10 May 2010, Posted by admin in Blog, Photog Help Blog, 2 Comments

New Lessons To Be Learned

Things have started!

03 Mar 2010, Posted by admin in Blog, Featured, 1 Comments

Gatorland, Will You Marry Me?

Ok, that’s not quite how it went.

12 Sep 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Reviews, 0 Comments

Bean, The Anti-Vegetable

The little bean.

01 Jul 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Plog, 0 Comments

How We Celebrate!

The weekend before my birthday, Jeff and I met my parents in Palm Coast. My mom never gave us the address to where we were staying, just kept saying “either a Microtel or someplace like that”. We drove there, called for directions and we pulled into this place that had restaurants and shops. After walking in and being told to “Hurry up!” by my parents, because “a maid let us look at a room for a few minutes, so we need to be quick.” I started to think to myself, “What in the world is going on and WHERE is the toilet?!”

Walked into the room and saw lots of streamers and a balloon! We were fooled! My parents had rented this nice condo for the weekend, with these wonderful beds, a flat screen tv and a kitchen!

After it sank in, I started realizing that I was sweating like crazy. Why? Because the air conditioner wasn’t working!

Two hours, a few phone calls to the owner and a walk around the area, the a/c guy finally came out to tell us that there was nothing he could do until MONDAY! (Remember..this was Friday!) Mom confirmed with the owners that we were going to get everything cleaned up and looking exactly how it was and that we would be staying else where. So we then got a room and went to dinner at a wonderful place in Palm Coast called Bourbon Street Bar and Grille.

Saturday rolls around and we head to St. Augustine for the day. On the way there we passed through the intersection where our accident took place five and a half years ago. I had a little mental breakdown and then I was fine. I hadn’t seen where it happened since that night, so it was a little shocking and lots of memories came flooding back.

Mom, Dad, Jeff and I had a WONDERFUL lunch at the Spanish Bakery right off of St. George Street. It was THE reason I wanted to go into St. Augustine! That made my entire weekend and I’m already wanting to go back and enjoy more lovely food from there.

Saturday night, Mom and I did some shopping and then we all went out to dinner.. Dad however realized that he had left his credit card somewhere. THANKFULLY it was traced back to the restaurant we ate at on Friday and they still had it.

Sunday we went out for breakfast, after we found Dad’s keys (which he left sitting in the hotel room when we checked out!), plus we then spent 20 minutes looking for the Denny’s that was RIGHT across the street from the hotel! After breakfast/lunch, we went to the beach to get some pictures!

No less than craziness happens when my family goes some place. And the weekend before my birthday was no let down! That weekend made me realize all over again how much I love my parents and how thankful I am to have them and spend time with them. (The craziness is just an added bonus!)

Thanks Mom and Dad!! (aka Whodi and Father Unit!!)

16 May 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Featured, 0 Comments

Point (& Shoot) Your Way To Basic Photo Tips

Take a moment to read the title again..yes, these are tips. Not rules. When it comes to photography, there really aren’t any rules. You do what you feel is best, what looks best, and you’ll get what you want.
If you’re in the market to get a point and shoot digital camera, please keep these simple tips in mind.

*Make sure that the camera you’re getting has at least 7 megapixels, even though most cameras now a days are 9 or 10.

*If you’re worried about the zoom on your new camera, do NOT worry about digital zoom. The only zoom you should be concerned with is optical. Digital zoom does nothing but make your picture very pixelated when you go to print it out (which is far from a good thing).

*The camera should have a USB Port to make it easy enough to plug the camera directly into your computer or laptop.

*Memory cards,

CompactFlash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) are the 2 most common cards that are on the market. It will be easiest to use those cards with external card readers.

*Also, when it comes to memory cards, cameras normally come with a very tiny memory card. You’ll want to get another card (I would recommend a 1 gigabyte, which you can get for around $10). If you (a) take a lot of pictures and/or (b) don’t empty the card too often, this size card or larger would be good for you.

*Make sure that the LCD screen is big enough for you to see and constantly use.
The bigger the screen, the happier you’ll  be.

Other tips to keep in mind,
not pertaining just to point & shoot cameras.

*When taking pictures make sure you fill the frame. Not all pictures follow this “rule”, which is good. But for the most part, you want the entire frame to be filled.

*Do not rely on the flash. If you can get away by not using the flash, take advantage of it! If you are outdoors, in the sunlight, turn off the flash! Most cameras have the flash to automatically be used. Check out your camera manual (you know that book that came with your camera that you never looked it!) and see how to turn it off. Most flashes can be turned off in a button press or two.

*Plus with built in flashes, unless you are close enough to your subject, the flash won’t do anything for the picture, but more than likely make it underexposed, which you do not want.

*When photographing children or pets, it’s best to get eye level. Sit on your knees, lay down on your stomach, do what you have to do. Standing over your child won’t have the right feel. Try not to shoot down at them. Don’t get me wrong, unusual angles do work! But it’s just like framing, it’s not a “rule”, just something to try to remember.

*Don’t count out camera phones. While I would never rely on my camera phone as my everyday camera, look what broke the news on the Hudson River plane crash. Yep, a camera phone. And that picture was used all over the news! You know the one..

*Always have a camera with you, you NEVER know what you’re going to see or come across. Always be ready!

What are your favorite photography tips? Are there some tips that you think should just go away forever? Do you think about it or just take a picture? Are you such a pro that things just come natural?

Thanks to Adam Wiggall for this tip:
Showing is as important as taking.

Meaning, when you have been out and taken 200 shots it is unlikely that your audience wants to see every single one of them. Be a ruthless editor and remove anything you wouldn’t hang on your wall, four shots at a slightly different angle of exactly the same thing is boring, pick the best and delete the other three.

It is tough to do, but it improves not only your photography (as you learn to not press the shutter unless you are sure), but also everyone else’s opinion of your work. Win win baby!

07 Apr 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Featured, 0 Comments

List of Photogs on Twitter

There are LOTS of different people/companies on twitter. I follow a bunch of different people. I have come across a few photographers on twitter that I enjoy: reading their tweets, looking at their pictures and for some of them, both!

Here are some that I have been following for a while and some that I just came across.

@andrewshepherd – andrewryanshepherd.com
@BenSpark – benspark.com
@christyderr – cameostudios.com/blog
@Dan_ – fuzzyboiler.com
@emilieinc – emilieinc.com
@imageisfound – theimageisfound.com
@jorycordy – blog.jorycordy.com
@MarkLobo – marklobo.com.au
@mandymiller – mandymillerphotography.com
@missmaro – missmaro.com
@monophotography – monophotography.co.uk
@motionblur – flickr.com/photos/motionblur
@phillprice – phillprice.com
@PicSeshu – seshu.net
@photopreston – prestonmack.blogspot.com
@polaroidgirl – flickr.com/photos/anniebee
@prophotopete - doksik.blogspot.com
@sadieolive – sadieolivephotography.com
@sarahbethphoto – sarahbethphotography.com
@scottanderson – scottandersonblog.com
@shannx – flickr.com/photos/shaanx
@spb13 – spbdesigns.com
@thomashawk – thomashawk.com
@urbanjunkiesart – urbanjunkiesartistlounge.blogspot.com
@whoisariston – aristoncollanderphotography.com

03 Apr 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Featured, 0 Comments

It Was A Beautiful Disaster

Angela and I arrived at Universal Studios around 4:00. I was quite sure there were going to be lots of people, but wow. I underestimated. The line was already zig-zagging back and forth at least 4 times and we were back by the ever-so-horrible Twister “ride”.

Around 5 they started letting people in. I must say, that’s the ONLY thing Universal did alright with. It wasn’t a free for all. They let in small groups at a time and everyone got to find their spots that way. Angela and I found quite a good spot close to the stage, so I laid out the towel and we had a seat. Oh no! Don’t do that! Security was making everyone stand….”MUST MAKE ROOM FOR EVERYONE!”

After 4 extra hours of standing around, yelling at someone for getting in front of us and our new friends (which included Lindsay — @littlehuff, who came all the way from Atlanta to see her 16th show of Kelly Clarkson!) and the parade to finish — 9:15 came around and Kelly came on.

She was amazing. High energy to ballads to just being someone that you would want to go hang with — the show was wonderful. After taking over 550 pictures in a hour (that might be my new record) and going through them to find the best ones — here are some.

Kelly did quite a few songs songs, which included: I Do Not Hook Up, My Life Would Suck Without You, All I Ever Wanted, Break Away, Miss Independent, Since U Been Gone, Behind These Hazel Eyes, Because of You, Beautiful Disaster (rock version), Addicted, How I Feel, Walk Away, Never Again.

As I said, show was great. But Universal is HORRIBLE! Getting out was the worst. They are so far below Disney standards it’s not even funny. Entrances CAN turn into exits. Everyone should not have to be shoved out of 6 little tiny turnstiles all the way over to the right. Barricades should have been taken down and employees should have been in the middle of the road keeping people moving. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this stuff out. I did this..I know it’s possible! Clearing a FULL park does NOT have to be a difficult thing.

Here are just a select few of what I took that night. The rest of them are in the gallery and also for sale in the store. I am working on doing a giveaway, so check back!

18 Feb 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Featured, 0 Comments

Serious website meltdown

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I am sitting here working on my photography website..which I haven’t updated since November of 2008. I’m not sure how exactly I want the “gallery-to-store” links to work, but I want to make it the easiest for YOU! So please, click through the gallery and tell me how YOU would like to see or have seen an easy “click here to buy” function. I don’t really like how it is now..if you find a picture that you’d like to buy in the gallery, you then have to go to the store and find the same picture. Not that it’s that difficult because they are in the same categories and named the same, but I just want to make it the easiest thing possible for YOU.

This is where you come in. The incentive: I will be going through reading the comments/emails and whichever way I think will work best for peglegpug.com, that person will receive ANY print from the website of their choice! Try your hardest to explain to me the way your ideal gallery/store functions would work.

peglegpug.com

Comment below or e-mail me at kelly@peglegpug.com

30 Jan 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog, Reviews, 0 Comments

On the Search For…

Friday, January 30, 2009

I keep saying, “As soon as I get some extra money I’m going to rent a camera lens to try out.” Well, where is that extra money? And now that I finally picked up a shift from Disney (see previous post), I should have enough money to at least rent one for a day. Okay, maybe even a week. The problems now are: Where do I rent a lens from? And where am I going to venture out to take pictures?

The potential websites I have come across for renting DSLR camera lenses are: rentglass.com, borrowlenses.com, lensprotogo.com, photolensrental.com and lensrentals.com. I am still in the process of trying to find other sites and then I want to compare some reviews and prices. Ideally, I’d like to start renting a lens every month / every other month and do up a review on here about not only the lens, but the website I got it from (costs, shipping turnaround, packaging, etc).

As for where I will be going to take the pictures, I’ll probably just go wonder somewhere around town, whether it be one of the theme parks or a park or just some place.

I am now asking/begging for you to give me any websites you may have used before or have come across to rent camera lenses. I would love to have quite an array of places to go through over the next few months. As for places for me to go visit and take pictures, I am up for places around Florida/Central Florida area. As long as I can rip Jeff (peakarts.com & twitter.com/bananakin) away from the house for a bit, I’d like to be able to drive to the place over a weekend. So pass on any places, websites, etc. Comment below or send me an e-mail at kelly@peglegpug.com.