Hey everyone! I just got back from Arizona where I had a mini-vacation and a wedding to attend. (That’s right…to attend. ahhhhh….relax.) But of course, it wouldn’t be a vacation for me unless I had a camera, so…low and behold I got a chance to shoot some amazing sites in Sedona, Jerome, and Tempe.

The highlight of the trip was attending the wedding of my good friend from high school, Jamie. If you remember Jamie and James from my blog posts in December, that’s the couple that just got married. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It took place at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel across from the ASU campus. The courtyard was set up to hold 60-70 people. It was a really initmate, personal ceremony with all of their close friends and family. The ceremony started around 6PM in front of a beautiful fountain that was just barely kissed with sunlight. The hors d’oeuvres were fantastic, and the reception was really fun. I put together a quick video of some of my favorite shots from the day. I hope you guys like it!

Congratulations Jamie and James!

Here are some of my favorite pics:

Hi All,

I’ve been crazy busy getting back into the swing of things after PSW, and there have been some big changes up here in Michigan.  Things are starting to get very busy with wedding season coming up, but I wanted to take a minute and reflect upon a particular image that I created in Boston.  On the last day we were in town, Steve and I made the trek accross the Charles river over to MIT.  While on that side of the river, we set up camp and waited for sundown, and for the opportunity to capture some great panoramas and HDR shots.  This morning, I had some time to sit and wait for my computer to stitch together these pretty large panoramas, and here is one of the final results.

Note: Its important to clean your sensor when doing these…dust spots will show up in every section of your pano.  In this case, I had the same darn dust spot show up about seven or eight times.  Easy fix, but really annoying and avoidable.

(Click on the image for a larger version)

Hi everyone!

I was going through some of my notes from the conference and decided to start processing some of my HDR images. After following some of Ben Willmore’s steps, I came up with this shot of downtown Boston. This is a 5-exposure HDR. This first exposure is at 15 seconds, f8. The remaining 4 exposures are at -2, -1, 1, 2 EV. I thought it turned out great, and I wanted to illustrate how HDR can make skyline photography look amazing. Enjoy!

-Steve

At the closing of Photoshop World 2009, attendees are encouraged to fill out a conference evaluation to help NAPP figure out how to make the Photoshop World Experience even better. This last video from Boston is our review of the conference, and some things that we thought could help make next year’s conference even more spectacular. We had a great time in Boston, and I think I speak for both Chris and I when I say that we are always grateful for the opportunity to spend time and rub shoulders with the people in industry that we admire. Continued education is one of the most critical aspects of a growing business. Bringing in new ideas, techniques, and best practices is paramount to developing a company’s identity as well as its specialty.

Photoshop World is well worth the money for anyone wishing to learn from the those who do it best. NAPP is a creative home for Photographers, Graphic Designers, Professional Retouchers, Digital Artists, Print and Prepress Professionals, and of course, Creative Educators.

Our best advice for anyone looking to strike out on their own in some sort of creative endeavor is to find a conference or organization that will allow you to network and learn new insights in your field.

Check out the National Association of Photoshop Professional’s website for more information on Photoshop World, or to become a member. We promise, it’s worth it!

Thanks to everyone who checked the blog this past week, and we look forward to showing you lots of great images from Kaufman Kramer’s upcoming photography season!

-Steve K.

In this PSW 2009 post:

And Then There was Light with Moose Peterson

In this PSW 2009 post:

Empowering Your Creative Discoveries 3 with Eddie Tapp
Creative Thinking in a Commercial Setting with Joe Glyda
Lighting on a Laptop with Vincent Versace

In this PSW 2009 post:

Tips for the Working Photographer with Joe McNally
InDesign CS4: Beyond the Basics with Terry White
Light, Color, and Gesture with Jay Maisel