Happy Halloween!

DON'T EAT TOO MUCH CANDY!

What Breaking the Sound Barrier Looks Like

Ok, this is AMAZING! I've never seen anything quite like this... Jets break the sound barrier everyday, but I've never seen a photo of it! I also found an article describing it a little more.

"Ghost Photography 101"

In "honor" of Halloween, I thought it would be cool to post something creepy. Ghost photography has been around for a while! We've all seen the photos, an image with a light leak or blemish on the picture... or is it...? haha! Check out the article I found!

James Nachtwey

James Nachtwey is an AMAZING photojournalist. He's mainly shoots wars and conflicts. His photos have been see everywhere! Check out some of his stuff.

There's Your Shot!

Today is the last day of school before Halloween.  We decided it would be a great idea to dress up.  Amanda, Nicole, and me decided we should be the instructors.  Amanda: Finch, Nicole: Harkins, Me: Jones.  How fun.  That's to Senior Figluizzi for taking the photo!  Click the photo above for a larger view.

Behind a Loan Photo

Professional Photographer Magazine recently posted a photo gallery that takes the viewer "behind the scenes" of a Loan Print. Over each image, the photographer has written a brief story of what it took for them to get the photo. It's such a great idea! I was also surprised to see prints show up that I've handled during the 2009 PPA IPC.

Transformer

I found this video on youtube.  It shows the power of Photoshop!  It's pretty amazing.

Laptop Lock

I stumbled across a lock for my laptop a few months ago. I purchased one for my friend Amanda Gardner, and me. They work GREAT for on location shoots. I suggest any photographer who takes their laptop with them anywhere have one in their bag. The prices range from about $25-$100. I was fortunate enough to find them on 1saleaday.com. They were free, I was just responsible for s/h. $9 for $80 worh of laptop locks... can't beat that! Either way, compared to the price of a stolen laptop the locks are fairly cheap. I found several on Walmart.com.

Progress is being made!!!

Holiday Portraits are rapidly approaching!

Claudia!

During our Lowkey shoot in Adavnced Portrature, everyone had fun with Ivana's wig... and a random boa.

Fashion turned Glamour...

I thought it was fashion, but it turned out to be glamour.  I've been doing so much research on high fashion photography, and I've pulled many inspirations.  I'm going to shoot my fashion this weekend.  I'm so excited!  Can't wait.  Advanced portraiture (thus far) has been absolutely amazing!

Fashion Photography

Tonight I experimented with fashion portraits. It was a ton of fun, yet equally as challenging. Shooting portrais outside of the studio is very limiting, and really got me thinking and problem solving. I really happy with the results!

Lee Reception

My friends Adam Lee & Bradey Hoskins recently married in Jamacia. On Saturday, they held a reception. It was beautiful, and I was there to document it for them. Check out the photos on my facebook!

Vh1's "The Shot"

There was a show on Vh1 a couple of years ago called "The Shot." This was before I was really interested in photography. Watching the show is what made me want to become a photographer. Traveling the world shooting beautiful models on beautiful beaches with beautiful camera equipment would be amazing! I wish Vh1 would bring this show back. I would love to compete.

Photo by: Dean Zulich

Apple iMac

I will soon be a proud owner of an 27" iMac! I'm am extremely excited. I just need to secure a few more funds and I'm in the club! I'm very fortunate, the new models JUST came out. I'm glad I waited. It also comes with the new Apple Magic Mouse. It's really cool. It's essentially the track pad on the MacBook Pros, but in mouse from.

Canon 1D Mark IV

The new 1D Mark iv is pretty amazing.  It's got and ISO range of 50-102,400, and a 45 Point, 39 cross-type AF system.  The video above is a quick overview of the new AF system.  It's pretty amazing.

BlackRapid R-Strap Review

I found an interesting article from Professional Photographer that reviews the BlackRapid R-Strap which is an interesting camera strap.  It straps to the bottom of your camera or lens, where the tripod mount is.  It's kind of cool.  It carries you camera upside down, and slings over your shoulder.  There is also a multi-camera option.  Pretty cool guys!  Check out the review.

Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon is an amazing portrait photographer.  He's shot everything from fashion, to music, politics, people from obscurity and more.  He is a HUGE influence of mine.  PBS put together a quick but great article about him, his life, and his cliental.  The article is about a documentary PBS did on Avedon for a series known as American Masters.

Photojournalism Seminar

I chosen as a student volunteer for the 2009 Photojournalism Seminar! I'm beyond excited, and can't wait!

Low-Key Tip!

I've noticed that in any adobe program which offers RAW 16-bit editing, i.e. Camera RAW and Lightroom,  makes some automatic adjustments.  For some reason the programs are defaulted to add 5 points of black.  It's only 5 points, but in low-key photography the 5 points is crucial!  It can be the difference between separation and no separation.  You have to manually drag the point back to zero.  Try it out.  It will increase the shadow detail in your low-key photo greatly.  Let me know how it works for ya!

GTC Holiday Portraits 2009

Holiday Portraits are around the corner! Check out the blog!

Ivanna Lowkey

This is Ivanna Lowkey. I mean Amanda. I dressed her as a Russian Spy for our low key assignment. She did a great job! She worked it, got it, and gave me "smeyes" the whole time. Tyra would be so proud!

Rob Knight

Rob is a buddy of mine I met through the Commercial Photography program at Gwinnett Tech. He specializes in travel and landscape photography. He does a great job, and is actually teaching a workshop March 1-5, 2010 in Mal Pais, Costa Rica with Edge of the World Photography Workshops. Check out his website, and his blog. His stuff is great!

Cold Weather

Here in Georgia, the weather's changing! 75 to 45 overnight! It's crazy! This reminds me of March this year when we randomly had a snow storm. I'm excited about the cold weather, summer's been brutal!

Steve McCurry

I could be a little jealous. This is my friend Lauren, her little nugget Gabriel, Parish Kohanim, and Steve Mccurry... meeh.

Herb Ritts

Herb Ritts is an amazing fashion photographer from the 80s and 90s. With his beutiful images, he had a big part in the development of the supermodel. His photos focus on shape and form. He is a big inspiration of mine.

Spencer Platt & Steve McCurry

My friends are hilarious! One unknowingly called Spencer Platt a turd while they were shooting the same rally. The other unknowingly told Steve McCurry to step aside while he was trying to take a photo of her baby. Both were extremely embarrassed once they found out who they were. I am super jealous.

I'm on Flickr!

Today in Multimedia 2, Jones told us the benefits of having a Flickr account.  We had to create one, and post our 10 favorite photos.  It was so easy!  I can't believe I didn't have one earlier.  Click on the photo below to check out my 10 fav photos!

Photojournalism

I've been doing research on a couple photojournalist.  I found a guy named Oded Balilty he won the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, "The Power Of One." The photo is pretty amazing.  Read more about him here. 

It's Pumpkin Season!

My sisters and my nephew decided it would be a good idea to carve pumpkins... Halloween isn't for a few weeks and I'm sure the pumpkins wont make it!  Oh well, it was fun.  They got the Pumpkins from my classmate, Deanna Washington's farm,  Washington Farms.

I also found an interesting article about the history of Pumpkins!  It's pretty cool to read where pumpkin carving came from!  Read it here.

Sports Photography

Saturday I went to the Shiloh, Central little leauge game.  It was fun.  Watching a football game through a little eye peice was confusing, but fun!

Child Portraiture

Today I shot my nephew Jameson.  It went 1000 times better than I imagined it would!  He's usually really really really bad!  But thanks to a very patient assistant, and a set of jingling keys, I got it!

Photo Booth!

Hanging out with a couple friends this weekend, I decided it would be fun to set up a photo booth.  However, rather than the photo booth being run by a machine it was run by me!  I hanged a backdrop, set up a reflector and a bounce card, and went to town!  It was so much fun!  My friends would randomly have me take their photos through out the night.  I forced some to.  Overall, it was a great sucess!  I will definately be doing this again.

Reuben's turn in the "Photo Booth"

©Damian AhChing 2009

Child Portraiture

Tomorrow we will be shooting children. My sister is bringing my nephew in. He will be turning 3 next month, so I originally planned on shooting his 3 year portraits. However I wanted to have a little more fun with this and decided to go with something a little different… Stay tuned! It should be fun!

Jameson haming it up during pumpkin carving.

©Damian AhChing 2009

Animal Portraiture

Last Monday, in Advanced Portraiture, we shot animals. I had my brother’s girlfriend bring their dog, Moose, in. He’s a grey Neapolitan Mastiff. He was definitely a handful! But with the help of great assistants, we dominated it for sure!

Moose. 10 months.

©Damian AhChing 2009

Why's my lens so long?

Last night Amanda and I went into Atlanta to shoot a little.  I really need photos of people, and Finch has been telling us that the tighter the photo the better photojournalism it makes.  (in most cases)  I've got a 18-55 and a 75-300.  I haven't used the 75-300 much outside of the studio, but it's a great lens for photojournalism.  I put it on my camera, and told Amanda to not let me switch lenses! No matter what!  I struggled at first, but I eventually got use to it and and absolutely amazed with the results!

National Domestic Violence Month

Clothesline Project-

An amazing presentation put together to give the childern victims of domestic violence a voice. Decorated shirts are hung from a clothesline with message from these battered children.

©Damian AhChing 2009

Candlelight Vigil-

Upon entrance, everyone was given a candle.  The deication began with stories from the women who have escaped their abusive relationships.  The stories were so powerful I forgot I was a photographer and just listened.  I was nearly brought to tears.  Once the speeches were over, the candlelight vigil began.  One by one a name was called, and a candle was light.  Each name was that of a victim who lost their life because of domestic violence.  Each spark and newly light candle was a life.  It was heart breaking.

©Damian AhChing 2009