Professional Makeup Artists Not Just For Celebrities: How to Choose One

Liz Taylor has always had them, and so do the new crop of film femmes. In fact they rarely go anywhere without them. They are personal makeup artists. And they are the latest Hollywood elite to come along. In fact many are upstaging the personalities signing their paycheques. Five years ago, few people knew the name Kevyn Aucoin, the famous artist to the stars who passed away in 2002. But now, you often hear either a name like Kevyn’s, or star artists Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, who have their own cosmetic lines, or you witness a celebrity thank their makeup artist during awards broadcasts—either way, we are getting the message loud and clear that professional artists are lurking behind the famous faces we dream of having.

Most women can transform themselves with the flick of a well-directed makeup brush. And they can get professional help. In fact, just “internet” your way to “google”, type in makeup artist and you are on your way. Freelance makeup artists who come directly to your home abound, not just in major city centres but all over now. The training and hatching of seedling artists is on the rise big time, as the nation’s focus on beauty continues to escalate.

Maybe you’ve been so busy planning your hair, nails, massages, waxing, and facial appointments to think of how a makeup artist can add the icing to your beauty cake, but why all the fuss if you are left with a squeaky clean but blank canvas? Think about how an artist can turn your entire look around with a specialized makeup lesson tailored just for you. No time to master the skill for ongoing “do-it-yourself” applications? Then have an artist on speed-dial for those dinner parties, client meetings or impromptu get-togethers. You just need to know where to find them and how to know if they are worth their weight in lipstick.

Not all artists are created equal. To find an artist to come to you, follow a few key guidelines. Find someone who is trained by a reputable school or program known for specializing in the art of makeup not cosmetics sales. Watch out for artists who’ve been trained to sell products and who only use one line of makeup on you. You’ll be up against a big sales pitch to drop a lot of cash on products you end up shelving later because you break-out or your face rejects the horrific colour choices. Also ask to see photos of an artist’s work—preferably pictures from professional photographers who are fussy about the artists they work with. Expect the artist to speak with you before your appointment about everything that will make your session together successful—skin care, your colouring, your makeup preferences, the products and shades you currently use, your skin condition, the reason for getting together and what you want to get out of the makeover.

Beyond makeup, a great makeup artist doesn’t just show you where the colour goes. She looks at you and sees the shape of your face and how to showcase its features—she can tell you how to shade and highlight areas to make them stand out or disappear, how to shape your brows to suit your face or to make your eyes seem further apart or closer together, how to line your lips to reshape and balance their look, and more. A great makeup artist also looks at a clean face and sees the finished product. The transformations can be theatrical.

Colette Cormier is a freelance makeup artist serving Toronto area. She graduated from one of North America’s prestigious makeup schools and is an award-winning published writer. Colette has worked with world-known celebrities, as well as Toronto and New York models, film producers, fashion shows, video producers and has a variety of personal clients including brides, business executives, lawyers, accountants, Moms and teens. She offers services at your location—home, office or event.

To try that something new or to get makeup advice from Colette, you can reach her at 905-841-5250. You can also see her work at www.facemaker.ca

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Essential Pieces of Your Modeling Portfolio

Your modeling portfolio works as both your resume and your sales pitch, so it must be done professionally. This is not the place for amateurish penny-pinching. Young models have many opportunities open up to them simply because of a high quality online modeling portfolio or a well constructed comp card. In the same way, poorly put together portfolios can eliminate any career possibilities as a child model, simply because you have not marketed yourself well enough. Also, be sure to invest in an attractive portfolio case that will showcase your photographs.

Industry Standards

By looking at online modeling portfolios, you will see that the industry standard young model portfolio consists of ten to fifteen 8" x 10" glossy photographs that include a headshot, a ¾ body shot and a full body shot, among others. Use both color and black-and-white photographs. You will want to include several different poses, backgrounds and outfits to demonstrate your full range of ability and adaptability.

The clothing you wear for your young model portfolio shoot should neither be baggy nor too revealing. It is important to have your hair and make-up professionally done, keeping in mind that it is better to demonstrate your natural beauty, rather than appear heavily made up.

Different aspects of the young model world dictate that different types of photographs are included in your portfolio, depending upon which direction you want your young model career to go. If you are focusing your young model career toward commercial and print, your portfolio must contain those types of photographs.

If you prefer the high fashion route for your teen model career, then your portfolio must reflect that image. Your portfolio, or book, must meet the industry standards if it is to be looked at. If you are already signed with an agency, follow their recommendations. If you are a freelance model, there are many online modeling portfolio opportunities.

Tear Sheets

As your young modeling career develops, you will begin to collect published images of yourself. These images are torn from the magazine or other publication in which they were published and added to your portfolio. These pages are called tear sheets and they are a vital component of your portfolio, proving to prospective clients that you are able to get the job done and that other clients have found your work useful and marketable.

Comp Cards

Comp cards, also known as composite cards, z cards or set cards, act as your business card by providing prospective clients with a convenient, 8.5" x 5.5" card that displays a full sized portrait on one side and one or more smaller shots on the reverse, along with contact information, height, weight, bust, waist and hip sizes, shoe size, eye and hair color and nationality.

Your comp card is an inexpensive and highly effective marketing tool for your career as a teen model. They should be kept with you at all times. You simply never know when you are going to meet the next most important career contact. Be prepared.

Your career as a child model or teen model can be made far more successful if you have an up to date, professionally prepared portfolio that includes a range of photographs, your tear sheets and comp cards. Your poise and professionalism will result in more frequent and higher paying modeling jobs.

Author is a freelance writer. For more information on online modeling portfolios, visit http://onlinemodelworld.com/

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7 Tips to Healthy Halloween Contact Lens Wear

Halloween contact lenses are an amazing way to spice up any costume. And, in some cases can make a great costume all on there own. Unfortunately in today’s market place, Halloween contact lenses have been promoted as an accessory rather than a medical device.

As it stands today, any theatrical or cosmetic contact lenses purchased without the written approval of a licensed eye care professional are considered illegal. Just because they are sold illegally does not mean they are safe.

If you are considering wearing cat eyes or mirrored contact lenses this year, see your eye care professional. This will ensure you get the best lenses for your eyes and will be properly instructed on their use. Once you get that perfect pair of costume lenses, remember they are for fun and furthermore, these are your eyes. A few guidelines will help ensure you have a safe and exciting time wearing your new lenses.

Tip 1 - Get your contact lenses from a licensed professional. In the United States sale of all contact lenses is restricted to licensed professionals. Think before buying lenses at a flea market or gas station. Ask yourself: has someone else already worn theses lenses? What kind of solution are they stored in? Who made them? What kind of paints were used, are they safe to put on my eyes? If you see a licensed professional you can rest assured that everything will go smooth and you will have an FDA approved lens that is fit specifically for your eye.

Tip 2 - Your contact lenses were fit for your eyes only. Never trade contact lenses. Once they have been put on your eyes, they should never go on anyone else’s eyes. Swapping contact lenses is a sure recipe for infection.

Tip 3 - Follow the recommended care regimen for your new cosmetic lenses. There are many different care systems available for contact lenses. Some are compatible with soft theatrical contacts, and some are not. Some are safe to put directly on your eye, and some are not. Play it safe and only use what your eye care professional recommends for your eyes and lenses.

Tip 4 - Only wear your lenses as long as is suggested by your contact lens specialist. Many of the theatrical lenses available today are designed to be worn for only a few hours at a time. Especially for eyes that are not used to contact lenses, put on your lenses before your affair and remove them after. Do not attempt to wear them all day and all night. Your eyes will not be pleased if you over wear your lenses.

Tip 5 - If using face makeup, put your lenses on first, then the makeup. You want to avoid getting makeup on and especially under your contacts. Simply put your lenses on first, and then you can apply any face makeup.

Tip 6 - Never sleep in your novelty contact lenses. Lenses used for overnight wear are designed specifically with extended wear in mind. Colored and painted lenses are designed to be worn for shorter periods.

Tip 7 - Have fun with your lenses. Depending on what style you choose, from spooky dragon eyes or pitch black mirrored contact lenses to cute pink temptress lenses you are sure to amaze and dazzle your friends.

Following these simple tips will help ensure a fun and safe costume that will leave your eyes happy and healthy.

Steve Cogger is a contact lens specialist from New York City and a fellow of the Contact Lens Society of America. In order to provide a resource for all lens wearers, he is also the webmaster of http://www.All-About-Contact-Lenses.com.

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How to Choose Photo Paper For Your Project

If you have taken some photographs and are trying to determine which photo paper is best for your particular project then you should be aware that the most obvious choice is often the best one. There are so many options available that if you aren't careful the project can begin to look overwhelming to you. Unless you are a professional photographer, it's best to keep things simple and follow some basic rules.

Each printer manufacturer has their own line of products and each manufacturer naturally recommends that you use their brand of paper with their printer. This may just sound to you like a good sales pitch. But, the truth is that using your printer manufacturer's paper is most often the best choice you can make when looking for the best quality photograph. This is true because the manufacturer designs its photograph paper to work with its specific printers. If you fail to use the manufacturer's paper you might end up with bad color quality or a dull finish.

Once you decide which brand of photo paper to utilize, you will have to make additional decisions about which kind of paper is the best one for your project. This is because each manufacturer has a variety of paper options. However, there's really no reason to make it a complicated decision. The fastest and easiest method of choosing your photograph paper is to match the paper type to the ink type that you use in your printer. So, for example, if you utilize DuraBrite ink in your Epson printer then you will most likely desire to choose DuraBrite photograph paper for your project.

If you just need paper for everyday use and you are not trying to create a high quality framed piece of artwork then there are a variety of low cost photo paper alternatives. If this is the case then you don't need to look for the manufacturer's brand of photo paper. You can simply choose just about any paper. The cost will be lower which is, of course, fantastic. The trade off is that your print and color quality will also be somewhat lower. But if you don't need high quality paper for your project, just look for any "photo paper" regardless of brand name.

Visit us at http://www.photopaperpro.com to find the perfect photo paper for your project.

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Baseball Sunglasses - Protect Your Eyes and Enhance Your Vision While Playing Baseball

Baseball sunglasses are usually worn by players during baseball games to reduce the glare from the sun as well as to enhance their vision so they can spot the ball easily. There are also sunglasses for evening games that are tinted to enhance the lighting from stadium lights.

Characteristics

These sunglasses have polarized frames to increase the contrast between the playing field and the ball for a clearer view. Some frames are made of tough glass or plastic and the lenses and frames are curved to match the contours of the player's face. Furthermore, they have a snugger fit compared to regular sunglasses so they can match the rough movements in the game.

Other purposes

Aside from glare protection, they also protect the eyes and the surrounding area from impact against bats, balls, and rough contact from other players. Tougher frames can withstand hard impact.

Kinds

Baseball sunglasses can be classified in the following groups:

1. Structure – flip-up, clip-on, and slip-on

2. Color of the lens – yellow, blue, and graz

3. The type of lens – polycarbonate and glass

4. Frames – Carbon-fiber, polyurethane, and metal

Criteria for buying

When it comes to buying baseball sunglasses, make sure you check on the following things:

1. Ultraviolet protection: Make sure it offers 99% up to 100% UV protection and can block both UVB and UVA radiation that are responsible for sunburns and skin cancers. Darker tints don't necessarily mean more UV protection so be careful in choosing the tint.

2. Fit: Make sure they fit snugly over your face. There should be little or no room for sunlight to get through and the frame should curve around your ears while the ends should be tipped downwards.

3. Durability: Make sure your sunglasses can endure hard impact and harsh weather conditions.

Shopping help / Consumer information

A complete Guide to BASEBALL SUNGLASSES is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

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An Acre of Glass - The History of the Telescope

The history of the telescope makes for interesting reading. During the development of the telescope, practical experiments with reflectors had already begun in 1639, but it was not until 1663 that they gained any prominence.

The Gregorian Telescope

In that year a Scottish mathematician, James Gregory, at the age of 24, published a treatise entitled Optica Promota. In this he gave a description of a compound reflecting telescope employing two concave specula (metal mirrors). The larger one was to be perforated, and to have a paraboloidal surface; the smaller was to be ellipsoidal. High magnification could be had with this instrument, the second reflection amplifying the focal length of the primary in the ratio of fs to Fs.

Construction of the telescope was undertaken, but whatever chance it may have had of performing creditably was lost by polishing the speculum on a cloth lap - putty (tin oxide) being used as the polishing agent. The unyielding lap was an insurmountable barrier to parabolizing, interest apparently ebbed, and about 60 years were to elapse before a workable model was finally produced.

The Cassegrainian Telescope

Sieur Cassegrain, a Frenchman, in 1672 designed a second compound reflector, differing from Gregory's in that it employed a convex secondary, to be of hyperboloidal figure, placed inside of the focus of the paraboloidal primary .

While the Gregorian is seen to be capable of higher magnification, all that is necessary can be had from the Cassegrainian, and it has the advantage of being a much more compact instrument. Although little was heard of this telescope for the next two centuries, it is worth observing that it survived the Gregorian, and is still widely used in observatories.

The Newtonian Telescope

The history of the telescope takes an interesting turn at this point. In the same year, Newton designed and constructed two small reflectors, of the type so popular with amateur astronomers today and which still bears his name. They were not large, as we know telescopes today, the effective apertures of the concave specula being about 1 1/3". Their focal length was 6", making the focal ratio f/4.5.6

Newton, according to his Opticks (1704), polished his specula on pitch, using putty as the polishing agent. His methods were ingeniously calculated to yield a spherical surface, and it is quite probable that a close approach to that figure was attained. But the performance of even a spherical mirror of the proportions of Newton's could hardly be satisfactory because of the great amount of spherical aberration present.

Although Newton thought that his mirror might fail of good definition, he "despaired of doing the work" (parabolizing the speculum), yet he "doubted not but that the thing might in some measure be accomplished by mechanical devices."

It might be concluded that if the center of the mirror were properly deepened, that is, given a shorter radius, or if the radii of the outer zones were progressively lengthened, or if a little of each were done, all the reflected rays could be brought to a common focus. That is a practical solution, and the resulting surface in each instance is a paraboloid.

The standard practice is to deepen the spherical mirror so that, for a 6-inch f/8 mirror, the glass removed in the operation is but half a wave length of light in thickness at the center. Incredible though it seems, this represents the difference between poor and good definition.

The single-lens eyepiece of Kepler's had already been improved, with the addition of another element, by Christian Huygens, a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, about the year 1650. The field lens, like Galileo's concave lens, is placed before the focal plane of the objective. As it is convex, however, it further converges the rays to form' a slightly smaller image in a new focal plane, which is then magnified by the eye lens. Thus, a much wider field of view is encompassed by the eyepiece.

These were important developments in the history of the telescope on the way to our present-day powerful telescopes

You'll Soon Be Gazing At The Stars Through Your Very Own Telescopes

Visit: http://www.maketelescopes.net

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The Classic Rules of Photography

People often refer to "the classic rules of photography": "This photo follows the classic rules..." or "he/she broke all the classic rules..." etc. But what are those "classic rules" anyway? I gave it some thought and came up with the following five rules, all longstanding and time-honoured, like you would expect when something is called classic. But nothing is set in cement and rules such as these have been violated with superb results over and over again. But they are also there for a reason, since they probably represent something that most people mostly find pleasing most of the times. Not everybody all the time. So what are they, these classic rules of photography:

Rule #1: F/8 And Be There!

This is rule number one and it has little to do with your camera and technical proficiency, as is the case with the other four rules. Read this rule again, breath it and live it. As simple as it sounds, it is the most important of all rules in photography.

The part about f/8 refers to a camera setting, or rather a lens aperture setting. It's a technical detail and it's not really important. But at the same time it's what makes this rule so memorable.

It's not a bad advice using f/8, it's a pretty standard value and often safe to use if you want to be sure to get your subject in focus without giving it much thought.

But it's true value is that it boils all the complicated art and tech issues down to that simple 1-letter-1-number statement, f/8 (simply read f eight), the hidden message being: Forget the technical aspects, concentrate on the subject. Simple and brilliant.

In my experience it's mostly used in the context of spot news photography, where it's certainly important to be on the spot when something happens. But I wouldn't forget about it in the context of normal peoples lives, peaceful landscape photos and even photos for the family album. Whatever photo you want to capture, you have to be there first. You have to get up and go out, walk that extra mile, lose that hour of sleep, do whatever it takes for you to get there with your camera.

A talented, but lazy photographer is not necessarily as successful as a very active, less talented one. Because you have to be there.

Rule #2: The Decisive Moment

A term coined by photography legend Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sort of a time-version of rule number 1. Together we could call these two rules: "Being in the right place at the right time".

But there's more to this rule than just being there at the right time. You have to press the shutter button at exactly the decisive moment, when all the elements of the photo (perhaps including the photographer himself) suddenly come together in a fraction of a second. A blink of an eye and it's gone again. The man jumping over the puddle has touched down again, the guy in the background has turned his head away from the kissing couple and the dying soldier has fallen flat to the ground.

It happens so fast that it's hard for us to see and react to before it's over. But that is one of the big charms of photography. It can capture these fleeing moments and make them last forever -- on print. For Cartier-Bresson it was an intuitive thing. "Think before and after you take a photograph, not while you are doing it."

Sports photography arguably has a lot of decisive moments, but in my book they don't really count, since it's just a game and not truly a slice of reality. I know Cartier-Bresson in his book set off with quoting someone "there's nothing in the world that doesn't have a decisive moment", but I don't want to get into the discussion here. Many people who are more sports enthusiastic than me would probably disagree with me, but I do think that there's more real decisive moments to be had on the stadium seating than on the pitch.

Rule #3: Go Close

-- And when you've done that, go even closer! Coined by another photography legend, Robert Capa, who died following this rule, camera in his hand, as he stepped on a landmine in the French-Indochinese war. But not all situations of course are life-and-death situations. So use it whenever you reasonably can, and your photos will in many cases have a stronger appeal and give a more intimate connection between the subject and the viewer.

Again, it's not just for spot news photography. If you are portraying normal life, it is equally important to get close to people. Get into their homes and into their private lives where they are themselves. Do it in a way that isn't prying and offensive. It will give you an honest and intimate view of life.

This rule usually implies using a wide-angle lens, which tends to give a more "open" perspective. Much good can also be said about the long tele-photo lenses as well, and they have their place. Especially in fields like wildlife and sports photography, where it is often impossible to be up close to the action.

Rule #4: The Rule Of Thirds

This is one of these rules that are great to follow and equally great to break. But photography would be a lesser thing without it. Briefly stated, it tells you to place you main subject, not in the center of the frame, but a little to the left or right side, a third into the frame. And also to place any dominating horizontal lines in your photo, like for instance the horizon, a third into the frame from the top or bottom. Just not in the center.

This will arguably give your photo a more appealing look, pleasing to the eye by leaving a significant space on one side of the subject for the surroundings. The rule, also known as the divine proportion and the golden mean, have been used by painters for thousands of years. Having survived that long, there's got to be something about it!

Rule #5: Use The Light

The magic hours, the hour around sunrise and the hour around sunset have a particular pleasing, soft light that works particular well for landscape and outdoor photography. It's always the light that creates the photograph. For indoor and portrait photography, use a barn door or, if you don't live on a farm, a big window without direct sunlight will also do. Place your subject close to the window and you will get a nice, soft light from different angles falling onto your subject. You can get the whole studio lighting set-up as well if you prefer not to rely on the constantly changing natural light.

The author, Morten Svenningsen, is an international photographer in Nepal, Asia Visit his web site http://www.mortensvenningsen.com to see hundreds of documentary photos, travel photos and portraits. It's even possible to order a few posters.

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Cold Kindness (Chapters 12 and 13: Breaking Glass)

12

Günter Sanders was cleaning up the restaurant with Gertrude Fephr, both putting away everything from the night before, largely, dishes left out, and unwashed dishes in the kitchen. The floor was swept clean, both thinking since it was Saturday, Carmen would be in, but often she came in late on Saturday’s, as Friday’s were a testy evening—frequently—with much drinking going on.

Beer bottles were now being picked up and leftover pizza—not eaten from the night before—was being thrown into the garbage cans by Gertrude. Then all of a sudden, Gertrude got a phone call, it was Carmen, she was not feeling well, and asked Gertrude to close the place for her this evening, she’d not be able to make it in.

“Ja” (Sure) she told Carmen, with a voice that was more concerned about her well-being than about making money.

She’d [She being: Carmen] often rewarded her for such things as this with an extra bonus a few times a year; and if her boss didn’t give it to her, Adolph, she’d take it out of her own money and give it to Gertrude for her loyalty. —For the most part, Gertrude did it for her when asked, but it was becoming a biweekly task now, before it was perhaps once or twice in a three month period. She never did give Günter a bonus though—and he never complained, I suppose he felt lucky to still be working.

The previous night had been a gathering of old friends after the few customers in the guesthouse had left. Adam had shown up, and Laszlo and Koln Lindeual were there and they met Adam. When Carmen was gone, they tried to talk to Adam about her poor health, and not to take it as serious as to blame her for things she couldn’t help. And Gertrude was present, as she was most times when there was a get together; and Gyorogy and Bernard were present; all trying to assure Adam, life would be better as soon as she could put the pieces together of her father’s death. But Adam felt it was much more than that, it was something imbedded inside of her at a much younger age, and it, whatever it was, had not healed and was not going to heal.

(At present, Carmen had sharp but still some soft contours; and smooth dark shot hair; still attractive; kind of a ripeness which was possibly more of a poise than shape. She also had tension in her face and body, flatness to her once pretty smile. She seemed chilled and tired most of the time.)

Adam was at the PX, pleasantly talking with his two employees, and Frantisek, a German gal, married to a GI, whom stopped by to pick up some soda, milk, bread and tin goods; kind of a preplanned stop for her. For she really wanted to talk to Adam, but felt she should first bring up Carmen so it wasn’t so obvious, she was very attracted to him. Carmen was well liked in the community, and knew the gate guards, knew them as well as anyone I suppose, and had met several of Adam’s customers. And yes, Frantisek knew Carmen as well.

“Looks like you’re going to be closing up early?” said Frantisek with an interesting smile, one that said, ‘I like what I see… (with dilated pupils)’.

“No, no…oo…not really, I close up at 3:00 PM every Saturday; you just normally come in, in the mornings, if I recall right.” It was close to three.

“How about you and I going out when the base closes down and all the GI’s go out for training next month?” It was twice a year the whole compound would have to go to training up north for thirty days, and during this time many of the housewives were left alone on base and they’d fill up the two clubs on base, many cheating on their husbands. She was twenty-three years old, and married to a Captain in his early thirties, and quite lovely, with a foxy face, a face that seemed to blow smoke into yours, with a sexual invitation attached to it; and curves in the right places.

“Sounds like nice music, if I’m not going with Carmen I may take you up on that, if you’re not kidding?” She looked at Adam, smiled, and then kissed him on the cheek. It’s what she wanted to hear, if not more.

“You’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” Adam took in a deep breath and nodded ‘yes’. He wasn’t even sure if he meant what he said, she had asked before, but he just blushed and walked away. This time for some reason he didn’t, he took it a bit further.

[The Apartment] As Adam entered Carmen’s apartment, the kitchen was full of smoke, and staleness seemed to bounce off the walls. As he walked over to the kitchen window—for he had a key for such occasions when she’d not answer the door—; thus, he pulled down the shade in the kitchen and closed the curtain, locked the door behind him. He threw his jacket on the floor, she was by her bed, sitting on the edge of it face down. He then turned off the lights in the kitchen and main room; a light still glowed slightly from the door being open in the bathroom. The sky was low this evening thought Adam, and her again, his girlfriend, was in the dumps, melancholy. Her face was in a twisted form, as if she had a stroke, but it wasn’t a stroke, it was distorted from crying, and anger. Tucked inside her head was that voice he knew, the voice only she knew, nobody else but her and God.

[Breaking Glass] The house seemed still, for both Adam and Carmen, an absolute stillness—a stone stillness. There was no movement for the moment in the bed; a light thud in the hallway, along with a cracking of the wood sounded, as if someone was pacing. Now and then a giggle of keys hitting against one another reverberated.

Adam tilted her head back put his hand under her neck to hold it firmly in place. He figured the landlord was most likely someplace outside the door of the apartment, he was a snoop. But then Carmen often lost her temper and would break things, and so he might had been worried about damage to his apartment building, and just checking things out.

Ivan, he was almost hugging the door now—trying to catch a sound, but couldn’t—couldn’t hear a thing. He didn’t trust Adam, but then he couldn’t figure out Carmen’s behavior lately either. He blamed Adam for it for the most part, because she wasn’t this way eighteen months ago, when she came to live at his place, and now she was. So guilty or not, he got the blame.

A bodily pain came to her, and she said several undesirable words, she tried to make no noise but her head hurt again, as if an explosion had taken place. Out of not-thinking—an automatic response, she went into the kitchen, found a set of half-inch thick, drinking glasses, picked one up after the other (there were six) and threw them against the wall trying to break them. They didn’t break, she wanted to break them badly, and tried a second time. The old man got scared, ears next to the apartment door, and ran downstairs, not sure what to do. Then she threw them again, and again and again. Next he felt he had no choice: he came back up the stairs, “What’s going on in there?” he yelled. Adam opened the door and there was Carmen sitting on the chair next to the window with two of the six glasses in her hands. She saw him, and put them down gently on the kitchen table. Ivan looked at her strangely, not quite knowing what to make of it all; almost in disbelief.

“I was trying to break these glasses,” said Carmen almost in a stupor, as if she didn’t know what she was saying. The Landlord looked at the glasses, “You can’t break them they’re made to be unbreakable. What is wrong with you two?” Adam looked at him.

“Nothing with me Sir, it’s her, I never threw anything.”

Said Carmen with a tearful voice: “Ich…es tut mir leid…wirklich…!” (I, I am sorry, really!),” Ivan looked mystified at her, “…really I am sorry Ivan. I’ll pay for the wall damages, really I will. Just fix it and bill me,” she added.

He then smiled, “You getting them headaches again?” That’s what she called them when he’d ask before.

“Yaw, it was real bad this time, I couldn’t think.”

“Well, o…ok, but Adam, you, you need to leave, let her sleep it off, and stop feeding her booze.” Adam shook his head, and didn’t say a word, Ivan figured he needed an excuse to tell to his wife, and adding him into the crazy zone of behavior, well, it made Carmen not look as bad as she was, that was as good as anything he supposed, why not use that.

13

For some odd reason, Carmen arose from bed early, got ready to meet Adam for a ride with him into the Black Forest; She put on a long skirt, with nothing under it, frankly she was naked, and her breasts were exposed—to a high degree, thus, her whole body was chilled, as she felt the cool wind of the morning.

Adam had met her down by her car, at her apartment. He noticed she was looking a little different today, almost promiscuous. There was a slit in her dress all the way up to her upper thigh. It was almost rude, if not sluttish, Adam thought, but he got into the car with her. He had a little green Volkswagen, and he liked driving in her sportier looking car, so as always they used hers. As he sat in the front seat, and she drove, he kept thinking this was going to ruin the day, that is, this new look of hers. What was it she was trying to prove, or say [?] he asked himself.

“What is it,” asked Carmen, “why are you staring at me so much?”

“Can’t figure you out, you’re looking…I mean your look: why did you dress like a whore?”

“Like a what!” she bellowed, “A whore…?” She slammed the brakes of the car, pulled over to the side of the road—ready to slap his face.

“You got deep red lipstick on, and all this makeup, and your breasts are popping out of your blouse.”

“You haven’t taken me to bed like you used to, thought you’d like to have a whore today, so I dressed like one, and if you want, we can do it right here in the car.” She smiled with geeing anger—hand open ready to slap at the right moment. What she couldn’t say, but was thinking at this moment was, was coming out in her dressing up as she had—like a whore as he described her, or so it seemed. But all in all, to Adam it was just bazaar behavior, and getting worse by the week; no looking for reasons why.

“Did you have that same dream again?” He asked.

“F*ck the dream, and f*ck you for asking, this is not what it’s about, it is now, today, this moment: about you making love to me, me! …and not doing it enough.” She was right, he was avoiding her lately. Adam got out of the car and walked up the street; as far as he was concerned the day had ended for him with her, it would not get better he figured, and with her and the way it was, ready that is to slap, he’d be forced to confine her and that would be a mess.

—Just over a week later, Frantisek had gotten a wild idea, and slipped out of her apartment, in the Off-Post-Housing area (off post housing being an area where the American military families lived, which was close by the military compound, yet outside of it); about four blocks outside of the military compound, where she lived, she dashed down the street to check out and see if she could meet Adam before he left the PX. It was a fleeting thought, and it was evening, Saturday evening; which he often stayed late, and so what the heck she figured. It was dark, the back door of the PX was locked, and a light in the backroom was on; it was pouring rain, she hid under a small overlapping part of the roof of the PX, enough to keep her a little dry, but not much. He could not hear her from the thudding rain. Frantisek felt Adam would be favorable to her little game of surprising him when he came out. If not, no harm done. ‘Silly idea,’ she mumbled, but she had done sillier things in her life. Just then from out of the store the door opened and Adam stepped out, but before he put his foot down he saw Frantisek and caught his breath, she gave him a little fright; the rain was but a drizzle. He grinned, and then a moment passed for them both to settle their insides.

“You look cold,” came out of Adam’s mouth, he had not shut the door yet, and he couldn’t think of another thing to say, she was shivering. He extended his hand and somewhat pulled her into the store, turned on the light. It was pitch dark outside. She quickly weaved her hands through Adam’s hair, promptly so she would not lose the spirit of the eventful moment. Her fingers were now pulling his head to her lips, and like a python, she wound her body around his as they stood erect. There was a little disbelief on his face. She noticed him grow thick and large, against her thigh.

“I should die if you do, and I should die if I don’t,” he said in a breathless way. She chuckled a bit, and pushed harder into his body; the offense was over, they were both comfortable it seemed with the rhythmic and hypnotic environment being produced.

The drumming of the rain started again and she was now hissing in his ear, as his leg became saturated and overflowed with substance, then she knew, and stopped, smiled and said, “You really are Adam, I mean, good for me.”

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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Event Photography - If You Enjoy Parties and Photography, Here's a Free Guide to Earning From It!

If you are considering becoming an Event Photographer this guide may be useful. I spent a long time researching all the kit needed to be a successful Event photographer, testing and costing carefully. It's all current gear available now so it's up to date unlike some of the guides I read.

I've been on training courses and I've done quite a few different Events now, so this is to help others avoid some of the common mistakes. This guide to Event photography is based on my personal experience and you are welcome to reproduce it as long as you credit this article with the website address

I do recommend anyone interested in Event photography going on the excellent training course supplied by Systems Insight, speak to Mike Orr, Stuart or Darren at systems insight. I've also found the Event Photographers Society really useful.

It is divided into sections as follows:

1, Camera Equipment needed for Event Photographers;
2. Lighting equipment for Event Photography;
3. Printers for Instant Event Photos;
4. Mitsubishi Click system for Event Photography;
5. Green Screen Event Photography;
6. Starting an Event Photography Business.

1. Camera Equipment for Event Photographers.

You don't NEED the latest high-end professional DSLR with pro glass lenses to shoot an event! It's nice to have good kit but that should be a given for any Pro Photographer. In reality the customer at a football tournament, school prom or black tie event doesn't care what kit you have as long as the results are good, and you don't want to be carrying a heavy camera with fragile glass in an environment that is often boisterous and busy!

You don't need to shoot huge resolution RAW files and won't have time to post process or mess about with hundreds of settings.You are aiming to get a sharp, vibrant and well lit photograph of enough resolution to print at your final output size. Concentrate on making the people look great!

I do recommend a wireless work flow which I cover later, and again you need the files to be small enough to send quickly. I use a Nikon D700 but that's only because I have one for Property photography as I need the full frame and low light capabilities.

I shoot jpg at just medium resolution for most events, and use a Sigma 24-70mm HSM lens so I can quickly zoom between individuals and groups. A Nikon D40 with a kit lens will do just as well. and I always carry one as a backup. It also takes my Nikon flashguns and is much lighter than a D700.

It is important to have a backup camera, I've even made do with a Nikon Coolpix P6000 when my D700 was being used pitch side at a Cricket Event. With proper lighting (see lighting section) I got almost identical results shooting people in front of a green screen. You must have at least one fully charged spare battery for each camera at an event, a couple of spare and preformatted memory cards, and spare batteries for your flashguns. I use the new Duracell rechargeables for the flashguns as they stay

So don't go mad on the camera kit, it will get bashed around at an event! As for settings, indoors I shoot at around f7.1 to f8 for groups so I get good depth of field, I use shutter speeds of around 125 to get sharp shots as I don't like a tripod, too restrictive, and I use ISO 400 to get enough sensitivity. White balance is easy on a Nikon, see lighting but the flash setting will do. For individuals and couples I open up to around f5 and shoot full length, head and shoulders and a close-up. Outdoors events are more dependent on the available light and the lens.

One tip, using a wireless transmitter to send the images straight to your PC, Mac or Click system avoids the pitfall of people (the ladies mainly) wanting to see each shot on the back of the camera as you take it! That gets them through quicker and lets your team at the workstation show the images properly at full size. I do actually keep the images stored in the camera as a backup though in case the wireless system stops working.

Another tip, if you are shooting groups at a School Prom or Corporate event, take a stepladder! If you get above them and shoot down it changes the angles and stops the people at the front looking much larger than those at the back! This lets you squeeze bigger groups in as well, especially useful if you are shooting in front of a green screen at an event.

Also, if you ever get a large group of girls at a School Prom or Sweet Sixteen event, take LOTS of shots! It is very hard to get a single photo where every girl is happy with how she looks, guys really are not as fussy. The girls will buy the photo that they look best in.

We tend to charge the standard rate £10 per shoot including a 6x9 mounted photograph, but do offer incentives for groups such as discounting copies of the same photograph, or offering 3 for the price of 2 if they are different shots that need processing.

2. Lighting Equipment for Event Photography

I don't use studio lighting for indoor events! Initially I used the standard large softbox above the camera and shot in front of a grey, back or white backdrop. But that's boring and old hat nowadays, the lighting is very flat and there is always the risk of people tripping over cables and the hassle of finding a nearby power socket.

At School proms, Bar-Mitzvahs and especially Sweet Sixteen parties it gets very busy and although we carry full insurance I don't want a heavy studio light falling on a guest. It's the same at Corporate events and Black Tie dinners, there's usually a huge rush after dinner for photos and even a taped down light can get pulled over by an inebriated partygoer!

So now I use a Nikon SB-900 on the camera with the wide-angle flap down and the soft diffuser fitted. This controls two other Nikon SB-600's also with the wide-angle flaps down using Nikon's excellent CLS lighting system. The two SB-600's are mounted on sturdy but portable stands and shoot through white umbrellas for lovely soft lighting.

At an Event you don't want to be messing around changing lighting when you have queues, but this setup is flexible and light enough to be safe to move quickly if you need to. The Nikon system lets me control the brightness of each flash directly from the camera without having to touch the lights.

As we use Green Screen backdrops at most events to add effects and digital backgrounds, I have to ensure the backdrop is evenly lit to avoid problems when chromakeying out the green. By mounting the umbrellas high up at either side and shooting through them, the green (or blue) backdrop gets evenly lit where it matters. The guests get a nice flattering lighting setup which I can easily adjust for large groups or closeups. I

I shoot on full manual with the on camera flash at about 1/32 power to give a little fill light, but mainly to trigger the two mounted lights. These are usually on about 1/8th power which is plenty! Recyling is very fast and I've never had to change batteries yet at an event, although I have charged spares on hand.

If I get a large group like a football or cricket team at a sporting event I can quickly move the two sidelights back and up the power.If it quietens down and we get a guest who wants some special shots, the lights can be moved so one acts as a keylight and one as a fill for classic Rembrandt lighting. We have professional makeover software running on the workstations so can enhance pictures quickly if someone wants portfolio shots.

The SB-900 on the camera can also be removed and used as a slave for hair lighting or other effects, triggered by the on canera flash. So we can do a three light setup easily! White balance is crucial, on Nikon cameras just stand where the subjects will be, set the white balance to "pre" then hold down the wb button for three seconds. When the display flashes, point the camera back between the lights and shoot. If it says "good" in the display, you are set to go. If not, try shooting again straight at one of the sb600, it will work!

The real beauty of this system is that it all fits in one calumet rolling case and is easily portable! It is very flexible for other types of photography. These flashguns are just as powerful as studio lights, and we even carry Fong diffusers and softboxes just in case we get a chance to do some glamour photography. (and yes, you can book us for private shoots!)

3. Printers for Instant Event Photos.

I used to to run a large independent company selling calibrated colour printers, scanners and displays into the corporate design market and previously worked with Canon, Xerox, Mitsubishi and Tektronix as a colour consultant. So choosing the best Event printers was an interesting exercise!

Inkjets and colour lasers were instantly dismissed as I needed portability, reliability and photographic quality. Plus I needed to know exactly what each print would cost. An inkjet will produce the quality with a bit of tweaking but will never match the quality, speed or durability of a dedicated dye-sublimation printer.

I don't believe in compatible inks as I've seen first hand the amount of R&D that goes into a manufacturers own ink. So ink-jet prints are going to be too expensive for event printing. Lasers are fast but lacking in colour quality, and extremely tricky to transport. After testing all the current offerings I decided on the Mitsubishi 9550 DW linked to the Mitsubishi Click system as our basic workhorse for producing large 9 x 6 inch photographs.

As I use a full frame camera this is exactly the size the camera shoots at, so no cropping needed! The photographs are fast and very accurate thanks to the dedicated colour profiling we use supplied by Systems Insight and fine-tuned by me!

The dye-sub process basically involves heating the ink on a ribbon until it turns into a gas and sublimates into the special paper. This is a true continuous tone process so the colour gamut is much wider than other processes, giving smooth and accurate skin tones with no dot patterns.

You can actually roll a photograph up and stand it in a pint of coke, leave it for hours and then wipe dry without any signs of running or fading, as demonstrated on the training course by Stuart! These photographs really won't fade and are fingerprint proof thanks to the special coating. They will last longer than any other photograph!

The fixed cost per photograph allows us to offer discounted pricing for pre-paid events like weddings or school proms as we know exactly what our costs will be per photo regardless of how much of each colour is used.

But we also offer a unique digital make-over service for events using a very special PC with professional retouching software so needed a printer we could connect directly. And we wanted to be able to offer instant 12" x 10" photos and other large sizes for Sporting Events like football and cricket events where team shots are popular.

So we decided on the larger format Mitsubishi as well as we have now found out it also works on the Click! Consumables for the Mitsubishi Event printers are readily available and therefore discounted prices help bring the costs down. Some of the more obscure brands like Shinko and Olmec are often tricky to source.

We are happy with the speed, quality and reliability of our printers, but more importantly, our customers love the results.

4. Mitsubishi Click System for Event Photographers.

My background is in colour technology as mentioned, but prior to that I was a DEC system manager, I have a HND in Computer Science and am a qualified programmer. Yes, I'm old enough to have done all that and spent 7 years in the Army controlling Artlillery fire by computers and by slide rules and log books when those systems were taken out.

So I'm probably more of a technical geek than most photographers. So why did I choose a dedicated turnkey solution for producing event photographs rather than use my expertise in PC and Mac solutions?

Laziness really, why re-invent the wheel! I quickly realised that to make any money at all in Event Photography you have to produce very good photographs to a very high standard very quickly! Work flow is very important. Initially I was either going to use a big 27" Mac with a studio display for quality to handle all the incoming pictures, or go down the Windows 7 route with a couple of fast Sony Vaio AW notebooks with their gorgeous Adobe RGB 18" monitors, with either system linked to a dye-sub or two.

But once I started looking at the workflow and software required I realised the Mitsubishi Click would cover all the bases. Yes, I could run either system quickly and use dedicated green screen software and professional retouching software to produce stunning results. But then who would take the photos? I needed a system that was streamlined and simple to use so I could train others to use it.

My first event was a corporate Xmas dinner and the only person available to do the green screen effects, printing, mounting and sales was my wife! The Click system is very straightforward, you set up a new event and pictures are sent wirelessly from the photographer. Selecting them by just touching the screen allows for full screen previews, once the customers have decided which photographs they want it is quite easy to drop in a green screen background and print, all by touch!

Camera cards and CD's can be easily read or burnt, multiple printers are supported and the whole system runs smoothly and look very professional. We've even had customers connect their own cameras or mobile phones by bluetooth and print their own photos! My wife managed well on our first event, and we had over thirty satisfied customers that evening, in a very short period of about 2 hours from when the meal ended to going home.

Many purchased multiple photos, with different backdrops and effects, but she handled it all while I took the shots. Now we have more trained assistants as it did wear her out a bit:) But I still wanted the flexibility and power to use more specialised green screen software to drop in overlays and fine tune some of the more tricky effects.

So with a bit of help from the techies at System Insight I worked out how to access the system directly, and underneath the smooth software front end is a powerful windows PC. So now if we get a really special request (like "put me in the Oval Office with President Obama") I can jump in and alt tab to Photokey or Portrait pro running in the background! And yes, you can print directy to the dedicated 9550DW by dropping jobs straight into the queue, email for details:)

You can also boost the processor speed, add more RAM, put in a HDMI graphics card to support external displays, even change out the motherboard if you are brave enough and don't mind voiding your warranty!

I'd recommend this system to anyone starting out, and would also recommend you buy it from Stuart or Darren at Systems Insight as they know the system well!

5. Green Screen Event Photography

To be successful in Event Photography as in any business you need a key differentiator, something to make you unique. We all provide basically the same service, photographing people having a good time and offering prints or downloads. Some specialise in niche markets like weddings or school photographs, or certain types of events like Equestrian or Motorcycling. I chose Green Screen Event Photography for a variety of reasons.

I like the portability of our lighting system and didn't want to spoil that by having to carry around various huge coloured backdrops for different occasions. I find it boring having dozens of people shot the same way, and I'm sure most people who go to events are getting fed up of the same bluey grey backdrop, or the "ultra modern" white or black high or low key shoot.

I want to have fun at an event and want the guests to experience something new. So we shoot everyone in front of a blue or more usually a green screen and then our special software can replace that colour with any of our 2500 digital backgrounds! This gives us the flexibility to add classy studio backdrops to Black Tie and Corporate Events, and lets us choose appropraite colours to enhance what the guests are wearing.

For School proms and Sweet Sixteens we can get the guests flying through space, on stage with their favourite rock bands or in the latest movies. Bar and Bat-Mitzvahs are great fun as we can transport the guests anywhere in the world, and for all events we offer free personalised overlays and designs so the event is memorable and unique.

The secret to Chromakey Event Photography is keeping the workflow fast! If you offer a guest 2500 choices, expect a huge queue or a lot of disapointed people. We tend to design 10 choices for each event and will print an example of each so they can decide before we shoot. That way if they are going to be posing alongside a Twilight Vampire or on the dance floor with John Travolta, they can strike an appropriate pose! It does slow things down having to add backdrops but we prefer the interaction and the guests enjoy the experience.

It's not all about getting them shot and printed to us, some event companies work like a slaughterhouse concentrating on quantity rather than quality, that's what the auto cameras at theme parks are for, we would rather spend a little time earning our money!

We prefer green screens to blue screens as less people wear the actual shade of green we use. Blue clothing, eyes and jewellery are more common and can cause probems unless you know how to mask out those areas. We use very special green screen material now, direct from the film studios. This is a special white backed material that absorbs light and glows evenly. Ordinary green muslin will reflect light and cause problems especially with very blonde hair. Contact me for details, it's twice the price but worth it!

Don't worry about evenly lighting the backdrop as many claim, that will just cause more spill and you need more lights power and cabling! You can't get your guests the recommended 10-12 feet away at an event, which you need to if you light the backdrop! Imagine if you were shooting a group and they all had to be 12 feet in front of the cloth!, how big would it need to be! Using pro software lets you quickly adjust for spill and reflected green light.

The trick is to light the people not the backdrop, that should only appear in the gaps anyway and if you have a light enough green it will work. Less is more, light from the sides and above so any shadows are still green and they will disappear.We use overlays and backgrounds to get realistic Magazine covers and special effects.

People don't notice that usually the models on magazines go in front of the title heading but behind the informative text! And watch out for copyrights, design your own magazine covers that are similar but not identical, you can buy these from the USA as overlays..PNG files are best but won't work on the Click, you need to do what we do and switch.

The President Obama shot is a good example, He is in the background, the guests are dropped in on top, then the desk is added as an overlay in front.

6. Starting an Event Photography Business.

Don't believe some of the salesmen out there who claim it's a licence to print money! That is their job and they do it well, but like any business you need to really work at it. Most pro photographers woudn't dream of doing a photoshoot AND supplying a framed large photograph for a tenner! And don't think just because you get a booking at a black tie event for example with 100 people that you are going to sell 100 photos!

30% of those people won't even want a photo taken! That's just the way it is. There won't be many single people wanting a photo on their own, and there's always a large group who want just one shot of all of them, but will buy additional copies at a discounted rate. That leaves the couples, so that brings you down to around five singles, a large group and twenty couples.

You will earn about £300 at an event of this size. Ok, that's a small event but just about possible for two people to cover so that's only one assistant to pay. Then there is the cost of the prints, mounts and bags, travelling costs, insurance costs not to mention an hour to setup and an hour to pack down plus sometimes many hours of waiting for a dinner speech to end.

Don't forget the website you need, the adverts to get bookings, the expense of all the gear, marketing your website, the admin and post production work to get the images online. The usual business costs of stationery, phone bills, promotional gear and all the insurance.

Also remember there are a lot of excellent photographers out there, and anyone can buy a good camera, lens, and a fast printer and go out and do this. The big companies will already have the big events sewn up, So you need to use your contacts, ask around, advertise and promote. Offer to do some small events free for the practice, but still charge the going rate. Even if you only sell 10 shoots in a night, the experience is invaluable before you tackle a busy event.

Once you get a booking, splash out on some pop up banners showing what you do, flyers and business cards. When you get there and setup, take a few test shots of the bar staff, waitresses and event organisers to test everything. Frame these up and give them out as gifts, asking them to show the guests! Great advertising! Get the DJ to tell guests where you are and what you are doing. Work the tables if it's quiet. Above all enjoy it and be polite and professional as you are representing us all!

That's enough secrets revealed for now, if anyone wants to ask any questions feel free. This is just my opinions and experience so far, I'll add more as I get time. If you find this at all useful, please tell others, I'm not charging to write all this, nor am I selling anything, but links to my site will really be appreciated, or a mention in any blogs etc. Cheers, Paul Harrison

I've been a keen photographer for many years, but at the age of 50 decided to go pro. Great excuse to buy the best gear! After a lot of research I brought a new Nikon D700, a Sigma 24-70 HSM lens, a Nikon SB-900 main flashgun with two SB-600 flashguns to use as slaves.

Then I went for the Mitsubishi Click system with 9550 dedicated photo printer churning out nine inch by six inch photographs really fast! I've since handled quite a few events, especially over Xmas, and have earned well from them. More importantly to me, the event organisers have loved what we do, and the guests have been amazed by our green screen effects and very happy to buy what we've produced.

I've now got a website http://www.fullframeevents.co.uk where you can see examples of what we do. It's great fun, hard work, but very rewarding and I love it!. It's all going well so i decided to share some of what I've learned. Hope it's helpful, Paul.

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Book Excerpt: Pete and Ole (A Horse Story)

Dad finished pouring a cup of coffee and gathered a handful of oatmeal cookies from the rows spread out on the cutting board to cool. After Mom baked bread or cake, or when Loretta baked cookies or pies or bars, they pulled the cutting board out from its slot beneath the kitchen counter and used it as a place to set the pans they had taken out of the oven. And then the cutting board stayed pulled out until the baking had cooled. My mother also used the cutting board to slice bread, of course, which anybody could see by the dozens of thin lines scored into its surface from the sharp knife edges.

I helped myself to two cookies and sat by the table next to Dad.

"It's no wonder I have to bake cookies every time I turn around,"Loretta grumbled. She frowned and tried to look fierce and grumpy, but it didn't work. It never did. With her dark curly hair and smiling blue eyes, she was too pretty to look fierce and grumpy.

Dad shrugged and picked up another cookie. "Can't help myself. These cookies are awwww-ful good.”

Loretta often baked cookies on Sunday afternoons, and she was in the middle of making a triple batch of oatmeal. She would take some of the cookies with her when she left for her apartment later today.

"What's that book about?"Dad asked, pointing at the book I had laid on the table before getting my cookies.

I finished chewing a bite of cookie. "There's this girl who goes out West to visit her cousins for the summer,"I explained. "They give her a horse to ride, and it has a brand. She thinks the brand is weird because she's never seen one before."

"Pete had a brand you know,"Dad said, dipping a cookie into his cup of coffee.

"Pete had brand?"I said.

"Sure did,"Dad replied.

Pete and Ole, the last team of workhorses my father owned, had been gone from our farm for quite a few years by the time I was born. I didn't think Pete was such an unusual name for a horse, but Ole was a Norwegian name, and I could not figure out why the horse would have a Norwegian name. Mom was Norwegian. Dad was not. But my father had been the one who worked with the horses and fed them and took care of them, and it seemed unlikely to me that my mother would name the team. One time I had asked Mom how ‘Ole' was spelled. Since it rhymed with ‘holy' I thought it was probably ‘O-l-y.' But Mom said no, that Ole was spelled ‘O-l-e.'

"What did Pete's brand look like?"I asked.

I loved to watch Westerns on television. I knew that brands were markings burned into the hide of a horse or a cow with a hot iron so the ranch owners would know which animal belonged where if they got mixed up on the open range, and that when it came time to do the branding, every ranch hand had to pitch in and help -- sort of like haying time on our farm where sometimes even my big sister became a tractor driver.

I was hoping the brand would be something interesting like a Circle Bar D, or a Double B, or a Triple R. The brands in the Westerns on television were like the name of the ranch. If the ranch was Circle Bar D Ranch, then the brand was a circle with a ‘D' in the middle and a line over the ‘D.'

"Pete's brand was nothing special,"Dad replied. "Only a little squiggly mark on his hip."

"But Pete and Ole weren't really workhorses, were they?"I asked as I nibbled the edge off another oatmeal cookie. I knew all about the workhorse breeds from reading the H volume of our World Book Encyclopedia set. There were Clydesdales and Belgians and Percherons and Shires.

"Nope,"Dad said. "Pete and Ole were just ordinary horses.”

"What color were they?"I asked, although I already knew the answer to that question.

"They were brown,"Loretta said.

"Yes, they were brown horses,"said Mom, who had come out to the kitchen a minute ago.

"But what kind of brown?"I asked.

I knew horses could be many different colors of brown: sorrel (a reddish brown), chestnut (a darker brown), bay (reddish brown with a black mane and tail), roan (also a reddish brown but with white hairs mixed in), dun (yellowish brown with a dark brown stripe along the spine), and buckskin (a light brownish beige).

"I guess you could say they were sorrels,"Dad replied.

"They still looked like plain old brown horses to me,"Mom said.

"Would you like a cookie, Mother? And some coffee?"Loretta asked.

"Yes, please,"Mom replied.

My sister put a cookie on a small plate and poured a cup of coffee for Mom.

I glanced at Dad. He was grinning.

"What's so funny, Daddy?"I asked.

"I was just thinking about Pete and Ole. Pete was thin and kind of nervous. Ole was fat and slow. When I hooked them together, I had to be careful about saying ‘gid-up' and slapping the reins, because Pete would take off like he'd been shot out of cannon.”

"What would Ole do?"I asked.

"Not much,"Dad replied. "Not any more than he had to. Ole didn't want to move that fast. It didn't matter how many times I slapped the reins, he'd hang back, and if we were plowing or something like that, it meant Pete was doing most of the work. I think Ole figured he was just out for a walk. Or to keep Pete company.”

My mother took a sip of coffee and set the cup on the table. "I was always surprised you ever got any work done with those two,"she said.

I turned toward Dad again and nibbled some more off the edge of my cookie. If it had been left up to me, I would have eaten half the batch by myself this afternoon. But I knew Mom wouldn't like that, and plus, if I ate so many cookies now, I wouldn't have enough during the week while Loretta was at her apartment. Eating the cookies reminded me that Loretta would come home again on the weekend. I missed my big sister when she was gone.

"How did Pete and Ole get their names, anyway?" I asked.

"See, there were a lot of Norwegians around here back then,"Dad said. "Not like now, where people say they're Norwegian because of their folks, but real Norwegians, people who came from the old country.”

Dad reached for his coffee cup. "They had this newspaper that was written in Norwegian. I couldn't understand a word of it, but Nels could.”

Nels was my mother's father, and I knew he had died many years before I was born.

"And in this newspaper,"Dad continued, "they had a comic strip. The characters' names were Pete and Ole. Nels would read it and laugh, and so would Sigurd if he happened to be over here. And then I'd ask what was so funny, and they'd tell me what Pete and Ole were doing that week.”

Sigurd was Mom's uncle.

"Did you like Grandpa Nels, Daddy? And Uncle Sigurd? Were they nice?”

I could remember Uncle Sigurd. He had died when I was five years old. He had lived in town, and I would go with Loretta to bring him out to the farm to eat Sunday dinner with us.

"Yeah,"Dad said, "Nels and I got along fine. Same with Sigurd. They were both nice guys. I used to cut pulp with Sigurd. When Ma got polio, Nels helped me take care of your brother and sister.”

"But what about the comic strip, Dad?”

"The characters were always getting themselves into one situation or another, and so, when we got this team of horses, I thought it sounded like good names for them. Turned out to be accurate, too, because Pete and Ole were always doing funny things.”

Dad went to the stove to fill his cup and came back to the table with another handful of cookies. If it was one thing Dad liked, it was sweets, but he said he couldn't understand it because the Norwegians were the ones who were supposed to like sweets, and his father came from Scotland and his mother came from Germany. He figured that liking sweets must mean lots of Norwegian had rubbed off on him, seeing as he had lived around them for so long.

"What else do you remember about Pete and Ole?"I asked.

Dad dipped another cookie into his coffee. "When I worked at the canning factory,"he said, "I didn't have time during the week to fool with the horses.”

For as long as I had known my father, he had been a farmer, and I had a hard time picturing him at work in a factory.

"Why were you working at the canning factory?"

"We needed the money,"Mom said.

"But what about Pete and Ole?"I asked.

"All week long while I was at the factory, they'd stand around, eating. Getting fat. Doing nothing. When I was home, I'd walk out to the pasture to see ‘em. And there they'd be. All over me. Nuzzling my arm. Nudging my cap. Following me around like big puppy dogs.”

He reached for another cookie.

"Although,"Dad continued, "it was a different story entirely if I wanted to get some work done.”

"Then what happened?"

"They'd take one look at me -- and they'd run!"Dad recalled. "Tails in the air. Kicking up clods of dirt. They'd gallop around and around the pasture. You'd think they were race horses instead of workhorses.”

My sister pulled another cookie sheet out of the oven. "I remember that,"she said. "Especially the part about them kicking up big hunks of dirt when they ran away.”

"How'd you ever catch them?"I asked.

"Oh -- once they got it out of their system, they'd settle down,"Dad said. "Then they'd let me catch them just as nice as you please.”

My father rubbed his ear. "You know, sometimes I thought it seemed like Pete and Ole missed me when I was gone all week.”

"Thenwhy did they run away?"

"That's a horse for you,"Mom said. "You can't get a hold of them when you want them.”

"Horses are smart that way,"Dad said. "They know the difference between when you want to catch ‘em for work and when you're only coming out there to see them.”

"Pete and Ole must not have liked working,"I said.

"Actually,"Dad said. "I don't think Pete and Ole minded working. Everybody likes to feel useful, you know. It's just that it was a trick they enjoyed playing.”

"Sort of like a game?”

"Exactly like a game,"Dad replied.

He picked up his coffee cup, saw that it was empty, and stood up.

"And then, too, there was that time Loretta and Ingman took Pete and Ole for a ride,"he said, as he headed for the coffee pot.

"You want some more coffee, Ma?"he asked.

My mother held up her hand, as if to say ‘no,' but then thought better of it. "Maybe a half a cup,"she said.

I turned toward Loretta. "How come you were riding the horses? Were you going out to get the cows?"

My sister ran water into the cookie batter bowl. "I don't remember why we decided to take Pete and Ole out for a ride,"she said. "Ingman rode Pete because he liked to go fast. I liked Ole because he was slow.”

"What happened?"I asked.

"When we came to a tree, Ole was much too lazy to go around, so he walked right under it,"Loretta said.

"Then what?"I asked.

"A tree branch knocked me off,"Loretta said as she started to put the cooled cookies into a canister.

"How come you didn't duck?”

"Duck?"Loretta asked, turning to stare at me. "I was too scared to think about ducking.”

"Why were you scared?”

"Ole was a big animal.”

"Did he run away after you fell off?”

"Oh, no. He just stopped and stood there.”

"How come you didn't turn him away from the tree?”

"Me? Try to turn that great big thing?"Loretta asked, looking horrified at the very thought.

Turning was easy. You pulled on the rein in the direction you wanted to go. That's what I did with Dusty.

"Wasn't it fun to ride the horses?"I asked.

If Pete and Ole were still here, I knew I would want to ride them every day. When it came to the workhorses, I was jealous of Loretta and Ingman because they had known Pete and Ole personally.

Loretta turned toward me and shook her finger. "I've never ridden a horse since then,"she declared, "and I haven't wanted to, either!”

Dad sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. "And then there was the time Pete and Ole came home all by themselves,"he said. "Some people we know wanted to use them during the week while I was gone at work. Pete and Ole came home, in the middle of the night, all by themselves.”

"By themselves?"I said.

"But nobody knew it,"Mom said, "not until Loretta and Ingman came home from school the next day.”

"Why not?"I said.

"Because they stayed behind the barn, where I couldn't see them,"Mom said.

"When Ingman and I were on our way back from school and got over the hill, we could see them behind the barn,"Loretta explained. "We hurried the rest of the way home because we wanted to know why Pete and Ole were back so soon.”

My mother shook her head. "When they came in the house and said Pete and Ole were behind the barn, I thought they were seeing things.”

"I guess Pete and Ole didn't want to be someplace else,"Dad said. "They wanted to come home. They traveled quite a few miles to get here, too.”

He sighed, and a far-away look came into his blue eyes. "Yup—Pete and Ole were quite the pair. . ."

"What happened to them?"I asked.

"I sold them,"Mom said.

"You what?”

"Sold them. While your father was away at work.”

"Why?"I said.

"Oh, it wasn't as bad as it sounds,"Dad said. "By that time we had a tractor, and we really didn't need the horses anymore.”

"But your father couldn't stand to see them leave. So, I told the guy he had to take them before my husband came home from work,"Mom said.

A lump rose in my throat. I knew how I would feel if I came home from school one day and found out Dusty was gone.

"What happened to Pete and Ole after that?"I asked.

"Don't know," Dad said. "Didn't see nor hear anything of ‘em. It was so long ago now, I'm sure they're both dead.”

Later that evening while we were doing the chores, in between carrying milk to the milkhouse for Dad, I got Dusty out of her stall and tied her in the barn aisle so I could brush her.

"Well, Dusty, are you enjoying getting brushed?"Dad asked.

He had finished putting a milker on a cow and had come over to see my pony. At the sound of his voice, Dusty turned her head toward him.

"You're a good girl, aren't you,"Dad said as he rubbed her forehead.

Dusty's forelock had not grown back much yet after her haircut last fall when it was full of cockleburs. Instead of a thick, white foretop hanging down between her eyes, it was a clump of bushy white hair sticking up between her ears.

Dad stopped scratching Dusty's forehead, and she pushed her nose under his arm and nudged him hard enough to make his arm bounce up and down.

Dad laughed and patted her neck. "You're as bad as Pete and Ole. Do you know that?”

"Daddy?”

"What, kiddo.”

"Do you wish Mom hadn't sold Pete and Ole?”

Dad didn't say anything for so long that I thought he wasn't going to answer my question. Instead he stroked Dusty's velvety brown nose with one calloused hand. When he turned to look at me, my father's blue eyes had lost their usual twinkle.

"I would have liked to keep Pete and Ole forever,"he said. "They were my friends.”

Before I could think of another question to ask, he turned and walked back to the cow so he could check on the milker.

I put my arms around Dusty's neck and buried my face in her thick hair. Dusty's reddish brown winter coat felt as soft as the fur trimming on the winter boots my sister wore when she was dressed up for work or for church. Dusty's dapples, I had noticed, were not nearly as easy to see during the winter when her hair was longer. I took a deep breath and held it. If I lived to be four hundred years old, I would never grow tired of the smell of horses.

"Smells good, don't she,"Dad said.

I looked up and saw that he was taking the cover off a full bucket of milk.

"Daddy, I'm sorry you didn't get to keep Pete and Ole.”

Dad put the cover on an empty milker bucket. "It's all right, kiddo,"he said. "That was years ago. Water under the bridge, as they say.”

My father's words said it was all right, but I could tell by the way he said it that it was not -- not really.

And even though I knew Pete and Ole had both probably died years ago, I couldn't help wishing they were still alive so I could find them and bring them home again.

Pete and Ole

From the book: "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" by LeAnn R. Ralph (trade paperback; October 2005; 190 pages; $13.95; FREE! shipping) -- http://ruralroute2.com

"Highly recommended reading" -- The Midwest Book Review

"(Cream of the Crop) was extraordinary from the first story to the last. I laughed, cried and sighed at the way you bring the emotions of people and animals to the page." (R.S. -- Clintonville, Wisconsin)

About The Author
LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" and "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)." To read sample chapters, order the books and to sign up for LeAnn's FREE! monthly newsletter from Rural Route 2, visit -- http://ruralroute2.com.

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Sports Photography - How Most Pros Work

In Sports photography, access is key. Without access, you won't succeed even if you have the most comprehensive array of lenses out there. So if you have access, you've already improved your chances of success by at least 40%. The other keys to success?

You have to be able to anticipate and concentrate for long periods. Being knowledgeable and following a variety of sports, not just the popular ones, is crucial. And finally a good ounce of luck doesn't hurt either. What exactly should you be looking for besides shooting great action?

Faces

Back of heads are not terribly engaging. I think we are so in tuned to seeing faces, we don't realize it. We do want to see faces of athletes whenever possible. Grimacing faces add to the drama and excitement. Unfortunately some athletes hardly show any emotions even when they win. Faces in sports can be the difference between a good picture and a great picture.

Timing

Peak action is probably what you're after. There may be some luck involved but a softball picture without a visible ball is not as exciting. The ball, be it a hockey puck or shuttlecock tells your viewer what sport it is. Without the ball, you don't get a sense of how close the play was, how bad the throw was et cetera. With baseball and softball, the play at a base has to be close. If the throw is early or too late, the ball is either in the glove or out of your picture. But that's not your fault. It's just how the game goes. So the element of luck is there for sure.

A Different Viewpoint

Strive for a different viewpoint to surprise your viewers and to give them a fresh look of a "tired-looking" sport. This may be something as simple as shooting when weather is not so good sometimes. Or even simply being creative with your photographic technique. It may mean working harder by bringing in more equipment but your efforts will be rewarded. If it it doesn't work, you'll at least learn something new.

Backgrounds

Related to viewpoint but just as important is backgrounds. Shooting with wide open apertures on long lenses can only do that much sometimes, so be on the lookout for what's behind the subject at all times. If you're serious about sports photography, you should try photographing different sports.

Golf

Just the same way most Americans don't get soccer, I don't get golf. I do know I would enjoy the sport if I play it. It's more interesting to play than to watch. That said, I don't particularly like covering golf. Here's why:

• expect to be hauling at least a 300 mm lens with a monopod and 2 bodies, maybe a flash, and a 70-200 mm zoom.


• you will be walking all 18 holes, more if it goes into playoffs.


• you don't get to hang out with just the same foursome


• if the leader boards are not kept current, you will be in a world of hurt trying to find a certain golfer when the lead changes suddenly.


• besides that, the light is usually extremely harsh. Faces are inevitably shielded by visors or baseball caps. You're never close enough to be able to fill flash or anything of that sort.


• Restrictions. You can't stand directly in the line-0f-sight of the golfers. You can't trip your shutter until they actually hit the ball if they're on the green during the short game. Don't forget you have to be absolutely quiet.


• if the game goes into playoffs, all those "great pictures" you took in the early rounds don't mean much anymore. It's like starting all over.

Soccer

My favorite sport soccer happens to be pretty tough to shoot because of the lens requirement. A 300 mm lens is probably the minimum and a 400 mm is more ideal. But that also depends on the sensor size of your camera body.

If you're shooting with a camera with full frame sensors,  you might even need something longer.

Most of the time, depending on the lens you have,  you park yourself on the field and just hope you're in the right place at the right time. So covering soccer is not as physically demanding as covering golf or football. You might move around when there's a chance for a set piece like a free-kick or corner kick. It helps if you understand terms like "in-swinger" on corner kicks. The rest of the time, because the action is non-stop and the ball moves around the pitch so quickly, it's difficult to physically move around.

Badminton

Anytime you step indoors to cover a sport, you are heading into low light and very limited options. The world's fastest racquet sport is also hardest to photograph because of the lighting conditions and how the indoor stadiums are lit. Understanding how a game like badminton or tennis is scored is crucial. How else would you know when it's the "critical match point' or the significance of a tie-break?

ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed & White Balance

Up till this point, I haven't mentioned these camera settings because these are variable depending on the lighting conditions and how well your camera handle digital noise. Generally speaking, the newer your camera, the better it handles low ISO and digital noise. Most sports photographers have at least a 300mm f2.8 lens at a minimum.

They will also carry a 70-200 f2.8 lens and most likely that has built-in image stabilization. And the majority of sports photographers take their pictures at f2.8 to blur out the background but also to get the highest possible shutter speed to freeze action.

Every now and then, they may need more depth-of-field but very rarely. That by the way, is why under the one of the Auto modes, you see the icon for Sports or someone running. It's also exposure mode that favors high shutter speed, Shutter Priority or Tv (Time value according to Canon)

So 2 camera bodies are pretty standard. One body is attached to the long telephoto which is mounted on a monopod for support. Depending on the camera body, the image sensor may be full frame or may have a 1.6x, so a 300mm will be 480 mm lens.

To successfully hand hold a lens like that with little camera shake would require you to make sure you have a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 sec.

But even professionals don't handhold long lenses, they use monopods. The one good thing about shooting in artificial lighting like a soccer stadium at night is this: once you have the exposure down, it doesn't change very much, unlike a daytime game.

In day games, you have to keep an eye on light levels especially if the game is in the evening. The other advantage is the crowd in the stands are not lit, so they aren't as distracting.

Since "Sports Photography" is a highly specialized field, there is just too much to cover in one article. These tips will hopefully get you on your way to getting better pictures.

Peter Phun teaches photography at Riverside City College. He does portraits, weddings and editorial work. Read an illustrated and more detailed article about sports photography on his blog. He writes about photography, Macs and the internet. He also designs websites and is a stay-at-home dad.

Previously, Peter worked as a staff photographer for 18 years at The Press-Enterprise, Southern California's 4th largest daily newspaper. He is the webmaster for the Mac user group in the Inland Empire. For more information about this Riverside based photographer, visit http://www.peterphun.com

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Digital Photography Online

The fight for original content on the internet is at it's height. Search engines are cracking down hard on sites who do not update their content in some way over a period of time.

Thats a hard reality for many online businesses. Text that has served them well in the past and is indeed still bringing in the punters is changed with great reluctance but the reality still remains that the search engines want a dynamic and varied content on the internet.

Search engines such as google and yahoo are constantly devising new ways to test content and to religate those who would rather spend time on new projects rather than investing in sites they created a year or more ago.

What a lot of site owners don't realize is that there is more than one definition of content. It can be very costly to have a copy writer write new articles or pitch content for web pages, sometimes running into hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars.

What a lot of businesses and webmasters don't realize is that they can easily and cheaply add or change the content of web pages through the use of photographs.

For as little as $20 dollars per photo the difference between maintaining those high ranking positions and dropping to inconsequential places, can be determined.

Photographs play many roles in the advertising world. We tend to think of a picture as something that shows us what we may want to buy but that is only part of the usage of photos. Photos are used to illustrate in much more subtle ways.

Photographs are often set to create moods and general interest in a subject that is designed to associate the visitor to the particular theme. A bit like bait to a fish. Fashion companies often use this type of photograph to make statements that will draw sympathy and support from their target market.

For the search engine spiders that crawl through the internet content at regular intervals, a photograph is as much a piece of content as a piece of text. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Andrew Routledge MA . Hi, how would you like to know how you can put a unique article like this one onto the internet with a URL that you create in less than five minutes and for free. Wait, there's more. You also get tools to help you add interesting sections to your web page that are just so easy to use. Plus, you can advertise on the pages and interlink with your other websites or affiliate sites all at no cost to you. Follow this link to see how. http://www.squidoo.com/snake

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Is 'Arbitron' Too 'Arbitrary?'

When David Lee Roth replaced Howard Stern on several FM radio stations (mostly on the east coast and some in the midwest) a flare went up. Not a tiny one, either. This was big news.

Huge radio news.

And the light from the flare illuminated one question in particular...how long was parent company, Infinity, going to take to 'decide' if the Roth Show was profitable enough for them to hang onto? Tough to answer because radio's Arbitron ratings only come out 4 times a year. That's right, radio listeners. Spring. Summer. Fall. And winter.

That's it.

As often as you find yourself changing wardrobes, radio finds itself having to release its precious numbers. Numbers which certainly affect lives. Especially the lives of people starting new shows, no doubt.

So, while movie executive release their box office numbers for the entire weekend on FRIDAY nights (which is just amazing and incredibly accurate) and while television honchos hang onto their golden 'overnights' and while we all every day experience what Google has done in terms of instantaneous results for internet advertising...there stands radio. Defiantly reporting its ratings a scant 4 times a year.

So what's the reason for this media madness? Why is radio so s-l-o-w?

It seems that radio listeners have stronger and longer habits than do television and movie audiences.

What we tend to do as listeners is 'surf the dial' and VERY slowly become VERY attached to certain programs and stations. This is habitual. Just as insurance companies know how many 78 year olds will die of cancer this year (sorry for the thought) radio insiders know exactly how long 46 year old moms listen to "Easy Listening" every afternoon.

Radio stations pitch advertisers MUCH differently than TV stations and their ad agencies do.

To put all of that into perspective, even after Roth had gotten fired after just one Arbitron book had come out, Stern himself admitted that Roth hadn't been given the time to 'get found.' That not enough traction had been established.

That's radio ratings for ya. Surf's up.

Kevin Browne is a former Creative Director and Senior Copywriter at agencies including J Walter Thompson, McCann Erickson and Young and Rubicam. Kevin now runs WhitehavenWeb.com where he shows web owners how to FINALLY make big website sales [http://www.whitehavenweb.com]

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The Green Sea of the Amazon (Part Two of Two: Afterward: Enthrallment of the Amazon#8)

So yes, the Amazon was oblivious to my being charmed by it, as perhaps I was living in those passing moments, and didn’t know it myself, but it was fabulous. But fabulous is of course just a word, it does not describe its meaning. When we had first went down the Amazon, we stopped at what I’d call a luxury lodge, with TV and all the amenities one may wish to have in the Amazon. We simply used the facilities for prepping for our adventure into the thicker part of the Amazon, perhaps we stayed three hours. The we came to our lodge, which had none of the refinements the previous one had. And had we gone to the third one, which was deeper into the Amazon, we’d have been sleeping on a dirt floor, and ours might have looked like the Hilton, in comparison.

There were familiar flashes of darkness while going down the Amazon, which were simply shifts in the weather, from sunny, to sunny-pale with rain. I tried to enjoy the moment, grab the sky, and I suppose impolite a times in doing so, but I was busy writing down thoughts also. That is perhaps why it took five years to write a simple story as this one. The subconscious has its own knee-deep pitch-black waters, where it hides its treasures until its time to pull them up, and write them out.
The good thing I’m trying to say here, is the Amazon is made for everybody to visit, and has degrees one can subject themselves to. As I previous mentioned, for those wanting to visit, and not rough it at all you got the first lodge, just got to endure the boat ride. And the third one is for those madmen who what to live like apes, you can go to that hole in the ground and live; for myself, I prefer the in-between, and got it.
It is so true; you get what you pay for.

The overall feeling was mythological; the Amazon gives you no time to think of anything else, besides God and her. The passengers around me, on my way down the Amazon to the lodges were immobile, subdued by her.

Fastidiousness, is not necessary a quality in the Amazon, and if you’ve read about my yellow-bird in one of the previous chapters he was the point of fact to this, but it fit well in creating this story, and even he had a charm that belonged to the Amazon, I hold him no grudges, he was as he was: he wanted attention, like my wife, like our God wants, and like I like. So it is all in the gamut of things, is it not?

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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