Some of the people I have shot this weekend in Lo Bosworth, The Wolf Pack from Twilight, Carmen Electra, Will.I.Am, Teresa Giudice, Busta Rhymes and a few others.  Oh and the Jefferson Starship concert.

I know, you want pictures, ok. since this whole weekend kinda ran together into one, I’m going to do the same for this blog post.

Carmen Electra turned up the heat yesterday at the Moorea Beach Club at Mandalay Bay.

“The Twilight Saga” stars Tinsel Korey, Alex Meraz and Julia Jones indulged in some sweets at the Sugar Factory in Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood on Saturday.

Friday night, Lauren “Lo” Bosworth celebrated the launch of her new website www.TheLoDown.com at Lavo

Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am was spinning at Wet Republic giving poolside partiers a DJ set they will never forget.

With will.i.am was Omarion so you know Wet Republic got crazy…

… and a couple from Saturday night’s Jefferson Starship concert…

Yeah, I know I left a few out, however that’s ok since I did not even list everyone that got in front of my lens this weekend.  When things calm down a little I will post more pics from this Labor Day weekend.

When I find myself in a slump, I look for a way to shake up my photographic brain. Here are some of the ways I do that.

1. Go for a walk without a camera. Look around at the world without the restriction of a frame to fill.  Let your eyes and mind wander, breath deeply, listen to the sounds around you and feel the earth beneath your feet.  No pressure to find something to photograph.  When I do this, I find myself refreshed and photo possibilities come much easier.

2. Look for an event to attend and plan what kind of photographs to get. Look through your community’s websites and newspapers for a festival, concert, fair or another event.  Plan what kind of photos you would like to get there and then attend the event.  Don’t plan on publishing them, this is for you, not your editor.

3. Shoot for a day/week/month with a prime lens or, if you normally use a prime lens, a zoom lens. By changing up, you have to think a bit more, go a little slower and see differently.

4. Select a subject to photograph and do it for a day/week/month. Examples would be color, shape, theme, people, animals, etc. Usually something like this starts slowly until your brain picks up on the subject.  By the end of the time period, you will be seeing the chosen subject everywhere.  For me, it’s my Obey the Banana project.

5. Read a book of fiction. Another non-photographic way to give your mind a break.

6. Create or work on a life project. This can be photography related or not.  Maybe you have another hobby.  For me I have a few photography projects like photographing the Homeless, Panoramas and Macros.

7. Put some film into your old film camera, leave your digital at home. Another way to engage your brain more is to use your film camera again, think through your exposures and creative spirit. You do remember film don’t ya?

8. DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Every photographer will get into a slump now and then, the trick is to turn the slump into a creative vacation then come back to your normal shoots better than before.

This is great news for us photojournalists that need flexibility when on assignment.  No more having to carry around two FX camera bodies to have the same range as the 18-200 has on the Nikon DX bodies.

The other thing that makes this lens a very welcome addition to us PJ’s is it accepts the standard and most common size filters, 77mm.

If you are interested in the geek speak and tech specs, click for more…

• Ultrahigh 10.7x ratio zoom lens covering 28-300mm focal range with the maximum aperture of f/5.6 at telephoto end
• Vibration Reduction (VR II) provides the equivalent of a shutter speed approximately four stops faster; two modes are available — Normal and Active
• Two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass and three aspherical lens elements minimize lens aberrations for superior picture quality
• Two focus modes selectable — M/A and M
• Zoom lock is employed to stop the lens from sliding during transportation

Click here to view this lens on Nikon’s website and to view sample images from this lens.

Estella is the first of many more guest hosts as the Chippendales launch their Ultimate Girls Night Out! party/show at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

Then it was off to the Palms to catch Stacy Keibler on her way to host the Las Vegas Fantasy Football Super Draft VIP Party.

After that it was time to shoot Fantasia Barrino as she celebrated her “Back to Me” album release at Rain Nightclub with a performance and a “short” red carpet appearance.

Strange thing about Fantasia is many times she has stated that she is never asked to walk the Red Carpet, however when she does get asked, she rushes though it spending only about 20 seconds in front of the cameras.  Strange….

Joining Fantasia as she celebrated her new album release was actress and fashion designer LisaRaye.

More here

This is where your flash comes in at. The language of photography is light.  Flash is another tool for a photographer to use to bring the light needed for the photos he/she wishes to capture.  Flash allows me to get photos I could not have gotten without it.   Sure I could get a badly underexposed photo and maybe save it with Photoshop.   That is not as efficient as popping on a flash unit and getting the exposure right in the camera.  It will produce a better photo every time when used correctly.

Here is a great example of using fill flash, without flash, all of Nickie’s face would have been underexposed by about 6 or 7 stops and this shot would have been unusable.

So inside or out, don’t be afraid to use your flash!  For even better results, use it off camera.  Most flash units these days can be controlled by your camera, if not you can always use a cord or a radio trigger like Pocket Wizard puts out.

Click more to view the rest of the series of these two little guys…

If you like any of these images and would like to use one or more, contact me at dave@daplv.com for licensing options.

The press area was packed with photographers and video crews, so packed that at many times during the night we were literally stepping on each other.  It was estimated that there were around 300 people from the international press there all in an area about the size of a large family room.

I think I was the only “normal” one there…

However as luck would have it, standing next to me the whole night was Crystal Stewart, Miss USA 2008.  She was interviewing the celebrity guests for TMG as they arrived at the 2010 Miss Universe Pageant.

Photo by Scott Harrison

Some of the celebrities that turned out for the red carpet were: Natalie Morales, Bret Michaels, John Legend, Mr. Trump, Farouk Shami, Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez, Miss Teen USA Kamie Crawford, Evan Lysacek, Jane Seymour, Chazz Palminteri, Sheila E, Tamron Hall, Niki Taylor, Chynna Phillips, William Baldwin, Criss Angel, Ryan Lochte, Cullen Jones, Madison Hill and more.

]]> http://www.mitphoto.com/miss-universe-arrivals-crazy/feed/ 0 http://www.mitphoto.com/congratulations-miss-universe-2010/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=congratulations-miss-universe-2010 http://www.mitphoto.com/congratulations-miss-universe-2010/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:47:44 +0000 Dave http://mitphoto.com/?p=2174 Congratulations! Miss Mexico becomes Miss Universe tonight in Las Vegas Nevada!

Jimena Navarrete, Miss Universe 2010 Country: Mexico, Age: 22

If you like this image and would like to use it, contact me at dave@daplv.com for licensing options.

The breeze is like a slinking kit.
It moves and stops and waits crouching.
It springs forward to catch its helpless prey
With icy teeth only to release it like a flopping fish

That is thrown back with a splash
And is hooked again,
Or like a mouse that runs pell mell
Back and forth between the paws that bat it like a birdie.

The gust of wind pounces on its kitten,
Opens up its reddened maw,
Swallows whole what the breeze has caught,
And then recedes,

Leaving once again the gentle breath of air,
That cat like licks the tousled tops of trees and my hair.