Inspiration Sunday and Quick Hit Monday: Music, Weddings, Brushes, Fonts, and Patterns!

Good Morning Everybody,

Even though we had a great time in Las Vegas it still felt good touching down in Northern KY at six o'clock Saturday evening. The sky was blue, the air was brisk, and the sun was setting low in the sky casting long shadows on the landscape below.  It was about the prettiest approach and landing into our river city I can remember making into the Greater Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky Airport. Like they say, "There's no place like home."

Sunday was again a beautiful day which made it perfect for relaxing and taking it easy as we caught our breath from the week-long Las Vegas trip. Before we get into our this Monday's quick hits though, I want to tell you about a very special experience that I had last evening. It has nothing to do with photography but everything to do with inspiration.

Inspiration Sunday - It's All About The Music!

We recently completed a project at our church where we installed video streaming of all the church services. I had to joke our pastor yesterday that was kind of fun to drink a couple coffee during his homily last Sunday while we were in Las Vegas. The deacon also came by in as I was preparing for Sunday's stream and also mentioned that he was enjoying his cup of coffee in Los Angeles. We both smiled and decided that we really liked the technical escalation, be it very basic at this time, of our Sunday services.

During yesterday morning's announcements it was mentioned that there was going to be a free concert a Mother of God Church that evening 7 PM. I'm thinking to myself, "Why not stream this concert "LIVE" as well?" I quickly called my contact at Churchcast.com.  Brian was a former vice president of Cincinnati Bell – our local phone service provider and head geek at his new venture.  Brian told me that it would be no problem at all to set up the stream. He sent me the link to the on-line form which I quickly filled out and scheduled the seven o'clock concert.

Now, you know me – I'm kind of a geek. I love the new technology and I also love being a guy that gets to fiddle with the technical stuff the most. A few minutes before 7:00 p.m. the scheduled streaming began and I could see the musicians gathering their instruments and the conductor ascending the podium.

The concert began with one of my favorite pieces of organ music - Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The pipe organ at Mother God Church is truly one historic musical instrument  with its sister instrument at Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati (see below).  Both instruments, built in the late 1860's, sound magnificent!

If you're into organ music, and I am, Bach's signature piece will raise goose bumps all over your body when you hear it. I sat there mesmerize for 45 min. watching the performances of these young adults, all of them high school kids, who were reaching to the stars for the best performances of their lives. I was so transfixed by their performances I told LaDawn that I was going to drive down the church to hear the performance in person.

10 minutes later I was entering the front door the church and my ears were awash with the inspirational sounds of the hundred piece orchestra and choir of the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. I simply could not believe what I was hearing. More impressive to me was the fact that all these kids were in their mid to late teens and were producing some of the most beautiful and inspirational music that my ears have ever heard!

I moved through the entire church taking as many photographs as I possibly could. LaDawn texted me – "Where are you, I hear the camera clicking." I happened to be near the Ambo (pulpit) microphone which was one of the "live" mics picking up the sounds of this beautiful concert. I smiled to myself and decided I probably needed to back away just a bit. I was also cautioned by the conductor to not be so close to the action. Once again I smiled and decided to take up a more discreet location as I my continued my photography.

Whether I'm photographing a wedding or concert I just fall into the "groove of the shoot" and enjoy every moment of the process. Part of that enjoyment, inspiration if you will, may have been the music itself which kept the packed house of over 600 people transfixed for over 90 minutes on this wonderful Sunday evening. I'm taking the liberty in today's post to share the concert's finale with you. The music Finale from St. Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst was amazing. Please sit back, crank up the volume on your speakers, and enjoy this fabulous musical presentation by these gifted young musicians.

 

DAZNOTE: Many of us find inspiration in many places – beautiful sunsets and sunrises, soft ocean breezes, beautiful vistas, and for me – soaring symphonic music.  Since this blog is just as much about inspiration as it is about photography, I really wanted to share with you last night's experience. I hope you find similar inspiration in your lives too as we begin this new week together. I know my Sunday night experience is certainly getting me off to the right start this week.

Time To Get Back To Work

Hey gang, time to get back to our regular Quick Hit Monday post. I've got lots of goodies for you this week so get ready to dig right in and enjoy every one of the links.

My favorites is from my friend Jerry Ghionis who posted on his blog his experiences at WPPI.  Although I didn't mention it last week mainly because I didn't know he had won, but Jerry also won the top wedding album award of the convention print competition! High-fives to Jerry for winning 8 out 10 years running! In this [link] Jerry shares with all of us all the pages of that outstanding award-winning wedding album. Give it a peek and let that add to your Monday morning inspiration.

In our Photoshop freebies section this week, I got more free goodies than you can possibly explore in one day. I think I would bookmark this post just so you can get back and explore all the goodies that are listed. That said let's get on with it.

All Wedding Photography All Day Long

1. My 2012 Wedding Album of the Year…8 out of 10! My first wedding with the Nikon D3S: A great “READ” – don’t miss it! [link]

2. Wedding Photography Advice: Seek Out Untapped Markets: A good “READ” and some nice images. [link]

3. Oh Happy Day! Wedding Inspiration: Shy on bridal photography but some great “scene setters” [link]

4.Wedding Photography: Five Tips For Second Shooters:  I disagree with the dress code suggestion but the other advice is solid. [link]

5.How to Pose for Wedding Pictures - Martha Stewart Weddings Planning & Tools: Now even Martha Stewart is getting into the wedding photo action. I suspect to help her readers look better in their photos when the wedding is not photographed by a Pro. Nevertheless, even the pros could pick up a tip or two here. [link]

6.The Best Engagement Portraits of 2011: Some are cool and some I’d take a pass on – what do you think! [link]

7. Outstanding Wedding Photos from New Junebug Member Photographers [link]

8. Weddingbee’s Inspiration Board, Brought to Life by The Lab Event!: More cool “scene setters”. [link]

9.  Mike’s Muse: Why Is Wedding Photography So Expensive?: The best “READ” of the day – every bride and “cheap charging” photographer should see this. [link]

Photoshop Freebies - Giant Helpings of Fonts, Brushes, and Textures - Dig In!

1.  67 Best Photoshop Brushes Collection – 1000s of Brushes: It’s the mother load of “Brush” downloads! [link]

2. 25 Most Popular Free Photoshop Brushes: and even more here. [link]

3. 29 Useful and Free Thin Fonts To Download: Good looking fonts. [link]

4. A Collection of 100+ Attractive Striped Patterns:  OK, what are some good uses for these patterns? [link]_________________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today. We've got another gorgeous day and I for one want to enjoy some of the brisk air and beautiful sunshine. As far as the rest of the week goes, look for brand-new Technique Tuesday tomorrow. I'm also prepping my newsletter to go out either Wednesday or Thursday so if you haven't signed up or have recently changed email addresses, you can still do that with the link in the right-hand column of the blog.

Also we still have several seats available for my Digital Master Class happening April 16-20,2012. And for the first time ever were offering our attendees a special promotion of $300 off the regular registration price for any friends or family you may wish to invite to come along with you.

This week I'm also putting finishing touches on my three programs that I’ll be presenting at Photoshop World Washington DC March 23 - 27.

And then come Friday, we jump on a plane to Raleigh - Durham where I will be presenting at the North Carolina Professional Photographers “Creativity – Make It Happen” Convention. We'll only be there about four days but it will still be fun to catch up with some old friends in that part of the country. I sure hope you get a chance to come on over and see their great lineup. Want more information? – Here is the link.

Have a great rest of the day and I'll see you tomorrow.

Adios, David