Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

Pin-ups and Christmas... Merry Christmas to my readers..

The Coming of Motherhood

The Coming of Motherhood
Originally uploaded by king_shadow001

i found this photo on flickr in my photo group beautiful women (limit 5 per day .

My photo group is something I don't think many people get. This person they get it. It's really quite simple. All women are beautiful just because they're women.

It has out grown it's porn and pinup girl roots even though sometimes there is still porn and pinup girl shots and now it's a portrait of women group. This black and white here and the lighting simply rocks.

Family Photos

IMG_1995 copy
Originally uploaded by finadrea

This is a great example of a pregger mom shot. And tells so much about the family. I love photos like this. very warm and touching. I found this and just had to blog about it.

Am I ummmm Cocky???

I'm an avid flickr guy. I go look at all the pictures to come up with new ideas. Ok Steal someone Else's and attempt to make them my own. I read all the discussions to learn some new stuff. Or maybe give some knowledge that I've gotten from the same place. Normal stuff right.

I'm a little grumpy some times when I read the posts. What size Lens should I use to shoot the wedding? What is your ISO setting? How long can you hold the camera still? I just hate these questions.

I know what you're thinking you where new once. Hell I still think I'm new with a lot to learn but I always hated the questions because I didn't like the answers either. The canon 70 - 200 L IS is what you shoot a wedding with. That lens costs about as much as a wedding photo job or a really cheap used car. I never get out of ISO 100 because I have fast lenses. And you don't shoot at night. or you do shoot at night but use a tripod. I never hold my camera I use a tripod and this 200 dollar remote thingie that cooks eggs on Sunday.

The truth is there is no right answer to any of those questions. For example the wedding question. Simply what lenses do you own? How close can you get to the action? Are you the main wedding photographer that's going to be there? All those are important. If I'm going to a wedding and I'm going to take a few pictures, my 70-300 is a good choice because I ain't moving from my seat just getting some shots. If I'm the princeable photographer I'm using my 18-50 2.8 Tamron lens and I'm going to be moving around and pretty close. My iso depends on what I see when I line up the shot and the camera does the metering. I can hold the camera for about 1/4 a second. so when the 4 shows up I breath very slowly and take my shot.

Good I hate those questions.

More Pinup Girls

I took so many shoots of her that day, she was amazing to work with. I loved her eyes
And her ready smile. It was a good day for shooting as well . I worked on some more of her photos.
I'm just a bit lazy I guess. but what ever I'm getting them done for next months babes in toyland.

And All the earth shall ring

And All the earth shall ring
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

I have posted the photo of the card now. This is the front and the back of the post card. My name appears on the back of the card. pretty impressive if you ask me.

I'm really pleased with this as an out come. And truly very flattered.

Hand Bells

Hand Bells
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

I'm soo published now. I recieved the post cards that was made from this photo and all I can say is that're hot. and tasteful and really really cool. I'm going to take photos of them later on tonight to publish to the world. Right now you'll have to deal with this one. But imagine it with some words over and it's just hot.

Pin Up Girls

Welcome back to the age of jive. 1920's and 30's had there own style but with World War II and Cartoons it took the look to a whole new level. There where pin up calendars and pin ups on bomber noses. Last weekend we did pin ups in the fortress of the arts.

I think I did fairly well and I have to make an effort to go there atleast once a month so I have photos to show off.

Raw vs JPG

Raw vs JPG
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

With RAW + Jpg you can get a row out of the camera and a jpg at the same time. This photo Shows the diffence between the two. The top is the raw. I like the way both look but I prefer the darker RAW.

The darker RAW is truer to what I'm use to seeing. The shirt color of the person in the background wasn't that red either. I guess that means that my picture style may have been hotter then needed because I was shooting models earlier. but it is dramatic.

Joy

Joy
Originally uploaded by RavenGirlPhotography

I love this photo by raven girl. I like the lighting and the photo is just soo artistic that is screams greatness. Just really a cool shot.

Top 10 Viewed Photos 2006

Yea it hasn't changed much so I thought I'd throw it up.





I have this thing.. you know a kinda thing where I like to see what ppl are looking at and what they're interested in. Well this is the 10  most viewed photos from my Flickr site. I see a natural trend here. I like to share so here ya goo I hope you like them.

Top 10 View Photos from Flickr>

Ariel

Ariel
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

Another photo from my Photoshot with Kat at the fortress of the arts. I Loved the way she looked. Just like the Disney Cartoon. ok Ok I'm an anime Nut.

The King

The King
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

I had my first photoWorkShop with the Fortress of the arts and Kate. I met some really nice ppl. The equipment there is really good, the sets where cool to shoot. The models and other photographers where friendly. All in all it was a nice place and a good day. Justin has a good time with the shoot and took some really cool looking shots. The king is back.

Where am I.

Just a quick update on where I am with my photography work. I've taken photos but haven't been moved to edit them. Maybe because they're wild life and stuff I've taken before. I think I may be in a bit of a route even though I have this nice photo blog to play with.

I started creating the photo book but I got bored with that and stopped.

I think updating the blog will help me get going again.

Gangsta

Gangsta
Originally uploaded by DrkMage

Public Self vs Private Self. ...

We all do it. This is my nephews public self it's not how I see him at all. I look at him and I see a ready smile and a big full laugh.This is his public self.

I believe that portraits have to show that public self and that self we want to be seen as. I still see the smile in his eyes.. he's a great kid.

Flash!!!!! It's Photography.

I take a lot of available light shots. I hate the way the flash makes my photos look. It's like taking a bucket of white paint and splashing it all over the Mona Lisa or something. It's just ugly to bath everything in white light and create a unnatural bluish tint. I prefer the soft shadows and the natural look of available light. Give me a wide aperture and available light to shoot my shot. Give me an f/1.8 50 mm over any F/3.6 - F/5.6 zoom lens any day. I'll get nice DOF and the right look. Nothing like a portrait with the face in focus and the fall off behind the ears. I love that look.

The truth is I never really knew how to use a flash on the camera. I started taking photos like everyone else. A little point and shot 35 mm that my grand mom got for me. Use the flash inside she'd tell me. Use the flash it's night. And I always got . . . Well you know what I always got. Those vacation shots a lot of people have. Those family snap shots of Aunt June or who ever. Yuck!!!

So I'm looking at Adorama at the Pentax K20D. I'm going though the Pentax flash on the site and they explain it, all of it. I learned a lot. Why all my photos looked unnatural. I learned when to use the flash even in Sunlight. it was great.

What I learned is that light has 3 qualities. Of course I learned this over time. Some times my photos look warmer (photography word) due to the light. You call that color quality. Some times you use a single light source (AKA Lamp) to create shadows and drama in an image. The definition of direction. Light has a 3rd quality called intensity simply put how bright it is. I have 2 real problems in my past flash photos. Simply the range of the flash is about 3 feet for optima and 15 feet to be out of range. My problem is I put things to close or to far. I need to take my photos at about 3-4 feet if my prime source of light is my flash. I also need to use auto white balance when I'm going to flash. it doesn't take on a blue look of being cool.

I need to remember that due to the direction straight at my target there will be no shadows in my picture. I need to make sure that the other the other sources of light compliment this. This is called fill flash you do this on a sunny day when the sun is at your target's back. You use this to remove unwanted shadows and dark areas.

I'm going to go and take some cool photos now that I learned this and look up the range on my Canon.

Cold War anyone?

Photography is a place with a lot of rules that only seem to apply when you want them to or when they seem to work. Let's look at the rule of thirds. When do you apply it? Well when it works. When do you apply narrow depths of field? When you want to. There seems to be one rule that seems to apply constantly. That rule is the camera cold war.

We've all seen the Camera cold war and some of us even fight it. That's what happens when a Nikon user sees a guy happily shooting his Canon or vice versa.People judge the lenses you choose to use. The tripod isn't microfiber or it's made by the wrong people.

This is really the worst part of photography. I like to take the photos. I like to show them to my friends and my fans.I just hate comparing my equipment to someone else's. There is always more expensive and better stuff. The photo is the only thing that matters.

Since the photo is all that really matters anyway. I've seen good photos taken with the cardboard box disposibles.I've seen excellent pictures taken with point and shoots. it's not really the camera it's the photographer.

My life be like

I like photography. I really like photography of all kinds. I take cityscapes and I take portraits and glamour shots. I take pictures of the miniature games that I play and historical monuments. I take pictures of my kittens and my friends dogs. I have taken about 1000 pictures that I show people.

I'm only known for one type of photography though. I'm known for the glamour shots of models and less the other pics I take. Seems like I take a photo of a woman in her underwear and everyone views it. and I take a photo of my niece and no one looks..

What I'm known for	What I Want to be known for

5 Of My Photos Which Need To Be Seen

Not all of my photos get the same amount of attention. So I decided that I'll show the ones that I believe need to be given more love that I personally like. I figure the others will be found by the people looking for them.

&MoreCandles
Mom
12th Street
Becki OverExposed
2 Street Lights

What's In My Bag Now??? A Way Point.

One of my first blogs here was a repost of my fantasy photo equipment. I said I never really made it but I keep trying again. Well I simply love my current kit and I figure that since the my thinking has changed and there has been some changes I'll key you in.

DSLR

• D30 DSLR yea I got it.. cheap with all the extra's


• 30D DSLR I wanted spotmetering and the higher speed

Lenses

• Canon 50mm F/1.8 I haven't upgraded yet I decided to keep it when I do


• Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 better reviews then the sigma and cheaper I love it.


• Quantaray 70-300 F4-F5.6 bought on a whim to see what I needed and F4 is the way to go

Looks like I made a good dent and I don't have far to go. The telling thing is the things not in my bag. I'm still debating the 24 - 70 lens as I wonder if I really need to over lap my lenses for my shooting. The film body and the point and shot are just extras and I need to upgrade the film body to maybe an elan 7e or a 7ne. I won't be happy with a classic canon and mostly because ebay is shitty in the idea of camera sales.

So that's where I am.

My Other Camera is a Pentax

I have a really cool Flirkr friend. Her name is Steph. We talk from time to time and we're really geeky into photography and taking pictures. I'm truly a big fan of hers. I love her self portraits and her cat pictures.

One night we're talking about lenses and fantasy stuff that we want to buy. She tells me about this classic Pentax glass. Asahi Pentax Takumar Super multi coat Lenses. she wants like the 50 F/1.2 and some others. Steph knows her glass and she's talented. So it's not that I don't take her word or nothing but I really do have to look at this stuff. I mean to try and buy something from 1972 in the Y2K+8 it's gotta be special right.

I cruise over to flickr and do a quick search. The photos taken with this glass is amazing. They're clear and the colors are brilliant. They're fast and manual focus. There is a group devoted to them and ppl are mounting them to all kinda digital SLR's. She tells me about her Camera the K10D and the feature set. and I'm thinking I paid what for my 30D.

So I start thinking in about a year or so I can buy a used k20d or so used. Pentax always go cheap mostly because ppl not in the know want nikons or canon's because they are "Better". I can then shark them and get a cool camera and some of this rare glass. I think that the collecting and the hunting will be the most fun of this project. I mean it is possible to have 2 camera kits and figure out what one you like the best. Let's call this learning.



After taking pictures for 4 years I've come to the conclusion that it's not the name or the camera or the serial number it's the person be hind it that makes the photos memorable.

Where I'm Going

Well kind of....

This is a repost of an article I wrote first on my Live Journal. I wrote it to publish the idea of the perfect SLR camera kit for me. Talking about how I shoot and the results that I like. I'm republishing it as a way point on the road that I want to travel.

It's firmly my belief that you can't reach a goal unless you have a firm knowledge of where you're going and where you been. You also need a time limit. I sat the time limit for a year. That was back in Febuary of 2006. I failed but I keep shooting and learned alot and things have changed a little bit. Also there is no rule that says you can't try again so here is Fantasy Camera Equipment List

I have a new list of fantasy camera gear that I want. I know it sounds stupid to want strange camera gear but it's kinda like computer gear. The more you learn and the more you have the more you want. I mean no one really wants a PII-350mhz machine as there main piece but it really will do everything you want it to do. You can go online with it you can play games but not the newer ones. It's just slow with windows XP, Linux or FreeBSD or any UNIX it's not to bad with. But... Even my FreeBSD machine is has atleast one 1ghz in this day and age.

Point and shot cameras and SLR bodies.

1 Canon G series Powershot. - The G Series are average zoom optical zoom of 3x but take the canon BP-511 battery and allow for RAW digital photos.

1 Canon 20D Body - This would be my new main camera body cool in camera editing features and built in Filters.

1 Canon A2E Film Body - This would be to learn to shoot with a film SLR.

1 Canon D30 Body - This 3.11 megapixal body would be the standard back up camera and replace my digital rebel in my bag. Since I'll have 2 DSLR's if I don't sell my rebel.

Lenses

1 17-50 F2.8 sigma DG lens - Standard lens for 1.6x crop Digital SLR cameras. Also standard EF mount so it will fit the film body as well and give me some wide angle ability for the film body.

1 sigma 28-70 sigma DG F2.8 Zoom - Standard walk about lens.

1 canon 70-200 F4L - long tom zoom

1 Canon 50 F1.4 - portrait lens

And that's the stuff I want in my camera bags.

Introduction

This is the first post in my photoblog. I simply wanted a place to write my thoughts on photography and show off my pictures. I wanted to move this stuff some place else. It's existed with my LJ blog for some time. I would write a random thought or idea and it would get lost in the middle of youtube videos and the random events of my life. This spot is just a spot for me to wax geeky about my photos.

Welcome to everyone that reads and I hope you enjoy it.