A couple weeks ago I was driving down the road, stopped at a four way, and took off when it was my turn to go. My phone was in my front pocket and as soon as I hit the gas it flew out with such force that it broke my screen. What does this have to do with editing photos? Well, with my old phone, I use to have great editing tools that just came with the phone. These editing tools were the same Nik plugins I use in Photoshop. So when I had to get a new phone, those same editing tools were gone. So, I searched out new editing tools in Google playbook. What I found was "snapseed". Google had made an app with those same editing features plus a lot more. I am back in business.

This is such a great tool for when you're on the go, or if you don't have a need for Photoshop. I can even wirelessly transfer my photos from my Sony camera to my phone for editing. This photo example below was shot with a cell phone camera and edited with "snapseed" to create a kind of old African safari postcard. You can download this great app for free. So get it, edit, and have fun with your photos.

Saving a memory captured with a bad exposure: When you're a parent with kids in sports, capturing those moments can be difficult. Most games are played in the middle of the day, and of course, that is the worst time of day to snap photos. There just isn't much you can do but capture the moment. A bad photo is still better than no photo. So what can you do? If you don't want to do it yourself you can contact me or you can try an online editor like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB553S2OZnQ

For an easy DIY online photo editor click here http://shrsl.com/?~d5mh

Photo Examples Below:

Above is the original photo. The camera clearly exposed for the bright background, while it looks like there is some sun flare hitting the front of the lens creating a ghost affect. It's difficult to create light where there is none. Below, I edited with Photoshop giving it a bronze warming look to help with the gray skin tones.

Edited photo using Photoshop to enhance the photo and create a more pleasant memory to look at.

Masking out action shots in Photoshop, adding a little design elements in the background and dropping in some logos creates a nice collage keepsake for all of the team members.

It's been a while since I did this, hopefully I'm not leaving anything out.

The flashes only work manually, which sucks, but it's still better than buying all new flash equipment.

Step One:
I connected each FlexTT5 pocket wizard to the software. I made sure each one was set to the same channel. Then make sure each Plus III or Mini pocket wizard is set to that channel. (also make sure all the firmware is up to date)

Step Two:
Click on Misc Tab, check "Basic Trigger" this turns them into manual triggers.

Step Three:
Then just set your Nikon Flashes to Manual. Adjust your power manually and you should have reliable flash system.

These work better this way on my sony a6000 than it did on my Nikon D700 with TTL or Manual. I get very few if any false triggers. Very happy that I don't have to buy new equipment.

Banyan trees are so cool to look at. The main trunks have roots growing down to form new trees and looks like wax dripping down. I wanted to get a nice wide shot to showcase the length of the trees and also the roots that grow off of them.

I've never quite seen anything like the Banyan tree. I really wanted to showcase how this tree grows, with multiple trunks, and like a centipede with legs. It's a monster of a tree that goes on forever.

Another studio session with the Sony a6000, Nikon Pocket Wizards (Plus III, MiniTT1, FlexTT5) and Nikon SB-900 & SB-800 Flashes. It's a little more work to use your flashes set to manual, but once set, they have been very reliable. The Pocket Wizards have really been working well with the Sony a6000 setup. I'm definitely enjoying flash photography again and not stressing out about misfires.

I've never owned a camera that could track subjects properly. In the photo sequence below, the Sony a6000 tracks Santa coming towards the camera and as I pan to the right the a6000 keeps focus until I'm done shooting. As the camera can shoot 11fps, it's pretty amazing that all my shots in the sequence stay sharp. I used the Sony a6000 with Sigma 19mm @ f4.5

It never gets old, watching Kennedy Space Center launches. SpaceX made history by launching goods to orbit and landing it's thrusters back to earth successfully. For me, it's not just the sight of the rocket but the sound. I recorded sound on my external recorder to capture the rumbles these rockets make. So cool!

I saw this bird standing in the water with nice light casting down on it. Even though the water background is a little busy and there are a lot of distractions, there is something I really like about this shot. I think it's just the colors: greens, dark blues and greys melding together. I could have shot this with a 200mm at 2.8 to help blur the background but I wanted to see the reflections of the palm trees.

The venturous duo Callie & Crissy have been around the world together. Congrats to your ultimate adventure together!

With a little direction, Callie & Crissy filmed themselves with their GoPro and sent me the footage along with their personal photos of their adventures together. I then created this engagement video for them. I was really trying to showcase their chemistry and the fun times they both have had, and will have, going forward.

The weather up in the Great Smoky Mountains didn't quite cooperate for grande landscapes so I decided to just "focus" on leaves and the colors they produce. My goal was to get some nice depth of field with color contrast. This photo is one of my favorites. The red pops out with greens and yellows behind them. It's almost like a painting. For this shot I really wanted shallow depth of field to produce nice bokeh in front and behind with just a little bit of the leaves in focus. To achieve this, I got as close as I could with my 60mm lens as wide open as possible f2.8.