While I think we got some good images that will be great to use on their soon to be released website, I have yet to process them all.  However, I did experience their West Coast Rubin that was phenomenal!  So I just have to share.  It is pumpernickel rye, oven roasted turkey, smoked gouda, sweet & sour slaw and Jason’s killer mustard.  Served hot and delicious.  If you are ever near St. Charles rock Road and 170 between 11 & 2 Monday through Friday, stop in.  The rubin is typically the Tuesday special, but follow @MariasDeli on Twitter for daily updates.  Yesterday was National Milk Chocolate Day so in addition to having the rubin, cookies were two for one.

What would the end of kindergarten be without a taking a walk to the local park for a picnic?

Enjoy the rest of the picnic photos on my photography site, www.jeffreyphoto.com

The Daisy Troop at Jackson Park School held its bridging ceremony where the girls move from being a Daisy to a Brownie.

Thanks to the leaders of the troop and congratulations to all the girls!  View more photos from the event on jeffreyphoto.com

Being that it is Mother’s Day, we started with breakfast in bed, specially made for a real mom.  But once that was over, we had to decide how to spend the rest of the day.  After photographing in Forest Park last Friday evening, the idea came to us to go on a paddle boat ride in Forest Park.

The timing was great and we walked right up and got on a boat in no time at all.  With ducks keeping us company, we paddled though the small lake and waterways, under bridges until we made it to the Grand Basin of Forest Park with its large fountains and view of the Art Museum.

It was a really great time and Jennifer repeatedly said she was so happy and could not think of a better way to spend her special day.  I am pretty sure Olivia and Mia enjoyed themselves as well.  After peddling back to the dock, we ate at the Boathouse restaurant, on the edge of the lake.  Really a great day.  I cannot believe we have this wonderful park only a few minutes from our home, and we rarely do anything more than stop by the zoo.  If you ever get the chance to take a paddle boat ride, take it.

NOTE:  Once again, all of these photos were made with the camera on my Blackberry and adjusted in Lightroom.  I chose this style of post processing because the history of Forest Park, just calls for this look.  See more images on my Flickr page in the Mother’s Day in Forest Park set.

Taking what many people have said and Chase Jarvis has made gospel to the photography community, the best camera is the one you have with you.  The other evening in Forest Park here in St. Louis, my best camera was a BlackBerry.  The fountain at the base of the World’s Fair Pavilion is a classic location in St. Louis for wedding parties, families and any tourist with a camera to stop and get an image.

On Friday, after the kids going to prom had left, there was a few minutes before the sun went down when there were very few people around and it was a great photo opportunity.

One trick I have found with the not so hot camera on my BlackBerry is that if I change the color setting to sepia or black & white, the resulting images are often much more interesting.  With the tradition of the pavilion, the sepia look works pretty well.  It removes the distracting color and lets the interesting structure be the focus.  It can even work with Mia hiding in the tall grass.

Then at times, black and white together with a moving subject and a moving camera and a slower shutter speed can make for an interesting image.

Unfortunately, I have not found any apps for manipulating images in the BlackBerry, and as Frederick Van Johnson believes, “pixels were born to be punished.”  That is very true of these images.  The exposure, brightness, contrast, fill light, and black levels have all be manipulated in Lightroom.  A vignette has also been added along with some grain to enhance the feel.

Here is before:

and after:

Or when to really have fun an image of a tree can be transformed.

Jennifer likes the before image better than the after image.  I disagree.  I don’t think she likes either of the tree images.  What are your thoughts?

The two kindergarten clasess from Jackson Park Elementary School took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo.  Above is the Animoto video made from the photos taken during the outing and the photos can all be found in the Jackson Park School gallery under Children heading on www.jeffreyphoto.com

I sent this photo via email to be made into a canvas print.

A few weeks later a huge FedEx box showed up in my office.  I was pretty surprised because I thought I would be getting an 8×10 inch print.  Much to my surprise it was 16×24 inches and beautiful.  I was blown away.

This is my first print on canvas and I must say, it is a very interesting look.  I hung it on a wall in our living room, above our funky chair.  It is a good location because that is Olivia’s chair for tv viewing and playing on the laptop.

While typically one cannot see the texture of the canvas because the position of the chair naturally keeps the viewing distance at least four feet, at night when there is only one lamp on in our living room shimmers of light sparkle from the print.  This may or may not be a good thing depending on your personal tastes, but I like it.  It is kind of difficult for me to describe, but the word shimmer comes to mind.  It does not obscure the image at all, just adds some interest.

Here is a close up of the print with very harsh side lighting to accentuate the texture of the canvas.  It is not a great representation of the quality of the actual print, but should help show the difference of canvas compared to a typical print on paper.

One of the things I like about having an image printed on canvas and then stretched around a frame is that there is no need to worry about a frame.  With the canvas stretched over what is essentially a wood frame, it will look absolutely great just hanging on your wall.  Below is a side view of the image hanging on the wall.  It is just under two inches this and the image wraps all the way around the frame, so it looks good from any angle.  The only gotcha is that you might want to think about what is at the edges of the image.  I personally like the gallery wrap option that takes the image all the way around the edges.  However, you can choose a white edge, black edge, blurred edge or a mirrored edge.

Unfortunately the piece did not come with an easy method for hanging, but a couple simple eye screws and picture wire solved that problem in less than five minutes.  Considering people have different methods they prefer for hanging pictures on the wall, I think it is best that the canvas came with nothing as apposed to something that I did not like and would have to remove.  My preference is to have the piece hang snugly up against the wall, so that is why I went with the eye screws and wire.

Another small benefit is that this very large image is very light.  I did not weigh it, but I doubt it is over four or five pounds.  While this might not be a big deal to most, I live in an old home with plaster walls.  To only need one small Ook hanger is huge!  No trashed walls when hanging.

While I received this for free, the price listed on their website of $78 plus $15 shipping is more than fair.  To get a professionally printed image at this size is going to cost a minimum of $20 and probably more.  If you then add in a frame and matting, the price is easily going to go above $100, no shipping.  If you cannot do the framing yourself, don’t forget to add that charge.

Overall my opinion of the canvas I received from Zaza Gallery is that it is gorgeous!  I find the colors to be deep, rich and accurate.  The quality of the printing is great.  I can see detail in the individual hairs in the fur lining of Olivia’s hood.   The quality of the product is top notch and I could not be happier.  I have already started thinking about the next canvas I want to order.  After all I have two daughters.

My one piece of advice if you order a canvas, don’t think of it as simply a print to put on the wall.  This is truly a piece of art that will be a focal point in our home.