Wall Art
November 14, 2011 by Kivus · Leave a Comment
I recently switched my study into a different room in my house. As part of that move, I decided to rearrange my art collection. This was the final result:
The art is broken down into two major sections: commissions (and one print) of my favorite character, Harley Quinn, and commissions from Robert Wilson IV.
Harley Quinn
The pieces in this section: (click the artist name for a closeup)
- Upper Left – Jeremy Dale
- Upper Right – Josh Howard
- Middle Right – Brian Shearer
- Middle Left – Colleen Coover
- Lower Right – Mike Maihack (print)
Robert Wilson IV
As you can tell, I am a huge fan of Robert’s artwork. I love his style and I think that he has an excellent grasp of anatomy in his drawings. I have a feeling that my collection of his work will continue to grow.
- Upper Left – Jeanette from Secret Six (HeroesCon 2011)
- Upper Right – Starling (NC Comiccon 2011)
- Lower Middle – Harley Quinn (HeroesCon 2010)
Buying a Printer v. Using a Photolab
September 11, 2011 by Kivus · Leave a Comment
Over at Photofocus Scott Bourne has a post of questions to ask yourself as you try to decide whether or not to invest in a photo printer versus using a lab printing service.
I use a WHCC for all of my printing. Mr. Bourne lists the two reasons I do:
You don’t have time or interest in learning color management, printer profiling, etc.
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You can’t financially justify the cost of a printer, paper and ink against the cost of the lab’s costs.
Sums it up for me.
Trey Ratcliff Offers a 9-Class, 3-Week Webinar
April 11, 2011 by Kivus · Leave a Comment
Trey Ratcliff has announced a new photography webinar. The webinar lasts 3 weeks, starting on May 8th and includes 3 days of classes per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). Here is a more detailed description:
We will start from the beginning. Even though it is indeed an HDR-centric class, we will actually be talking about all sorts of photography and post-processing topics. For example, if you’re having trouble understanding how I use Photoshop in a certain way, then you will see many examples of me doing this in person. 9 hours of hearing me talk and watching how I create photos on the screen should be more than enough to get you up and running!
Also, you get full access to the Clubhouse, which is a private forum area of Stuck In Customs. We’ll even make a special section just for the class where you can download any sessions that you missed. After the class, you’ll be able to access the main part of the clubhouse to talk with all the other members, share techniques, and get the latest scoop on all sorts of fun stuff.
Based on my previous experience with Trey’s HDR DVDs, I have pretty high hopes for what this webinar can offer. Unfortunately, the dates are right at the cross road of my law school finals and the beginning of studying for the bar. I hope that he ends up offering the webinar for video download to non-attendees later in the year.1
As with all products offered by Stuck in Customs, I do get a small referral fee for people who sign up via my website. I do not think that has any impact on my opinions of the products, however, feel free to take it into account. ↩
The Stages of an Amateur Photographer
March 31, 2011 by Kivus · Leave a Comment
Jorge Quinteros recently quoted Dan Biggins about the stages of an amateur Photographer.
1st Stage: You aimlessly wander around shooting anything that looks vaguely interesting. “Look, a squirrel…! – click, click, click.
2nd Stage: You’ve just discovered the power of depth of field and you ultimately lose count of the number of coffee mugs or inanimate objects you’ve shot just so you could blur the background.
3rd Stage: You’re gaining confidence you can capture something of interest on your next photographic venture so you take 500 shots with hopes that at least 3 of them would look as good as they did on the LCD screen.
I think I’m comfortably in the 3rd Stage at this point (even if I haven’t been shooting as much recently as I was during the summer). I agree with Jorge about where I’d like to be:
The ideal place to be would be past stage three where I assume any description would involve you talking about your interested in more than just photography.
…
I think you have to have a deep curiosity for something in order for it to translate as something interesting . That’s the spot I want to be at.
