Office Buisness Photos

 I was out in the land of finance capturing these women at their best. I still feel the capture is my favorite part because I love the creating and act of portraiture.

Summertime in South Florida

I don't know about you, but I am ready for summertime. Yes, South Florida becomes a hot and humid environment, and the sand is so hot you can burn the bottom of your feet. BUT, the ocean comes alive beckoning me to cool off. The tourists and snowbirds have all returned home. The locals roam. It is almost as if the seasonal change brings an entirely new part of the tropical life. My summer field work can be buggy; although, I value my alone time with little interruption. Maybe I just enjoy the slower pace heat brings. There is something to be said for being still or at least moving slower. I think we become more present when we are not stretched in a zillion directions. Of course, mindfulness is my consistent antidote.

As I am looking forward to the swimming weather, my Oceanana portfolio is really coming together. Since I am such a stickler for presentation, I am creating 15 BW's and 15 Color prints that will be for sale individually and as a portfolio encased in a bound linen book(10 editions) . This has been a great portfolio to work on since I wrote a new course curriculum for those advanced tween and teen artists wanting to create a body of work, use as an application portfolio for the local Art Schools/programs, and for those wanting exposure into the process. I do offer this for adults as well.

HERE'S TO SUMMER:

May is here....

I am amazed by how fast the Spring went by. The summer humidity and heat are encroaching.
I always get a little melancholy around this time of year before mother's day, my sister's birthday, and summertime. My Pompano Beach exhibit is this Friday night from 6-9 at Grieght Spaces. Pompano throws a huge street party closing off the East Atlantic Blvd for walking and mingling. I heard they also have fabulous music. I'll be sure to post some photos from the evening.

We are prepping for summer with some late Spring cleaning. For all you photography collectors, I am cleaning out my drawers with some amazing prices. I have a lot planned of field work planned over the summer and need to make space for new work. Oceanana, my Ocean Landscape work, will continue to be exhibited locally. I am currently working on a book to accompany the printed work.

More to come of course so stand by for exhibit announcements and news!

Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean 

Talk Postponed: Join Me for a Talk on Family and Kids Portraits!

FYI: My Portrait talk is postponed due to scheduling conflicts. Please note I am available for short lectures on Family and Children Portraits as well as Portfolio Courses for students preparing for a review, school/Prof Association application, etc..

I am also preparing to teach a Woman's Workshop, Contemplative Photography for Kids, Project Design, and a few more still in the works. You can always host a course in your home or community room...




Hello to all! Spring is in the air, which means South Florida is getting us ready for the summer.

I have a few things happening in May to welcome summertime time!

Tuesday May 3rd at 11:30am at PB Tots at Downtown at the Gardens in PGA: www.PalmBeachTots.com
Topic: "I've got everyone together, what do I do now?" How to get those great portraits of friends, family and the  kids
I will give a short techinical advice and humorous tips on keeping everyone in check long enough to capture a wonderful moment. Bring your questions and let your frustration melt away!
Call Jaana at 561-366-7449

May Exhibit in Pompano Beach!

Check out Grieght Spaces (Like them on Facebook): Phone 954-788-9044 Website http://www.GreightSpaces.com
Location	2611 East Atlantic Boulevard, Pompano Beach, Florida 33062 Friday, May 6 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Greight Spaces Interior Design presents our 7th ‘Art on the Boulevard’ in correlation with East Village Uncorked Neighborhood Street Art Show. Our indoor venue will exhibit local artists and display works to be sold commission free. 
Live Piano music by the talented Christopher Siren owner of Siren Music School. We are grateful to have this studied & talented pianist partake in our event! 
Featured Visual Artists in May’s exhibit : Anne Marie Brown, April Beauregard, Carrie Bennett, Cesar Barroso, Daniel Lee, Glen Mayo, Jeremiah Jenner, Jessie Trinchard, Kathy Hunt, Katya Ostheimer, Reuven Ohr, Sarah Brown, Stacie Jordan-Warner and more.
We invite local art enthusiasts, community and businesses to come and enjoy an enchanting evening full of art, live music & light refreshments. Our mission is to assist local artists in exposing their work. This is a free event -- no door fee -- a non-commission venue for artists on display.
We look forward to seeing you at the Greight Spaces open gallery reception Friday, May 06, 2011 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
East Village Uncorked Neighborhood Street Art Show will take place Friday nights only, between the Intracoastal Waterway to Harbor Drive the First Friday of every month






I am pleased to be part of this upcoming show. Check out Grieght Spaces in Pompano Beach! 4 Photographs from Wilds of My Home will travel to the exhibit!

New Ocean Landscapes

I have been enjoying the work this past month. I needed a little Contemplative work after all the work putting Wilds of My Home together-which is going south for an exhibit venue. More to come. 

As you might remember, in my last posting I did break down my workflow since I do get a lot of inquire to my flow. If you missed it, be sure to check it out. 

And I have to mention that I will giving a short lecture on family portrait/children photography:

Tuesday May 2nd at 11:30am at PB Tots at Downtown at the Gardens in PGA: www.PalmBeachTots.com

Topic: "I've got everyone together, what do I do now?" How to get those great portraits of friends, family and the  kids

I will give a short techinical advice and humorous tips on keeping everyone in check long enough to capture a wonderful moment. Bring your questions and let your frustration melt away!

Call Jaana at 561-366-7449 to Register. 

Early Morning Fish

Early Morning Wave

Atlantic Fishermen

Sailboat on the Atlantic

Had to include this one color just to show how the light was that morning.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean 

Ahhh Editing and Workflow

Seedpod Heartfelt Opening

What the heck do I do with all the images I have and how the heck do I go through them? Editing is crucial to creating a cohesive body of work. I include the amateur to the pro-no one is exempt. I load my images in Lightroom. For my personal and portrait work, this is the easiest route for me. I organize by date, which somehow my brain remembers when I was where photographing what. I suggest you ask yourself how to best organize for your brain. In Lightroom, you have an option to create catalogues or mini portfolios. I tend to create a new one or go right to an ongoing one, simply dragging and dropping the images. I premise this all by saying I have already set up a template for my metadata and keyword upon downloading. This makes my editing time significantly faster. I evaluate my images first by quickly going through the images-ranking as I go. Once at the end of the roll, I filter to only see those images I ranked. Again, I go through evaluating  each technical aspect of an image from composition to visual meaning to useage. Once I get down to the keepers, I process through Lightroom's Develop module. I set the correct White Balance (WB) using the dropper. Although I do have a series of steps, I experiment with all the options provided in the development tool until I feel I have reached a printing point. Often I will go into Photoshop (CS3 for BW and CS5 for color) to create layers using a combo of curve adjustments, gradient tool, and the history brush. My goal is to create visual depth with light and shadow and reveal or dim texture. I am for the preservation of my pixels and have non-destructive development techniques. This is very significant for me as I am a photographer, not a digital artist. Once I cross over into destructive techniques, I create a (beautiful or not) piece of digital art. I have some friends who are amazing digital artists. For me, I find my place is in photography-both within the capturing of a scene and through the process of printing.

Just a side note: I use CS3 for printing all my black and white images because I use a Quad tone Profile that has had some issues with compatibility in CS5. Otherwise, I use Lightroom to print my color work even if I do make adjustments in Photoshop. Believe it or not that is my work flow process. Some images take hours while others perhaps just one hour of processing. I will also add that as I begin to put a cohesive body of work together I print on a variety of papers to find the 'right' one. I do use luster or enhanced matte paper for proofing.

Next article: Preparing to make a photographic print....some old school rules applied to the digital work flow