Sunset/Sunrise on Assateague Island

A recent visit to the Eastern Shore captured some beautiful shots of some very cooperative birds. My original plan was to take photos at sunrise on Assateague Island. The evening before was so nice I decided to scout the location--and ended up staying for sunset. My favorite shots were of the lighthouse and the crane. Arriving at 4:30am I enjoyed a fantastic sunrise and captured these two seagulls in my view.

--Craig

Aerospace Hardware -- A View with Lightroom 3

The new version of Lightroom just came out and I was quick to upgrade. In addition to a number of great technical improvements were some neat new presets and the new film grain function. Applying these effects to some space flight hardware for the International Space Station yielded some artistic images!

                                                            --Craig

Senior Portrait Time!

Lauren's first senior portrait outdoor session captured some nice images. We ventured into the woods where a beaver dam had once flooded the area and killed many large trees creating some surreal backgrounds.

--Craig

After the Blizzard....

After the Blizzard of 2010 dumped 26+ inches of snow in the Washington D.C. area a number of families went to the local elementary school to tackle the hill on their sleds. As the sun set I shot this image of one of the dads silhouetted against a beautiful sunset while watching his kids.

--Craig

Snowy Branches on the Belward Farm Oak

Another snow storm brought snow that stayed on the branches everywhere thanks to a complete lack of wind. For a change, the Belward Farm Oak was snow covered and I was able to get this picturesque image.

--Craig

Photos for Science Project

My son needed a photo of his "density layers" science project for his report. He wanted a photo to show the separation of the different liquids he had poured into a bottle and allowed to separate into distinct layers. We pulled out a fleece throw for a backdrop, and the Photoflex Octodome NXT softbox with an SB-900 and took a few shots. We also tried one with the softbox directly behind the bottle to silhouette the layers. So, in five minutes we had some great images for him to choose from!

--Craig

A friend of mine honeymooned in Yellowstone National Park. They took lots of great pictures but weren’t quite happy with the color and exposure. They also didn't have the wall space to display so many memorable photos. I created this collage so they could just hang one large framed print that would capture the essence of their honeymoon sightseeing in Yellowstone. Adobe Lightroom corrected the exposures and FotoFusion made the collage easy. They were thrilled!

--Craig

Belward Farm Oak Tree on a Snowy Morning

Our first January snowfall amounted to less than two inches but gave me the opportunity to get this dramatic shot of the Belward Farm Oak tree. See my Belward Farm Oak gallery for more images of this picturesque tree.

--Craig

Belward Farm Oak Tree Collage Poster

I put together a simple poster of a collage of nine photos showing the oak tree from sunrise to sunset, and through all the seasons.  From top left to bottom right:

    #1    Sunrise in December

    #2    Sunrise in late winter with frosting of snow

    #3    Fog in March

    #4    Budding leaves and green grass in April

    #5    Rainbow in summer

    #6    Leaves in late October

    #7    Sunset early on New Year's Eve, 2008

    #8    Sunset late on New Year's Eve, 2008

    #9    Snow on a windy, cold day after the storm in early March

--Craig

Belward Farm Oak Sunrise

This morning as I left the house a spectacular sunrise lit up the sparse clouds to the east. I rushed down to grab some shots of the Belward Farm Oak. I didn't have time to go back and grab my Nikon SLR--sunrise shows like this last only a few minutes! Fortunately, I had my 8mp pocket camera with me. I arrived just in time to catch the last of the best effects, used the fence to steady the camera, and fired away. I feel fortunate to have seen such an awesome sunrise, not to mention getting a photo of it! These are the moments we photographers live for...

--Craig

A White Christmas

 
A major December snowfall in the Washington D.C. area has blanketed the area with 20+ inches of dry, soft powder. This should ensure a rare white Christmas holiday this year! Happy Holidays everyone!

--Craig

New Product Offering--Porcelain Ornaments

EventsInTime Photography is now offering custom porcelain ornaments. Available in five shapes these white porcelain ornaments make great gifts!

--Craig

2009 The Nutcracker Performances by the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre

This is the 21st year for MBT and the fourth year I've photographed their December performances. This year I shot the first five performances from the control booth area at the rear of the theatre, and the second weekend's four performances from the wings. I also started shooting RAW exclusively--the exposure latitude is a big help in the contrasty, uneven stage lighting.

--Craig

The Making of a Commemorative NASA Poster

The November 16th Space Shuttle mission (STS-129) delivered two cargo carriers to the International Space Station (ISS). The carriers were removed from the Shuttle and docked to the ISS main truss. Using Lumix's fantastic FotoFusion program I created the poster shown below to commemorate the program that developed the carriers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

--Craig

Portrait Photo Session for Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and Academy

Each year the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and Acadamy hosts a portrait session for their dancers. Each dancer is able to select an outfit from the wardrobe they use for their Nutcracker Ballet. For several years I have volunteered my photographic services to take and produce the portrait images for this fundraising event. This year's portraits turned out great!

--Craig

Senior Portrait Session

This past weekend I shot a senior portrait session for Dan, a Liberty High School senior. We had a fun time and got some amazing images.

--Craig

Fall Photo of the Belward Farm Oak

On a recent afternoon I was driving by the Belward Farm and noticed that the oak leaves were in the midst of their very short fall foliage display. All I had at the time was my 8mp pocket camera, so I stopped in the median and snapped a few photos. This image of the oak in autumn rounds out my collection by completing my original goal of one image representing each of the four seasons. I’ve surpassed that initial goal, and along the way have taken many interesting variations such as the sunset photos, the fog, the rainbow, and the early winter sunrise. I recently found out that the Belward Farm is slated for development, which will forever ruin the picturesque vista of the stately oak. The current plan leaves the tree untouched but surrounded by tall buildings. I’m glad I had a chance to preserve the view for posterity before it was too late!

--Craig

EventsInTime Now Offers Canvas Prints

EventsInTime Photography is pleased to announce our new vendor partnership with CanvasOnDemand. This portrait of cousins was made into a large canvas print as a gift for their grandmother. The canvas from CanvasOnDemand was incredible!

--Craig

Lion King Skater Pics with Molly

My niece was over for a family dinner and a portrait session to capture her in her Lion King Skating outfit. We had a great time and Molly was really into the posing toward the end of the shoot. Here are two of my favorites.

--Craig

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery!

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be at the Kennedy Space Center to view the night launch of Discovery. The viewing site on base next to the Vertical Assembly Building is as close as you can get to view a Shuttle launch. After several delays, the launch night was quite clear and the shuttle main engines were visible over four minutes after lift-off!

-Craig

A view from the causeway of the floodlight lit shuttle on the pad prior to the launch:

50D Fireworks Fun

Two weeks ago I picked up a Canon 50D to go alongside my 30D. I shot last week's wedding with it and I was quite happy with the results (and I'll have an upcoming mini-review, along with my thoughts on the 50D vs. upgrading to a 5D).

Last night, as we packed the kids up to head out to fireworks, I thought I'd try my hand at a few fireworks shots. Our vantage point was not quite ideal, as there were office buildings blocking ground-level. However, we were close enough that the sky was filled nicely and I was able to aim slightly upward to avoid the rooflines.

For these shots, the 50D was tripod-mounted, manual-focus set to infinity, and mirror lockup enabled. Enjoy!

The full gallery is here.

Huggins-Gruber Wedding--Fantastic!

EventsInTime Photography was honored to shoot Paige Huggins and Justin Gruber's wedding and reception at the Comus Inn in Maryland this weekend. The weather was perfect, the bride beautiful, and the reception was a blast! David and I captured many wonderful images. A slidshow of the custom album we designed is shown below.

GAC Baseball Team Photo

EventsInTime Photography was called in to rescue the day and provide a late season team photo for the 14U GAC Redwings. The photo is included on a plaque to each sponsor of the team as a gesture of thanks. Due to many rainouts and delayed games, the photo was not able to be taken earlier.. These photos are usually your typical color 5x7 print. But to EventsInTime Photography this was an opportunity to create an image with a nostalgic look to set the team apart from the rest of the league. Just one more creative vision from your friendly photographers at EventsInTime Photography!

--Craig

Pre-Wedding Couple Shoot with Paige and Justin

David and I met wtih Paige and Justin at the Rockville Civic Center, home of the Civil War era Glenview Mansion, for a pre-wedding photo shoot. The weather was perfect and we spent several fun hours shooting at different picturesque locations on the mansion grounds. The couple was a lot of fun and the photos turned out great! We're looking forward to their wedding at the Comus Inn later this month!

--Craig

Canon Live Learning

Canon just announced their 2009 Canon Live Learning workshops and classes. Digging through the site, I found the class descriptions.

I'm a bit bummed there are no classes being held in the DC area. The events are scheduled for New York, Colorado, Illinois and California.

Henderson Creative -- NASA Artwork

Henderson Creative chose to use one of my photos of a mechanical technician working on NASA International Space Station hardware at the Goddard Space Flight Center for a recruiting display they are producing for SGT, Inc., a local NASA contractor. The display "pop-ups" consist of three 6 feet tall x 3 feet wide portable panels--the center panel features my image!

--Craig

VisArts, Rockville MD - A Class Act

If you've been following our blog, you probably read about Craig's portrait session with Clay Blackmore. Since then, Craig also attended a photo shoot of the National Cathedral at night. Both events were sponsored by VisArts in Rockville, MD.

I missed both events due to an on-site client assignment in Atlanta. However, VisArts is a top-notch organization. With no trouble whatsoever, they've credited my account, to be used on a future class. Looks like there's another National Cathedral shoot June 18...

Washington National Cathedral Photo Shoot

Despite some passing rain showers the evening photo shoot organized by the Rockville VisArts Center was quite interesting. The architecture is impressive and inspired me to use a variety of camera and post-processing techniques to produce unique images (which can be viewed in my Washingon National Cathedral gallery). Some of the techniques included gelled flash, bracketed image HDR processing, single image HDR, and processing with Lightroom plug-in develop presets. Except for the HDR shots produced with Photomatix Pro, all images were processed with Adobe Lightroom 2.

--Craig

Group Shot with NASA Manager of the International Space Station Program

Mike Suffredini, Manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program, visited the Goddard Space Flight Center to review the status on the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier program. During a tour of the flight hardware in the integration facility, I photographed a group shot, as well as a shot of Mr. Suffredini signing the ELC program banner.

--Craig

Quince Orchard High School Jazz Cabaret

Tonite's shoot of the QO high school jazz cabaret was a blast! The kids have amazing talent. Shooting the show poses some real challenges--not much room, microphones and music stands in the way, and low, low lighting to name a few. I had a great time and got lots of great high-ISO shots.

--Craig