Photos of Myanmar (Burma):  So I've returned from a month overseas in Asia.  I was scouting out next year's Thailand and Myanmar photography tours (learn more about Myanmar and other Asia photography tours here). 
Ready to see some photos?  I've uploaded a gallery of my favorites:
View my Myanmar Photo Gallery

A Little Bit About Myanmar (Burma)!

First off I should not even use the name "Burma" as the country is no longer called that and from what I could tell the locals use Myanmar as well.  I'm only including that name so Western folk know where we're talking about.

The other day, while visiting here in Arizona, I went looking for spring flowers hoping to catch some blooming cacti.  Unfortunately I seem to be here a bit early and there was little to shoot.  Luckily I was able to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum East of Phoenix.  The property is well kept and somewhat manicured (for a desert).  Cacti and palms and flowering plants from here and abroad.  I'm sure it's quite a sight in another few weeks.  Even so, there was plenty to point one's camera at.  It was the middle of the day, so getting good even light was a bit of a chore.  Luckily I had my parents there to play assistant with my reflectors and diffusers so I was able to get a few decent photos.

Denver Orchid Society: Today I went to see an Orchid show. Pretty cool stuff. It was kind of difficult to photograph as I could only use my speedlight and a reflector due to all the folks walking about. Anyway,, I manage to grab a few good shots. I foucsed on getting in close to show the unique character of the Orchids "inner flower" (no idea what that's actually called).

Lately I've been working on my focus stacking techniques.  If you're not aware, focus stacking is a technique of layering many photos together focused at different locations on your subject to produce a single photograph with depth of field far "deeper" than would be capable with a normal single image.  In the case of this photo we're looking at about 24 photographs to produce this single shot.

I spotted this lovely bloom in the corner of a Home Depot the other day.  I bought it just so I could take it home and shoot this one photograph.  I think it was worth it.  And now I have an orchid at home (we'll see how long before I've killed it)…

If you're interested in learning more about macro photography techniques be sure to check out my tutoring classes: http://www.bigsunphotography.com/macro-photography-lessons

Today marks the birth of Big Sun Denver Product Photography.  

In order to better frame my commercial product photography, I've just completed a dedicated website to feature my services.  The website provides a much more in depth description of the many services and options than did the page on this website.  In addition, an extensive gallery of sample images is now available showing commercial shots in food, jewelry, consumer products and more.  

The website launch also coincides with the addition of a few new services.  I now offer green screen "chroma key" photography, composite product photos and a huge selection of abstract digital backgrounds which can be added to your product's photo (see below).

If you or a friend is in the business of selling.  You know how important it is to represent your product in a professional way.  Next time you need images of your product for your website, eBay, catalog, packaging, etc be sure to give Big Sun Product Photography a call.

Last week I took one of my tour clients up to Hanging Lakes in Glenwood Canyon.  In the summer this unique lake and waterfalls is abnormally lush with green and flowers.  A real treat within the arid canyons of the area.  In the winter it turns into a surreal wall of frozen drizzled icecycles.  Very cool.

This weekend I had the privalage of being the portrait photographer for the Econo Cat Club's 2013 cat show.  I had the opportunity to photograph a wide variety of lovely and interesting cats.  

It was quite an experience as most of the cats were less than happy to be there.  Sitting and posing for photos was not high on their list of concerns.  Nevertheless, I was able to get some real sweet cat images.

Check them out at this gallery: Cat Show Photography

OnOne Software is releasing a Standard Edition and a Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 to go along with the Premium Edition (currently shipping) of the photography software suite.  
Learn more here: Perfect Photo Suite 7

The Standard Edition allows usage of the entire Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a standalone application. This edition is ideal for those who don't shoot RAW or use Adobe Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, or Apple Aperture but want to enhance, stylize, correct their JPG images with a professional touch, and create and edit multi-layered files without Photoshop.

The Lightroom & Aperture Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 7 is designed for the photographer who does not use Photoshop but uses Lightroom or Aperture as the hub of their editing and photo management workflow. It provides powerful image editing tools that do not exist in those products and gives them the ability to extend their image editing power, maximize their creativity, and solve the most common problems in photo editing. With the Perfect Photo Suite 7, users can work with a variety of image format including RAW, JPG, PNG, and TIFF, create and edit multi-layered files, and access any of the Perfect Photo Suite 7 modules directly from Lightroom or Aperture. After adjustments are made, edited images may be saved as a .PSD, .TIF, .PNG, or .JPG right next to the original image in their Lightroom or Aperture library. This edition of the Suite also works as a standalone application for quick touch ups and edits.

The Premium Edition is the version of Perfect Photo Suite 7 that has been available since October 31, 2012.

Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition
Full Version – $299.95
Upgrade Version – $149.95

Perfect Photo Suite 7 Lightroom & Aperture Edition
Full Version – $149.95
Upgrade Version – $79.95

Perfect Photo Suite 7 Standard Edition
Full Version – $79.95
No upgrade available

Learn more here: Perfect Photo Suite 7

So check it out.  Earlier this month I was contacted by Kenny Chesney's promoter. They wished to purchase one of my images of Red Rocks to commemorate Kenny's three night sellout a couple years ago.  It seems that someone forwarded this image to Mr. Chesney and he loved it. So they are going to present it to him as a gift.

The contact made mention of it being a wall hanging. In his house? I don't know… that would be cool.

I hope Mr. Chesney enjoys his photo.  I'm quite pleased he likes my work.

http://www.genetewksbury.com/p646502591/ha2a8a6e#ha2a8a6e

It's that time of year again.  Love is in the air.  While most of nature seems to get it's viagra boost in the Springtime, Colorado's big horn sheep are feeling the heat in the chill of late Autumn.  

Today Kevin and I headed up near the Georgetown area to see if we could photograph some Big Horns.  We found three groups in different locations.  I did a bit of hoofing it myself around the cliffside to get some pictures that were not just looking up at them.  My fingers were crossed that a big Billy would not take offense to me being on his turf.  I don't think I'd have much chance eluding one of these guys on the side of a rock wall.

I was hoping to see some of the males butting heads, but it did not happen.  Maybe they've already done there fighting for harems.