Friday Foto: New fav

Good morning folks. Today's photo is one of my new favorites. Going along with last week's post, this shot has been photoshopped a little, just to give it a more dramatic effect. I really like this photo. It was a candid, un-posed shot. I happened to walk out on the balcony of the ocean house the bride was staying out and saw her reflecting before the wedding. This was literelly minutes before the wedding. I'll be finishing up this bride's wedding photos this weekend. They are great. 

So today is Halloween. It's also Georgia vs. Florida weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. Tonight we are going to a costume party, tomorrow an early morning book sale and then all you can eat and drink football party, so needless to say, I'm really excited. Not to mention the weather, it is wonderful, absolutely outstanding. 

So with nice weather, you want to know how I'm liking it in the Scrambler? Well.... yeah. With the help of my friend Joe I got the transmission back in over the weekend. I tidied everything up and took it for a test drive. It drove perfectly. I was so happy. Then I noticed the oil leak. I filled it up with oil on Sunday and it was completely drained by Wednesday... yeah, not good. Frankly, I don't have time to trace the leak, tear the jeep down again and fix it, so i took it to a trusted mechanic who I know will do it quicker than I can. It's just a gasket, so it's not that bad, just a PITA you know?

So, that's all I got folks. Have a great halloween. I might post a photo up later of some of our costumes, so be checking back...

Friday Foto: Quick Photoshop Fix

I love photoshop. I've had this conversation several times with numerous different people. A lot of photographers and people believe that photoshop is a crutch and that it's popularity makes us question whether a photograph is really good or if it's been enhanced in photoshop to give it that 'wow' factor. It's true you can make an ordinary photo extraordinary within photoshop. When it comes to the validity argument of whether or not the photo is still a photo (in the truest sense), I offer this. Any photo that I showcase that I call a photo will not be largely enhanced. Sure, every photo I take goes through a editing program... just like every photo taken in film needs to be developed (and can be manipulated there, just so you know). But photos that have been greatly enhanced past their point of being true, I will let you know... it's just not right to try to pass off a sunset photo that was composed of three different images. 

Anyway, that leads me to today's foto. I needed a quick image of someone shooting a gun from a profile view. Really quick actually. I ran over to Brunswick the other morning, took the shoot and was done with the brochure I was making that afternoon. Here's a before and after of the photo... representing, in my opinion, how photoshop can really be useful in enhancing images. Sure, I could have gotten close to the same effect (although not exactly) with proper lighting, exposure, white balance, etc, but I didn't have time for that. The client loved the shot, and my favorite comment so far on it has been, "Wow, that looks like something you'd see in Atlanta or somewhere." HA HA HA HA

Anyway, so not much else is new. I have a couple of things planned this weekend, first and foremost is to get my Jeep all back together. I'm so close, with the transmission already positioned in place, I just need to bolt it on. I need to repack the front bearings as well and then refill all the fluids and cross my fingers that I did everything correctly. 

I also have a video project to shoot. But, most importantly, I have some time to spend with Kelly. I've been so busy this whole week, either at the office or under the Jeep, I don't think I've actually seen her in close to 3 days. 

So that's it folks. Hope yall have a great weekend and quick Friday. Cheers.

Friday Foto: Foggy, outside and in

Whew...what a busy week. I'm glad it's Friday and I'm glad Im leaving for Athens this afternoon. I'm heading up to see Kelly's brother who plays for Vandy whoop some Dawg butt... hopefully. Should be a great game.

Today's photo was taken over next to the Lodge at Sea Island.

So, I'm getting into video. I purchased an HD video camera for a couple of jobs and can't wait to play with it. I'm really excited about making little movies. When I get my first one done, i'll post it up here so you guys can check it out.

Have a great weekend, I will.

Latest wedding

Here's some pictures from one of the latest weddings I shot. As always, I do a little "photographer's favorites" section. Enjoy!

The photos are here!

Friday Foto: Lots going on, lots new

Good morning folks. Wow, what a whirlwind couple weeks I've had. I've been so busy, was laid-out sick for close to four days, and have been working late every night. It's OK, I'm having a good time. 

Today's photo comes from a wedding I shot a couple of weeks ago. I really like this photo. It was such a gorgeous venue and a wonderfully arranged and tasteful wedding, large in part to the great planning by Event's by Caroline, the wedding coordinator that put the whole shindig on. So easy working with her. 

I'm shooting another wedding this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. It should be nice with the ceremony at the Gazebo on St. Simons, and the reception at the Coastal Kitchen restaurant which is on the Marina here. So other than that, I plan on spending the rest of the time this weekend under my Jeep hopefully making some headway on putting the thing back together (read last week's post). 

Hmmm, so what else is new? Well, Kelly told me not to mention anything out right, but that if I wanted to allude to it, I could. So let's see... 

"So, I'll soon have a great subject to shoot for future Friday Fotos."

"I guess I won't have too many more weekends where I write, 'Nothing much else is going on.'"

"There goes my photography and Jeep budget, right out the window."

"I'm so freakin excited I can barely stand it."

"Come June, I'll have another hand under the Jeep that can get in small places... OK, maybe not right away."

"At least Jeep makes one of these." (Sorry, this one might have given it away!)

Have a great weekend folks, I will!!!

Friday Foto: Great weather, no Jeep

Oh man, I am loving this weather. It got down in the 50s last night. I'm so pumped about this weather, especially since the weekend is here and what a fall weekend it is! I get to attend a wedding this weekend (not shoot), which will be a nice change. Then, after that, I'm going to a Bluegrass festival here on St. Simons. They'll have an all-you-can-eat BBQ, oyster, low-county boil, etc. Oh yeah, and of course, beer. I'm excited, it should be loads of fun. 

So this picture is from Ridgeville, just north of Darien. I was up there a couple days ago and liked how the sun was lighting the spanish moss. Thought I'd share it with you guys. 

So the Jeep.... yeah... It's about to undergo a semi-major drivetrain facelift. My clutch has been going out, so I knew I needed to replace that soon. My rear main seal has been pretty much nonexistent, leaking oil EVERYWHERE, and just recently, my ring gear has been pretty much dying. I was planning on undergoing all this work in the next couple of weeks, but was forced to begin now as of last night. The ring gear is what the starter turns over to get the car started. It is a big ring with teeth on it located in the engine. After awhile, the teeth start to wear and the starter can't grab. You can sometimes rock the car back and fourth (what I've been doing to two weeks) to try and get to a place on the gear that still has teeth, so you can start it, but last night it finally didn't work anymore. Luckily I was at the house so I pushed it in the garage and that's that. Time to drop the tranny and get real messy. I'm going to replace all that stuff and clean the whole thing up, new fluids and any other parts that can be replaced while I'm at it.

Other than that, I have no plans. Going to open my windows and have some fresh air. I advise you to do the same. Cheers folks.