Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I have just finished the series, and I am off to a new book, "John Dies @ the End". Dragon Tattoo was an excellent series, a page turner to the very end. I will admit the first portion of the first book is a little slow, due to the author is trying to build a history for the characters, and it drags slightly, but once it takes off, it isn't till the third book before it slows again. And I will admit, I didn't see that end coming. I forgot all about that particular situation. I am not trying to say to much, as you can see, because inevitably someone will read it and blame me for giving something away.

I have heard a couple rumors that there is a fourth book that was written, that had not been printed out, sitting on his laptop when he died.

On to photo news.... all 5 of my glass photos were accepted. YEAH. And three of them are selling well.

On to entertainment news.... I have a Dancing with the Stars office pool you can join. It's free and it's fun.

Exit 101 is wrapping up, so I will be getting my lights back.

Met Bobby Bowden on Sunday. Going to meet Alton Brown and Rachel Ray later in the year. Darth Vader too.

Well, I'm off to clean a room or two before taking some shots.

5 New Ones... YIPPEE!!!

I know I don't write as often as I should, especially since this blog started out as a motivation to get 500 this year. Looking slim at this point. However, I will continue to post as I get ideas, that in turn help my 3 readers generate their own ideas.

Today I had 5 accepted by Shutterstock. All 5 were similar in nature. A wine glass with water and food coloring added, and then inverted. Inverting the photo gave the bland color of the dye a neon look, and of course reversing red gives green, blue to orange and so on. Here is a photo, I left half original and half inverted to kind of show how it was created.

As you can see, inverting the blue dyed water with white background, gives a kind of fire water look with a black background. This photo is one where I dropped an ice cube in while shooting high speed too.

On both sides, facing in, and angled slightly backwards is a couple close-up lights. On the camera is my speedlite with diffuser. Behind my, jumping on my back and yelling at each other, are my daughters. One trying to question me dropping an ice cube into the blue water, the other late for a nap and super irritable.

Anyways, got a book-signing with Bobby Bowden Sunday, as well as a Sunday church dinner, theme... cajun. Work in between. Ah well, at least I am 5 closer.

Nighty night

Old Alabama Town

Ok, we went to this little tourist attraction trap called Old Alabama Town. A bunch of old buildings with some historic value, and the occasional artifact. I was able to get a few decent shots, and I used the time practicing with the various angles of my speedlite. If we did a self guided tour, we would have been able to see the blacksmith, weavers, cobblers, and so-on, but the lady at the front desk called down to the first building and made sure we hit the "last guided tour of the day". So we thought fine. Turns out that guided tour was just for one building, so when we made it back around to the "working" district, everyone had gone home for the day.
All in all, if you're a history buff, it may be worth it if you go early enough. Photography wise, you may get a few good shots. Got kids, don't go.

I didn't get to go to the zoo here either, the rest of family went while I worked, however, I hear they are renovating and therefore not very many animals and the few they did have are caged up.

So anywhos. Gonna go and work a few photos, then head to work.

McWane Science Center

Went to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham today with the family. Really had a great time. 4 stories of fun and science. Shark petting, dino bones, aquariums, and a ton of science oriented fun for kids of all ages. You can lay on a bed of nails, stand in a hurricane wind tunnel, ride a bicycle across a wire 20 ft up, watch an iMax movie, play on all kinds of green screen video games, and so much more. Really worth it if you're in town, but save some time for it, there is a ton to do. Here is a link to some photos of us at the center.

Also, try Pita Loco for the best gyros you will ever eat.

Have a couple photos that came out decent enough to try to upload to Shutterstock. I did not carry anything in but the camera, and it was not brightly lit, so I didn't attempt many stock shots, but focused on the kids.

Also today is Jon and Michelle's 8th anniversary... Happy Anniversary. For those who don't remember, Jon is a Na'Vi.

Not much else to say right now. So I'll end it................. here

Latest Approval

This is my latest approved photo on Shutterstock. It was actually easier to do then I thought it would be. I filled a clear bowl with water, added a couple drops of blue food coloring. Added a few teaspoons of vegetable oil and stirred. I placed the bowl on a black mat and laid a light on the ground off to the left. I would have to keep the mix fairly newly stirred for the bubbles to show, otherwise they would glob up and not be seen in the photo. 

Where have I been?

It has been awhile, hasn't it? I am now in Alabama, and much to my surprise, I am enjoying it here. I have joined the Shades Valley Camera Club. I have created a bookfair to support the Children's Hospital of Alabama, which has a Star Wars theme, and will be centered around some members of the 501st Legion. I am enjoying my job at Books-a-Million. And I like the house we are living in.

I don't remember what I wrote in my last post, which was written while I was still in Georgia, I believe. I was going to write a tribute to my father on Father's Day, but I didn't, because I found it too difficult. I may try it later on.

I have read several books since I started at BAM. They have an associate check-out program, where you can check the books out of the store like a library, and return them when you're done. I have Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential (very interesting). I read Stephen King's Under the Dome (book excellent, ending horrible). I started Richard Castle's Heat Wave, but ended up stopping because it was basically an existing episode of the show with the names changed. I started the Stieg Larsson books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and currently The Girl who played with Fire. Both are excellent, stay up late and keep reading type books. I can't wait for the American versions of the movie to come out. Daniel Craig is playing Mikael Blomvkist.

I have had one photo uploaded to Shutterstock. I have not been taking to many photos since I started helping with the movie Exit 101. I am hoping the camera club will help with that. So I have about 4 months and 271 photos to go. I really need to get on the ball. Being in a larger city will help when it comes to time-for photos, the model base here is quite large, and there are some amazing places to shoot. One is Sloss Furnace.

Anywho, I am not going to write a lot at this very moment. I am going to try to write more often, see maybe if I can get back on my daily routine.

I'm going to leave you with this little video about Angela and myself working extra jobs due to our kids...

Anthony Bourdain

I have recently been watching Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations" on Netflix. I am starting at the beginning and working my way to the most recent, but two episodes have caught my attention in Season 2. The first was when he took his production manager, Nari Kye, to Korea. Her cheerful disposition was a great contrast to his general demeanor. Some of his best moments on the show are when he is talking with people and this show is an hour long great moment. The other episode was the Beirut episode. They started it out like any other, talking to a local who explained the recent history of the war, and how the city was rebuilding from their civil war. They ate a lunch, and that is when everything changed, as machine guns started going off, and the city started being bombed. The airport was destroyed, they were evacuated to a hotel just outside the city. You get to see a lot more of the behind the scenes moments as the "fixer" for the show had to suddenly leave the country, basically abandoning them. Their local security escort held out, but he eventually left and they later found out his home had been destroyed. They had to stay for a week before the USS Nashville could come pick up the American citizens. It was a real unexpected moment for the show, definitely unplanned.

But anyways. I have struggled with my Shutterstock sales lately, of course not uploading doesn't help. But today I doubled my monthly sales with a surprisingly great day.

Moving day will be July 2nd. So my 'net connection will interrupted slightly. Hopefully I will love my new job.  

Exit 101, July 10th

For you local readers, we need extras for the movie on July 10th. It's an overnight shoot, so be prepared to be up all night. You'll need to be one of two types of people, first, we need college age students wearing halloween costumes, non-copyrighted characters. The other will be anybody to play infected people, wear clothes you don't mind getting messed up. If you haven't seen photos of the project go to this link and check it out. Here is the teaser trailer (note: it is a rough edit, not color-corrected, and without correct music)

My three year old, Eliana, is currently fascinated with rainbows. Every morning between 8:00 and 8:20 there is a rainbow that moves across the floor as the light filters through the front door. When she sees it, she'll wake us up if we're not up already and have us play in it.

Preparing for our move to Birmingham. I'll be packing heavily the next couple days. Alot of people already know, so, yes, I did get the job with Books-a-Million. I will be a co-manager there, making more then I currently am.

Not much photography wise. Did upload one of myself, I think I did since I last blogged.

It's pretty straight forward. I am sitting in my living room, so I burned out anything visible in background. I then cropped it halfway down my face, and then added a black copy space to the side. I altered my look by adjusting the contrast and brightness. But I can't honestly say what I did, because I don't remember. I have tried to redo it, but I can't quite figure it out. If you have any ideas what I did let me know. I thought I faded the saturation, lowered the brightness and increased the contrast. I also dodged my eyes a bit to make them pop. 

But anyways. Need to keep packing stuff so I will be going now. 

YEAH!!!

Ok, I won't say how my interview went yesterday, but I will say a new chapter in my life is about to open. And for anybody getting ready to do an interview, be positive. An employer doesn't want to hear someone being negative, even about a competitor. To be honest, I have nothing really against Walmart. Sure, they have silly and sometimes downright stupid programs, but for the most part, if the store runs something correctly, it works. Walmart has been part of my life for most of 15 years. Most of my knowledge as far as retail and merchandising was developed through them. I am thankful I entered the company back in the day when you ran your departments like your own store. It's a little different now, more like just reading the stuff from home office and doing. Not as much creativity.

So anyways, like I said, I can't say anything until I take the proper steps. But I will recommend Books-a-Million stock. I have to get ready for work, so I will write again another day.

Books-a-Million

Today I am off to Birmingham again. I have yet another interview to flub, this time with Books-a-Million. I have been having odd luck with my interviews lately. I have interviewed with several Walmarts for transfers, and of course I nail those right on the head, because I don't really want to be there. But when it comes to jobs I really want, I screw them up. Let's use my latest as an example. Bed, Bath, and Beyond. A nice little company best known for being in Adam Sandler's movie "Click". It was a position I am qualified for, I wanted, and would have provided decent enough money to keep Angela from having to work. At the end of the interview, I wouldn't have hired myself. As I stood up and shook the manager's hand, I knew I was not getting it. Some of my errors? I was negative about my current company. When being interviewed, never be negative about your past companies. Why should I be negative toward Walmart? No reason, they have been my main job for most of 15 years. They have good people working for them. They have good programs. They do honestly try to work with communities. They have great (yes they do) benefits and insurance. So why negative? I guess I was trying to give a good reason why I wanted to leave them. How did it sound? Like I hated them, and that translated to I was a frustrated employee who would probably get frustrated with any new place I worked too. Another thing I did wrong? I rambled. Instead of just answering the question, I would volunteer a little more, add that one more little example. I was a motormouth. And lastly, I couldn't name my weaknesses. I came off as a frustrated, arrogant, rumor-spreader, who thought he was perfect.

But anyways. My strategy with today's interview is simply be myself. Answer the question briefly. Use positive examples from Walmart. Why do I want to leave Walmart? I don't, but since I am moving to a larger city for the first time, I want to see what other opportunities are out there. To see if any other companies want to use my experience and knowledge. Walmart has great programs, and even though some of their newer programs are off to a slow start, I can see their potential.

Ok, enough about me. Let's talk about my wants. For Father's Day I want one of two things. I know I will get neither, but this is a wish list, not a need's list. I want the DVD "(500) Days of Summer" or the book by Anthony Bourdain "Kitchen Confidential". And stay tuned to this blog on Father's Day where I will give tribute to my late father. Anyway, I must go and be myself, so until next time....

....um.... Hi

I'm back(ish). A lot has happened since I last wrote. My father passed away. And I am moving to Alabama. The movie is finally starting to wrap up. Buying a house. Trying to get a new job. Niece was born.

Since I am in the mist of moving, I may not be a steady blogger again. I will try to keep up, but no promises. So, I'll keep you all in mind and try to get back into the habit of daily writing.

Oh, and check out some of the latest "Exit 101" pics

Hilton Head

I'm back from the magical island of consumer paradise... Hilton Head. Actually, Hilton Head is one of the prettier places I have been, and the people there have always been incredibly nice. It's the people leading up to my stay at Hilton Head that make the trip fall a little flat. My first time ever there was around 1998 or '99. I was sent there for hurricane relief be Wal-Mart. I was expecting to go into a store that was covered in broken glass and water damage. Instead, we get there and find a pretty clean, but very packed store. It seems there is an ordinance on the island that says tractor trailers cannot stay on the island more then 24 hours. So when the island was evacuated, the people left, but the Wal-Mart trucks kept on going, and they ended up with roughly 8 trailers of merchandise that needed to be stocked or dealt with. So what I thought would be a tough week of cleaning, turned out to be a tough week of stocking. Anyway, when our week was up, we realized they needed us for one more night, so we went back for another night, except for one person in our group, who decided he was not going, bought himself a 6-pack and stayed at the hotel. He is now a co-manager and making about 4-times what I make.
Second bad experience was a really bad hotel room, I don't remember the exact details anymore.
This is my third stay to the island, even though I have made day trips to it since my second stay. I booked a room at the Metropolitan on the beach. I get the confirmation, the money is taken from my account and off we go....
The rain was incredibly rough, which made using a phone in a car difficult. But I called to let hotel know I was running a couple hours late. "Um... are you sure you're spelling your name right? You are not in our system." So I call Orbitz (never EVER use Orbitz) And this is no joke... I talked to EIGHT people before they finally managed to get me a new room. The biggest issue with Orbitz, they outsource their call-center to India. I love India, I love their accent, but in a rain pounded car, it can be very difficult to understand them. So the four of them that spoke very clearly were customer service people, and could only listen to my problem, they couldn't actually book a new room. They four that spoke the worst, and couldn't understand me, were the sales people. They would get frustrated and transfer me.
Anyway, don't use Orbitz. They also gave me a $50 credit for their error. They didn't use it I am now finding out.
Ok. So we pick Shelter Cove Harbor as our location. I talk to the harbor master and I even get a charter for free for a model and myself as long as I give copy of photos to them. So I call the models... not a single one of them is available to go at that time. So I prep for first model. A no show. Today is Wednesday, so it has been 5 days and still no call or text or email as to why she didn't bother to show.
So on to a new location for the band Prologic13. I picked a revolutionary war era graveyard for them. I set up my lights, toured the area and got my ideas. They showed up and I went through the various poses I had and then asked them what else they wanted, and that's when the fun started. Each one had an idea of what they wanted, so I ended up with a lot of photos.
Back to Shelter Cove for Ashley. A very pretty young lady who dreams of being a supermodel. The wind had picked up, and was blowing west, so when she was facing the sun for lighting, the wind was blowing the hair into her face. But we got through, with two outfits. Her little sister was with her, and was a little diva. So I got a release for her and shot her too. She was all over the place. We'd set up a shot and just before I could snap it she'd be running off saying "I got an idea. You'll like it."
So then I had Crystal, a gorgeous woman with plenty of ideas, and expressions that reminded me so much of an early Cindy Crawford. We worked our way around the harbor, and then the sun fell behind some trees and we couldn't get back into it, but she said the harbor by her house was a clear view of the sunset. So we all jumped into our cars and drove like maniacs through the island. We set up and hit a pretty nice sunset.
You are probably dieing to see the pics, so I'll post one here, and you will have to visit http://wmiphotography.smugmug.com to see more.

WOOHOOO

3 uploaded, 3 accepted. And a new one uploaded tonight. So if I keep up this pace, I'll make my goal.

Daughter has illness again today, everyone freaking out because it may be measles, but we won't know for sure until tomorrow morning at the docs.

"Can't Touch This"

MC Hammer would make a great museum curator.

Another day down in the filming of Exit 101. As usual, you can see the shots here.

Was going to watch "Where the Wild Things Are" but I am too tired and I think I will go to bed. I have to get the girls up early for baths and get them to their aunts for hairdos.

Shutterstock is now over 48 hours without approving or denying my photos. Unusual. My sales on iStock for March was my third best month ever, just missed second by 50 cents. First is held back a couple years ago when I sold an EL for $62.

Booked my hotel with Orbitz. Got a spot on the beach for a really great deal. Now I just have to convince myself to wake up early to get great sunrise shots.

Quote from the book nearest to me, I am randomly opening to page 37 and reading the 5th sentence.... (I'm bored...ok) It says "As was previously noted, this type of pose provides the most options for concealing problems and producing a flattering portrait." Posing Techniques by Jeff Smith.

I'm Uploading

Just to let you know. Not many, but a few (literally... three). But hey, at least I am trying. My next item I am saving for (after I buy the VisionMonger book) is a pocket wizard.

Anyway, busy uploading and getting tired, so super short post. 

VisionMongers

Was just watching a live interview with Zack Arias, and this was a book he recommended reading. I have not read it, but with my BigStock payment I should receive in the next couple days I plan on getting it. The interview can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/danesanders-tv, I believe he should have the replay up by the time you read this. Zack talks about finding your niche, overcoming fears, and what equipment he would use if this was his first day ever shooting. Lot of great questions, and a lot of great insight from a guy I highly respect. He mentions a few blogs you should read on a daily basis (mine did not make the cut), as well as some books to read.

I am feeling better, as well as Eliana. The little one and now Angela are getting hit hard with it. So far, I think Larissa got the worst end of it, she managed to get every symptom while the rest of us just got a couple. Thanks for prayers and well-wishes.

Starting to get pumped for the Hilton Head shoot. Hope to get plenty of great shots, and model releases so I can start uploading to get back on track to 500.

One thing Zack said that kind of made me kind. He said the reason he has a studio is to separate his work from his home life. When he is at the studio, he is at work, when he is at home, he is off the clock. When I am at home, I am with the kids, so I am playing parent, so any photography comes second. But when I go off to shoot a band, or shoot the movie, I take hundreds of photos, because I am business. What I need is a spot to call my own, that I can separate my home and photography. I guess I can dream.

I am actually listening to the interview again as I write this. I am pausing to take notes. Most of you ignore my links, but I really suggest this one, especially if you have not really gotten your photography business off the ground. Might even link over on the right there... just that good.

Here's a great pic from Zack that he twittered a couple days ago.... (I hope he doesn't mind me posting)

Illness

Myself and my youngest daughter ended up with chills, slight fever and bad, bad diarrhea. My oldest daughter had a fever that went as high as 102.8. Angela had tummy troubles, but refused to acknowledge them as she was trying to take care of the rest of us.

As far as photos go, I have prepared to take some more dice photos. Had a couple ideas and I thought I would try them out. I am hoping this will help inspire me to take other photos, because I have crossed the threshold of needing an average of one photo a day to complete my goal. So now, I need to try to focus.

The Hilton Head photo shoot is not cancelled, but has been scaled back, due to lack of photographers wanting to take part. I have plenty that seemed interested, and a couple who signed up, but in the end, they backed out, so now I have 6 models and only myself to shoot them. So I will let them know what the deal is, and let them know that I will still shoot them if they like. I will probably do it one on one and vary the locations.

Got a payout from Dreamstime last night. Which is awesome, because that will help pay for this adventure. I am two sales from a payout on Shutterstock, and if I don't get them by the end of tomorrow, then I have to wait a month to get it, and I need the money for the trip. iStock is off the chain this month. I'll have to go back and check, but I believe this is one of the best months I have ever had with them.

Like the new layout? I am hoping that eventually I can put one of my own photos back there.

So anyway, check out my SmugMug pics. Watch Castle. They just got picked up for a full third season. Awesome news. If you haven't watched it yet, get season 1 and enjoy. 

Bad Memory

This sucks, because the other day I found a really cool link, and like an idiot, I did not bookmark it, and now for the life of me I cannot remember it when I am ready to share. Hopefully it will come to me by the end of this posting.

One of the biggest successes that came out of New Recipe Tuesday was Angela's Awesome Enchiladas. She made them again today, and they are still AWESOME!!! As I sit here, I am contemplating warming up the leftovers and eating them now instead of saving them for work tomorrow.

My NCAA bracket was one of the worst I have ever played. But, oddly enough, I can still end up in second place if Duke wins their next game, and loses the finals.

Listening to Sparatica as I write this, or type this I guess. They are currently in the studio laying out their debut album. Kinda excited. Maybe I'll have some of the photos I took appear as an album cover. And if their tour hits Hawaii, I get to tag along as official photographer. Of course I'll probably have to pay my own way, but I'd do it.

Ok, did some more Exit 101 pics last night. It's the Hitchhiker meets the Pizza Guy scene and also the Main Cast meets the Hitchhiker scene. Here is a sample pic:

My memory is still blotchy, but I think it had something to do with a photo I was working on the other day. Speaking of, I have been using the pen tool, after years of ignoring it, I have decided to give it a try, and I am pretty happy with the results. Little time consuming with the finer details, like hair, but worth it.

Here is a comp of a Spartica pic. Was just playing around with a photo and came up with a decent look for the lead vocalist, so I decided to make a "poster" pic of each member of the band. Here is my favorite:

Learned the "glowing orb" trick with a Tyron Coachman photo I did a couple months ago. Added streaks of green lightning. The rest is pretty basic, cloud filter over black, text with gradient. A gradient overlay layer over the entire photo, but just under the guy. Another member I did in a corny way of looking like he is fading into being from lava. The female I will go back and add music notes to the background. The other guy I could not for the life of me think of a concept, so just started playing around and ended up with the flying ninja-like star.

Ok, this is going to bug me all night. I will try to think of it and post it tomorrow (most likely Tuesday, to give you warning, Fred). Here is a post to a photoshop magazine subscription. Isn't ridiculous how expensive these things are? Ok, well, good night.

One Light Workshop

OneLight Workshop Dvd Set! Camera Just thought I would promote Zack Arias a little bit here. He is a speaker down at Photoshop World in Orlando. If I had known that I might have attempted to go down there, but alas, I am broke and can't do that. Maybe he'll stop at exit 101 Cordele, Ga on his way back through and I'll treat him and his family to lunch.

I will also take a moment to promote Sparatica. They have one song recorded so far, they hit the mic next month for the vocals to finish off their first album. I am hoping I can get a few pics of them when they go on tour.

And I will promote the movie Exit 101. I will be shooting some more pics tomorrow night, so keep checking back for new stuff.

And the last of my promotional links here will be for Redeeming Love which is currently being made into a movie. I have been watching the process, and they are just about to start casting. I think Hugh Jackman and Keira Knightley should star, but that's just my opinion. Angela agrees with me. Possibly Rachel McAdams though. But anyway, read the book. I really liked it. I read it a couple times and even highlighted my favorite parts.















Ok, I am going out to the car now to get my photo equipment so I can shoot a couple pictures. So until tomorrow or so, read a book.

CS5!! I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT

Ok, for those of you who are too busy photographing and working to sit around and read the 'net like I do, there is a new item coming out called CS5. It's a good motivator to save my money.

With the "success" of my Sparatica pics, I now have 3 more bands to shoot when I hit Hilton Head on the 10th. So I will shoot models in the morning, head off to another location, and shoot band after band. I have a feeling I'll need more memory. And speaking of Sparatica, here is their MySpace page. Love their first song, Burning Walls. Here is a couple more pics I did, not special, but decent.

I now have the link for Amazon Associates, so now when I recommend a book like Photoshop Restoration and Retouching by Katrin Eismann, you can link straight to it. Cool, eh? This is one of my favorite books, by the way.  Now if I were to recommend a movie... say "Slumdog Millionaire", that'll pop up , too. Don't ya just love it? Another way for me to annoy you. Well, time to go to bed, gotta be back at work tomorrow.

Sparatica

The other day I had the opportunity to shoot a band, not just any band, but a great group called Sparatica, who traveled down from South Carolina to get their picture taken. Ok, they were traveling to meet a friend, but I was begged to do a session with them while they were here. They had one concept in mind, and they wanted to be shot on green screen so they could be placed on the moon. I am not a big fan of green screen photography, but I did it anyway. I created a scene using it, but someone else was going to use the photos for the moonshot, so that was alright with me. Some things I did know about shooting on green screen, the screen needed to be brightly lit, and it needed to be flat with no wrinkles. I got as close as possible with both. I used spotlights to light the screen, and I used flash bulbs to light the band.

The hardest part for me is to pose people, or rather direct them into a pose. I let them know that up front, and let them do their own thing, and I got some pretty decent photos as a result. I then put up a black background and did some low key shots, which I am more comfortable with. When we wrapped up, they had gone outside and I went out to show them a couple of the good shots, and noticed how great the sun was outside, so we went to a neighboring field and got some shots.

Here are some of the final results:

The first is one of the outdoor shots (obviously). I used my favorite filter, Melancholytron from Flaming Pear. The second I filtered with VirtualPhotographer. The third is a comp of five photos. The first is a planet landscape I created a couple months ago. It was curved so I flattened the ground. I then pulled each member off the green screen and placed them in the scene. I added a shadow, and then darkened their right sides to make it fit a little more into the scene.

Sparatica photos on SmugMug.
Sparatica MySpace page.

Lazy Blogger

First I was a lazy photographer, now I'm a lazy blogger, too. Actually, I have been somewhat busy and incredibly tired, and I have just not had the energy to sit back and create my masterpiece of the day.

First, I am now read in 34 countries and 5 continents.

Second, y'all are probably tired of me promoting Exit 101 the movie, but since I am the official behind the scenes photographer, every second I get to promote the film I will. So go to SmugMug and see some of the photos. After all, the bigger the movie gets, the better payoff it has for me in the end. I'm not talking monetary, but in terms of contacts and experience.

This is one of the "rednecks", Buddy, who, as you can see here, does not fare well against his foe. I leveled and curved, and then adjusted brightness down a tad while increasing contrast. I created a second version that you see here that I applied a HDR action to.

Speaking of Exit 101 and popularity, since I have a Exit 101 page on my website, I can see the visitor info (city, country) and there are a LOT of people searching for the movie and finding my website. Not just here in the USA, but England, Australia, Asia. The word of mouth on this movie is starting to gain some international support. It may never reach the levels of Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch, but just to know that people out there are excited and anticipating the movie I am helping to create makes me feel good.

In a March Madness bracket pool. Currently in 4th out of the 12 people playing. Georgetown's loss really hurt me, but as long as Syracuse can make it to the finals I am ok.

The photo shoot on Hilton Head Island is starting to finally come together. I have 3 of the 5 photogs lined up, with 1 pending. 3 of the 8 models are confirmed with 3 pending. Go here for more details.

New Recipe Tuesday has dropped by the wayside. I hoped it inspired some of you to try new stuff and cook outside your comfort zone on occasion. A couple of the recipes I learned I am still using. I will be attempting homemade pierogies tomorrow. Pretty simple, 16oz sour cream, mix with 3 cups flour and roll out. Cut out 3 inch circles, fill with mashed potatoes and other stuff such as cheese, bacon, chives, onions, or whatever you like. Fold over into moon shape and pinch edges together. Boil 4 minutes, then pan fry to brown.

I am suddenly getting a lot of requests for photo sessions. I have a headshot session, a band, and a mother and daughter session. Here is a headshot I took of myself. I like it, but because I was self-photographing, the focus is just off slightly. Couldn't seem to get it spot-on.

Ain't I a handsome bugger? Calm down ladies... I'm taken.

Well, I will try to do better with my blogging. I feel better about doing it since I started writing todays blog. Until next time, it's time for so long.

Exit 101, yet again

Sorry, been busy with new pics from Exit 101 the movie. Here are some new pics.

Photographing

Sorry to the regular readers, which is usually Fred, who checks my blog at about 7:39am everyday. I am sure he probably has a regular morning routing like I do. I get up 1/2 hour before I need to, shower, brush teeth, put in contacts, put on deodorant and then hop on the internet to check my sales for the night. I usually skip CanStock and 123RF because of their slow sales. I never check Fotolia unless I get an email about a sale. I start with BigStock, Dreams, iStock and finally Shutterstock. I'll add sales to my spreadsheet and then move on to Facebook, emails, Twitter and finally my.yahoo.com to check the news and blogs of the day. By then it's time to iron a shirt, get dressed, get the girls ready and go. When I get home, the same routine, except I'll check CanStock and 123RF at that point. And for those of you who chat with me on Facebook, I usually have multiple tabs open, and one is usually Facebook, so it may look like I spend all day on their, but I am actually doing something else.

Today I am off from work. I am actually about to clean off the porch, then I will try setting up the lights out there and get some self portraits. I have the back door cracked a bit, since the weather is warmer outside then in. The kids are out playing in some old flower pots and the cat is even trying to muster up some courage to step out there. Then I might start packing some boxes.

Watched "The Time Traveler's Wife" last night and I enjoyed it. It was a rental from Netflix so it didn't have the bonus features. When I really enjoy a film, I usually watch the features it comes with, but lately I have been getting a lot of rental discs that only have the movies.

Job Opening I heard about on facebook "Writer and a photographer, but writing primarily and perhaps do a bit of media escort here in sunny Iraq for 6 months or a year. They get a 70% pay increase and three two week breaks (for the 1 year gig). Um, they can have all the food they can eat, a free clean bed, free laundry service, a front seat to history...tell me what else...their own desk, free internet...hmm I can be reached at martin.downie@us.army.mi"


I would be tempted if I didn't have family. 


Going to help shoot some b-roll for the movie tonight, and help set up lighting for the shots tomorrow, so the actors won't be standing around bored while waiting for us to get ready. 


New Recipe Tuesday was cancelled this week, and rumor has it that it may be cancelled all together. Which I don't like, because not only do I look forward to it, but the people I talk to at work look forward to hearing the tale of the Tuesday meal. 


Well, going to get started. I may post a pic here later if I get one I like, or else it'll wait till tomorrow. 

Stupid Hurt Locker

Despite the bad selection by the Academy, I did win the Oscar Blog, so no photo for you. What disappointed me more was that Star Trek did not win sound. If you own higher quality headphones, put 'em on and watch Trek, you'll be stunned with the amazing sound.

In the middle of inventory for work. It sucks. I am tired. Good night. I'll be back Wednesday with some tips and a couple other blogs I read.

Avatar vs. Hurt Locker

And the winner is.......

Ok, I don't know who the winner is at this moment, but in about 24 hours I will know. I just finished watching The Hurt Locker, and I must say, I was slightly disappointed. Yes, it was edited great to increase the tension. Yes, the handheld camera gave some realism and made it feel documentary style. But there was a couple moments I felt like getting up and checking my email. So, despite the rave reviews the critics gave it, I will only give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Avatar will get my vote for Best Picture, along with James Cameron, and I will change my editing from Avatar to Hurt Locker. I won't mention any other changes I have made, or my other votes, because I don't want to influence all the other players. Good luck to everyone playing, and if you haven't signed up to play, as of this moment you only have 21 hours left. The picks lock down at 8pm eastern tomorrow. Hit the Oscar pick link to the right to play.

Ok, on to the bloggy part of this blog. I actually did write a blog yesterday, but I noticed I was just rambling and wasn't really making any sense so I just deleted it.

On the movie front, we will be shooting a favorite scene of mine in the movie Exit 101 next weekend. I won't give away any details, but I am hoping to get some great photos out of it.

MythBusters. It's great. Watch it. I am working my way through their collections DVDs and I love watching the chemistry between Jamie and Adam. Jamie will snap someday, just hope he ain't near me when he does it.

Some sales stats. Just passed 4,500 total sales. Just about to hit 1,000 on iStock. iStock is off the chain for me at the moment. I've had more sales the last few days then the entire month of January. And it's old photos too, not even the new stuff.

Got another female model for the April 10 shoot at Hilton Head. So, I have all the females I need, but I don't have a single male model. My two "regulars" won't be there. One got transferred with his job to West Virginia, the other is busy. Maybe I can find some on Model Mayhem.

Well, this is definitely not as rambly as the last post. And yes, I do plan on uploading some photos, which I really need to get on pace, because I am coming down to only 300 days to go.

And I can't remember if I've had an Iranian reader before, but if I haven't then سلام otherwise خوش آمدید.

Google Chrome Update

Ok, I've been running it for a few days, and I have found only one little problem with it. My website is on Windows Live, and that page does not support Google Chrome. I can read my email there, but I currently cannot edit my page without switching over to Internet Explorer. Also, I am starting to get used to the tabs along the top. With Explorer I just opened a new window, but with Chrome I am tabbing it.

I see BigStock photo and 123RoyaltyFree have changed their sites. 123 so far is truly annoying. Bigstock is not bad, kinda the same but with a little nicer look. I like their "hotness" rating on their photos now. My "hottest" photo is...

with a hotness of 26. A photo inspired by this blog. And just so you know, I feel like I may take some photos tonight.

If you haven't checked out my Smugmug site lately, I have new photos from the Exit 101 shoot on there.

Only four days left to get your picks for the Oscar contest. Wonder if that producer from Hurt Locker that sent negative emails against Avatar will affect their winning or not... I chose Hurt Locker, but the race is so close, I feel that Avatar may have the edge now. And that is a 10 point category in my pool, so I only have a couple days to change my mind.

Ok, something I've wanted to do for a couple weeks now but I kept forgetting. Here are some of the photos I have found of mine is use thanks to Tineye. Tineye is a great little search engine that actually searches photos. Put in a photo of yours (or a thumbnail from your stock sites) and it will find it in their catalog of 1.3+ billion photos. Here are the ones I have found:

HowStuffWorks "Crape Myrtle: Profile of a Tree"
Latest Yankees news -- (10-25-05)
Tahoe Bear Awareness Program - Stash Your Trash
amazon.com Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming Laurie David and Cambria Gordon Books
boulder Angsthasenklettern mit Tradition, ohne Berg
Petit Jean Foothills Nursery - Pricing and Ordering your Crape Myrtles
Scout.com: Scout TV: Austin Vincent
Whoopi Goldberg Wants to Know: What Simple Common Sense Thing DON'T People Do That Makes You Nuts? | wowOwow
Are you in a bad relationship? | zoestreet.com
National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative -- NITCCI

There were a couple others, but they either changed their photos or their page doesn't work anymore.

The other day I mentioned how I was getting 1400 hits on my SmugMug page, and not quite as many here. So I created a "photo" with all my info and websites, including this one, uploaded it to the Exit 101 gallery, and I will see if that makes any effect.

Put out a casting call on ModelMayhem for the April 10th shoot on Hilton Head Island. 

Nothing else. I'm going to make some sweet tea (three regular tea bags and one Lipton Pyramid teabag).

A Day Off

How cool is that? (and I got two in a row). My phone is broken so they can't call me. Life is good.

Speaking of good. Still trying to warm up from that long night of shooting again in sub-freezing temperatures. Got 1400 hits on my Exit 101 photo page. That makes it 6300% more popular then my blog. Maybe I should write my blog, paste it onto a jpg and post it over there. Let me find a pic to talk about.... how about this one...

Tried to create a movie poster, and you can see how well that worked. And the regular readers should know, I am by no means a graphic artist. I might be able to manipulate a photo a little with a 2% chance of it looking good, but designing posters is not my thing. So here you go, anyone that can create a usable movie poster from the photos on the Exit 101 photo page, and we decide to use that poster, will get a credit in the movie. You can even be an extra if you provide your own lodging and transportation and meals and are willing to lie on the ground pretending to be dead for 10-12 hours in sub-freezing temps. 

Oscars only a few days away, hit the link to the right to make your pics and win a prize. 

On a personal note, I have never really listened to my sister, but she made a comment on the number of tuna cans in my cupboard, and noted I should try making it with barbecue sauce instead of mayonnaise. I tried it last night, not because she said it, but because I opened the cans and realized I was out of honey mustard dressing (mayonnaise allergy in the house). So I tried the barbecue, and it was actually pretty good. In fact, Angela didn't even know it was tuna, she thought it was pulled pork. 

Let's see...mentioned the movie... the Oscars... posted a pic.... made a personal comment... guess that about wraps it up. Oh, wait. New Recipe Tuesday has been delayed for a week due to Michelle being out-of-town, it's her turn to cook and she can't get off that easy.

Guess I should mention the photos sites... Shutterstock sales for me were incredibly horrible for the month of February... and it's not looking good for March, either. Dreamstime and iStock remain atop the list as I had some of my best months ever with them, especially Dreamstime. BigStock has been a BigDisappointment since they were purchased by Shutterstock. Usually a good seller for me, I have now sold only 10 photos since the purchase, even CanStock is outselling them. 

Well, it's time for me to shove stuff into closets to make it look like I cleaned today. Until tomorrow, make a poster, make your pics, and make a comment.

Exit 101... again

For those of you who know, and for those of you who don't know, and probably don't care, I am helping film a movie being produced by a local company, BlackFlight Studios. I act primarily as the behind the scenes photographer, but I also helped with the minor edits of the script, the pre-production promoting, and also on the set setting up lights and being a general flunky. Yesterday I worked at Wal-Mart for 8 hours and left straight over to the set. I stayed there filming until 5am, when I had to go back to work. I went back to work till 2, when I finally got home I had worked a full 27 straight hours. I only took a couple hour nap so that I would be able to sleep tonight to get back up in the morning. So this will not be a long post.

Some pics from the set last night. The newest stuff is on page 3 and 4. Most of last nights behind the scene shots were taken with a Speedlite flash, because of the wider shots for the movie, the lights were further away from the actors, and I wasn't getting crisp enough photos.

This photo was cropped down slightly from the original. I burned the lenses of his glasses because the flash made his eyes visible. I then leveled, curved, darkened a bit, and then increased the contrast a smidgen. I thought that looked pretty good, but looked too simlar to another photo I had already corrected. So I turned on an OptikVerve Filter program called Virtual Photographer. I played with the various filters, and I used one called "spice" because it gave the picture a slightly aged look. This plug-in is one of my favorites, because it has so many different filters, and while you may not find the right look for a photo, it has multiple times inspired me to create my own look.

Only 6 days left to get your picks in for the Office Oscar Pool.

Be my friend on Facebook.

Good Night.

David Hasselhoff uses Google Chrome

Can you guess the secret meaning behind the title?

I am on a 5 day sale streak at iStock. Dreamstime has been the best for me the last couple months. Shutterstock sales this February have been some of the worst probably in the last year.

In other photo news, I can't stand the photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter on the cover of EW. Something about it is incredibly unnerving.

Blog news, welcome back to my international readers. Other then Luis, I have had very few internationals visiting the past few weeks. Yesterday's blog was my most read ever, totally unexpected. Only 10% of the visitors yesterday were returning visitors. Guess everyone wanted to see what I had to say about Google Chrome. Well, you can quote me now:

"I do not know Al Gore personally, but I am 2 degrees of him, according to Kevin Bacon. I am an avid user of his invention, Global Warming.... er... I mean the internet. I find Google Chrome to be the most exciting thing to happen to the 'net since Candy Mountain. It's very fast, like I was in that dream I had this morning where I ran a stop sign and was trying to escape the cops. So far, it has made the internet exciting again, like seeing it all for the first time. I highly recommend this product, and Castle too."

There. Now I have a new secret word or phrase to slip in to get more readers, I don't have to keep mentioning Jeanell Norvell.

Speaking of EW, they just published their predictions so you all can copy them in the contest.

Going to do my taxes so I will end it here.

Google Chrome

I finally dropped Internet Explorer. When I first started surfing 15 years ago, I used Netscape. Then when I bought a new computer, it came with Internet Explorer and I just never bothered to switch. Just comfortable with it I guess. But lately I have had some problems with IE that I just couldn't ignore anymore. Couldn't visit Netflix without an error prompt. Dreamstime had to double-load before I could log in. Yahoo mail took forever. Shutterstock introduced their Facebook app and I couldn't load it.

So somewhere on Twitter I saw someone mention Google Chrome, so I checked out their little "comic book" that told all about it. But I still didn't want to just jump into it. So I studied up on Firefox, and that sounded pretty good, too. But I asked around on Facebook, and it seemed everyone was using Chrome and recommending it. So I became a Chrome user, and I am happy. I can now check all my sales on all my submitted sites in the same time it took my Yahoo Mail to load before.

Frasier: Season 2. Some of the funniest sitcom episodes.

I am craving pasta salad.

If you are a Castle fan, they are having a chat session with a cast member Monday, March 1st. They are keeping it secret who, hoping it's Stana Katic or Nathan Fillion.

Added a Dragan section to my SmugMug, haven't had time to separate main gallery into more organized sections.

Well, time to go to sleep. Add me as your Facebook friend.

And Heavy on the Butter....

English muffins, just browned. Heavily buttered so it melts into the nooks and crannies. Smothered in orange marmalade. 'Nuff said.

I plan on updating my SmugMug site. Going to break it up into categories. Haven't decided which ones yet, I work best without plans and on the fly.

A few years ago, I attended my first photographer get together at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. At this point, I had never really shot people before, so I spent most of my time standing back and watching how the other photographers dealt with the models. I don't remember exactly where I got this concept, but I was up on a ladder. They did several versions. I didn't care for the shots with Nick reacting to Megan's yelling. And this one of Megan was the best, but Nick had a strange expression on his face, so I removed his head and replaced it with one from another photo. It seems to give him a "yeah... whatever" kind of look.

11 days left to get in your Oscar picks. I still think Hurt Locker is going to take the top prize. I firmly believe Star Trek should win in both sound categories. Up is a freebie. Free to play, and I never get junk mail from them. They have other pools for Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, and Survivor. So don't forget to make your picks and win a free framed 8x10. After you register, if it re-asks for the name of the pool it is WMI Photography Oscar Pool.

My mind is fuzzy from lack of sleep so I am not going to write anymore today. Oh, and my sister commented the other day about all the tuna cans I have. She said make tuna with barbeque sauce versus mayonnaise. Hmmm... interesting, may try it just to see. I usually use honey mustard dressing myself.

I am so tired.

I am currently working overnights at my real job. Makes me look forward to the day where photography is my real job. But for now I remain a zone merchandiser for Wal-Mart. The area I am over is being reset, so I am overnight to prevent disruption to the customer flow. Of course, I will reset the area, get it looking awesome and fresh feeling, and then when I go back to days next week, I am being transferred into a new area, so I will have to start from ground zero as the new area is in horrible condition.

So needless to say, with working overnight, and the horrible sleep I do manage to get in the day, I am quite tired. So my blogging this week may be scattered.

New Recipe Tuesday, or as Jon calls it "Happy Fat Tuesday". Today was Angela's turn, and after a week of being disgruntled at it being her week, she settled on a theme and found "Angela's Awesome Enchiladas". After that, she was excited and talked nonstop the last few days about her dinner night. She started the dinner with a spicy bean salad and I made a dessert of empanadas. For her enchiladas, she slowcooked the chicken with the spices and onion overnight, which allowed the chicken to soak up the spices, and also made it incredibly easy to shred. Probably the top meal of our "New Recipe" series.

Here is a photo of a scientist from our movie "Exit 101". I Draganized him and I will give my opinion, this is the best Draganization that I have done. A few things I did differently, I made the brush smaller when I was burning and took my time at 100% view going around his face "filling" in the wrinkles. Also, when I was erasing to lighten I used a softer brush and only hit the areas the sun actually was hitting.

On to my next subject (my blog should be called 500 Subjects instead of 500 Photos). Jon had borrowed my Star Wars and the new Star Trek dvds. He watched the Star Wars but decided not to watch the Star Trek, because he was never a fan of the series, so he skipped it. I told him he needed to watch the first 12 minutes and then decide. I popped it in after dinner and he decided he wanted to borrow it again. See... I know my movies. Here is a great little short film by Spy Films.

Don't forget to fill out your Oscar picks (link to your right). Only a few days left.

Anyways, I want to go get a little nap before going to work.

Let's Talk Movies

Ok, not a lot of movies, just a few I've watched in the past couple days. First, there is Star Trek (2009). In my humble opinion, the first 12 minutes is one of the greatest segments in movie history. The rest of the movie is pretty awesome too. Next is Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Anyone who hads read my blog for awhile now knows I am a Nathan Fillion fan. Firefly, Serenity, Castle, Waitress. And now Capt. Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It'll be available to watch streaming on Netflix starting Tuesday. And the third movie I watched was (500) Days of Summer. I've seen it before, I have raved over it, and I watched it now 3 times since receiving it again yesterday. The music, the cinematography, the dialog.... it's all great. And after you watch it, go to youtube and watch the Bank Dance, a little music video they made to test lighting for the movie and such. If you've ever had you heart broken, you'll see and understand the pain. This isn't a love story, it's a story about love. Speaking of love... how do you define it? I think it is when you have one last Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and instead of eating it, or splitting it, you allow her to have it.

And by now you should know my other favorites. 300, LOTR, Slumdog Millionaire, Notebook.

Back to photography. The Piedmont Park shoot has now been officially relocated to Hilton Head. I am broke, but I am going to be getting a couple payments from photo sites and I am going to use that money to sponsor my portion. Going to try for three locations. There is an old cemetary just before you get on the island, revolutionary war era headstones (if I remember correctly... old anyway). Then some of the tropical style foresty areas, probably a state park. Then I will finish it off on the beach (even though Angela said all the women must be fully clothed). Details to come with a link to the right.

Anywho, going to watch Pysch with the missy, later y'all.

HuckleBerry

Added new link box to the right over there ---->

But I forgot to add a couple links, like the Hilton Head Photoshoot link, and a link to my "Exit 101" movie photos. Speaking of, I do not have the proper authority to do this, but I am going to try anyway. Anyone that can make a movie poster (that we actually use) from the photos on my "Exit 101" photo page will receive a Art Designer credit at the end of the film. This is a non-paying gig, just a chance to get your name on the big screen. I will be shooting the main cast on the 27th, so hopefully by the 28th, you will have a large crop of photos to work with. Anyone interested can email me for a general synopsis of the film so you can get a general idea of what the film is about.

But anywho. New Recipe Tuesday, Thursday Style. It was moved to Thursday to accommodate a work schedule. Jon made a Swiss cheese and stuffing coated chicken that was very moist and tender. He also tried to make some bread in the breadmaker, the crust was a little stiff, but the innards was good. For dessert he made banana pudding, but the difference was he added cream cheese to the mixture, very tasty. Angela's turn is next. Our cupboard contains 15 cans of tuna, some kidney beans, a can of pineapple, a huge can of tomato sauce, and several boxes of Mini Shredded Wheat cereal. Can't wait to see what she whips up.

Going to work on some photos for the actors I worked with this past weekend. I took them outside and got some shots. I had them stand with the sun to their side, and I was using my flash as a fill, but I didn't realize until later that my batteries in my flash were wearing down and it wasn't going off but maybe every 5th or 6th photo. So they are brightly lit on one side, and very shadowy on the other. The LCD was too difficult to see outdoors so I wasn't checking it and failed to catch the problem.

I don't normally read Field and Stream, as I am not that outdoorsy, but the cover shot has caught my eye everytime I go to Jon and Michelle's house (Michelle is apparently an avid reader, as her name is on the label). You can see the cover shot here, and an article about the lead story (but you will have to get the magazine to read the article). The shot is of an Alaska backcountry trapper. The shot on the cover is of Marty, the sun to his back, two lights to either side, and the camera at about waist high. Is gives him a bigger then life look, and a general toughness that seems to fit his profession. I am only half way through the article, about a columnist who trails Marty for a week and finds himself lost in the vast emptiness of Alaska. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because 1- I think the article and photos are pretty cool and I think you should buy a copy to help support great writing and photography. 2- Something about that photo makes me want to duplicate it. And that is what I will try to accomplish at this next shoot. I'll have the 350 watt bulbs up and to the side in the rear, and my 400 watt bulbs in soft boxes towards the front and to the side. I will shoot from about waist high and see how it goes. I will get the group, then get them individually. I will also try the one light style that was prominent in the first group of shots.

Don't have anything else to say. If you have a photographer or blog you think I would like, or would like me to pass on, let me know. Sometimes the best stuff comes word of mouth.

Until next time, HuckleBerry

Ya miss me?

Ok, didn't feel like blogging yesterday, and to be honest, kinda tired right now. Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday and pooey on the ones who didn't. Happy belated birthday to Luis, who mentioned it a few posts back but I kept forgetting to mention it.

All ten of my shutterstock photos were rejected, which I find strange. All for lighting, and some for cropping. The cropping ones I can't do anything about, but I'll test the color balance on a couple of the lighting ones and see if I can "fix" the problem. All the others sites have been accepting without problem.

I plan on adding a link box over to the right there so I don't have to keep bugging you about stuff like the Oscar Challenge, which looks like I am going to win simply because only two people have made picks and she doesn't know anything about these movies.

The movie shoot went great. Even got a model release back from one of the actors, so I will take a closer look at his pics.

Not really much else to say, don't have a photographer page or blog to refer you to. I guess I can talk about a pic. How about one from the shoot? (you can see the rest of the pics here)

This (to me) is one of the coolest behind the scene shots from the movie. This next photo is where I started when Doug was setting up. Daniel (the actor) of course decided to smile for the camera, but I was looking for a more candid type shot.

Doug had the camera level with the desk, panning up and down as Daniel pretended to write in the ledger. I didn't care for the lighting from this side, so when Doug switched angles, it allowed me space to swing around to the other side and get a profile shot with the light behind him. I kept the photo kind of yellow, because the photo was supposed to be a scientist in the 60's writing in a blog, and the yellow kind of set the mood right. I did not even notice the light switch just on the edge in the back until after I had posted on SmugMug. I'll correct at some point. One line error someone can "intelligently" point out while watching the film with friends. The barcode on his badge may have been invented in 1949 by Wallace Flint, but it did not receive commercial use until 1974. The government first started using barcodes in 1981. So here in 1969, the chance that this scientist really had a barcode on his badge was very, very slim (but hey, they are supposed to super advanced and intelligent scientists).

Ok, used up my nerd knowledge for the day. Not shooting the movie this weekend, but will pick it back up next weekend. The shoot I had planned for Piedmont Park will be switched to Hilton Head Island on April 10th, weather permitting. We will hit an old cemetary with Revolutionary War graves (if I remember correctly). Then will hit some of the tropical style trees that the island is covered with. And for a finally, we will hit the beaches and get some bikini shots, girlfriend permitting.

Ok, going to watch a movie and fold laundry. "Serious Moonlight".

Happy Birthday to Me

A look back at my first 34 years. Hey, it's my blog and my birthday will only roll around once in this one. So I will ramble while you read and decide what you want to get me. I posted my wish list a few posts back, I can't remember which day so you'll just have to find it yourself. HA.

Some of the jobs I've held: retail manager, butcher, cashier, bagboy, disaster relief, prison guard, phone operator, phone sales, quality control, photographer, movie maker, mechanic, technician, photo lab tech, security, loss prevention, blogger, website designer.

I have three children. I have one ex-wife. I have one brother, one sister, and 5 half-brothers and sisters. I have one niece, two nephews. I have had numerous girlfriends (I love Angela more then all the other combined).

I like snickers bars, hamburgers, lasagna and chili. When I was real young I liked liver and black olives. I have eaten frog and alligator.

I have met Bill Cosby, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, former President Carter, Erin Gray, Jeremy Sisto. I have seen Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Rascal Flatts, Howie Mandel, and Brooks and Dunn concerts. I was an extra in a movie.

I have been to four countries and to every state east of the Mississippi River (except Vermont) and a few west of. I've been to Disney World several times. I have owned two vehicles. I've cruised in a boat, flown in a plane, riden a horse, driven a car. I have been to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and I have stood on the roof of the World Trade Center. I have been to the Smithsonian, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and the Capitol.

I attended 14 different schools. Moved 28 times. Went to college twice.

Things I want to accomplish in my next 34: Skydive. Retire. Travel to all 7 continents. Write a novel. Climb a mountain. Have my script produced. Travel to San Fransico, Las Vegas, Paris, Tokyo and London. Have two more children.

Anyways, I uploaded ten photos last night, three I am pretty sure will be accepted. three that more then likely will be rejected, and the other four are tossups. Here is the behind the scene photos of the movie "Exit 101".
It's raining again. I have to get ready for work. So happy birthday to me and all that fun stuff.

Exit 101

Here's the scene. Standing in front of a Titan missile. Located next to a Krystal's Restaurant. It's below freezing. The mic stopped working. Having to kneel holding a metal studio mic in front of actors. Actor one says "I never want to hear about this again. Is that clear?" Actor two on first take says "Krystals" and struggles to keep from laughing. I can laugh quietly because I am below frame. We shot that take probably 15-20 times and I cracked up everytime. Of course, the colder it got, the less funny it was.

Maybe you had to be there...

Here are the behind the scene photos. I explained in the last post how much waiting you do. It is so true. We shot for over 11 hours yesterday. Got maybe 4-5 minutes of the movie out of it. Of course yesterday was for the opening montage, and some possible flashbacks, so a lot of shooting. Thanks to Helena Industries for the use of their lab.

Managed to get some stock photos out of it. Haven't had a chance to work on them yet, so hopefully they came out okay.

Hey Look, It's George Lucas!!!

Yeah... right.

Movie making. What can I say? It's long periods of sitting around waiting followed by brief moments of sitting around very quietly waiting. We shot for 6 hours last night. Well, we shot about 20 seconds of film during a 6 hour period last night. I got a little experience slate-boarding, a lot of experience lighting, and more experience then I could ever use being really quiet. Pretty much you hold the board in front of the focal point of the shot, when the director calls "slate" you drop the clacker and pull out of the scene and stand very quietly until the scene is over. You then erase the take number, increase by one and continue over and over. The lighting is pretty much the same as photography, you play with it until you get what you want. The sound guy keeps saying that the sound is amazing, but I am deaf in one ear, so that doesn't mean much to me. Did get a few behind the scenes shots. Not as many as I wanted, since I was helping with the production.

This is Joseph Lavender. The writer/ former director/ producer/ actor of our production "Exit 101". We shot with him what we like to affectionately call "scene 7" and "scene 8". Or reshoot, rather, since last weeks was rendered useless by unseen dust on the lenses.

We spent the first few hours trying to get everything set up, with a large chunk of that time spent looking at a computer trying to figure the sound out. And we probably would have shot a little longer last night, but someone (not me) forgot the power cable to the camera so when the battery died, so did the production for the night. I will be leaving here in a few to shot for today at a chemical lab with three actors. Hoping to get some great shots here.

Anywho, has two more photos accepted at Shutterstock, bringing my total to 221, with 320 something days to go.

Don't forget to sign up for Oscar Challenge.

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In the meantime... I HAD A PHOTO ACCEPTED. You're thinking, big whoop, I get 20 accepted a day. Well, you're not as lazy as I am. I have also submitted 5 more today. Yesterday I was off, so I read and practiced some tutorials. Manly dealing with glowing and brush sets.

I never installed brush sets before, so it was all new to me. I had the basic concept that I wanted him to be holding a glowing orb that was oozing with colors streaming out into the air. The cropping of the original photo limited where I could place him in the photo. I started by extracting him from the original photo. I then placed him on a black background and enlarged the canvas. I played with the levels, curves and contrast to make him to appear to be in a dark room. I then added a soft white glow on the floor to make it appear he was actually somewhere and not just pasted there. I started with a rainbow of colors streaming from his fingers via brush and streaming upward, but it blocked his face so I backed off and decided to go with just a glowing orb. I read some tutorials about glowing orbs and I read about roman.de and his free brush sets. I downloaded the first eight and I then had to learn about installing them. After that I started trying to create my orb. Still wasn't looking like I wanted, soon then I found a tutorial that I cannot refind about creating a new layer of black, hit filter/render/lens flare and change to 105mm prime lens. Use a gradient adjustment (radial) to reduce it to the size you need. Change to hard light, and alter the hue as desired. I then went back and erased the layer on this side of his fingers to make it look more like he was holding it.

The text was just a basic text, with a emboss layer style and an outer glow. I tried to get it to look like it was streaming from the orb, but made it hard to read, so I just straightened it back out and raised it up. That's when I decided to make it look like a sign. I downloaded some chain brushes and created a chain. I realized the text was crooked, but kept it that way because it added a little something. The only other photo was a request from a friend...

For some great tutorials, try Photoshop Lady. They have various levels of skill, and they also give a time that a certain effect would take. I RSS the feed on my homepage, which is my.yahoo.com.

Nothing else to say, except to please join my Oscar Pool. Only 23 days left to get your picks in.

Oh, and shop my Zazzle.

Oh and for your enjoyment....

Jeanell Norvell

Jeanell Norvell. I spoke about her once before, but Jeanell Norvell is worth mentioning again, since whenever I mention Jeanell Norvell I end up with a lot of people finding my blog by searching for Jeanell Norvell. So Jeanell Norvell is a photographer. Jeanell Norvell is also a professional counselor. What else can I say about Jeanell Norvell? Jeanell Norvell also likes to run with her iPhone. Jeanell Norvell likes to make David Hasselhoff Potatoes (maybe...?). Jeanell Norvell is a great person and a true friend.

Enough about Jeanell Norvell. Yesterday was New Recipe Tuesday, but due to a unforeseen circumcision....I mean circumstance, Jon had to run to Albany with Michelle. So it's been held off to today, and I am bursting at the seams to eat this stuff. And yes, I may attempt a photo once I get the cornbread made.

Speaking of photos, I uploaded a photo last night... HOORAY. Shutterstock is running a little slow so I haven't seen whether or not it's accepted yet. I was playing with some photos last night, draganizing, avataring and marbleizing...

I was playing with another of Tyron's photos for an effect when I desaturated and played with the contrast and suddenly realized I needed to save at that point and submit before I continued. It looked pretty good. We'll see any minute now. I am hoping they decide before I finish writing this post. So if I start to ramble it's because I am waiting.

The marble effect on Jon is decent. Originally the clothes were marble too, but it didn't look right, so I erased that part of the layer. I was supposed to marbleize his hair too, but that looked really weird, so I back off on that. Looking at it with fresh eyes this morning I see that I should have darkened the eyes a bit. If I had the time, I would have found a pigeon to add to it.

Tyron's Avatar look pretty good, getting better with the striping, the ears match pretty well. Had trouble around the hairline, because his hair and skin were so closely toned, that it was a long project I didn't want to do for a fun picture. If I was being paid for it, I'd spend days if I had to.

Will be doing behind the scenes shots this coming weekend for the movie being shot here in Cordele, "Exit 101". I've had a little opportunity to help in the pre-production, with promoting in the papers and advising on the script. I will also be an extra in the film, playing a federal agent. Originally I was supposed to shoot someone, but now I am just in a boardroom. I am also writing a script that may be their second production, but I've hit a writers block. A scene that changes the flow of the film, but I feel is important for the progression of the character. I have been trying to work it out.

Found this little item called a LookBook that I want to add to my birthday list. One of my big issues when working with models, I can pose them basically, but then I just get stumped with a stupid look on my face. This little swatch book has various posing ideas to help inspire you.

Well, got to do a little cleaning, and restart the crockpot. Shutterstock has not looked at it yet, so y'all won't find out till tomorrow. (thinking about deep-fried Oreos for dessert)