2008 November

Deborah’s Excellent Adventures In Commercial Photography

Adventures in Commercial Photography

That is me up in the ‘cherry picker’ basket of a state of the art, quarter million dollar service truck! Oh. My. Gawd. I thought I had died and gotten a lift right up to heaven!!! I swear to Good Golly Miss Molly, I had SO MUCH FUN I would’a almost PAID the company that hired me to do it! Okay, just how many is TOO many exclamation points?

So, here I am, preparing for lift off with the driver/operator, a really nice guy by the name of Eddie. We’re right smack in the middle of downtown Atlanta on Peachtree Street. This is after Eddie so sweetly and precisely maneuvered that basket right down to the sidewalk, so I could practically walk right in.

Here we begin our ascent.

Going….

Going…..

Gone.

Here I am photographing the ground crew, who was photographing me : )

This is a view from the top looking north on Peachtree.

A slightly different, vaguely queasy making view.

Another shot from the ground crew, showing the scintillating action!

No matter how high I go in life, I still love the little people……down there on the sidewalk.

And here I am , all safe and sound, but completely JAZZED about the whole experience. Most of the people who know me realize I’m really just an overgrown 10 year boy in a 50 year old woman’s body. The 10 year old HAD A BLAST AND WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN!!!

Oh…..before I forget. So, what exactly was it I was photographing?

This:

Now don’t tell me life ain’t grand.

Elevate Your Portraits to Art with Photoshop Actions

This post is for those of you who would like to elevate your portraits out of the mundane and into the sublime. You would like to make art, but are possibly either a tad intimidated by Photoshop or simply don’t have a million hours to devote to learning it.

In my opinion, Adobe Photoshop is quite possibly the most phenomenal software ever created. Yet even I will admit the learning curve can be so steep you actually have to lean back to take it all in. I am quite proficient at Photoshop, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound. However, I figure if someone else has already invented the wheel, why not just buy it from them? I mean, working with all that rubber is hot and sticky. What do wheels and rubber have to do with photography and Photoshop, you wonder? Not a darned thing, unless you substitute the word ‘actions’ for wheel. Now you begin to see what I’m talking about, no? No.

Totally Rad Photoshop Actions

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Or How To Photograph People With A Wide-Angle Lens

I love shooting with wide-angle lenses. Why? Because they’re fun, funky and slightly out of kilter. Sort of like some of my favorite people! But seriously, the word on the street used to be NO WIDE ANGLE LENSES FOR PEOPLE SHOOTING.