Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Photography is a kind of virtual reality, and it helps if you can create the illusion of being in an interesting world.”– Steven Pinker
Today we’re celebrating National Photography Month here and on my car photography blog,
National Photography Month began in 1984 as part of something called the American Photography Celebration but later embraced the entire month of May. For a short time it was also the home of something I created called Take Your Camera to Work day that included a website funded out of my own pocket. This project faded after a few years because of my not being able to afford the cost of creating a better, user-friendly site for people to upload photographs. If anybody’s interested in helping or sponsoring a relaunch of the Website, it could restart next year—with your help. May is also my birthday month and I’d like to thank all of this blog’s readers for their support over the years.
During National Photography Month I will continue my effort, through Monday through Friday posts, to focus attention on sharpening your skills. That’s because photography is the universal language and creates “more than just a memory; it provides a way to touch time.”
National Photo Month is a time to appreciate all the things that photography has done for humanity and continue that tradition, so lets all get out our cameras and get celebrating!
Special Note: Don’t forget that June 29 is National Camera Day, and August 19 is World Photography Day!
How I made this shot: I was preparing to photograph the legendary Internet model Maria Cedar when the you-know-what hit the fan and her hotel reservations and travel plans were canceled but as Salt Lake County looks to ease coronavirus restrictions as cases flatten she may be able to travel to Colorado sooner rather than later. To cheer me up and show how amazing of a model Maria is to work with I’m offering today’s featured portrait from a previous shoot. UPDATE: Since this post was made, she has moved out-of-state and retired from modeling. I hope that sometime in the future she will consider a comeback, even a brief one so we can have have one final shoot together,
For the above image, I photographed Maria outdoors at Hidden Mesa Open Space using a my Panasonic Lumix GH4 with a Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 45mm. Exposure was 1/80 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200 with the GH4’s pop-up flash used as fill. After slight cropping, the image was retouched and enhanced using the Sunlight filter that’s part of Color Efex.
Celebrate National Photography Month by purchasing my book Available Light Glamour Photography which is available new from Amazon.com for $29.95 or used for about the same price, as I write this. The Kindle version is $28.45 for those preferring a digital format.