A Picture I Took 2015

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Daggah, those last 3 are all great! Love that great non-distorted 14mm of the sky-scraper. I'm a little surprised you'd be shooting with the OM-D when you have the D800/14-24 option as well. What's the story behind that?

I was out with the girlfriend on the Skytree excursion, so I wanted to travel light. :)
 
Great shots Anh!

Man I am itching to get out and shoot, but convinced myself to wait 'till I have the body upgrade. So I'm waiting to get all my tax docs together, and now I'm also waiting on the D750 recall to be resolved so I can actually order one. Looks like I'm not going to have a body upgrade for at least another 2-3 weeks.

So I really just need to quit being lazy and go shoot with my current gear. Trying now to think where I want to go this coming weekend...
 
Great shots Anh!

Man I am itching to get out and shoot, but convinced myself to wait 'till I have the body upgrade. So I'm waiting to get all my tax docs together, and now I'm also waiting on the D750 recall to be resolved so I can actually order one. Looks like I'm not going to have a body upgrade for at least another 2-3 weeks.

So I really just need to quit being lazy and go shoot with my current gear. Trying now to think where I want to go this coming weekend...

The best camera is the one you've got on you ;)
 
Here are some of my humble contributions. Just got back from a winter backpacking trip at Nordhouse Dunes in Michigan. Camped on the beach for a night and got some cool frozen Lake Michigan pics.







 
Great shots Anh!

Man I am itching to get out and shoot, but convinced myself to wait 'till I have the body upgrade. So I'm waiting to get all my tax docs together, and now I'm also waiting on the D750 recall to be resolved so I can actually order one. Looks like I'm not going to have a body upgrade for at least another 2-3 weeks.

So I really just need to quit being lazy and go shoot with my current gear. Trying now to think where I want to go this coming weekend...

Thanks! :) Too bad about the D750 recall, but don't let that stop you from shooting. I finally had to get off my ass and force myself to go out in the cold to take pics. The temp really is making me lazier, at least that's my excuses lol.


North Beach Boardwak (HDR) by pyrospawn, on Flickr
 
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The best camera is the one you've got on you ;)

Well said. Thanks for the motivation. :cool:

Thanks! :) Too bad about the D750 recall, but don't let that stop you from shooting. I finally had to get off my ass and force myself to go out in the cold to take pics. The temp really is making me lazier, at least that's my excuses lol.

Yeah, there are several photo trips I want to take this year, but many aren't available yet. And the crappy weather does make me want to stay indoors more.

So, now I'm trying to hatch some plans for indoor macro type projects. Think I'm going to do some experimental food shooting this weekend to get the creativity flowing again.
 
I have a trip to Okinawa coming up in February, so look for some beach shots from me soon too. :)
 
Really love the city and building photos everyone. I miss living in downtown Saint Paul, MN.

I've been out biking around sunset lately. Yes, even though it is cold here in MN. Trying to keep partially in shape over this long winter.

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Baldy is pretty much directly to the left. That trail is near Lytle Creek, CA.

You really were by my house, well, within 15 miles anyway.


I have a trip to Okinawa coming up in February, so look for some beach shots from me soon too. :)

Depending on the length of you stay and how many places you can go to, I recommend seeing the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Seeing a whale shark in captivity is pretty impressive. This aquarium shows how aquatic life dwarfs humans easily. Worth the price of admission. And of course in Japanese fashion, it's very nice.

If you're looking for something different and distinctly Japanese, then Murasaki Mura is a fun spot. Hopefully you'll have your own transportation though, I don't think it's worth spending a full day, but a half-day certainly.
 
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And I picked up an IR filter for the 20mm; took it out to try it today, even though it's the wrong time of year. Still have a lot of experimentation to do to figure out better WB and focusing with this thing. As with everything else I'm shooting lately, I can't wait to try the IR on the 750 either... :D

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Here are some of my humble contributions. Just got back from a winter backpacking trip at Nordhouse Dunes in Michigan. Camped on the beach for a night and got some cool frozen Lake Michigan pics.

Great shots!
What sticks out the most to me is you used "camped out" and "frozen Lake Michigan" in the same sentence. Nope!
 
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From a Photoshoot that I did with Comedic Actor Robin Leiva

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This photoshoot was actually completed some time ago, some of you may remember it. I just couldn't find the right background plate for it, so it has stayed unpublished until now. I actually have already posted the BTS picture for this image! So if you want to see how the photo was made, check out that here:
https://plus.google.com/105577675218369150235/posts/P2bTJ4fnuhR

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This image was definitely fun to create. Robin is a master at making facial expressions, he can produce an intensity that is unbelievable on call, even when when acting out an absurd and unlikely scenario.

To push and fillout the concept, we built up this intense strong look for Robin and used some of the eclectic props he had lying around. Crazy goggle-like sunglasses? Sure. Bakelite rotary phone? Why not. Orange tie with a leather jacket? Makes sense to me. Cue the facial expression and then have him push and punish an imaginary caller. Photo magic.

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Subject: Robin Leiva
First Assistant/Digital Tech: Christopher Reyes
Gaffer/Grip: Riley West
 
@ UnknownSouljer - I don't normally comment on the pics since I don't have anything to contribute but I really dig that pic. It looks really cool.
 
I agree - very cool! Souljer, how'd you get that selective motion blur thing to work?
 
Out biking today. Barely any snow on the ground anymore. Warm temps, melting and sublimation has done away with it all. Always nice to bike during the late evening when the sun is setting.

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Taken with my phone - Samsung GS4.
 
@ UnknownSouljer - I don't normally comment on the pics since I don't have anything to contribute but I really dig that pic. It looks really cool.

I agree - very cool! Souljer, how'd you get that selective motion blur thing to work?

Thanks chums.

The process in Photoshop isn't actually that complicated. I didn't learn it from anywhere, just having a knowledge of what it is I want to do, and then fiddling with things until I get it done or it looks right.

So in this case, I had a layer group for Robin that I made a layer mask for, and then masked him out of the background. You can see the BTS pic posted to see what the original background was.

Then I converted the layer group into a smart object. As a smart object I could then apply filters to it. So in this case, I used radial blur. That worked best in this usage case as motion blur as an example is lateral only and not in multiple directions. Things like surface blur and gaussian blur etc are more just to make things out of focus rather than show movement. So that's why I picked that tool.

Then the "trick", if you want to call it that, is using the power of smart filters. I simply created a layer mask on the radial blur smart filter and painted it in where I wanted it.

The second "trick" is to not paint it in at 100%. I used a decently large brush, 0% hardness, and around 15% flow to slowly paint in the effect, which made it gradual and showed it more or less is the places I wanted it. I don't think the effect is 100% on in any section of the image, it helps to make it look more 'authentic' and believable than if I had one-hundred-percented the effect in as opposed to doing it this way.

With this setup, it makes it easy to put in and take out. I spend a lot of time looking at my images before release, so I can tweak and tweak. In this case it allowed me to paint some in, and then come back in later and paint some of it out. And add and subtract etc ad nauseum until I got the exact look I wanted. I did the same thing for the other image of Robin that I posted late last year of him jumping in front of the red wall, albeit in that case it was using Motion Blur, but the process was the same.

So I hope that helps. It so weird though that that is what draws people. I just 'created' this technique so it would serve the photo (made it look like he was spinning quickly, justifying his tie in the air) and it's unlikely that I'll ever do this specific sort of effect again. But if it helps you out it some way so it can better serve your future photos than awesome! Glad to help and be of service.
 
Oh, hah, I feel dumb now - should have been able to spot this. I wanted to hear that you had him wave his arms around with long exposure, then layered the long and short shutter-times together. But yeah, doing it in all post would be a lot easier, and it fooled me, so I guess the effect works just fine! :D
 
I got everything organized today to do B&W film development. Tuesday I'll be able to try developing a roll. Last time I developed film was in middle school about 15 years ago. I'm going to try the Caffenol developer recipe which is made of washing soda, vitamin C and instant coffee.

I have a DSLR of course, but looking forward to trying my hand at the slower moving film developing process.

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Looking forward to warmer temperatures.
Lomochrome Purple film shot at ISO 200.
 
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^^^Very nice. Big props for doing film and develop yourself. Don't think I have the patience and discipline for it.
 
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