Do you know what your “vision” is when it comes to your photography?  Want some help in figuring it out?  I’ve talked about David duChemin before and his book “Within the Frame” wherein he talks about vision and photography.  Well beginning today (Friday) and continuing Saturday and Sunday he is conducting a free workshop discussing how to figure out what your vision is.  Go…Go right now.  Go right now and sign up for this free online workshop and watch the “rewatch” of today’s session and be ready for Saturday and Sunday. Go to creativeLIVE and get signed up!  It’s free!  Why are you still here? 

Oh, wait!  Before you do, grab this coupon code:  VISIONDRIVEN – good for this weekend only, for a 20% discount on your choice of five or more ebooks at CraftAndVision.com.  David recommends “Ten” and “Ten More”, both of which I have and highly recommend, to use as exercises for finding your vision.

You know what I’ll be doing this weekend…How about you?

Have I ever shared with you what a clutz I am?  Yes, I am a clutz.  I was headed out the door the other evening to turn off the sprinklers.  I don’t have an underground sprinkler system that is set to run automatically.  No, I have an old fashioned hose with a new fangled sprinkler head that I drag to various points in the yard.  This particular setting had the sprinklers getting some water on the front steps in an effort to water the planting beds, as well as the grass.  I stepped down  to the second step and my foot went out from under me.  My only thoughts were to catch myself enough to not hit my head on the edge of the steps.  I could just picture myself lying unconscious in the bark mulch with the sprinklers soaking me down.  Actually, that is exactly what happened, except for the unconscious part.  I have never felt pain like I felt then, even considering the pain of giving birth.  Unfortunately, no one was witness to my accident and I was on my own to pick myself up and get out of the way of the sprinkler, but not before getting soaked.  I managed to crawl over to a planter and was able to get to my feet, but I wasn’t able to put much, if any, weight on  my right leg – I was pretty sure nothing was broken, but I did severely strain the knee and slightly sprained the ankle.  Even through all of that I managed to move the hose to the other side of the yard.  I had to – I had dry spots and the grass that I’ve nursed to health the last couple of years would have been toast.  I’m not sure how I got up the steps to get back in the house, but somehow I did.  I implemented R.I.C.E. as much as possible – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

A trip to the doctor the next day, x-rays to make sure nothing was broken, and a pair of crutches later, and I was much more mobile.  The knee is doing much better today and I only need the crutches towards the end of the day.  It kind of feels like I have a charlie horse in my calf and thigh.  I can’t straighten the leg completely, but I’m starting to be able to bend it a little more every day.  Progress towards healing!

Today is my day to post over at Vision and Verb.  Head on over to see what this title and this photo is all about.  While you are there I invite you to spend some time reading the other fabulous posts written by some fabulous women from all over the world.

Just a reminder that it isn’t too late to take advantage of the promotional code for the  fantastic ebook – The Magic of Black & White – Part II, Craft, by Andrew S. Gibson.  In it, he gives step by step direction for converting color images to black and white and then adding split toning to further enhance the image.  His directions are for both Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements.  The auther of the ebook has some beautiful images, which he uses to illustrate the different examples he provides.  It is well worth the price of $5 for this download.  I have to say that I even learned a few new tricks, which I will definitely be putting to use. This ebook, as well as some other really fantastic ebooks are available at David duChemin’s Craft and Vision.

If you use the promotional code MAGIC4 when you checkout, you can have The Magic of Black & White – Part Two for only $4 OR use the code MAGIC20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST JUNE 1, 2010.

I downloaded an advance copy of a fantastic ebook the other day – The Magic of Black & White – Part II, Craft, by Andrew S. Gibson, which launches officially tomorrow.  In it, he gives step by step direction for converting color images to black and white and then adding split toning to further enhance the image.  His directions are for both Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements.  I tried it in Lightroom and it works as well, but some of the techniques are specific to Photoshop (or probably something else similar).  For the two images here, I converted to black and white in Lightroom, tried the split toning, but wasn’t thrilled with the results, so exported to Photoshop and tried it again – much happier.

The auther of the ebook has some beautiful images, which he uses to illustrate the different examples he provides.  There are 27 pages of discussion, instruction and example and it is well worth the price of $5 for this download.  The ebook launches tomorrow, and if you come back tomorrow, I might be able to give you a discount code to make the purchase even sweeter. (Yes, I’m an affiliate.)  I have to say that I even learned a few new tricks, which I will definitely be putting to use. This ebook, as well as some other really fantastic ebooks are available at David duChemin’s Craft and Vision.

[Update!]   For the first six days only, if you use the promotional code MAGIC4 when you checkout, you can have The Magic of Black & White – Part Two for only $4 OR use the code MAGIC20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST JUNE 1, 2010. 

I had a portrait session last night with a fun family, whose kids are always on the go.  I set the camera to high speed continuous shooting and quickly filled up my memory cards!  The first photo just makes me giggle – the faces this little guy comes up with are to die for.  And his sister loves to pose for the camera…she makes a great model. =)