Category Archives: photography

As I’ve gotten more involved in photography, people in real life and here on the blog have told me that they want to be able to take better photos. I wanted to share a book with you that could definitely help.

Complete Digital Photography, 5th ed. by Ben Long

Click on the photo to purchase from Barnes & Noble.

Ben Long was the instructor at the photography retreat I attended a few weeks ago. The man is amazing. You could tell that he was insanely knowledgeable about everything photography related, as well as Photoshop related. You could ask him for help picking out a camera and he knows exactly which one works for you and your budget. Need help understanding white balance or ISO? He can put it into words the amateur photographer can understand. On top of that… he’s ridiculously funny.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is halfway interested in photography. Whether you’ve never touched a digital camera before, or you are running a photography business, I think you could benefit.

A little more about Ben:

He’s a professional photographer that travels all over the world taking stunning photos of landscapes and people, but mostly landscapes. He writes for MacWorld magazine, as well as a few other photography and techie publications. He teaches at the Oklahoma Arts Institute in the fall and the summer.
To see some of Ben’s Images, go surf his galleries HERE.

You might have noticed (especially if you’re a facebook friend) that I’m getting a lot more involved in my photography stuff. The more that I do, the more I realize just how much I still need. I thought I’d share a few of my major wants today.

1) A macro lens. I love shooting flowers and small details, but my lenses just aren’t cutting it. I’d love this one:

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

Price: $519

2) An external hard drive. I shoot primarily in RAW format and the files are BIG. I love my Mac, and it has rocked so far, but eventually the files are just going to overtake me. I don’t want to risk losing them. I want this one:

Western Digital 1.5TB External Hard Drive

1.5 Tb? Think of all the pictures I could store! Price: $159.99

3) Reflector kit:

Price: $89.95

4) Professional Photo Site Hosting via Shutterfly. Price: $200

This does not even account for the fact that I don’t have a studio. These are just the basics. Yipes!

I really hope you took a second to sing the title. Don’t take yourself so seriously, people! Some days, I think we just need a dose of beauty in our lives. Today, I give you…FLOWERS!

Enjoy!

Just a few photos to give you something to look at today. This is an old turn of the century farm house that sits right at the base of the hills. I’m fairly certain it must be haunted.

My latest session was with the W family on Saturday. We had to a much quicker shoot than anticipated, because the little boy wasn’t feeling well at all. I absolutely love this family, and with luck they’ll let me shoot them again sometime soon! Here are a few peeks:

As my photography evolves from a hobby into a business, I’ve been constantly searching for places where I can learn more, especially now that I’ve got Photoshop. I came across a fabulous photography blog that I wanted to share with you. Even if you aren’t shooting professionally, I think it has great tips that even the most amateur photographer can benefit from.

Light Stalking

It’s really easy to navigate and has forums, tons of tutorials, and SO many photo examples you can browse and drool over. Enjoy!

*Edited to fix broken link

I had 2 different sessions today, and I thought I’d share a few photos with you. The first was with a good friend of mine named Traci. Here she is:

Then, I had a session with the H family. You’ve probably seen them on here before.  Check out the blue eyes on these girlies!

What do you think? Acceptable?

I’m at a charette with the architects for our possible new school tonight, so I scheduled this lovely post for you, lovely readers. I thought I’d give you a peek at a few of the other pictures I took at Quartz Mountain.

I really liked the shapes and shadows on this image:

I liked the reflection here:

Like I mentioned before, I’m at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain this weekend, taking a class for photography. I’ve had a complete blast and hopefully, I can post more about it another time. I’ll definitely be telling you about my instructors, because they were awesome. For now though, I wanted to leave you with some photos and ask for feedback. Here goes:

This is Lola the donkey. I love Lola. I was injured to get this photo.

This is Ethel. She’s pretty. Oh, and the sky really IS that blue. I didn’t touch it in photoshop.