Casco Bay Sailing Race and some news. . .

This was my favorite shot from the race--it's quite dramatic.

I love the splash of water and how it looks as though the sailboat is about to capsize.  They were really just making a hard turn.

I had the good fortune to be able to go out on my friends', Linda and Mike's boat last week to photograph a sailing race in Casco Bay near sunset.  It was not only exhilarating, as it was extremely windy and choppy, but it was a blast, because the boats were able to really speed along, which made for some dramatic shots!

You can see the rest of the shots in the complete gallery on my website.  I took over 250 shots, but discarded more than 3/4 of them and then settled on a favorite 14. 

Camden Windjammer Days Hoola Hooper!

I also created a new gallery called Lifestyle Favorites that feature all of my best lifestyle shots from skiing to model and horseback photography.  You can see it here on my website too. 

I have some news:  I have taken away the ability to purchase prints directly from my website because I feel it not only gives the site a cleaner look, but it will be more understandable to clients to email me directly regarding shots they'd like to purchase.  From now on, I will handle all price quotes and payment and make the orders myself.  You can contact me directly through the website by clicking on the Email Me area on the homepage below the slideshow.  We'll be making more changes to make it even easier very soon so check back!

Please feel free to forward any of my blog posts or web sites to your friends and relatives and I always look forward to hearing from you about my work! 

Best wishes,

Cindy

Great Falls Balloon Festival 2011

Aloft

Monet Balloon Reflection

15 image 180 degree panorama of the field

Takeoff!

Add caption

Aloft Over the Androscoggin River

On Saturday, August 20th, 2011, my husband and I got up at the horrifically early hour of 4:00 am to drive up to Lewiston and photograph the dawn launch of hot air balloons at The Great Falls Balloon Festival.  It's actually a lot closer to Portland than I realized, so we got there far earlier than we had planned, but that ended up being a good thing, because we were able to pick up a cup of coffee and a pastry before we headed to the launch field in Bonney Park. 

I have a whole gallery of other images that show the setup and inflation of the balloons, which are some of my favorites of over 300 images taken that morning.  You can see the rest here at my website. 

It was so beautiful seeing them all gently lift off at dawn.  I've never had the good luck to actually see them take off, because the last couple of years, I didn't want to get up that early, and I went to the 6:00 pm launch, which is often affected by the stronger winds that you can get in late summer in the afternoon and evening.  At dawn, the air is generally quite still and peaceful, however, which makes for perfect launching conditions. 

If you haven't done so yet, please take the time to click on the "Join This Site" button to show your support for my blog and as always, please forward any of my blog posts or website to your friends and family anytime.  Thanks for looking! 

Cindy

Would you Care for Some Sugar?

Pour Some Sugar on Me!

Would you Care for Some Sugar?

Sugar Anyone?

I learned a wonderful technique on 1x.com written by a photographer named Pascal Muller.  I have always wondered how to get those great shots of individual sugar or salt crystals pouring down against a black background, and this tutorial explained it perfectly.  I tried Pascal's setup and easily achieved these three shots in a short amount of time.  I'm really happy with them and having yet another studio lighting technique under my belt.  Hope you enjoy them.  Look for more to come in the following weeks!  Best wishes, Cindy

The Cover of Farnsworth Summer 2011 Magazine

Alvaro's Hayrack Room Detail, Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld 2011

Well, I've been extremely busy for the last month or so--I can't believe it's been so long since I've made a post, but summer is often like that.  Make hay while the sun shines, and all that, right?
I'm excited to announce that Farnsworth: The magazine of the Farnsworth Art Museum chose my image: Alvaro's Hayrack Room Detail taken at Olson House last month for their Summer 2011 Magazine cover.  This is one of my favorite images taken that day.

I felt very lucky to be able to spend so much time all by myself in the house, photographing each room.  You can see all of the images on my website I suggest that you click the slideshow button on the top right hand corner to view the pictures in a really pleasant way and just sit back and relax.

We just spent a week in far Eastern Maine at Rideouts Lodge in Weston, Maine on Grand Lake with my mother and her Standard Poodle, Max.  We had a great time, listening to the loons and Hermit and Swainson's Thrushes calling, fishing for Small Mouth Bass, canoeing, reading and swimming off the dock, which was right outside our cabin.  It's a long drive from Portland at 4.5 hours (ulp!) but it was worth every second on the road.  I took so many pictures that I can't wait to share, including a couple of new panoramas of Grand Lake at sunset.  So, look for another post in the next week or so!

Hope you're all having a great summer!  Best wishes, Cindy

Help me out with your votes for my image in the Macallan Photo Competition!

Please vote for my image--I need all the help I can get in this competition!

If you click on this link for the Macallan Masters of Photography Photo Competition I would really appreciate all of the help you can give me with your votes and your sharing of this site with your friends and relatives and ask them to vote too!  Thanks so much, Cindy

Definitive date and time for the Borealis Bistro Art Opening

Support Local Art!

June 1st Art Opening!

Portland Harbor Skies is just one of the images that will be shown and sold at Borealis!

Beginning June 1st and ending August 1st, I am going to have an art show of my work at Borealis Bistro on 182 Ocean Avenue in Portland!  It's a really nice space with plenty of parking, and of course great breads, food and drinks.

I'm not sure if I'll be having a true opening or not, but if I do, I will announce it here before too long and I hope whoever is in the area or close by will come and support me by showing up. 

I'm going to have between 10 and 12 large framed pieces on the walls, mostly land and seascapes, a couple of panoramas, and a bunch of matted prints, both large and small in a basket or bin nearby for sale. 

I'd like to ask everyone to forward this post to all of their friends and relatives in the hopes that people will put my show on their calendar and make a point to stop by and see it either on opening day or throughout the next two months that it will be up.  Thanks for your help in advance! 

Best wishes, Cindy

Portland Skate Park

Zach Thibault takes a jump at Portland Skate Park--a 6 image composite.

Single image of Zach Thibault taking a jump at Portland Skate Park--an HDR.

Portland Skate Park rider on a BMX style bike, taking a jump.  A 4 image composite.

Another single shot of Zach Thibault taking a jump at Portland Skate Park.  HDR processing.

Josh Champagne at Westbrook Skate Park, taking a jump.  A four image composite.

Bryan Kilburn, skateboards at Portland Skate Park.  HDR.

Westbrook Skaters, Josh Champagne, Josh Sinclair, John Cobb & Kristian Gallagher

Well, I've been kind of sad thinking that the ski and snowboard season is obviously over for a few months until I discovered the Portland and Westbrook Skate Parks last weekend.  I had a lot of fun shooting high speed compositions of these guys skating and BMX biking and they are all okay with me pointing my camera at them over and over, which is always a plus!  Thanks guys! 

Look for more images to come as I'm planning on going back as I learn more about both BMX biking and skating tricks and moves.  Thanks for looking as always, Cindy

Spring Flowers: What's not to love?

Tulips in my garden yesterday. . .

Alone in the garden. . .

Sherwood Gardens, Baltimore, MD on a sunny afternoon.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Portland, Maine!

Another lone tulip. . .

Tulips with a background of the deep blue sky. . .

Beautiful Cinquefoil I discovered on a walk in the woods in Maryland recently. . .

Sherwood Gardens, Baltimore, MD--Magnolia, Magnolia, Magnolia!

What Mainer doesn't long for the sight of Spring flowers throughout the long, long winters?  I know I always do, and as a result, once the Spring flowers start showing their beautiful heads, I take advantage of it, beginning with crocuses and snowdrops, cherry blossoms, tulips, magnolias and continuing all the way to the last hardy New England Asters and Cosmos in the Fall.  Nothing is quite so pretty as Spring flowers though. 

Over the last couple of weeks, since we visited my in-laws in Baltimore, MD, I have had quite a few opportunities to photograph flowers, starting with Baltimore's beautiful Sherwood Gardens which is filled with magnolia trees, beds full of multi-colored tulips, daffodils, flowering crab apples and cherry trees.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I had a great time wandering all over the gardens, taking shots. 

And just in my neighborhood, up the street, are two brilliantly pink cherry trees that are simply laden with blossoms (image 4) and scads of pink tulips blooming right in my garden. 

I was very happy to discover that in all the construction work on the Capisic Pond area last summer, the Lupine field that had just started to bloom well last summer had been left intact!  There are loads of Lupine plants growing, so be prepared for some more flower posts in June (or maybe even before!)

This shot was taken at the Capisic Pond Estuary last year during "Lupine Time." 

You can always see more of my flower images on my website of course. 
Happy Spring everyone!

To post-process or not to process. . . That is the question.

Kiwi Macro. . .Taken yesterday in my studio--a three image HDR composition. 

This article was published today in England's PhotographyBLOG:
I recently read a thread on one of my favorite photo forums:  "Does anyone else dislike Post Processing for photos?"  

Great topic and conversation starter, really. . .  I think a lot of people are confused by just what defines "Photoshopping" a photograph.  Some landscapes that one comes across, my own included, often provoke such exclamations as, "That is so beautiful, it can't be real!"  

Old Orchard Beach at sunrise in November.  My husband was taking pictures that looked like this with his iPhone!  It truly WAS this beautiful. . .

 I think the goal I always have in mind when I take any photograph is to take the right photo the first time.  I never set out to take a picture thinking, "Now what I really want to do is spend a few good hours at my computer with this one!" 

But the reality is, the digital camera/photography process itself adds some noise or "grain", both color and luminance to most photos, especially the dark areas. It doesn't look naturally "pretty", as film "noise" or grain does. . . In fact, if the noise is pronounced enough, it can look like squiggly little worms when you zoom in on it.

Just plain ugly. . .

Both film and the digital process also don't seem to allow (at least in RAW format) for taking the contrasty, colorful images my eyes see.

I have read multiple sources which suggest that such film greats as Ansel Adams spent a great deal of time in his own "Photoshop" (read: the darkroom) dodging, burning and otherwise contrasting up and tweaking his lovely photographs that hang in museums and private collections all over the world to this day. So "Post Processing" or "Photoshopping" has been around for a loooong time now. Even the artsy pictorialists spent a lot of time getting their delicate, soft-focus compositions to look the way they did after the fact. . .

This photo, taken at Portland's Downtown Showdown, had a lot of noise.  If I hadn't de-noised it, it would have been unusable.  After the fact, it is one of my favorite shots of the night. 

 So, while I strive to take the right image in camera, and often come extremely close to the mark I set, I also have to de-noise my pictures and add a bit more contrast, saturation, and even brighten things up before they can be shown to anyone. And if I am turning an image into a monochrome/black & white, I obviously have to spend some time doing that. . .

Birches in new snowfall.  Taken in color and converted to monochrome in Photoshop.

 So, I guess I would say that while I won't waste my time on an image that was a piece of excrement to begin with, I will spend a little time making it look extra special after the fact, as all of the film greats and now digital greats continue to do with their own images. . .

  Yesterday morning, I was reading an interview with pro Cycling photographer, Seb Rogers in the book Sport & Action: The World's Top Photographers' Workshops by Andy Steel and there was a wonderfully explanatory quote from Seb: 

Andy Steel asks: "How much of your work is manipulated using imaging software?"

Seb Rogers responds: "It depends what you mean by manipulated. I only shoot in RAW format--never JPEG--so every single shot that goes to a client has been individually tweaked for white balance, curves, contrast, saturation, and so on. I like my images to have a fairly film-like look, with plenty of punch, so that's the way I process them. But heavy Photoshop work, such as the occasional insertion of a blue sky into a cover shot, for example, is up to the client."

I hope you've learned a little bit about the behind the scenes work that goes into many (read: most) photographers' photographs and workflow.  Please feel free to write in with questions you might have and as always, feel free to share my blog posts and website with any of your friends and relatives.

Best wishes and Happy Spring!  Cindy