Livestream Success! And More...

I'm sorry that I forgot to make a post on here about the Livestream actually happening, but if you follow me on Twitter, then you knew about it. Anyways, the Livestream went off really well this past Tuesday at 6pm EST, and it was a blast! You can still see the videos if you'd like, right here on my channel. I say videos, because there were a few disconnect glitches--one which actually cut off and never returned, even though I thought it had.

Still, it was a lot of fun, and I had a great audience. They were small in numbers, but very lively! I'll definitely be doing another one in the future, and I hope to see you there! The next one will have much more advanced notice, and it will be shorter--much shorter. Only one photo next time, but we'll go right through the entire process again. And someday, I'll do ones for specific techniques I like to use and such. So if there's anything you're curious on that I do (retouching wise), just speak up in my comment box on here and let me know! I'd be glad to cover things you're specifically interested in!

Thanks to the Livestream, I do have some new imagery for you as well! Remember, you can see larger versions of these images on my website!

The first one I have I didn't actually cover in the Livestream. It's something that I created, posted on my DeviantART, and then wasn't sure if I wanted to share it on my main site. After a lot of debate with myself, I decided that I would. It's from when I decided that playing with glitter would be a lot of fun, and hey, why not add some fire too?

I've been told this is a very dreamy image in a way, and a lot of people are very fond of it. What do you think?



These next two images were retouched during the first Livestream and can the processes for each can be seen in their entirety in the videos. Definitely a lot of fun, and I recommend viewing the videos!

This first one stems from my love of glassware, and of putting red against white. There's just something so powerful about that combination, and I use it at every available opportunity. I will have another version of this eventually, but here is the first one. This photo will be made available for purchase in the future, so watch for that as well!



This image is a macro shot that was not planned at all. I've just been enjoying macro photography a lot as of late, and this happened to be the winner out of a lot of failures from that particular photoshoot. You can see all the failures and more in those first Livestream videos, if you're interested! I talk a little bit about why things fail, too, so it's totally human and no ego! A nice change from some of the things you can see out there, I'd think.

All this macro is, is some really funky fabric and awesome eyeshadow I found at Hot Topic. The eyeshadow is fairly untouched, which is why it's so clean--and perfect for macro photography! Enjoy!



This last image is going to be best viewed on my website, because it's a triptych and therefore the details are very small for the blog image. It's definitely worth a larger view though! My model was a good friend of mine, and my sister did the hair and makeup for us. I started retouching a photo from the set that these three came from as a part of the Livestream, but that's where it cut off so you never actually get to see the end. Very sad. Still, I love so many of these images, so you'll definitely see more! Please enjoy!



And remember, view them all larger and better at my website!

I am a Mentor

A site that I frequent that I don't think many of my colleagues do, is DeviantART. It has a bit of a bad reputation for being drama central, and I have to admit I have seen the drama on there; but it has never effected me. I tend to stay to my own little crowd, and now that I've learned I keep some of my more controversial opinions to myself, and it works well. So if you do not use DeviantART at all, perhaps give it a try. You can find me on there at the following link: http://saknika.deviantart.com

That being said, I recently joined a group on there called The Photography Union. DeviantART is saturated with groups for photography, but this one stands out from the crowd because it's not simply promoting the work of photographers, it's striving to promote the growth of photographers, and to share their finest photographs. Certainly, this doesn't mean they are only sharing professional-quality work, but they are sharing what they feel shows that they have a diverse community of photographers willing to teach, and to learn.

What got me the most though, was that since they want to promote learning so much, they started a Mentor Project. Now, the one currently going on is phase two, meaning there was one before this! So I have high hopes that there will be more after this as well.

Upon seeing this I immediately signed up as a mentor, and I did so for a few reasons.

The first, and biggest one, is that I love teaching. I always thought I'd hate teaching because it'd be too monotonous, but I've proven myself otherwise when it comes to photography. I love seeing how my simple comments and suggestions help those who are looking for such critiques grow, and improve. I love sharing my knowledge with others, and seeing how their creativity interprets it. And I love helping create a mind primed with the tools it needs to do the best it can out there in the artistic world. I know I'm not going to be able to teach someone everything, but to know I am playing a part, even a small one, in the process someone goes through to discover who they are as a photographer gives me great elation. There's nothing like it.

I also noticed that the group had tons of people wanting to have a mentor, and not enough mentors to go around! So even if there was someone I would have loved to learn from, there were just too many trainees, and so I decided to fill in a mentor position. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Being a mentor is also going to help me see if my ways of teaching are effective or not. If I ever decide to do this in a classroom setting, I need to know. And I'm a firm believer that if you can teach it over the internet, you can probably teach it in a classroom.

Those are my big reasons, but I have many various little ones as well that I won't bore you with here.

Now, I'm also aware that I am not the greatest photographer out there, but I do have knowledge that others can use. So no matter what, I have something to bring to the table, and to teach, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

Meet my trainee, CrossMyHeart13. He has nothing but a point-and-shoot, passion, and an eager mind. But, he asked me to teach him anything, and we decided on fine art black and white photography. He hasn't been shooting long, but he has the eye and the heart, and so I'm enjoying working with him.

The first assignment I gave him to take care of, as per the mentor project details, was to capture the six elements of b+w photography. I learned these back in my High School photography class, and I never forgot them.

They are:
Lines
Form
Space
Shape
Texture
Value

Here is what my trainee came up with, not all on his first try, but overall:



Please click on it to see the full view.

I'm very proud of him, and am excited to see where we can take it from here! Assignment two is going to cover lighting, and how it can affect the mood of a photograph.

Possible Project 52

I don't know how many of you out there reading this right now follow Project 365, so I'll explain what it is before I even get in to the meet and potatoes of this blog entry.

Project 365 is something photographers (to my knowledge)started doing. Basically, it involves taking a photo every single day for a year--hence the 365. Some photographers do great with this project, and hardly miss a day. They enjoy it, grow from it, and have a blast. Other photographers, however, find that it becomes a chore. They flounder and get behind, or they loose the passion for photography. It becomes, for them, a project where they're just taking a photograph for the sake of doing so. So depending on the type of person you are, this is either a really great project, or a really poor project.

There are tons of other 365 projects that stemmed from this as well, but I'm not going to get into those.

Me, personally, would never manage a Project 365. I am the kind of person that gets distracted too easily if I'm not on a job of some sort, and I know I'd constantly be missing days. That, and sometimes I am just not inspired to photograph anything. Usually my Idea Book can help me out, but I don't want to have to rely on that anymore than necessary.

Still, doing a project like this would be nice. And so as I was following my Twitter feeds, my good friend Scott Wood (Twitter) posted a new photo, with a tag of #IR52.

IR52 huh?

So he was doing a Project 52 instead of a Project 365, it would seem, and hey, that's not too bad. Asking him about it, he decided this was just a better fit for him.

And heck, it's a better fit for me, too.

Project 52 works like 365, only instead of taking a photo every day, you aim for one photo a week. You're still photographing consistently, but you're not burning yourself out in the process. This is also a far better idea for me, since hey, I already know I'm not disciplined enough for Project 365.

Still, I'm not entirely sure. I'm still hunting around for a stable place in this economy, and that does take priority over photography right now. Bills have to be paid.

But, just in case things do stabilize soon and I can make time for a Project 52, I have given myself the first push!

I wasn't totally in a photographic mood this evening, but I did get some beautiful roses for Valentine's Day that weren't dead yet. I'd been meaning to photograph them for a while, but I kept letting other things get in the way from the thirty minutes it'd take to set up and photograph them. Tonight finally I kicked myself in the butt and took some photos of them.

This is my end result:



To see it larger, please visit my website: http://www.photo-phantasty.com
This photo would be found in the Fine Art gallery.

In Memory of my Grandfather

I haven't been doing much in the way of photography as of late, and that's not good. Unfortunately for myself, the winter months seem to be my biggest downfall in my passion, because year after year I notice that I tend to be behind the lens less when there is snow on the ground and no leaves on the trees.

This year was a bit different however. Lately I have had a string of bad luck, between the economy, car troubles, and health issues.

All of that is just water under the bridge though to this past week.

Monday, February the 1st, I lost my beloved grandfather to Progressive Supranuclear Palsey. It's been ten years in the making, and it was time for him to go, but it hurt nonetheless. Sad to say, but it was the spark for my first photo of 2010, which is in memorial to a man who gave his community a great service of more than 30 years spent in his local fire department.

I suppose the photograph that I created is probably a way for me to grieve, as well. Someday I will probably have it printed and framed, but that will depend on if I have the proper place to hang it. I am not sure if it's something my widowed grandmother would wish to hang in her home or not. But I feel that it's too soon to ask.

While the hat in this photo did not belong to my grandfather (it is my father's), it is nonetheless symbolic of who he was in life. The rose came from a bouquet that was sent to the family.

I cannot express in words what all these things mean to my family, but I hope that the photo conveys some of what we all feel towards my late grandfather.

And of course, if you'd like to see a larger version, please visit my website. You'll find it under the Fine Art gallery. http://www.photo-phantasy.com

Infrared and the Snow

The one thing I have been itching to do all winter are infrared photos of the snow. In fact, I think this is the first time I've been excited for snow ever since it no longer meant a snow day from school (for those who don't know, this means we'd get a day off of school due to snow), and probably even before then. Some how, at least for me, snow lost its magic once I realized that sledding just wasn't as fun as it used to be, and being cold and wet really wasn't all that fun after all. So now that snow is magical again, at least for this short span of time with my creativity muse, I'm trying to capture it.

The weather on the other hand has not been cooperative.

For days and days I hoped for snow, and the day we got the first big snowfall I had to be in Massachusetts to pick up some friends. But I remained optimistic, and hoped that hey, maybe this time around it'd stick to the trees. It didn't. Just like the time before it was blown or melted off, and disappeared into mud. I was very disappointed.

That was only five days ago! So for it to snow again yesterday, well, I was excited again!

This time, I managed to get a photo!

It's not the best photo I have ever taken, I realize, and it certainly isn't the last. But I'm excited about this one because I managed to capture it between blizzard-like snowfalls in very little light.

For those who don't know, working with an infrared filter means that you need a long exposure. The filter itself is a deep red--almost black--and is designed to block out all light except infrared; hence the name. Because of this though, if you haven't guessed, the lens can see nothing through it. This means I have to set up my focus beforehand, and then without disrupting the focus, place the filter on the lens. Considering I don't own a prime lens (yet), this can be pretty difficult. Exposure wise, I pick a low aperture to start (but no lower than f/5.6) and a 30sec shutter speed. If that doesn't work, since my camera hates being about ISO100 (possible sensor issues), then I'm not going to get anywhere. As it is sometimes I end up with a lot of noise doing this. Either way though, it's a long process to get the shot I want, so I try to pick my scenes carefully and overshoot just to be sure. That's part of the joys of the digital era.

As I said prior though, I snagged the only time between two heavy snowfalls that I could, and I did so in my own backyard. After all this I ended up taking a nap (I was unusually tired, and think I may be catching a cold), and when I awoke it was to the snow having been blown and melted off the trees again; thus rendering them just ugly and dead once more. Boooooo.

The good news? There's supposed to be more snow today! Yay! This of course means I can try again with the infrared very soon!

After feedback, I'm happy to say I actually like the shot I got. I think my favourite comment thus far is that it reminds someone of Narnia. Many said it felt magical or fantastical, but only one named it after Narnia.

So here it is, my Snowy Forest Path. Enjoy! And please feel free to leave me comments on here.

A Very Meri Kurisumasu

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I certainly did. If you're wondering why this blog is titled with "Meri Kurisumasu", it's because this year I had my Japanese obsession fed so much, that I couldn't resist. And if you couldn't tell before that I had such an obsession by my Origami Photo Project... well... now you know.

Among the Japanese items I received a beautiful tea set, which is probably going to be one of my favourite items in years to come, and I also was given two lovely calligraphy sets. The tea set, at the very least, I will probably use in some photography, so I hope you watch for it! Truly, it is spectacular. I was also given just two purple Japanese tea cups as well, so those will be fun too!

To help my photography along, I received two Neutral Density filters, which is fantastic because now I can use long exposure earlier in the day. That means that when it's three in the afternoon, and not dark enough for catching that running water, I don't have to wait until the last minute to go out and steal a photo before the sun sets! This is a very exciting concept for me! And I'm sure I'll find plenty of other great ways to use these filters as well.

And to hold these filters, I was given a filter wallet that holds six at a time! That's excellent, since I'm always experimenting but my bag doesn't hold them all. Well, now it does! And it's lighter too, since I don't have all the plastic cases anymore. Awesome.

My Aunt was kind enough to purchase me Photographer's Market: Guide to Building Your Photography Business by Vik Orenstein (which was unexpected but appreciated!) so now I also have some reading material for better insight into the market I am trying hard to be a part of. Expect some good things from that, combined with my SEO research.

So now I have a lot of tools and props to use, and so many ideas for photographs. The best part is that we're getting freezing rain and snow today, meaning I should have ice to play with tomorrow! Hooray!

I also need to do a photograph for a Christmas Card project I am a part of, and I have a really cute idea for it. My recipient wanted singing reindeer, so I have decided to mimic the Grinch and put some antlers on my puppy and photograph him in front of the tree. This is also an excuse to try out some bokeh effects, but hey, you do what you have to do. I'll add some nice "singing" text in Photoshop to it for a complete effect once I'm done, so that should be up soon enough. Just need to find some of those cute cloth antlers. Dollar Store anyone?

And I'm still working on doing the fish bowl origami photo for my project, so I'd like to do that before New Years as well. Man I'm going to be busy with my camera! But after the holiday rush to finish creating gifts and visiting people, it'll be good to be able to pick my camera back up.

So definitely look forward to plenty of new photography, and I hope you all had a wonderful New Years!

PS: I'm looking for some nice software to set up a store for purchasing prints from my website, if you have any suggestions, that'd be great.

Origami Project

As of recently I started a new project based around origami, which is the art of folding paper. I'm not all that talented at folding paper, but someone close to me is, and has been helping me pursue this project in-depth. Together so far we have created three images. Already I have plans for at least two more. It would have been three, except Halloween's idea was pushed to the back of my mind in lieu of more pressing things.

Now that the opportunity has presented itself again though, two ideas are in the works to create two fresh images! One is going to be holiday themed, and thus won't be ready until around Christmas sometime, possibly not until the day of. The other I have been searching designs for, and deciding on how I want to light and colour it. I know the background will be blue, now I just have to decide on the colours of the origami in the photo. Not sure if I want to go with a cool-coloured theme, or maybe a contrast of some sort. It is quite the dilemma.

Eventually, I'd like to piece these pieces all together as a book of fine art available for purchase, but that's a bit of a ways off right now. I'd need a minimum of twenty-five photographs, and I'm nowhere near that. Someday though, someday. I'm aiming for the end of 2010, simply for the fact that getting the folding right can take a lot of time and practice. Mix that with brainstorming and you have quite the process ahead of you already. So this project will take a bit.

For now though, I'll share what I already have. If you'd like to see them at a larger size, please visit my Fine Art gallery at my website.



The lotus is what started it all. The person I'm close to who knows how to fold well was looking through one of his books of flowers one day, and I pointed out that I found that one very pretty. So he said he'd fold it for me. Seven tries later, plus one failure of my own, he created that. I folded the simple lily pad while he worked on the difficult stuff. Overall I'd say the folding took about four hours to get right. After that I set to dying the water blue for this shot, and then set everything up. The background is part blue-gel covered lighting bounced off a white reflector, and part water. I side-lit this with a soft box and a couple of go-bos to get the effect of the shadows you see. After doing the photography, I popped it into Lightroom and Photoshop to do some minor touch-ups. There were these horrid clumps of dye that needed to be smoothed out in the water, and a little dust on my lens.



This one was created with the complementary colour scheme in mind. That flower was such a pain to create for it, not because it was complicated, but because it had to be assembled. Each petal is made separately, and then hooked together. We're talking seriously time-consuming. The stem was a bit difficult too, since the first one wasn't strong enough to hold up the flower. So I had to find a different folding pattern to make it stronger. Overall though, the folding for this only took about three hours. I set this one up with the same side light, and put it on glass over a yellow-gel covered light that reflected off a white background. I aimed the light as well to create the spotlight effect you see. Took a lot of go-bos to control the light spill in this one. Not too much touch-ups though, just the same dust spots, and a few scratches in the glass to be rid of.



This piece took days to complete. It was created for a friend who was down, to raise her spirits, and thankfully well worth the effort. If you hadn't already noticed, this piece is photo-manipulation. It took about two hours total to fold both the butterflies properly and all the stars, but about four or five hours in Photoshop to get the image how I wanted it. This took a lot of patience in cutting out all the objects off the white background, smoothing the edges, and placing it how I wanted. After that I found the brushes I wanted to use, and went to town in designing. Overall, I really enjoyed the effect I created. The colour scheme is also on purpose.

Of the three, I'm not sure if I'd include the third one in the book I want to create, since it's nowhere near pure photography. But I still enjoy sharing it because it is a beautiful piece.

I hope you're looking forward to my newer origami pieces as well!