Down in the Swamp

It's been a while since I posted on here. But I'm back and I've got a lot of photography to post. 
I'd like to start off with my most recent shots in the swamps of southern Louisiana. I took these at the Jean Lafitte wildlife preserve, just around the corner from my house. That's right, I pretty much live in a swamp. Everyone kinda does down here. 
Anyway I went when there was a little overcast, it had been raining all that night and most of the morning, so things were pretty sloppy. 
The trail I followed is a few miles long and goes straight into the swamp and ends right at the marshlands. It's quite a sight to see. There's really nothing quite like it. Swampy grass for miles. It's quite strange really because at first glance it looks like solid ground. But really it's just grass on top of water. No way I was stepping in that. My biggest concern though was the gators.

Some parts of the trail are right along the banks of the deep water, where the alligators lurk. So those parts can get a little nerve racking, because there's no telling what's under the water there.
I had a lot of fun getting these shots, I had to jump a few railings to get a few of them and I broke a couple of rules. I was lucky enough to get there at the right time because I felt it could have started raining at any second.

I didn't really face any problems here except for a few blown highlights because of the sky. I probably could have fixed it if I had brought my tripod but I made due. I think I'm getting better at this but I feel I need to practice more. My main concern is that I'm not producing enough keepers. Of the 100 or so shots I took I only kept about 10 of them. I am highly critical of the shots I take so that might be just me.

French Quarter Photography

It's been a while since my last post. In fact it's been more than a while. Been kind of busy lately and.....hmm seems like I've typed this before.

 

Alright here's the deal; I've been so busy learning basics of this stuff that I haven't had much time to post here. But I do have plenty of photographs to share. And I think I've reached the next level with this stuff.

That level being acceptance in the photographers community. Yes lately I've been snooping around certain photography forums looking to see if my photo's are any good. 
From the few I posted (none of which are on here yet) they didn't like it.

Or should I say the one guy who commented on it didn't like them. But I could care less. In fact it's motivated me even more to learn and perfect this art. And once this art is perfected then I can better perfect the art of filming.

 

Ugh look at me ranting like a crazed woman. Back to the shoot.

Alright this was one of those days where you have a camera in your hand, you're ready to go, you're about to make greatness. When suddenly your being pulled from your beautiful art by your fellow travelers; urging you to look at the vasts amounts of jewelry and purses in which you are tempted to take pictures of but you can't. You can't because of the sellers greedy opposition to photographing his worthless items in hopes of deterring people from stealing his crappy designs.

You may be thinking "what the heck is he talking about?". Well what I am talking about is the vast majority of signs and hecklers urging you not to take photographs. You see there are many shops and artists down in the quarter and many of them simply don't want you taking pictures at or around their special little items. I understand not taking pictures of artwork but how are you going to tell me something about taking pictures of your jewelry when the camera's not even pointed at it?

I may just be blowing things out of proportion, or maybe it's because I enjoy these long drawn out posts. But come on!

I didn't really have much time for photography either. I did a few point and shoots here and there and my camera was set to auto most of the time. This seems like the perfect time to announce that none of my pictures will be taken using the auto function from now on.

Yes that's right, just about every shot I've taken so far has been on the automatic setting. *Booo, you suck. Go learn manual you NOOB!*
Ok, ok, jeeze I'm sorry don't go getting all troll on me.

Being kind of time restricted for each shot I just snapped away really. Of course I made the composition and framing as correct as possible and I always shot in good light. So at least I did something right.

Anyway to wrap things up (wow this is a long one) New Orleans is a beautiful city with plenty of photography opportunities. And I can guarantee that this won't be my last visit. We will meet again Big Easy!!!

I strongly recommend that you go take some pictures if your in the area. 

  Here's a challenge for you. If you ever go to the aquarium in New Orleans you'll see a bunch of names in the ground. See if you can find mine. Hint: it's in 5u. Come post a comment if you found it or you have a name there as well.

Using A Circular Polarizer

Ok so it's been about a week since my last post. I had some free time the other day and of course I hit up the photography. I recently bought a circular polarizer from Best Buy and I was just itching to try it out. I think it safe to say I need a little more practice with it first.

I immediately noticed my pictures were coming out a little bit darker, but the color was a little more vibrant. The basis of a CP is essentially the same as a pair of sunglasses. It lessens the effect of the sun and brings in the color of the surrounding area. Giving you better color and less blown out highlights. The only problem I had with it was that some of the images had an added darker tint.

For this shoot I actually did a little urban exploration. I heard about this specific site from a friend of mine who'd done some skating here. The site was actually the floor layout of a mall that used to be in my area. The sad thing is I remembered going into that mall when I was a kid. I couldn't believe that there were still tiles and steps from the old building. It's actually really hard to notice from the street and if my friend hadn't told me it was still there I wouldn't have known.

Unfortunately there wasn't much worth photographing there. I find that with most of my shoots I try to make each shot as interesting as possible. Instead of just standing there clicking away. I was really excited that I found such a place and was interested for more. I took a drive to a few other abandoned buildings but I didn't have much luck with any of them because they were either locked or gated off. 
But I did stumble upon a group of stray cats outside an old grocery store. Apparently someone has been feeding them. I thought about getting close and taking a few shots of them but I didn't want to get attacked by a pack of wild cats. Plus they looked kind of diseased. : /
Poor cats.

On the brighter side of things I did meet some young skaters at the mall; they thought it was cool what I was doing and we even discussed shooting a video there. I think it would make a good filming location for a video. The only downside is the large NO TRESPASSING sign that I didn't notice until I was leaving. Oh well


P.S. Check back every Thursday for a new post.
 

Failed Project

So I've always had this idea that you can give life and realism to lifeless objects simply by drawing a face on them. I tested this little experiment in my kitchen the other day and it's safe to say that I did not get the results I wanted. 
Imagine opening your fridge only to have your milk smiling at you, your juice being grumpy because you turned on the light, or the carton of eggs that just want to get your attention. By drawing on these objects it gives them character, it gives them personality and it opens up your imagination and creativity. I think that's one of the most important things in such creative professions. Your ability to imaging and create and think outside the box. Stray away from what everyone else is doing and create your own worlds.

 

 This little project for me was an unfortunate failure, I couldn't find my sharpie marker so  I had to improvise with a kids crayola marker; which couldn't mark deep enough to get good contrast. And probably worst of all I couldn't fit into the dang refrigerator. The door didn't open quite enough so I couldn't position myself properly to get the shot. I has to squeeze one hand in there one at a time.
But all in all I think you find success in failure. Just because something didn't work out the way you wanted it doesn't mean you didn't learn anything. I learned to lose some weight because I'm a God Damn Fatty. lol jk LSHMSFOAIDMT - look up what that means.

Anyway I happened to finish my Fig Rig from that last post, and unlike this project it came out to be quite professional looking. I am quite happy with the results. I'm looking forward to shooting my first video with it. But I'm also quite nervous.

Juice says: "you better watch yo back Mother F****ER"
Dang that guys an ass.

Getting Into Film

Alright it's been about two weeks since I posted here. I've been pretty busy lately and haven't been able to do much photography. That, coupled with the fact that it's been raining on every one of my days off. So yeah I haven't been able to shoot much lately. 
But I have been working on a few things for my camera. When I'm not out photographing I'm stuck at home on my computer; learning as much as possible about film and photos. This week I happened to start my diy fig rig build and I must say that I am quite satisfied at how it came out. It's not finished just yet, I still have some minor tweaks to make on the parts. Can't have the thing falling apart on me while I try to shoot a video. 
Speaking of which, these two weeks away from photography have led me to focus on the film aspect of things. Certain things like shooting and editing video. I've also been quite into building a glidecam system for my camera; which is proving troublesome. It'd be complete by now if the parts I ordered for it would come in. But I feel like I'm coming closer and closer to shooting some videos. 
Film has pretty much engulfed my life right now. I spend all my free time just learning and watching as many tutorials as possible. I study every article written and every movie on TV. Even as I type this I'm watching Rush Hour 2, while at the same time examining every fight scene every car chase and every camera angle. Just contemplating and wondering how each shot was achieved.
I only hope to one day be able to make movies like this on my own.


On a side note, the rookie mistake for this week is: REMEMBER YOUR MEMORY CARD.
Last Saturday I took a trip to the aquarium here in New Orleans. Just when I was beginning to shoot my camera flashed an alert sign to me. NO CARD!
So I spent the whole day staring at the fishies and bumping into little kids. Those little bastards were everywhere; it was like we chose the busiest day of the year to go.
It would have been a nightmare trying to get any sort of decent shot with so many kids running around. Anyway this won't be the last encounter I have with the aquarium. I'll be back!


Here's what my unfinished fig rig looks like:

 

I need to re-cut the PVC pipes in order to get it all to fit properly. And the screw leading into my camera is just a little off to the side. I need to pick up some PVC cutters and fix the design. Then I'll paint it black and add the grips. More to come soon. If you're digging the superman why don't you go ahead and follow me up.

New Camera in an Old Place

While the rest of New Orleans was partying it up for Mardi Gras, I was on the other side of the Mississippi working on my photography. For this shoot I was in downtown Gretna, Louisiana; close to the Mississippi River. Most of my shots were taken either on the levee, the old railroad, or the town square. With it being Sunday, and with Mardi Gras going on, the place was completely empty. Aside from a few old couples enjoying the sunset, I was completely alone out there. 

For most of this shoot I felt a little rushed, with it being late in the afternoon and all. It was sort of like a challenge. With the sun setting I only had a little bit of time to shoot. You get better pictures at sunset but at the same time you only have a small window to get those great shots. It's like sacrificing beauty for time. That make sense?

 

Anyway for these blog posts I wanted to start focusing on the things I learned during these shooting projects. That way rookies like me can learn from my experiences and hopefully share things with me. 

I think I learned three things from this trip:

1.) You get good shots at either sunrise or sunset. So learn to wake up early, and watch how late it's getting.
2.) Don't be afraid to shoot in front of people. Most likely they don't even care.
3.) Take your time and wait for the shot. (I found that most of the shots I planned and waited for came out better as opposed to the ones I just snapped away at.)


Oh and make due with what you have. You don't have to have the most expensive camera or gear to take good shots. Just go out with what you got and start learning. Sure having new stuff is nice, but I think you'll become better if you can push what you have to its limits.

  I feel that the picture on the left is one of the best shots I have ever taken. This little dock area was gated off and I was in an area of the ferry terminal that was somewhat restricted. I got this shot by sticking my lens through a chain link gate.








This is one of the couples I was talking about earlier. They just seemed to be enjoying the sunset together. I thought about asking them if I could take a picture but then I thought "hey they're in public, it's ok"
So I took a few when they weren't looking.

These three came out a lot better than expected. I found a little mini levee in the first one which I thought was pretty cool. I was tempted to walk across but I didn't want to risk it. The second one is pretty plain. A family flying their kites nearby made me think of love, so that's what I ended up writing. It was either that or "I farted". Yeah the one I chose came out better.
And the last one, well what can I say. Oh yeah I can say AMERICA F**K YEAH!!!  *:world police song in background:* 

                                         (>'.')>
                                         Look at that!

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I would have liked to have gone to Mardi Gras with my camera but I'm not quite comfortable taking my camera into such large crowds just yet. It was weird knowing that just on the other side of that river; people were experiencing the most wonderful and unique part of New Orleans. And there were women flashing their boobies. lol "HEY! THERE'LL BE NONE OF THAT HERE!" ....................boobies lol    ;)

Chicks Dig Giant Robots

So I was laying down the other day thinking of things I could shoot around my house when suddenly it hit me; there was a box of old toys just laying there in my garage! I woke up early the next morning grabbed that box and headed outside.

Have you ever watched that anime show Gundam Wing? Well yeah I used to be crazy about that show. I used to have a collection of Gundam action figures that apparently I never got rid of. Unfortunately each one of those little toys came with about 30 pieces each. It took me an hour just to dig through the box of arms and legs to find each individual piece missing. In the end I came up with these four bad-ass robots, and a few other surprises that I thought came out quite funny.


I was kinda disappointment because I had such cool Gundams yet I could only find half of their body's. There was one battle-scarred Gundam I had that I was really looking forward to shooting, but I only found his head, one of his arms......... and his left foot. 
 But on the bright side I did find Batman and Robin, and at the very bottom of the pile was Clark Kent himself. They turned out to be the highlight of this shoot!


 Ch-Check em out:


Haha, this one gets to me. If only I would've added captions ==========>


 




 I also found a few micro machines and planes and whatnot. With this shoot I really tried to use some of the built-in effects that comes with the T3i. In these (and with most of the pic's of Gundams) I used the macro effect. I was hoping that I could make something really small seem kinda big. But I think they came out good anyway.

 


 
















 This one's pretty funny too. 
"Skateboarding Batman"
Hey who knows maybe Batman does like to skateboard when he's not punching the crap out of badguys and doing crazy Batman stuff.








 

  

And of course the motorcycle. I like this one a lot because at first glance you can't really tell it's a toy motorcycle. Sure it's a little banged up but I love it. And that's mostly because I have an extreme love for motorcycles.

 Here's the rest of the goods: 
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/76283707@N05/sets/72157629325360775/


                                                                                                                      

 

Batman Says Bye!