1st work week of 2008

The first work week of 2008 is over. I'm taking a girl I know to dinner tonight (it's her birthday) but figured I would post since I have some time. Not much in the way of fancy restaurants here (will probably go eat some sashimi and sushi) but I can't really complain. Weekends are simple here, either going to the beach to swim and fish or sometimes going to see a movie (we have one theatre here). Sunday I will take some more more photos of a basketball game (enjoyed that last weekend) and might do some kayak fishing tomorrow.

Another girl I know (not married despite the ring). She has a simple tattoo on her right breast which I really like. For some reason I'm attracted to girls with tattoos. Not all over your body types, but one or two small tattoos are sexy to me. Hope you enjoy the post of her.

One Month

Well, Looks like I have been posting for one month now. Time sure goes by fast and I appreciate those who stop by to have a look. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog.

So far work has taken 100% of my time. I have a big audit coming up later this month and getting ready has meant working 12-14 hour days. Not fun, but work pays for my trips and camera equipment and puts the food on the table.

So just a short post before I get back to work....

2008

First day 0f 2008 and I don't have a hangover from last night (yeah). My first post of 2008 is a streetgirl that I had met. posting here more to discuss a technique that I use to process some of my photos. It is simple and I like the way it works some of the time.

In photoshop, I first duplicate the layer. Next, I change the mode to multiply (the drop down box). I change the name of the layer to multiply. Next step is to make sure you have the multiply layer active and go image-adjustments-hue/saturation and turn down the saturation (drag the saturation bar to the left) almost all the way (this photo was at -85). Click ok. Next step is to make sure your background layer is selected (the bottom layer) and duplicate that layer. Change that layer name to "minor" (you can actually name them whatever you want, it just makes it easier to keep track if you name the layers). OK, now you have (from bottom to top) the following layers; 'background' - 'minor' - multiply (total of three layers).

Select the multiply layer again (the top layer) and go to image-adjustments-shadow highlights. Make sure the show more options box is checked at the bottom. Now, I generally only play with the "shadows" box at the top. It has amount, tonal width and radius. Goof around with these until you get something you like. For this photo it was amount (50%) tonal width (50%) and radius (50%). Click ok.

I normally will collapse the layers at this point (layer-flatten image). Then apply some sharpening to taste.

Now I generally find that this technique works best if you do this right when you open up the image (before you play around with curves and levels) but again goof around and see what you like.

Hope you found this useful.

Happy New Year

Well, it will be a New Year in a couple of hours here (already New Years in most places) so time to make the resolutions. I have three. First is to lose the extra pounds I have put on (this must be the most common resolution for most of us), second is to really concentrate on my photography and third (which kind of ties in with the first) is to cut down on the beer (but not tonight). Hopefully I will stick to the plan. But tonight I will drink too much beer and spend time with my family. I don't go out on New Years Eve because I like to spend it with my kids and there are too many drunk drivers on the road. Better to stay home and party.

Been a real interesting year for me here. Job kind of sucks and the typical girl problems. But end of year started to look much better with my girlfriend and I getting back together and her getting pregnant. I'm looking forward to being a Dad again.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys their New Year. Thanks for visiting my blog.

lighting ala strobist (ok, not nude)

Ok, this is not a nude photo, but it's my blog and I posted a nude shot earlier so what the hell...... I was asked to photograph a basketball game today and considering I have ZERO experience I didn't really want to but figured would give it a try after explaining they should have zero expectations (can only go up from there). Wasn't sure what to expect so brought my canon 100-400 lens (which ended up being a too long) and two canon 550ex with pocket wizards. I was told the gym was bright but was glad I brought the flash as when I got there there were no lights and I would have to be at ISO 1600 @ f4.0 for 1/125 (which was too slow for basketball - or at least I think so). there was a higher level behind the net (about 5 feet up) so I ended up with a speedlight to the left and right behind the net on light stands. Power was at full and triggered by pocketwizards (manual of course). Got a couple of good shots but next time would actually use my 17-85 as even at 100 I was too long from where I was standing. I think these ended up being iso 800 f4.0 for 1/400 (or thereabouts).

The hardest thing is that the action is so fast I had a really hard time focusing. I used servo mode on the camera but it sure is a lot harder than shooting a model standing still. I give these sport shooters a lot of credit.

abstract

Well I did it. I purchased the CS3 upgrade last night. I felt it had enough enhancements to make the $199 upgrade worth it. I also am a frequent visitor to RadiantVista and all his tutorials are with CS3. If you use photoshop and have not checked out the radiantvista site www.radiantvista.com, you don't know what your are missing. Wonderful tutorials on a wide range of subjects and it if FREE. The only trick is you have to check back every couple of days to see if there is a new tutorial posted. Once archived, you would have to pay to view. I have learned so much on this site (although mostly for my landscape photos).

The photo to the left is an abstract of (well you know). Just goofing around in photoshop and came up with this. My friend and I had enjoyed the night and although she didn't want me to take any photos of her, I did convince her to let me take some photos of body parts that no one would be able to tell it was her. I always respect a person's wish not to have photos posted and always get a model release (unless it is a photo taken in public and there is nothing potentially embarrassing for the person).

Well tommorow is New Years Eve here (in some parts of the world Today is New Years Eve) so I'm thinking up my resolutions. Remember to party safe so you can enjoy 2008.

erotic black and white

No posting yesterday. After work I decided to go out to a nice dinner (I love to eat Sushi) and then went to see the movie I am Legend with Will Smith. I like these types of Movies and thought it was a great movie. I guess it didn't get great reviews, but I don't care. It's a movie you can sit back and enjoy without thinking too much. I do too much thinking all day at work and when I see a movie, I just want to relax. A lot of people don't know that it is based on a 1954 science fiction novel (bit of trivia).

Some of my photos are inspired from other sites. Hotel nudes is a blog that I really like and I especially like the simple lighting that he uses to achieve such great photos. This photo was taken in a hotel not too long ago and I liked the way it turned out. It was converted to black and white using an action in photoshop. I thought the photo looked much better in black and white and the expression on her face was very natural when I took this photo. Now I did use one speedlight fired into a 60inch umbrella for this shot.

There is something erotic about a woman playing with herself and I asked her to relax and do what comes naturally. There was a mirror in the hotel room that she enjoyed looking at and this was one of many photos I took. I feel this is an erotic photo, but in no way would I consider it pornography.