Travelin' About

So bring on the red! As you can see, not everyone got the memo (or paid attention to it) but my point is, pay attention to what you chose to wear for a photo shoot (or advise your client). Solid colors with no logos work best. As you can see, my family is very cooperative about posing for the group shot. I am always surprised at having to tell clients how to line up, since my family is so accommodating. We usually even fall into "age order." But most people haven't spent their life being photographed by their nutty oldest sister, so they do need some direction. Looking for triangles within the heads is a good technique (unfortunately not seen in the haphazard photo above.) This was a fun client that I shot the "whole" family - 20 members and then shot each of the 3 daughter's individual families. Each of the daughter's selected a different version of blue for their t-shirts so the large family shot looked like this: I'm looking forward to a 13 y...

I am so blessed to have a big, healthy, happy family: My mom who is an inspiration to us all, four sisters, three brothers, a great husband, three daughters, numerous nieces and nephews, one who is in Marine boot camp right now getting ready to defend our country. God has blessed me with so many gifts, people, experiences and great times to enjoy with all.   I am thankful for all of this and more. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember the great things in your life.  Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Chris

I took the train to NYC to enjoy Indian food and a Broadway play with my youngest daughter and got the opportunity to read some photo magazines and re-read through all the notes I’ve been taking this past month. I cart around an old-fashioned spiral notebook with me everywhere I go and take notes but I hadn’t taken time to review those musings until now. These are some of the things I’ve learned recently:             • Light is the key to a great photograph. A perfect subject is nothing without light and the QUALITY of that light is the most important factor. ( Robert Rodriguez, Jr. )             • Google calender something I need to investigate further. ( John Ianelli )             • My next purchase needs to be two additional hard drives and I need to organize them better. I also need to research off-site storage pla...

I've been writing this blog to share photography tips and great places I've discovered to photograph for close to two years now. Sometimes I get a little off the beaten track but for the most part I'm hoping that there are a few folks who take the time to read what I have to say and maybe even look forward to the next installment. A week ago I heard a speaker talk about the importance of "Building a Community" and getting more people to follow your blog. So, aspiring photographer friends, please let me know what you'd like me to focus on (get it?) and how can I make this a better blog? I made my first "tweet." Not sure where it went or if anybody noticed but I am trying to decipher the world of Twitter. I also posted a few images on Flickr. Again, it seems like a black hole to me at the moment but perhaps I'll get discovered there.... One can hope. On a more productive note, I shot the American Society of Fundraising Professionals Award lunch...

What a great day! My head is bursting with information. I went to a TEP - that is Hudson Valley Professional Photographic Society of NY's ( HVPPSNY ) Talent Exchange Program - an all day learning experience for Photographers in Newburgh. I highly recommend making sure you get in on any advanced education opportunities that are available. The morning speakers was Lindsay Adler who spoke about lighting for fashion photography. Her basic message was break the rules and you can make anything work. She showed examples of a variety of lighting techniques and then gave a live demonstration with a model. Adler seemed to be a a font of knowledge as she confidently turned the subject matter to new media social networking (she's got a book on the subject, "A Linked Photographers' Guide to Online Marketing and Social Media"). Her enthusiasm and comfort with a large variety of networking programs made me excited about exploring more thoroughly the world of social networking. ...

As much fun as it is to TAKE pictures, there's a job behind that called "managing your photos" (Photo management). My task has become a bit more complicated lately since I am now working with Lightroom (I was working exclusively in Photoshop).  I USED to save everything in folders by year and then by month. Lightroom seems to have a design for me that I haven't quite figured out....thus I have managed to duplicate things and even seem to be missing one complete photo shoot.   The lesson I have learned here is that it is important to LEARN the program thoroughly and stay on top of all new innovations. I went with a friend to Photo Expo in NYC last Thursday and was reminded that there are CONSTANT innovations in photography. The nice part was that some of the vendors were willing to explain things or tell us where to find additional help.  It was fun watching experts demonstrate how to use the Wacom tablet and to see how the pros utilize the newest HDR techniques. I ...