Website Revision Update

by Sherri on September 28, 2009

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Kim Brown photographing the Geese at Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Howdy! We have been busy little beavers making some improvements to our Website. Any of you that have one, know how time consuming this task can be. Right now, our Website is going through a transition and is not fully functional. We apologize for any inconveniences you may incur during your visit. We hope to have everything working by days end on Wednesday. In the meantime, if you have any questions about our images, please contact us. Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.

Lightroom Photo Makeover

by Sherri on September 22, 2009

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Camp Fruit Salad, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

I'm not a Food Photographer. But, I like to pretend to be one once in awhile. This photo was taken during our recent camping trip with friends to Utica Reservoir. Putting the salad and arrangement together was a collaboration. I had the Gingham tablecloth. Vicki had the blue enamel bowl. Kim supplied the cloth napkin. We all supplied the ingredients. It was a lot of fun and I'm happy with the results. I think it will work just fine as a "Camping Stock Photo." The Makeover Photo #1 - To develop this image, I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Photo Management Software. To improve my original image (see below), I did the following:
  1. Created a Virtual Copy.
  2. Used the Nikon D300 Preset and increased the exposure by 1/2 of a stop.
  3. Set the Clarity to +40.
  4. Set the Vibrance to + 60.
Photo #2 - This is the way the photo looked straight out of the camera.
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Camp Fruit Salad, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

I hope you enjoyed this photo makeover. Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.

Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week

by Sherri on September 18, 2009

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Donna & Maya Bussinger rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River, Auburn, California.

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Maya Bussinger rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River, Auburn, California.

I'm putting up a couple more photos from our recent rafting trip on the Middle Fork of the American River, with our friend Donna (former Professional Raft Guide) and her 4-year old daughter Maya. I hope they like them! About the photos These photos were developed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. Writing this post each week is two fold. I can share a wealth of Lightroom tips with you and I can also share one or more of my images, that I have developed using Lightroom. Would you like to know what I did in Lightroom to improve these original images? If so, feel free to ask in the comments section below. OK all of you Lightroomers. Here are your Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week in random order. Happy Lightrooming! [click to continue…]

Questions? Jusk Ask!

by Sherri on September 14, 2009

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Jeff Hartnett and Kim Brown kayaking on Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

This image was also captured during our camping trip to Alpine County last month. If you would like to know how this shot was captured, how it was developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, or you would like more information on Utica Reservoir, simply leave a comment below. You can also read all of my previous posts on Utica Reservoir here. Thank you for visiting!

Labor Day Paddle

by Sherri on September 8, 2009

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Donna & Maya Bussinger rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River, Auburn, California.

Donna & Maya Bussinger rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River, Auburn, California. Yesterday was awesome! Jeff & I had the great opportunity to raft the Middle Fork of the American River (between Driver's Flat and Mammoth Bar), with our friend Donna and her 4-year old daughter Maya. This section of the the American River doesn't draw the hoards of tourists from the Bay Area and LA like the South Fork does. There are a few reasons why. For one thing, it is only 7-miles in length. It also consists of only Class I & II rapids. Lastly, not many know about this run, which is why we love it so much. Now, I know after writing this a few more people will know about it. But, hey, if I don't write about it someone else will. It may as well be me! [click to continue…]

Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week

by Sherri on September 4, 2009

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Sunrise and kayaks at Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

You may have noticed that I didn't post my Lightroom Tweets last week and maybe you didn't. My plan at this time is to post them every other week, until I get the Website project I'm working on closer to finished. It may work out that I continue to post them every other week. That will give everyone more time to try the tips out, including me! [click to continue…]

What’s Up at SMP?

by Sherri on September 2, 2009

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Sierra Sunrise over Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Sierra Sunrise over Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California. This was also taken during our recent camping trip. We've been really busy working on a major Website project and I haven't had a chance to post for a few days. Today, I decided I had to post something no matter what. Here is an overview of what we are working on:
  1. We are adding a collection of new images to our on-line galleries.
  2. Some of our images are getting moved to our new archive, but they will still be available for purchasing as prints and for licensing.
  3. We are preparing to offer a few new services. I'll keep those a secret for now.
  4. We will be rescanning some of our slides.
  5. And more...
We hope to have the things mentioned above completed in 3-4 more weeks. After that, we will be concentrating on adding hundreds of new images to our galleries and archive. In the meantime, I hope to get back to posting on this blog a bit more often than I have been! Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. You can also sign up for a "free" subscription to this Blog. Just look in the upper right hand side of the Blog under "Subscribe to Sherri's Blog." Then, either click on the orange button, or enter your email address and click on "subscribe." Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.

Morning Paddle on Utica Reservoir

by Sherri on August 26, 2009

Morning paddle on Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Morning paddle on Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Jeff and I have kayaked and canoed on a lot of beautiful lakes and reservoirs in Northern California. If I had to choose the top 5 best places we have ever paddled, Utica Reservoir would definitely be one of them! 5 reasons why it is in the top 5.
  1. The water is warm, clear and has a sandy bottom.
  2. There are many islands to paddle to and camp on.
  3. The water is calm most of the time.
  4. The scenery is beautiful in every direction.
  5. It's not too big or too small. It's the perfect paddle lake!
You can read more about Utica Reservoir here. I have many more images to share from our recent trip. I will be spacing them out a bit, as we are in the middle of some very BIG Website projects. For that reason, I will also be spending less time on Twitter and Facebook, until those projects are a little further along. Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. You can also sign up for a "free" subscription to this Blog. Just look in the upper right hand side of the Blog under "Subscribe to Sherri's Blog." Then, either click on the orange button, or enter your email address and click on "subscribe." Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.

Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week

by Sherri on August 21, 2009

Man kayaking on Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Man kayaking on Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

This photo was captured as Jeff, Kim and I were heading for the Lily Pond that Jeff had discovered earlier that day. We were starting to get a little nervous, as thunder bumpers were rolling in. The last place we wanted to be during a storm is in a boat on the lake! Fortunately, the threatening looking sky rolled out of there about as fast as it rolled in. We were happy little kayakers once again! [click to continue…]

Vertical or Horizontal?

by Sherri on August 18, 2009

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Goose silhouette, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.

Goose silhouette, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California. When you have a really good subject in front of you like this Goose, it's always a good idea to shoot more than one photo of it. Try shooting your subject in both formats (vertical & horizontal) at the minimum. Here is the horizontal photo of this Goose, that I posted last week. Which one do you prefer? Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. You can also sign up for a "free" subscription to this Blog. Just look in the upper right hand side of the Blog under "Subscribe to Sherri's Blog." Then, either click on the orange button, or enter your email address and click on "subscribe." Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.