Our 2009 Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Every year we aspire to send out Christmas cards. We've done a good job over the past couple of years and it's my responsibility to shoot the required family photo. Too many schedule conflicts conspired against us this past Christmas. We attempted to shoot the family photo over Thanksgiving weekend when everyone was home for a single evening.

This is the story of our Christmas Card photo shoot.

This is my first experience with putting together a video. The photos were shot with a Nikon D90 and a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8mm AT-X Pro lens. The lighting is mostly homemade; a collection of workshop lights and a single Nikon SB600 flash, off camera.

Iran Election Protest in Washington DC

DSC_5042, originally uploaded by frank.mara.

The image of Neda Agha-Solton becomes a rallying symbol during a protest against the recent Iranian election in Washington DC. Shot with a Nikon D90 and a Nikon 28-70mm F3.5D lens.

Evolution of a Photograph

08-08-DSC_3143V5BW, originally uploaded by frank.mara.

This is actually a duplicate of a previous posting. I've posted it again because I've made a number of revisions to the original based upon feedback I received in Flickr's Critique group. Members post their work in this group for both technical and artistic feedback. You can follow this link to see the critique of this photo as it has evolved.

I try to be selective about what I post in the Critique Group. I only put up photos that I believe are pretty good from the start. Therefore, it's a little humbling to get dumped on, as I did with the original version of this photo. However, feedback is good and it makes you visualize the scene in new ways. As a result, it's a stronger image that more clearly tells the story of what is happening.