Is anybody even reading this?

So I don't really have anything new I have to talk about really, and it's not really doing my pictures justice when I can only post picture when I have something to write about so in the near future I'm going to start posting pictures only entries.  Well, enjoy!

Lightroom is a godsend

So I finally have Lightroom 2.5 setup.  Without starting Photoshop it has the ability to adjust my color and exposure so I can get into photoshop and start my touch ups.  Only been a day since I installed it, and it's much easier to sort through my backup pictures.  Here're some more stuff I've done today.

 

Good day for all of us!

So, I stayed up 6am after a 13 hour day and kinda picked up on how to use layers and let me tell ya, it's very awesome to be able to finally do what I had intended on portraits. I'm very glad of the turn out.  There's not much to say since my camera is still in the shop but the plan is for a new Canon XSi to show up by christmas, wish me luck!

Oh no! It's broken!

Sorry I've been MIA for a week, trying to find some new subject for work.  Today I brought some good news and some bad news.  Good news is I happened to have brought my camera to the Greensboro fair this year so I got some great photos done.  Unfortunately, bad news is my camera broke and gave me a shutter error after about 100 burst shots.  The shutter now snaps physically but with an even hollower sound, which is exactly why I wanted a canon in the first place, I've always talked about how I enjoy hearing the tightness of the canon shutter sounds when a picture is taken, now I've confirmed my fear.  So off to repair the D40 goes, hope I can find the warranty info tomorrow, for the life of me I don't remember if dad had decided to get the 2yr or the 4yr warranty.

Anyways, I'll keep posting my work and wait for my equipment to come back at 100%, until then, contact me if you are interested in ordering prints.

 

 

To what direction should I go into?

So anyways, took a day off from blogging to gather my thought, and I've hit a road block.  This blog was meant to be for my work in photography and also filmography, but since I've been struggling not to right anything personal on here.  Maybe I should have another blog specifically designed for that.  But anyways here are today's choice of works.

 

  

All in all they're a bit too bright, first picture I've used a 4 second shutter and the subject tilt his head from right to left.   Second shot was with the same 4 second shot with a zoom.  Enjoy

Testing Waters

I saw a lot of pictures lately where they have photoshopped all the color out of the picture except for one object, great technique and there are several ways you can do it I'm sure.  I figured this out myself when I was messing around with the Hue/Saturation option in photoshop.

There are some restrictions to this specific technique of course.  First, the subject must not blend in too well with the rest of the picture, the higher similarity the color, the more spill you will have that you're gonna need to fix.

If by chance u want a green shirt to show up (like the picture above) when the subject is stand around a yard, you can still make it by using the sponge tool, it'd require some elbow grease and you'd need some precision tool, a higher quality mouse, or possibly a drawing tablet.


I haven't figured this out yet but I'm sure there are ways you can isolate the object in target and all you should have to do is desaturate the rest of the picture.  Feel free to comment if you have something to say. : )

 

Btw, you can click on the pictures for a full size.  Maybe I should start watermarking them... : O

Posting for the sake of posting? Bollocks!

Yeah couldn't do much on the weekends since I work but I have so many pictures I can put up here I can probably have a blog done a day.  Enjoy, I will post a full blog when I have something to say : )

And on to the lens

So anyways, here's a little bit more detailed review of the lens I've recently purchased.  Again the lens can be found here.  From purchasing to shipping I've had great success with Best Buy overall.  It took literally just a weekend to have the item shipped to me and I was able to enjoy it by Monday afternoon. 

When I purchased the lens I knew it was designed for Nikon Film SLR cameras so from the get go I knew I was going to lose the autofocus option, buyers beware.  And also because of that, the lens does fit tighter than other lenses I have, so if you're like me, wanting to spend less and still produce good quality pictures, you'd want to be careful not to break the thread cause it can be a hassle for repair. 

I've fitted the lens on and off for several times just to make sure it fits properly, and I've found small amount of dirt on the rim of the lens and the thread so I've taken it back out and cleaned it again before the last mount.  D40 will recgonize the lens properly, so one thing you can do to verify that is to use the aperture option on the lens.  Because some of the Nikon SLR cameras may have the aperture control through an analog dial on the lens, this lens also has that function. 

When I tried to turn the lock off to change the dial, my camera immediately shows a message informing me to keep the aperture on the lens at the highest f-stop possible, it would be a great way to show all the connectors are meeting between the camera and the lens. 

And then of course after fitting the lens, my UV lens filter goes on.  This would be another 'tip' so to speak for beginners out there. 
Simple math to treat lenses:  If you scratch a UV lens filter, it's about 10 dollars at the most, if you scratch the glass on a lens, it's the cost of the lens we're talking about.  Keep the dust and the dirt out fellas. : )

I think all in all I'm going to rate this lens 8/10.  The fitting of this lens on a DSLR is kinda weird and scary, but if you're careful with it no problem should arise.

Now, for those of you whom are not afraid to spend more money on a lens because either you're loaded, or you're planning on staying on track with Nikon, here's an awesome lens that does better of a job than the lens I've got.

Until next time, stay frosty my friends : )

The dawn of a new era

So today I've finally made the effort to get this going.  I've been thinking about either having my own website setup or just putting up a blogspot page because of the creative freedom I get if I'd make my own website.  Then I realized I don't really have time to put together my own website at all and so the project was put on hold for the past several months.  Finally, I found a new lens and a new place on my computer where I can archive my work so now I've gotten a good amount of work I can't wait to show everyone.  I've made the move recently, instead of waiting to get the camera and a lens I want, I've worked with what I've got and purchased a prime lens for the D40 my dad has bought for the family, and now I can't seem to put the camera down at all.  With the amount of money I've had to spend, this lens delivers much more than what I've paid for it.  If you're an ameteur photographer as well who have chosen the road of a Nikon, definitely should check this out.

Nikon - Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF Lens Model 2137

Just about out of time for the first blog, more reviews coming for the lens, and it's onward to my work and other stuff I get into.  Before I go, here's a taste of what you may expect from time to time.