Travels & Getting Ready for the 2014 Event & Photo Workshop Season

 I've got my 2014 Events Calendar updated (you can find it in the right hand column of this blog)  Also, I have updated my 2014 Photography Workshops listings which you can find under the Photo Workshops tab at the top of this page. 

 

 I had a quiet Winter.  I planned it that way. I needed to sit back and think a bit. aka reinventing my mojo.    In February we took my Airstream down to Death Valley during the dark of the moon phase so that we could see as many stars as possible.  I met up with my pal in crime Sharon Fibelkorn Chapman.  (shown shooting Devil's Golf Course for some background material in photo below)

Death Valley is great in the winter not too hot, not too cold and so much to explore and just enjoy the low population density.  Big wide open skies turn into a starry night extravaganza.  We did some night photography so many stars!!! and some daytime desert photography to use as backgrounds for the conceptual images we have in our heads.  starry sky photo below was the first photo I took upon arriving at the campground.  15mm fish eye lens. As the huge starry sky tended to give me vertigo each time I looked up, the campground photo is accurate!

 At the end of the week we headed to Vegas, meeting up with our other pal in crime Kim Vickrey for a week of WPPI (Wedding Portrait Professionals International) You don't have to be a wedding photographer to attend, we attended many educational classes and received INSPIRATION of all kinds. So much fun!  The print competition and exhibit was amazing.  Another highlight is a huge product expo where we get lured into buying all kinds of things relating to our photography professions.  And of course, it was Vegas, so that added to the spice, although the MGM Grand is still as too big as ever.
Since I was staying on the Nellis Air Force base, I was often treated to some air show practice with the Thunderbirds.  I had a lot of fun photographing them. What a treat.  They are incredibly fast to follow with a camera and you cannot depend on the sound to tell you where they are.  By the time you hear them, they are gone.   

Recently I returned from Sacramento where I showed my Staffordshire Bull Terrier Hartley at the Stafford National Specialty weekend at the Cal Expo Center. He did great! and came home with a 5 pt major towards his AKC Grand Championship.   So in between photography assignments, I will be hitting a few more dog shows in an effort to finish his next level of conformation title.   But now its time to prepare for the 2014 dressage and farm call season as that is roaring up on us all.  Hello sunshine we've missed you! 

 

Just a reminder:  My 30% off Sale on event galleries is coming to a close in May.