Fifteen blows to the back of your head

12:38 AM - Deja Vu

Remember that really horrible picture where I was trying to recreate dark theater masks? Yeah, well before I was able to see how horrible it turned out, I liked the idea in my head of distorded faces, to heads, that sorta thing. Today's image is an attempt to recreate that, however with no photoshop (I mean, no fancy editing...I did crop the pictures and fix some color stuff, etc.)

I took this photo with my flash, I rarely use flash in my images. However, I held my pose and waited until the flash went off and immediatley moved. It took a while to get the timing right...but, it created a nice effect.

Day 53: Oct 3, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

12:35 AM - gutter

I really have to get my mind out of the gutter. Because of my accidental discovery "yesterday". I had to go out again and take some gutter shots. The light was really interesting and played against the ground and gutter water.

Day 52: Oct 2, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

9:15 PM - journey

Ok this one I liked. I am not sure why, but thank goodness I am posting two photos a day (or so), because I needed the taste of the last photo out of my eyes.

Anywho, I had my camera on me this day and I was getting ready to head...somewhere, I can't remember now. The photo at the time was just a random one I took because...well, because I had my camera. I didn't really plan on using it. I do that a lot, just take photos because my camera is there. However, rarely does the photo capture my imagination later. This one did. There is just a beauty I see in the image...I hope you do too.

Day 51: Oct 1, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

6:22 PM - Execution

Not at all what I was thinking, not at all what I wanted. Wow, I cannot really express my disappointment enough with this image. My lighting was wrong, my face placement was bad...I couldn't get anything to work with this image. But, I am not retaking it...so, sorry for wasting your time.

The image was supposed to be sort of like a take on the theatre masks...but, from more of a dark angle. Influenced by Batman, I will admit, so a good versus evil thing...but where good isn't angelic good but sometimes the lesser of two evils. That was the thought anyway...execution is a different thing. But should probably be discussed for this image. Both metaphorically and literally. I think I just found my name for this.

Day 50: Sept 30, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

5:10 PM - shimmer

I took this one in my backyard...while watering. The light was at just the right angle to shine throught the trees I honestly got lost for a while watching it. I love the way light plays with things, and if I was ever to pursue some type of art with any real enthusiasm I am quite sure that a lot of my attention would be to the study of the interplay of light and shadow.

This will be my last photo today. I was able to process three yesterday, go me.

The next picture I have is fun because I revisit it again in about a week of photos. The next picture I post will be heavilly edited in PhotoShop, it's a picture of me, and those always require a lot of work.

However, I took a similar picture a little later that achieves a similar effect with me just playing with the lighting, specifically the flash on my camera. So, that will be fun, but the first one is not due until tomorrow.

Until then.

Day 49: Sept 29, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

7:52 PM - bands

This was my second attempt at HDR. I processed this one from one RAW photo (the last one was from three jpg's merged together, hence the blur). It was really interesting how the sky had such three distinct colors, I had to take the photo. I think all in all it turned out all right.

Day 48: Sept 28, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

5:29 PM - swamped

Work, in its ever present way, was really hounding me during this time. Everytime I looked at my computer I just saw all the things I would have to do. Hence, the ghost hands. Additionally, this was my attempt at using textures in PhotoShop. I wanted to add a more grungy, worn look to the image.

When I first took this picture, I only imagined doing the ghost hands. Mainly because I was frustrated with work. But, looking back now, I don't know. The texture felt like it had to be there. The bottom texture was supposed to look like remnants of mud...hence the name of this post.

Day 47: Sept 27, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

8:01 AM - Half-Tone

This photo was an attempt to combine two different applications. I normally just use PhotoShop, but this time I brought in Illustrator for the vector (the lines and splotches) to help finish the image. Over all, the picture wasn't all I hoped for...I wanted it still to be simpler. I wanted even fewer colors, more definition. A less is more approach. Alas, it is what it is.

Day 46: Sept 26, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

2 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

7:29 PM - My First HDR

This was my first attempt at an HDR (which is one reason why I couldn't progress with my photo's, I couldn't process the photos I was taking). HDR is basically a way to show the picture more as your eyes see it, instead of the way a camera does. Our eyes are able to see a broader spectrum of light and dark at the same time then a digital camera...this way the camera can see the same range as a person.

However, it turns out the way I was taking the images isn't the best way, which is why the tree is blurry (I was using the HDR technique on the clouds). So, I would like to go back and retake this picture...but seeing I am behind about 60 photos (I have taken them, I just need to process them, there will be no re-dos.

Day 45: Sept 25, 2008

Shutter:
Aperture:
Focal Length:

Photoshop Details:

0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

5:51 PM - My Photo Blog

Well, you probably noticed that my photos have not been updating lately. I apologize for that. It turns out that taking a picture a day is not hard. Editing them for use, especially since my main goal for this is to learn PhotoShop, is the hard part.

In my working with the photos, I found that my camera just wasn't doing what I wanted to do. So, I switched to a new camera. That was working great, until I started playing with the features and was able to get the results I wanted (shooting in RAW format, no JPEG compression means the photos always look crisp) and realized I didn't have the software to archive or edit my pictures. Which means I could take all the photos I wanted, just couldn't do anything with them.

So, I have now purchased the new iPhoto, I have figured out how to convert my G9 RAW images to DNG (digital negatives) so that my other software can read it, and I have got an HDR software as well (so I can process the HDR images I am taking...which, now that I am processing them are not what I hoped for; but it is a learning process right?)

I said all that to say this, my photos will be updating now. By the way, last week I passed my 100th photo...which by the time I am done processing it will mean you will see it in like a month. I will try to process all these photos as soon as possible.

Also, you will notice a lot of the photos I was taking during this period are more landscape photos, or photos of other people...not me. That was because I am playing with my camera and it is just easier to practice HDR or catch a photo real quickly then to try to pose myself in one. Plus, I didn't want to break my camera with my self-portraits. There is only so much of my mugg that my camera can handle before the lens cracks :)

Let the photos proceed (I processed two last night and will be moving them up, shortly). Oh, one more thing, the blogs will all be post dated to the date the photos should have been published. So, it's like retroactive blogging.

6 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment