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Photo by Tony Comer Art by Cesar Vargas In this time of lights and colorful scenes, I would like to wish you the best of celebrations with your families and friends.

Photograph by unkonwn, art by ©Cesar Vargas Yes, we are photographers and if we are not careful we are put in a category next to aunt Susie and Uncle Bob. When our clients ask us for pricing they immediately get second thoughts about hiring us and many decide to go with somebody who will do it for next to nothing. That is OK, potential customers have the right to do whatever they please, but the quality of your work cannot be compromised and given for free. Word of mouth is the key to grow your business be professional and charge accordingly. Do not cheapen your services if you want to photograph someone who cannot pay you enough, do it for free but do not do it cheap. This hurts the profession.

After a long period of trying to make my website reflect a more professional look I think I found it. I you get the time please let me know what you think about it.

©Vargas click to enlarge I took this beautiful portrait recently and I had a ball. I took the session mostly with a white background. In post production I added the background. Notice the veil projects the scene in a semi transparent process.

click to enlarge - ©Vargas Using filters is great way to enhance to mood of your pictures. Next time you take a pictures try those filters in your photo editor software, you will be surprised with the results!!

click to enlarge I like photography and I take every opportunity to take just one more photo. Here is a typical example of what a point and shoot can do. I took this picture at the office, one of the employee had gotten these flowers from her boyfriend. Always carry your camera you never know what you are missing until you carry your point and shoot everywhere.

click to enlarge I had the pleasure to spend some time, around 30 minutes, with Anthony Comer, an up and coming photographer with a lot of desire to learn. I snapped a few shots with my point and shoot and here it is one of them Enjoy!

©Vargas - Click to enlarge When taking pictures try to include a nice foreground into the mix. This will make your pictures stand out and create a look than not everyone take the time to do it. COMPOSITION is the word....GO OUT AND TAKE PICTURES!!!!

click to enlarge Macro lenses are really good to capture even the most shy creatures. This spider was in my office and I just grabbed the camera with the 60mm and started to shoot. I also used the camera flash to enhance the detail.

Click to enlarge I like macro lenses. They allow to get close to the action. Pcitures like these can only be achieve by a macro such as 60mm Nikon. Do youhave one? well, used it and have fun!

click to enlarge I found this dragon fly laying on the grass after a rainy day. Obviously is dead, but I took it and took some macros. After a few modification in PSCS3 I was able to make it look it was flying. Keep on shooting!

©Vargas When travelling make sure your pictures reflect the area where you visited. You can get an idea by looking at this picture where I was. The beach was great. I visited Puerto Rico recently and I made sure my pictures reflected the mood and feeling of my trip.

click to enlarge Sometimes we need to look up and look at the sky. In this case I saw the sky and saw it was good, but I went a little further and waited for and object to complement the sky and make it look to scale. It could have been a bird or an airplane. I took this picture and I liked the sky exploding behind the airplane. The sky created a chaotic background behind the airplane. Look up, look down, look everywhere and everything.

Have you ever tried to put one of your relatives in a photo cover? Well, I do this once in a while. It is a lot of fun and good practice for those who want to further the PhotoShop's skills.

I am posting these Nikon lenses because I have too many. I would like to share some with you and I hope you find one you like. I will post one more page later.

©Vargas Happy 4th of July! Driving by a fireworks show, I stopped by the road and snapped some shots. f/16 - 5 secs. Raw. Nikon D200 35-70 f/2.8 lens. Leaning against the window of my car.

When taking pictures of flowers do not forget to take pictures at an angle. This technique makes the flower stand out more over the common frontal flower shot.

Hey guys, I am sorry I have not been posting. I have been busy finishing my e-magazine. I expect to finish it on time and expect some surprises that you are going to like it. This is the preliminary cover, some themes are not defined here yet. I just wanted to let you take a pick. I have made some changes since then. Look for it first week of July.

click to enlarge The sky is a great source of object from insects to airplanes such as this one. Do not be affraid to look up and capture other interesting objects.

Photo a Day will change its name to Inspirational Photo. This will reflect more the intent of the photo displayed. Enjoy it!!

When looking for flowers to photograph, do not forget the insects that live around it. A keen eye is necessary to spot these beautiful specimens. Remember, flowers are just the beginning ....

Click to enlarge Sometimes we need to look beyond and imagine what we can do with a big lens and 2x extension. This is an example of such imagination. I took this picture a couple of years ago. My lens was a Nikon 80-400 mounted on a tripod with my Nikon D100. Next time you are outside grab you longest lens and shoot the moon. Bracket the shots to get the correct exposure.

click to enlarge I love to travel. This is a panoramic photo that I combined 2 photos into one in Photoshop. Most of the time we do not have a wide angle lens camera. Some of us might just have a point and shoot camera that does not have a the capability of a wide angle lens. So, what do you do? merge two, three or more photos! have fun next time you travel and get your pictures ready to show. Can you guess where is this? "IMIMA" rearange this puzzle and find out the place.

When I take pictures of buildings I often like try to include a foreground that will enhance the image. Try it next time. This requires to move around and look for better angles. ©Vargas

Letha presented the most challenging question to this blog. As a result, she is the winner of our contest. She will receive this book!! Enjoy it!!!

click to enlarge ©Vargas I like to drive in less travelled roads because they present you with situations that you would normally see on the freeways. I took this picture of these trains. I stopped for a few seconds and I snapped this picture. What are you going to find were you drive? Your point and shoot camera should never be out of your pocket.

©Vargas Abstracts can give us surprises not only with shapes but also with colors. In this picture, I took this picture and used a "flaming pear filter" it created this curious shot that I liked it. It is not a master piece but, I see potential in the things that I could produce if I put my creativity to work more.

©Vargas - "Friend's Graduation Shot" Many of us think that when we take pictures with our digital camera the pictures we are creating are free. This is a very important question to answer. We need to find a way to separate picture taking with the final product which is a print in our hands to admire. I ask you this question because we all tend to believe that digital photography is cheap. Digital cameras are great to home in in our skills but we have to take this picture to the hands of those who will enjoy it otherwise the pictures become lost inside the computer's hard drive, thus costing you money. What is your take. For more information look for Phototime e-magazine in July'07.

click to view Grab a flower, a black board and a flower holder and off you go. A macro lens can help also. Look from above, from below, etc. find a great angle and get the shot!!! Now the only thing left is your poetry.

click to view When visiting animals behind a glass it is important to take a camera sensity to low light. It is important to press your hands gently against the glass wall and place your camera's lens between your thumb and your index finger to hold your camera to hold steady your camera against low light. This is a sample. Go and have fun!!!

©Vargas I like how glass building tend to reflex their environment around them. That is why I take pictures of them. Next time you are next to a glass building looka t it and snap a picture it is fun. Sometimes you might get a nice reflextion off of it. In addition, I used a filter to enhance the look. Click the picture to find out.

I love flowers and it is easy to photograph them and end up with angles that anyone can take when they take their own photos. Stay away from the crow and find angles, sometimes unconfortable angles and position that will make your pictures stand out. So next time you shoot your next flower; kneel, stand higher, etc. you will be surprised of the results. Also use the macro feature if using a point and shoot camera like I did with this shot. Click the picture to find out.

A friend recently asked me to create a High Key photo and a low key photo from the same object. Look for these pictures soon.

Click to view ©Vargas When going to a stadium make sure to take a panoramic picture. Chances are your camera will not cover all the splendor of the facility. Next time you are on a stadium watching your local team do not forget to place your camera vertically and start shooting fast to cover the area with at least 5 shots. make sure the pictures overlap at least 20%. Good Luck!! Any questions? send me an e-mail. I have applied some filters to make it look like a painting. Click the picture to find out.

Sometimes if we look down on the street we might just find stuff that we can pick up and bring home to play with and take a few macro shots and have some fun. This had fallen of a tree and found interesting to photograph. I macro it and put a yellow filter and came out with this. What will you find tomorrow? Click the picture to find out.

A parking lot can also be a source of good pictures!. I found this truck parked while was having lunch. I did not lose a minute and snapped a shot. I used some filter and masks in my photo editor and found a gem of a picture. Don't you think so? Click the picture to find out.

©Vargas We do not need to go out to take great pictures of things we love. This is a example of a picture I took of my daughter's room. Even though, it might not mean anything to you, I am sure it will bring lots of memories to my daughter we she grows up. Create memories and enjoy it.

©Vargas Sometimes old photos can give you new life. This is an 2 year old photo that I had forgotten but I discovereded it again in my files. I used some filters and I got a new life off of it. Go back to your old photos and give them a boost.

©Vargas Abstracts are a good way to test the boundries of your imagination. I took a picture of this computer grill and crop it and applied a filter. There is always fun to do around the corner. Do not be affraid to experiment and test your boundries.

Sometimes rain can be a good source of great abstract photos. This is the right door of my car in the morning after a rainy night. I liked the gradation going from bright to dark and the texture that it was created by the water drops. Next time it rains in your neighborhood look around, you just might find a great picture.

I would like to thank you all for making me push hard in my photography skills. As a result, I was honor to receive all the prizes yesterday: 1st Place BEST OF SHOW 1st Place Patterns Category 1st Place Architecture Category 2n d Place Open Category I want all the club members to enjoy the winnings with me because you are part of success. You push me to be better and motivate to create better pictures. Thank you...(to be continued)

©Vargas This is the final picture. In short, I layered all my images and added the text on the roof. I created a layer for the background, the text, the skyline, the constellation and put them together. If you have any questions , please send me a note and I will be glad to go futher in my explanation.

©Vargas This is a lot of fun!!! taking pictures of car beams or any other engineering structure can be lots of fun. I took a picture while I was walking and then brought it into my studio and play with some distortion filters and voila!! a fun project for your photographic fix.

Creating images from things around the house is a lot of fun. Sometimes we do not need to go half around the world to have fun with our camera. I use a point and shoot camera, blank white piece of paper and a die cast car model, and viola!!! I little bit of edititing in never bad. Shoot!!!!

© Vargas This is a picture I took today at a Chinese restaurant I went to. I asked the atttendant if I could take a picture of the fish and she said yes. I just took a couple. Do not be affraid to ask if you see something nice where you go. Also, try to have a very small camera that no one will be intimidated by it. I took this picture and edited in PS Elements 3 and applied a Virtual Painter 5 watercolor filter.

©Vargas When visiting landmarks or famous places with friends, it is always nice to take a picture of them next to a nice and significant monument representing the site. This helps preserve a memory of the time and share, in an individual basis, and give your thanks to this person for spending time with you.

©Vargas Repetitions are always fun to photograph. The show us a sense of continuity that can be fun. In this case I wanted to show a very mundane repetition that even at that represents a good image with a little help from the computer.

©Vargas Taking picture of characters is always a great oportunity for us to remember our trips. So, do not hesitate to capture the flavor of the place by taking pictures of the people or things that make the place unique.

This is the next step to make a Freeman's picture. Now that we have our picture cleaned (see Part C) we need to look for the horizon. Freeman uses a horizon resembling a big city. Well, I did find one on the Internet. You can take a picture of it too to avoid any copyrights' violations when you sell your masterpiece. The resolution does not need to be perfect. The purpose of it is to find a relatively long skyline area of a city. Open it with PS and move it to the cleaned house, but do not show anything other than the skyline layer. Now clean the skyline to just show the buildings. Delete the sky leaving the building areas alone. Now this picture was not long enough and I had to duplicate the layer and flip the picture horizontally with my Crtl-T command grabbing the side bars to flip the image. I changed opacity to match the desired effect(see image). Once this is final, I bring the other layers into the picture( by clicking on the eye on the layer) to bring them into the pic

©Vargas There is a plethora of filters out there to enhance and sometimes destroy the look of your picture. Experiimentation is the key to this process. The more you try them the better you will know them and learn to apply them to the appropriate image. For example, this is the plastic filter in PSC2. I think this image is enhanced because the plastic makes it look like if it was plastic but you can clearly see the contrary.

Sometimes good pictures can become better pictures by simply adding some drama with available filters in our photo editing software. Do not be shy and experiment, you just might get lucky and get terrific result in a picture that otherwise would be forgotten inside your hard drive.