Kenya Photo Quest Discount

Photo Quest Adventures is offering friends of CCforP a $500 discount if they sign up for the Kenya excursion before July 15th! You don't want to miss this trip of a lifetime!

Use the discount code: stacyp500

KENYA PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURE

Experience this once in a lifetime photography adventure with Thomas D. Mangelsen, in one of the world’s top locations for wildlife photography. Take a ride with us in off-road jeeps on safaris that will put you and your camera within arms reach of lions, giraffes, elephants and cheetahs. Capture breathtaking images of the rare and spectacular yearly migration of millions of wildebeest and zebras. Open your shutter on the heart stirring visual feast of beauty and color during private photo shoots with the Masai Tribes. Rest your head in tented luxury each night at the Fairmont Masa Safari deluxe camp situated on the Mara River in the heart of the Masai Mara.

Join us as a Thomas D. Mangelsen, world renowned wildlife and nature photographer, leads you in capturing the soul of the Masai Mara with stunning wildlife images, dynamic landscape photos and rich environmental portraits. Please note that this is not a regular photography workshop but a photography tour with an emphasis on shooting. Optimum safari photography with only 3 photographers per vehicle in 9-passenger Land Rovers allowing for a spacious ride with open views on all sides. We will only take 14 photographers. Award winning safari with Africa’s most knowledgeable, sharp-eyed guides. Photograph the extraordinary yearly migration of millions of Wildebeest Zebras crossing the Masai River. Daily, early morning and late afternoon game drive safaris to find and photograph Africa’s big 5 and many other species. 2 early morning visits to the Masai Tribe’s village to photograph the welcome dances and rituals of these extraordinary people dressed in vividly colorful clothes and jewelry. Stunning sunrise and sunset landscape photography opportunities. Luxury tented accommodations surrounded on three sides by the Mara River and on the edge of, the world’s Seventh “New” Wonder of the World, the Masai Mara. Optional early morning balloon ride over the plains and the Masai River for a birds-eye view of all the Mara’s inhabitants followed by a champagne breakfast in the bush.

Questimonial Kenya 2010

Again, PQA hit a home run! This was my second adventure with PQA and one more time "JOB WELL DONE". Words just can't describe the wonders of the Masai Mara and the Maasai people. Anyone who has a chance to see nearly two million animals on the move has to be touched by the magic of this place... I experienced one of the world's greatest natural spectacles, the great wildebeest migration. This is a trip you can't miss. Again, from beginning to end every effort went into making this experience an everlasting memory. A+. I can't wait for my next trip to Africa with PQA. ~ Mary Jensik

Charleston City Paper Photo Contest

Quick! The Charleston City Paper Photo Contest Deadline is fast approaching! Get your best "My Charleston" photo in by the July 1st deadline!

Local photographers can take their best shot in the City Paper's 10th annual photography contest. Submissions should fit the theme "My Charleston" — and can be entered in either the Professional or Student/Amateur categories. Color and BW photos accepted. Enter as many times as you would like. The top winners will receive cash or prizes and their work will be published in the City Paper's July 13, 2011 issue.

For more details please visit:

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/2011CharlestonCityPaperPhotoContest/Page

Perfect Layers onOne Software

onOne Software

Perfect Layers

The software products we find invaluable have one thing in common, simplicity. They include only the tools we need to get the job done while leaving out those that get in the way. Perfect Layers is the new software product for photographers that delivers upon this simple premise.

As the photographer's workflow continues to become less about Photoshop and more centered on dedicated photography applications like Lightroom and Aperture, Perfect Layers fills the gap between these dedicated workflow apps and large and often overwhelming pixel editors designed to serve creative professionals across print, web and video.

Rather than provide dozens of often unnecessary tools that can clutter and slow down your user experience, Perfect Layers gives you the right tools for creating and working with layers, allowing you to do things you simply cannot do in Lightroom or Aperture alone.

A few common examples of using Perfect Layers include:

· Combining several images to replace a blown out sky in one image with a perfectly exposed sky from another image.


· Combining two (or more) portrait shots to get a single image where everybody looks their best.


· Starting with a single image, then duplicating it within Perfect Layers, and then changing the blending mode of the two layers to enhance the image quickly and easily.



No clutter, no fuss. Simply get in, create the perfect image and get back into your existing photography workflow.



Perfect Layers also provides you two very useful features not found in Photoshop. First, a real-time preview of what each blending mode will do to your image without applying it. This feature is a huge time saver as well as a great way to kick-start the creative process when editing your images.

Second, Perfect Layers gives you the unique onOne MaskingBug that is found in several of our products. The MaskingBug provides a simple, yet powerful control to make beautiful gradient selections. 



Perfect Layers has an elegant, streamlined user experience that allows you to quickly accomplish what you want using the power of layers. Whether you use Perfect Layers from within Lightroom or Aperture, or as a standalone application, Perfect Layers files are saved in the PSD file format allowing you to take a saved file and open it in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements later if necessary. We are confident you will quickly find Perfect Layers an indispensible part of your photography workflow.

Here's what else has been added since the Preview release.

• Improved brush performance

• Layer thumbnails

• Masking Bug from FocalPoint to apply gradient masks

• Aperture plug-in support

• Color fill layers (great for photographic filter and other creative effects)

• Invert Mask

• Preferences to control color space, bit depth and resolution when exporting from LR or Aperture

• Wacom pressure sensitivity support

• Ability to copy and paste the mask from one layer to another

• Create new, empty file (includes Canvas size options) - allows you to create layouts and bring several different images together

• Transform tool allows you to rotate and resize individual layers (not just move them like in the preview release)

• Color information in the Navigator & Loupe (shows RGB color values)

• Improved file saving speed

Perfect Layers – better than a double rainbow?

http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/2011/06/16/perfect-layers-better-than-a-double-rainbow/

Veterans Portrait Project: Georgia Edition

Andy and I traveled down to the Savannah VA Clinic in Savannah, Georgia. In just two days, we photographed 100 veterans from every generation. We met a man who was part of an all African-American long range reconnaissance unit in Vietnam called the Soul Patrol. There's a book out about their time together and the combat they saw. We also met a man who was an Army cook during WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

Personally, I was pleased to meet and photograph lots of female veterans. They served in Desert Storm, Desert Shield, OIF and OEF - pretty incredible.

Here is a selection of nearly 150 portraits for your enjoyment... they are all heroes!


VETERANS PORTRAIT PROJECT: GEORGIA EDITION - Images by Stacy Pearsall