporate clients?!?
I’m glad they appreciate what I’m contributing to the group, and the award was a nice way of showing it! I don’t even remember the last time I received an award. It’s so cool…
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Wanna be a BRAVO star?!?

I got this off a friend’s facebook link. If I was more confident about my fine art pieces and didn’t have a family or busy work schedule at home… I might just go try out:

From Bravo’s Website:

UNTITLED ART PROJECT

How do you go from struggling, emerging or even semi-established artist to selling a complete show for $198 million? It’s a big art world out there, but maybe this is one place to start!

Magical Elves (Peabody Award-winning Project Runway, Emmy Award-winning Top Chef) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winner) and her production company, Pretty Matches, are teaming up for an hour-long creative competition series among aspiring contemporary artists who will create and compete to conquer the art world!

If you’re an emerging or mid-career artist with a unique, powerful voice that demands a bigger stage – well. . . Here. It. Is.

We want contemporary artists. Your medium could be one of many (or several of many) – painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, mixed-media – we want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know.

Attend one of our four regional casting calls around the country and we will consider you for participation in this groundbreaking show.

Casting Calls for The Untitled Art Project are as follows:

LOS ANGELES
Saturday, July 11 & Sunday, July 12, 10 AM – 2 PM
LAXART
www.laxart.org

MIAMI
Tuesday, July 14, 10 AM – 2 PM
Fredric Snitzer Gallery
www.Snitzer.com

CHICAGO
Thursday, July 16, 10 AM – 2 PM
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Sullivan Galleries, 33 S. State Street
www.saic.edu

NEW YORK
Saturday, July 18 & Sunday, July 19, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
White Columns
www.whitecolumns.org

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I feel so stupid…

I hope I didn’t screw myself out of a nice gig. It would suck to lose a few grand, just because I didn’t read through an email. I was finishing up business with a band’s management and held an email in my box, so I could reference their billing info when I had more time to type up an invoice. I didn’t immediately print up an invoice and let it sit on the back burner for a week.

Well, I finally got around to it tonight and noticed there was more in that email besides the billing info. The second paragraph said how much they loved working with me and was wondering if I was available to shoot another album cover for a different artist. Oops. Not very professional to take a whole week to answer back, huh?!?
I feel so stupid for not checking through the email for a whole week. I’ve been so behind and playing catch up for the last several days, and was prioritizing the images before I messed with invoices. It IS the professional thing to deliver a finished product before sending a final invoice, but not so professional to inadvertently ignore client questions and requests. I am hoping this didn’t just cost me a nice gig…