Girl in a Blue Bonnet

MasonDixonPhoto

Greetings. This is my first time posting work here, so I hope it will be to your liking. By way of introducing myself to the members of this forum, and for anyone interested in a bit of background:

I've been a freelance sculptor, graphic and web designer for more than 20 years, and photography was something I initially undertook to shoot my sculptures for the purpose of marketing them. It quickly turned into a hobby, then a passion, and I am now attempting to make the transition from hobbyist / enthusiast to professional.

I'm currently shooting with an Olympus SP-550UZ camera, but I am saving to purchase a Canon 7D (drool, drool!), after doing much research into what world work best for what I do. I've been using Photoshop for many years as part of my graphic and web design work, and to do basic photo retouching, but recently I have been experimenting with it as a way of enhancing my photographs in more artistic ways.

My transition to pro photographer happened quite unexpectedly, when my wife and I moved to Gettysburg, PA.
Prior to moving here, I had no interest in the Civil War, but something about this place gets under one's skin, and into one's bones. I started shooting the battlefield, the monuments and reenactors who overrun the town on certain dates, and grew increasingly interested in the history, culture and aesthetics of the Civil War reenactment 'scene'. People started requesting to purchase prints of my monument photos, and i started getting requests from reenactors to create portraits of them or their units in period garb... thus Mason Dixon Photography was born. It's not much of a money-maker (although I have my hopes for the future), and I am still working to learn not only the history, but also the photographic / editing techniques I'll need to do it justice. So for now, I am mostly working to build my portfolio and improve my skills.

And that's enough about me! Without further preamble, here's one of my recent portraits, a girl who attended the 2011 Battle of Funkstown (Maryland) reenactment with her father, one of the sutlers / vendors at the event. I hope you'll like it... but I will understand if you feel compelled to brutally critique it. :wink

Cheers!

Robert Belgrad
Mason Dixon Photography
http://www.masondixonphotography.com
http://www.facebook.com/MasonDixonPhoto

zoomer

Cool shot, like the texture and colors.

jpc

What he said! Love the processing. Very, very nice.

MasonDixonPhoto

Thank you zoomer and jpc.

MasonDixonPhoto

Zoomer, some of your landscapes are breathtaking!