November 3, 2008

My fellow members:

You often hear me joking around about the upcoming elections.  However, this really is something serious, as we will be living history tomorrow.  Regardless of the outcome, or who you vote for, one of two things will happen tomorrow; we will either have the first woman vice-president, or we will have the first black president.

I urge all of you to get to the polls early.  And, once you have voted, grab that camera.  Record the polling places..the people...whatever you feel will make a great photograph.  Like I said, this is history in the making.  And as photographers, it is not only our right BUT OUR DUTY to record history.

I look forward to seeing some great photographs tomorrow!  And remember the most important thing....TO VOTE!

-- Tom 

This one's a no-brainer. If you haven't heard, alkaline batteries are EXPENSIVE. But there's an alternative. And a good one. No, make that a great one. Nickel Metal-Hydride, or NiMH batteries. They cost just a bit more than the old-fashioned alkaline batteries, but they last forever, and your flash will love them.  Click here to read more.

FYI....

There will be a PhotoShop seminar that is going to be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center on 23 Sep (http://www.photoshopseminars.com/creativitytour.html) by the National Association of PhotoShop Professionals (NAPP) and every time I have gone to one, I have learned LOADS. After working in PS for twenty years, I don't think I will ever know it well enough.

A few days ago, I posted about the SCOTT KELBY WORLDWIDE PHOTOWALK.  A number of VBPC Members attended, and, as it turns out, we placed well in the contest!  Making the First Cut was ROBIN STAMPER, FLO WOMACKS, JOE SLEEPER and myself.  The only member to make it to the SEMI-FINALS was FLO WOMACKS.  While none of our members won the competition, it was a great feeling to see that FOUR of our members made the first round of selection, and one to the semi-finals!!  Congratz to everyone!!

The Entire collection of photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/groups/scott-kelbys-worldwide-photowalk-norfolkva/pool/ 
The First Cut at http://www.flickr.com/groups/scott-kelbys-worldwide-photowalk-norfolkva/pool/tags/firstcut/ 
SemiFinalists at http://www.flickr.com/groups/scott-kelbys-worldwide-photowalk-norfolkva/pool/tags/semifinal/
The winning shot for the Norfolk PhotoWalk:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojomonica/2802280184/in/pool-scott-kelbys-worldwide-photowalk-norfolkva

Be sure to look for our individual Club Member shots!

-  Tom

While surfing around the web this morning, I came across a section of the SHUTTERBUG MAGAZINE site that might help some of you out with portrait work:  http://www.shutterbug.com/refreshercourse/portrait_tips/

There are a number of articles here, and of course, the directory above it will get you a lot more subjects!  For more, check out http://www.shutterbug.com/refreshercourselp/

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I just want to take  a second to tell everyone how much fun I had on the Scott Kelby PhotoWalk Saturday.  Several members of the Club (Flo Womack, Robin Stamper, Joe Sleeper, Joe Bullinger and myself) attended and we had a great time.  For some of us, it was the fellowship with other photographers; others enjoyed a break from working photography to creative photography - and some of us just wanted to have some fun!  There were about 50 people from throughout the region, and we met a lot of really nice people.  Some even expressed an interest in the Club!  There is a flickr site set up for the participants to upload three of their best shots (we are competing for a number of prizes, both locally and nationally), so check it out! 

--Tom

One of the "regulars" over at dpReview has posted a bunch of presets for Adobe Lightroom!  AND THEY ARE FREE! (My kind of pricing!)

There are 27 Presets in all. There is also a link to view samples of before and after images with the Presets applied so you can see the effect each Preset will have.  Click on this link!

These Presets provide you with a range of different photo processing opportunities and possibilities, from dramatic black & whites, creating a frozen appearance in your shots, to giving your images an autumn look. They were all hand-created with the Lightroom user in mind.  They work with both PCs and Macs.

Enjoy!
- Tom