Tomorrow is going to be an adventure! I will be going to Pueblo Reservoir with my husband and the mountain bike class he is teaching! From pictures that I’ve seen…it looks just beautiful there! I haven’t been there since I was about 15! We would go there every summer to swim at Rock Canyon! Stay tuned for some serious outdoor adventure shots…mtn bike style!
Here are the final photos from my cute little daffodil. It was the only flower safe from the deer! The rest have been mowed down! 
Enjoy!
I recently entered one of my pictures into a small photo contest we had in our photography group and…I won! Crazy! The contest was “Red + Art” and I really didn’t know what to take a picture of until I noticed this tin cup in our backyard while I was raking leaves! I was up against some tough competition! Thanks to everyone who voted for me! 
Is this outdoor adventure photography workshop!!! Ohhh man….It gets me all warm and fuzzy inside just looking at the brochure! Check it out!
I took these photos while in Boulder the past weekend. They were at a The Hungry Toad and a friend’s condo.
What do you get when you put together beer+cool condo decor= these pics!
This past weekend I attended the Boulder Photography in Magazines Conference. It was awesome! I had no idea what to expect, but I loved it! There was so much information to learn, how to start and run a successful business, how to take travel photography, how to break into stock and more! The best thing was that we got to mingle with some of the top photo editors in the country! Most of them are in my backyard, Boulder! Some of the photo and magazine editors included:
Genny Wright, and Julia Vandenoever, Backpacker Magazine
Michelle Theall, Women’s Adventure Magaizine
Amber Terranova, Outside Magazine
We also met some freelance photographers, one of which, Andrea Booher, was one of two photographers allowed at ground zero after 9/11. See some of her compelling photos here. Here is Beth Wald’s website as well. It was such an honor to meet the photographers as well as the editors! I have committed myself this summer to some mini-assignments for Backpacker and Women’s Adventure. I hope to produce some seriously kick @$$ photos that will be considered for the magazines! When I showed them my portfolio, this photo was a pretty popular one amongst the editors…
That’s right! The studio above Michael Garman’s is for rent! Well…it’s already rented and now it’s available for photographers to come and shoot! There will probably be an opening around May 3rd. Stay tuned!
Don’t have a zoom lens but really want to try one before you buy one? Try it out here at lensrentals.com! This website comes highly recommended from a good friend!
My first rental is going to be a fish eye lens!
So…what do you do with an empty barn, a gung-ho photographer and free rent? Turn it into a photography studio that’s what!
I’m on a crazy mission to turn my parents huge empty barn into a photo studio. Some minor construction and cleaning would have to happen of course, but that would be half the fun!! Best of all…my dad said that I could have free rent until I make enough to pay the utilities and then rent each month. Sweet!! My mom has always wanted to name the farm “Dragonfly farms” so I guess I could let her name the studio…since it is her barn! Let me know what you think!! These were the only pictures I could find…I’ll look around for some more soon!
If you don’t already know about Vista Print, well it’s time you did! I just ordered my 250 FREE business cards (they’re not very exciting, but they’re cheap!) and all you have to pay for is the shipping. If you like them, you can design your own, add photos and even choose a glossy or matte finish. They also offer other items like stationary, magnets, pens and more, all customized. Check it out here!
I just realized I haven’t written anything about how I got started…well besides the whole “Think outside the lens” story, so here goes,
The first time I picked up a “real” camera was in high school. I was a senior and I remember my mom getting my dad a new camera for his Birthday. He never used it. It got dusty. One day I stumbled upon and asked my mom if I could use it. She said yes and away I went to college with my Sony film camera. Since it once film, I developed the pictures to a 3×5 size and took them to Wal-Mart to make them into a 8×10. I “blew up” over 50 photos in my time as gave them away as gifts to family. I would also glue them to cardstock and send cards to people. I still have my “portfolio” from Maine (where I went to college). Ahh…those were the days.
After I met my husband, he let me use his Pentax camera, still film but better results. I proceeded to print out hundreds of photos until I met the D50.
My Nikon D50 and I have been through some great times together! He has gone with me to Alaska, The Grand Canyon, even Costa Rica. I am just now tackling manual mode and getting better day by day. I hope to soon upgrade, I still don’t know if it will be a body or just lenses. Right now, the only equipment I have is the D50, 18-55mm and 70-300mm lens. Let’s just say I travel light!
What am I up now a days? Well, I’m slowly trying to transition my hobby into a part-time profession along with my first love, teaching. I also hope to start a club/foundation/group titled AFPP which stands for Aspiering Female Professional Photographers. Sorry boys, girl’s club only! Why? Well, I can’t tell you how many women of all ages I’ve met recently who ask me about what I’m doing, what kind of camera do I have, what does the picture look like…so I figured if we had our own club, especially for younger girls, I could help answer their questions. I know I would have LOVED to find something like that! An after school program with mentors who understand that I want to capture the world around me with a photo, but don’t know how to. Now I would not be the “professional” in this case…I’d be a member myself!! Hopefully other professional female photographers would jump on board and want to help.
Besides photography, I’m a married mother of one who lives in the mountains just west of Colorado Springs and I teach a a local elementary school.
Here are a few pictures from a recent session I went to where I had the honor of playing with lights from Alien Bee’s, models and professional photographers! One word: AWESOME!
Since I am new at OCL, I’ll try to remember what we used:
-soft boxes
-octaboxes
-reflectors
-”beauty dish” and diffusion sock
-ring flash
(Those of you that were there…if you’d like to add anything please do!)
and that is just the beginning there was tons of fun stuff to play with but these are the only things I can remember! Check them out at this website!
The only info I really know about taking these shots is:
Shooting manual, ISO-200, F/8-11, 250 shutter speed
Well, I don’t think it’s new…but it is new to me and maybe to some of you as well! It’s call Digital Photography School. I was looking at the blog for about 15 minutes and already I have 3 pages of notes! That’s how much I learned. A few of the topics included “Tummy Time, 7 tips for maternity photos”, “Wildlife photography, consider your subject first”, and “Is that fancy lens (or camera) really worth it?” They also have a great section on photography tips for beginners! Hallelujah! Just what I need! Go check it out, and…if you join the forums (and participate in them), you have the chance of winning a Nikon D60! Sweet!
Right after someone clicks the shutter…how many times have you thought or said “Gee, I like the way that camera sounds” ? I suppose only photographers can appreciate the quality sound a Nikon D3 or Canon 30D makes!
Wow! I could have really used this tip for the wedding I just shot! I can’t tell you how many times I asked myself…”Now, what did I shoot in this lighting?!?”
Check it out…strobist.com
That’s right! I’ve successfully completed my first wedding shoot! Now, don’t get me wrong…I’ve shot pleanty of weddings before, just not as the “professional”. This time was different! The heat was on!! I had a great time, took over 600 pictures and even got to see my childhood friend get married (the bride)! It was quite a different experience to be the main photographer…I did have two others there helping me and they did an outstanding job! BTW…NEVER shoot a wedding by yourself! Just like you need backup batteries, you need a backup photographer! Thanks M and E!!
I am still sorting through the 600 photos so once I get them all finished (and the model release signed) I’ll post a slide show.
I get butterflies when I think about all of the pictures…I have to say that these are my favorite thus far!!
I found this website that explains f/stops pretty good! Please comment if you have any as well, I’d like to add them to my site! Thanks
"Randi, you have to think outside the lens!"
That's what one of my friends told me when I asked them about a picture of mine. I was used to just taking "snap-shots" and not focusing on the story I wanted to tell. That advice made me stop and think about what I wanted to capture as a photographer. And now, here I am, trying to improve my skills day by day.
Hopefully my blog will help others out there like me who are on their photographic journey! Thanks for looking and I hope you are inspired to take the best photos you can!
Peace, Love and Pictures!
Randi
