SDuffyPhotography.blog

I’m a finalist in the Fotoweek/DC contest!

I just received some very exciting news! One of my photos from Palestine was chosen as a finalist for the First Annual Fotoweek/DC photo contest! As a result, it will be on display in Georgetown for the entire week of the festival and I’ll be attending the Fotoweek/DC Gala being held at the National Geographic Society on November 22nd. Needless to say, I’m pretty psyched! More details as they become available…

Here is the photo:

Young boy at the New Askar Refugee Camp in Nablus, Palestine

Gone to the dogs!

On Sunday, I went with my mother to a dog show in West Friendship, Maryland. We lost our Doberman about a month ago to cancer (I mentioned him getting cancer a few months ago) so we decided that we really wanted to see the Dobermans and Akitas (my mother owned an Akita a few years ago as well) in the show. Below are some of my favorites from the day:

Harper’s Ferry on Columbus Day

My girlfriend and I were both lucky enough to have Columbus Day off this year so we drove out to Harper’s Ferry, WV. I have always heard how beautiful the area was but I had never had the chance to visit. We arrived in Harper’s Ferry around 9:30 or 10am and took the shuttle bus from the visitor’s center into town. From there we walked across the river and hiked up the Maryland Heights trail to the top of the mountain overlooking the town. What a beautiful view! After hanging out up there for a little while, we hiked back down, grabbed a bite, and finished our little tour of the town. If you’re within driving distance of Harper’s Ferry, I would highly recommend a day trip to go see it. Especially this time of year! A few photos below:

Morning in Great Falls

As I mentioned last week, I did some family portraits in Great Falls National Park this weekend. Since the portraits were scheduled for 8:30am, I decided to get there as soon as the park opened at 7am so I could stroll around the trails a bit. It was gorgeous! There is hardly anyone else around and, when you’re walking through the trails, you practically trip over deer. It’s very peaceful… almost as if you’re peeking in on a world you’re not meant to see. A few of my photos below:

A stroll through Great Falls

Next weekend, I am doing a family portrait shoot for an old high school friend and her husband in Great Falls Park in Northern Virginia. Since I haven’t been there in a while, I decided to go check it out yesterday. I normally don’t do HDR photos of nature, particularly when the sky is clear blue. But, when I began processing the photos, I converted a couple single RAW photos to HDR and I was impressed with the results. I still don’t have a neutral density filter (I know, I know… BAD photographer) so, for many of the waterfall shots, I dropped the ISO down to 50 and decreased the aperture down to f/32 on my 70-200mm, f/2.8 lens to get the motion blur of some of the falls. I think it worked out pretty well despite the sun shining brightly. Here are a few of the shots from yesterday:

Friday Link Love

Happy Friday everyone! Here are this week’s links…

• As I mentioned yesterday, James Nachtwey is releasing some new photos today regarding a problem that, he believes, demands the world’s attention: extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis. You can see his images and learn more about the issue at http://www.xdrtb.org/.
• The GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP, has released version 2.6 of its free, open-source Photoshop alternative.
• A couple tips from PopPhoto Flash on how to increase the life of your batteries.
• Photopreneur has a great little article on the difference between amateur and professional photographers.
• Wanna spend $500 at the Apple Store? Scott Kelby is running a contest, asking people to send in photos taken with their iPhone for a chance to win a $500 Apple Store gift card.
• 10000 Words has put together an incredible list of amazing photoblogs. This list is really worth checking out!

That’s it for this week… Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!

Help Jim Nachtwey break a story

Surely, anyone interested in photojournalism, has heard the name James Nachtwey. He is easily one of the most talented and successful photojournalists in the world. Mr. Nachtwey has decided to use the incredible power of the Internet to help him break his next big story. And he wants your help!

From TEDBlog:

“Photographer James Nachtwey will be breaking a big story on October 3 — using his powerful photographs to share a vital story that the world needs to know about. You can be part of the breaking news by adding a badge to your site.

“Let your readers know that — starting October 3 — these pictures will be shown on outdoor screens around the world and online. Seeing and sharing these pictures will truly make a difference in solving the crisis that James is photographing.”

You can get a badge for your site here. One of those badges can be seen below and to the right:

You can view Jim Nachtwey’s TED Prize wish video:

Flickr Group Photo of the Week

This week’s “Let’s Quit Our Day Jobs” photo of the week is a portrait named Jenna from Flickr user quemino of the world:

I particularly like the vibrant red, soft focus, and very shallow depth of field. You can view more portraits like this over at quemino of the world’s Flickr stream.

Do you have a photo that you think deserves recognition? Add it to our group!

Saturday in Occoquan

This past Saturday, my father, stepmother, and grandfather came to town to go to the Occoquan Arts Festival. We drove down and met them in the afternoon, though we didn’t stay for very long. Despite that, I still managed to take a few photos…

Friday Link Love

Just in case it’s a little rainy where you are today, here are a few links from the past week or so to keep you busy…

• Hyperphocal has a great post on 11 Ways to Get Inspiration For Your Photography.
• Sometimes, I get a little dizzy with all the options when it comes to sharing photos online… Photojojo has pointed out a new site to help you upload photos to multiple sites all at once: Pixelpipe
• By now, we all know that black and white images are not as simple as they may look. DPS has an article on Post Processing Black and Whites
• On that same note, DIYPhotography offers a downloadable black and white cheatsheet for Photoshop.
• Hyperphocal has a great list of ideas for those of us looking to make a few extra bucks with our cameras. It’s called: 37 Paid Gigs That are Only a Phone Call Away
• When I heard that the new Canon 5D Mark II would include HD video capability, I thought “cool, but I likely won’t use it”. That is, until I saw this video filmed with the 5D Mark II. Incredible!
• Finally, the big news this week is that Adobe has introduced Adobe Creative Suite 4. So many things to spend money on…

Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments…