Last week I was honored with the opportunity to judge (link) a photo competition for the Orlando Camera Club! I had a lot of fun because I got to see some very nice work! There were about 150 people at the event and I judged about 120 images along with a well-known and respected central Florida portrait and wedding photographer, Jeff Hawkins (link).

Click here for the link to the Orlando Camera Club website! You can see a couple of the winning images! The theme of the competition was “At the Zoo”!

Yesterday we covered art schools, like the one that I attended in Orlando, Florida (Crealde School of Art). Seems like the second question people often ask me is “what kind of camera should I get?”.

First, let me preface what I’m about to say by letting you know that my friends refer to me as the King of Research . . . yes, it’s true, I do put a lot of effort into researching products before I buy them. So, hopefully that will put your mind at ease somewhat as I share with you my thoughts regarding digital cameras.
There are hundreds of cameras on the market! If you want to do some research yourself, then I’d highly recommend that you check out a site called Digital Photography Review! They have more information than you’d care to know about regarding the latest cameras on the market! Oh, and they have really good reviews on the site, too!

My camera of choice is the sexy and petite Canon PowerShot SD800 IS! This little camera ROCKS! I carry it everywhere I go – in fact, many of the pictures on this blog are taken with that camera. It’s got lots of great features, like image stabilization, face recognition technology, a 2.5″ LCD screen, and a 7.1 Megapixel CCD. Keep in mind that Canon also makes digital cameras that are less expensive with less features and more expensive with more features (obviously). Technology is so good these days that you really can’t go too wrong with many of the cameras you’ll find on the market.

But, as far as bang for the buck goes you can’t go wrong with these awesome little digital cameras from Canon!

Happy shooting!

I’m often asked how I got started in photography – maybe people are more curious because my background centered around sports and business – a far cry from the arts. I encourage anybody who suspects they might want to dip their toe into the pool of the arts to start out with an art class at a local art school. Most cities have them, all it takes is a little research. And, believe me, you’ll be glad you did!

For example, I really didn’t even dabble very much in photography until 1999. Before then my primary creative release had been in music – specifically the piano. Well, back in 1999 I decided to pick up underwater photography, so I bought a really nice underwater camera and took a solo trip to the Cayman Islands to do lots of SCUBA diving and take lots and lots of pictures. Well, it was no big surprise that my pictures didn’t get me published in any diving magazines. I needed to learn how to use a camera – how to compose, how to light the subject . . . you know, the technical stuff!

So, I enrolled in a small art school in Orlando, Florida called Crealde School of Art. The classes and teachers were fantastic, and it didn’t cost much, at all – at the time I paid less than $115 for an 8-week course! After taking a level 1 class and learning the basics of taking good pictures I enrolled in a level 2 class. During that class my teacher told me that I should stick with photography – and I’m glad I listened!

I captured this image (entitled Reflections)) for a natural lighting assignment in my level 2 class. I was floored and humbled when the photo was selected for an exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art! At the launch of the show two people actually purchased prints, too! I remember sitting there, watching people critique the image(s), and thinking “well, this crowd is a little bit different from the locker room crowd”. It was a surreal experience, but from that day forward I knew that photography was what I wanted to do.

Small art schools like Crealde offer all types of classes – photography, painting, sculpture, drawing, and much more. It’s a great creative release, it won’t take too much of your time, and you might even gain some personal enrichment along the way!