© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (Nikon D850, Nikkor 85mm)
Thanks to my dear friend, neighbor and talented writer, Nancy Dunham, for this photo assignment for F&I and Showroom magazine. Nancy interviewed Marva Laws for this cover feature and I shot the accompanying photographs at Volvo Cars Annapolis, where Marva works.
Read more of Nancy’s work here: https://nancydunham.journoportfolio.com/
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
I had a great photo session last night with my friend Katye’s daughter, Victoria. She just finished her first year in NYC studying at AMDA (American Music and Dramatic Academy). Students usually spend the first two years in NYC, then transfer to AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Victoria is so ahead of schedule in her skills that it was recommended that she move on to LA after just one year for further training! I used an LED ringlight as my main light and two LED lights overhead for hair highlights. These were shot with my Nikon D850 and a Nikkor 85mm 1.8 lens.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
I bought this pink sequin tablecloth to use as a backdrop for tonight’s photo session with my niece, Lauren. We ended up using it later as a gown. Not too shabby for improvising, huh?
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
We visited our dear friends Tom, Holly, and sweet Bailey in their beautiful new home in Charlottesville, VA back in August and I shot some photos with my iPhone 6s while we were downtown. Holly submitted a photo for a publication in their Glenmore subdivision and thought they would be featured inside in the “welcome newcomers” column. The magazine arrived and they made the cover, too!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Mike Gannon is our other Seen & Heard profile in the September/October 2016 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, published bimonthly by the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). I met and photographed him at HLAA Convention 2016 in Washington, D.C. this past June. Mike is an inspirational speaker, motivational trainer, success coach and CEO of Fit for Success in Northern Virginia. His book, If These Ears Could Sing! The Living Law of Attraction in Action, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.
Join the Hearing Loss Association of America!
Do you have a hearing loss or know someone who does? Consider membership in the Hearing Loss Association of America. Student annual dues are $20, individual annual dues are $35, and family/couple annual dues are $45. Fees outside the U.S. are slightly higher. All memberships include discounts on hearing-related products, convention and special event early bird discounts, AVIS and Alamo car rental, and the award-winning Hearing Loss Magazine. Sign up for membership here.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
MIKE GANNON / Reston, Virginia / Born October 9 in Livonia, Michigan
MY HEARING LOSS… I was born profoundly deaf in both ears and wore very crude hearing aids (in the 1960s as a child). I never learned to sign, but learned to speak and read lips to communicate.
FUNNY HEARING LOSS MOMENT… At the first birthday party I attended at age five, I observed all the kids moving their lips at the same time and I knew you were not supposed to speak when others were talking. It seemed like they were all saying the same thing. In actuality, they were singing “Happy Birthday.”
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY… Being the only deaf child in the school I attended,
I performed in the school choir with no one in the audience guessing I lip synced.
THE BEST GIFT I EVER GOT… my cochlear implants at age 40
THE FIRST THING I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY WAS… Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
first edition of Muscle and Fitness.
BEST ROAD TRIP EVER WAS… my trip to the Grand Canyon, where I heard the echo
of my own voice for the very first time
I LOSE ALL TRACK OF TIME WHEN I’M… coaching my clients.
MY LIFE IN CHAPTERS… A Prelude to Sound, If These Ears Could Sing, and Song Without
End (which happen to be actual chapters in my book, If These Ears Could Sing).
PETS? I have 19-year-old cat who believes I am her designated servant, which of course I am.
THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE WAS… to understand at age nine that my little brother who died from complications during heart surgery was never coming back.
I LOVE THE SOUNDS OF… nature—especially hearing geese flying over the lake at dusk.
FIVE PLACES I’VE LIVED… Michigan, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and in my imagination
I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR… a dash of Bailey’s Irish Cream and Kahlua in my morning coffee—to honor my heritage, of course.
MUSICALLY INCLINED? I play the drums, keyboard and create music on the computer.
FIVE JOBS I’VE HAD… author, personal trainer/nutritionist, hypnotherapist, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner, success and life coach
GET ANYTHING GOOD IN THE MAIL LATELY? Notice of my last mortgage payment
FAVORITE PLACE TO BE… on my deck at sunset with a cold beer
HAPPINESS IS… connecting each morning to sound. Thank you, bionic ears!
I SIMPLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT… being a relentless questioner.
I MOST DEFINITELY AM NOT… a recluse or an introvert.
I AM… unrelenting, introspective and purposeful.
MY FRIENDS SAY I AM… the energizer bunny!
I REALLY SHOULD STOP… listening to my inner critic.
I REALLY SHOULD START… taking the advice others pay me for.
WORDS I OVERUSE… drop down and give me 20
I HAVE A FEAR OF… losing electricity and being unable to recharge my batteries for my implants.
THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD IS… more of it!
IF I RULED THE WORLD… there would be no calories.
MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT IS… being able to speak as well as any hearing person.
It has been an honor to photograph every one of these “cover models” for the Hearing Loss Magazine. Every story is different but they all deal with hearing loss and how these people thrive despite the challenges.
The summer issue of Celebrate Home Magazine will be ready for FREE download shortly on our website, http://www.celebratehomemagazine.com. Marisa Sarto is our cover girl and also a contributing writer and photographer in this issue. Stay tuned for more sneak previews…
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Ashley is the eldest daughter of my college roommate and friend, Sonya, and I had the honor of photographing her wedding in Austin at The Allan House in Austin, Texas. It was a nice way to start out the new year!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
A few months ago I donated a framed botanical image to a school auction and was offered a free full page b&w ad for their catalog. After combing my portrait archives, I’ve realized that I’ve done a LOT of portraits in my lifetime. I love doing portraits as much as I love photographing gardens, flowers and insects! I’m working on a separate website for my photography and will be launching it in a few months. There will be a separate section just for portraits. These are just a few of the many faces I’ve captured in pixels over the past few years.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
My friend Nancy and I had a great time at The Birchmere in Alexandria last night and I had a great vantage point to get these shots of legendary bluegrass musicians Del McCoury and Sam Bush. We’re usually seated mid-way back in the venue but this time we got spots to the right of the stage, not more than 20 feet away from the performers!
Nancy Dunham is a freelancer writer/editor and was covering the performance for a music publication. Thanks to Nancy’s generous invites, I’ve also had the pleasure of photographing and meeting Lyle Lovett at Wolf Trap on August 15 (see photos here) as well as John Hiatt on Sept. 21 (see photos here) and Kathy Mattea on September 26 (see photos here), both performing at The Birchmere.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Here’s another shot I captured of Marisa Sarto in Providence, R.I. this past June. Marisa was the cover feature of the November/December 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which I design for the Hearing Loss Association of America. You can learn more about Marisa and her book project, Hear Nor There: Images of an Invisible Disability, in a recent post here and in her Seen & Heard debut here.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
George Kosovich, a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), just made his Seen & Heard profile debut in the November/December 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which just arrived in member mailboxes. Other members previously profiled were Danielle Nicosia, John Kinstler, Judy Martin, Anne Taylor, Sam Spritzer, Jeff Bonnell, Eloise Schwarz, Glenice Swenson, Laurie Pullins, Rosemary Tuite and Kathy Borzell, Tommy Thomas and Marisa Sarto.
Join the Hearing Loss Association of America!
Do you have a hearing loss or know someone who does? Consider membership in the Hearing Loss Association of America. Student annual dues are $20, individual annual dues are $35, and family/couple annual dues are $45. Fees outside the U.S. are slightly higher. All memberships include discounts on hearing-related products, convention and special event early bird discounts, AVIS and Alamo car rental, and the award-winning Hearing Loss Magazine. Sign up for membership here.
Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
George Kosovich
Rockville, MD / Born December 10, 1941, Bingham Canyon, UT
MY HEARING LOSS… I had a hearing loss in childhood, but it wasn’t discovered right away. In elementary school, I started wearing a body aid and hated it. Now, I use both a cochlear implant and a hearing aid and love it.
SAGE ADVICE FOR SOMEONE NEWLY-DIAGNOSED WITH HEARING LOSS… Get that hearing aid—you don’t know what you’re missing!
HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE… School was hard—all the way from elementary school through my two master degrees!
IN MY SPARE TIME… I play golf, tennis and pool.
MY LITTLE-KNOWN TALENT IS… dancing.
I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR… chocolate peanut butter ice cream.
I WOULD LOVE TO MEET… the angel Gabriel.
I MISS… my brother, Jerry.
I AM… friendly, lovable and handsome.
FAVORITE COLOR? Purple
MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME… not to smoke cigarettes. The one time I did try when I was 10, she caught me. That day, I smoked until I was sick and told her. She told me I was not going to find any sympathy from her. I suffered that time but learned my lesson and I never smoked again.
MY FATHER TAUGHT ME… the basics of football, and then was a big support to me when I was playing football in high school and college.
WORKING NINE TO FIVE… OSERS at the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.; VR counselor in Portland, OR; juvenile center counselor, Portland, OR; Short order cook at the Sheraton, Portland, OR; Newspaper delivery boy, Portland, OR
I HAVE A FEAR OF… guns. One time I shot a guy. I was around 12 years old, working at a berry picking farm in the summer. It was in the evening and we had gone back to the workers’ cabins. My brother and a guy also named Jerry were in the cabin. I was playing around with a rifle and I thought I took all the bullets out, but when I pulled the trigger, a bullet hit him in the thigh. I was shocked. My heart was racing. We carried him out down to the house which was quite a ways down. We took him to the hospital in a car—it was the longest ride of my life. The guy was okay once patched up, but he couldn’t play football for a year. And I never played around with a gun again!
IF I RULED THE WORLD… everyone would have a smile on their face!
WHAT IS THE KINDEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE FOR YOU? Love me
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT? Being a father
HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED? As a good guy
Hearing Loss Magazine is great! I like the stories about people and how they deal with hearing loss, but I also like the information about technology that makes our lives easier.
Originally posted March 3, 2010
Using an image I shot of my niece, Lauren, I have applied nine of my favorite Totally Rad Actions from photographer Doug Boutwell—just to show you some of the effects you can achieve with portraits. I love his action names, too—Prettytizer, Cool as a Cucumber, Not-So-Magic Glasses, Rusty Cage, SX-70…
The first photo in the series is a “normal” shot (with minor retouching, but no action applied). Some of the actions were used at 100% strength; some were dialed back to about 60-75% strength (particularly in the case of Technicolor Dream World, Grunge Rock and Pross Crossessed #1). I just love these Photoshop actions—they’re well worth the investment if you want to take some of your photos to another level with very little effort. And no, I don’t get a kickback from endorsing Doug’s store—I just love to share a great product when I find one! I don’t use them in my garden and nature photographs, but they’re great used occasionally with landscapes, portraits and architecture—and when you want to add an artistic effect to a dull “record” shot.
Go play on his site here and try out his “recipes” for cool effects. Now I’m thinking I might have to add his “TRA 2—The Revenge” to my arsenal. When I ordered my actions and had a little problem completing the download, Doug was very quick to respond personally. Very nice guy with very nice products!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Sam Spritzer, a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), made his Seen & Heard profile debut in the January/February 2012 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which just arrived in member mailboxes. Seen & Heard is a new column in our magazine and we had 48 members get enthusiastically involved in our first outreach effort! We’ll be publishing one or two profiles (as space allows) in each issue of the bimonthly magazine. Other members previously profiled were Danielle Nicosia, John Kinstler, Judy Martin and Anne Taylor.
Join the Hearing Loss Association of America!
Do you have a hearing loss or know someone who does? Consider membership in the Hearing Loss Association of America. Student annual dues are $20, individual annual dues are $35, and family/couple annual dues are $45. Fees outside the U.S. are slightly higher. All memberships include discounts on hearing-related products, convention and special event early bird discounts, AVIS and Alamo car rental, and the award-winning Hearing Loss Magazine. Sign up for membership here.
My favorite answer? Sam finished the statement “How I want to be remembered…” with “a statue in front of Williamsville Town Hall!”
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
MY HEARING LOSS… I was born deaf but my parents didn’t know it until I was three years old. I was implanted in 2007 and 2008.
SAGE ADVICE… Quitting is not an option!
FUNNY HEARING LOSS MOMENT… I was watching tv in the family room and heard what sound like a gas-powered generator. It was so loud that it drowned out the sound of the tv. Finally, I had enough and asked my wife if she knew where the sound was coming from so I could go over and complain or something. Her response…the sound was crickets in the trees in the backyard.
WHEN I WAS LITTLE I WANTED TO BE A… veterinarian.
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY… My first pet—a beagle named Mickey
THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE WAS… run a 5K race.
I LOVE THE SOUND OF… Dave Brubeck and Led Zeppelin.
IN MY SPARE TIME I… run foot races and will begin my quest to riding bike races, and then combine the two.
HAPPINESS IS… finding God and my family
WORKING NINE TO FIVE… bodyguard, coffee boy, porter, photographer, hugger
THE LAST BOOK I READ WAS… Listening Closely.
I AM… funny, out of this world and older than dirt.
MY FRIENDS WOULD SAY I AM… funny, weird, sensitive
MY KIDS HAVE TAUGHT ME… what I was like when I was their age. Now, I couldn’t have been that bad!
WHAT’S THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD? The cochlear implant! Need I say more?
I HAVE A FEAR OF… heights. The only thing that will get and keep me up there is an airplane.
I SIMPLY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT… God, my family and my CIs.
MY FAVORITE POSSESSIONS… Bike, camera, running shoes
WHAT IS THE KINDEST THING ANYONE HAS DONE FOR YOU? The love and outpour when I had my heart attack two years ago
I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED… with a statue in front of Williamsville Town Hall!
I love that Hearing Loss Magazine brings us the broad wealth of information about hearing loss. The stories about people with some form of hearing loss, how they live with it and overcome it is just totally inspirational. I would like to see more of those stories and less of the technical/educational. The latter can easily be found on the Internet.
Learn more about my ongoing series, The Orphaned Images Project, here and see more orphaned images here.
I subscribe to author and graphic designer guru Chuck Greene’s “Design Links” e-letters and he shared a really great link today.
“Dear Photograph” is a website that showcases old photographs placed in the same scene from the past, accompanied by funny, intriguing and often poignant one or two line letters that begin with “Dear Photograph,” all submitted by people participating in the project. It was created by 21-year-old Taylor Jones and is now an online phenomenon. Time Magazine voted it #7 in the Best Websites of 2011 (click here for that article). Read more about Taylor’s project in this article on msnbc.com here.
I am (slightly) obsessed with recording the lives of my family and friends (sometimes much to their chagrin), as well as retracing the lives of complete strangers in old photographs that I’ve collected (see The Orphaned Images Project here), so this site really resonates with me. Wish I had thought of it! I think I’m going to have to go through my personal photo stash and see if I have some to recreate and contribute to the site. Thanks to Chuck Greene for sharing the link and thanks to Taylor Jones for his creative genius.
GIVE ‘EM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT