David Akoubian Judges RPS Critique

We had a great judge last night, Jan 25, 2010, at the Roswell Photographic Society's (RPS) monthly critique. David Akoubian was very succinct with his comments and funny. He is a nature photographer and holds many workshops. Visit his website at http://www.bearwoodsphotography.com/.

I learned a lot during the evaluations. David said, "Photography is painting with light." His strongest recommendation was to buy a polarizing filter. He suggested adding a filter to most of the water and sky shots. His pet peeve was not to leave some space between the edge of the photo and the subject, many subjects were cut off. There were many sunsets to judge last night, and he said that the sky should be the richest element in the image. To meter for it, he suggested metering for the brightest spot and opening up one stop.

David said our goal was to pull the viewer in visually and emotionally. He suggested verbalizing what we are doing before taking the photograph. David said, "I edit before I release the shutter."  Because the eye goes to the brightest thing first in the photo, this needs to be the subject or be toned down.

From the RPS photo review and David's comments, it seems like it would be smart to take one of his workshops.

Five Quarts of Delicious

Created this last night and it was so good thought I would share.

Five Quarts of Delicious
Recipe by Hazel Berger

1 lb+ ground sirloin
parmesan cheese, shredded
fresh spinach leaves
angel hair pasta
Prego Heart Smart Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic 26 oz jar
2 C Mozzarela cheese
1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°. Brown the ground beef in a 5 quart oven safe dish. Rinse and drain the meat and return to the pan. Cook the angel hair pasta as directed. Drain and add a little country crock to keep noodles from sticking together.

Cover the meat with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese in the 5 quart pan. Add a layer or two of spinach leaves. Layer the noodles on top of the spinach. Add half of the jar of sauce carefully covering (but not rearranging) the dish. Add water to the jar and mix with remaining sauce. Cover the rest of the dish with the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarela cheese and then top with parmesan.

Bake at 400° for 25 minutes. Check to see that the cheese does not burn. Cover with tin foil if it gets too dark. Cool 5 minutes.

Serves 4-6

Robert Weingarten Exhibits to Open

How exciting that Robert Weingarten has two photography exhibits in Atlanta, at the same time, opening next week. If you are in Atlanta, don't miss these photos.

Lumiere hosts The Road Less Traveled Jan. 23 - Mar. 20, 2010
The High Museum of Art exhibits The Portrait Unbound Jan. 23 - May 30, 2010

Weingarten's landscapes are amazing and full of color. The American was born in NYC in 1941. The photographer's website is http://www.weingartenphotography.com/. Lumiere Gallery sells his work in Atlanta.

After I view these exbibits I will update this blog entry. Can't wait!

Peaceful Easy Feeling

There are days when peace is elusive. So, I created this Etsy Treasury to the right this past week. It will expire this morning. You can find the link in my shop. Like everyone, I do stress about things sometimes and in the last few years I have learned that singing (of all things) and knitting are two easy things I can do to relieve stress and help me find peace.

I love country music and play it full blast and intentionally sing (even though I am not in the mood) when I am mad or sad. This helps a lot because I have to totally focus on the song.

Knitting is repetitive, so that the flow of the project and focusing on the steps help me relax. For years, I felt I needed to go to a gym to relax more, but working out is not for me. BUT, I didn’t need to.

In the end, the best relaxation, stress reducer has been the dog. She is still a puppy. This is her most recent photograph. I adopted her about 5 months ago and what a pick she was. (Although, she picked me by showing up at my mother’s farm.) There are days I can’t believe I found such a good, smart dog. Tennessee is helping reduce stress by getting me to walk at least once a day. She actually pulls on my jeans at the hem (kind of a tug of war) to get me outside on a walk. And, my sweet dog is always there with a friendly hello and lick whenever I need a break. You can adopt a dog in Atlanta at Petco. Their next adoption is Sat., Jan. 16th.

The Treasury above (a collection of 12 items for sale on Etsy that I fit together through color and theme) is titled “Peaceful Easy Feeling” after the Eagles’ song. You can find these items on http://www.etsy.com/ by searching for the name under the photo.

Georgia Aquarium Creates Photo Op

Thanks to StarCreations for the push to take my camera to the Georgia Aquarium. It was fun!

This is one of my favorites "Through the Looking Glass" to the right.

This fish below had the most personality...

And, then there were these... definitely took the most photos of these guys. This is titled "Mystery Fish." I love how they moved back and forth like they were on stage in the rockettes line up. They also created very nice diagonal lines for me. but this shot is cool because of the overhead light.

New Year's Day Hike

On New Year's Day, we traveled just west of Calhoun, Georgia to visit Keown Falls on John's Mountain. The hike consists of two loops: a moderate 1.8 mile loop to the falls and a more difficult 3.5 mile loop hike up to the view the valley (mileage according to Highroad Guide to the Georgia Mountains.) This area is in this book on pages 38-39. The hike to the top was harder, and there were many times I thought my heart was going to race right into an attack, but I survived and even declared "That was FUN!"

I have not hiked much, so this is a great blog to bookmark as I begin hiking. My preference is to bike, but it is too cold to bike in the winter. I cannot wait to return to Kennesaw and John's Mountain in the Spring looking for flowers!

But the best part, of course, was what I was able to do with my camera. I did wonder out loud if there were photographers who hired people to tag a long on hikes to carry the camera. I would like this...

(And, I was looking forward to a day of knitting in front of football. But... I did knit in the car back and forth.) This hiking spot is about one hour northwest of Atlanta. The guide books says that the waterfalls may be dry in the summer, but that wasn't what impressed me, obviously.