Flowers

, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

Sharde Thomas

Sharde Thomas, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

She is the granddaughter of Otha Turner and he following in his footsteps by playing the cane fife.

Garden Girl

IMG_6019web, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

Sunflower field

Sunflower field, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

I found a sunflower field while driving around. I made Jimmie let me out so that I could take pics. I took tons close up, but this one is one of my favs. :)

Hunter

Hunter, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

Does this crop work?

Catch!

Catch!, originally uploaded by ~>Lulu<~.

Jimmie and Greta playing frisbee.

05/31/07 - Tattoo Man

Tattoos, originally uploaded by redbanks626.

This was taken last night while watching my husband getting an old tattoo covered. It is pretty large but in the end will be completely hidden when is wearing a short sleeved shirt. This is just the outline. He will need atleast two more seperate sessions to complete the cover up.

This was taken with my 85mm 1.8 lens in manual and then coverted into black and white.

Our Saturday night...

Our Saturday night, originally uploaded by redbanks626.

or what I would like to call... "the reason we didn't do anything else Memorial Weekend"

One of our guys graduated from the Fire Academy Friday. So, we took him out for a little party.

We shot jager, rattlesnakes (kahlua, baileys, & tequila)...had chocolate martinis and drank beer. It was a good time!

February 25th- Here Come the Mummies!

These guys were fun! Apparently its a group of studio musicians who dress in costume..black out their face (so you don't know who they are)..get together and play funk! The horn section was rockin'! Sharon and I had a great time. We met Paul and John at the Mercy Lounge and danced our boo-tays off!

I love how they were interacting with me.Maybe they thought it was unusual that I was taking pics of them unlike the other people up front that were taking pics of themselves. LOL

You can see the rest at http://www.ccneal.phanfare.com/album/189905/245731

February 24th- ILP Get Together Nashville, TN

This was my first photography workshop. Well...it was more of a meet-up than a workshop, but I think that I learned a great deal. We were all quizing each other about our business, websites, shot settings...It was great and such a fun time. We all met up at the SATCO downtown and just wandered around downtown Nashville with our cameras and little models...who were such troopers b/c it was pretty terrible weather. It rained on and off the whole time. Here are some of fav shots of the day:

I wish they were looking directly at me, but its a little hard to know where to look when there are many photogs shooting you at once. I was going more for good shot settings than anything.

This was Printers Alley (I believe) I could have done without the van, but I like the idea of the shot.

We were attempting to use reflectors on this one b/c the alley was so dark and the sky soo cloudy. It was tough to keep the ISO low.

Can't wait to do this again!

PS..my new camera bag worked out great! I switched from a backpack to a messenger type bag and I think it was alot more convienant. I could whip it around..change lens..and then put it behind me when I was shooting. Much better than having to take the backpack off...put it on something flat..etc etc

You can more at http://www.ccneal.phanfare.com/album/220775

February 18 - First Paid Shoot!

...and brrrrr it was cold. It started snowing at one point. This band is what started my interest in music photography. I just happened to have my camera with me one night and was goofing around snapping photos and they loved them! ...well that was over a year ago and I if I say so myself I have come a long way in my concert photography skills. The photos below are going to be used for some promotional things they have going on. They are currently in the studio laying tracks and some real exciting things are beginning to happen for them

This one is one my favs b/c they are all actually looking at the camera.

My dh likes this one the best.
This one didn't turn out bad either. All things considering, I think it went well and we all had a nice dinner afterwards.

February 4- Snowy Roads

A few more from our snow day. I have always loved roads..especially country roads.

February 3 - Another snow day pic

We lucked up on this lake with the geese. There are lots all around the perimeter of the lake for sale. I could really see us building a house here. However, its further out than we already live. I really wanted to get closer to work not further away. We are going to go back out there soon and really look around. There are only a few houses their right now. Its definitely worth a second look.

This pic is pretty much SOOC. I bumped the contrast just a bit and cropped it, but thats it.

February 2- Snow Day

I didn't go to work today b/c of the "huge" amount of snow that we got. LOL Instead I made my dh drive me around in his 4x4 so I could take pictures.

This picture is actually two exposures that I combined b/c I realized that my camera automatically metered the shade and completely blew out the roof and sky. You couldn't even tell where the roof ended and the sky began. I ran a few actions on it to see if I could make it more rustic or "older", but in the end I settled for a little contrast and color pop.

January 17 - Sunset

I doubt I will ever really like my sunrise/sunset shots. I always feel like they could be better somehow. This was taken down the road from my house. Other than the actual town, our area is mostly surrounded my farm land.

January 15 - Around my town

I live in Senatobia, MS which is about 30 miles south of Memphis, TN. I do not really consider this my hometown, but its growing on me. I think I will feel differently when I have kids and get into the flow of the community. I moved here when I married my husband. This is the town where he went to school. Its a great little town. We have a community college, a good school system, a full time fire department, a Super Walmart, and other few stores. Neither my husband nor I work here. I commute to Memphis and he commutes to Tunica. I pass by the
Courthouse on the way out of town every morning. Senatobia is the county seat for Tate County. Its not the orginal courthouse, but the one that was built just a few years ago. I prefered the old one, but this one is still pretty.

January 12 - Oteil & the Peacemakers w/ Jimmy Herring

50mm 1.4 1/100 iso 1600

I spent my night with Oteil at the Gibson Guitar Lounge. He is the orginal bassist for the Allman Brothers. I really liked the show. It was the first time that I have ever seen them perform. Their were guest appearances by Jimmy Herring from Widespread Panic and Luther Dickinson from the North MS Allstars. The Lee Boys opened for them

I really struggle with this type of photography even though its my favorite. I have to willing to get between the band and the crowd and put myself out there. I watched the other two photographers jump right up. I shot a few from my seat and finally got up their when the fans got up to dance. I gotta work on that. Also, I was trying to capture the interaction between the lead singer (Oteil) and the guest musicians. They all looked like they were having fun all night. I think I did ok.

You will probably see more of the shots over the next few days. Its supposed to be nasty stormy weather all weekend.

PS...I really appreciate all the comments. I am really liking this challenge. :)

January 10- Gibson Guitar

If there is one thing to know about me is that I LOVE music. I love to listen to it and I love to photograph people putting their heart and soul into making it. One of goals for this year is to get a real photo pass and have a music photo that I took published (preferably with some kind of pay attached to it :) ) I often joke with my friends that I want my picture (that I took) on the cover of Rolling Stone..just like the song..

(Rollin stone)Wanna see my picture on the cover

(Stone) Wanna buy five copies for my mother (wa wa)

(Stone) Wanna see my smilin face On the cover of the rollin stone

On the cover of the rollin stone....

(but I digress.. :) )

Today I went to Gibson Guitar in downtown Memphis to buy tickets for a show tomorrow night. I can't believe I have never been there before. Its still going to through renovations because of the Memphis downburst that destroyed its exterior. I would like to actually do the tour one day. They let you see the entire process of how they make quitars..from start to finish. I just went into the store today. I really wish I had taken my camera into the store. It was just rows and rows of new guitars..all shiny colors and chrome. I could have spent hours in that store taking pictures. Instead I settled for a shot of the outside.

Also, I "lomoized" it (which makes photos look like it was taken with a lomo camera.) If you google lomoize action, you can download it for free. Its a little harsh on some photos, but it can be tweaked to your liking. The orginal looked like this:

Download the action and lets see what you can do with it.

January 9 - My Honey's B-day

Today was my dh's 34th b-day. For his birthday, we went to Hooters (his choice, of course) and then to the Memphis Grizzlies/LA Lakers basketball game. I am not much of a basketball fan, but we had (free corporate) good seats right behind the team bench. I already knew from last year's attempt at basketball photography that my zoom lens is not fast enough for lowlight action photography, but I gave it a whirl anyway. The main thing was that Jimmie got momentos of the game. Here is one of the better shots. Nothing to brag about, but I did get a photo today. :)

January 8 - Graceland

If you are anywhere near Memphis, you already know what today is. Elvis's Birthday. :) I wouldn't say that I was huge Elvis fan, but I enjoy his music and love to marvel at the all of the fans that come in each year on his birthday and during death week...ahem..I am sorry. I mean Elvis Celebration week. I wanted to go by at lunch today and spend time on the shot, but couldn't sneak away. So this is what Graceland looks like standing on the drivers seat hanging out of the sunroof. (..they wouldn't let me park and get out of the truck b/c of the events going on so I did the next best thing. LOL)

Its traditional for Graceland to be decorated in blue lights and with the same decorations as Elvis decorated with his last Christmas.

Its also traditional that his fans autograph the Tribute wall when they visit Graceland. If you could read signatures clearly you would see that they are from people all over the world.

January 7- Christening Gown

50mm 1.4 lens, P mode, 3.5, 1/320, 1600 iso in RAW
I should have used a lower iso and I tweaked the WB in postprocessing. It did not start out this white. How did I do on that? I would like to print this out for my Grandmother to hang in her sewing room. Do you think that I should or maybe try again?

Today is my Grandmother's Birthday. She is an extrodinary strong women. She is mother to 6 (one of which died in infancy)... Grandmother to 14 ..and Great Grandmother to 17 (and still counting :) ) All of my life she has been an artist. Actually, she would argue with that statement. She would just say that she likes to sew. However, sewing is an art. A dying art. She makes amazing quilts, she embroiders, and makes things for the family. She made the above christening gown and bonnet for my cousin's child, whose mother did not appreciate it because it was homemade (**insert eye roll**) so I immediately scooped it up and promised that I would cherish it as a family keepsake and my child would wear it one day.

January 6 Orton Technique

Panache introduced the Two Peas board to the Orton Technique this morning and I just had to play.
Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Here is the step-by-step recipe for making Orton images in Photoshop:
Open any image you wish to try the technique on. Make a duplicate of the image (Image>Duplicate). Close the original image.

1. Lighten the image as follows: Image>Apply Image… then in the dialog box that comes up change the bending mode to “Screen” and the Opacity to 100%. This will give you an appropriately overexposed image.
2. Duplicate this overexposed image (Image>Duplicate).
3. Blur this second image (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… and in the dialog box use a Radius setting of 15 to 50 pixels – the higher the pixel setting the blurrier the photo and the more ‘painterly’ the image… but you can go too far!). Experiment with different settings, for my tastes and for the size of my digital files (50-100 megabytes) a radius of about 25 pixels works perfect.
4. Now select the move tool from the Photoshop tool bar (or just press “v” on your keyboard for quicker access to the move tool). Hold down the “shift” key and use your mouse to drag and drop the blurry image onto the sharp one (don’t let go of the shift key until after you release the mouse button or the images won’t be in perfect alignment).
5. Bring up the layers palette in Photoshop (F7 is the keyboard shortcut). Under the word “Layers” in the layers palette will be a menu box of blending modes. Change the blending mode from “normal” to “multiply”.
6. Now “flatten’ the two layers by pressing “CTRL+E” or by clicking on the sideways triangle in the layers palette to select ‘flatten image’.

Try it. Its pretty easy.

January 2- WSP Banner

This picture was taken at the Widespread Panic NYE show. I am sharing it today b/c today I posted it on the Panic board to share and before I knew it its all over the place...avatars...sig lines...the banner for a website. I don't know whether to be flattered or ask them not to use my copyrighted work. I really don't mind the avatars or siglines, but the website...He could have asked my permission first. Atleast, the website where it is being used as a banner finally listed me as the photographer. (after an email from me) Sheesh... Luckily, I copyrighted it and uploaded it at low resolution. Yes. Its a learning experience. On the brightside, the website is a music streaming site for the band (http://www.panicstream.com) and maybe it will lead to other things...(like an actual photo pass to photograph the band.) This photo was taken from section 109 at the back of the floor.
Actually, this was a very cool moment for the band. There were honored with selling out 15 shows at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta. This banner is to hang permantly in the arena.

January 1 - Trip Home

On the first day of the new year we spent the day driving home from Atlanta where we saw Widespread Panic at the Phillips Arena on 12/30 and 12/31. I snapped this pic to add to my collection of Panic car tags. Plus, Blue Indian is one of my favorite panic songs and I love the bumper sticker "I came to get down."

Blue Indian

Well, we got a party goin' on many spirits strong
Ain't preacher just a happy to meet ya


Half a bottle 'neath the bed keep our spirits fedMy hat's off to you, to you and you
And now our brave friends, too, dancing circles through the room
And a broom and a radio and a twistin out a dos-e-do


Brand new day, the whole world's goin'