Saturday, in the park, You think it was the 4th of July…

…except it wasn’t warm enough to be the 4th of July!

I met up with some really cool people yesterday at Shelby Park in East Nashville.  I truly love Shelby, it’s close to home and easily accessible!  The group that met yesterday was part of the Nashville Meet-up Photography Group.  This was not an official meet-up, but more of an impromptu gathering, put together by my friend Donna.

It was cold, but not unbearable.  Anyway, here are a few of my shots from the outing!

  

  

     

By this time things were starting to run together and looking kind of dreamy.  So I headed home and had another cup of coffee!

Here are the links to the meet-up groups sites.  If you are interested in going to any, give me a shout, I would love to “meet-up” with ya!

 

Nashville Meet-up Photography Group

Nashville Photography Meet-up Face Book Fan Page

Have a great day!

WIN A LENS FOR A WEEK?

Hey guys and gals!  You need to head over to the Maternal Lens and check out there new give-away.  Who would like to win a lens for a week from BorrowLenses.com?  Now’s your chance!

 

Click Here!

JUST ANOTHER SUNNY DAY IN THE PARK

Well it finally happened.  Spring threw open it’s firmly closed doors and let a little sunshine in this weekend.  What a beautiful day it was!

I had the opportunity of meeting up with a group of people I’ve known for several years, but have never met this past Saturday.  Unfortunately about 20,000 people had the same idea and headed to the park as well.  Of the 20,000 in attendance at Springs debut, about 10,000 of them had camera and tripods.  So, I never found the Nashville Photography Group, but I did what I normally do.  I strolled the park at a photographers pace, and took pics!

Hope you enjoy, more to come later this week!

     

I Heart Faces ~ Fix-It-Friday

It’s that time again post my Fix-It-Friday photo from I ♥ Faces.   This has really helped me learn more and more about editing my photos.  I love to see the other participants fixes, and to see their vision of what the photo could become.  I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned through photography is this, my vision of beautiful might not be your vision.  Guess what?  That’s OK!

David Hume 1712 ~ "Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."  

Today’s photo comes from Kelli Hoskins.  Check out her blog Kidnapped By Suburbia, really a nice read filled with some down to earth, easy to read tutorials!

Now I’m gonna be honest here, I changed so many things about this photo.  The trouble was, I would change it, not like it, and then go back to the beginning.  So I really could not tell you what I did to finish it!  One thing I did do was this, the entire project was done using my Wacom Intous 4 pen/tablet.  I got this new toy at Christmas, and have no idea what to do with it.  That is until I found Jessica Sprague's site.  She recently added a 4 week course that walks you through the different aspects of the pen/tablet.  In fact, this week I completely unplugged my mouse, and have used the pen exclusively!  You can check out her stuff here!

Original pic

Edited pic 

 

Digital Scrapbook pic

 

Be sure to head over to I ♥ Faces to check out the other edits of this photo.  But more importantly, check out the local edits also.  I’m sure there are more Tennesseans doing this, but these are the ones I know:

Donna ~ Donna’s Place

Wendy ~ Nashville Wedding Photographer

Rhonda ~ Stansberry Photography

Chasing The Son!

Several weeks ago our Pastor asked the members of our church to write a small devotion. This devotion would be published as a devotional for the Easter season. Well, I was one of the ones asked to participate. I was given a couple of scriptures to choose from. Basically I just wanted to share it here with my friends. If you feel led to respond, please do. If not, that's OK as well!

Chasing the Son!
Romans 10:8-13

Several years back I took up the hobby of photography. I love taking photos of people, landscapes, just about anything that God has created. But the one thing I truly enjoy searching for is that beautiful sunrise. It's that magical time of the morning when the world is waking up and preparing for a new day!

A couple of months ago, I decided it was time to start looking for the sun. We had just had a few weeks of rain, and basically I needed the warmth and re-generation that only the sun could provide. So I packed my gear, made a pot of coffee, and took off. Now I didn't drive far at all. In fact, I was less than 2 miles from my warm bed, but I was out searching.

As I sat on that mountain top waiting, I got a little scared. My mind started racing, thinking about all the bad things that could happen. I mean, here I was in the middle of East Nashville, alone, with a huge amount of expensive camera paraphernalia! It was dark; the moon had not set, and there was all kind of bad things happening in the world. A sense of doom was clouding my thoughts. Almost if you will, a feeling of PANIC! I glanced at my watch knowing that in only a few moments, that illuminating orb in the sky would rise and chase all the demons that surrounded me away.

But guess what? It did not happen. The Eastern horizon was clouded and overcast. The orange glow that I desperately needed was nowhere to be found. As despair started racing through my brain I immediately felt something different. In that cloud filled, overcast, and gray morning I felt warm, comforted…safe!

Even though I did not see the sunrise, it happened. It was there all along, just hidden behind my thoughts and a few gray clouds. Kind of like God, just waiting for me call!

C.S. Lewis wrote: I believe in Christianity, just as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.

Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Jesus, Thank you for being the Risen Son! Amen.

I Heart Faces ~ “I Wanna Dance !”

"Dance like no one is watching.

Sing like no one is listening.

Love like you've never been hurt

and live like it's heaven on Earth."
— Mark Twain

A Drive In the Woods!

The 2nd Saturday of each month is a very special day for me.  It’s the day that I get together with my weight loss surgery buddies for lunch.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, support is probably one of the most important aspects of anything you do!  Whether it’s losing weight, or learning digital photography.  Without support, you are left alone, like a dyeing ember of coal from a fire!  Without accountability, you’ll drown in a see of forgetfulness!  OK, enough with the metaphorical statements already.

I arrived at today's luncheon, only to find out we were changing restaurants because of the wait time.  I thought I knew where I was going, but I did not!  So you guessed it, I got lost!  Did I stop and asked directions?  Not me, I’m a guy, I know what I’m doing!!!!  Not!

Since I’m lost, I thought I would make the best of it and snap some shots! 

Enjoy!

 

     

Blogger Labels: Drive,Woods,surgery,photography

Fix-It-Friday form I Heart Faces

Well it’s time for another Fix-It-Friday from I ♥ Faces.  After spending time with Angie and Amy last week, I figured I better get involved…again.  Especially after they wished me Happy Birthday at the  I ♥ Faces Photo Walk in Nashville!

Below is the original picture from Pics’ n Giggles.  What a cute photo!  Be sure to check out Jessica’s blog.

I started the process by importing into Lightroom.  My workflow is essentially the same every time.

1) Import.

2) Adjust white balance if needed.

3) Add a little clarity and vibrancy.

4) Add a touch of vignetting.

With this photo, I did all of the above, then brought out the graduated filters in the develop module.  I decreased the exposure on the right, while using a 2nd graduated filter to increase the exposure on the left. 

Once I had the balance I was looking for, I concentrated on the eyes.  First step on the eyes was to increase the blue saturation, and then transfer over to Photoshop for some further editing.  Once in Photoshop, I used a tutorial on eye pop from Jessica Sprague. 

Once I had all of this completed, I added in a few textures.  One was the holiday bokeh from I ♥ Faces  and the other from CoffeeShop Freebies!  I really can’t remember the settings for the textures, just play around a while and have fun!  I did use a mask to erase some of the texture from the face as well.

OK, that’s about it!  I heard a quote from a big time photographer (Jay Maisel).  Photographs are meant for 1 of 2 things, either hiding away in an album, or for sharing.  Today, I’m sharing!

I ♥ Faces Photo walk ~ Nashville Style !

You know, it’s been a while since I’ve updated.  The big thing is, I’m not apologizing, I’m just stating the truth.  As much as I would like to sit and write everyday, life happens.  That’s just the way it is!

So, here is a small update on an event I attended last weekend! I ♥ Faces was in town for the Blissdom Bloggers Convention @ Opryland.  While in town, Angie and Amy from I ♥ Faces put on a Photo walk of our great city.  Now I love to do these things, but never alone, I’m just not that kind of guy.  What usually happens is this, I’ll sign up for something, then I talk it up so much, that friends of mine will usually join in. Kind of like the Franklin Photo Walk (Melinda did this one), or the Digital Wake Up Call (Randy joined me for this event).  But if I don’t invite my friends, odds are, I usually talk myself out of going!You see, I’m really a shy person.  I know, I just heard a collective groan from my friends, but I am!

This event was different!  I think I really stepped out of my comfort zone on this one!  I went by myself.  Not one of my friends was there.  Sure, I knew some people that would be attending.  Heck, I even stalked their blogs just to see if they were mentioning the walk!  But I went all alone, with all the nerves and anticipation something like this brings.  And I’m glad I did!

I got to meet some photographers that I really admire.  People I’ve watched grow a lot these last few years!  Donna Tomlin was there, along with Rhonda Stansbury.  Now both of these girls are phenomenal photographers.  I joined the Nashville Meetup Group about 3 years ago, but have never been to one of their photo events.  But I have looked at the pictures, followed them on FLICKR and have saved their blogs in my Google Reader.  As soon as I walked up, Donna welcomed me with open arms, and introduced me to Rhonda.  It was great shooting with someone with their talent!

But that’s not all I met! Angie and Amy from I ♥ Faces were so friendly and talented as well.  If you’ve never been to I ♥ Faces, you need to check them out!  One of the most fun blogs I have ever been a part of.  They’ve created a community of  support, encouragement and talent along with that goes above and beyond what the world has to offer!  I’ve learned a lot from these two ladies, and their site! 

Most of all I can’t forget Michael Howard!  What a wonderful leader he was.  I had just became a fan of Michael Howard Photography over at Facebook about a week before the photo walk.  when Michael showed up, he came right over and started chatting like we had known each other for several years.  If you get a chance, jump over to his site at Michael Howard Photography.  Michael also has a workshop coming up that looks really interesting, check it out on his  .

There were many others who joined in as well.  In fact, I think I added about 30 people to my FLICKR account as friends, and have found so many more inspiring blogs to read !  But enough about that, here’s some shots I took.

Enjoy!

 

Now for fun, here is the link to the photo pool over at FLICKR.  If you want to see some really inspirational and fun shots go there.

I ♥ Faces @ FLICKR

But for even more fun, check out this link of yours truly!  I think the hat made all the difference in the world!

Click Here!

The big thing is this, I never would have ventured out in a group of people I did not know 3 years ago.  Losing 185 pounds really helped me become who I am today.  It’s truly given me a chance at life! 

Peace!