Could this be the start of something special? I now have an official photo credit for the images I shot for JRDN Valentine’s Day Dessert. Marie Montana of San Diego Food Finds posted on her blog for January issue…. this.

I hope more opportunities come along to shoot. I think if I learn enough about lighting and using the light shades I could get a few side jobs. Gotta start somewhere right?

So have you ever wondered if your online comments ever are read or matter to the company you inquire about?

Today I received a reply to an email I wrote a while ago to Sambazon Acai http://www.sambazon.com. Their plastic bottles caused some concern to me since they are very thick. I drink the juice so quickly that it seemed such a waist. I was so concerned I wrote into their comments section on their website.

Here is my email and the Co-Founder actually replied. Wow. Talk about customer satisfaction!

Comments: I love your juice! It is great tasting and really helps me fuel thru the day. I buy it from Costco because of the bulk amount a low price. But I am sending a comment to you not about the quality of your product but about your packaging.

You have a few areas on the web site and on labels that state you are doing great things with sustainability… but what about the amount of plastic it takes to make your thicker bottles?

Cutting back on the thickness of your bottles can help in many areas  from shipping costs to feeling better about truly being sustainable 100%. I do wish we lived in a world that every single person  recycled but we don’t. We depend on our manufactures like Sambazon to be proactive and preventative.

It matters, not just in the rainforest’s, right?

Thank you for your time,
April in San Diego
How’d You Hear: grocery store

____ His reply ____

I recently went to a Kelby Training Live seminar with Joe McNally. One of the top photographers today. I enjoyed my seminar but didn’t sign up for the Kelby membership via NAPP. NAPP stands for National Association of Photoshop Professionals. This secondary group is also a creation of the Kelby group. I am not a member of NAPP but because each are owned by the same company you get discounts between the two.

I recently signed up for the Kelby Training online courses. I really believe in continuing our education and staying up to date with current technologies. If not, Graphic Designers could get passed by or not prove our worth.  Currently I am trying to learn and grasp web design. I didn’t take any web classes when I was in college since web wasn’t what it is today, then. I do wish I was more web savvy but the larger companies I have worked for in the past had always had a web team. Now being the only designer, I must step it up. They also have non design courses like camera basics and photography courses.

Price for one year subscription is $199. There are more price options. Also tax deductible.

Learn online with the Pros.

___

Check out Kelby Training today! http://www.kelbytraining.com

It has never been easier!

Mastering Adobe® Photoshop®, digital photography, and the entire Adobe Creative Suite has never been easier or more affordable (you get unlimited access to our all-new subscription-based online training catalog, featuring exclusive classes from the industry’s most talented and gifter teachers, for only $199 a year or $24.95 a month). You can only get these classes, from these amazing instructors, at just one place: KelbyTraining.com

Once you’re enrolled, visit the website each day to download the class materials you’ll be working with (typically an image used during the lesson. Then, watch the class session (each class lasts approximately five minutes) and follow along using the image provided or use one of your own.

You can catch up on missed lessons at your convenience. So, if you missed Tuesday’s class you simply make it up on Wednesday. If you miss both Tuesday and Wednesday classes, then on Thursday you can do all three. It’s just that easy.

It’s the perfect way to learn at your own pace, on your own time. Best of all, your tuition entitles up to a year of access to our online catalogue, so you can replay specific clips or even repeat the entire class if you like.

System Requirements

• Available for both Windows and Macintosh
• Flash Player plugin for viewing the videos (Free Download)
• Some courses may include additional content for Adobe® Acrobat reader (Free download from their website)
• Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari to gather course materials and track status
• Broadband Internet access

I have set up a tab for the photography I have been doing. I really enjoy night shooting because of the variances in colors you can get. It is amazing the results you come away with. Granted I couldn’t publish a photo without using a little Photoshop and retouching it. I only alter about 10 percent of each photo from exposure +/-, vibrancy and adding a bit of color in certain dull areas. I guess that is the graphic designer in me.

Check it out! I hope you enjoy!

____

Also a little shout out to our new little photo crew. Tran and Andrea.

Tran – She is an accountant who loves night shots. She is really into the science of taking photos and is very precise with what she takes. Must be her math background. I like to pick her brain about exposure times and buying new lenses. Most advanced of the three of us. I have known Tran since 2nd grade and she has always been a great friend thru the years.

Andrea –  aka Dre – Is a Restaurant and Hotel Manager who loves life. We used to work together until she moved to a new company. She is on top of her game but is also a free spirit who justs likes to click away and see what happens. She is learning about Photoshop and how it can help her photos. Andrea is a new friend who I can see a long lasting friendship beginning.

Thanks ladies!

Gotta have it!

I have noticed a few stores online now have type as a home accessory. Usually these items are a hard find. Crate&Barrel and Target have accessories similar to this House Industries letterform. I am so in love with this. Crate&Barrel/CB2 has wood words “THINK”.  Target carries A-Z bookends. Is the day to day person becoming letterform savvy?

Cast Aluminum Ampersand: $225
Can’t take the weight of a solid piece of iron typography? Think the ferrous version will tear out the bottom of your messenger bag or absorb so much magnetic energy that it’ll erase the hard disk on your laptop? Try this beautiful cast aluminum specimen! With more than a 60% weight savings, you can conserve fuel when transporting it home after charging it to your boss’s corporate American Express card. Each sculpture is individually sand cast, hand selected by a qualified House Industries staff member and assigned a unique number. Remember that each of these have eclectic nuances and will differ from the photograph. Made in the USA.  - Cast Aluminum Ampersand Sculpture – Size 8″ x 8.25″ x 2″ (20 cm x 22.5 cm x 5 cm) – Weight: 6.5 lbs (3 kg)

Without the great vendors I have working with me I wouldn’t be able to be as successful at my job as I am. They are amazing companies. Make sure you tell your vendors thank you this holiday season.

Here was my ecard to them.

As to you, Happy Holidays!

Everyone meet Joe. Joe likes to take photos.

Wow Really Joe McNally does Lighting seminars thru Kelby Training! I am so there. Or should I say I WAS so there! I signed up for this thinking a few of my photo friends would be down to go but it ended up being to much money for them or work was preventing them from attending. I went by myself and was totally cool with that. I sat next to a Enlisted Navy man. He did something in regards to Medical tech and was based out of SD. Very knowledgeable fellow. He busted out his crazy Nikon that had all of these accessories and a big-ol-flash! I so felt out of my element at that moment. But then suddenly Joe McNally took the stage. He has a great sense of humor and talks very well with a large audience. He spoke very easy and for different skill levels could understand. I realized every penny was worth this day of hearing him give his Lighting lesson.

One big stage full of lighting equipment and two large screens on either side. He had set up the day into hour long sessions. It really helped break up the day and for sitting so long. I learned everything I could about lighting and even took notes. In addition received a quick book of what Joe spoke about in each session. I would definitely go to another Kelby training again.

Location Lighting Techniques with Joe McNally

Lighting Techniques from one of the worlds top shooters

Here’s the opportunity of a lifetime to spend the day with a legendary photographer regarded as one of the world’s best shooters! Join Joe McNally, internationally acclaimed American photographer, long-time photojournalist, and author of the ground-breaking smash best-selling book (The Moment it Clicks) for the only photography lighting seminar tour of its kind.

Joe shares his lifetime of experience and his personal secrets to using off-camera flash and on-location lighting to easily and quickly create the look you see in professional publications. You’ll see the whole process unfold right there in the class, as Joe shows you how to set-up, position, and control simple lighting that has a huge effect on your photography.

You’ll learn the step-by-step process of going from bad to good light with just one flash, then working your way up to two or more flashes. You’ll see the dramatic difference taking your flash off the camera makes. Then you’ll learn the difference between the quality and quantity of light when using small flashes and studio lights. Joe will take you through a variety of lighting set ups with live demonstrations and you’ll see first-hand how improving your lighting techniques can take your photography to a new professional level. This is your chance to learn the secrets of one of the world’s most respected and admired photographers!

I am a new owner of a Nikon D5000 DSLR. It is a great camera. For the longest time I kept telling myself I wanted to get back into taking photos. Well now I have the camera so I have no more excuses, right! I have had the Nikon for a few months now but haven’t really dived to much into being creative. I have just been learning about the functions that make it different than any camera I have owned in the past. I used to be a big Olympus fan but this Nikon blows what I had out of the water. I recently went on a night shoot for a few hours. Here is what came of it.

San Diego Downtown Skyline from Coronado Beach

Here are some photos of the finished electrical box. I would LOVE to paint another box since it was so much fun. A lot of people complemented me or showed interest that day I painted. I primered a couple of days before. This day I painted two solid blocks of blue and yellow – then layered from then on. Took 7 hours.

The Sketchbook Project 2011

“It’s like a concert tour but with sketchbooks.”

I found out about this project thru a fellow designer – someone to me always seems to be looking for creativity outside of work. So I jumped on her  bandwagon of fun and signed up for The Sketchbook Project fro 2011. Maybe I will even schedule a little trip to San Fransisco to go view my book once the tour starts.

My theme is Inside/Outside. Not sure where that will take me.

http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view. Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can be a part of the project. To participate and have us send you a sketchbook that will go on tour,  choosing a theme to the right.