Alex Neely, Photographer

Adorama’s weekly specials includes deals on lighting equipment this week.

Flashpoint 16″ Cool Light with Stand and 4 – 45W Spiral Bulbs

Westcott Compact 43″ White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover – Collapsible

Photogenic StudioMax III AC Basic Studio Kit with 2 AKC 160 Constant-Color Monolights, Umbrellas, Stands & Case (AKC320K)

Orbis Ring Flash Attachment Kit, for Use with Existing Flash / Strobe, “One Size Fits Most Flashes”, with Orbis Arm, Aluminum Bracket for Mounting the Orbis Ring Flash

The following workshops will be produced by the Serenbe Photography Center during May and June:

• Flint River with Georgia Conservancy – with Peter Essick
• Alternative Photographic Processes – with Sonya Jilani
• Beginning Work as a Photojournalist – with Greg Newington, Greg Newington Photography
• Vintage Plate Collodion for the Contemporary Photographer
• Beginning HD video with your Canon DSLR
• Platinum and Palladium Printing – with Frank Hunter
• Behind the Scenes at Serenbe: A Documentary Approach – with Marilyn Suriani
• Basic Orientation for Traditional and Digital Darkroom Printing

In conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography 12, APG will produce “Maximum Impact” and exhibit to be displayed in the atrium of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Internation Airport from September 17 through November 3, 2010.

Submissions are limited to APG members. Amy Miller of Atlanta Celebrates Photography will juror the show. The submission deadline is July 1, 2010. Contact APG for more information.

Hummmmm, how to eliminate the swinging camera around your neck – the Adorama B-Grip. Looks like it will work well for carrying more than one camera without having them bang into each other. I think I’ll order one of these while they are one sale…

The Atlanta Photography Group has issued a call for entries for the annual showcase exhibit “In You Dreams” which will be on display from July 9 through August 20. Click here for details and here for entry form.

• EOS Rebel XS SLR Digital Camera (Black) with 18-55mm IS Lens Kit
• EOS Rebel T1i (500D) Digital SLR Kit w/EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
• EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera (Camera Body)
• EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Kit w/ EF-S/18-55 IS
• EOS Rebel XS (a.k.a. 1000D) SLR Digital Camera Kit (Black) with 18-55mm IS Lens & 75-300mm III Lens
• EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR (Body Only)
• EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera Kit w/18-55mm IS & 55-250mm IS Lens

• Sony A380 2 lens kit
• SanDisk 4GB Ultra Compact Flash Card
• Canon EOS Rebel XTi 2 lens kit

Here are three camera deals from B&H Photo:

• $100 instant savings on a Canon EOS 50D
• Discount plus free shipping on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35
• Free shipping on a Canon EOS Rebel XSi

It’s a fact of life….if you use a DSLR, no matter how careful you are when changing lenses, sooner or later you are going to get dust on your sensor.  No problem, I know how to remove dust spots you say?  How about you get back from a road trip, download the images from your cards, find the images of the wind generators in Utah with the beautiful blue sky…….full of spots.  Not one or two but 60, 70 or more one each image!!! Aaaaaaghgghhhhhh!  And the pictures of the air show – same thing!!!

Many (and I mean many, many) hours later, images are saved thanks to Lightroom’s spot removal tool and Copy Settings functionality.

In the case of spots having the same pattern on multiple images, you can fix one image  then use Copy Settings (ctrl + shift + c on a PC) selecting only spot removal to copy the repair and then Paste Settings  (ctrl + shift + v on a PC) to paste the repair to the next image or images (yes, you can apply a fix to as many images as you select).  Then comes the fun part…..reviewing every image and correcting the “fixes” where object placement in the photos result in spot removal creating little circles of incorrect samples.  Like I said, many hours later…….

Best to avoid the problem in the first place… Frequently clean your sensor using the procedures stated in your camera user’s manual – generally, with the camera in sensor cleaning mode and the camera upside down (so any dislodged dust will fall OUT of the camera), GENTLY blow a  stream of air across the sensor using a CLEAN squeeze bulb.  DO NOT TOUCH OR ALLOW ANYTHING TO TOUCH THE SENSOR!  Unless you want an excuse to buy a new camera.

Spots – what spots?

The Serenbe Photography Center’s Grand Opening Event will take place from 5 to 8 pm on Saturday, March 13, 2010,

Tour the new Photographer’s Print Studio, see and compare different types of photographic prints, enjoy a glass of wine and some cheese while you chat with other photographers and view the fine work of Frank Hunter, Peter Essick, Billy Howard, Marilyn Suriani, Kathryn Kolb, Greg Newington, Mark Maio and more.

Featuring high quality workshops and a print lab for both traditional black & white and color as well as large print digital (with two Epson 9600 printers), the Serenbe Photography Center is the only resource of its kind in the Southeast.

The Serenbe Photography Center is located at 9110 Selborne Lane, Suite 220 Palmetto, GA 30268. For more information call 770-463-9098