Feeding Time

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley here introducing you to another Tuesday. As you all know I have departed my classes of Studio Photography and Marketing and I am currently pursuing Editorial Photography and Portraiture I. Let’s just say everything looks overwhelming right off the bat. Though, I think with solid time management I may be able to pull these two classes through. We will see.

Enough of that though as I have a little treat for you all to enjoy as my weekend was spent camping at a nearby lake. Many shots were taken that weekend but not as much as I had wanted, however, pleased none-the-less. I started with a time lapse of the night sky framed with branches and leaves waving in the foreground while the next day was filled with capturing shots of various birds, ducks, landscapes and anything that caught my eyes. Later that day was filled with more of the previously mentioned captures but instead of on land, I took into the waters.

Shooting while on water was a total transformation for me than it is shooting on land due to the fact that water is basically like a reflector when shooting birds that are just a few feet above the water. Since I am slowly starting to become known with my photo of the seagull getting splashed by the ocean, I decided to capture these wonderful creatures one last time before I would become fully devoted to the classes I am in now. I will admit, I was feeding them a ton of crackers while riding in the boat, but at least they are not feeding on plastics and such to try and stay alive. Better that they feed on stale crackers than to let it go to waste. The crackers were meant for the ducks but as I saw one seagull going in for a pick, another soon followed suite. I swear they come out of nowhere!

In turn these are the photos that came out to be and I feel that the timing I get when they are momentarily suspended in mid-air is peaceful and an art form in its own. All I can see is an art form with the way the light is cast upon each seagull thanks to the low setting of the sun and the hills and seagulls to slightly impede it. Oh do these birds move which ever way they can to get to their targets. =)

These guys as well as other birds, if I happen to run across them, are something that will never leave my sight. I just hope many of you do not lose sight of them either. And can anyone tell me how difficult it is throwing the crackers, stopping flying trash, snapping the photos while on the back of your mind you are hoping that you will not get pooped on? O.O And as always, thanks for reading.

- Tues. Amb. Stanley

I will leave you with this cute, big eyed bird that I have been trying to capture for several months after seeing this guy blurred out in several of my photos focused on different birds. Unfortunately I am unaware of its name and I hope I find out soon. Until next week.

What Am I Doing?

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley, here welcoming you to another Tuesday.  It has been a good six, maybe seven, weeks since I started writing Tuesday blogs and I think it is about time to let my readers know what I have been up to lately in school. As I am nearing the end of another set of courses, I will be met with new classes to which I am sure will take its toll on me in the coming weeks. So what classes will I be leaving within the week you ask? Well Studio Photography and Marketing are the two classes I will be departing from and to be quite honest, I did not find those classes to be quite as hard or time consuming as I had been told by many. However, I guess not having a full-time job can leave a person to have boat loads of time to do whatever they desire.

Yes, I know I should have taken Studio Photography earlier in my studies but having financial stress prevented me from taking that class in the order recommended by The Art Institute. The out of order class did not stop me from continuing with my studies though, so that is one big plus on my part. However, that is the story of my life. Usually when something does not go right I just have pay not mind to it and move on to the next. If the opportunity arises again then I should know what to do for the next time. Right?

With that said, I am sure you are itching to see some photos of my prior work in Studio Photography. Keep in strict mind that I am a person that has to learn to crawl before walking as you can clearly see in my photos. You will see how much different these images have changed over the course of five and half weeks. Now these assignments were basically exercises for our final project, which by the way will be posted by the time the course ends. For the last shot in this series you will see a multi light scenario where we had to initially freeze our subject and move it all in the same frame. It’s a very cool technique that I am sure I will exploit later on in my career.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3
 

Week 3

Week 4

Week 4

Week 5

In a previous blog of mine I mentioned the need to test your equipment and make sure everything is working as intended in order to prevent any unfortunate circumstances with school. What I did not mention is that it if you do test your equipment, not only do you prevent situations that could bar you from class, but you prevent unfortunate situations when it comes to your job, if you have one, even yourself. I figure that if you are in school for something that you enjoy doing, then it should help to drive that passion even further. So the next time you receive that sexy piece of glass, or a boat load of lights, maybe literally, then test that equipment out that you love so much! I know I do. And as always, thanks for reading.

- Tues. Amb. Stanley

Oh ya, my next classes will be Editorial Photography and Portraiture I. Now I do not have a good feeling about timelines with these classes. Let's hope I can keep up with the blogs in the coming weeks. 0_0 Please leave any questions and

comments below.

What Do You Drive?

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley, here welcoming you to another Tuesday. So what inspires you? I know what you are going to say and it is probably pictures. Actually I would have probably given the same answer as well. In this case, though, it is not the answer I am looking for.

Maybe viewing paintings is your soul source of your inspiration. Perhaps you are one who likes a good book or one who fathoms about the layouts of a particular magazine. Usually a great flick is something people never turn down. How about Youtube, music or even video games? What drives you to do what you do? Whatever it may be, it goes to show in the work that you do each and every day.

Key point here is you should always follow the sources of inspiration that drive you to be where you are at today. I mean, without it, what in the world would you create if there is no drive? It does not matter when, where or how you go about to get your dosage of inspiration. Day or night, rain or shine, happy, sad or angry, we all need to keep up with what inspires us. The things that inspire us are what help to keep us creative and for the most part sane, depending on who you ask.

World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment 

So what inspires me? Well I have many avenues of inspiration whether it is music, movies, video games or even other peoples’ work. Perhaps for the longest time my total source of inspiration was from video games. However, for the past few years now gaming has been nothing but a past time for me. I recall playing an overly addictive game called World of Warcraft or World of Warcrack for the fully aware. Now I just call it World of Warcrap because I have my reasons. I am sure the vast majority of you, if not all, have heard about the game or maybe even played it from time, to time and time again. Why did I play it? It was not mainly for the aspect of wasting time, albeit it did, but for the simple fact of the in-game landscapes. Yes, I got photographic inspiration from a silly make believe game because it was a creation of someone’s artistic vision of which I do not play anymore.

So where am I going with this? Let’s just say that I’m writing this to bring to your attention the fact that nobody should completely neglect artists’ creative and highly inspirational works because then you will never know what you have been ignoring. Even if it is just a blog you like to follow, it is a source of inspiration that drives you to think and create. So what inspires you? I would love to read what inspires you in the comments below. And as always, thanks for reading.

- Tues. Amb. Stanley

Image - Entertainment, Blizzard. "World of Warcraft’s Seventh Anniversary! - World of Warcraft." Us.battle.net, 2014. Web. 25 Feb 2014. <http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3968197/World_of_Warcraft’s_Seventh_Anniversary-11_18_2011>

Let's Shoot

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley, here welcoming you to another Tuesday. Unfortunately, this post will be rather short due to some troubling times of a corrupt Lightroom catalog in which I have been dealing with the repairs for the past couple of days. So in the troubling times of photography is where I will delve quickly into the side of me that is not in school.

©2014 Stanley/Demand Media

Yes, this post is one that rather “toots my own horn” so to speak, but I will also tell you that my time working for this editorial company is a rather pleasant one. As some of you may know I have been hired by Demand Media Studios, an online editorial, work from home job based out of the state of Washington. While the pay is not great by any means, it does take very little time to complete an assignment on a two week deadline. Once accepted it’s just another thing to tack on to my list of publications. However, I would like to note that approximately 99.8% of the assignments listed will not apply to you as it can be very specific, or there is no return on investment to even warrant creating the assignment.

©2014 Stanley/Demand Media

Well this would be a perfect time to mention a future publication happening in late June of this year with one of “your’s truly” photos making the finals in the “Photographer’s Forum” “Best of College and High School Photography” contest. I sure hope someone reading this could say the same. However, isn't the field of photography putting yourself out there to the world? Perhaps many of you reading this have not made it that far in your studies to warrant a right or wrong answer. I will just put it to you plain and simple. You need to get yourself out there and known to the world with whatever it is that interests you. How you go about doing is completely up to you but I warn you that your reviewer is looking for something different! I just hope that you have a portfolio to back up what you say about your work.

©2014 Stanley/Demand Media

So what are you waiting for?! Do some Google searching on photography contests and maybe even some jobs in your area. If you cannot seem to find any jobs in your area then I suggest the next time you log into school take a look at the “Career Resources” under the “Student Services” drop down menu and go the “Job Search Guide,” right now though. If you have not already done so I would recommend creating and fully updating a LinkedIn account as you will be using it in Business of Photography not just for assignments, but maybe for some serious job hunting. Seriously if you have downtime from school and are seriously getting bored why not take a look at your options. Trust me, I did not get where I am today by thinking about what I want to do. Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. And as always, thanks for reading.

- Tues. Amb. Stanley

All photos courtesy of me and Demand Media. But mostly me given that I re-uploaded them. Yes, the contract says I can do this.

Links to publications:

Difference Router Single/Dual-Band

Soften Carhartt Jackets

Connect 12 Volt Marine Batteries

What is a Rantom?

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley, here welcoming you to another Tuesday. Not just any Tuesday but perhaps a “Timely Tuesday.” This week I wanted to cover on things about the Monarch Butterflies since the season just ended here in California, although I am sure they can be sought here and there post-season. Nope, this week is going to be a “rantom.” A random rant if you will. So without further a due I present to you my “Timely Tuesday Rantom.”

Unfortunately, as of late most of my frustrations in class have led me to vent, but mind you not to harass or offend any one person, about why some students do not seem to take the time to read or view any of the “Course Home” material, why some students do not follow proper MLA guidelines, why some students do not “works cite” anything at all or why some students do not follow the directions of the material what-so-ever. I AM NOT PERFECT! And I never will be which is why I confess to the fact that I have been a VICTIM of doing, or should I say not doing these acts. It took many months of being corrected by very few students, unfortunately, and some Professors here and there. However, people do make mistekas and that is okay, you just have to make sure you learn from it and apply it moving forward.

Whoops! Not the right one!

Okay, what is that one doing to this one? Get some shade!

               After becoming a Student Ambassador, of which I had no idea existed until my name was brought up for it, I realized that in the weeks of being one, how little time faculty have in their schedule to do even the simplest of tasks. Sometimes I think I have a lot on my plate but I cannot imagine being in their shoes right now having to go through so many student’s assignments. Have some of you taken the time to read the biographies of your instructors? Some instructors teach at more than one school and most, if not, all of them teach both online and on campus. When I download a student’s work and find so many things missing in the assignment, it makes me feel like I just wasted my time downloading it. So it makes me wonder how a Professor feels when they view the same thing.

                Tardiness! What it used to be called when you were late for class. I typically do not like to delve on this topic too much considering it was a bad habit of mine for as long as I can remember, but I can tell you that it will be a tough time for you if this habit becomes prevalent. Yes, not just in school, but in everything you do. Are you constantly turning in work late? If so, maybe you need to re-evaluate your situation and see if there is something to you need to change that would drastically change your direction for the better.

                Now, are we with the program? This is a program that we are supposed to follow, and in result the success to our future in the field photography, after all. I mean what else are we paying for? So if a student corrects you on the format of your assignment, I would take it into high consideration and review your assignments to see what you are missing. However, if a student critiques your work and makes suggestions, you can take it with a grain of salt or you can enrich the discussion even further. It is called collaboration and we need to get used to it.

Now we're talking!

Now I know a lot of you may not fall in this category but I suggest that you think twice before you post your assignment next time. If you were another student, would you find your work worth looking at, let alone download? Is everything in the assignment that is asked of you actually in your assignment, like your name? Did you cite your work? Oh, there is absolutely no reason to cite your work. How about “Works cited – N/A” as a viable citation to your assignment? Yes, even if it does not call for it or is not needed, put it in! Trust me; it goes a long way with instructors when everything is filled out correctly. Now I do not condone you do this on every assignment, especially if the assignment calls for heavy research, but just know when you can use it.

Rant done! Now where do you fall in all of this? In order for one to become successful, one must self-evaluate and fix the flaws. And I am still working on that! The big question I have for you is, “are you as a student discovering more about yourself after every course you complete?” If you answered “yes,” than I think you are on the right track to potential success. If you happen to answer “no,” then I would highly recommend thinking real hard about the question again and make sure you are not misinterpreting it. And if you still answer “no” then I suggest thinking about the path you have chosen. Seriously, you are paying for classes that you came in here to learn about because you are passionate about it. Is it not?

Let me hear your views. If you happened to have been offended by this post, you are not alone. Stay tuned next week for what I hope is not another “rantom.” I hope you enjoyed the butterflies. If not, dang. And as always, thanks for reading.

-Tues. Amb. Stanley

Seriously, what is that?!

Greetings fellow shooters, Tuesday Ambassador here again wondering what in the world I should write about this week. The first thing that comes to mind is that I have not been in a shooting class for some time due to our previous extended winter break. This was about the exact time that I had acquired my strobe equipment and was required to take a self-portrait with my newly acquired equipment. I did much experimenting with the new strobes capturing various subjects, but the one subject that was eating at me the most was me. Perhaps this may have been a mistake on my part in getting the T2i instead of the T3i three years ago. But would you really want an articulating screen as a complete newbie with cameras, regardless of any protection plan you put on it?

Now maybe it was a just a coincidence that in the time of our break, while being away from my studio, I was bored. Bored at my buddies house in the middle of the night and I had been itching to take pictures, but had forgotten one of my tripods at the studio. Of course my buddy is so tired after we watched a video on YouTube that he crashed on his bed soon after. Meanwhile, thinking back about the video it later occurred to me of a unique, yet a potentially destructible way of creating art from the camera. You guys may or may not like this as I have gotten mixed reviews from the people closest to me, but none-the-less a couple of photos are posted below. I think the consensus so far is that you either love it or you hate it.

You are probably wondering one of two things; why am I seeing this, or what did you do to get that? Well, this is much of the reason why my T2i ended up broken in the first place. Although, at the time it was apparent that the lens’s mounting points were broken but the camera functioned as normal with no visual signs of damage.  I kept at it after the fact. Needless to say, I had a feeling that they would need to check the camera as well and so they were both shipped the next day. I ended up acquiring the T3i as a substitute while the T2i was out being looked at. Can one get camera sick? It may be why I had not been shooting much because of the lack of control I had for the T3i at the time. Then I notice looking through the viewfinder that I would be returning the T3i regardless of the outcome of my T2i. This is why I did more “drop” tests keeping well aware of not actually dropping the camera this time. Below you will find the T3i photos of the “drop” test before returning it to establish a brand new, flawless T3i. In case you have not figured it out by now, my T2i is no more. L

These were all done in various lighting situations, so color balance was a concern, however, not important after seeing how they turned out. Yes, the process is simple and may potentially be damaging to any camera but call me crazy when I say that I knew my camera’s demise would come soon after experimenting with this hazardous option. So it’s obvious that this is a do at your own risk project. However, this could not have come at a better time as Studio Photography will be on my next round of studies and I figure that having the articulating LCD screen will help out immensely when it comes time to capture some self-portraits.

With all that said, I do miss my camera but now that I have my control back on the now T3i, I want to kick myself for not getting it in the first place. Often times I wonder if this was meant to happen the way it did. Either way, tell me what you guys think. Am I headed anywhere with this? 

Stay tuned next Tuesday to find out the first subjects I captured with my new T3i. Let’s just hope I did not lose grip on them too. Pun definitely intended.

Have a wonderful day and keep shooting,

Your Tuesday Ambassador

And as always, thanks for reading.