This is from an event that I did for the Library in Westmoreland, NH. The hat was created by a local artist. The shot was taken outdoors in an Easy Up tent that functioned as a light diffuser. This created an evenly distributed soft light with subtle contrast. In order to get around some quirky shadows, I slightly brightened her face using a Nikon SB900 flash channeled through a Rogue snoot. A snoot is a type of device that directs light to a confined area. It can easily be homemade or expensive ones can be purchased. The Rogue snoot works exceptionally well on this type of speedlight, comes with an assortment of grids and gels, and is reasonably priced.
It should be a simple task to correct the distortion in the frame using Lightroom 4.

This is my favorite shot from the Great Waters Music Festival Masters of Motown concert. I already had several shots of the staff and the audience which was my assignment, so I took the liberty of doing some more creative photography. My Nikon D700 is probably capable of revealing the audience behind the soloist without the excessive noise that accompanies the requisite high ISO. However, I felt that the image was much more compelling with the audience's shadows and her features highlighted. The most important detail and most challenging thing was to make sure her eyes were in focus in spite of the low light. This was shot at f/4 ISO 5000 280mm (using a 1.4 teleconverter) in aperture priority mode using manual focus and a lot of guessing.

My sincerest gratitude goes to the other members of the Four Guys Photo Club and to to my twin sister, Judy Hurd for  the assistance they so generously contributed to help set up and strike my display at The Artists in the Park exhibit in Wolfeboro.  Also, your debriefing at the pub afterwards is invaluable.

This is an image that will be in my upcoming show at Artists In The Park on August 15 in Wolfeboro, NH. This magnificent sculpture can be seen on the side of RT 1B coming from Portsmouth to Newcastle, NH. It printed exceptionally well. I only had to remove the pipe that appeared to be protruding from a very uncomfortable part of the bird's anatomy.  For you photogeeks; this is why you pay the big bucks for an 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens and shoot during the "golden hour".