Sunday Social Photo Tour-March 9 2014

Last Sunday, March 9th, was a brisk and sunny day which provided some challenges for the attendees of our Sunday Social Photo Tour.  Sunny days, although glorious, can be difficult for beginners to shoot in. Shadows and taking photos that are "Blown Out" are common. 

After going over the basics of the exposure triangle, and making sure attendees knew how to change their shooting mode, focus spots and ISO, we were on our way walking around Fed Hill. 

Our first stop was right outside our meeting spot, Little Havana, was he site of the former Globe Brewing. Now, just a fenced off concrete slab, it was a great subject to practice focusing and shooting wide open. 

Focus on background

Focus on foreground

Right next door, Harborview Marina provided a great location to shoot landscapes with wide depth of field. 

While at Harborview, I explained the principles behind capturing motion in photographs.  Whether it's the waves in the bay or a person walking, attendees switched to shutter priority to practice.

 After a bit, we moved to Riverside park, which had tons of opportunities for silhouettes and dogs!

After walking about a mile it was time for a break, so we stopped at Don't Know Tavern on Charles Street for some food and to warm up.  On our laptop we reviewed attendees photos, making notes of things to work on during the second half of the tour. 

 After about an hour, we left to make our way to the top of the hill, and stopped at the AVAM along the way. There are so many beautiful things to photograph there!

After a trek to the top of Federal Hill, we arrived in time for the sun to start going down (the best time to shoot outside, second only to sunrise!)

Attendee Submitted Photos:

Photo by Kristin Lemieux

 Photo by Kristin Lemieux

Photo by Kristin Lemieux

Photo by Kristin Lemieux

For more info about Baltimore Photo Social and our Sunday Social Photo Tours,  

visit us online and follow us on Facebook!

Inaugural Sunday Social Photo Tour!!

This past Sunday, March 2, marked our first Sunday Social Photo Tour and Bar Hop.  Held in Fells Point, 7 attendees came out to learn a bit about photography and have some fun!

First, a bit about the tours:  In December I was asked by Living Social if I had ever thought of doing photo tours. Apparently they are big in other cities and they were lacking a provider in Bmore. As someone who is open to any idea, I was happy to come up with a concept.  Since we are a "Social" photography company (hoping to take the stuffiness out of photography) I wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere where instruction was simplified for beginners. I was able to accomplish that by bringing Deep Eddy Vodka aboard as a sponsor and focusing on one or two things each person wanted to improve on, instead of photography start to finish.  

We met at The Point in Fells for a brief mingling session, some yummy food, and a short explanation of (not quite) everything to do with digital photography.  The idea was to give attendees enough info to know where to start learning.  I initially thought we'd focus on shooting in Aperture Priority Mode, but as the day wore on, and each person wanted to capture something different, I suggested some switch to Shutter Priority and others to full Manual.   

Although it was both cold and rainy, we walked along Thames Street in Fells, and took shots from the pier near Bonaparte Bread, the courtyard with Schooner Lion and the old wharf building where they shot Homicide.  We focused on shooting crisp landscapes (F8 or above) frame filling objects with bokeh (F4 or below) and straight lines with interesting compositions.  I also had attendees shoot on different white balance settings to see what difference it made to their images. 

Halfway through, we stopped at Riptide Fells Point to enjoy some potstickers, bombs and review photos.  Each participant was able to see their strengths and where they could improve for the second half of the tour. Back out on the street, we stopped near The Admiral's Cup where 2 students tried their hand at shooting on shutter priority while panning a subject, to imply motion.  Although it takes practice, they both got the concept and are off to a strong start! 

After being out in the cold for a bit, Kilwin's Chocolates and Ice Cream on Thames Street were kind enough to allow us to shoot inside of their shoppe and warm up.  A few students tried an interesting new technique: zooming their lens in or out while shooting on shutter priority, with a long exposure. They got some interesting effects that replicate warp drive! Then we walked down to How Great Thou Art and The Sound Garden for some more shutter priority shooting. The art store has a mirror ball outside which made for an excellent subject to imply motion.  

As the sun set (the best time for outdoor photography, second only to dawn) we were able to shoot beautiful scenes near Bond Street Wharf. Nearby Bond Street Social had some really cool fire fountains for subjects and we were right across from Under Armor, just in time for their sign to be lit!

We finished up near Living Classroom across from The Domino Sugar Sign.  In my opinion, it's one of the best places to shoot nighttime scenery in Baltimore.  Although not everyone had a tripod, which is essential for night photography, students were able to make due with the posts along the pier as stand in tripods. 

See below for some of mine and student submitted photos from the tour.

And for more info, visit our website or follow us on FB and Twitter!

Student Work:

Photo By Patrick Homer

Photo By Patrick Homer

We still need a Baltimore Non Profit to make our monthly free booth donation to!

Each month we donate a free photo booth to a Baltimore area non profit that is doing good work to better our city and help our residents.  In the past we have donated to Back on My Feet Baltimore, Playworks Maryland and The National Aquarium in Baltimores conservation department.  But it's almost the end of January and we haven't donated a booth yet!  

The weather is icky and I think everyone is still worn out from the holidays, so we are deferring this months booth to be used at a later date.  But we need your help selecting a great, worthy, wonderful non profit to reach out to.  

The booth can be added to an already planned event such as a bash or happy hour, or it can be used to springboard planning a new fundraising event.  Heck, we don't even mind if it's auctioned off to the highest donation!  

The selected charity will receive an in-kind donation of a 3-4 hour open concept digital booth, a custom digital border that incorporates their info,unlimited shares of photos by guests, real time uploads to the organizations social media sites as they are taken, all images on a memory card at the end of the event and other perks. 

If you know if a charity that would benefit from the addition of a booth at one of their events, please reach out to us by email, FB or twitter.  We are open to all ideas big and small!

Info@baltimorephotosocial.com
@BmorePhotoSocia
Facebook.com/BaltimorePhotoSocial 

For more info about Baltimore Photo Social, please visit us here or here. 


 

Charm City Craft Mafia-Holiday Heap 2013

I was the lucky winner of 2 early bird tickets to Holiday Heap from Downtown Diane via Twitter.  The Heap took place on Saturday at 2640 Space, the former church turned cultural center on St Paul St.  Organized by Charm City Craft Mafia, Heap brings together the best of the best of local artisans and crafters.  If you were looking for an unusual gift for someone, chances are you would find it there. 

Early Bird goodie bag design by Annie Howe

Soaps, Oils, Handbags, Belts, Prints, T-shirts and more lined tables in two rooms chock full of creativity.  One of my favorites was "Bmore Papercuts" by Annie Howe.  This MICA trained artist cuts intricate full scenes from a single sheet of paper. Her design adorned the screen printed goodie bag that was given to all early birds.  

Early Bird tickets were a mere $15 and included coffee from Zekes, pastries, 10% off coupons for all vendors and the goodie bag with an amazing assortment of other small hand made items. In mine, I was lucky to receive a hand quilted key chain by Namoo, a sketchbook from Utrecht Art Supply, several hand crafted greeting cards by Sugar Shop & Paperie, chocolates, cookies, soaps and much more.  I am not too proud to say some of these goodies will be re-gifted as stocking stuffers!  

As I walked around the two rooms, I was greeted by friendly smiles, delicious smells and tons of interesting things to look at.  I was happy to see one of my favorite vendors from many different Baltimore art festivals including Artscape, Fisticuffs Leathers, had a table at the Heap. And I found a new interest in comic books due to Spaghetti Kiss.
 
If you were able to make it to Holiday Heap this year, lucky you! If not, I highly recommend going next year as you'd be hard pressed to find such a wide selection of unique and hand made gifts anywhere else in Baltimore. 

 

A look inside the goodie bag! Well worth the price of an early bird ticket by itself!

For more info about Charm City Craft Mafia, click here. 

For more info about Baltimore Photo Social, click here.

6th Annual Canton Lamp Post Lighting

 

 

This is the second year BPS has participated in this event, and just like last year, Smalltimore and the O'Donnell Square Business District Association did a great job of organizing a fun, family friendly time.  The businesses of the Canton Square out did themselves when decorating their lamp posts, and brought the merry with free hot chocolate, games for the kids and caroling by the Adeline Singers.  

Tim Konig started the festivities by singing the National Anthem, just before the lamp posts were lit. Santa arrived shortly after and greeted kids as live acoustic music by Lotus Song & The Black Light Asylum filled the air.  


 

The booth was super busy and we were happy to include an array of funny holiday themed props this year! 

Lotus Song & The Black Light Asylum

Lotus Song & The Black Light Asylum

he Black Light Asylum

The best part was, a portion of all proceeds were donated to the Believe in Tomorrow Children's Foundation. 
See some of the best photos from the night below.  You can see all the photos over on our Facebook page.

Click here for more info about Baltimore Photo Social.

5th Annual Back on My Feet Bash!

 

 

 

Who wakes up to run at 5:45 am?

Baltimore Photo Social was honored to be a part of the 5th Annual Back on My Feet Bash, Tuesday night at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards.  As the biggest fundraiser of the year for Back on My Feet Baltimore, they pulled out all the stops to make it a memorable night.
The Bash brought out a crowd as diverse as I could imagine.  CEO's mingled with current and former homeless people; socialites with business owners and volunteers.  No matter what their background, It was clear that each attendee was dedicated to the goal of Back on My Feet: 

"to use running to help those experiencing homelessness change the way they see themselves so they can make real change in their lives that results in employment and independent living. "

BoMF was started in 2007 by Anne Mahlum, an avid runner living in Philadelphia.  Running past the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission at 13th & Vine Streets in Philly, Anne gradually built a rapport with the men she saw standing outside each morning. After many waves, greetings and jokes, she realized that if running could help her through her own personal challenges, including a gambling addicted father and the damage it created in her young life, there was no reason it couldn’t help these men through their struggles.  On the day before Independence Day, 2007, Anne decided to test her idea by inviting 9 men, the original Back on My Feet members, to join her in her morning run.  To ensure their dedication and commitment, Anne had them sign a Dedication Contract, each agreeing to "arrive on time, and with a positive attitude, three days each week at 5:30 a.m."  To show her own dedication, Anne signed the contract as well.  And with that first run, Back on My Feet was born.

Keynote speaker Roderick Taylor

Baltimore was the second chapter created of what is now 11 chapters including Austin, Boston and Washington DC.  In the years Back on My Feet has been operating in Baltimore, they've helped, on average, 46% of Residential Members (those who are homeless when they join) to achieve regular employment and housing. Now Alumni members, many still run with their teams to provide encouragement and support to new members and, of course, to continue to feel the comradery that running with the team gave them.  The keynote speaker at The Bash, and 2012 Residential Member of the year, was one such alumni member, Roderick Taylor.  Taylor joined BoMF in March of 2012, after living in at The Baltimore Station, a residential treatment program for homeless and addicted vets.  Taylor ended up at The Baltimore Station after a routine traffic stop landed him in jail.  After joining BoMF, he took to running quickly and within a few months had completed his first half marathon.  Soon after, he enrolled in Baltimore City Community College and began training for his first full marathon. In Oct 2012, he completed the Baltimore Marathon, his first, in an impressive 4:18 and will graduate from BCCC in April with an Associates Degree in Respiratory Care.  

Rodneys speech brought tears to the eyes of most people in Tuesdays audience, including my own.  With grace, he shared his appreciation to Back on My Feet and his teammates on McVets.  He was humble and genuine and made it clear that without Back on My Feet, he expected to end up like his father, dead on the streets of Baltimore.  

So the question was:  Who wakes up to run at 5:45 am?  And the answer is this:  Dedicated and passionate people who are committed to taking control of and improving the quality of their lives. 

The event was able to raise over $70,000, almost 100% of which will go back into the BoMF Baltimore operating budget.  At $1800 per year per residential member, BoMF will be able to help 38 new members reach their potential in the next year.  The majority of money raised will be put back into the program thanks to generous donations by many local Baltimore business including Baltimore Photo Social.  The delicious dinner was provided by local hotels (Baltimore Waterfront Hotel, Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards and Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace); DJ Urban Cowboy kept the dance floor full; Render Perfect Productions provided an inspirational video and photography was courtesy of The Waire House.

Baltimore Photo Social has included Back on My Feet Baltimore in our Smile.Share program.  If you are planning to book a photo booth for your next event, and have been moved by the BoMF story, you can save up to $100 on our service by donating $50 to them.  Click on the link for more info.

For more information about Back on My Feet or to Donate, click here. 

For photos from the event, click here and here.

For more information about Baltimore Photo Social, please visit us on Facebook or: 

wwwBaltimorePhotoSocial.com