deviantART: by:takaides

A request

*takaides — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:51:16 PDT

I wish that more of the professional grade artists and photographers of dA would put out tutorials. Preferably with pictures. I know that there are a lot of Photoshop tutorials, but I want some about composition and lighting set ups, how to plan a shoot, and various tips and techniques picked up by the pros and 'enthusiasts' over the years.

I think that =RichAllen is a good example of what others should be doing.

Photo profile

*takaides — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:01:02 PDT

rules
1) Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into dA search box
3) Take a deviation from the first page of results (may use ' popular' or 'newest' ) and post thumb (for subscribers) or link (non-subscribers)
4) You can't copy the persons answers who posted this before you

1. The age you will be on your next birthday:

2. A place you'd like to travel:

3. Your favorite place:

4. Your favorite object:

5. Favorite food:
(HAHAHAHA. Apparently no one else on dA has pictures of Sushi in a boat. My picture came up second!)

6. Your favorite animal:

7. Your favorite color:

8. The town/state/etc in which you live:

9. Name of past pet:

10. A dream come true:

11. Your nickname/screenname:

13. Favorite Smell:

14. Bad habit of yours:

15. Your first job:

16. Favourite Movie:

17. What are you doing right now?

As you can see from those examples, the end result is a very wide contrast range that must be tweaked by human. And then have some detail taken away (because native HDR photographs are 32-bit, not 16, or 8 bit, like our moniters and printers.

These shots are achieved by taking (at least) 3 shots (though, the more there are, the better the result) of different exposure levels (at least one over-exposed, one under-exposed, and one that has the correct exposure), combining them using specialized programs (though Photoshop now has the capability as of CS2), and then 'tone mapping' the images down to 16 or 8 bit color (the tone mapping is done so as to give a sense of high contrast in a defined range).

For more information, please do some of your own research, as the reason for this journal posting is more of a plea for help. I am by no means and expert, so go find someone who is... If anyone could give me some advice or some pointers on the subject at hand, that would be great.

I had a bout of insomnia last night, and decided to get out of bed at 6:30am to try and take pictures of the sunrise through my sister's tie-dyed bedroom curtains (though, I should point out, she is/was not here, she is off at college, so I wasn't sneaking into her room in the early morning and creeping her out or anything). I took about 5 shots (without moving the camera).

I then brought them down and loaded them into my computer. merged them via Photoshop CS3's 'Merge to HDR' feature, and it looked nice enough, but then when I tried to tone map it, it went downhill...

So if anyone has some advice, please offer it up.

Thanks

Good News

*takaides — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:04:59 PST

I still haven't gotten my Japan pictures... I think they're lost forever. While I did take some for artistic reasons, most were just visual reminders of the trip and the good times I[/we] had. I talked to a friend who also went on the trip, and she let me get a copy of her pictures, so you're not going to see any new pictures (except maybe one or two I had posted on other websites while I was still in Japan), I will still have something to remember the trip by.

That is not the good news I was planning on sharing though. I went out yesterday and bought myself a brand new DSLR camera (a Nikon d40X).

I still know that my brother's () Pentax is a nicer camera, but hopefully I can get some nice pictures of my own up now that I can see what I'm taking pictures of!

I'm kind of sad though. I bought the camera yesterday, spent most of the day reading the manual (like one should), but then jumped in the car at 1 am this morning and drove 13 hours to the middle of no where PA to visit family for the holidays. I was up here a few weeks ago and it was gorgeous. The leaves were just past their prime, but still quite nice. The lighting was amazing. There was a nice sense of stillness in the air that seemed to me to be just right for taking pictures. Now, however, all the trees are bare, the sky is gray, gloomy, and featureless, and everything is dirty and feels grimy from the spray from the roads. I don't want to get it dirty yet.

I guess you'll be updated after I figure out what I'm gonna do with it.

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Update: I haven't left the house yet, but, well here's how the weather has been for the last couple days; Rain - 58Â°F (according to weather.com).

ARGH!!!

*takaides — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:53:31 PST

This is pretty much just a rant...

You've been warned that there's nothing worth reading here.

I went to Japan. Everyone who has been to my gallery knows that much. What I didn't tell people is that while I was there, I was using my brother's camera because mine was/is broken. I have since realized that not seeing what I'm taking a picture of is half the fun. When I slap the memory card in my computer and download all the images, I get surprised by some of the shots I got. I always know what I'm going for when I take a picture and because I can't see what it is that my autofocus is focused on, I take 30 shots with the hope that at least 1 is centered and focused and level.

Anyways, Japan; so I was using my brother's camera to take pictures. My father was along too, (he was using it to take pictures too... another reason I should have taken my camera) and every night or so we would upload all of the pictures from the day onto his laptop so that we could clear out the card for the next day's exciting imagery.

We got back from Japan April 8th, 2007, around 10 am (if memory serves, there was a killer lay over at Dulles because customs made us miss our flight. I didn't feel like posting anything right then, I had posted a couple pictures (on Facebook) while in Japan, but nothing drastic. I was waiting to get home, rest up, and get to framing and fixing up some of the pictures to look nice so that MAYBE I could get some watchers instead of people who look at my gallery once, comment and then leave.

By the time I was rested and ready, life kind of reared its ugly head. My grandfather (father's father) was diagnosed with terminal cancer and we all thought there was a possibility of him passing on while I (and my father) were in Japan. Luckily, he didn't, but after we got back, my father moved 10 hours away to take care of his terminally ill 93 year old father. I was still trying to graduate High School, have a social life, and deal with my marine recruiter who seemed to be calling 3 times a day to make sure I hadn't changed my mind.

I graduated on time (yay for me) and then had a reasonably busy summer planned. I was all over all summer, getting to finally see my pictures for a couple days at the beginning of June; however, I had no way of transferring the many gigs of data to my desktop 10 hours away at home (I was visiting my grandfather/father). A month later I was back up to see them, again, with no simple way of transferring data (however, my father had just gotten internet access!!) back to my computer.

After that, I got a laptop, however, I wasn't going back up to visit for a month or two. At the beginning of August I was in Costa Rica, then home for a few weeks, then down to Savannah. All of this time, without my beloved Japan pictures.

Right before I was to go back up (now equipped with a laptop and a home network set up up there), my father dropped his laptop on a cement floor causing his hard drive to crash. He has since gotten a new hard drive, reinstalled the OS, and now has most of the programs he once had reinstalled. He gave me the hard drive with the hope that I could recover some of the data (he also had sensitive data on the disk that he wanted me to recover). I've been trying for about a month and I can't seem to find anyway to get it to be seen by an operating system. I've trying mounting it (both through GUI and command line) in Linux. I've tried using different enclosures. I've tried on Windows Vista Ultimate and XP (Home and Pro). I don't have ready access to a Mac, but I don't know my way around OSX for it to be helpful anyways.

So, I'm pissed because I'm now seeing (after how many months? 9?) a bunch of Japan pictures that friends took while on the trip and I can't look through mine. It's depressing. I want a new camera. I'm looking at a Nikon DSLR (D40x). I don't know if I can wait for Christmas though... I like getting things when I want them and don't wait well.

Birfday!

*takaides — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:55:48 PDT

Today's my birthday! So I drove down to see my girlfriend who is attending SCAD. The campus is amazingly photogenic... but my girlfriend is using my camera for a homework assignment.

I'm back

*takaides — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:19:16 PDT

Finally back from Japan. It wasn't nearly as good as last year. Everyone was tired and complaining the entire trip. My girlfriend went this year and made it all bearable though.

All of the pictures taken are on my father's laptop in the other room, though I didn't take many, so I may not post a bunch. I wanted to start working on them during a killer (immigration/customs induced) 18-hour layover at Dulles-Washington, but my girlfriend provided a much needed distraction... it's amazing that I ever get anything accomplished with her around.

As for sleep... This is the first time in my life where I just can't seem to shake the jet lag. I went to bed around 8 pm and woke up at 1 am (both EST) and have been running around with a killer headache since... though I go back to school in the morning bright and early at 6 am... so... life is fun.

We'll see what gets posted as time moves on.

Japan

*takaides — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 06:49:44 PST

I'm going back to Japan in... 14 days. I can't wait. This time, unlike last year, I'm taking a bunch of friends. So... it should be awesome. The bad news is that my camera just killed itself a week or two ago and I don't think that Casio will send it back in time for my trip... So I may be taking my brother's camera again...

Birthday

*takaides — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:54:23 PDT

Nothing major, I just felt like posting this somewhere... Today is my birthday!! I'm finally 18! You know what? NOTHING IS DIFFERENT (yet)! I should be getting a camera this weekend though, and tomorrow (Friday) is PAY DAY!!

That's about it...

100 Pictures

*takaides — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:15:28 PDT

I was checking my messages today and ran across ~water-on-fire's journal about 100 pictures. After reading through a bunch of the ideas, I thought that this would be a great idea for me to try. I decided, since I suck at Photoshop, I'll try to find a photo that matches each theme, or, of course, take a new photo.
ANYWAYS, so here's the 100 pics contest/venture

Of course, this is not my idea, and you're welcome to try it on your own; however, if you don't, bad luck will not befall on you for 7 years... (and if bad luck does befall on you for 7 years, there's no way to prove it was caused by this). As far as I know, (and care) you can change any of these rules to fit whatever needs you want.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The rules

1. Take 100 pics each pic having a theme listed below. Each pic should have ONE and only ONE theme to it, for it to count.
2. No time limit so have fun
3. The main picture should be drawn but not limited to. for all fair purposes, people are allowed to use their paint programs and photoshop to create the pic.
3.a) pics should be of own artistic ability. You may not edit photos, or break any other rules set out in the Da etiquette policy. Just have fun with it.
4. The list below is to be placed somewhere in your journal for others to see that......
A) You are in the challenge
B) What you have completed
5. make sure to update this list and check off what is done and make a link to the pic
6. In the comments for your art work note if it is part of the list and what ONE theme it is.

THE LIST:
1. Introduction
2. Love
3. Light
4. Dark
5. Seeking Solace
6. Break Away
7. Heaven
8. Innocence
9. Drive
10. Breathe Again
11. Memory
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
15. Silence
16. Questioning
17. Blood
18. Rainbow
19. Gray
20. Fortitude
21. Vacation
22. Mother Nature
23. Cat
24. No Time
25. Trouble Lurking
26. Tears
27. Foreign
28. Sorrow
29. Happiness
30. Under the Rain
31. Flowers
32. Night
33. Expectations
34. Stars
35. Hold My Hand
36. Precious Treasure
37. Eyes
38. Abandoned
39. Dreams
40. Rated
41. Teamwork
42. Standing Still
43. Dying
44. Two Roads
45. Illusion
46. Family
47. Creation
48. Childhood
49. Stripes
50. Breaking the Rules
51. Sport
52. Deep in Thought
53. Keeping a Secret
54. Tower
55. Waiting
56. Danger Ahead
57. Sacrifice
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
60. Rejection
61. Fairy Tale
62. Magic
63. Do Not Disturb
64. Multitasking
65. Horror
66. Traps
67. Playing the Melody
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
72. Mischief Managed
73. I Can't
74. Are You Challenging Me?
75. Mirror
76. Broken Pieces
77. Test
78. Drink
79. Starvation
80. Words
81. Pen and Paper
82. Can You Hear Me?
83. Heal
84. Out Cold
85. Spiral
86. Seeing Red
87. Food
88. Pain
89. Through the Fire
90. Triangle
91. Drowning
92. All That I Have
93. Give Up
94. Last Hope
95. Advertisement
96. In the Storm
97. Safety First
98. Puzzle
99. Solitude
100. Relaxation

I hit 1000... and other stuff

*takaides — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:24:39 PDT

I don't know how or when I hit 1000 pageviews, but I did... Much thanks to anyone who does like my photography heavy gallery. I tried to be a 3D artist, and I did ok making stuff... The issue is the lack of creativity and the ADHD that I have makes it so that following through with an entire project is difficult... Pictures (for me, not for the people that I watch, for the most part) are somewhat spontaneous. They capture that moment, and that one alone. I am decent at photography, I like photography, but I want to be able to create, not just capture.

Like I mentioned in my last journal, I'm in school and I finally got a job, and BOTH are stressing my out to no end... I hate my job. It's not the people, they're awesome, or so much the hours, as they're fine, and it's not hard at all... My job is just so boring and pointless... It's just a build up of jobs other people didn't want to do so they finally said that they didn't have to do them and created a new job to do them... I, unknowingly, applied for THAT job... but i need the money and the job reccomendation... so i'm gonna stick with it.
I still wanna go back to Japan and I still want that camera, hopefully before Japan... so I need to come up with just over $7300 before spring break. I have no idea if i'll be able to raise the $3300 for the camera or the $4000 for the trip, so I highly doubt that I can get it all... that's what dreams are for though, right?

Home, school, and all that Jazz

*takaides — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 22:49:44 PDT

As I said (or at least I think I said) in the comments of my last post, I did in fact get home from Bermuda all right. Looking through the pictures I took, I feel ashamed. I didn't get jack-squat... though, as I am still a 'child' for one more month, I will blame it on the lack of having a camera when i wanted one and not a bad eye for taking pictures...

School started up July 26th (yes, a Wednesday) and I've been busy with that which isn't great for my artistic side, as i'm not taking any art classes... and haven't since elementary school... and photography was not a area of study in the third grade... I'm only taking 1 AP course this semeseter, and two next semester, though, as I messed up earlier in high school, I need to pass 6 of my 8 classes to graduate this year... No pressure...

One of my friends from school was in a terrible car accident the Saturday that school started and still isn't out of the hospital, so my thoughts have been with her too.

I finally got a job, so after I finish paying my dad off for what he loaned me as money to go to Japan with, and after I pay for gas and car insurance... HOPEFULLY, I'll be saving up the money to invest in a digital SLR... The only issue is that the one I've been looking at is over $3300 and I don't have the greatest paying job in the world... And then i'd need to purchase additional lenses... AND I want to be able to go BACK to Japan in 7 months... The only thing I regret is not taking more pictures while I was there.

Hopefully, I'll be uploading something for you soon. Though, what it will be is as good your guess as mine.

Much love to all those who know they deserve some and even some who don't know it yet.

Devious Journal Entry

*takaides — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 13:05:36 PDT

I'm in Bermuda and I've taken a bunch of pictures, but I went back through them last night (well, this morning) and on this computer they're looking crappy... I still have 2 days, so I may get some good shots yet, but as of now, none of the pictures I've taken do the island justice. My major problem is that I still don't have my own camera and I've been borrowing my brother's when I see a shot, but I'm not with him much... Let's hope that I can get some good shots before I get back.

Bermuda

*takaides — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:31:40 PDT

I'm leaving for Bermuda in... 2½ hours. I should probably get packed. Anyways, hopefully, while I'm there I'll get some great shots of stuff, however, according to the forecast, it'll be raining everyday I'm there... Well, you'll see if I get anything good out of it.

I'll get there

*takaides — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 09:22:58 PDT

It's been a month since I put a new picture up. School is done and over with for the summer, but I don't have loads of free time. Yesterday I was at B&N looking at a new book about 3DS Max 8. If I get it, you'll see some new artwork up here from me using new techniques. On the photo front though, I found out that I probably am not going to Europe this summer, so I don't know what sort of pictures I'll be taking any time soon. My mom has ankle surgery on June 21, and then will be in a non-weightbearing cast for 6-8 weeks following surgery, so that limits where we'd go on vacation. Also, when I went to Japan, I was using my brother's kickass camera that, while the same # of MP as my parents, his was smaller and a credit card size camera. My parents have this bulky PoS that makes it look like they have a 8-12 MP camera instead of the 4MP PoS that they have. What can I do, it's old. I do need to see if I can get something produced using terragen out for you guys. I really haven't had much time to do that either.

Laziness

*takaides — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 20:47:49 PDT

As you may have noticed, I said in January that I'd upload some terragen renders, and almost a month ago, I said I'd upload some pics from Japan. Saldy, I have been a lazy bum as of late and have been letting not only my artwork slip up, but also my school work. As I get a grip on my school work, I've also bee looking back over my shots from Japan and plan on loading some of those up over the next few days (the first being right before I typed this up). Also, I have gone back to testing out Terragen, and while I have nothing worthwhile produced yet, i'm hoping that i can squeeze one or two out in the near future for your viewing pleasure.

I'm now on the search for a good, cheap digital camera. The one I used on my trip to Japan was my brother's, and I had to return it to him shortly thereafter (he has his work on his Webshots account).

I'm also hoping to get back into some 3D rendering, though that has been slow ever since my subscriptions dies out.

Well, that's about all the news I have for this journal. Hopefully I'll start posting art as often as I'm looking for talented artists. Until then, I'm out.

Back from Japan

*takaides — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 23:34:47 PDT

Got back from Japan about 5 hours ago... Now I'm gonna crash, but when I get back, I'll find some nice pictures to upload.

I just got a new program!

*takaides — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:47:00 PST

After going through and clearing 6GB of random stuff off of my computer, I found that Norton AntiVirus 2006 was not working... So I went and removed it from my computer and tried a reinstall. That was successful (so now i have norton, sasser won't effect me! haha). While it was installing, I was perusing the internet and found a nifty little program called Terragen. The Alpha/Beta/Demo version is free for home use, so I downloaded that. I haven't been able to try it out though, as Norton is doing it's first full system scan and it has to go through 160+GB of data, and is therefore laggin my computer like mad... It doesn't help that explorer.exe is sucking RAM like it is Whiskey. I think it's peaked at over 220,000kB of RAM used. Though, right now it's only using 45,000kB of RAM (and 192,112 kB of VM). I'll have a picture update soon with some works from Terragen. Check out the site though, they have some kickin' stuff.