Lessons in What Not to Do: Gabe’s Invites

Another opportunity arose and I was able to sucker our friends into giving themselves up for science. Mad-science would be a more accurate statement as long as I’m the one behind the camera and in front of the keyboard. Like the previous ‘Lessons’ there is a mountainous learning curve ahead of me and this is what ground I’ve gained.

Vet your location. Having the “been there, done that” knowledge before you drag your prospective guinea pig to a particular locale can and will make the whole experiment easier, not to mention less traumatic, for the willing subject and you. For example, make sure that there isn’t an itty-bitty black kitty whose last life was spent somewhere around Halloween mere feet from your prime shooting area. Know that all that brown, gritty gunk on the asphalt isn’t a rash of dirt clods some tractor left behind months ago, but the noxious weed-seeds of Goatshead. Be mindful of smells even though the stench doesn’t reek onto the print, the scrunched nose and the tinge of green will. Thank you for not hurling.

I had more fun with Photoshop; less trials and fewer errors. Technically speaking, I still need to watch the minor things – major – things like proper exposure and depth of field, but overall, I didn’t have too much to tweak just to look slightly competent.

This is what I’ve come up with.

Great to be Eight closeup blog Straight Narrow Path v2 blog Straight Narrow Path Soft Blog Straight Narrow Path Hard

Collage v2 minus Gabe 8 copy

Collage v2 color gabe 8 copy

Thanks P’s for helping me build my monster, dead cats and all.

* Shot with a Nikon D60, Nikkor DX 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED and UV filter. Photoshop Elements 6/ CS3

5 comments:

  1. mandbrid said...

    LOVE IT! You did a great job...

  2. TammyP said...

    Dang, who is that great lookin' kid??? You, the photographer, have a way with getting awesome pix. He is rarely that cute for me!!!:-)!!! Thanks again!!

  3. Willie E. said...

    Those are excellent photos. What a handsome guy that little man is. Very nice announcements. Great job!

  4. young family said...

    I like them, what a cute idea. You better look out everyone is going to want one ;)

  5. ...for all eternity said...

    So when you go to print these what size are they? Is this something you do in photoshop?