There was a lot of valuable information presented and quite a few questions by the attending IP’s. I will be acquiring this research and offering it to our IP’s. I also will be looking onto obtaining a copy of this presentation and presenting it to a future meeting of the ASID CA Peninsula IP’s.

Rise Krag of RKI Interior Design, ASID CA Peninsula Membership Director for 2010/2011

Last night I attended a joint board meeting with both the incoming and outgoing board of ASID CA Peninsula. We met at the Dunn Edwards store in San Jose it was a bright open space and a really enjoyable place to hold the meeting.

There was also a CEU being presented that evening: Designing for Healthy and Productive Interiors: Light and Sound for Optimal Human Performance CEU AND Decorative Lighting, Accessories and Art Spotlight.

You can see all the photographs from last nights meeting and the CEU by following this link to my portfolio gallery.

Alta Mesa Memorial Lunchroom - High Dynamic Range Image

On Tuesday June 1st I shot a job for Shirley Lo and Loretta Spence. I delivered first draft proofs on Wednesday June 3rd via internet, by Monday the 7th we had gone through six generations of proofs until Shirley and Loretta declared the color of the images and the retouching to be “perfect.” And I delivered their images via electronic download.

This is amazing because now we can complete a job in the amount of time it took to get first run proofs when shooting 4×5 film.

At one point Patrice told me that she was a little disappointed with digital photography. I asked why and she showed me a few shots that another photographer shot where the color was not great.

Since I had my computer with me-as usual-I asked if I could see what I could do with them. It only took me a couple of minutes of “playing” with the color & contrast to make major improvements to the images. After was done Patrice was so impressed she ran a print off and immediately replaced the existing copy on her display shelf.

I pointed out to her that this was easy for me because I have been working with digital images on a daily basis since 1996. After fourteen years, I’ve developed some appreciable skills with digital photographs.

Many photographers want to do all of their work in the camera and leave it at that. My background of working in photo labs back in the eighties and early nineties taught me that taking a picture with the camera is just the beginning of the photographic process and that there is no photograph that cannot be improved in the darkroom, or on the computer.

Some photographers have objected to this, feeling that their creative opportunities and professional responsibilities pretty much come to an end once the shutter clicks. I like to point out that Ansel Adams, a well known and highly respected photographer wrote three books on photography “The Camera”, “The negative” and “The Print.”

As you can see according to one of the most well known and respected photographers of the twentieth century taking the picture is only part of the creative .

Front Row (L - R) Carol Spence Carr, Debbie Snider: Back Row (L - R) Meera Chawla, Jeanette Loretz, Anna Sarkissian, James Stout, Janine Arietta: Not Shown but in attendance: Dean Birinyi (Photographer)

We are beginning to get to know each other and feeling more comfortable discussing chapter business in an open and less tentative manner. This may be because the hand off to our board from the leadership of Marie Chan of Interspace Design is under way.

We discussed many things but the primary focus of the meeting was to ensure all members had a good working grasp of the overall goals of our organization and define a clear vision and mission for our terms. There were many opportunities that presented themselves to us, more than can reasonably be achieved in any one year. We will rely on the leadership of Carol Spence Carr of Carol Spence Interior Design to focus our efforts and make this year, and next successful and productive.

High Dynamic Range Image of Residential Kitchen

The high dynamic range imaging allows me to create images of spaces as humans perceive them, with rich colors and a wealth of detail in both highlight and shadows that capture the delicate interplay of color and texture. This technique allows me to go beyond showing the furnishings and accouterments to communicating the mood and emotion of a space with unparalleled fidelity to the designer’s vision.

As I say in my seminar on photography for interior designers high dynamic range imaging will soon become the standard for interior design photography. I recognized it’s utility and value the first time I had the opportunity to work with it, this is why I have worked to master the technique. and now my clients can benefit by having photographs of their designs that contain a life and sparkle that was never before possible.

You can view more high dynamic range images of interior design in my portfolio galleries.

ASID CA Peninsula Continuity Board Meeting

(Board members above, from left to right, first row: Carol Spence Carr, Marie Chan, Jane Higo. Second row: Debbie Snider, Jeanette Loretz, Divya Vijayanandakumar. Not shown but in attendance: Anna Sarkissian and Dean Birinyi)

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with the current board of the ASID CA Peninsula chapter at the continuity meeting at AS Design in Los Gatos. This was the beginning of the hand off from the leadership of Marie Chan to that of Carol Spence Carr.

I’m looking forward to working with the chapter and hope I am ready for the challenges I will be assigned as my duties. The upcoming board, on which I sit as the Industry Partner Director is meeting on Monday.

High Dynamic Range Image of the Tech Museum in San Jose, CA

I also had the opportunity to speak with Meera Chawla regarding the 2010 ASID CA Peninsula Design Awards Gala. I will be photographing the event and look forward to having the opportunity to help tell the story of the event.

I’ll have images to show after Shirley and Loretta approve the images. Clients always have first rights.

Jeanette Loretz, Mike Weddington and Doreen Yun

Windows and Beyond hosted the second CEU seminar in the “Minding Your Business” series prepared and presented by Mike Weddington, General Sales Manager at Hunter Douglas. In attendance was the President Elect of the ASID California Peninsula Chapter Jeanette Loretz, of JL Designs & Interiors.

This seminar was titled “How to thrive, not just survive in today’s business environment.” As usual Mike did a great job of presenting the ideas and concepts in a useful and easily understood manner. I am very pleased with these seminars, so often a speaker will share just barely enough information so that no one can legitimately say they were “ripped off” but not one whit more. The result is that after an hour or two or sometimes a full day you walk away with a few hints of things that could help you, or possibly one new idea.

Mike, on the other hand, provides so much useful information you can’t help but come away with wealth of new ideas, proven techniques and concepts that will help you run your business more effectively and profitably.

But as Mike points out – it’s all in the execution. You can have great ideas, and wonderful plans but you have to have the commitment to do the work required to see your plan through to the end to achieve success.

You can see & download the shots I took of the seminar and the ASID members who attended by following this link.