"Fashion Show Week"
I finalized the booking as the exclusive photographer of the Jefferson Township High School Charity Fashion Show for the 2nd year in a row so I'll be shooting that the 1st weekend of February. Last year was a lot of fun (*see blog entry February '08) and I was really surprised at how well the kids acted & responded to being photographed. In my experience teenagers are not the easiest models to deal with because they just don't want to be bothered but every single youngster was cooperative and listened to direction very well along with actually having FUN with it. So needless to say I'm looking forward to this event once again and hopefully can make some new friends along the way.
Well the last week has been a lot of fun photography wise around here. We've had a snow storm and 2 ice storms in the last week enabling me to get some fantastic macro shots during the ice storm, the images can be seen in my Weather Gallery located in the Landscape Section of my web site. I fired up the Nikon D300 with one of my favorite lenses the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro and headed out into the frozen world around me. I didn't have to go far to get the shots I wanted (how's the front yard sound) and since it was so cold I didn't want to travel any farther LOL.
I spent a lot of time snow blowing my drive & walk way because mother natures is hammering the East Coast this year with the white stuff but I guess we were due for a heavy winter since the last few have been kind of mild. For me winter is hit or miss for landscape shooting because I prefer warmer weather with more color in the mountains so I can go hiking & free my mind while I do what I do best, shooting 1000's of frames a week. But I can't say winter is all bad because I do develop new techniques in the digital dark room with all my free time and have fun in the Still Life Studio, so all is not lost. I'm still counting the days till spring though, for me it can't come fast enough!
I've got my entry in for the '2008 Photograph of the Year' contest over at photographycorner.com for the 3rd year in a row and hopefully I can place in the top 10 to win some really cool prizes and get my work out in the public eye across the globe again. It's a tough competition with lots of great artists entering so I have my work cut out for me but I have a great entry this year and that's this portrait of my youngest daughter that I shot on a whim one late afternoon in my living room and it has been the #1 rated image on my web site since the day I posted it rated by my visitors, fans and fellow artists. I just happened to come up out of my studio for a break and to look outside to see if we were going to have a photo op on the sunset and this awesome ray of light coming through the front window caught my eye. So I made my daughter get up off the couch for a couple quick shots with her staring out the window. It was shot in all natural light and the glare coming off her beautiful green/blue eyes was just awesome. The only thing I regret is being lazy and shooting it with my basic all around Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens instead of swapping it our for my 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 portrait lens or even the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di lens, all 3 would have been a much better choice in glass and given me a sharper image BUT I was very surprised at the clear, sharp & crisp shot I pulled off with the 18-200mm which is not known for it's portrait work. If I remember correctly I set it at 105mm which is a length where it shines so I guess I shouldn't cry about it. Maybe it was meant to be because it's become one of my All Time Favorite captures I've taken in 30+ years behind the lens. It's just a very special image for me and just happens to be of my lovely daughter who is also one of my favorite models because she's so beautiful & cooperative when asked to photograph her. OK so I'm a little biased being her dad but the stats don't lie on the web site and it's popularity among other photographers let me know that was my entry for this years contest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and now I'll just have to wait to see what happens when the voting starts tomorrow on 1/14/09.
If you want to vote for my image, please sign up at www.photographycorner.com and make at least 5 posts in the forums to be eligible to vote. I appreciate all the help I can get and it's a fantastic web site for photographers and has a ton of great resources to learn if your studying photography!
Well this entry has come to a close and I look forward to another great year here at Bill Pador Photography Studio - Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and don't forget to leave your email address (*on the right) so you can receive notification via email when I make another blog entry. If I don't make an entry you don't get an email, I don't send any SPAM or Junk mail and I DO NOT sell or give your email information to anyone, just a quick notification that a new entries been posted and that's it, Period !
Have a Great Week & I'll be talking to you soon,
Best Regards,
~Bill Pador~
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