More music

I was listening to my Zune on shuffle the other day and stumbled back upon Emilie Autumn who can play the violin in what I would quite possibly call a perfect art form. I have tried to play violin before and have played other string instruments but the violin is what I would consider the most difficult to play. Somehow though she plays it so quickly and without fault to a point that I cannot understand here is a sample of her pure insanity.

Stopping the motion

I have been looking different ways to stop motion with a flash for my upcoming shoot and was very happy to find a video that Chase Jarvis made explaining his shoot for Kung-Fu Network.

Photo shoot

I have a photo shoot set up for Sunday, I will be shooting Mr. Stephen Renney from my Tae Kwon Do studio. I will be practicing and shooting my fill flash assignment for photojournalism. Mr. Renney is an XMA and martial arts instructor. Here is a video to show his skill in XMA and how well he can teach others.

Flash

So one of the assignments we are going to be working on this weekend for photojournalism class is fill flash. Fill flash is when you take a subject that is already light by pre-existing light and you add just a small flash of light into your photo to help either stop motion, bring out the subject or just add contrast. Here is actually a pretty good article I found on it where someone talked about how he uses it and how he figured it out.

Coming of age

Aside from looking for a new camera because it is getting kind of old and an upgrade would do me well. I am starting to look for a laptop upgrade.... my poor sweet 4 1/2 yr old laptop is slowly beginning to die and I have been looking for an upgrade for all the photography work, storage, and photoshop that I will have to run on it here is my current idea for a replacement.

Another Oldie

Here is another picture I took during final four this one is from my 2nd quarter during black & white digital classes. This is the picture before the B&W change cause I kind of like color better for this photo.

In case you forgot what final four is or you have not read previous post refer back to this.

Shoot

Today I was shoot by Jenni Green with Tiffany Bayona in a faux wedding shoot where Tiffany and I where posing as a couple getting married for Mrs. Jenni. It was a pretty entertaining shoot got to dress up and run around like idiots I hope to see the pictures soon and actually think shooting weddings would not be so bad... who knows.

Change perhaps?

So I am trying to become a Tae Kwon Do instructor again which if I get that job will be a great set-up for photography. If I get in I could possibly shoot for their magazine, shoot tournaments, and portraits. Which would be great practice and possibly help me out with some business.

Back to training

Since I have been getting back into training for martial arts I have had to start relearning some of the workouts such as core training. For martial artist core training is the most important thing we can do. All power and movement comes from the core of your body when you are doing martial arts correctly, every punch, kick jump, step should start from your core. If you where to watch a movie such as The Drunken Master you will notice all his stances and strikes come from the core containing more power and ability to move.

That hour

Sometimes we all hit that hour of the night when we can not sleep for whatever reason that urges us to stay up later. Last night I hit mine and the reason I could not sleep I needed to let out creativity, so I started to start studying the guitar again. I am trying to learn all the different chords and get adjusted to holding strange notes. When I was doing this I was thinking of and looking at a certain band with some amazing guitarists Becoming The Archetype. The mix of metal and acoustic is an amazing art form, plus their cover arts are usually pretty amazing such as their first one.

The arts

So as of late I have been attempting to try to do as many artistic things possible in attempt to keep working on and getting rid of some of my creativity. One of my favorite arts to study/ teach/ do is martial arts. I have formally trained in Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and military training with ATA, Kung-Fu/ Shaolin Temple style from The Temple, and have taught myself a few other styles from reading and videos. Today I started my training again by going back to ATA for classes and hopefully to teach again. I feel like this could be something amazing for me to start again for the creativity and possibility of being able to shoot some amazing martial artists.

Preparing

So I am getting ready for my fantasy shoot where I can shoot anything my strange mind wants to. This time I am going to try to shoot a splicer from Bioshock they look kind of like this.

Now this is just a minor character from the creepy and wonderful game bioshock it takes place in the present where you end up in an underwater city stuck in the late 1960's. I just got a dress from Goodwill today and Tiffany is fitting and fixing the dress for the photo shoot.

Dvd

Here is a dvd that I am seriously looking forward to getting, I have seen clips of some of workshops but I am seriously trying to attend one of his workshops if I can. If you are ever interested in some amazing shots done with just a one light setup check out Zack Arais.

Photographers bane

This wonderful weather that we have been having is slowly killing those photographers that do not have rain covers for their cameras. With all the rain we are losing the lighting that we need for most of our assignments and are also raining out events that we need to go shoot. 

If anyone else is interested in getting some sort of cover tell me.

System?

So I was looking at builds online for a friend of mine who wanted a pre-made system and he asked if Mac or PC was better. I of course wanted to just be opinionated and say PC but instead decided to go online and check prices and builds and what would be best suited for my friend. For Mac I built a mac pro with a 2.66 GHz Quad core processor, 3 GB of RAM, 640 GB HD, 512 MB graphic card, and 18x burner for $2,499.00. On Dells website 2.3 GHz Quad core processor, 6GB RAM, 640 GB HD, 1024 MB Graphic Card, and 16x burner for $769.00. After reviewing the options and prices I suggested that they get a PC cause they work perfect for artists usually a bit faster than Macs and there are usually more programs for artists out there as well. What system he uses is up to him as it is to you but for me personally if I can build a better system for less plus I am comfortable with the system I am sticking with it.

What is your frame?

So I have started the all important search of looking for a camera upgrade. Yes the thing that all photographers either look forward to or dread... Getting a new camera and having to learn the layout. I am currently trying to upgrade from my current D80 because it has a poor ISO rating and is a DX crop. To those who do not know the DX crop is the normal sensor size for Nikon cameras which is approximately 3/4 the size of a full frame camera which would not be restricting to most people but those of us who take photos for a living the full frame is the best choice. Here is an article I was reading about the differences this morning for anyone else who has been thinking of upgrading and is not sure if it is really worth the extra cash for the full frame.

One day this will be my back up after I upgrade.

...really

So according to an article I read on PDN about a seminar at PhotPlus Expo Twitter was coined the future of marketing. Not quite sure how that makes me feel or how photographers are taking it considering it is becoming a truer statement every day, well I guess only time can tell.

Commercial

So I think I found someone who I would consider one of the better commercial photographers during this time period. Calvin Lockwood his composition, colors, set up, and focus just always seem to make me really happy. Here are some photos that I could actually post of his work. Oh yea and hopefully this is the guy that I get to intern with.

Trip 2

The photo below is from a trip that I took to North Carolina with my family and Tiffany we where going for a fun little trip to see the mountains but ended up grabbing lunch with one of my dads clients. He was a fun guy and has dabbled in photography for about the past 40 years, has gathered a good amount of cameras and lenses. After we all ate lunch together he invited us to see his second home, this place was amazing here is just a shot of his living room with 30ft ceilings.

Trips

I am going to start putting up some photos and entries about some trips I have taken recently and try to put up a favorite or two I have from each trip. Here is one that I took in New Orleans

Internships

So I have been looking for my internship to figure out what kind of photographer I want to end up studying under. So far I have been looking at commercial and food photographers until I started trying to shoot sports for photojournalism. I think I might do it if I can find the right internship only time shall tell.

Old Shot

I was going through some of my old shots that I took before I started going to photography and decided that I actually liked a few and truly hated the rest to see how bad some photos look when you don't know what you are doing and how many things you do not realize you are doing wrong. Here is one that does not hurt so much....

Finals

So I figured I would share with you all a few of my final four pictures. For those of you who do not know what a final four is. In our class we get to choose a subject under certain circumstances one quarter it was B&W film the next B&W digital then color. In these final fours we shoot the subject that our teacher has approved then we have to get a series of four photos to edit print and mount after they have been chosen.

Here is a photo from my 3rd final four

The Sick Surgeon

Here are the previously promised shots that I took this morning for my hi-key assignment.

Here is before surgery

Here is during surgery

Hi-key

So today I shoot my hi-key with Mr. Sterling I am going to be re-touching the photos and editing them down after I choose a few I shall post one or two hopefully by the end of the night.

Child Portrait

Last week we had a photo shoot in the studio for child portraiture. I ended up shooting Anderson Thomas, she is one of my best friends adopted sisters. Without further pause here is the stock image for your viewing pleasure.

ISO Beauty

So the Nikon D3s is supposed to have a low noise ISO rating that goes up to 12,800. Here is a sample of what it looks like at that ISO I think they got it down pretty amazingly. Here is a link to the rest of their gallery.

The Mountain

I promised some pictures from the mountain the other day so here is one of them. I shall upload more at a later date.

Photo Walk tonight

I am going to the photo walk tonight for my first ACP viewing this year. I would suggest that everyone who can go goes if not I am sorry you couldn't. It will be held starting in Atlantic Station downtown and continue to somewhere that I am unaware of.

Flickr

The beginning of my flickr account to store some of my photos and make it easier for me to share them with all of you on here.

The never-ending thoughts

So I have been searching for a new Nikon camera to consider saving for but am having issues deciding on weather or not to invest in a D700 or wait for the inevitable upgrade. That is the one issue with the fact that cameras keep progressing with the technology for them.

For my consideration

So I talked to the teachers about all day trying to figure out what I should invest in next on my camera and it has been decided. Here is my new lens.

Pre-Warnings

The information we can find or hear of before we are even supposed to know about is amazing now a days. Take the Nikon D3s for example a few websites had almost exact specs on it for the past 2 weeks. Today when checking on the actual Nikon website I found that I was just re-reading almost the same exact information other sites where giving me. Which unfortunately means I am waiting for the next model for the more sensible and affordable upgrade hopefully.

Preperations

As I slowly get ready for school this morning I realize all the thought and preparation that we truly put into a photo shoot.

I have to make sure I have my camera, sd cards, charged battery, correct lenses, lens cleaner, backdrops, props, and subject. Well here is to a good photo shoot I hope... also I hope I am not forgetting anything.

Insane

So as I was sitting in work today I started to become slightly bored so I played with my cell phone a bit. To my great surprise I saw something that shocked me to a point of what I would describe as absolute stupidity.

I started to look at the camera on it and all the settings. So apparently now some camera phones have ISO, white balance, and metering settings. It seriously surprised me and made me wonder how this will end up affecting photography in the end I guess only time shall tell.

With any luck

With any luck tonight I will be able to get to see a roller and or ice hockey game going on for my photojournalism class.

I need to go ahead and get sports shots for my class plus I have been in love with hockey since I first saw some guys playing ice hockey which was quickly followed by my joining.

Mountains

So I believe the mountains where a success I ended up going to Whiteside Mountain with my friends Lewis Plush, Jeremy Mann, and Tiffany Bayona.

There was some minor difficulty because there where clouds on top of the mountain the whole time. Which was kind of nice and it was a different and fun experience for all of this considering some of us have hiked it 20+ times.

When I get a card reader I will go ahead and check my photos and go ahead and add a few of the good ones.

Mountains

Today I am going to the Highlands in North Carolina to hopefully get some mountain pictures and visit some old friends. I have some ideas of some shots that I want of the mountain range and some of the mountain side itself... hopefully the weather holds up so I can get some nice exposures.

First Post

Hey class I just finished my homework I win!