Holiday Special

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was really good. My roommate cooked a turkey and I made the fixings for the dinner. With my regularly scheduled job I couldn't easily make it to my family, come back, and go to work again on Friday without being utterly exhausted.

I am looking forward to some of the photo opportunities that Christmas now brings. I have plans for two excursions in the local region. Because it is the holidays I am putting all of my digital prints on sale for personal use.

My artistic prints will be selling as a holiday special for $10 each digitally. Buy 3 and you get the third one half price. The sale will continue until Christmas. I will make sure you have a release form if you need it and they will be without the imprint so you can get them made up into anything you want hopefully without needing the release form.

I define personal use as non-commercial. So if you want to print the photograph onto canvas and give to a friend for Christmas... you are welcome to do so. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!

The Witches Ball!

Saturday night I had the great pleasure to attend The Witches Ball, hosted by the Misfit's Sanctuary. It was an incredibly well produced event with some incredibly good costumes and plenty of goodies. It was a charity event to raise funds for the non-profit who in turn will create cold weather packs for those who need help keeping warm.

I and very talented photographer David Superville were event photographers for it where we had a small studio set up.

You can check out the pictures of the event by clicking the event link above or here. If you enjoy the pictures please do show your support by purchasing a picture for $5. You will then be e-mailed the picture to do whatever you like with.

Artistic Print Pricing

There are so many theories when it comes to artistic prints. There are websites like Zazzle and Cafe press that allow you to put your photographs on just about anything. However, in many cases the royalty to the artist isn't very much unless you sale quite a bit of a given picture.

I have made a decision on what I want to do with my artistic prints at long last. My intent is to sell the digital print version for personal use only. You will be able to use it digitally or be able to print it for personal use (i.e. get a wrapped canvas with the image or have it printed and give gift to a friend). I will also include a release form so that you have no problems with getting the bought images printed.

My artistic images will range from $25 to $35. You will get the file sent to you in large format so it will be suitable for printing in larger non-standard sizes.

I will not release unlimited numbers of my images. I will only release 15 copies for each artistic image. If you want one of my images for commercial use you will need to speak to me directly for further information.

I use PayPal as a secure method of payment and it allows me to accept all major credit cards through them. As I add images for sale on my pages, I will include links for payment. 

Hummingbirds

Hummingbird being banded.

I had a great Saturday morning. I went up to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens where they were capturing, banding, and releasing ruby-throat hummingbirds. It's one of the most common hummingbirds on the eastern side of North America and are seen as far south as Florida to as far north as Canada. So here are a few facts about the birds.

Hummingbird being released.

Average length: 3.5 inches
Average weight: 1/8 ounce
Body Temperature: 105-108F
Wing beats: 40-80 per second
Respiration: 250 per minute
Heart Rate: 250-1200 beats/minute.

One thing that I did learn is that it is not recommended to get the hummingbird food from the store because it contains preservatives and the dye isn't considered to be too good for them. A 1 part sugar to 4 parts water mixture is all you need to attract birds to your feeder.

Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly both forward and backwards.

Some News

I have some news to share. I and The Creative Edge Imagery have been involved in two articles. The first one I got credited because I did some behind the scenes photography and all the image elements for the poster were taken by me. This is the link for it.

A Place Called Home

The other features my photography.

As I see it

The later has some pictures of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden's ZimSculpt event.

Zim Sculpt

One of my favorite places to visit is Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. I have a membership and they have many really neat programs at the gardens. Currently they are hosting Zim Sculpt. Highly talented artists from Zimbabwe have come over here and are creating sculptures that marry art with nature. If you live in the area it is very much worth going to see them. Here are a few pictures from my visit.

My 4th of July

It's been awhile since I've posted but I've been pretty busy. I started a weight loss journey that I've been focused on since June. However, I have been doing photography as well. Gastonia had a 4th of July celebration on Main Street. I love old cars and part of the celebration was a car show. These are some of the pictures from it.

Rosacea & Photography

I've got a skin condition called Rosacea. It is the bane of my existence too. For those unfamiliar with rosacea it is the flushing of the face. The bad side is my face is generally red a lot of the time. The good news is, I'll never have to buy blush for the rest of my life. According to WebMD

Rosacea (say "roh-ZAY-shuh") is a very common skin disease that affects people over the age of 30. It causes redness on your nose, cheeks, chin, and forehead. Some people get little bumps and pimples on the red parts of their faces.

There is no "cure" and if you have a Germanic or Celtic background with fair skin....it could occur to you. Some people's Rosacea is mild and flares up rarely. However, there are those like me that I have to have constant treatment from a dermatologist. I am very self concious about getting my picture taken as I am sure you can imagine.

However, if you do need to get your picture taken there are ways to cover it up and lessen the affects.

• Use a green base concealer before applying your regular concealer and foundation. The green base lessens the affects of the redness.
• Before getting your pictures taken avoid the following:
• Extreme temperatures (both hot and cold)
• Drinking a hot beverage or alcohol. I strongly suggest caffeine as well.
• Don't exercise before you are ready for your photo-shoot
• Avoid spicy foods as well as they might increase your chance to flush.

• Finally, when you are at the shoot don't worry too much. Photoshop can correct many imperfections. 

me without makeup

me with makeup

Summer Plans

The Spring Semester for college is coming to an end and I have an entire summer off. So I have been compiling a list of things that I would like to do in terms of photography.

I am going to have the following challenges.


Roll of Film Challenge.

Since I don't have a camera that takes film the concept is to challenge myself in taking just 36 photos. The amount that is on a roll of film. With digital cameras it is so easy to take for granted the ability to take hundreds of shots and what you don't like you just delete.

35mm Lens Day & 50mm Lens Day

A day where I take shots but only with the specified lens.
Black & White Day

Where all the photos I take are in black and white.

If you have any suggested themes or ideas for me feel free to comment.

Loch Norman Highland Games

Saor Patrol

Today was the Loch Norman Highland Games. The games is located in Huntersville, NC at the Historic Rural Hills Farm. For those not from the area, Huntersville is just north of Charlotte, NC.

It was a fun time at the games. There were some really good groups in the Celtic rock genre.The first was Seven Nations. They were incredible. Then there was Saor Patrol from Scotland.

I was completely blown away from Saor Patrol. Other Highland Games should definitely bring them over for their entertainment. The energy of the group was incredible and you could tell they were doing what they loved.

Seven Nations

More images will be added to my facebook page which is located at www.facebook.com/TheCreativeEdgeImagery

A few gems found

I was sorting through photographs that I had taken today and found a few that I had forgotten about. To the left is one of many that I will eventually post. Now I can't pretend that I know what the plant was that I photographed. This one taken at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Belmont, North Carolina. They have a very nice conservatory that include a large number of orchids. If you are in the region or plan to visit the Charlotte, NC region I definitely do support you visiting the location.

And we are born....

Welcome to Phase 1 for my photography. We are The Creative Edge Imagery. Our mission is to provide high quality photography services to our customers.

This is the first phase of our business. For this phase we are offering photography services to events and individuals on location. We are also offering prints for sale in a variety of formats. Please check out our store by clicking here or by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Our second phase is to have our own brick and mortar studio.