Rollover this image to see what can be done after the camera has been a little too harsh.Yikes!! Harsh Shadows are taken out, porcelain skin added, blur background a little, clean up the eyes, teeth and jewelry and hay, I'm a new person!
Naomi Hodgkins, known as Noni by her family and friends, resides with her critters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She has 25 years experience with a Professional 35MM camera. She is affiliated with the Professional Photographers Association (PPA), International Freelance Photographers Organization (IFPO), Editorial Photographers (EP), National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and is listed in the Photo Source Book of 2005, 2006 and 2008. She has a college background in Computer Science and Business with many courses in Photography. She is versed in Adobe Photoshop (photo editing), Adobe Lightroom (photo editing), Adobe Premier (video editing), Dreamweaver (Web development), and business development. Her continued self education never ceases not only because the field is changing very quickly, but mainly due to her insatiable interest in photography combined with computer technology and how it tells a story.
When I was very young it all started with a magazine ad and the purchase of a small plastic camera. After I married in the late 70s, my husband and I invested in a Minolta 7000 35mm with many lenses and enrolled in numerous photography classes. We won several awards in Architecture, Landscape, and General. We received requests from friends and coworkers to photograph their weddings. A good friend of mine, a professional photographer, asked me to photograph a wedding with him. One of the photos I captured was the sister-in-law of the bride diving sideways across everyone to catch the bouquet. My beloved soul mate of 32 years has now gone to Spirit as my Angel so I will continue his blessing to pursue my passion in photography.
As network administrator for a nonprofit organization benefiting children of addicted mothers, I was asked to photograph their events over a period of nine years. I enjoyed taking candid shots. Photographing the children was my greatest love. To capture a child's face, especially when they have deep worries, tells such a story. One such shot helped secure a $500,000 donation for their children's center.
Our PR director starting having me photograph for magazines and newspapers. Most of the photos taken were to help raise donations, but one six-month project progressively documented the building of a facility for foster children.
After leaving the nonprofit organization I developed more computer skills but along the lines of my first love, photography. However, my computer knowledge did not go by the wayside because my new path consumed considerable computer power. From dual calibrated monitors, backup drives, and extensive memory to professional cameras that are computers themselves, technology in photography became my passion.
I have been involved with Adobe Photoshop since 2001 using computer systems I built. Adobe Premier came into play with the Video editing and then Dreamweaver (which Adobe now owns) when I decided it was time to build my web site. Which by the way is now a CSS site for those that know web site coding.
When I was still in film, I was contacted by an artisan friend of mine to try and photograph her glass work. She had not had good results. I was able to scan the file with a Minolta Film Scanner and edited them in Photoshop to show their actual beauty. The slides converted from digital files were used for an ad campaign in the "Where" magazine.
Although I enjoy photographing events and continue to do so, I have placed more of my time into Stock Photography. I will also hang out my shingle to do Pet Photography. I just have a feel for it and besides all new critters like me because they know I have critters too. With extensive continued research to see what the Designers need, I started with the Canon 10D Professional Digital ,moved to the Canon 5D and after losing it all in a fire, I decided to go with the big one, the Canon 1ds mk III (21 mega pixels & superb image quality) and Canon's L professional lenses.
I have researched the market extensively and have found that many photo buyers want to access the power of keywords embedded in a photo. Google now has the ability to search this data without having to go to a stock photo site. So keywording will play a major role in my photos offered for Stock Photography.
Adobe Lightroom will also be the main player handling my photos from development to file handling and keywording. It was designed by Adobe for the photographer. Adobe Photoshop will always have its place for the work needed on a photo that Lightroom cannot do.
My motto is to work hard for quality and to have word-of-mouth as my best advertisement. Everyday is devoted to keeping the old knowledge and techniques but adapting them to newer technology bringing a vast improvement in time spent and quality of the finished product. I am consumed with a special creative energy that tells the story.
Check out my Favorites Portfolio.
Last updated 11/07/08
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