Featured on The Daily Compost blog

Jennifer, author of The Daily Compost, recently asked for permission to use my image of a Neoscana spider to illustrate her recent post— Giant spiders: one more reason I love fall. Go check out her great blog and see. Thanks for the shout out and showcasing my photo, Jennifer!

Craft project: Garden aprons

When my friend Karen and I go down to her lakehouse, we always feel compelled to bring our sewing machines and make something. In fact, we both agree we can’t really sew anywhere but the lake now. We’re spoiled! We put up my folding table on the screen porch and spread all our fabric around and get going. Her house overlooks the lake, so we can watch egrets and herons landing and taking off, kayakers rowing and fishermen trolling, and giant carp fins circling around like something out of Jaws. No phone calls, no interruptions. Snacks and music always. I ask you how sewing in a kitchen townhouse can possibly compare to sewing on a screen porch overlooking a lake!

We talk about anything and everything and one weekend we began singing while stitching….and ended up creating Sewing—the Musical, sung to the tune of Donna Summer’s No More Tears (Enough is Enough)—and chock full of references to the craft of sewing. Yes, we wrote down the lyrics and yes, we intend to one day perform it off off off off off off Broadway…you know…in our spare time! Just you wait…

When we started sewing at the lake, we started making curtains (no pattern, just winging it!) for the patio doors and shams and coverlets for the twin beds in one room. This year we spent Labor Day down there, sewing machines in tow. I was inspired to copy a cheapie dollar store gardening apron. I made three aprons that afternoon. Karen is using the blue one in her skin care salon. They’re a lot of fun to create (and a quick project, too!) and I might even try selling some on Etsy…you know, in my spare time. Ah, something else to keep me busy in the winter (besides crocheting a gazillion hats that I don’t need) when I can’t be out photographing my beloved flowers.

Taking orders for aprons…anyone?

P.S. The aprons aren’t as short as they appear—my sister asked how long they were because it appears that the angle I shot these at makes them look much shorter than they are. I used a basic gardening/utility apron from the dollar store as a pattern, although I could have made them longer. The pockets are deep enough to fit your hands in with room to spare—and certainly deep enough to accommodate gardening tools!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Re-post: Bee’s knees

And speaking of my friend SueBee—-I was going down blog memory lane and came across this posting back in September of 2007:

This is one my favorite garden photos. Sue grew one of the Mammoth Russian sunflowers last year and called me over to record it. I would like to claim that I saw this little bee “coming in for a landing,” bee’s knees bent for impact, but that would not be true. I was shooting madly as the afternoon light was fading. It wasn’t until I browsed the images later that I noticed this little guy in flight. I had gotten numerous other shots with the bees already in place, gathering pollen, but this was pure serendipity.

© Cindy Dyer, All rights reserved. Check out my botanical photography portfolio here.

 

I did a little research (not surprised, are you?) on the origin of “bee’s knees” and found some interesting tidbits:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-bees-knees.html

And, speaking of sunflowers, here are some interesting facts:

—The scientific word for sunflower is Hellianthus, referring to the ability of the sunflower bloom to follow the sun from sunrise until sunset. The word is derived from helios, meaning sun, and anthos, meaning flower.
—Argentina is currently the largest grower of sunflowers.
—The sunflower is grown for the seeds and oil it produces.
Each mature flower yields 40% of its weight as oil.
—The tallest sunflower grown was 25 feet tall and grown in the Netherlands.
—The largest sunflower head was grown in Canada and measured 32.5 inches across its widest point.
—The shortest mature sunflower was just over 2 inches tall and grown in Oregon using a bonsai technique.
—Sunflower stems were used to fill lifejackets before the advent of modern materials. —Low-pollen sunflowers have been developed in recent years which not only helps asthma sufferers, but extend the flower’s life.
—The flower was cultivated by North American Indians for many years as a food crop.
— The sunflower is not one flower, but a cluster of more then 2000 tiny flowers growing together.
— The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas and the national flower of Russia.
— The French word for sunflower is tournesol, or literally “turn with the sun.”
—The sunflower has been around for at least 8,000 years. Archeologists believe that Native American cultivated sunflowers as early as 2300 B.C., well before corn, beans, and squash.
—There are over 2,000 varieties of sunflowers identified to date. Unfortunately, many varieties have not been located and may be extinct.

Re-post: Cabin in the woods

I’m reposting a collage of photos from one of our favorite road trips with my friend Sue and her mother, Wanda. I think we’re overdue for a trip, SueBee!

Originally posted 9.22.2008
One of our favorite treats during our recent vacation was a night’s stay at Jim and Anne’s cabin in a park near Mt. Rainier. We headed to the cabin on Friday morning, September 12, stopping along the way for huckleberry ice cream (which is delicious, by the way). Learn more about huckleberry harvesting in the Cascades here. In the first photo, Sue tries out a chair fashioned from snow skis at the ice cream store in Enumclaw. (If you have a hankering for this type of furniture, check out Snow Shack and Snow Source.)

Michael and I kept Sue quite enthralled, if somewhat frightened, with our stories of “when, not if, Rainier (an active volcano) blows…” She was pondering the possibility of it blowing that very night. We told her to relax. At least her best friends and mamma were with her and her last supper was huckleberry ice cream. How bad is that?

Some time ago, Michael and I had seen a documentary on tv hypothesizing the outcome of such an event. I did some further research and found these articles:

Vocanologists keep wary eye on Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier will blow, that’s a given. (How’s that for an opening line?)

Under the Volcano—the danger of living near Mt. Rainier

Hmmm…now that I’ve done this research, I’m rethinking how good that huckleberry ice cream was after all!

___________________________________________________

Photos, second row: Sue sits on a bed on the enclosed porch. What a view we had in the morning! The cabin was built by Anne’s father and grandfather when her father was a teenager, so it’s over 70 years old. It’s a beautifully rustic cabin with modern conveniences, of course, such as electricity, a detached bathroom and shower, and appliances. I found lots of things to photograph within the cabin itself, such as the blue bottle still life by the living room window (3rd row, right). Fifth row: Wanda climbs the ladder to check out the sleeping alcove in the cupola. Next, I photographed her “hiking” shoes by firelight. Those city girls sure do hike in style, don’t they?

After settling in, Anne and Jim lead us on a hike up to Goat Falls, which runs down the hill past their cabin. Sue had to keep Wanda from her “mushroom tipping” tendencies because she knew I would be coming up behind them, photographing everything along the way. Apparently, Wanda has an aversion to wild mushrooms (not to mention snakes).

Later, Jim and Anne prepared a wonderful dinner. After a great night’s sleep, the next morning Sue and Wanda wanted their photo taken at the outhouse, which, thanks to the modern conveniences, we did not have to use. And yes, Sue is acting—not really utilizing—the facilities in the photograph toward the bottom!

The trip to the cabin, hiking to the falls, and staying overnight in that beautiful cabin was a really nice and unexpected treat, thanks to our wonderful hosts, Anne and Jim!

And in the “how away far was it” category—I am happy to report that this trip was a “one-hat” trip, since I finished a “special order” crocheted black hat as a gift for Anne en route. Learn more about my exclusive “how many hats trip measurement system” here.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Design Studio: Postcards

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Design Studio: Media Kit

Sample pages from a media kit © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday to the best father a girl could have! Not a single day goes by that I do not count my blessings for having the best parents on earth. I realize this photo of me and you is a teeny, tiny bit dated (at least a decade or so ago), but it was the first one I came across in my archives—don’t I look like such a happy child?

You share a birthday with former president Bill Clinton; SNL comedians Jimmy Fallon and Cheri Oteri; singers Trish Yearwood and Paul Williams; GMA Alum Joan Lunden; actor Jeremy Irons; news commentator Soledad O’Brien; model Twiggy; and close to (my) home—Katie Doughty (wife of Redskins football player Reed Doughty), whom I photographed at Green Spring Gardens here, and in my studio here and here. Happy birthday, Katie!

Best of all, today is “International Talk Like A Pirate Day.” Arrrrrrr…..

Get to know this amazing man through his blog, The King of Texas, where he waxes rhapsodic about his family, revisits his childhood (with amazing recall for details), comments on current events (political, celebrity, media and more), and aims to right grammatical wrongs (one visitor at a time) with his occasional lessons on the subject. Check out his archives for some of his essays. I introduced him to blogging just over a year ago and he has become a prolific poster. He has always loved to write and it shows in his lengthy and detailed essays. I just knew it would be a great creative outlet for him. I realize I’ve created a monster, but I am so proud of my grasshopper! Whether you agree or disagree on any particular posting, he welcomes feedback of any kind (but thrives on kudos in particular), so don’t hesitate to comment—he always responds.

Kali

This is my friend Rob’s first grandchild, Kali, who is about 4-1/2 months old. Rob’s daughter Mary (Kali’s mother) graduated from college (Journalism major) just one week after Kali was born. Talk about supreme multi-tasking! She has a well-written blog about becoming a first-time mom. Check it out here. I photographed Mary, her parents, and baby Kali earlier this month. See those postings here and here. Below: Kali with her grandparents, Rob and Gayle

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Scenes from a wedding

These are just a fraction of the many photos I’ve been working on from photographing Todd and Abbie’s wedding last Sunday (happy one week anniversary today, you two!). I’ve got a lot more to prepare, but wanted to share this compilation on my blog. Enjoy!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Attention, fellow photographers!

WARNING: I’m going to brag about a DVD service I started subscribing to this year. No, I don’t get paid for this review, BUT if you decide to sign up, yours truly will qualify for free DVDs and other prizes simply for referring potential subscribers during their promo period. So, yes, I could possibly benefit, but not unless someone signs up! Truth is, I would blog about them anyway, because it has been such a great technical and business resource for me on the photography side of my business.

I discovered PhotoVision online earlier this year and decided to subscribe to their DVD series. It’s really a great price for what you get. Every other month I get a 2-hour DVD with tips on photographic styles and techniques, digital workflow, lighting and posing, Photoshop tips and tricks, marketing and sales strategies, and hardware and software reviews. Each DVD covers approximately 9-10 different photographers, studios, and a wide variety of topics.

It’s a really well-done series and makes me want to do more photography than I’m already doing (and win the lottery so I can build a dream studio, too!). They have more than 22,000 studios participating in the series and sponsors include: Canon, Westcott, Quantum, PPA, Nik Software, WHCC, Collages.net, WPPI, Animoto, Marathon Press, Radio Popper and Albums, Inc.

My favorite video are the ones where they visit photography studios (with amazing layouts and set-ups) and film the artist in action with real clients.

To give you an idea of topics, my latest DVD contains:

Lori Nordstrom: Garnering display (marketing)

Gary Box: Flattery is everything pt. 1 (photographing seniors)

Sana Antisdel: Tough guys (photographing senior boys)

Brian Demint: Shake it or leaf it (fashion photography)

Julie Klaasmeyer: Ginormica approach to window light (studio design & marketing) and One year and counting (window light children)

Beth Jansen: Better homes and babies, pt. 1 (location children)

Mike Fulton & Cody Clinton: Glimpses of Camelot (location bridal)

Kevin Jairaj: Maximizing your online opportunities (marketing)

Tim & Beverly Walden: Sales secrets for success (sales)

The series is geared toward all professional portrait, wedding, fashion, commercial and events photographers as well as photography students. Their normal subscription fee is $140, but if you click on the link below, you can get it for just $39 per year (which is what I paid when I signed up). Worth every penny, I say!

Use promo code: PVFAN http://fansof.photovisionvideo.com/Cindy/051113

Newest additions to my Green Spring Gardens zenfolio gallery

I just added more photos to the Green Spring Gardens-only gallery on my Zenfolio site. Click on this link here to view all 191 photos in thumbnail size. If you double-click on a photo, it will enlarge and a sub-gallery will show on the right side of the screen. You can also select “slide show” at the top. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did photographing them!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Amusing search terms

As any dedicated blogger knows, visitors flock to your blog from all sorts of avenues: via WordPress, from another blogger’s blogroll, Google search, etc. These are the more amusing ones that ended up in my “Search Terms” list (exactly as they appeared), along with an observation by me.

graphic things that say sophia (huh?)

yellow ducks foot passion flower (dang, ya’ll, one more passion flower to add to the garden!)

color things (that generic a search and you still found my blog?)

panel screen room divider fish (divider fish…now that’s a concept)

martha’s recipe with baby robins (Martha? Really? Say it isn’t so. This is not a good thing.) 

poems of loss and bubble (huh?) 

sugar glider eating (I ferevently hope this is search for what these critters eat and not another one of Martha’s recipes!)

beautiful but destructive (alas)

forced bulb flower frog (this, I gotta see)

crochet action photoshop (crochet + Photoshop—there’s some multi-tasking I could get into!)

missouri walking stick bug poison to hum (poison to hum?)

nat the bug (pat the spider)

hearing loss horse (that would require a rather large hearing aid, fer shure)

little green bug flies fast (most of them do)

pinwheel peace (we’ll take it in any shape it comes in, won’t we?)

incredibly beautiful (oh, you don’t mean it)

very fine photo (why, thank you!)

hardly seems (I’m with you on that)

sears photo studio pregnancy (Sears? Oh, please tell me you didn’t!)

Frog lips illustration (frog lips?)

have you forgotten red house painters (how could I?)

I have hearing aids (I couldn’t be prouder, really!)

smile food   🙂

sheets of paper to write with tulip (now there’s a new use for a tulip!)

parks and recreation im just a puppy (well, i’m just a bill, sittin’ on capitol hill) 

reed doughty quirks (Sorry, I just photographed him twice; didn’t notice any quirks!) 

my dirty hobby (Dare I ask?) 

thanks for all the roses (You’re quite welcome.) 

kilroy was here (Dangitall! I missed him again.) 

 

Ah, that September light…

Every fall, I am sadly aware that there will be less and less flowers blooming for me to capture (and in case you hadn’t noticed, it is a passion for me), but the light is always exquisite when I do find a subject to immortalize in pixels. I was drawn to this Mallow flower mostly because of the light behind it, which with a large aperture, morphed into this dreamy soft background with lovely bursts of chartreuse and the rusty browns that fall brings. I’m sure this flower is in the Mallow/Hibiscus family; I just don’t know what variety it is. The flowers are considerably smaller than a “standard” hibiscus, if that helps. Anyone?

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Cat’s Whiskers (Orthosiphon stamineus)

Part of the mint family, Cat’s Whiskers are herbaceous perennial flowering plants originating in tropical East Asia. They grow up to two feel tall and three to four feet wide. The flowers have an orchid-like appearance and are white or lavender, sprouting long stamens that resemble cat’s whiskers. They attract butterflies and hummingbirds and can be harvested to use in herbal teas. I photographed this plant at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

After the rain…

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bling!

Earlier this summer, bride-to-be Abbie posted a request on Facebook for friends for submissions of brooches and pins to include in her bouquet. I crafted a bejeweled headband with loads of pins, charms and baubles (some dating back to my high school days, so this baby is an antique!) for my own wedding last October (see my headband photos here), so I just knew by her description that it was going to be a beautiful bouquet. My headband wasn’t lightweight by any means, but her bouquet was heavy enough to double as a weapon! 

Phyliss Hendley, Abbie’s friend and “second mother,” made this stunning bouquet—as well as Abbie’s feather/flower headpiece. At the bottom of the bouquet, you’ll notice “something borrowed” hanging from a satin ribbon—Abbie’s late father’s Mason ring. I think this qualifies as one of the most beautiful wedding bouquets that I’ve ever seen!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

The wedding party signs “I love you”

I love this photo—had fun photographing this group yesterday afternoon by the koi pond at the Sayen House and Gardens in Hamilton, New Jersey. Left to right: Jennifer Thorpe, bridesmaid and Abbie’s closest friend; Brian Stewart, Todd’s brother-in-law; Patricia Strohmeyer, bridesmaid and Abbie’s cousin; Gregg Hlavacek, best man and groom’s brother; Natalie Gray, matron of honor and Abbie’s best friend; Todd and Abbie

How I Met Abbie and Patty
I design and produce the Hearing Loss Magazine, published by the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). In early 2008, I was surfing the web looking for blogs by people with hearing loss. I stumbled upon Abbie’s blog, Chronicles of a Bionic Woman, and was immediately impressed—she’s a great writer and very funny. Her blog chronicled her hearing loss and subsequent cochlear implant surgeries. I asked my editor, Barbara Kelley, if we could profile her. I contacted Abbie to see if she would be interested, and she ended up driving from New Jersey to Virginia, bringing along her cousin Patty (bridesmaid shown above), for a cover photo session. Abbie wrote the article for the May/June 2008 issue of the magazine. You can see the results of the cover session (and download the article) on my blog here. Check out the glamour shots (which included playing with wigs!) I shot of Abbie and Patty after our cover session was done here. Because of her writing skills, Abbie was recruited as the official blogger for the 2009 HLAA convention in Nashville.

How I Met Jennifer
I found Jennifer Thorpe’s blog, Stereophonic Bionic, on Abbie’s blogroll and that’s how I became friends with Jen (bridesmaid shown above), whom I finally met in person at the HLAA’s 2009 convention in Nashville. While there, I photographed her with her lovely family for the cover of our July/August 2010 issue of the magazine. Read all about that issue and see the cover here. We were talking about her (wonderful) height (she kept taking her shoes off so she would tower too much over her fellow bridemaids) and she told me she’s the shorty in her family—her parents are 6’2″. I would love to have some of that height! 

As Fate Would Have It
So here we are, three years later, and Abbie is asking me to photograph her wedding. And to think this all came about simply from perusing blogs on the web! Isn’t technology just grand? Here’s a cool fact: Abbie became an Advanced Bionics (AB) mentor and mentored Gregg (the groom’s brother) when he got his cochlear implant. Then Todd decided he wanted to go the implant route and Gregg suggested he contact Abbie so she could mentor him through the process, too. During his best man’s toast, Gregg said that initially the three of them had an e-mail trifecta going, then after awhile he wasn’t included in the e-mails as much—which made him wonder what was up! Eventually, his suspicions were right—romance was blooming between Abbie and Todd! Again, all through e-mail—a bond was formed. They write about how they met on their wedding blog here. Once again, isn’t technology just grand? 

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Pre-wedding Abbie

What you can’t really see in this photo is the constant drizzle on Sunday morning that eventually moved the outdoor ceremony indoors. Even with the uncooperative weather, Abbie was a happy bride!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Congratulations, Abbie & Todd!

What a whirlwind weekend we had! We hit the road early Saturday morning and were back home late Sunday night.

I photographed Abbie and Todd’s wedding at the Sayen House and Gardens in Hamilton, New Jersey. Michael and I left Virginia on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m., checked out the gardens in the late afternoon (scouting for shooting locations), then joined the rehearsal dinner at 5:00 p.m. We were up early Sunday morning to photograph the makeup/hair preparations, then on to the Sayen House by 10:30ish. The ceremony was to take place outdoors at 12:30 p.m. at the Temple Garden under a stone and wrought iron gazebo, but the weather wasn’t cooperating—it had been drizzling since about 7:30 a.m. that morning. The ceremony was moved inside the Sayen House. It was a beautiful ceremony nonetheless. When Abbie and Todd recited their wedding vows (spoken and in sign language)—they were sweet, heartfelt and very funny. Abbie looked lovely (as expected) and Todd was beaming continuously!

There were lots of very personal touches throughout the wedding: Abbie’s stunning handmade bejeweled wedding bouquet (photos to come), Todd’s handiwork with the tree-shaped wood cupcake stand and wooden signs, silkscreened shopping tote bags for the wedding party, and illustrated coffee mugs for the wedding party and family members, just to name a few (photos to come).

We’re fortunate that the rain stopped shortly after and we were able to get our dreamy garden shots outdoors with the couple and the wedding party. I was so relieved that I was able to shoot outdoors in such a beautiful space! I have a ton of photos to sort through, culling them down to the “best of the best.” I’ll share photos as I go along and within a few weeks, I’ll have a complete gallery to share when the images are all done. I wanted to share this particular image first because I think it encapsulates what the whole day was about: a happy, multi-talented, fun-loving couple—clearly crazy about each other—embarking on a new life together!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Aptly named ‘Heavenly Blue’

This is the view I had outside the front door this morning—more than 100 beautiful blue blooms on my ‘Heavenly Blue’ Morning Glory vine (and many more buds yet unfurled). I didn’t plant any seeds this year, but apparently seeds from last year’s vine thrived this year! And can you spot the “bonus bug” in the top shot? I didn’t see him until I zoomed in on the image in Photoshop.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Design Studio: Exhibitor Prospectus

Here is the cover and a few spreads from a 20-page exhibitor prospectus I just finished for the Hearing Loss Association of America’s (HLAA) Convention 2011 marketing campaign. The convention will be held on June 16-19, just about 15 minutes from where I live—Crystal City, an area near Washington, D.C.

The keynote speaker for Convention 2011 will be Chris Artinian, president and CEO of Morton’s Restaurant Group, Inc., whose family is the subject of the 2001 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, Sound and Fury. The film documents one family’s struggle over whether or not to provide two deaf children with cochlear implants—devices that can stimulate hearing. The film was directed by Josh Aronson, produced by Roger Weisberg, with Jackie Roth as coordinating producer.

From the PBS website: As the Artinians of Long Island, New York debate what is the right choice for two deaf cousins, Heather, 6, and Peter, 1-1/2, viewers are introduced to one of the most controversial issues affecting the deaf community today. Cochlear implants may provide easier access to the hearing world, but what do the devices mean for a person’s sense of identity with deaf culture? Can durable bridges be built between the deaf and hearing worlds?

I designed a logo for the convention as well as the logo for “Get in the Hearing Loop,” a joint project of the Hearing Loss Association of America and the American Academy of Audiology. The 2nd International Hearing Loop Conference will be held on June 18-20. Both events will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Learn more about Convention 2011 on HLAA’s website at www.hearingloss.org. Learn more about the 2nd International Hearing Loop Conference here.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Alicia Royer, pastellist

I met Alicia Royer a few years ago when I photographer her with her family (husband Mike, and kids Annie and Joshua) for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). Mike, who wears a cochlear implant, is a member of HLAA. We’ve been friends ever since. I invited the family to my studio sometime later for portraits and at the time, Alicia was seven months pregnant with their daughter, Ashley Jocelyn. You can see the results of that photo session in my blog posts: Meet the Royers, And baby girl five… and Annie & Joshua. Two months later, Mike asked me if I could photograph the birth of their daughter and I jumped at the chance (and the challenge!). You can see the photos from the birth in my blog posts: Welcome to the world, Ashley Jocelyn! and Introducing Ashley Jocelyn. Ashley celebrated her second birthday this past month.

Now that Alicia has a dedicated art space in their new home, this busy mother of three has been churning out drawings and improving her skills with every effort. A few months ago, she asked if she could use a photo I shot of my friend Camilla (Cam) as a reference for a drawing. Recently, she e-mailed me the results and I thought she did a great job and wanted to share it on my blog. While I have been drawing and painting since I was a child, I haven’t done much with the pastel medium, but I do know that it isn’t an easy medium to work in—yet Alicia excels in it with her color palette choices and her layering skills. And most often she chooses portraits as her subject—not an easy task, in my opinion.

Check out her pencil drawings on www.aliciajroyer.blogspot.com and pastel drawings on www.aliciajroyer22.blogspot.com.

And she’s getting creative in the kitchen, too, with her new blogs, It Begins in the Kitchen and Alicia’s Favorites.

Mary

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Costco Cat!

Why I always have a camera near me at all times…

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Mary and Kali

Last night I photographed my friend Rob’s daughter Mary and her four-month-old daughter, Kali. More photos to come!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Margot, b&w conversion

Earlier this summer, I posted the color original of this portrait of a friend’s daughter. This one is on my top ten list of favorite portraits I’ve shot recently. When I shot film, I shot mostly Ilford b&w and loved the results I got with portrait shoots. I converted this image using b&w actions from a Totally Rad Actions set. Which image do you prefer—color or b&w—and why?

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Skipper Butterfly on ‘Zowie’ Zinnia

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

When Your Child Has a Hearing Loss…

Hearing loss in children is the focus of the September/October 2010 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which I design and produce bimonthly for the Hearing Loss Association of America. I shot this cover of Craig Yantiss and his son, Anthony, two years ago. HLM Editor Barbara Kelley interviewed Anthony’s mother, Lisa Yantiss, (in photo below, far left) for the cover feature, We Thought the Test Was Wrong! Anthony is now three years old and wears a cochlear implant and a hearing aid.

Also in this issue:
In their story, About Maya: A Daughter Born with Hearing Loss, Robyn and Mike Bittner share the story of their daughter Maya’s hearing loss and the family’s journey from denial to acceptance.

In Moving from Grief to Warrior Mode, Christina Marmor shares how she and husband Chuck dealt with their son Christian‘s hearing loss diagnosis at birth. Christian was implanted at 15 months and is now 3-1/2 years old and thriving.

All photos below © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. 1) Lisa Yantiss with son Anthony; 2) The Marmor family: Christina, Chuck, Christian and Liliana; 3) Christian

A seasoned veteran of hearing loss, Marcia Finisdore provides resources and support in her article, The Early “Big Bang”—A Guide for Parents from a Parent.

Nancy Macklin, HLAA’s Director of Events & Marketing, recaps the 2010 Convention in Milwaukee—complete with loads of photos!

Lise Hamlin, HLAA’s Director of Public Policy, discusses cell phones compatibility in her article, Cell Phones Age into Hearing Aid Capability.

Audiologist and long-time contributor, Mark Ross, shares the latest generation of hearing aids in his article, Hearing Aid Features: A Closer Look.

Author/contributors photos appearing in this issue © Cindy Dyer. From left: Brenda Battat, Executive Director of HLAA; Pete Fackler, HLAA Board President; Lise Hamlin, HLAA Director of Public Policy; Mark Ross, audiologist; and Ronnie Adler, HLAA’s National Walk4Hearing Manager.

And finally, our youngest author to date, AJ Traub (12), interviews Ronnie Adler, HLAA’s National Walk4Hearing Manager. AJ has been actively involved in the Walk4Hearing since 2007. With the help of his Walk4Hearing teams, he has raised over $5,000 for the program!

Can you spot the moth larvae on this Ageratum plant?

I actually didn’t see them when I was photographing the plant this afternoon at Green Spring Gardens. Back in the studio, I zoomed in on the image in Photoshop and voila—there they were! I’ll give you a clue—you’re looking for two fairly visible ones and one tiny head of a third.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Skippers on ‘Zowie’ Zinnia

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens, 9.3.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.