Weddzilla - Rock the Launch Party

On Sunday at the bridal show, I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Schofield, VP of Sales for Weddzilla. Bob was kind enough to invite me to this evening's "Rock the Launch Party" for Weddzilla downtown (By the way, if you're in the area, it's not too late to register if you want to go). Weddzilla is a new, bride-centered website for planning weddings and identifying vendors - all with tight connectivity to the major social networking sites - it promises to be an exciting online experience. Heading downtown with me, our always-talented Hair Stylist/MUA, Allison Phillips. We hope to run into you there, so if you see us, please stop us and say hello!

Tuesday Web Discoveries

I'm toying around with the idea of a weekly web round-up on Tuesdays. (I'm a huge fan of the random web stuff John Nack shares at his blog on a regular basis, and of course imitation is the highest form a flattery) That's in the works, but this week, I wanted to make sure to share a fantastic site I was introduced to...

Photographer Highlight: Brian Matiash

If you haven't been there before, make sure you take a moment to stop by the incredible web portfolio of Boston-based photographer, Brian Matiash. Brian uses his own flavor of HDR, and in many cases, tilt-shift, to generate some of the most visually stunning architecture and landscape photos I've seen in a while.

To be honest, Brian's galleries are intoxicating blends of color and focus-control, which I warn you, will draw you in for a while. Brian, thanks for sharing your fantastic work with the rest of us! (And thanks to my buddy, Chris Stern, for pointing me in his direction)

Northern Virginia Bridal Event at Stonewall Golf Club

Thanks to all the brides who came by the Northern Virginia Bridal Event at Stonewall Golf Club and made the show a great success. It was wonderful getting to meet all of you, and we sincerely hope to have the opportunity to serve as your wedding photographers.

Also, a very special thanks to our fellow vendors and the coordinators, particularly Jeanna Hilton from Stonewall. The venue was amazing and the service and hospitality were greatly appreciated - we look forward to participating in next year's show.

Making New Photos Look Old

Just a quick post today, gang. I've taken a photo of the Jefferson Memorial just after sunrise and given it a quick effect to make it look "old". Keep in mind, there are a hundred techniques for doing this and I chose this one because it could be accomplished very quickly with a decent result and very little hand-holding of the tools. This was accomplished by applying a split-toning preset in Lightroom and then adding a old photograph "frame" using onOne's PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional. 

Here's the before and after images:

Nikon D3, 24-70mm (at 70mm), f/2.8 at 1/160s, ISO 800

Nikon D3, 24-70mm (at 70mm), f/2.8 at 1/160s, ISO 800

How-To: Create a Tilt-Shift Effect Using FocalPoint 2

Want to snag a copy of the above video? You can download it by right clicking, here.

Thought I'd start off the week with a quick "how-to" utilizing one of my favorite tools, FocalPoint 2, from onOne Software's Plug-In Suite 5. In the demo, I'll show you how to generate a pretty popular effect - a tilt-shift which gives the illusion of shooting a miniature model of a city. You'll want to maximize the video to full screen for best viewing.

I'm looking forward to your feedback. Have a great week!

P.S. Interested in buying something from onOne? They've given us a coupon code to share - TJP10 - to save 20% off everything in their online store.