Pic in the Park

Welcome to my first ever Pic in the Park event! What is a Pic in the Park you say? Well, let me tell you. . .

Pic in the Park is the brain child of myself and several of my brilliant friends (you know who you are, you amazing people you). Here's what happened. We had an event coming up at Merrimack Hall that was going to require me to rent a very large, very beautiful and very expensive lens. Before you ask, no, there was no way around it. Being the perfectionist that I am, I was not about to make it by with some diddly little lens. No no, only the best images will do, even if no one is going to see them - I would still know. The problem: I don't have that kind of expendable cash just lying around.  Soooo. . . Pic in the Park was born! Yes, a brilliant means to help raise a little cash to pay for the lens rental, give people the opportunity to have some nice photos taken who may not want a long, expensive photo shoot, promote myself a little and have some fun! Nailed it!

How did it work? Well, I invited 8 people to join me in the park for a 15 minute mini photo session between the hours of 4pm and 6pm one Wednesday afternoon. Each person's session would cost a total of $25. In exchange for that they would get, the most exciting 15 minutes of their lives, and free web res downloads of the top pics from their sessions. Pretty sweet deal, right? Well, you guys must have agreed because all 8 spots filled within a matter of hours - two to be precise. 

So, said Wednesday rolled around and the weather was poop. The forecast called for 100% chance of rain with a mini lightning bolt over a cloud, obviously this was serious stuff. Fortunately we stuck it out and waited to make the call on whether or not to give in to mother nature. And I am certainly glad we did, the pictures turned out beautifully - at least I think so, and so far 8 other people on instagram agree - go follow me *wink*. Beautiful muted light and hints of raindrops in the background made for some unique photos. Plus, I finally got to make use of that clear umbrella I bought for Lisa and Vanessa's wedding last year and forgot to return when we didn't use it. Way to go umbrella, you have officially made yourself useful, heaven knows you are useless in your primary function - dang dome leaves the back of your legs wet, but your hair looking fabulous :)

Anyhoo, thank you again to everyone who was able to make it out this time. I know I had a ton of fun and hope that you did too!

To anyone who wasn't able to get a spot this time, fear not, I am thinking this may have to become a regular occurrence. Fun, photos AND I get to try out new gear? Sounds like a win all around to me. 

ENJOY! 

How it all began: 

Chi-town

Photo credit goes to meggy on this one. Chelsea, she and i stopped for a moment near wacker dr. i told chelsea to look right and clicked a few horizontals of this shot with my nikon d200. Meggy showed us the vertical she had snapped with my canon g10 and i promptly claimed that i would be stealing that image...so i did. I made a few minor adjustments; most notably was switching the sky out for an old sunset image i had in my files. i managed this by using the background eraser tool for most of my selection, a process that is new to me and i am finding very handy indeed. 

To see the original image, just click on the picture below.