Make your own lighting diagrams

Here's a neat little web application for making your own studio lighting diagrams.
I'll fix the overlaps on the page when I get a chance.

Sarasota Polo Match

Did a shoot for Mercedes Benz of Sarasota, Florida for a Sarasota Polo match. The Mercedes dealership is one of the major sponsors for the 2009 season. I'll have a few photos later.

Maryland PPA Convention 2009

Spent 4 days of intensive seminars at the Sheraton Hotel in Columbia for the 2009 Maryland PPA Convention. A lot of great seminars and new friendships. The seminar instructors included: Mark Levesque on Lightroom, Jeff and Carolle Dachowski on building the business, Don Chick on basic lighting , Jim Lersch on commercial and portrait photography, and Jack Reznicki on commercial photography and copyrights. Fantastic presentations, fun and informative.

IPod Touch Photo Applications

I've been spending a little bit too much time researching uses for my new toy - the iPod Touch. Some of the practical things I am now using the iTouch for include:
1) Storing some of my Photos for showing at Networking events (my mobile portfolio)
2) Storing my camera and flash manuals so I always have reference (just in case)
3) Storing various photo shoot lists as a reminder when needed
4) Storing different images of poses that I may decide to use once in awhile
5) A Sunrise application that tells me the twilight, sunrise and sunset times at various locations in the country so I know when I can capture the magic light any day of the year
6) A DOF (depth of field) calculator for different lenses and focal distances
7) Links to various photography websites for keeping abreast of new equipment and new techniques
8) and other planned uses

Apple Ipod Touch

I recently purchased an Apple IPod Touch for showing my photographs at networking events as part of my new marketing thrust for this year. I loaded some photos and took it to the Maryland PPA meeting last night and showed a few other photographers who were impressed with the images and the IPod itself. Here's the image I selected for the wallpaper.

Fairie Lights

Stephanie Millner Presentation

Attended a Maryland PPA presentation "Don't Blame The Printer" by Stephanie Millner, award-winning wedding and portrait photographer from Alexandria, VA. Prior to her transition into professional photography, she gained prolific experience as a graphic designer and prepress manager at several printing companies. I learned a few hints about some of the things that should be done prior to submitting printing. Stephanie was a knowledgeable and great presenter.

PlayList.com

I am in the process of looking into Playlist.com for selecting music on my websites. Right now, Playlist.com is somewhat controversial with rights issues; but I feel that since all I'm doing is providing a link to them, I should be ok. Supposedly they are in the process of obtaining rights to all the music. I'll let you know what happens as PlayList.com works out it's issues and how they will eventually charge for accessing their servers. They are presently in talks with Sony BMG Music (see press release).

I added the player today and did a little more research and then decided to remove it from the blog since the music sources appear to be from different servers from all over the world and probably aren't licensed properly.

What does this have to do with photography? Nothing; but it does have to do with presentation methods and it gets me away from direct photography for a bit.

For reference, a Sarah Brightman PlayList Popup (opens a new screen)