These are a couple pics I took of Pascale during the time she helped assist me in the pregnancy shoot I directed for Mom and Me Only. We were scouting the area and I took these shots to test the lighting. I do tend to prefer candid shots so I told her to pretend that I wasn’t there. It’s not easy being a model. :) Have a great day!

Wednesday night Obama bought half an hour of air time with several television stations to air his infomercial. Ironically CNN stated how they chose not to air the half hour segment. Their reasons being because they are committed to showing all sides of the political campaigns. . . cough cough.

I can’t wait for this election to be over. (more…)

I wrote the below response to some thoughts I made about “socialism and capitalism not going together.” I’m including it for my entry for Wordfull Wednesday under Economy. Since Senator Obama’s comment to Joe the Plumber about “spreading the wealth” one common view evolved from this is that of interpreting or confusing taxation with socialism.

Socialism and capitalism. The two don’t go together. Maybe I see things too black and white but let’s define first what socialism is: “a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.” (more…)

I’ve got that swifter mop advertisement in my head again. . . I just checked my status and to my utter shock and amazement have had a whopping number of traffic visit here due to David Tejada’s post. Hopefully I won’t disappoint you from continuing your visits here because I know that my posts are not always about photography and that sometimes I like to talk about my hair. And sometimes I even like to pretend I’m not whining. It’s a bad habit. I’m trying to make this blog sound professional but the hair keeps getting in the way.

But I haven’t posted for a while—not only because I have been glued to the television, but—because I’ve been busy working on a patent. A long process like registering the copyrights to one’s photographs (well I had to say something about photography in my post. Better still, here’s a photo).

When you begin your post by writing: I’m Athena. From the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island, and I approve this message. It’s clearly a sign that I’ve been watching too much television. It didn’t take much though to pull myself away from the box with lights and head for Arlington Texas to take a look at another set of lights.

As some of my readers know I’m a fan of Vermeer and like Vermeer I paint with my camera obscura (only I paint with a lens). And when I don’t have natural light streaming through my windows, I’m also liable to be just as slow at creating images. I’ve slowly learned that eventually every good photographer has to learn how to build a relationship with their flash and it was fortunate that I came across David Tejada’s blog.

David Tejada is a photographer who specialises in corporate location work and much of his work requires that he travel with lighting equipment. He got creative and began using small strobes and now swears that less is best. Or small is better. I like that idea too because: 1. I can’t afford studio lighting, and 2. I don’t particularly enjoy hauling heavy gear.

What struck me was the way he is able to walk on to an assignment and work with both ambient light and strobes (which for me has been one or the other). Clearly an art form gained from years of practice—of which he has 25 years of experience with. Take a look at his website and see for yourself. Don’t forget his videos too.

I highly recommend David’s workshops. The advice given has made such an impact on the way I now think about my images. With practice it will help me be more creative if not make me a better problem solver when faced with situations having to deal with light. To think I can turn daytime to night. Who would had ever thought.

[I have posted more images from the workshop on facebook.com. If you haven’t already added me as a friend and would like to, do a search for Athena Danoy.]