I always want to do better

Through out my first year of photography, I have learned many things. And the one of the most important things I have learned, I want to do better and I know I can do better. Actually, when I first started to shoot, I thought I did OK and I had no idea that getting better was an option, but life goes on. At that point, it was all about passion. And drive I guess. Now that I am wrapping up the first year, I realize that I did get better! And, I still want to do even better. How do I get there?

Practice and gear! Practice, yes, I shoot every day. I might not post what I shoot, because I would rather post quality rather then crap, and not everything is great! And gear, there are some new filters that I want that I KNOW will make a difference with my sunset shots, I KNOW IT! I would not be able to shoot into the sun without the filters I own. I know they make a difference. And the new filter that I am getting, will help with the sunsets and NOT add the color cast that I so often get. And when I get the new filters, I will keep the old ones, because the color cast does work out for me at times. Right time and right place for everything! Right?

For this image, I did use an ND filter, the B+W ND 106, which is a 6 stop filter. As well has my Cokin hard grad filter. This does seem to be my most favorite combo of filters right now. It gives great blockage of light as well as toning down the intense light of the horizon. And then of course, the time and fun spent in LightRoom3. My new favorite tool to get the job done! I KNOW I have to sept it up when it comes to post processing. I have this calendar hovering over me for 2011 and I need to make sure it looks pro! LR3 can make it happen for me!

For now, I hope you enjoy this image and all of my images for that matter! And feel free to take a look at my photos listed on Flickr! Please enjoy!

Time, time, time....

....thats all I have is time on my hands! I have spent 35.75 years of my life working hard and now that life is slowing down, it feels good! I need the rest, physically and mentally! And now that time, I am feeling so much better! :) And I can spend more time with what I love to do, photography. Now, due to location, I cannot spend all day at La Jolla! Man, that would be too good! But when I have running around to do, I make sure to have some beach time when out!

But I would like to share what I have been doing, because thats what I love to do the most. Shooting long exposures! And I am not sure I really have any lessons on this one like usual! I would be posting more if I had more ideas, but I don't. So, for now, I will just "promote" myself. Which is the reason why I started a blog. So, lets talk about my up coming project.

I am working on a calendar. I did this last year, I sold 10 calendars at $25 a piece, and the biggest surprise of all, is that was my cost, including shipping cost. This year, knowing that I actually want to go pro, I actually want to sell more and hopefully make a bit of a profit! The profit would go towards more gear of course, lol! Not looking for much, just enough to show I can do this, now that I have more time on my hands, I need to get moving on this! PRO BABY! Hahaha!

Of course, at this point, input is helpful! Any image you have seen that might look good for my task, feel free to say something. I have 40+ images that I am thinking about using, I need to weed that down to 13. (I need one for the cover too!) And, I also need a supplier to make the calendar. I do not want Mpic, even though I use them for printing, I am not happy with there prices and other details. I did find a supplier a while ago, but forgot what site it was! So, any suggestions there, please let me know! :) Until then, please enjoy!

Geek talk:

One thing that I have been doing lately on my Flickr post, is adding my "geek talk." What exactly is "geek talk?" Oh, I bet you already know the answer to that, quite rhetorical! The thing is, I have noticed a lot of folks thanking me for the geek talk! People actually telling me "thank you" for adding the information on how I captured what I captured. Thats pretty cool! Cool enough to make a blog entry? Not sure, but here it goes! :)

The thing is, my sister on her FaceBook asked when she was going to get a moment to stop and breath. I let her know a few more years, it took me 35.75 years to get there! And eventually she will too! But her question was rhetorical too and I bet she did not want that from me! And why do I say 35.75 years? Because its almost my birthday! So, I am more then 35.5 years old! And, I have realized that now, and only now, have I had a chance to stop and breath! To relax a bit and slow down and realize there is a life outside of frantic fury! And why does this apply to my blog? Because I have actually HAD the time to blog! But I have no topics in my mind to blog, which is why when I thought of "geek talk" I was ALL over it! Because I want to blog, I really do! I now have time! So, I want to do something with my time! I would shoot more, but I would rather shoot at the beach, and I really live no where near the beach! I have to settle for mountains instead of flowing water, moving in and out with the tide! Not my pace. I did shoot today, where I live, and I am not going to post any of them! LOL, because I just did not like them! It is what it is!

So, back on topic, "geek talk!" Almost all the time, I now add on my shots, my geek talk, which is, as I said above, the information on how I got the image I got, people dig this! So, I keep it going. Is it repetitive? Ya, and I use to worry that folks would get tired of me using the same words over and over again! But what I think and what others thing are two different things! Yes, people do tell me, thank you for adding the geek talk! So, thats why! Boy, this is starting to sound like the first paragraph! My writing skills might not be the best tonight! :)

So, an image, with the geek talk!

For this image, I used the Tiffen ND8 (3 stop filter) and held over that, I used the Cokin hard grad filter! I had the tripod hanging over the separation of rocks. One leg on the right and two legs on the left. I had to manually hold the hard grad filter over the lens, because the adaptor ring for the holder is "stuck" on the 6 stop filter and I cannot get it off! And, at first, when I started shooting this, I thought I did put on the 6 stop filter, but was mistaken and only put on the 3 stop. In the end, I am glad I did, because the sky was getting too dark for the darker filter! And, when I got home, I processed this one using LightRoom3. And that would be the extent of my geek talk! OH ya, f/8 for 30 seconds on ISO 100. But I don't type that information out on Flickr, that is reachable on my exif data! :)

Please enjoy!