ASID CA Peninsula 2010/2011 Board Installation Ceremony

ASID CA Peninsula Board Installation Ceremony

Last night we held the Installation Ceremony for the 2010/2011 Board members of ASID CA Peninsula at Chimere in San Carlos, CA.

It was very fun seeing everyone and the new board has big plans for the upcoming year. I know because I’m on the board as the Industry Partner Affairs Chair and privy to all the inside information.

My industry partners should look forward to increased opportunities to meet the designer members and interact with them and the other industry partners.

You can see more of the photographs from last nights event in my portfolio gallery by following this link.

ASID CA Peninsula Board Installetion Meeting Tonight

Tonight’s the night. The new board members will be installed tonight at Chimere.

September 2010 Photograph of the Month Tafoni

Tafoni - Wide Screen

Tafoni - Narrow Screen

This months photograph is titled “Tafoni”

I shot this image in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. Tafoni are small cave-like features caused by weathering and erosion found in granular rock such as sandstone or granite. They are found in intertidal areas, such as our coastline, as well as in deserts.

My wife Erica and I enjoy exploring the open spaces of the Peninsula, and when we found this remarkable feature of the landscape I knew I could get some really cool shots. And since my daughter suggested that I stretch my limits, I felt this was a good opportunity to set aside my innate preference for realism and explore the abstract.

Please let me know what you think by calling me, sending a e-mail or posting a comment here on my blog.

All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. Please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

Please call me if you have any need for photographs and I will do all I can to help you.

Thanks,
Dean

Permanent Link

August 2010 Photograph of the Month Twilight on the Sea of Souls

Twilight at the Sea of Souls

Twilight at the Sea of Souls

This months photograph is titled “Twilight on the Sea of Souls”

This image is another in a series I did of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse near Pescadero, CA back in 2006. I really love this particular lighthouse because of it’s archetypal architecture. It is the only classically styled lighthouse on the west coast because this is the only point that does not have cliffs of sufficient height on which to build the structure above the fog.

This is a pseudo high dynamic range image. Normally to shoot HDRI you need several different exposures of the same scene, however if you only have a single exposure you can still get unique and very dramatic results.

I hope you like it.

You can download this month’s screen saver by clicking the images above. A new window will open with a larger version that you can save to your hard drive.

All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. Please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

Dean

Attended Maximizing Industry Partner Membership in ASID Webinar

I just attended a webinar presented by Ni Cherry, Industry Partner Associate Director titled “Maximizing Industry Partner Membership in ASID”

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.

July 2010 Photograph of the Month “Temple Hoyne Buell Theater”

Temple Hoyne Buell Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Temple Hoyne Buell Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

This months Photograph of the month is titled “Temple Hoyne Buell Theater”

This image is the last photograph I shot as a semi-professional photographer way back in 1992. I had been working for five years to build the skills and acquire the experience necessary to open my business as an architectural photographer and finally all my plans were coming together. I had one more goal to achieve before I went out completely on my own and that was to photograph one large, dramatic public works project.

I pleaded my case to the theater manager and he decided to let me do my thing. He was very kind because not only did he let me into the theater on a Sunday morning he gave me free reign to make any changes to the lighting that I needed. It took me about a half hour to figure out the lighting controls and once I had mastered them I was all set. I shot five different images that day, using my 4×5 camera and black and white polaroids, this is the single best image.

In fact it’s so good I have used it as the closing image in my portfolio ever since. It’s still one of my favorites and always will be.

I hope you like it.

All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. Please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

Please call me if you have any need for photographs and I will do all I can to help you.

Thanks,
Dean

Windows and Beyond & Hunter Douglas Minding Your Business CEU #3

I attended the final Minding Your Business CEU presented by Hunter Douglas and hosted by Windows & Beyond last week. This seminar was on the selling process. Lot’s of valuable information.
You can see the photos by following this link.

Meeting with Patrice Greene Yesterday

I had the pleasure of meeting with Patrice Greene of DzignIT. We spoke for about two hours and I really enjoyed the afternoon.

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 .

ASID California Peninsula Chapter Board Meeting June 7 2010

Last night the Board of the California Peninsula chapter of ASID met at Anna Sarkissian’s studio (AS Designs) in Los Gatos, CA.

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.

ASID CA Peninsula Continuity Board Meeting

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.