We were asked to photograph a series of these polished opals by Becky Lee Osterback- a remarkable woman with a great personal story. They were quite small- most are about a half-inch across. Macro lenses were not enough, so we figured out a new way of extending the lens and increasing the magnification to make the most of these stones. Some experimentation proved that the use of multiple-source polarized light was the way to bring out their richness of color and pattern.

Each gemstone has a story behind it and a name. If you look at this stone with a bit of imagination, the reason for the name "Mother Mary" becomes apparent. There is much more to this story including a shamanistic friend of Becky Lee's named Janet who is currently, and willingly, snowed-in in the northern reaches of Washington State. She acquired these opals through a mysterious series of events which gives them great meaning to her. Janet's story is beyond what can be expressed here. Suffice to say that this profession leads down some very interesting paths indeed.

One of the eight product lines currently offered by Smart Smoke, a locally owned Spokane business, these electronic cigarettes offer an alternative to the chemicals and tar associated with traditional tobacco smoking.

We have been photographing Smart Smoke products for the past few years and have enjoyed being a part of the company's success as they've grown from a single kiosk in the Spokane Valley Mall to six local retail stores with over 40 employees.

This image was created as a decorative print and is currently displayed proudly on the wall behind the CEO's desk in Smart Smoke's Spokane Valley headquarters.

Most of the crew from Spokane's own Salon Nouveau came to our studio for an afternoon session with five models, our friend Joe as photographic stylist and art director, and a talented hair designer with each model. Terri Brazil's selection of choice period clothing from her personal collection set the tone, and subtle post-production treatment brought the look together.

This work propelled the salon into the finals of a national hair competition. Beautiful models, edgy hair design, and a cohesive sensibility through clothing, set, and lighting made for success.

It is inspiring to work with such beauty and talent.

Comments and feedback welcome.

We photographed Anew Start Rejuvination Center in Liberty Lake recently for their website redesign. With a spa atmosphere, our intent was to reflect the peaceful and relaxing ambiance of the facility. From the detoxifying foot bath, to the infrared sauna, Kim and her staff offer a wealth of therapeutic services.

To achieve the warm look of the image, we composited several exposures of portable flash and 'painted' light, a technique involving long exposures during which the photographer uses a hand-held light to 'paint' areas of the scene. We used another long exposure to capture the motion in the glass waterfall.

Comments and feedback are welcome. We appreciate your interest.

 

We had an assignment to photograph this CT scanner at Deer Park Hospital for an annual report. It is a massive machine with a diagnostic purpose which can improve and even save peoples lives. By concentrating on the human interaction we sought to tell the story in one image, with emphasis on the compassion exhibited by those in the health care profession. The coolish lighting on the machine served to de-emphasize and give a calming sense to the equipment, contrasting with the warmth of the people and their relationships. Technician Brent Cummings at the helm with Nurse Gail Gibson and patient (stand-in) Carol Henson ably helped us tell this story.

Comments and feedback are welcome. We appreciate your interest.

Tony Roslund now the district representative for the Spokane chapter of Professional Photographers of Washington (PPW). The PPW is the local affilliate of the Professional Photographers of America. As the district rep, it's my job to drive membership, coordinate events, find guest speakers, and keep our community informed on the latest news. If you're interested in becoming a member, please download the application here.

 

Some recent changes to membership:

Although the organization is called Professional Photographers of Washington, you don't need to be a professional to join. A new category called "Enthusiast" is available at a reduced rate. Members in this category receive all the same benefits with the exception of voting rights.

Additionally, if this is your first year of membership with the PPW, you can join PPW as a "First Year" member for only $59.

Lastly, and this is not a new category, students can join for only $50yr.

 

I have been invited to participate in a professional panel at the SPENW Regional Conference. The topic of discussion is "Professional Pathways in the Digital Era". Who knows where these panel discussions will lead, but the concept is to discuss some of the methods and tactics employed by professional photoraphers to utilize digital tools such as social media, the internet, and digital cameras and computers.

The conference has a trade show, several presentations, and lots of galleries associated with it. You can register at here. And there's more info about the conference on the website.

In addition to the professional panel, as the new Spokane district representative, I will also be hosting a table at the trade show for the Professional Photographers of Washington (PPW). Stop by and sign up to become a member if you're not already!

How well do you see color? Find out with this simple Hue Test from X-Rite.

 

If you have an interest in photography and want to move from location shooter to studio owner, your chance to get the education you need is coming with Super Monday! This educational event is coming to Roslund Photography on May 16—and Anthony Roslund is joining in to share his secrets for Studio Workflow. It’s the next step to take towards running that studio you always wanted! Roslund's class, "Studio Workflow" (COURSE NUMBER, WA20), will show you how to plan for success in the operation of your studio. This class (WA20), is part of a nationwide educational event by Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Called Super Monday—as the majority are held on Mondays—these classes are known for individual and focused attention. With its limited class size, Roslund's "Studio Workflow" is perfect for showing you how to achieve the successful studio you’ve been wanting. Ready to learn the skills that will help you on your way to professional photography? Sign up now for this Super Monday chance near you: www.ppa.com/supermonday

If you know me at all, then you know I'm an Apple fanboy (to say the least). Much of the reason why I love my Macs so much is the software that goes along with them, especially the stuff created by third-party developers. Here's a short list of some of my favorites you may (or may not) have heard of:

10. Carbon Copy Cloner Clone, synchronize, backup. Schedule and forget it. The easiest (and free) backup utility.

9. EXIF Viewer is a small Mac OS X application to display EXIF information in JPEG files coming from digital cameras. Launch the app and drag a JPEG image onto the icon.

8. Rip It Transfer DVDs to your Mac with ease and speed. Then take your movies with you without the need to carry around discs.

7. TextMate brings Apple's approach to operating systems into the world of text editors. Full featured, great for editing HTML, PHP, and plain-text files.

6. Transmit You need to transfer files. Maybe to an FTP or SFTP server, or the cloud via Amazon S3, or using WebDAV. You maintain a website, do backups, or upload photos. This is THE app for FTP/File transfers.

5. TaskPaper is a simple to-do list that’s surprisingly adept. Many to-do apps have so many bells and whistles that they become overcomplicated. This one is simple but very powerful.

4. App Zapper The uninstaller Apple forgot. Drag & Drop simplicity.

3. Coda Text editor + file transfer + svn + css + terminal + books + more. One window web-development. This has many similar features as TextMate, plus Transmit's file transfer engine.

2. Dropbox Cloud storage for just about everything. Integrated into more and more apps all the time, this is like a remote hard drive (and it's FREE).

1. CloudApp CloudApp allows you to share images, music, videos, files, etc. Much like Dropbox (though not as popular), with a few extra stunning features. Make sure you download the taskbar add-on under Tools menu.

That's it! My top 10 lesser known favorite apps. Best part is that they are all either free, or very inexpensive. Plus they ALL have trial versions available!

OK, one more as a bonus:

Onyx is a multifunction utility for Mac OS X which allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, to run misc tasks of system maintenance, to configure some hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock, QuickTime, Safari, Mail, iTunes, Login window, Spotlight and many Apple’s applications, to delete caches, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome and more.