June is a busy celebration month for many people close to me.  June 11, was (and still is) Kassy and her twin brother, Kennys birthday, so some of us got together at Bar Louie downtown Ann Arbor for happy hour.  It was good times.  We sat out back on the patio and chilled and stuffed ourselves on appetizers and drinks.  It was nice to get together in the middle of the week and enjoy one another’s company.  Yesterday, Kenny, our friend Kyo, and I went to the fabulous Melange also downtown for some sushi, other yummy items and some nice wine.  Once again, it was so nice and I will definitely be going to Melange more often.  I tried many things for the first time, including sushi and I have to say, I liked what I had quite a bit.  Kyo has a personal policy about food and other things in life that I admire; try everything TWICE.  Good times!  Happy Birthday to everyone with a June birthday!

The birthday boy and Tracy…

Me and the birthday girl.

Kisses…

Kyo and I…

Jess, Rich and little Everest were able to make it out…Everest is looking cuter and cuter!

You gotta have some free GIGANTIC pieces of cake on your B-Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazyness!!!


 

 

 

  • Pam - Belated Happy Birthday to you both! and what a hunk of cake!
    Pam

      Everyone has an opinion and preference on what software or method is the best to design albums.  I use Adobe In Design and I love it!!!  I recently started using a set of In Design templates especially for designing albums and have to say, that is has helped speed up my work flow quite a bit…about 30-40%.  The templates were designed by Ben and Laura Harrison of Ben Harrison Photography…two killer photographers based in Grand Rapids, MI.  If you haven’t seen their work, check it out, it is fresh, fun, and elegant…THEY ROCK!

      The template set includes 65 different templates for 5 different size albums, including 8×8, 10×10, 12×12, 9×12, and 11×14.  Each set for each size, also comes with black designs with white keylines and white designs with black keylines.  The templates are what I call a timeless design, with a clean and sleek layout, that is not too trendy and won’t become dated in a few years.  I’ve been using In Design to design my albums for about six months and it has totally changed the way I design albums and how efficient I am with doing so.  These templates have made me that much more efficient as I no longer have to keep creating layouts from scratch and I can add my own templates to the sets as I create them making them more and more powerful.  As you know time is money and being more efficient, has saved me time and money AND I like the album designs I have made with the templates better too!

      The templates are great, but what is even better (especially for those of you out there new to In Design) Ben and Laura have included around 20 instructional videos to get your album design rocking with In Design.  These aren’t videos on how to use all the features of In Design, but are for simply churning out stunning albums in a short amount of time.  They teach you the basics that are needed to design an album quickly and efficiently using Adobe’s page layout software In Design.  The videos are done by Ben and are short and to the point and are seperated and titled in a way that you can only watch the ones you need to to get going.  I was pretty comfortable with In Design before I started using these templates, but watched all of them to make sure there weren’t things I was missing that would make my design process even quicker.  There were a few more things I learned that I did not know from the videos, so I am thankful I watched them all!

These templates have helped me so much, I just wanted to share the experience I have had in hopes it will help some of you!

 

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE TEMPLATES!!!!!

 

 

I had the opportunity to second shoot for Kat Foley today and it was mucho funno!  Some of the bridesmaids started out getting their makeup done at Macy’s, which was a different experience.  I was approached by a Macy’s employee about my “photographing on the premises.”  It was understandable, as I was scampering around three different cosmetic counters grabbing shots of the ladies getting their faces put on.  All ended well, I just had to stick with Laura at the Clinique counter the rest of the time.  A little bit of the getting ready was done at the Courtyard Marriott in Ann Arbor.  The ceremony and reception were held in Saline, MI at the elegant and timeless Weller’s.  It was a lovely day, albeit a bit hot and humid.  All in all it was a relaxed, low-key day, which I feel added to the relaxed, intimate atmosphere.  Congrats to the newlyweds!  Enjoy!

 

 


  • nicole - Beautiful job, Dustin! Can’t wait for you to shoot with me in a couple of weeks!

  • Tara - Dustin, I really really like your work and I just dl’d your action set on sharpening. I really admire that you share your knowledge so readily and so willing to help out. Thank you. I went to UofM and now residing in the big NYC so seeing your posts make me nostalgic for the great great great place that Ann Arbor is. I’ll be sure to check your blog often now. Thanks for being an inspiration.

  • Phil Jones CEO SWPP - Beautiful wedding photos – possible competition winners

Sunday, Kassy and I went to my cousin, Rose’s, graduation party in Stoney Creek. It was a great day to be at a park. There was a guy there doing caricatures of anyone who wanted one…it was awesome. We had to take advantage of this oppurtunity.  My dad and stepmom got theirs done as well and they’re hilarious.  Robert Bauer is with Goofy Faces and does a great job and is also very entertaining will he is working.  Goofy Faces has locations at the Toledo Zoo and others as well AND they will also do caricatures if you send in a photo via e-mail.  Check them out, there are bunches of cool things you can get done caricature wise!  So without further ado…

  • Adam - Thats some talent, you should really start to think about promoting your blog more, get on feedburner or something, word will soon get around.

  • MJ - Wow Dustin, great likeness, is that you on the left 😉 only joking 😀

    Great blog by the way, I’ll be back soon!