Teri Petrzalek, Architect

Morning Star Studio does commercial architecture, interior design and structural engineering. Banks, retail businesses, governments, healthcare companies and other industries make up some of their past clients. Because of their size clients have the advantage of working directly with the person doing the work. Morning Star Studio is located at 600 3rd Street SE, Studio 201 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (319.362.5484).

Teri and Shanna are an architect and structural engineering team and were great to work with. They plan on using the images for not only their website, but for other promotional materials, too. The thing I’m most happy about the photos is that you get a sense of who Teri and Shanna are.

Shanna Duggan, Structural Engineer

If you need professional environmental portraits of your or your staff that give you more than just a plain headshot or that look more sophisticated that what you might get at a police booking room, give me a call.

Best of luck with the new book, Chicoro.

You can check the book out on Barnes and Nobel.

The Times article starts off about Maeling Tapp and her journey to grow her hair long in a natural way. It talks about several others that have been developing a cottage industry to help women with Afro-textured hair grow it long and healthy.

The book is the first in a series by Chicoro. I actually got to see the cover of the next book, which should be out in the next couple of weeks. I was honored to be able to shoot the photo for the cover of that book, too. Chicoro has been wonderful to work with. She is very gracious with her thoughts and her insights and passion are truly inspiring.

The main emphasis was on High School seniors, but we covered the latest in digital techniques and fine art photography, too.

An added bonus was that Lew Everling was in the class so we got a lot of exposure to social networking and the commercial work he does. If you’re not familiar with Lew, you should check out out on twitter.

The deadline is next Saturday, so you better get out to the senior picture survey now to win.

Of course you can also increase your chances to win by tweeting this post, liking it Facebook or leaving a comment. Imagine that quadrupling your chances with almost no work. How sweet is that?!

Welcome Angela!

First, we must start at the foundation of ones beauty: healthy skin.  I truly believe everyone needs a good skin care regimen.  This includes, but is not limited to, a cleanser geared towards your specific skin type: dry, oily or combination.  An exfoliant, whether a physical exfoliant (with granules) or a chemical exfoliant; a good eye cream and moisturizer.  One of the most important of these steps, which is often over-looked, and extremely important during the winter months and thereafter, is exfoliation! Dry winter air sucks the moisture from our skin leaving it dull and dry.  Most of us try to combat this by slathering on the moisturizer.  The problem with that is the dead, outer skin cells soak up all the great moisture and are left sitting there on the surface leaving your skin looking dull.  The trick is to first use an exfoliant to slough off the dead cells and then moisturize the fresh skin below.  You can use more aggressive exfoliants one or two times a week or a gental daily exfoliant.  Don’t forget to do this for your face, body and even lips.  You’ll be surprised with how your skin will glow!

My second secret for glowing skin this spring is a tint of tan.  I am definitely an advocate of the airbrush or spray tan.  It’s not damaging to your skin like conventional tanning and technology has much improved since this method of tanning first came out.  No longer do you have to fear being orange! Before you go, be sure to exfoliate, then just follow the directions from the tanning expert, when getting a machine version, such as a mystic tan.  You can also see a professional to get airbrushed as light and golden tan or dark and bronzed as you like.  Instant tan!

Now to focus on the face.  Rule number one: don’t neglect your eyebrows!  The first thing that people see when they look at your face is your eyes and right above those eyes are your brows.  I find that a lot of people really struggle with their brows, so I decided to talk just a little bit about them.  I’ve never met anyone with perfect brows that didn’t have to work at them a little.  Brow shaping is really an art and should be left to the professionals if at all possible.  If you have been blessed with thick full eyebrows, see an esthetician or pro waxing technician for a shaping and regular maintenance (no over-tweezing at home please!).  If yours are sparse or barely-there, you can have them tinted by a professional, but don’t go overboard…only one or two shades darker than your natural hair color.  If that seems a little scary, see an esthetician or pro make-up artist that can teach you how to fill your brows.  In most cases, all you need is an angled brush and the correct shade of eyeshadow. It just takes a minute to do, but will make a huge difference in your overall look.  You will be amazed with how your brows will frame your eyes and draw attention to them.

Spring will also bring fun new shades of eyeshadow to play up your eyes.  Blue eyes: try violets, purples and plums.  Brown-eyed girls should try bright blue or blue-green.  Experiment with touches of color, but don’t go too over-the-top.  Meaning don’t use the color from the lash-line to the brow bone and mix in some neutral shades like creams, browns, golds or grays.  Also, choose a nude or soft pink lip color when playing up the eyes with bright or intense color.  Or, try the opposite, a sweep of soft gold on your lids and a pop of pink or fuchsia on your lips with just a touch of gloss on the center of the lips. You can finish your look with a hint of soft pink or peach blush and black mascara.  The trick is to have fun with your look and make it uniquely yours, these are only suggestions, there are no set rules with make-up!

Angela A. Penhollow
Professional Make-up Artist/Esthetician

On my quest for such self-education, I stumbled upon this little blog (Smarter Fashion and Beauty Blog). It is written by four women. The thing that appeals to me most is that they are from all over the US, so they all bring something different to the site.

• Tiffany is from the Seattle area and petite young woman with really long, dark hair.
• Sharon is a fashion editor from New York. She looks like she has an edgier, but very cool, style.
• Belinda is a California girl and is a self-proclaimed “Carrie Bradshaw fan.”
• Jenna hails from Michigan and looks to be a reader of the blog turned contributor. She write about fashion online and in a couple magazines.

So, if you’re looking for some beauty tips (or maybe know someone in need) go check it out. If you do, I’d really love to read your reaction in the comments below.

The talent of the kids was just incredible. There was no doubt they they really put a lot of time into their displays and really worked to make them good. There is a gallery of the image available here: science fair gallery. Feel free to share this article on your favorite social network site.

If you got the chance to stop and see the displays, I would love to hear your comments about what you thought of them.

I’m going to be giving things away all year, so if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you’ll be one of the first to know.

Here is the survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LQDLGQG.

Mark Stanek, The Angry Man

The talent of the contestants each year on American Idol always amazing me. Needless to say, I’m a fan. I recently found a blog that is pretty good. If you’re an American Idol fan, you may want to follow it. He picked nine of the top ten contestants when they were paring them down from 24. Pretty good. He has some pretty funny, present accurate insights. I recommend American Idol fans check it out.

I’d love to hear your comments if you check it out.

I got out there and there were several of the kids already on the ice. I didn’t really realize how fast they can go. I would change position between the middle of the ice and the outside edge.

I would really have to move because the kids could make it around the track in 20-25 seconds and the adults in less than 12. When trying not to fall, I don’t move that fast. It was like playing Frogger on ice.

If you’d like to know more about speed skating in Iowa, check out their website.