It began as a simple photograph

The box of plants and flowers I was sitting next to just begged to be photographed. Hues of purple and green blowing gently in the breeze, blended into a sea of blur in my mind’s eye. Instantly I knew, close up and personal would be the way to go.

You see, that’s how it usually starts for me – a simple idea.





Out came my macro lens and as I tested several angles I began to fit each graphic element together like a well-designed puzzle. Once the pieces were in place, the feeling crept up on me.

The image at hand was too red for the breezy purple and green hues I was initially attracted to ...

... so I lowered my white balance to bring out the cooler side of my image.

However, I still wasn’t completely satisfied. So, I bumped up my contrast and saturation a bit for more definition and a slightly bolder punch of color … and my message was born.

The journey is the fun part -- manipulating internal camera controls, fine-tuning feeling into a two-dimensional image, creating a world that only exists to me … leaving a path of pride, filled with every choice I made.

What began as a simple photograph turned into so much more. And it wasn’t so much about the mastery of the internal controls I tweaked to get the image … but about the insistence I had in creating the message I envisioned.

What began as a simple photograph turned into a labor of love.

2010: The Year of Writing

I have always wanted to write a book.

Last year, this desire began to twirl into reality as we completed three book projects on flash photography for our publisher, Amherst Media. This past year was filled with new deadlines, photo shoots, revisions, guidelines, contracts ... and, of course, some writing. But, with everything happening so quickly (like our two-book deadline in December) I didn't have the luxury of paying proper homage to what we were doing ... we were so busy doing that I didn't make note of what was being done.

I was writing a book.

We are now excitedly awaiting the release of our first book, Off-Camera Flash: Creative Techniques for Digital Photographers April 1st. Our next two books, Multiple Flash Photography and Just One Flash will be released later this year.

It's an exciting time for us. But, let's take a step back for a moment.

When I said that I have always wanted to write a book I should let you in on the little fact that I have also always envisioned this book to be a novel ... full-on mainstream, relationship-based romance novel to be exact. So, this photography book thing kind of threw me a bit in the realm of my 'dream' and how I've always viewed myself. And yet I have learned a lot.

I have learned that writing a book is different than writing for a newspaper; and writing about photography is different than writing about romance ... though not much. When writing about something that you feel passionate about, you can't help but let a little romance leak through.

It's funny where a path will lead you if you allow it to. Being flexible about dreams brings about so many more opportunities and introduces new goals you may not know exist. For example, I have always wanted to have four kids. Well, I had three (Holly, Ryan and Jacob), but when I remarried I gained two more (Tara and Alexis) and now I have five — bonus!

We are now looking at a new book deal, Off-Camera Flash for the Macro Artist and that is extremely exciting. Shooting in the close-up world speaks to the very heart of my photographic passions. Writing about it can't help but be a fulfilling experience.

And now I'm paying attention.

So to mark the occasion, I have declared 2010 to be the Year of Writing.