Independence Day ~

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“Those who won our independence… valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.”

~ Louis D. Brandeis

I took the liberty to play in Photoshop this morning and create a unique, vintage American Flag to post for Independence Day.  I cropped and rotated the flag and added a layer of texture using Adobe Paper Texture Pro.  Opacity was adjusted on the layer level.

For comparison, I included the original below.

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Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

It’s Thursday, Visit me on Monochromia!

Please follow this LINK to find my Thursday post on Monochromia.  I think you’ll enjoy the portrait.

“I Get By”

“I Get By” is the title to a blog created and written by Joe Giordano.  Joe is an amazing photographer who not only has several blogs that he maintains and contributes to, but also several Facebook pages.  All of Joe’s blogs and pages relate to photography. I find Joe inspiring and insightful and so when Joe asked to interview me for his blog “I Get By” I was honored and of course, said yes.   You can view the interview HERE.

The title of the image I posted today is Persevere.  I chose this image because one of the meanings of the Magnolia is perseverance.  There are times when all of us need perseverance and “a little help from our friends” to “get by”.  I thought it was a nice combination – the image and the sharing of Joe’s most recent blog venture.

Anybody else humming the Beatles’ Tune?  I am.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

Bashful

Bashful

Peonies, in the Victorian Language of Flowers have several meanings.  Bashful being one of them.  To capture this delicate flower on a breezy morning just after a rain shower I used the following settings: SS 1/800 F 5.0 ISO 400.  As always, the shallow depth of field produced a magical and ethereal effect.

“My Funeral, My Way”

“Part of building and maintaining a strong on-line presence is having a professional head shot.   Your head shot is the first impression for people looking at your website or social media pages. A professional head shot is your opportunity to prove to your clients and potential clients that you care about quality and have quality products and/or services to offer.” – Robyn Graham

After hearing me say these words in a presentation at a Business and Marketing Jam Session for Women Entrepreneurs, Angela hired me to take her head shots so that she could improve her on-line appearance and hopefully sell more books.

It was a joy working with this beautiful, creative, talented author and entrepreneur.  I believe in her book and am thrilled that she now has nice photographs to represent both her and her book on-line.

About the book:  Let’s face it, no one wants to think about their own death or funeral, but it will some day be a reality.  We can’t avoid it.  If you have been to a funeral recently you’ll be able to relate to Angela’s concept and desire to publish the funeral planning journal.  With that in mind, the journal will help ensure that you have the funeral you hope for and alleviate a lot of planning stress for your loved ones.

Author of “My Funeral, My Way” – Angela De Simone  (Two of my favorite head shots from the shoot with Angela.)

My Funeral My Way

My Funeral, My Way

“My Funeral, My Way”

My Funeral My Way

 

 

“Stone and Pearl”

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One of the first impressions of you and your business is often your website – the style and content, which should include pictures of your product or service.

You know how very hard you work and how much effort goes in to building your business and brand.   I personally would be very sad to hear that you lost clients or opportunities because your website didn’t represent you in the best possible light.

The photography on your website and social media platforms should represent you and your brand and be geared toward your specific audience.

When I work with clients for head shots or product shots I meet with them to discuss their business, their goals, and their brand. Once I have a feel for my clients’ needs the creativity begins to flow. The shoots aren’t just one-dimensional. I focus on getting images that are going to best represent my client for the audience they are trying to reach.

These details include location, backdrops, color and style of clothes, and more.

This post is an example of a recent product shoot.  The product is coastal inspired pearl bridal jewelry made by Stone and Pearl.  To see images of me working during the shoot visit the Stone and Pearl blog post about the shoot.  The jewelry is beautiful and each piece is unique and made by hand by the artists of Stone and Pearl…sure to make a bride feel beautiful and special.

As I mention above, each product shoot that I do is specific to my client, their product, their goals for their product and their target audience.   For this shoot we used a beautiful model who happens to be recently engaged and who fit into the demographics of my client’s target audience.   Another interesting fact about the model is that she is a former “America’s Top Model Contestant”.   I love little brushes with fame…quirky and fun.

To help keep the focus on the jewelry and not so much on the model, we had the makeup artist, Judith D’Andrea of Doylestown, give the model a sun kissed look.  She used soft, subtle tones that represent a day near the coast.

The location of our shoot was along the shore of Tinicum Creak at Ralph Stover State Park.  We wanted to be near water but a trip to the ocean wasn’t feasible for this shoot so we stayed close to home and used the beautiful tree-lined creek at sunset as our back drop.  While shooting, we met a fly fisherman and his dog.  We veered away from the product for a moment for a fun shot with the them on the wooden walking bridge!

 

Enjoy the shoot!

The beautiful, talented, women behind the design, making and marketing of the jewelry.  Sarah Cornwell, the artist and designer is to the right.  wm e_RGP6642

 

The Model

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Judith, The Makeup Artist, at Work

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Stones and Pearls
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wm e_RGP6709The Fisherman and his Dog

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County Fair

I recently submitted a few images for inclusion in a photography exhibit at the Bucks County Project Gallery, a local gallery for photographic art.  The theme of the exhibit was Bucks County food and farms.  The image below titled “County Fair” is one of my images selected for inclusion in the exhibit.  

County Fair

 

County Fair

Morning GoodnessMorning Goodness

The milk bottles in the images above are from Penn View Farm.  A local dairy that sells milk in glass bottles.  The milk is hormone free and the best I’ve ever had. 

 

The Need of Ideal to Live the Real

“The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live.”- Victor Hugo

A Look into the Real

A Look into the Real

The Real, No Longer Ideal

The real, no Longer ideal, or is it?

The Cottage

It takes not long
to find the way
to the place where we belong.
The ivy grows as if to hide
the secrets still alive,
where emotions too, abide.
The scarlet shutters still
the breeze that blows beyond,
inspiring those within to will
the whispers of the heart to be a life-long bond.
copyright Robyn Graham
The Cottage

The Cottage

Learn from Yesterday….

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

Albert Einstein

An Old Buck's County Barn on a Cold and Dreary Winter Day

An Old Buck’s County Barn on a Cold Winter Day