Using Curves in Photoshop.

I saw this article today and even if you know a little about using curves in Photoshop this will still help, at least it did for me.  A really good "how to" read.  Check it out HERE!

Photographix. A Camera Club for Utah!

For you Utah photographers I thought that I would share a club that I have been a member of from the beginning or the group back in 2005. 

Here is the "clubs history" taken from the clubs website and can be found HERE.

"The club was originally formed in 2005 by Doug Sims and Michele Harding.
Our Mission was, and continues today, 'To have a club that is open to all skill levels. Where members can grow and be motivated to improve their skills through workshops, networking, and competitions'
A little history-We started out meeting once a month in North Salt Lake. One month we would do a competition meeting and the next month we would have a workshop. We would also have a summer picnic and Christmas Party.
A short while later, we moved our meeting location to the Layton City Library. We continued to meet there until the fall of 2008. At this time, we decided to put more efforts into on-line activities and scheduling to help facilitate communication amongst club members. We also wanted to help each club member to have a web presence. A place where they can upload images to share with family and friends. We discovered the Ning social network which is the platform we are currently on. Although it has some banner ads, it does have a lot of features and allows us to keep our out of pocket costs low. We strive to find every way possible to keep this a FREE club to allow all who wish the opportunity to participate.
Our current goals are-
- To continue with online competitions to help motivate you to go out and shoot.

- To have an event of some kind around every two months. This may be a field trip, workshop, or other type of event.

- To have a club picnic or social event during the summer. This may qualify as one of the bi-monthly events listed above.

- To have a Christmas Party or social event during the Holidays.

- To encourage members to network on this site and in the community. It is amazing how much we can all learn from one another. Please, list events you see or learn of on the Calendar and, if you are looking for someone to go shoot with, post in the forums or start a blog. I'm sure there are a lot of photographers on this site with similar photographic styles that would jump at the chance."

So fellow Utahns... Head over and join RIGHT NOW!  You will love it!  CLICK HERE TO JOIN!

Article on Photographer Doug Sims

Last week Utah photographer Doug Sims put on an art gallery show in downtown SLC with some of his photography in a series of three exhibits.  It was a very cool show to see and the work was a cleaver idea.  An article was put together on a Utah website about the show that hits a bit on the exhibit.

Check the article out HERE

Shooting for X96 at The Tower

I will be shooting some shots around at the X96 screening of the new White Stripes film "Under Great White Northern Lights" on Saturday March 13th at the Tower Theater in SLC, UT.  Shots from the event will be used by X96 and sent into the record label.


For more info on the show click HERE

Photographer Doug Sims puts on a show!

Doug Sims a photographer located here in Utah will be putting on a show of some of his work today is SLC.  The gallery is titled "Perspective" and will have three sub categories; Mannequins, p1115 and American Gothic.


Looks to be a great show! See you there.


Click here for more info

Win a BBQ dinner with CJ Miles of the Utah Jazz!

Utah Jazz announce the newest contest for the fans!

"Enter the C.J. Miles Western Style BBQ contest courtesy of Ruby River Steak House. If you're one of our lucky eight winners, you and a guest will enjoy a private evening of western style BBQ with Jazzman, CJ Miles."
-Utahjazz.com


To enter click HERE to text "BBQ" to 69882

Photography and the Winter Olympics. Article and Video

I saw this story and video on photography at the Winter Olympics.  An interesting short video for all my fellow photographers! 

Check it out here.

Epiphanie running a contest for a 5D Mark ii!

So I was browsing facebook this morning as I do a few times per day when I came accrost a post by photographer Todd Keith's post talking about a contest that you could win a 5D Mark ii in.  So I checked it out.  Looks pretty legit (I hope) so I entered.  It is based off of points that you get for doing sertain things like this blog post talking about it.  This is worth 3 points.

After looking at the contest I checked out the bags they offer and they are actually very nice so at least check them out for the bags if you don't want to enter the contest.

Check the contest and bags out here!

Photoshop Photographer Tip!

Here is a great article done on how to "effortlessly remove people from photos".

Check it out here!

Subscribe to the SPaD Blog for more tips and tricks in the future!

SPaD shots hits SLUG (Salt Lake Underground) Magazine!

Last week I hit the show of Daniel Day Trio as they released their first ever CD entitled Champions.

The show was held at The Red Door in SLC, Utah and was an amazing show!  SLUG Mag writer  Andrew Roy was there and enjoyed the show as well as explained in his recent article in SLUG Magazine shortly after.  Another shoot where the lighting was a fun challenge but a location was one that I had shot the Trio at before and came with settings and a good lens for the environment.

The shoot went great, the band rocked the roof off the place and it was a fun event overall.

To view the photos from the shoot and to read the article click here!

To find DDT on facebook click here!

Photos Published on X96.com!

SPaD recently did a shoot at the X96 Radio from Hell's 2010 Local Film Festival.  It was a fun event and a challenge to shoot.  The shots we taken INSIDE the theater up in front of the screen and the lighting was tricky.  Harsh flood bulbs were constantly playing with camera/flash sensors.  Richie T. of X96 had to grab the nearest latter and remove the bulbs that were pointed toward where I was standing and shooting making it a bit easier to control the lighting on the shots.

It all went well and many photos were taken of the different crews and producers of each film that was going to be shown at the film festival.  My wife and I were not able to stick around to view each show because we were off to the Anniversary Inn where my wife surprised me with a very nice room in celebration of our anniversary the same day the X96 shoot was on. February 17th, 2010!

Scroll down to the bottom of the page on X96.com and select the photo album to view the photos from the event.

Click here to visit X96.com

Sidewinder Photography and Design starts a blog!

Hey hey all!  Yes we have done it! We have entered into the world of blogging.  Future blog posts will consist of mostly Photography related topics and news and updates with Sidewinder Photography and Design and contests!  Subscribe to the blog TODAY to keep up to date on these topics and to be eligible for prises in future contests!

A few sites that you can check out right now are...

The Sidewinder Photography and Design website.

The Sidewinder Photography and Design official facebook.com fan page. Click and become a fan!