Monday 30 August 2010

POTW for August 23rd - 30th

Lots of great nominations this week for the photo of the week - it took me a while to narrow my choices down to three.

If you like any of these that are chosen, be sure to visit the photographer's stream and leave a comment. They'll be happy you did.

Day 235 - Broken Vase of Water233. BrokenDay59

Saturday 28 August 2010

Congrats to ||nina|| !!

Congratulations to Nina! She finished her project last week. Yay!

365


I had a wonderful browse through Nina's project today. What a treat. I got to see the insider view to her home town of Vienna, a glimpse into life at the university, her trips to Egypt & Iceland and more. She was great with pairing up images in dippies. She had a wonderful array of reflections captured in her stream. In addition to leafless trees in winter. And below are a selection of my favs showing just that.


102
113166


And now in her own words... :)

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
Shortly before I started my 365 Project I've been on a exchange semester in Amsterdam. During that semester I've traveled a lot, much more than usually. So I've been to a lot of interesting and inspiring places and consequentially I took a lot more pictures than I would have at home. When I came back to Vienna I missed traveling and discovering new places a lot. I thought that the 365 Project would mean that I had to discover and rediscover my hometown, finding inspiration in my seemingly dull everyday life.

30


2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I wish I had some kind of explicit style or reoccuring themes. But I don't.

86


3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

Every place or object of my everyday life became more present and significant to me after I took a picture of it. Sometimes I pass buildings and it's like we (the building and me) have this ongoing dialogue, resp. as if we together form an (urban) narrative.

107


4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?

Through the project I became very interested in other people's photography and I think it's fascinating how diverse and personal photography can be. I also just love the fact that I regularly find people who's photography I can relate to.

300

6.) What are your future photography plans?
I'm not planning anything yet. After 365 I think I will just enjoy to aimlessly take pictures whenever I feel like it.

Want to see more.. here is a link to her whole 365! Enjoy & congrats again to you Nina!

Thursday 26 August 2010

Congratulations to Riyazi!

Day 365 of 365 - Really?


Congratulations to Riyazi! He finished his 365 project this week. His stream is a pleasure to visit, he's taken so many stunning photos this year! I loved checking out his portraits, and he has a wonderful way of combining light and colors. Beautiful work!

Riyazi answered the following questions about his experience with his 365 Project:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
When I became interested in photography, I started reading up a lot about it and to accumulate quite a bit of equipment (including my first DSLR). But I found that I was not finding time to put all that I learnt and the equipment that I have in to use. So I wanted to start a project that will force me to do this. The 365 project seemed ideal. I had seen several flick photographers who were doing this and they seemed to be having fun with it – coming up with some very creative pictures and I thought the project will inspire me to do the same.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I find it hard to describe my photography. Most photographers try to build their own style over a period of time and it happens whether done intentionally or not. The problem with this is that when you go through these photographers’ streams, each picture is very similar to the next. I found this boring and wanted to create a stream where viewers don’t feel as if they are viewing the work of one photographer. Not sure I achieved it though as some people have said that they can see a distinct style to my pictures. If I was forced to, I would describe my pictures as “random images while playing with light”

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
Plenty of surprises. The lack of inspiration was the most surprising. When I started the 365 I had a whole list of shots that I wanted to try and expected it to grow. But 2 months in to the 365, I found it hard to be creative and think up of ideas to execute. And doing the 365 made me want to do better all the time rather than just take a mundane picture to satisfy the 365 criteria. I was also surprised by hard it was to keep taking a shot a day and how you can become disillusioned and even disgusted with something that you love (photography). I had to take a break a couple of times to get myself back on track. The most pleasant surprise of all was the flickr community who viewed my images and provided comments, encouragement and points for improvement, many of whom have become friends over the period.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learnt quite a bit about lighting especially Off Camera Flash techniques. That photography is great fun and a fantastic way to keep yourself occupied. That there are some fantastic people out there in the world, who are willing to take time to help you learn without any benefit in return.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
To be honest…. not really :D I think most of the pictures have their own interesting story about how I came up with the idea and executed. One of the more interesting pictures in my stream is my tribute to Michael Jackson (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21096178@N03/3660996709) on the day he passed away. As soon as I heard the news and after getting over my shock, I wanted to do tribute picture. I had the Moonwalk dance move in my head and I knew exactly how it should look. Unfortunately, try as I might, there was no way I could position my feet in the way I wanted to get the look (even though I was not doing the move – just standing on my toes!). After trying till early morning (I was up until 3:30am) and failing miserably, I cheated and did a shot for each leg and combined them in photoshop!

Day 86 of 365 - Week 13 of 52 - "Gone too soon"


What are your future photography plans?
To continue to shoot and try to improve my photography. Maybe one day, I will be good enough to shoot professionally and I want to keep striving for that goal. I might do another 365 again….. who knows :D

In addition to the MJ pic above, couple of other favourites are:

Day 57 of 365 - Week 9 of 52 - Those we have abandoned...

This was shot for an online assignment (which I won) featuring the theme Abandoned. I wanted to capture an actual person on the street but couldn’t get one in time so created the “feel” myself. I was just starting to work using textures and spent a bit of time in processing this image trying to get the look and feel that I wanted. Quite pleased with how it came out

Day 171 of 365 - I am thankful for..... Fruit!

I was inspired by an article in a magazine to try this technique out. It was quite difficult to get the light perfect for all the fruits in camera so I had to blend a few pictures to get this image. But I liked how this turned out in the end.

Congratulations again to Riyazi! Below are some admin favorites and a slideshow of his completed project:

Day 43 of 365 - Seashell Day 355 of 365 - Week 47 of 52 - Breathing fire!Day 232 of 365 - I want to hold your hand...


Monday 23 August 2010

Congratulations to armiller007!

A big congrats to Aaron, who finished his 365 project earlier this week with this wonderful London night shot.

365/365 - Thanks everyone! I did it!

Aaron kindly answered the following questions for us about his 365 experience, and below this are some of his favorite photos from the year.

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?

I began the project actually on a whim. I was extraordinarily "into" photography at the time, was floating around on Flickr and found the 365 group. I thought it was pretty interesting, thought about it for 10 minutes, and decided to dive right in. Probably a little naive; it was probably a week into it that I realized how large the commitment was and really made a second decision, and that was to finish the 365 project!

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

The first word that comes to mind is amateur. But I love all sorts; travel in particular, but also learning about nature, stock, macro and street. I try to have a variety of photos and have no desire to focus in one area, at least not yet.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

It's tough. More difficult than I thought, but I have to say I was most surprised by how many people sign up for it and then don't finish. Of the contacts I've had that I really watch closely, I think the success rate may be as low as 20-30%. I was also surprised by how time consuming the project is; honestly everyday it was on my mind, and I was always concerned coming home at night and still needing to take a photo.

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?

From a "life" perspective, I learned how cyclical my life is, all of the ebbs and flows that exist over the course of a year. When I look back on the project, this is well documented but may not be visible to others. I detail this a little bit more in my final write-up on the 365th photo. From a photography perspective, I learned a ton. In some of my cycles I spent a lot of time reading books, going to seminars, etc. and learned about composition but also lighting.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

Three brief stories - my experience story would have to be our trip to Israel and going to spend a few hours in the Dead Sea. Adriana and I laughed our asses off in that water, bouncing around in the most buoyant water you could imagine and covering ourselves in mud. So the picture below is one that brings back some fond memories.

269/365 - The Dead Sea

From a photography perspective, I think my pride would go to

213/365 - Strawberries

for the efforts Alan and I made that day taking the photo. We learned a lot, but took over an hour to take a pic of a couple strawberries on a table. And in hindsight we did it in a pretty strange way due to the lenses we had at our disposal; a 100-400 L halfway across the kitchen because it was our best lens at the time! But the picture below

130/365 - Cristo Redentor

is also a picture that I'm proud of because it was taken on a super hot day, with what seemed like thousands of people up on Corcovado. But I was still able to get a picture that, in my mind, captured the divine look of the statue. It also made number 1 on explore!

6) What are your future photography plans?

At times I thought I'd continue this effort indefinitely, but I'm ready for a break. So I want to concentrate a little more now on macro photography (the 100 mm L IS is fricking awesome), and potentially take another stab at trying to sell some photos for through micro-stock but we'll see. In the future I think nature photography would be particularly interesting, combining my love of the outdoors with photography.

301/365 - Waiting for the bus

not an earth-shattering pic, but a capture of my daily life in London

074/365 - Love potion

date night with Adriana!

082/365 - Fireworks!

My first foray with photographing fireworks, one of my major goals for the project

Here are some admin faves from his year and a link to his entire 365 Project.

167/365 - St. Pancras 132/365 - Concha y Toro Wine Cellar 092/365 - Home decor

Sunday 22 August 2010

POTW for August 16th - 22nd

Another fabulous week of fantastic shots in the pool. Very, very difficult to narrow it down to just 3, but here they are.

If you happen to like the photos chosen below, please stop by the photographers photostream and leave a comment.

Bulls' eye (231/365) Day 229: Crayons Day 230 - Welcome to Encinitas

Monday 16 August 2010

POTW for August 8-15th 2010

There were so many fabulous images in the pool this week. This is my first time choosing the potw and I was blown away by how difficult it is.

Congratulations to these selected images
64. Time 160/365 [farewell] 251/365 - stairs

Sunday 15 August 2010

Congratulations tdw!

Congratulations to Titus! He just completed his second 365 and began his third! I have been a fan of his stream for almost two years, and it has been wonderful to follow his progress and explorations into different styles of photography and techniques. He has done some amazing portraiture work this year, often using costumes and settings to create conceptual, stunning photos. He also captured many beautiful seascapes. He recently moved I'm really looking forward to seeing his new hometown through his camera lens.

Titus answered the following questions about his experience with his 365 Project:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
There are a number of answers for this. I wanted an excuse to practice my photographic skills, both technically and artistically. I was going through some difficult things with my circle of friends at the time, and was looking for a hobby to focus on. I had never heard of a 365 project before, and stumbled across someone (I don't even remember who) that had done it and was enthusiastic about the results.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I'm happiest when I'm taking portraits, and I approach portraiture with a lot of technical tricks (lighting and post-processing) to help bring out drama, mood, and story.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
The biggest surprise for me was (and still is) the turn toward professional photography. I'm hoping to keep going with regular practice and some paid work on the side, building my skills and portfolio, and possibly move into full-time work at some point in the (far) future.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
This year I've really internalized a lot of important things to do with lighting and lens choices, more than anything else.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Day 237 and some of its surroundings basically killed me. This was part of the largest professional job I've had (largest by far), and the amount of planning, prep, and post-processing that went into it (and the rest of the job) ate up all of my spare time for weeks. This was also the period where my wife was starting to think that we might not have to be in San Diego for her graduate studies any more, so my focus on that photography gig then shifted to being job hunting, interviews, and relocation. As I finish up my 365, I'm three days away from starting my new job in New York City. The last few months have been a complete whirlwind, ever since the Girl's Night Out shoot.

What are your future photography plans?
Especially right in the vicinity of Day 320 or so I really lagged this year, and I've done a terrible job of keeping up on flickr. But having just moved to a new and beautiful city, I've definitely found more interest, so I expect to keep on going with a Year 3, and hope to find a space that I can use professionally in NYC.

His favorites:
Day 107 - The Holiday Spirit

This seems to be the self-portrait that people reference most often when they browse through my 365.

Day 174 - Fatale

This is quite possibly my favorite of all my shots ever. I'd probably reprocess it a little differently now-a-days, but it's still a definite favorite.

Day 276 - Jamey

I love the color and the editorial quality of this. This shoot made me think that working editorial photography for a magazine would be great, as a "Someday, Maybe" sort of idea.

Day 348 - Classic Red

In the middle of all of the planning and moving and lack of photographic work in the last couple months, this was one of the very few times when I really felt like (Victoria and) I really did something, and put some effort into it. The response from flickr was extraordinarily flattering.

Congratulations again to tdw! Below are his final shot, two of my favorites and a slideshow of his year.

Day 365 - Lessons and Priorities
Day 240 - Little Red Day 197 - Spring Dawn on the Bay


Saturday 14 August 2010

Congrats to kellinasf! Woot!

A big round of applause to Kelly. Yay. She finished her project last week. Woot.

STOP

Another SF flickr buddy that I had the pleasure of meeting and we even cruised around North Beach during Santacon. Super fun!

A couple of my favs.. but I have to say over the course of her project, I had quite a few!




And while she states below that she didn't seem to have a particular style, I feel I could most definitely pick her out her photos out from the group.. so there is certainly something there that is all Kelly! An eye for detail and color, a master with her iPhone (the last 1/3 or so of her project was shot with her iPhone) and lots of gorgeous B&W photography. Congrats to you Kelli. What a wonderful collection of images for your 365.

And now in her own words.. with some of her favs shown in between.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had just bought my camera and joined Flickr, and noticed a bunch of people doing the project….I thought it would be a great way to inspire me to pick up my camera everyday to learn more about it, and to experiment with different ideas and techniques.

The Morning After


How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

All over the place!

Sit This One Out


What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

How many of my shots were taken in a bar……well, maybe not all that surprising…

Silent Night

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned so much about so many things, but primarily how to look at my surroundings in a completely different way, to see things I would have overlooked before.

Cemetery Love


What are your future photography plans?

Anyone looking through the photos from my year will see that I didn’t really have any particular style or genre that I favored….I did however figure out what styles and genres I do really like and will now try to concentrate on some of them more thoroughly now that I don’t have the pressure of taking a photo everyday.

Stormy Weather


Want to see more, check out her entire 365 project. You won't be disappointed. :)