Why Buy a Mac?

As a former film student I was trained to work on macs.  The power and graphics (provided by Intel) run any professional program like a dream.  Of course, The Sims works smoothly as well, especially when performing social experiments...yes...lots of stress relieving social experiments. Anyway, my photography editing programs for photos works great, but that's because it's a $300 program.  The only reason I even have it is because it was a present. 

The key problem with macs, especially the newer ones, is that they support nothing.  New macs have taken away all of the special ports used for external devices, making you spend more to get the adapters.  Then there's my biggest problem: they do not support powerpc programs.  That means no open source programs or any of the free programs to help me get my work out there.

I had a really nice Final Cut Pro set, but my previous mac last about 15 minutes before overheating and shutting down.  The program is supported by my new mac, however the actual installation program.....IS NOT.  Apple wont respond to anything.  Basically I have over $300 of programing that is now useless and the only way to get things done the way I was professionally taught...is to spend 300 more dollars.  I spent 3 hours trying to find a program online to at least produce quality video until I can get a steady income, but my mac rejected every type of program.  The only thing that does run is the installed imovie; which by comparison is great for home videos, but not the movies I want.  I ended up getting so stressed that I didn't sleep at all.  I got way to frustrated with my situation.

One good thing I've started up again is relearning my animation program.  I would love to do animations and music videos, so I really wanted to relearn the old program.  Luckily my mac actually let's me use it.  It runs really well, but I am still very disappointed in apple and they changes they've made.  It's too much about getting more money in underhanded ways and less about customer satisfaction.  They've taken away almost all the reasons to even own a mac.  I'll never get a iphone or any other apple product.  I'm just waiting for the new Intel phone to reach the states!

So why buy a mac now?  Apple isn't doing a good job of giving me answers.  I would love for them to get me my money back for my useless program.

Sorry for the rant, but I've calmed down a lot since last night.  Sometimes I just need to vent.

PHOTOGRAPHY: James's Formal Photos

Here is the last part of the formal photos from my shoot. This was where I found the most trouble, after all my male model was really just a friend who wanted to get some update his pictures. His great attitude and willingness to help out with Chelsea made up for the areas where he lacked talent as a male model.  Still it was the first time using a male model for my actual fashion photography dreams, so I took it as a great experience to learn.

Here are my favorite pics:

PHOTOGRAPHY: Chelsea's Formal Photos

 After my break from art, I'm still trying to take things slow. It's only now I realize how much I was pushing and stressig myself everyday to make huge progress on at least one project. I've still got to get things done, but maybe I should slow down a bit. After I finish my drawing, I think I'm going to bring out my painting.

The shoot I showed everyone yesterday had some great individual pictures. I really wanted to share all of them, but I narrowed it down to my favorites. She was a fantastic model. The only trick was trying to guide her away from pin-up style and more towards glamour.

There was a stunning rock feature where we spend a long time getting great shots. I loved the moss on the rock.

Well thank you for joining me today. Tomorrow I'll have more from this giant shoot.  Today I'm going to work a bit on my drawing. I'll keep photographing my progress on the drawing so I can show you my workflow!

PHOTOGRAPHY: First Formal Couple Shoot

 Today I helped my parents do some moving prep for repainting. Of course I was unable to help that much with how my back has been, but in the process I found some of their old albums. Have you ever looked at old photos from the 70's or 80's? I saw their wedding pictures and the "touch-up" effect was just blurring the entire image so you couldn't see the finer details. It actually is really shocking how much photography has changed in only a few decades. It's still kind of a shame how good the quality of photos digital cameras can produce; it makes people think that anyone can be a photographer. I still believe that some people just have a talent for capturing the best of a moment, regardless of the quality of the camera.

I recently did a shoot where I had two models for the first time. They didn't know eachother at all, In fact I lumped a person I had recently met and who wanted some fresh photos, with a model my friend found on ModelMayhem (James and Chelsea). We ended up doing two shoots in two different styles. The first one was at a really gorgeous area with bold rock features. Here are some of the ones I did of the two of them together in the first area (the low res versions):

I'll admit it was a little hard working with James that day, because he was a bit stiff, but he wasn't really a model. I learned a lot from shooting with two models. It was a little awkward because they didn't know eachoher. I'd like to try another couple shoot with both being professionals, then I feel I can really get some great chemistry. We had a lot of fun and I got completely fried. My cohort Katy was there as well. We both got a lot of great shots; we used two separate cameras and helped each other with the lighting. I'll show more of this shoot tomorrow!

Even Artists Need a Break

The last few day have been insane!! I feel both awful for missing posts and neglecting my arts, but also a bit refreshed. It's been a long time Since I gone more than one day without focusing on some work. I may be behind in  my work, but there's no helping it now.

This break started when I had a complete relapse of my back pains. I've started to wonder if my physical therapy is ever going to work. I really wanted to draw that day too, but it was impossible when just sitting sent stabs of pain up my spine. The drawing I've been working on is supposed to be a birthday gift for my brother. I've already let him know his present will be late. I'd feel more bad if he actually cared that it's going to be late. He's pretty chill.

I haven't done any writing for three days either. That means I'm going to be kicking butt.

I did spend the last couple of days preparing for "The World's Largest Yardsale."  They took over the parking areas of a shopping mall for people to buy out lots and sell their stuff like a flea market. I had several boxes of things I didn't need anymore, so I bought a space. Luckily I had some things my parents, boyfriend, and housemate didn't want either to add to the stock. I was worried because the wind was terrible and things were being blown away, but soon the wind died down. I didn't have as much to sell as my neighbors and I only had three tables to use; the rest sat the ground. Still, I made out pretty good. I sold a nice microwave and my entire stock of Japanese Manga to an older couple (very surprising). Sadly none of my bulky textbooks sold. A lot of my incense also went really fast. I was worried I wouldn't make up the price for the lot, but around noon people really started buying up my things. The games and DVD's didn't sell, but I ended up taking them to a used store who got me some good deals.

Across the way there was an author trying to sell her books. I don't think she sold a single one. It made me wish I had my novel finished and was selling it there, just so I could show her how it's done. She was sooooooooo grouchy looking. She just sat in the back of her truck and frumped. Instead of pushing her table out to the edge of the lot where passerby's could see them more easily, she had the table set up all the way in the back, so to even see what she had, people would have to go out of the way. She also changed her set-up after a couple of hours thinking that blocking the books with descriptive signs of each. That didn't work. To me she looked like someone raising awareness for something. Plus her book sign said  "Books for Women", so it's to a very specific audience. I'm really glad I have a better sales persona. I'm actually really pumped to get back to my novel.

Thank you for sticking with me!

MISC. : Just a Day

Today is just one of those days, you know the kind: boring, dull, uninspired. Yesterday I ended up working on my newest drawing as well as writing in my novel. I got quite a bit done in each, but I still can't believe how long the picture is taking. I guess I'm really getting into the details. I looks fantastic right now.

Anyway, since today is such a dull day, I 'm afraid I have no idea what to put here. I'm still house-sitting so I ended up just taking the dog for a walk. I tried just vegging with some tv, but there was nothing on. Anybody know what's good for such days? I really hate them. Tomorrow I'm hoping to have something better for everybody. :(

PHOTOGAPHY: The Birds

Today is a great day! Yesterday I really kicked but with the drawing I was working on. I really feel acomplished as an artist. It's not helping me narrow down what to focus on, though. I really wil reveal the drawing when it's doe, but I can't spoil it for the person who's getting it as a gift. I love drawing gifts for people. This year I'm even going to do my parent's x-mass cards, so it's great to have projects to focus on with guidlines.

I've actually been taking pictures of my progress on this drawing, so I hope that's something for everyone to look forward to. I still did my writing yesterday as well, but not as many words as I would have liked. Today I'm caught between working to finish my drawing, or to really drive forward on the writing. I keep going back and forth until my head aches, but it could also be that I should drink more water. It is really roasting outside! I have the AC really cranked.

Anyway, since its an animal that I'm drawing, here are some animal pics for hints (if you couldn't guess a bit from the title):

DRAWING: Animal sketches

Today I am really feeling the drawing deity floating above my head. I've got my sketchbooks and my pencil set out and ready for action. I have a plan, but for specific reasons I can't quite share it yet. It does involve an animal, so to pump myself up I looked through my sketchbook at the animal sketches I've done. I really hope I don't get started and suddenly block up. It sometimes happens, but it has been a while, so I think my hands are itching for a creative outlet using graphite.

I really hope it goes well since I've been a bit down today. I woke up with some back pain and my usual sudden burst of anxieties for the future in financial terms.

Since it's an animal drawing I'll share some of the pics from my sketchbook involving animals. Please enjoy.

The next is more of a random sketch I made on a drawing block, then decided it looked very animalistic. Kind of like a nine tail fox legend.

WRITING: In Which I Build My Vocabulary

I was up way to late the other night building my vocabulary. When I write I sometimes get in the habit of using the same words over rand over. To get over that I am trying even harder to build my vocabulary and my ability to come up with better word on the spot as I write.

Of course when I get stuck I tend to go to Thesaurus.com. It's been great for when I cant think of the word I was trying to write.

What really keeps me up and helps me with vocab are word games:




I am getting better and better at this game,  but since it's two or more players, I don't get a lot of time to play. Plus, I don't think my boyfriend will play with me anymore after totally destroying him several games in a row.

I have a Hoyle Puzzle game program on my computer. I was up late playing some of the games like:

 ANAGRAMS

CROSSWORDS

WORDOX    kind of like Scrabble only you steal points by using other players words

WORD YACHT   my personal favorite, like Yahtzee, but you roll letters instead of numbers

 I got words flowing in my mind like mad now. The only warning with these is never do them right before bed. Man my dreams were messed up and filled with word games. It was actually really annoying and quite lacking in restfulness. At least I feel really good about my novel! The flow goes so much better when I actually have the perfects words I want!!

PHOTOGRAPHY: Business Photos

When me and my friend were keeping our passion for photography alive through weekly excursions, we started doing more business style shoots. The reason being that she was/is working on her own company for business clothing. She makes her own pursed right now and plans to go to a design school in New York.

We went down to the Municipal Building which has a lovely fountain and garden area. It was soooo ridiculously bright and roasting, I ended up getting fried like a lobster.

I realized that my style of photography was probably more geared to fashion and style, and that's what I enjoyed the most. I would really love to work with Vogue someday. Since I play with colour so much, I had to lay off the editing a bit to really show the products for the ones she used. When I think about it, I suppose that I have more fun with creative shoots and playing with editing, but I think I have a good eye for framing. In the end I have to think about what this Jack-of-Arts is going to master, so it means narrowing down what I focus on.

Here are my favorites from that day:

As you can see, my favorites are those that are more style than editorial. The ones she used were more of the unedited. Her business is in clothes, so the photos for her business were the ones that emphasized the style and unaltered the colours:

P.s. I'd also like to extend out a greeting to my newest follower beanpiii. Thank you for following my blog!!

PHOTOGRAPHY: Sky of Fire

Recently Colorado was consumed by fire. People lost their homes and a few lost their lives.  The damage was terrible and left many open wounds, but sometimes it's okay to look at the beauty of things as well. Hopefully every one who lost something found hope in those around them.

Here is what I saw of the fire:

It looked like the end of the world driving through the smokey towns, like a fog where you never saw another living person. Like everyone had vanished. A hollow wind blew across the world, with only the sound of a single pair of shoes. Then I had a little bit of fun with editing.

I really love photography. I wonder if that is where I can make a future...