photography

Prints on display from Il Palio di Siena at Art Walk

Promotional image for Conrad Chavez photos at November 2015 Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk

Event: November 13, 2015 in Seattle

I’m showing a set of photographs from my from my series about Il Palio di Siena, including two large images I haven’t printed before. Il Palio is the centuries-old traditional horse race held twice each summer in Siena, Italy. Attending Il Palio was fascinating to me not because of horse racing specifically, but because of the colorful cultural and historical traditions that drive it.

The event is on November 13, 2015 from 6 to 9 p.m. as part of the monthly Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk. Join me at Nutty Squirrel Gelato, 7212 Greenwood Ave N in Seattle. (See location on Google Maps).

I ate a lot of gelato while attending Il Palio, so I am grateful to Nutty Squirrel Gelato for hosting my Italian photographs in an appropriate venue. In addition to the delicious treats available at Nutty Squirrel, there will be Art Walk-only art discounts and affordable gifts. I will also have additional prints and images that are not already on the walls. Hope to see you there!

More info: List of all participating venues and artists / Map of venues (PDF, 2-up)

If you can’t make it to the event, the photographs are on display throughout November 2015. You can also visit my Palio di Siena project website to see an extended photo essay and video of the works that I continue to create from this ongoing project.

Also, by a complete coincidence, SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) is screening a documentary about Il Palio on November 14, 2015, the day after this event, as part of their Cinema Italian Style series. I haven’t seen it, but the trailer looks promising. For more information and a preview, see: Palio

Prints on display: “Capture the Moment” group photo exhibition

Reception: March 13, 2015 at University House Issaquah

You can see some of my recent photographs in a group show at University House in Issaquah, WA. The show is up from March 13 to June 6, 2015.

The gala reception is on Friday, March 13, 2015 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m, with wine and hors d’oeuvres. If you plan to come, please RSVP to 425-557-4200 by March 11. See you on the 13th!

University House is at 22975 SE Black Nugget Road in Issaquah, Washington, USA. (See location on Google Maps)

I am also honored that one of my submissions, “Dancing Sunset at Golden Gardens Park,” was selected to be the promotional image for the exhibition.

Flyer for Capture the Moment photo exhibitionClick to download the “Capture the Moment” flyer and reception details (PDF file, 1.5MB)

The show also includes photographs by Kristine Anderson, Alex Brikoff, Debbie Cahn, Monique Catino, Sarah Dalton, Ron Hammond, Jack Johnston, Jerry Kaufman, Dave Ko, Cathy Loftus, Paul Mongillo, Catherine Simpson, and Betty Spann.

Thanks to June Sekiguchi and ERA Living for presenting this exhibition.

Read my review of Blurb Book Creator in InDesign Magazine

InDesign Magazine, Issue 70: Inspired Designs

The Blurb book publishing service provides several tools for you to design your own self-published book, but you may feel that those tools are limited. If you’d rather create a Blurb book using the full range of professional design and production capabilities in Adobe InDesign, the Blurb Book Creator plug-in may be for you. I reviewed Blurb Book Creator for InDesign Magazine (February 2015). I think it’s a great tool that simplifies Blurb book creation, and can help spot and resolve problems before they turn into costly printing mistakes.

Click the link below to read the article at InDesign Magazine:
InDesign Magazine, Issue 70: Inspired Designs

It’s a pretty strong issue overall, with lots of well-researched and informative content like Justin Seeley’s article on using Adobe Muse, Sandee Cohen’s article on the many ways to place graphics in InDesign layout, and David Blatner’s article on using RGB images for prepress.

The article is part of an issue of InDesign Magazine that you can buy as a single issue or as part of a subscription. InDesign Magazine is a bimonthly periodical devoted entirely to Adobe InDesign and to the thriving community of InDesign professionals. With editorial direction by page-layout guru and author David Blatner and CreativePro.com editor in chief Mike Rankin, InDesign Magazine brings you the in-depth features, reviews, and tutorials you need to master Adobe InDesign. You can download a free trial issue.

Editing Highlights and Shadows in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw — CreativePro.com article

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw have two sets of controls for making tone and contrast adjustments: The Basic panel Tone sliders and the Tone Curve. Because the slider names in these two sets of tools are almost the same, some believe that both sets of sliders do the same thing, while others believe the newer Basic Tone sliders are better and there is no longer a need for the Tone Curve. But neither statement is true: A closer look reveals that each set of controls affects your images in subtle but important ways.

Want the whole story? Click the link below to read my article at CreativePro.com:
Editing Highlights and Shadows in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw

Editing Highlights and Shadows in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw article on CreativePro.com

How to Blur Backgrounds with a Compact Camera — CreativePro.com article

Blurring the background of a photo is often used to help draw attention to the subject. It’s not hard to do with an SLR camera because of the size of the digital sensor or film frame, but what if all you have is the little digital camera in your pocket? You can still get it done using traditional techniques for depth-of-field control, but with a small camera you’ll have to work a little harder at it. The good news? Some newer digital compact cameras give you more of the depth-of-field control that used to be available only with larger cameras.

Want the whole story? Click the link below to read my article at CreativePro.com:
How to Blur Backgrounds with a Compact Camera

How to Blur Backgrounds with a Compact Camera on CreativePro.com