Is this thing still on? Damn...

Can post-processing make a bad image good?

In a word, yes:

(before)


(after)

Keep your eyes open

This was taken while I was visiting my sister and her fiancé in Charleston, South Carolina. We were downtown, by the water, and it was scorchingly hot. I noted this out of the corner of my eye and decided to take a quick picture of it with my BlackBerry.

Little things like this are why I keep my eyes open all the time while shooting, and am always looking around. You start to notice a multitude of things that would normally be invisible if you're concentrating too hard on something else.

So... in short... keep your eyes open, and always be looking for the details.


Sent from my BlackBerry

Nikon D7000

Here's a video of Chase Jarvis testing out the new Nikon D7000. I love how Chase always seems to be having fun while he creates everything he does. Never seems to get flustered or anything. Truly professional. Check it out:

Clay Enos - Street Portrait How To

This is something I saw a while back but wanted to share with you all. Clay is a wonderful photograhper, but beyond that, seems to be a good person in general. His blog is outstanding, and he has lots of interesting projects. Enjoy this video:

Shoot for free!!!!

I saw a recent post on the Black Star Rising blog that has refueled my disdain for shooting for free. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping out someone who needs it, shooting for charity, for a good cause, etc... but when people say "It will lead to LOTS of paid work for you"... "It'll make you famous"... or "Doing this gig will get your name out there to lots of industry professionals", it's just hot air. No, putting my name at the bottom of a picture won't fill up my inbox with messages from people wanting to throw their money at me; it won't make my cell phone ring annoyingly into the night.

Don't lie to me.

Already this year, I have been asked by a couple magazines, and a number of websites if they could use a few of my images. "Of course", I replied... "but my normal rates will apply". What did that get me? Well, I'm not published in any magazines yet in 2010, nor are my photos being used on any websites (with my permission, that is; I have found a few that have had my photos up there without my consent).

It all makes me remember a quote I read on the Canon Photography Forums; "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys". You get what you pay for folks.

Before and after

I've been meaning to do a before and after comparison for a while now. I'm going to do a better one at some point in the near future. For now, you'll have to settle for some wicked 'variations', texturing, and levels.

Before:

After:

I'd be more creative if...

.. not much in terms of the blog lately, but I wanted to point anyone who actually reads this to an interesting blog post from Chase Jarvis: http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2010/05/id-be-more-creative-if/

Enjoy.

Sent from my BlackBerry

This is Livid

I have wanted to get into photographing bands for almost two years now. It seems fitting that Vaughn and Livid were getting back into the swing of things and we decided we should see what we could do.



For a small, two-year block from 2003 until 2005, I was playing guitar in my band, aptly named AEPOC. That period of time, concentrating on so much that had to do with the band, really helped me through a difficult time. Practicing multiple times a week, recording audio for every practice, video for some, and still photos for most was always interesting, but I could rarely be doing any of that, as I was playing. I always wanted more, and better photos, to document the best times of my life: Playing guitar in my band.



There's definitely something to be said for standing in front of a speaker cabinet that's so loud it's actually moving your facial hair. But it's an entirely different feeling when you're in front of that cabinet, seemingly shaking the entire Earth, and it's all because of YOUR guitar playing in a song that YOU wrote and composed. Best feeling ever? If not, it's damn close. Shooting the Livid rehearsal the other day reintroduced me to that feeling.



My band never amounted to much... which is sorta fine with me considering it spawned my photography, and I'm WAY better at that than I ever was at guitar, or audio engineering. Livid, however, is a different story. Here is an excerpt taken from their website:

Livid has brought their explosive music across stage after stage since 2003. Their intense and high energy live shows have had them opening up for countless mainstays in their genre including - Godsmack, Sevendust, Dope, Drowning Pool, Soil, Breaking Benjamin, Nonpoint, Flyleaf and many more. After taking a brief hiatus from 2006-2009 for members pursue side projects and other musical interests - LIVID is back...reborn...taking the stage with fury and vengence once again.

I strongly urge you to check them out. They're fantastic at what they do, and are without a doubt headed in the right direction.

Here are some more photos for you, that aren't available anywhere else. Click on them for better viewing:

du du du ...

.. another one bites the dust.

Sent from my BlackBerry ( ZSUNWS49CU2R )