http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:SH-Photo&section=today deviantART RSS for by:SH-Photo en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:28:00 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/26391021/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/26391021/ Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:01:33 PDT
On a side note, The Cure sound hella awesome on vinyl!

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/26351377/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/26351377/ Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:03:28 PDT
Just wanting to get the slightly depressing previous journal post from last year from my front page. Don't want to go back there again.

May see more activity from me on here, at least I want to pick up a camera again now...

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20787972/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20787972/ Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:53:07 PDT


Me and Hayley broke up today. Well, I should say she broke up with me. The story of she doesnt love me any more and so on. The thing is, Im still deeply in love with her and care about her more than anything still. Guess it will heal with time, but when you devote yourself to a person for 2 years, its a pretty big adjustment at first, especially when your whole life changed just before you met them so everything you have done/been since has been influenced by them.


I know crying to DA wont help in the long run, but I feel that there are things that I need to say regardless of whether anyone will listen.


Everywhere I look in my room, I see things either from her or that remind me of her. All of the photos on my facebook have her in them, so I havnt brought myself to change the photo just yet. She was the first person that I really ever managed to tell absolutely everything to and vice versa. We both acknowledged that we know too much about each other and have been too big a part in each others lives at major points to just walk away for good. So maybe in a few weeks we will get together and talk about random things.


Even now, there are things that I have told her that I will never say to anyone else and only two people will ever know about them, me and her. She was the only person to actually stick by me throughout last year and I could never thank her enough for it. We've had some incredibly great times together and I will never forget them or her. Yes there were shit times, but the good times always made up for them and made it worth getting through the shit times. Looking back, we were both extremely lucky that we hit it off as well as we did given that we didn't know each other at all before we started dating. I guess you could say it was love at first sight, just that love faded for one of the two.


Im going to miss the little things the most I think. The text message at night just to say goodnight and i love you. Having someone to tell about whatever I did during the day. Having someone to say, 'have a good day' to. And I guess, having someone to be happy for when something good happened to them and knowing that someone is there for you no matter what. And most of all, having that person be there who you love unconditionally and you know they love you back, whose arms are the safest place in the world and who you know will always make you feel better. Just having someone to care about and to think about and to talk to about anything.


Im also really going to miss sending her random texts throughout the day about whatever just happened to me or what Im thinking. And most of all, her smile. Nothing could cheer me up like her amazing smile. It made me feel like all was good in the world and that nothing could go wrong.


My god, I miss her so much

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20610802/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20610802/ Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:34:58 PDT

The whole thing just works so well. About 20 mins after a clean install on my laptop, I had an up to date system and was running around the house on the internet. I've got support for the RAW files from my camera, my iPod, DVD play back and even a straight swap for Adobe Illustrator. Of course photoshop is covered thanks to the Gimp (who ever said it was a backwards program to use was lying out of their ass).

Compiz Fusion is well, awesome. Perfect eye candy to make even the most hardcore mac user jealous and more than enough to get constant oohs and ahhs from windows folks.

I am slowly starting to take more photos. Hopefully we get a few more decent storms soon with some more awesome lightning. The last two have been amazing to watch as they come in from the west (we have a great view that way too...).

Anywho, ciao for now.

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20412151/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/20412151/ Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:24:48 PDT
Uni has been rather crazy. I did several days the other week where I was at uni for more than 20 hours straight. Now I am half way through second semester so it will get a little crazy again soon before my break of a couple of months.

I haven't really taken any photos lately at all. Just couldn't be bothered. Although there was a wedding I went to at the start of August where I got some decent results. Might upload some later on.

I am half thinking of moving to Melbourne at some point in the next 3 years and finishing my degree down there, but in the nearer future, I am trying to organise another holiday down there. Just have to try and sweet talk the girl friends parents into letting her go with me (hey, we will have been together for over two years by then).

I've bought a few new records too. The best of which is the new Living End album, White Noise. While it sounds good on CD, it sounds so much better on the black plastic disc. Speaking of CDs, my collection of them is slowly growing as well.

Oh and this laptop will be going off to get repaired soon too. It's had so much go wrong with it over the last month that I don't trust it too well so I won't take it with me to uni.

Anyways, uni time.

Ciao.

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/19137236/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/19137236/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:53:03 PDT

Parents are in the process of splitting.


I busted my ass of at uni only to fail one of my subjects.


The only person I can talk to and escape to is away and uncontactable for the next 10 days.


All my uni friends are now ignoring me just like most of my close school friends did.


Ive thought about selling my camera stuff and walking away from photography.


Ive thought about stepping out in front of cars at the traffic lights on purpose.


Im wondering why I worked so hard all semester to get a break like this.


Id be happier if I was in a coma for 2 weeks.


And everyone keeps telling me to "just cheer up".

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/18735186/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/18735186/ Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:34:24 PDT

New Camera.

Yep, about a week or so before I went to Melbourne, I scored a new camera. Canon 40D, so pretty much an update of the 20D I was using before. Was good, got to swap the battery grip straight over and keep shooting. Big screen = nice. Low res of big screen = not so nice. Better AF is quite good and 6.5 fps feels awesome even compared to the 5 I was getting before.

Expo 88 20th Aniversary.

Incredibly cool. The fireworks were, well, fireworks. But getting to see Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows as well as Mental as anything was great. Even got to get up in the front row for both acts. Never thought I would get to see them perform live ever again. Got a few decent shots, I'll put them up here if I can be bothered. The 40D threw a hissy fit this night, but its been right ever since.

Melbourne.

Was awesome. First day we got there, was warmer than Brisbane and the weather couldn't have been better. Got some great shots that night. Second day, windy. Extremely windy. Still got some good shots and ate a heck of a lot of Krispy Kreme. Last day, cold, wet, windy and cold. Got up to about 8 degrees in the city at mid day, then got colder again. Didn't get any photos at all, just walked around with an umbrella. Then the flight back was delayed because of the storms in Brisbane, which we flew into the tail end of. Much fun indeed...

Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

Uber awesome. I mean it. Got to go down on a friends boat from Jacobs Well and the whole day was just awesome. Getting to go on and walk around boats I'll never get as close to again was great. A few dollars worth of tinnies there, thats for sure...

PMA.

Just great. Was the first trade show I had ever been to and the free stuff? Everywhere. Got to play around with the Canon 600mm L and holy cow its huge. I'd like one, not that I would ever use it. Also did manage to get kicked out of the Adobe booth which I'm quite proud of myself for.

Uni.

Lastly, uni. The reason I have barely taken any photos lately. Just finishing off my last assignment today so I can hand it in tomorrow. After two weeks of solid assignments (5 due over that period totaling something like 12 000 words. After tomorrow, I only have two exams left which shouldn't be too hard. Should also mean I have time to go take some photos, if this crappy weather ever clears.

So there we have it, the last month summed up in a short journal entry. Now, time to stop procrastinating and get back to economics....

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/18105295/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/18105295/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:51:32 PDT
I was looking at a macbook but decided that they are a rip off. Well, more than a rip off really. Why pay hundreds more for a machine that is slower than the cheaper competition and has less software support than the cheaper competition? Don't get me wrong, the macs are a lovely machine and one day I would like to own a Macbook Pro, but in the mean time a Vista based machine suits me fine and for a hell of a lot less money.

Take at the cheapest Macbook and the laptop I'm on now. Ok, so the Macbook has a faster processor (2.1ghz c2d vs. 1.66ghz c2d) but lets see, they both have a webcam, they both have bluetooth, they both have WLAN, they both claim more than 4 hours battery life (which I got at uni yesterday, WLAN and Bluetooth on and the screen at half brightness). But that is where the similarities stop.

My laptop has 2GB RAM over the macbooks 1GB, a 250GB hard drive over the macbooks 120GB, a 256mb dedicated graphics card over the macbooks piddly outdated on board offering, a proper VGA out over the macbooks need for the DVI connector thing, 4 USB 2.0 ports over the macbooks 2 and it even manages to fit in a card reader which the macbook is lacking.

All of this for $300 less than the cheapest macbook. And lets be honest, Vista is no where near as bad as people make it out to be. Dont try and mess with it and just leave it to do what it is there to do (which mac has said that OS X just does) and it will just work. Its the most stable OS I've used (and I've used windows server 2003) and it is really simple.

And now, the news...

This time in exactly two weeks, I will be sitting at the departures lounge at Brisbane Domestic Airport waiting to board a plane to sunny Melbourne town. Going with my dad on a photography expedition of sorts. Will be cold but still should be good. So expect some more cliche Melbourne shots and hopefully some not so cliche ones too.

Also, I'm sitting here waiting patiently for the release of Lightroom 2. After using the beta I cant wait for it to come out. In the meantime, I'm still loving using nothing but Lightroom 1.3 for my photo work.

It looks like I will be shooting my first wedding in October with a friend as well. I know its a long way off but I'm pretty excited about it. At least I have time to get good at people photos haha.

Annnnd...

If you live in Brisbane and haven't registered to go to PMA here at the end of the month, go do it now. Its free to register online and saves you the $20 entry fee if you just rock up at the door.

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17789093/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17789093/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:14:52 PDT
This is going to sound incredible pissy but I honestly do not care.


EDIT: I'm really not a prick, I've just had enough of seeing a few things happening...

I have noticed as of late, more people than ever getting into the "photography thing". Now, honestly, good on them. The more people enjoy the art the better. But for christs sake, just because you go out and buy a DSLR doesn't make you a photographer. It's like all the people that call themselves 1337 graphic artists just because they have pulled a copy of photoshop off a torrent site.

Now, back to what I was talking about. I have spoken to a lot of people over the past year and a half. Most of them completely clueless about photography, but they want to get "into" it. They usually have a little point and shoot and take some semi decent photos. Now, they then get this stupid idea in their minds that a "better" camera will make them a better photographer and make them look more pro. But honestly, it won't. If you don't know how to use it, it will make your photos look waaaay worse.

My advice to anyone who wants to buy a DSLR? If you have a point and shoot digital camera, learn everything you can with that. It can do more than you probably give it credit for. You can learn and practice vital things such as composition, exposure and depth of field (assuming it has some manual modes like Av, Tv and of course M).

Alternatively, go and buy a cheapish film SLR and a cheap, fast 50mm lens. They are plentiful these days and you can learn everything you need to on it. Sure, it may not be as cool as being able to shoot shitty photos to your hearts content like with digital, but because you are limited to 24 or 36 shots per roll of film, it will force you to slow down and think about your shots. This is another very important thing. You can then take your film to K-mart and get it developed and your photos printed. If you must have them on the computer to put on DA, just scan the prints.

So, you have now been shooting with your film camera or point and shoot for a while and feel you have reached it limits? Great, you are now actually ready to move to a DSLR. Also, because of the time you have spent learning the basics with the other camera, you will have a better understanding of how to get the most of your new camera (without using the Auto modes) and will continue getting better and better photos.

Now, next point. Post processing (or "photoshopping" for you hopeless noobs).

What is post processing you ask? Well, it is very similar to what is done in the darkroom. That is, some basic adjustments to the photo you are working on to enhance the quality of it. Remember, you shouldn't rely on post processing to make your photos look any good, they should look half decent if you have learned anything at all by now. The basic adjustments that I would recommend are either levels or curves, saturation if you must and definitely a small amount of sharpening. You may need to do a small bit of cloning or healing on the photo if there is any dust on your camera sensor showing up or if there is a small thing in the photo you wish to remove. Notice how I did not mention cutting and pasting things from other pictures, adding grunge effects or text over your photo? These honestly make peoples photos look like garbage. I don't care if you know how to make photos look dirty and add scars and vampire fangs to peoples faces, it looks like shit.

If you feel the need to do a black and white conversion, then please take a read of what I have to say next. Please don't think that converting a colour image to a black and white one will save the photo if it is crap. Honesty, if it looks like shit in colour, it is going to look just as shitty in black and white. Don't be fooled.

Now, how to go about doing a black and white conversion? Easy as pie and no it doesn't involve the "Desaturate" command. Open up the photo you wish to convert. Click "Image" and then "Adjustments" from the drop down list. Go straight past Desaturate and click "Channel Mixer". You get a little box with a few sliders in it pop up.

See the box down the bottom with "Monochrome" next to it? Tick that. All of a sudden your photo changes from colour to black and white. Magic hey? Now have a play with the sliders. See how the position of each effects how the photo looks? This works roughly the same as if you are putting a certain colour filter in front of a lens when using black and white film. It also offers you much more control over the final image than the Desaturate tool does.

That is nearly all I'm going to write for now. But I am going to leave you with some final thoughts of mine...

1. A DSLR doesn't make you a photographer or a better one and definitely not a pro one
2. Learn with what you have already, please.
3. Resize b... ]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17437963/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17437963/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:49:11 PDT
Spent tonight making many many mistakes while developing some black and white film in the garage. Still not too ace at it, but gee its fun. Developed a roll for dad and it turned out alright. Maybe a tad over developed, but still not bad for my first proper run. Then went on to do a roll of Ilford HP5+ that I have had sitting in the fridge for about 6 months. Messed up getting it into the reel, but it doesnt look too bad. Scans to come tomorrow.

And while I have your attention, I was linked to a Firefox plugin today called "Piclens". Its basically a very fancy way of displaying photo sites like flickr, da, picasa etc. Dont know about an IE version, but the firefox one works great. Really different way of looking at photos on the web. Although I must say, flickr seems to work better with it, but I havn't tried just using the da gallery page yet. Will go try that soon.

And for your linkage...

http://piclens.com/site/firefox/win/

]]> ~SH-Photo http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17341416/ http://SH-Photo.deviantart.com/journal/17341416/ Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:58:31 PDT
A lot has happened since then I guess. I flew on a plane for the first time down to Melbourne. Got a few photos although the trip was practically a disaster. A few days after I returned, my beautiful girl friend Hayley and myself celebrated our 1 year anniversary which was awesome for want of a better word.

Christmas rolled around and care of new management at work, I lost a lot of hours along with a few other people. Worst time of year for them to do that I must say. New years was well, interesting. A week into the new year, I had the great idea that I would reapply to uni and try my luck again at further education. A week later however, work practically fired me by dropping all my hours for the foreseeable future. Still looking for a job. So if you know of anything, let me know haha.

The second round of QTAC offers came out and I found out I had gotten into a Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning program at Griffith Uni. Not looking like a bad thing to do so far, even if some of the lectures are boring as and to us, pointless.

Since then, I have had several nasty computer problems and made a lot of new friends. Still taking the odd photo but I'm not really feeling it like I used to to be honest. I'm sure the itch will come back around my trip back to Melbourne in May though.

Seems to be shaping up to be a good year, certainly nice to have something to wake up in the morning for (even if that means getting up at 5am twice a week).

]]> ~SH-Photo