I taught Renee about the wonderful world of wide angle lenses (or the wide zoom setting on your camera) and how to manipulate it for creative effect. The zoom control on your camera is not meant to replace your feet. Use the zoom to control perspective first, then framing.

Next time you take pictures, play with the zoom setting. Use a wide setting and get close to your subject. Take a few steps back and use the telephoto setting to make your subject about the same size in the frame. You’ll get two dramatically different photographs.

For portraits and headshots, the long end of the zoom setting will give you a more flattering perspective. Conversely, this is why you look terrible on your webcam (aside from the sub-optimal lighting). The lens on your webcam is a wide angle.

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We adopted Portnoy last year. A friend of ours took in three strays and found homes for them. One of them found his way into our lives. He has been nothing but lovable, playful, and very well mannered for the past year.

Portnoy is named after Mike Portnoy, the drummer from my favorite band, Dream Theater. Ever since I discovered Dream Theater, I thought Portnoy would be a great name for a cat.

Pet photos get a bad rap, and rightfully so. They are often taken at eye level looking down with harsh on-camera flash. They are out of focus, motion-blurred, and composed poorly. Dogs are slightly more cooperative than cats. Many animals don’t like flash.

Fortunately, I have the equipment, knowledge, and patience to achieve better results. I captured this goofy expression with my Nikon D80. I aimed the flash unit straight up to bounce the light off the ceiling. This lights the scene evenly, as if no flash was used at all. I got down on the floor to his level. Patience is what makes or breaks pet photos. You have to sit and wait like a sniper.

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In 2006 and 2007, glass blowing artist Dale Chihuly showed his work at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Miami Florida. The 2006 exhibit was the first time Fairchild had done anything like this. It was such a success, they did it again this year.

The gardens are usually open during the day, but for a few select Thursday nights, they opened again from 6pm to 10pm for “Tropical Chihuly Nights.” Dale Chihuly’s work is fantastic to see in broad daylight, but when backlit with carefully placed floodlights, they explode with color.

Photographing at night presents challenges. Artificial light sources are many times brighter than the darkest areas. The difference between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene fall outside the camera’s ability to render them. At the time, I thought doing a composite image in Photoshop would allow the image to be rendered as the human eye sees it.

Artists must always grow and progress. I know I have since I took the shot you see here. Even if you’re not an artist, you can relate. Think back to a situation at work or in your personal life and how you handled it. Now think about how you’d handle it today. If I’m not embarrassed by the photographs I took a year ago, I haven’t grown as an artist.

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Being proficient in Photoshop comes with some baggage. I will occasionally enhance or manipulate images, sometimes to extremes. My preference is to do as much as possible before releasing the shutter. Some things (like magnificent sunsets) can’t be faked convincingly. This image was made with help from Mother Nature and Nikon, not Adobe.

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I plan on posting a new photo every week. Digital photography has made it so easy to share photos, yet we still don’t leverage the potential this technology offers. Many photos languish inside memory cards that haven’t been downloaded, and in forgotten folders on your hard drive. Even fewer get printed.

I wil take a break from the acerbic wit and describe the photo. Lincoln Road in Miami Beach is one of the premier people-watching destinations around. You will see the young, old, beautiful, not-so-beautiful, rich, poor, expressive, and nondescript. Eclectic shops and cafes line the streets, ready to lure curious and hungry pedestrians.

Renee accompanied me on my first visit to Lincoln Road. Having been a Miami Beach resident for four years, she knew her way around. Her friend Chris lives in South Beach, so we met up with him for drinks. We call him “Tex” for obvious reasons. Who would’ve thought two people born in Texas would be showing the 27 year resident of South Florida around a Miami tourist attraction!

If you are photographically inclined, you often hear, “Your camera takes great pictures!” I’m pleased with my camera’s artistic abilities. It knows how to frame subjects in interesting ways and has an uncanny sense of timing for capturing decisive moments.

Don’t be so silly! My camera doesn’t take the pictures. I do!

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