On a recent location scout, Anthony and I decided to have a little fun... The technique used in the above image has been done by a lot of photographers so you're not really seeing anything new or unique. Even though, it is fun to do and it does build up skills both behind the camera (and in front) and in post processing.

Last post I wrote about finding the small things where you least expect it. Today I am going to share about finding the big things where you least expect it. Things being slow as they are for me at work, I decided to take the opportunity of a day off to do some shooting. As usual, the inner dialog begins with, "what should I shoot today?" As usual, I run down a whole litany of choices and after some hawing and humming, I opted to do some street shooting.

Whenever I get a free moment I often grab my camera and go for a walk. I head out not knowing what I'll be shooting, let alone what I will find. A recent outing to a local environmental reserve proved to be very prosperous for several reasons. Beginning with the abundance of photo opportunities and culminating in the idea for this article.

Another event has passed us with rebounding success. Thanks to Pat who coordinated this with the cemetery association, we ended up with an educational tour of the grounds and a new understanding of some of the symbols found there. As an artist, whether it is drawing, crafting, photography or any other form, I think a wonderful side effect of creating art is the knowledge gained while doing research. This event did not disappoint in that regard. Aside from a knowledgeable tour guide, we ended up with a beautiful day. Although a bit muggy at times, over all it was great. Fortunately for us all, the rains held off. If you are ever in the area of New Haven, CT and can take the time to walk the grounds I would highly recommend it. It is amazing how much history there is in a cemetery. Take advantage of the free tours and afterwards head out into the city. Yale University is right outside the cemetery gates and that in itself is worthy of a day trip.

This past Sunday a few members from our meet up group had a fun day at Bent of the River Audubon Center in South Britain . Although the turnout was not large, the few who did attend had nothing but great things to say about the meet up. While it was a bit hot, the day actually turned out to be really nice and we all enjoyed the time there.

When it comes to getting those marvelously miniature nature details outdoors it often means getting down into the dirt. However, as you get older it's not as easy to get down low and even tougher to get back up. If you are looking to get that wonderful worm's-eye view, it means getting down on you belly. Or does it? We recently did a close-up and macro meet up at the beautiful Southford Falls State Park. The objective of the meet up was to find a location and scout out a variety of subjects to shoot up close and personal. Not only was it an exercise in shooting small, it was also to train in how to view a scene from a different perspective. One very low perspective. By looking into the macro world, it also forces you to look for subjects that would otherwise get lost or overlooked by the larger world around you. We are so used to looking at trees, buildings, people and other larger scaled subjects on a daily basis that we forget to look down. And down is where you need

Close-up and macro photography is fascinating because of the incredible discoveries we are able to find in our otherwise mundane surroundings. By moving in closer and closer to our subject, we get a uniquely different perspective on our world. It also allows us to find new ways of framing and composing our images since now we have to work within a tighter, more controlled working area. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, “close-up” and “macro” are not synonymous. Even though many camera manufacturers mark or call their built-in close-up feature ‘macro’ it rarely is a true macro function. The terms relate to the ratio between the subject’s actual size to the sensor size.

We recently made a trip to the gorgeous Bellamy-Ferriday House and Gardens in Bethlehem, CT for a photo shoot. While we were supposed to have a model, we ended up without one and were left to our own devices. So as the saying goes, " when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. " On the property there is this cute little one room shed set off at the edge of an overgrown field with a quaint little path mowed through the grass leading to it. I knew I wanted to shoot it and as I walked around I spotted a view that I wanted to explore. It included some wildflowers and a foreground shot of the field, using the shed in the background.

Living so close to New York City, I have made numerous trips to the city for one reason or another. Sometimes I have gone with a camera, but usually I am with non-photographers so the camera stays home. However, I recently had an opportunity to do an all-day photo workshop with local pro photographer Bob Harrington. It was a small group and we had a gorgeous model to work with throughout the day. Even though we had a ready-made subject, we found ourselves aiming lenses elsewhere. After all, we were in 'the city that never sleeps'. It wasn't until a few days after that I made an observation that might pertain to other new photographers just learning. Of all the 'landmark' shots I took in the city, they were all your typical 'tourist' pictures.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my photography experience is mostly in commercial product photography. I find it challenging and exciting. Yeah, I know some of you are shaking your heads at me. However, my involvement with several area photography groups has afforded me the opportunity to expand my repertoire into other areas that I haven't visited since I was younger. It's good to exercise all the muscles. Yet occasionally I feel the need to go back to shooting products, but want to continue pushing myself outside of my usual. So how about shooting food?

When you are known as a photographer you get all kinds of request to 'take my picture'. You know what that's like. If you are the one usually behind the camera you have experienced this. But it's never that easy is it. Sure enough, that happened to me recently.

It seems that this argument can be found on nearly every blog about photography. While it has been argued to no end, here is my take on the subject.

My wife and I decided to have diner at our local Ruby Tuesdays. We love the food, love the atmosphere, and we had a coupon. So after a hectic day of shopping, we headed to the restaurant. One of the great things about Ruby Tuesdays is that the chefs there pay as much attention to presentation of their food as the taste. Considering it is not a high end restaurant, this is pretty impressive in itself. The other thing I like is that they have those cool looking square plates. All the makings for an impromptu photo shoot.

Most digital cameras on the market today come with software managers of some sort. They allow you do do a variety of photo manipulations depending on what gets packaged with the camera and who the manufacturer is. In general, most software that comes with our camera will allow for the basic; transferring images from your camera, basic photo editing, and perhaps some form of sharing or printing software. The majority of beginners I have talked to find that working with their camera's transfer software can be very confusing. Especially if that person's abilities with a computer is uncertain. While the software that comes bundled does have good intentions, I notice that most of them shove images in sub, sub, sub folders that make it harder to find later when you are trying to upload an image to, say, a social web site or through your email. Suddenly it becomes a needle in a haystack.