I won Popular Photography's April Photo Challenge!

I found out last Friday that I won Popular Photography Magazine's April Photo Challenge: to take a photo using reflectors instead of electric lighting or strobes/flashes.  Here is the image that won, called Orange Margarita.  I get $100 as a prize, as well as my image in the July 2010 issue of PopPhoto with a small interview about the photo.  Plus, my website will be featured within the interview, which should be great publicity for me. 

Here's how I did it:  I often shoot food this way.  Most of the photos on my Stockfood Portfolio were taken this way as well.  The object (in this case the drink) is placed on a white foamcore board with a white foamcore board as background.  I then use a third white foamcore board to bounce the light that comes from the right side from my sliding glass deck door onto the left side of my composition, creating a more even, "professional" lighting. 

Shot with my Pentax K20D, the Pentax FA-50mm f/1.4 lens at f/11 on a Bogen 3011 tripod. 

Thanks for reading!  Cindy

Barack Obama

I was really lucky on April 10, 2010, to be able to attend President Barack Obama's speech in Portland, Maine! (Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them)  And because the news that THE MAN was in our town speaking has already made to the Flash section of Portland Magazine, I can show these off now!  These are my three favorite shots from the speech.  My father very kindly helped me out by loaning me his wonderful Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 lens, which allowed me to get these pictures that I couldn't have done with any of my other lenses.  Thanks Dad! 

It was quite the ordeal, really, despite all the excitement.  I had to be vetted by the White House first, and then show up almost three hours early to get in line and wait for an hour until they let all of us press people in the side door.  There were tables for the "traveling press" which I didn't understand.  Who was this traveling press?  (I guess it was CNN, NPR, etc, etc--the big guy!)  And across from where President Obama was going to be speaking, was a big stage, with masking tape strips on the floor, denoting where all the video camera people (such as CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc, etc) got to place their ginormous tripods and fifty pound cameras.

We poor schmoes with simple cameras had to find spaces in between all of the video cameras.  Everyone was very nice, of course, but those video cameras take up a LOT of space--what with all the cords snaking this way and that.  I ended up sitting on the front of the stage between two video cams and taking all of my shots from there.

It was really sweltering hot in the auditorium--everyone was excited--people had been lined up for blocks, five across the sidewalk, just wall to wall people, so the energy was palpable.

And finally, five minutes EARLY, in walked our President!  It was so exciting and so LOUD it was unbelievable.  I noticed in the taped speech coverage, that CNN had blanked out all of the screaming that was so intense it made my eardrums vibrate.  I've never even had that happen in a rock concert!

The President's speech was great, just as I expected, but being able to share space in the same auditorium with him and several thousand people who were just thrilled to see him was the best.  Once again, thank you Portland Magazine!

Cindy

Leave Nothing but Footprints is out!

My first book of landscape photography is out! Titled "Leave Nothing but Footprints", the name was taken from the motto of the Baltimore Grotto, a caving society.  "Take nothing but pictures.  Leave nothing but footprints.  Kill nothing but time." 

 It is a very nicely sized book.  I decided to go with the smallest format Blurb offers, at 7x7 inches square.  When I was in the Maine Photography Show last week, they had printed an Exhibition Catalog with Blurb in this same size and it was really a wonderful little book.  It has my image of the Blueberry Martini splash shot that was in the show in the latter 1/4 of the book. 

LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS by Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld | BOOK INFO

You can see twenty of the pages that I randomly selected to give you a feel for the book.  All four seasons are represented, along with a lot of Earth-friendly quotes and bits of poems.

Feel free to click on the little envelope icon at the bottom of the preview to share it with your friends or relatives or click on the little shopping cart icon to buy the book in one of three manners:  perfect-bound paperback, hardcover with dust jacket or hardcover with an image wrap (the cover images printed on the hard cover.) 

I hope you'll tell everyone about my new landscape photography book and perhaps even be motivated enough to purchase one for yourself!  Cindy

New Tulip Poster

I designed this poster yesterday--it prints out to12x18 inches.  I wanted to give the tulips an old-style look with the processing, and hope that I've succeeded.  Happy Spring everyone!  Cindy

The Winsome Max. . .

My mother's golden poodle puppy, Max, taken yesterday at Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  What a cutie!  Cindy

Good Things Come in Threes

As I was driving home from the grocery store this morning, I saw this Cherry tree, just waiting for me to take some pictures.  It was so bright and cheery against the blue of the sky.  It couldn't represent Spring any better, could it? 

You can click on each picture to enlarge it.  

Happy Spring everyone!  Cindy

A few very kind words. . .

Today, in a thread I've been following on dPreview's Pentax SLR group regarding who the most knowledgeable photographers are, I read a response that made my day:

"I read every single post of Cynthia's hoping to pick up nuggets of her photographic style. I even have her site bookmarked and check it regularly.

I'm lucky enough to have spent an extended amount of time in Maine. I have visited many of the sites she photographs. While they are by themselves beautiful her photographs always bring life and story to them.

I hope someday to be able to do the same."

I wish I knew this person's actual name, so I could thank him or her personally, but this will have to do, unless he reads my thank you on the forum. It's nice to know that people are out there, following what I do and enjoying it.

It made me realize just how important it is to tell the people you like, or who inspire you, how you feel. I'm going to try to do just that more often because it made me feel so great to read those simple words.

Best wishes for a happy weekend everyone! Cindy

My images from Portland Magazine's April 2010

Some of you may know that I have this month's cover, which I was very happy about.  I took photos of this interesting street circus, called "Excuse me Sircus!" last July, on a Friday evening when we were visiting Portland Museum of Art.

The next couple of pictures is from the Portland Harbor Hotel, only the first of which made it into the magazine, but I had to include my favorite image from the elegant bathroom.  It also has an amazing tub, which I didn't photograph.  I would love to have the opportunity to stay in such a nice room someday!

The next set of pictures came from Dr. Charles Carpenter's wonderful loft apartment on Monument Square in Portland.  The article's author, Meagan S. Riedmann and I had so much fun visiting the apartment.  It has such wonders as an authentic church pulpit, complete with a red leather chair at the top and Maine's only glass elevator.  In order to get to the penthouse part of the apartment, Meagan and I had to follow Dr. Carpenter out onto what felt like an extremely rickety fire escape, four floors above the ground, and we were both very nervous, despite Dr. Carpenter's lack of fear!  I wish I had taken pictures of how frightening it looked to us, but I was, well, too scared!

The final image is from Yordprom Coffee, a brand new authentic Thai coffee shop at 722 Congress Street, Portland Magazine's old location.  They are very gracious and welcoming at Yordprom and I really enjoyed photographing the baristas hard at work.

I hope you'll pick up a copy of the issue so you can read all of the articles and see my pictures "in person" as well as reading my very favorite part of this issue (and one that I had absolutely nothing to do with,) the interview with folk icon, Dan Fogelberg's widow, Jean Fogelberg.  It brought me to tears a couple of times and was very sensitively done.

As always, you can click on any of the images to see a larger version.

Best wishes everyone and thanks for reading, Cindy

E3RRPPZNNNK2

The Maine Photography Show 2010!

I'm pleased to report that this image, Blueberry Martini, made it into the Maine Photography Show 2010!  The Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception takes place Friday April 16, 2010 from 5-7 pm.  You can read much more about it and see the winners of last year's show by clicking on Maine Photography Show 2010.
The location is at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation, 1 Townsend Ave, Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  I hope you might be able to be there to help me celebrate this fun event!  Wish me luck!  Cindy

The space Within is now available!

       

          The Space Within by Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld | BOOK INFO
       

(If you click on the shopping cart icon with the word BUY below it, within the 

above preview, it will take you to Blurb, where I'm selling the book.) 

I am very happy to announce publication of my architectural photography book, The Space Within, on Blurb.  My proof copy just arrived and it looks fabulous!  It is an 8x9.5" perfect bound, 80 page glossy book filled with my architectural photography and interesting notes on the history of many of the buildings and houses within.  I hope you'll take the time to check it out and maybe even buy a copy of your own!

Best wishes,

Cindy