So Proud of my Students in the Emory Digital Photography Class

Students for the Emory Digital Photography Certificate Program

 As some of you know I am instructor at the

Emory Continuing Education

Campus.  Last year I taught one the best groups ever!!!!  Together we went through a very intensive course.  I have included a description of the courses Below.  We covered many photography assignments and editing projects.  At the end of the program we started to put their portfolio together.  There is so much talent in this group!  Emory has added their work to their website.

Please take the time and visit the site.  You will be amazed at the depth of their talent.  Also take the time to read the artists statement.  It is my favorite part.  There you will learn about their diverse approach on their photography. It was my honor to be part of such a talented group!

Emory Course Descriptions 

Digital Photography I

If you feel that you are not taking full advantage of the features offered by your digital camera, this is the course for you. Composition, selective focus, saturated colors and proper exposure all combine to produce images which make the best use of digital photography's tools. Digital technology has changed the field of photography more rapidly and dramatically than any previous technical advance. Ideal for the enthusiastic hobbyist or a serious amateur, we will focus on how the operation of digital cameras differs from their film counterparts through a combination of class lecture and photographic assignments. Learning how the camera capabilities apply to actual photo-taking and the impact of megapixel, file compression, and print versus email output will greatly enhance your success in photography. We'll also begin exploring the more complex aspects of photography, such as lighting, composition, use of flash, color and depth of field. You will share your work in class to enhance the class discussion. You are encouraged to delay the purchase of supplementary equipment until after class discussions. Click

to view upcoming sections.

Digital Photography II

A continuation of Digital Photography I, we'll practice using more advanced techniques for lighting, composition, moving subjects, nighttime photography, and shooting landscape, architectural, and nature subjects as well as closeup and macro photography. Students will explore using lighting, filters, angles, depth control, and zoom lenses creatively to capture mood and emotion in their photography. Feel free to share your work in class to enhance the class discussion. Textbook is not included. Prerequisite: Digital Photography I. Click 

 to view upcoming sections.

Digital Darkroom I

Digital cameras and digital software work in tandem to allow for the maximum creative effort in photography. This course explores both technical and aesthetic considerations in the medium combining lectures, discussions, demonstrations and self-guided practice to allow the student to explore their own personal aesthetic and to discover the skills needed for success in the digital darkroom. Photoshop is the primary software and this course covers the appropriate use of all tools and palettes, the importance of resolution, layers, selections and the Photoshop Bridge. Textbook is not included. Click 

 to view upcoming sections.

Digital Darkroom II

This course continues the exploration of electronic photography but shifts the focus to creative exploration of the medium. It encourages the student to use critical thinking skills to conceptualize and explore their ideas. This course covers image enhancements, media ethics, and communication and encourages the student to explore more creative explorations through photographic manipulations and montage. How are messages relayed and how can the artist communicate his or her idea effectively to the viewing audience? Class discussions are important and most assignments utilize lab time and hands on exploration, which encourages an atmosphere of community as students assist one another with problem solving. This course does not restrict the student to the Photoshop format. Students may use another software just so long as the file can be opened in Photoshop. Textbook is not included. Prerequisite: Digital Darkroom I. Click 

 to view upcoming sections.

Legal Issues in Photography

This course will introduce both amateur and professional photographers to legal issues they are likely to encounter. The focus is on underlying legal concepts and practical applications. We will answer three basic questions: How do you protect your work? How do you exploit your work? How do you avoid trouble? Topics covered include copyrights, various photography-specific contracts and the rights of privacy (including street photography) and publicity. The course is taught by an experienced attorney. Textbooks not included.

Textbook:

The Law (in Plain English) for Photographers (Third Edition) and Business and Legal Forms for Photographers, 4th Edition. 

Click 

Take Control of Color and Composition

Understand how your camera sees color differently than your eye. Learn to utilize color control as a creative tool. Learn guidelines for composition within the frame to make your images more effective & memorable. Superb photography requires more than just a basic understanding of the technical capabilities of your camera. Translating an image captured from a three dimensional world into a two-dimensional plane requires attention to elements outside of content. Practice looking beyond the subject matter of your photographs to see the formal elements that actually construct the picture. Begin seeing photographs as an art form that communicates emotion, mood, and interpretation rather than a passive reflection of objects or people. Class will utilize discussion, traditional lectures with PowerPoint, and critiques of student work. Computer usage will be outside of class. Click 

 to view upcoming sections.

Let There Be Light - Working with Portable Strobes

Learn to make use of small, portable electronic strobes on location to control lighting for your digital photography. Advance beyond the built-in flash on your camera to add light from various directions and to shape the light. Compare methods of triggering strobes: Optical, radio & infrared slaves. Explore such techniques as blending strobes light with ambient, rear-curtain effects and high-speed flash. Click 

 to view upcoming sections.

Digital Photography Certificate Capstone

Throughout the Emory Digital Photography Certificate program students are building a portfolio which demonstrates their experience in a variety of photographic practices and a refinement of personal vision. Each student will present a portfolio of 20-30 photographs representing their skill and expertise in execution of methods learned and practiced throughout the photography classes. Prerequisite: This course is available only to students completing the Digital Photography Certificate. Please contact advisor for more information. Click 

Thanks so much for visting!

David Diener

www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

you can also email me at

david@atlantaartisticweddings.com

Wedding Wire 2015 Couples' Choice Award! for Atlanta Artistic Weddings

Wedding Photography by www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com

I want to give a big thank you to all the Atlanta Brides!  Atlanta Artistic Weddings has gotten the Wedding Wire Couples' Choice Award for 2015!  We could not have gotten it if it was not for our wonderful brides.  I can not state enough how much of an honor it is being a wedding photographer in Atlanta. I am so thankful for all the reviews at Google, Yahoo, the Knot, Pictage, and wedding wire.  When I look back at 2014 I remember all the wonderful weddings that we had the honor to be part of.  Each one was so different and wonderful!

As we look forward to 2015 we are looking forward to many more beautiful Atlanta, weddings and couples.  We are looking forward to serving you for many more years to come!

Thank you so much for visiting!

Please feel free to call Atlanta Artistic Weddings at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
Thanks again!
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 
you can also email me at david@atlantaartisticweddings.com
 

Gwinnett Historic Courthouse Bridal Show - photography by www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com

Come on out this Sunday January 7, 2014 from 1-4pm for the Bridal Show held at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse. Come by and say hello to Atlanta Artistic Weddings a down home wedding photographer.  It is located in downtown Lawrenceville, Georgia at 185 Crogan Street.  I have included a map of the bridal show here.




  A bridal show is a great one stop shop for your wedding needs you can find Wedding Cakes, Wedding photographers, DJ Services, Formal Ware, Floral Arrangements and other Wedding Ideas!  You can also tour a wonderful historic wedding facility in Gwinnett County.

Admission is $6 per person in advance and $7 per person at the door, and every registered bride who completes a bridal show passport will be eligible to win prizes. The first 30 brides will receive a welcome bag with brides t-shirt at check-in.
The Gwinnett Historic Courthouse is located at 185 Crogan St., in downtown Lawrenceville. For more information, call 770-822-5450 or visit www.gwinnettparks.com.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Please feel free to call Atlanta Artistic Weddings at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
Thanks again!
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 
you can also email me at david@atlantaartisticweddings.com

2015 Wedding and Enagement Photography in the Fall at Peidmont Park Atlanta, Georgia | by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com

Atlanta Piedmont Park by www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com

Well we all know it is cold outside!  I wanted to share a fun engagement shot at Piedmont Park that was taken recently.  I have been so blessed to be busy in the winter months.  I have been booking weddings very quickly since the beginning of the year.  I always like to add a engagement shoot to the wedding packages that I offer.  That way I can get to know the couple and know what they are looking for.  Every couple is different so you need to know what each couple is comfortable with.  I love getting to know each couple!  You learn how they meet each other and what attracted them to each other.  I also want to let each couple that I am here to help them in any way that I can.  I also can not tell them enough how much of an honor it is to be there wedding photographer on their wedding day. 

I also like using Piedmont Park because there are lot of wedding locations around the Piedmont Park so if the couple wants to we can visit their wedding venue.  There is the Georgia Terrace a wonderful historic hotel on Peachtree in downtown Atlanta.  There is the Fox Theater a historic theater with a wonderful reception hall and it is the place where I proposed to my wife.  Magnolia Hall is a wedding facility located in Piedmont Park! It is great place for wedding photography.

For your convenience I have made a map of some of the wedding facilities in Atlanta around Piedmont Park. 


Thank you so much for visiting!
Please feel free to call Atlanta Artistic Weddings at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 
you can also email me at david@atlantaartisticweddings.com 

Fun Wedding Photography with the Groomsmen by Atlanta Artistic Weddings

Wedding Photography by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com in Atlanta, Georgia

Today I am going to touch on the groom.   When photographing a wedding a lot of attention goes to the bridal photography.  Today I am going to share one of may favorite photos from a past wedding in Atlanta.  This group of groomsmen were just awesome.  They embody the spirit of a great groomsmen.  The groom was one of the nicest and tallest groom that I have every had to meet.  The guys were so thoughtful and knew how to have fun.  We were shooting at theater and I just knew we it was the place to put on a show.  All I needed to do was give the guys the stage and line them up to some great light and boom we have a great groomsman photo.  These guys are posing like they are a bunch of tough guys but they could not have been nicer or more fun. 

It is important when doing wedding photography to have two things going on.  One you should have fun!  When having fun you have the best photos!  The other thing to keep in mind when doing wedding photography are to get to know the bride and groom so you can capture their personality.  I always say each wedding is like a snow flake.  They are beautiful and no two are alike.

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call Atlanta Artistic Weddings at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Wedding Dress taken at Sunset by Atlanta Artistic Weddings

Wedding Dress Detail Photography by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com

It is all about the light.  I love shooting in mornings and evenings when the sun is low in the sky.  Recently I had the honor photographing a wedding on a lake at sunset.  It was raining the day before but the clouds moved away and we had a beautiful wedding day for our special bride.  When I saw the dock on the lake where the wedding ceremony was going to be held I just knew that I wanted to use it for the bride and groom shots and detail shots of the wedding dress.  It was about a hour before sunset and I asked the bride if I could please take some detail shots of the wedding dress.  It was a little breezy that day so I set up the wedding dress and waited for the perfect moment for the photograph.  The lake was lake a mirror of warmth that highlighted the wedding dress in a warm glow just like the bride.

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call Atlanta Artistic Weddings at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Library of Congress HABS HAER Program | Photography by David Diener

Henry Ford's Richmond Hill Plantation photography by David Diener

As some of you know I have been working with cultural resource firms for the last 20 years.  One of my roles has been as a large format photographer.  During my time as a large format photographer I have had the honor of working on some of the greatest architecture in the United States.  I have recently done several projects for NASA documenting the many historic structures they have there.  I have documented several historic properties from St. Thomas to Pittsburgh.  The photos I have taken go to the Library of Congress and become part of the HABS/HAER collection.  Here is a excerpt from http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/ web site.

"The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections are among the largest and most heavily used in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. Since 2000, documentation from the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) has been added to the holdings. The collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscapes, including examples as diverse as the Pueblo of Acoma, houses, windmills, one-room schools, the Golden Gate Bridge, and buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Administered since 1933 through cooperative agreements with the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, and the private sector, ongoing programs of the National Park Service have recorded America's built environment in multiformat surveys comprising more than 556,900 measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories for more than 38,600 historic structures and sites dating from Pre-Columbian times to the twentieth century. This online presentation of the HABS/HAER/HALS collections includes digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, written history pages, and supplemental materials. Since the National Park Service's HABS, HAER and HALS programs create new documentation each year, documentation will continue to be added to the online collections. The first phase of digitization of the Historic American Engineering Record collection was made possible by the generous support of the Shell Oil Company Foundation."


Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call me at: (404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Welcoming the New Family Member | Children Photography by Atlanta Artsitic Weddings

Photography by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com

Recently I was contacted from one of my pasts brides.  She let me know that she just had a baby and wanted me to do some baby photos!  I was honored!  It is so cool to see a couple and their next stage of life.  A couple of weeks after the baby was born I went over to their house and saw the cutest baby ever!  These were some proud parents.  And wouldn't you if you had the cutest baby ever.  I just love the children's expressions.  Everything is so new to them and they get so excited!  This was a simple shoot I just used a simple basket and some natural light.

So at this time of year it is time to give thanks.  The honor of photographing wonderful brides and grooms and their weddings.  Also give thanks for happy healthy babies.  So like my mom says "count your blessings" and be thankful for them.

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call me at:

(404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Even in the cold you can have fun engagement photos! | photography by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com

Engagement and wedding photography by www.atlantaartisticweddings.com

Even in the cold you can have fun engagement photos! Sometimes you can't help but brag.  I just have to brag on this wonderful couple.  It was down right freezing and this couple was just great! We arrived at Hurricane Shoals Park at a little after sunrise.  It was the first cold day in Georgia.  I could tell that the bride to be was cold but being a real sport.   So since it was cold and it is always fun to incorporate props in to a shoot.  So I thought a lets keep these people warm!  So we got a blanket out of the car.  So really all you need is a blanket and two people in love and you have a warm and happy couple!  The photos speak for their selves they are two people in love.  The blanket is a symbol of warmth and comfort between two people in love.  It brought the couple together and you can tell by they look into each others eyes that they are a awesome couple!

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call me at:

(404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Fun Engagement Shoot at Historic Covered Bridge in Georgia | Photography by www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com

Engagement Photography by www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com

I know it has been a while since I have posted but I had to share the most recent engagement session that I had Saturday.  As you know I like shooting in the morning.  This lighting is great and you don't feel so rushed.  This couple has been so sweet.  They meet me early in the morning and bared the cold weather that day.  The very first minute I meet them I could tell how much they were in love and were going to make a great couple.

I work in historic preservation.  I have a passion for the historic properties and especially the historic resources of the southeast.   The covered bridges of Georgia are a vanishing resource.  When you see parks featuring them and keeping them up for others to enjoy you have to take advantage of them.  Stone Mountain Park and Hurricane Shoals Park are doing a wonderful job of preserving the past for other people can enjoy these resources in the future.

I just like the idea of the historic bridge and their engagement shoot.  It sort of symbolizes them going through life together and that they will be together for a very long time like the old bridge.  Who knows I hope they come back to the bridge with their kids and say remember when!

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call me at:

(404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com 

Inspiring of paralyzed bride walking down the isle

As a Atlanta wedding photographer I am honored to be part of so many special days for brides and their families.  Recentlly I came across a video from KETV.  It is the inspiring story of Gina Giaffoglione.   She was paralyzed in a car accident.  On her wedding day she was determined to walk down the isle with her father. This woman was not going to be deterred.  After months of physical therapy and a specially made brace that fits under her wedding dress she walked down the isle.  To the surprise of her guests she walked down the isle with her father and got married!

I want to thank Gina and KETV for sharing this story. It is inspiring stories like this that keep me humble and honored to be a wedding photographer.

Thank you so much for visiting! Please feel free to call me at:
(404) 578-6982
and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can.
David Diener
www.AtlantaArtisticWeddings.com