The Emerald Goddess of Dancing, The Aurora By Moyan

Background

It was like an emerald goddess dancing for me in the silence of a dark night…….

It’s called aurora, better known as northern/southern lights, or aurora borealis/australis, depending on which pole you are referring to. In my opinion it is one of the most desirable shots for any photographer to capture. It is a spectacular yet elusive shot. Fortunately for everyone, 2012 and 2013 will provide multiple opportunities to capture this beauty.

Tromso Norway, beach of Telegrafbukta, February 2012. Shot with a Nikon D90, 16mm lens EXIF f3.5, ISO 400, exposure 30 seconds

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Self-Publishing Photobooks By Alex Baker

Bored with taking pictures of the same old stuff in the same old way? Make a photo book with a theme!

Although I love my home and wife and kids and cat and garden and neighborhood and town and state, I confess I can get bored taking the same old photographs of all the same old stuff.  I have to come up with new ideas and new places and new methods to keep myself interested.  One of the really great advantages of the digital age that I find  interesting and enjoyable is self-publishing. Back in the in the pre-digital era, publishing your work, was filled with frustrating barriers and expense, and out of the question if it was just for your own enjoyment to share with family and friends. Well, not anymore, it’s a new day and all the tools are at hand on the popular photo hosting sites like Snapfish, Flickr, Picasa, Smugmug and others. Full disclosure: I have a pro account on Smugmug and I’m very happy with it.

Things are changing rapidly. Some wedding photographers will even give you your wedding photos on a CD and let you make your own wedding albums.  That can be a loss of income for the photographer, but also a loss of significant aggravation and time that could be spent shooting.  When my wife and I got married a few years back that is just what I did in fact and it worked out really well.  I had made my first printed photo book. Not my photos, but I learned how easy it was to do. In that case it was a simple Snapfish album.  My daughter and her wedding photographer did the same thing later on.  Then when one of our sons got married I did it again with the candids that his step-mom and I had each shot, so they had a real profession (and excellent) wedding album from the professional wedding photographer and another “family” album of amusing, touching candid shots that we had done.  The two albums complimented each other.

Making a Wedding Album – it’s easy!

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Capturing Sunsets On Beaches By Raymond Pauly

I became a photographer the day my dad put a Brownie Bullet camera in my hand when I was 8 years old. Since then I felt a thrill every time I opened the envelope with the 12 prints of the photos I had taken at the photo shop. They were my very own creations! I still have one of my sister riding a pony, which is a pretty decent shot! The Brownie Bullet, which I still keep, was followed by a Canon Snappy, then a Pentax K1, and my favorite, a Canon T70. But that was many years ago and, even though photography has always been a part of my life, I never took it all that seriously. With the advancements of digital photography, which my dad never got to know, I got hooked again by photography and a new story began.

Salinas Bay, Guanacaste Costa Rica. Canon EOS 40D w/ Canon EF-S 10-22 lens @ f/29, 1/3 sec., ISO-100, focal length 17mm

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“You’re Judy… So who’s Kyle Felton?” By Judy Rouse

Judy Rouse, known to her family and friends as “Trouble” created a lot of mischief in her home as a child. The crayoned colored walls would be the first attraction as you walked into her family home. Judy was content as a child that she would be an artist. An artist of what aspect was yet to be discovered. One day her God Father, Felton placed a toy camera in her hands. She would capture everything and anything in her path. There was no development of film or digital processing at that time for her to physically see what a big mess she was making. It was the joy in her eyes that made her continue the love of photography. 

The name “Kyle Felton” has a very special meaning behind it. Kyle would have been the name of her child if she had given birth. Felton is the name of her God Father who introduced her to the beauties of the world by everyday travel. She would often hear these comments from friends, “You should sell your work, you take such great pictures.” Her response would be, “Photography is just a hobby and I’m not trying to make money from it.” After hearing the same thing day after day, she decided to make a change. Judy thought to herself, “how can I make this happen?” Read more…

Take What The Course Gives You By Richard Terpolilli

I have a confession. I am an avid golfer and photographer and on any given day one adventure is number one and the other is one 1a. So you ask, “What does golf have to do with photography?”

On occasion I have been known to place my tee shot into the rough. To preserve my round I’ll take what the course gives me, i.e. use a wedge, put the ball back into play, and walk away with a bogey or par.

Nahant Massachusetts

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The New Portrait Photographer By Erin S. Quigley

Today, portrait photography has evolved from the traditional sense of the word. When I was younger having my portrait taken entailed my parents dragging my sister and me to a studio to have very precise, clean, and posed shots. Since then times have changed. A candid feeling is more strongly preferred, even in the studio.  People are pushing to capture themselves in a more natural expression, not a forced smile and an awkward posture.  Creating these moments is no piece of cake. Instead, they are too often the boiling point between making or breaking a photographer. 

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