Como Zoo...

 

Going for a Dip

Copyright 2010 Matt Mortensen Photography

The Twin Cities are an amazing place, there is something to discover even for the lifelong resident.  One such place is the Como Zoo and Observatory.  This place is a wonderful daytime outing for families and is all the better by being 100% free!  The newest addition to the animals is a set of polar bears.  For more on the zoo and many other things to do in the Twin Cities area check out one of these great guides - Walking Twin Cities or Insider's Guide to the Twin Cities.

Photos and Pizza Paradise...

Sirianni's

Copyright 2010 Matt Mortensen Photography

Sirianni's Pizza in Davis, WV is the best pizza in the state!  And that is all that needs to be said for this post!  I should also mention that the area around Davis and Tucker County is some of the most picturesque backcountry you will ever see.  Go for the pizza...but bring your camera and hiking boots!

The Money Matters...

MarketFocus

Time to take a little break from photography and talk about the bread and butter of life - money!  That's right all you starving artists out there who want to make fine art photographs, you still need to know about the money. We all know that money (capital) is needed to start our business, but we need to know a lot more to make our meager earnings as photographers turn into a nice nest egg.  That is why I have decided to share a little secret with you - to keep my financial future looking bright, I look to the folks at Mountain State Analytics for the timely advice I need to keep my money invested wisely.   Once your subjects have gone home and left you with a nice paycheck for your efforts, you need to jump to action to get that money working for you!  Sign up over at their website and take a peek, I promise you won't regret it.  Those guys offer an insane deal for the publications they are putting out.  You could be paying a lot more for the static advice from a dusty old textbook!

Lightroom Magic...

 

Colors

Copyright 2010 Matt Mortensen Photography

Oh, the power of Adobe Lightroom!  In this modern world of color images everywhere, almost everything you look at in a magazine or online will have been processed with Adobe Lightroom or a similar program.  The scene in this post really caught my eye as I walked past last weekend.  This was an abandoned building that for some reason had a fresh coat of pain on the entry.  The photograph, processed through Lightroom, represents the scene as I interpreted it, slightly more gritty, dark and rough with slightly more vibrant colors!  enjoy!

Nikon D2Xs, 35 mm, f1.8, 1/500, ISO 100