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

Two For The Road

I didn't want theses two links to go to waste so here they are. Ever want to turn your own handwriting into a font for use from your own computer. Well, now you can over at Fontifier.com for only $9.00. This could be an unusual way to personalize promotion materials / brochures and the like for your business. The site looked pretty simple to use. There's only one problem for me - I can't even read my own handwriting, so it probably wouldn't work for me ;~)

And lastly, if you missed it, check out these great actions - some really cool ones at no charge over at PanosFX.com. This site caught my attention from Scott Kelby's site last week and it is definitely quite a find. The OoB action is free and creates about the best out-of-bounds effect I've seen. Here is the video tutorial right here. There is more where that came from so check them out. The "For purchase" actions are really impressive too. Check out this [link ] to see what I mean.

Hey everybody, that's it for me today. We have a huge week coming up including several events with a four day event starting on Thursday and going through Sunday. Not to mention all the day-to-day / regular stuff that goes on around here, so we are going to be hoppin'. Check in tomorrow for Technique Tuesday. My plan is to keep it short and sweet. Ha, ha, they never are, are they? So it goes for best laid plans - but I'm going to try. Anyway, see everyone tomorrow, -David

More Cool Photoshop Goodies For All The Goodies Collectors - Brushes, Patterns, and More Fonts

I know too much of a good thing may not be a good thing, but I'm posting them all anyway. I ran across these links awhile back and never got them posted so this is our lucky day. Check out the waaay cool tutorials over at PSFreak.com. Their designs are simply out of this world - well worth the look. Here is the link right here.

Wait, there's more - check out more than 14 pages of very useful and free brushes over at Brusheezy.com. Just looking at all of them will keep you busy for days. Here is the Brusheezy link right here. While you are there, hit the Patterns tab at the top of page and you get 2 full pages of patterns available. Here is the short cut to that link right here.

Wait, I've still got one more exciting link to explore. Back in May, I posted a link to over 7800 Fonts - here is that link again. I know you're thinking I may still need more - no problem. Check out this link to FontsForPeas right here. OK, now here is the best part. As of today, Kevin and Amanda - they run the sight - will be happy to turn your own handwriting into a font too - pretty cool. Follow their instructions to the letter and you can get your own personalized font!

By the way, there is still time to sign up for my Webinar tomorrow evening - Wednesday - 8:00 p.m. CST over at Marathon Press. Here is the info and link right here.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. Head on back tomorrow - more good stuff. Adios, -David

All Font Junkies Unite

7871 fonts right here at DaFont.com. I just downloaded about a dozen and they look pretty slick. DaFont has then in about any shape, size, and style that you could imagine. The layout is clean and intuitive. But you want to know the best part - THEY ARE FREE!!! OK, that said, they are free for personal use, some font require a small licensing fee if you plan to use them in your business. This is a great resource, guys and girls, so check it out.

But wait, there's more - head on over to Smashing Magazine for 40 professional fonts for professional design right here and you will find 28 more font links right here. I'm not finished yet, here is a link to 63 must have Grunge fonts right here. The last link also has a bonus - Grunge Photoshop brushes, too. The font support group meets next Monday... I admit I am powerless over fonts and that my fonts have become unmanageable...

Wait, There's More - Free Stuff!

Will the gifts ever stop coming?? I was going to post this before the holidays but ran out of space - so here it is today - over 130 TV and movie fonts over at ABlogYouCanUse.com. I can remember being a "font junkie" back in the day of my early computing experience. I had so many, but most were kind of useless. This set is pretty cool. Take a peek they are all free, all the time. And wait, there is still more - now that you have a few dozen new fonts, check out "15 Tips On How To Choose the Right Font" right here. What a great way to start a new year - playing with a bunch of new "font toys".

Hey, gang, that's about it for today - I'm heading back to my own set of Santa goodies and checking out another DVD on my new Blu-Ray player. See everybody tomorrow. --David