Lenzie and Ashby
Two days ago I was given to the opportunity to take photos of the two most adorable kids ever. Here is the set of photos… I’ve made most of the photos private but some of them are available publicly. I hope you enjoy them 
You can see more of my work at www.Philipsonphotography.com
Beachwalks.tv Episode #580 – Featured Guest…. ME!
Today, I had the great opportunity to hang out with Roxanne, Shane, and the most adorable dog in the world Lex! So cute! I went to take some photos and just hang out for a little bit and ended up having such an awesome time. Roxanne and Shane are really quality people and I’m glad that there are people like them in the online tech. community. They helped me out by doing a quick brainstorming session with me and giving me some helpful advice that I’m definitely going to take and run with it. Sometimes with business it is not such a good idea to be a ‘nice guy.’ Nice guys finish last, and that’s not just with dating but with business
The other really neat thing that happened was I announced my website to the world! It’s the first time that I mentioned to anybody about my site Philipsonphotography.com. I ‘premiered’ it on Beachwalks.tv! Pretty cool eh?
Beach Walk 580 – Preserve Beach Access Hawaii
I think I sound/look like a retard but I think that’s everyones opinion of themselves when they see their own face and hear their own voice. Anyways, check their site out, check my site out. Leave a comment.
Latest Explore
Funny… I didn’t even really like this photo when I took it but then I stumbled upon it almost a year later and thought it was REALLY good… So I posted it and it’s my next photo on explore
Christmas at Iolani Palace – Explore
I love this photo and I love this palace. Did you know Iolani Palace is the only palace in the United States? Also, it had electricity before the White House? Pretty cool eh?
I would never have imagined that I could have gotten about 4-5 photos in one week on explore ever. It’s been awesome…
Big 50!
With the photo above I have now completed my goal of getting 50 photos on Flickr’s Explore. It was a huge challenge to myself in the beginning of the year and thought I probably wouldn’t make it by August. Then it seemed as if I was getting them every week. Kara pointed out that this week alone I’ve had 4 make it to explore. Now I have to think about my goals for next year…
49th Photo on Explore
At the beginning of last year I made it my aim to get 50 photos onto Flickr’s Explore. I’m at 49! I sure hope I can get one by the end of the month!
Latest on Explore
I took this photo at Ko’Olina, Oahu, Hawaii… Not really much to say about it other then I probably burned my retina trying to take this shot
Red Bulletin
I got an email from the energy drink company Red Bull today saying that they’d like to use the above photo of mine in their monthly news letter the ‘Red Bulletin’ that they just started making last month. So I said of course on one condition. I get a copy of the newsletter. This is interesting because yesterday I was seriously debating whether or not I should start going into photography more professionally and when I mean that I mean signing up for classes at a University and getting a degree in it. I have called University of Hawaii’s Art Department but since I went to an unaccredited college none of my credits will be transferring. It’s just a nice thought though, I’m sure professional photography is a difficult field to get into whether you have a degree or not. Well, I need to start getting ready for my flickr meet downtown in about an hour.
More Wedding Photos
I took photos last Saturday in Waikiki of a couple Dan and Hiroko Frick. It was a TON of fun and I got to work with along side an amazing photographer Marina Miller. I got to ride a trolly covered in white and pink balloons through Waikiki and eat at Oahu’s fanciest restaurant Le Mar.
As I edit and work on the photos you can check their set here. You can also check my photostream here.
 
Hope you like them and if you have a flickr account don’t forget to favorite your favorites!
How to: Vignette a Photo Joe Style
I get people asking me how I vignette photos easily in photoshop. Why would you want to vignette in the first place? Well, artist and painters have been doing it for hundreds of years to bring the eyes to certain parts/subjects of the paintings. This effect is also helpful in photography in bringing a person’s eyes to a certain part of the photograph. Most times this is a subtle effect but other times it isn’t meant to be. Just depends on the photo and your style. The following is going to be a quick and easy way to add vignettes to your photo. I’m not saying it’s the best or fastest or whatever. It’s just the way I do it.
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1. First open your picture. I picked possibly the worst example for this but here we go:
2. Create a new layer
3. Choose your Gradient tool. Make sure your colors are default black and white:
4. Make sure you’re set Transparent to Black:
5. Select Radial:
6. Click the center of the photo and drag all the way out: 
7. That’s pretty much it. If you want to decrease the amount of your vignette you can lower it’s opacity. You can do that by selecting the layer you want to change, then reducing it’s opacity:
Hope that helps. It was my first tutorial ever… Hope this helps you make your very own vignettes.
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Oh yeah, I forgot Before and After images. Click to enlarge:
Before:
After:
Something Awful Happened
Today the most horrible thing happened. My camera bag was stolen. Inside was my Nikon D80, Flash, Memory Cards, and most importantly, the two lenses my father gave me as a gift. They were about 20 years old and were my favorite. If you know me and even if you don’t you could probably figure out that my greatest hobby and passion is photography and was to aspire to be a professional photographer. I have the skills and I was beginning to make the connections.
As a school teacher in a private Christian school I don’t really have the income to replace this equipment. My friends suggested that I put something on my website to somehow raise some support so that I can purchase a new camera. If you’ve enjoyed my photography or my help I would very much appreciate your consideration. Even $10 bucks would be a huge blessing.
Sincerely,
Joe Philipson
