The Fading Days...

I was up really early this week to catch the fog, but before I could venture out to the misty meadow, something frightened these birds that were still roosting in the bush!

They scared the heck out of me!

I'll be out there tomorrow at the magic hour (right now around 7:05!) hope the climatic conditions cooperate. And what are your plans for this lovely autumn weekend in the fading rays of summer sun?

Whatever your agenda, have fun and take full advantage of this last day of glorious heat before the bad breath of winter wafts this way.

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Awesome!

Temperature-wise summer finally arrived this week!  But the trees didn't notice - the leaves are turning and falling just the same.  But what glorious scenery!

My parents were visiting from BC this week and I was their official "driver."  Becasuse of highway construction we had to travel through some very dodgy backroads to get to all the places they wanted to visit, but I stumbled across a gorgeous old abandoned farmhouse, not too far from where I live. A great surprise!  A quick snapshot with my iPhone locked the lat and long so I could find the place again easily when I have time to spend a few hours exploring. Geocoding photos is such a great tool - I am anxiously waiting for Nikon to embedd GPS units in its DSLRs. If Apple and other camera makers can do it Nikon can too!

For us outdoor photographers can you imagine being able to automatically geotag your images so you can easily find that rare plant, the old building again, or whatever!  No more having to carry your Garmin or other gizmo to attach to your camera - it will be completely self-contained and effortless.

Sigh...the dreams of a techno-geek!!!!

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Back to Business Bootcamp

It IS September and that means back to work, back to school and back to focusing (ha ha) on business.

By popular demand, I'll be conducting an intensive 1 day Introduction to Professional Photography designed for business people who want to learn how to shoot images to promote their businesses, especially for use on the web.

With Facebook, blogs and the general proliferation of ways to spread your message online you need to know how to best take advantage of that digital camera of yours to promote your business!  Please come - I'd love to see you!

Quick overview:

• Saturday October 3, 2009  9 am to 3 pm
• Tec Voc High School (Photography Studio - best studio in Winnipeg by far!), Winnipeg, MB
• Computers and software will be provided
• Comprehensive Manual for you to keep
• Lunch and refreshments provided
• You are also welcome to bring your laptop IF you have at least Photoshop CS2 installed.  Photoshop Elements doesn't count!!!
• Special Price 99.00 CAD

We are filling up fast - and to ensure a full learning experience registrations are limited.  Sign up today!
This is part 1 of a two part program...Part 2 is Photographing your Products for Maximum Sales Appeal, for your Website and e-commerce shopping cart.
You can't register for Part 2 unless you complete Part 1.  

It will be an engaging group (almost full already!), and I guarantee not only will you have fun with other like-minded business people, you will get results! You'll be taking better photos by suppertime!

Here's the link again:

http://www.nature-photography-central.com/photoclass2009registration.html

See ya on the 3rd!

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What's in store

The summer (such as it was) is on it's way out.  Geese are getting ready to head south - I still believe some left a month ago!  That melancholy, bitter-sweet state when we realize that the winter months are almost upon us, flirts shamelessly, then settles in comfortably as we bring out the woolies, boots and mits. Oh well, even though the weather this year was far from conducive to high quantity photography - I did manage to get a few good shots. A bit sad when you consdier that last summer I was out at least two days a week shooting all sorts of fun stuff!!

My one-day "Take better Photos by Suppertime" is coming up - the date will be confirmed this week.  It will be at the end of September or early in October. Email me if you are interested.

The PPOC Manitoba Convention is coming up mid October as well -if you want to see some brilliant work by prairie photographers you must come to the Image Show.  More details soon, come to the entire convention - great speakers and great fun!

Do check out my Digital Infrared Photoshop Tutorials Program - learn it all over the winter and be and infrared super star by spring, or sooner!  The IR Bootcamp will be announced soon too.

Allright! That's it for now,

Have a super week!!!

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Missing lessons

For everyone who bought the Infrared Vision program, and who's signed up for the Infrared Photoshop Tutorials, you may be missing Lesson #6.  There's bug in my webserver that I am working on today and I will resend Lesson 6 to everyone.

I have also had a few emails from some of you that other lessons didn't arrive either (grrr technology!), so I will get them up on the website as PDF links (on a private page of course!) so you can download them. I'll keep them on the site in case you need to refer to them in the future.

My appologies about these rogue lessons! I guess I will have to learn a bit more about web stuff .

If you're missing any lessons, please check back here before the end of the week for information.  Also check you emails for my update!

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It was just a short trip...

Lake Winnipeg.  The prairie sea.  So huge you can't see the other side.  You can drive north for 6 or 7 hours and never miss the view of its shore.

This lake plays such a monumental role in the lives of most everyone here including me.  In high school my girlfriends and I would spend summers at "the cottage" at Grand Beach, known as party central even today!  Almost infinite white sand like powder that was the grand beach, that rimmed the warm and strangely shallow-for-miles water.  It made it the perfect place to play and party.

Later in university, I'd spend sultry summer weekends with my boyfriend and his parents at their cottage at Gimli, on the other side of the monstrous lake.  Sigh...good times there too.

And as the years rolled by, almost every summer activity from sailing on that giant lake, like traversing the ocean, to weekend forays to photograph "seascapes", the lake was always an easy and obvious place to head for a change of scenery.  Just about every one I know has a cottage somewhere along  its southern shores.

So in these shrinking days of summer I was once again compelled to make the trek, and armed with all my gear, I drove off in anticipation of some great images that I had no doubt the lake would provide.

Now, I'd like to say that the damage occurred as I tumbled down a white limestone cliff seconds after I'd captured that brilliant and infinite sunset.  But that would be an extreme exaggeration, if not a bald-faced lie.

READ MORE...

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