Abu Dhabi and me...

It's strange to see where some of my photos pop up.  One of my clients syndicates my news images all around the world.  Often, I can see where they are being used by doing a quick Google search.  Besides showing up in publications like the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and USA Today, I just found my images in a few more cool places.  

One publication called The National just ran one of my semi-conductor images that I took at Texas Instruments this year.  The publication is located in Abu Dhabi of all places.  It's odd to think that people in Abu Dhabi are looking at my pictures...  Very cool.  

NIght light and sky...

I'm not sure what exactly caught my eye, but I had to snap it:

Beat it...

Here's a fun video I did on an international marching band competition:

lakehighlands-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/12278

The drum lines were simply amazing! The beats were spot on, like a metronome. The brass sounded smooth, yet powerful. And there was a lot of excitement in the air. It was a fun assignment to document.

For wedding pics...

In case you didn't know, you can keep an eye on my wedding activity here:  

www.janikphoto.com/blog2   

That blog corresponds with my wedding and portrait website at www.jasonjanik.com and is filled with weddings that I've photographed.

Finally, a shortcut I can love!!!

I just noticed that Photoshop CS4 FINALLY has a shortcut for Canvas Size and Image Size adjustments. Why did it take them so long to add this?!? I've been using Photoshop since 1996 or so, and they just now add this?!? It may be late to the party, but it's still a welcome sight! Thank you Adobe...

Gel your flash...

I used to gel my strobes and flash head to get perfect color balance. I slowly stopped doing it, just because you could color correct in Photoshop with a little effort. For the flash head, you could just pick up one of those Lee Filters gel sample packs and pull out the ones you needed most. You know, I probably still have a couple of those sample packs stored in one of my old bags/cases, if I dig around and look for one.

Anyway, I think I'm going to start gelling my on camera flash again. I think I'll get a better picture in-camera, instead of messing around in Photoshop. Why bother spending a few minutes trying to select and balance different parts of an image on the computer, when I can spend about three seconds taping a gel to my flash and calling it a day?!?

I found a good blog that describes the process better than I could, so I'll just send you all here for more info:

lightingmods.blogspot.com/2007/11/flash-gels-for-correcting-color.html

Photopol.us

Sometimes I forget to check in on the photopol.us website, which is a great photo-related blog with a heavy Dallas focus. Every Friday, they spotlight another area "art star", so to speak. It's an interview with a local photog - usually a seasoned pro - who can provide a bit of inspiration to the readers.

They also have some great images, guest bloggers, and tips of hot/cool gallery shows. Pretty much anything you might want to know, relating to North Texas photography! Try to do better than me, and check it out every day. I usually remember to check it once a week, and then I wind up going through an entire week's worth of posts in one sitting. Either way, make sure you don't miss a thing...