alkaline

chop suey, how old is that tank? where is it from?

nice work all around everybody. Based on the last couple/few pages, I can see that some of the newer posters aren't aware of how things work in this thread. So, just to recap some of the rules of this thread (that have been decided by longterm posters here) for some of the new folks: -Please, don't post twenty different pictures in twenty different posts. Put them all in one post. -Don't quote and entire post of pictures just to say "nice, bro." one or two pics in a quote is cool, but if you like them all just say, "nice, [insert name here]." -This is not a graffiti thread. Nobody wants to see your shitty tags of some throw ups that you and your boyz did last night. Take that shit somewhere else. Not tryin' to be a dick. Just tryin' to keep us all on the same page so to speak.

Oh_snap, read about HDR here. It definitely has its place in the world of imaging. I however want nothing to do with it. In fact I've gone in a completely opposite direction lately. I've only shot black and white film and mostly at night. I love the look of my photos these days.

Taken in December with my Nikon N80 on Fuji Neopan 1600 film. Developed in my bathroom (pushed to 3200) and printed by me at work. It feels good to have complete control over the whole process. Lots more to come.

new

nice stuff, bird flu. keep posting.

it not a party until someone gets a haircut.

I cut my hair yesterday. Now that mullet-hawks are officially "cool," I figured it's time. My side locks are still growing strong though.

Most of the people I work with are, shall we say, characters. That is Patrick, front man and brains behind the band Pataphysics. Moments before this, he was reading from this book about "new sin" to a few of our customers. It was like some sort of creepy tent revival. He liked this picture so much that he is gonna bring the rest of the band to work to take some pictures while we work tomorrow. The best part of it is that we won't get in trouble for fucking around on the clock. Our district manager came in a few moments before I took this picture. The following conversation transpired: DM: What are you guys doing? *Everyone stares at the floor. I snap off a shot of him* Me: I'm just teaching these guys how to use Nikon's on-camera flash commander. *I scroll through a few pictures for him* DM: Wow! Where did you learn this stuff? Me: Here. It's been slow and the store is in good shape, so I just started reading up. DM: Is this gonna help you sell more product? Me: Damn right it is! DM: Well keep up the good work, guys. Nice pictures by the way. Seriously, this guy is a hard-ass, but he loved these pictures. I was sooooo stoked.

Just screwing around at work.

^ "long day at the office."

Old New

I can't remember where I heard this, but recently it was said that "HDR is the new MTV." I think it can be an effective tool if used correctly, but most people get a little too wild with it. Just because you can ... doesn't mean you should. Yous are nice though, brick. Subtle.

Welcome back. These two are fantastic! You should join up in the photohunt thread if you can.

Also, I'm tentatively planning on a trip to Chicago in April. Gonna go to a couple of shows and visit my brother and a few friends. I'll probably be there for 5-7 days, so if anybody in the area (or anyone else that wants to sync up a vacation) would like to get together to shoot I'd love to hear from you. You can drop me a line via PM or my Flickr mail. 20 eyes, if you can make it out there, I could take you to tons of awesome vegan eateries.

On a completely different subject, I bought a 160 Gig external hard drive couple of days ago to backup all my photos (and music). If you have not done something similar, I highly recommend that you do so. I got mine for 'round $100 at that huge electronics store (you know the one), and it might possibly be the best investment I've made in a looooooong time. Do yourself a favor, gang. More inspiration: Chase Jarvis's Blog - Watch the TECH and RAW videos first (there's some great stuff in there), then soak up as much information as you can from the rest of the blog (take special note of the posts that have to do with copyright stuff ... Mr. Jarvis was instrumental in a recent court ruling that gives photographers a legal leg to stand on when a company screws them over). Chase Jarvis is one of the most successful self taught commercial photographers in America. Think about this, his first "real" gig was a nation wide campaign for outdoor giant REI. I love this guy. He worked his ass off to get to the top, and now that he's there he is totally willing to share everything he learned along the way with aspiring photographers. Unity. Community. Respect. Isn't that how everything should be? note: I'm a little drunk right now. sorry for rambling.

Really? I didn't know that. Why were people mad? Do you have any links that I could read about this myself? I thought it was a fantastic documentary. I'd like to know what kind of film he shoots with ... especially his color photos.

inspiration: James Nachtwey - conflict photographer ... Watch the documentary about him called War Photographer if you get a chance.

one of these days, i'm gonna take a picture with my twin brother and tell all you guys, "It's done with magic." i'm not even kidding. next time i'm in chicago it's totally gonna happen.

the best thing to do with a lay over that long in chicago, if you ever get the opportunity again, is to hop on the train (blue from o'hare, orange from midway), ride into the city, and walk around bunch. chicago has tons of photo booths and pubs and touristy things to do right down town. it's one of the few cities where a lay over can turn into a whole other vacation.

booniesbomber, if you already have canon lenses (more than just the standard 18-55) i suggest getting an xti, or if you can afford it, a step or two above that. if you have no real "brand loyalty" though, get a nikon dslr. both brands make good products, but in the lower end slr's they each have their downfalls (see my post on the previous page). i do however prefer the nikons to the canons hands down until you get into the high-end market. at that point though, it doesn't really matter which you go with. what do i know though. thanks to my roommate and a few cheap bottles of wine, i'm drunk right now. sleeping pills made a great new list in the photo hunt thread. you should all participate in this one. i'd love to see all of us working on some homework to get the creative juices flowing.

rage, that painting(?) is niiiice. your work? artifacts, how do you like that sony. it seems that they take amazingly sharp pictures, but i get turned off by them every time i hold one in my hand. they controls and ergonomics feel really awkward to me. would like to know your opinion.

decaying, i like the green one. mark, the sx100 suffers from the same problem as the xt - it plastic. drop it once and bye-bye camera. they do make these awesome cameras that are sooooooooo rad for missions and benching and parties and just about every other situation that you can think of where damaging your camera might be an issue. if you are ever popped, the man won't get much from your pictures either. we used to use them all the time in my day.

Canon G9. Retails for just under $500. You can set it in full manual mode. It has a hot shoe for an external flash. It shoots in RAW format, so adjusting color in tricky lighting situations is a snap.