Call Uncle Jesse

"Catherine is Bach"

1/160 sec at f/5.6 ISO 100

... there's a new Duke girl in town.

Find Something Enjoyable in Every Breath

"Fair Lady"
1/320 at f/8.0 ISO 200

"Each day comes bearing its own gift. Untie the ribbons." - Ruth Ann Schabacker

Panography-like

1/200 sec at f/5.6 ISO 400

"Art is a kind of illness." - Giacomo Puccini

Maybe the Dingo Ate Your Baby

"Fashionable"
1/250 sec at f/7.1 ISO 100

"What do nudists wear on casual Fridays?"

Increase Your Business Exposure

In the film days, professional photographers would book a session, shoot several rolls of film and then send the negatives off to the lab and wait on paper proofs. A week or so later they would then schedule a second session with the clients and show them the proofs. As you know, digital photography has drastically changed all that. You can now capitalize on the emotion created by the shoot (and hint, hint: significantly increase sales) by showing your client the proofs that same day!

Professional photographers can either host the proofs on their own site or, most likely, pay a third party to host the online viewing, take the order, accept the payment and fulfill the order. However, they pay to do that. Some of us, who don't quite do the volume to justify the expense were left hanging.

But wait, here comes

Instaproofs.com allows the small to medium user a chance to show proofs online without any up front costs. The trade off is you'll pay a 15% (maximum) commission on each sale and you'll fulfill the order yourself. Honestly, I think that's something you can live with until your volume increases. And the benefits? Immediate, professional-looking galleries and they'll accept credit cards on your behalf (that feature alone will increase your sales significantly). So, why not check Instaproofs.com out and get your photography business off the ground today!

- Keep you finger on the shutter and your feet off the couch.

Fly Away

Here's a destination on my bucket list. It's the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in Haines, Alaska, the largest gathering of bald eagles in the world. How they know to show up November 10-14 remains a mystery to me, though. And check out the wildlife photography by their photography guide Weldon Lee.

Part Time Income Idea

Are you looking for a way to make a little money with your photography skills? Well, there are several avenues open to photographers of all skill levels, but one that I came across recently looks like it may have some possibilities. It's call snapped4u.com and its premise is simple; you go to a public event, take photos of the people participating, you upload those photos to the snapped4u.com site and event participants can then download a copy of their pictures for a reasonable fee of $4 (and you earn all but a 50 cent commission fee per download).

There are no start up fees to the photographer and the only drawback I can see is that you have to make the participants somehow aware that they'll have to go to the snapped4u.com website to find themselves. The company sells business cards for you to hand out at the time of the event and will sell you a baseball cap with the website address emblazoned on it to help get the point across. I see that part as a little tricky, but a good salesman would find a way to make it work for him or her.

- Keep your finger on the shutter and your feet off the couch.

I Got a Song in My Heart and Sand in My Shorts

Only in Delaware: Scalding Sun, Unbearable Heat, Gusty Winds, Torrential Rain and a Free Sandblasting all in one afternoon. Gotta love it!

On a steel horse I ride ...

"A Sea of Iron"

1/200 sec at f/9.0 ISO 100

"Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window." - Author Unknown

William Penn is ...

1/250 sec at f/5.6 ISO 400

Zorro!

If you look closely around historic New Castle (DE) where William Penn, founder of what would eventually become Pennsylvania and Delaware, first touched American soil you will see the infamous "Z" etchings carved in stone and ice sculptures.

No doubt in my mind, William Penn is Don Diego de la Vega.

You must be this tall ...

"G-Force"
1/2 second at f/13.0 ISO 100

"The Brass Ring"
1/2 second at f/8.0 ISO 100

Had a chance to go out tonight and shoot some carnival images on manual settings. Always fun and always challenging to find the right combination to portray the atmosphere of the midway.

Click here to view the rest of the images.

Ruff Times

"Permanent Press"

1/320 sec at f/5.6 ISO 400

"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." - Author Unknown

Leonard Slye is King of the Cowboys

"Hoofin' it home"

1/160 sec at f/7.1 ISO 100

"No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle." - Winston Churchill

Photography is Hard Work

"High Seas"

1/1600 sec at f/5.6 ISO 80

It's a tough job, folks, but somebody's got to do it.

Hi Ho, Silver!

"Tricia"

1/320 sec at f/6.3 ISO 100

Jackie Hearts John

"Ain't Love Grand!"

1/160 sec at f/5.6 ISO 200

I had the pleasure of shooting engagement pics for Jackie and John today. What a nice couple. They're getting married in just about a month.

"Love is not singular except in syllable." - Marvin Taylor

What Am I?

Any guesses?

HINT #1: He is involved.

Click here for the answer.

Easier said than done ....

"Jack's son, Five"

1/250 sec at f/7.1 ISO 100

My wife and I have been practicing a new skill set where through positive reinforcement we are able to communicate with nature. On our way home tonight we passed by this marshy mallow and I said, "Jan, stop the car," even though she was in the passenger seat. I then climbed out of the car through the driver's side window and waded out into the marsh, just passed my eyes, where through positive meditation and manifesting I was able to convince these five white egrets to drop what they were doing and each take position on stumps of varying height in the clear, murky waters. Then, through intense subminimal messaging, I was able to get them all to focus their attention, not on the camera, but to look in the distance at an imaginary target while Jan was skillfully able to capture the entire moment in this beautiful image you see before you.

The morale of this story? Let life hand you no egrets. Stay thirsty, my friends.

Skipping Stones ...

"Justin Time"

1/320 sec at f/9.0 ISO 100

"The great man is one who does not lose his child's heart." - Mencius

Hot Stuff

"Wing Walker"

1/320 sec at f/8.0 ISO 100

A big thanks to model Tracy for bearing the 100 degree weather last evening and shooting some pin up images at the airport. She was heating up the tarmac big time!

Looking for a model to promote your business?  Drop us an email, with the subject "Tracy," and we'll put you in touch with this up and coming spokesperson.

Also, may we express our gratitude to the area pilots for providing us with such great backgrounds!

Screamin' Sound of a Big Warbird

"Warbirds over Delaware"

 1/200 second at f/6.3 ISO 100

It never ceases to amaze me the incredible following a simple hobby can have. This weekend, over at Lums Pond, radio-controlled enthusiasts from all over the mid-atlantic are putting on a show called "Warbirds over Delaware."

These planes are huge! And the men, with their Winnebagos, who share that passion hauling their amazing machines from field to field are quite a dedicated bunch. If you get a chance this Saturday, stop over and check out the men and their flying machines.

 

(As performed by the Royal Guardsmen)

Achtung!
Jetzt wir singen zusammen die Geschichte
Über den schweinköpfigen Hund
Und den lieben Red Baron

After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder men have never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war bird

Eins, zwei, drei, vier ....

Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Richthofen was his name
Eighty men tried and eighty men died
Now they're buried together on the countryside

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' out the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

Left, two, three, four ....

In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny-lookin' dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down "Curses, foiled again!"

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' out the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

Now, Snoopy had sworn that he'd get that man
So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan
He challenged the German to a real dogfight
While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight

That Bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He'd tried everything, but he'd run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once and he fired twice
And that Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sight

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' out the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

Well, ten, twenty ....

Baby, it's Hot Outside

"Scorcher"

1/160 sec at f/5.6 ISO 125

"It ain't the heat, it's the humility." - Yogi Berra

Youth is Wasted on the Young

"Beautiful Dreamer"

1/160 sec at f/4.2 ISO 400

"In a dream you are never eighty." - Anne Sexton