I just looked at the timestamp of my last entry... over a year ago. Time flies when you're having fun... to bad there wasn't a lot of fun going on. Just a lot of work, not a lot of sleep, a lot of substance-based avoidance, a lot of injury (both mental and physical), a lot of anger, a lot of pain, a lot of bullshit.

What can you do? I just realized that I don't remember the codes to set emoticons and such... let's try one :smile: and see if that works.

:wink:
:yell:
:metal:
:food:
:fish:
:feet:
:face:
:douchebag:

I'm in the weirdest mood ever. I'm back on the horse though. I have my fancy semi-new DSLR and I just went on a road trip with my semi-ex and got some sweet shots... will be posting some new ones soon.

Now.. we'll see if there's anyone still paying attention.,, or is it just guys looking for nudes? If so I'm not sure you'll like my new pix... well.. maybe a few. :fuckingwink:



hah.. i just did a preview. The only one that worked was ... where's that list again.. i was positive that smile and wink would be emoticons... oh well

I've recently been playing with some editing tools on my computer and I've developed a new technique that you can quite readily see in my most recent posts. A couple of those are older pictures that I didn't like as much when they were in colour, but once I do the manipulation, it just works. I'm probably going to be hooked on this for a bit... hopefully it doesn't get too boring for the watchers.

I'm hoping to get out and do some photo shoots soon. I've been training very hard for the last 2 months to earn my next belt in Hapkido. My test is today. I'm a little nervous... hope I don't forget any of my 230 techniques.. and hope my limbs survive the process. After today though, I'm going to have a much lighter training schedule so I'm going to pick up the slack on my photography.

Anyhow, let me know what you think. Feel free to give constructive criticism... I'm always looking for pointers.

Later....R

A while back I tried to move some photos out of the storage section. They won't show up in my gallery again though. I was told to wait and they'd reappear, but so far no such luck. So I've decided to repost them sporadically. It's a pain cause I'll be losing all the comments and such for those shots. Oh Well...

I've been learning a lot about photography (always via the hard way of course). I've had some good friends look at my online gallery and they came back with some major positive feedback. So I've been doing some photo shoots with Christine and learning more about the particulars of the art. I've learned that I need another good light source. My homemade softbox if working wonders, but it seems that a second is required if you want to light a model properly. I also need a good backdrop(s) and a backdrop stand. I don't know how many times I've taken a picture where the pose, expression, and sharpness are all perfect, but there's a goddamn computer in the background (like I said, I learn the hard way... many times over).

Good news though: since viewing my photos, my friends are offering their services in terms of painting a cool backdrop for me, as well as volunteering themselves as subjects. Sweet! I'm happy about this.

So I don't have everything up an running yet. I'd like to eventually have some sort of makeshift studio with various lighting, backdrops, etc. I'm also looking into perhaps purchasing a used digital SLR (cause I'm so goddamn poor) to expand my technical capabilities.

I've been really busy doing other things... I believe last time I was here I was getting into my new job. Things are great and my routine is finally setting in. I still don't have as much free time as I'd like, but that's ok. I'm doing a lot of shit...I'm getting ready for my Hapkido grading where I have 220+ techniques to do from memory, I'm playing my guitar again (which is nice) and I'm also looking at Santa Barbara as a possible spot for relocation. Busy times.

Anyhow, hopefully I can keep on this a bit better. I desperately want to do some more photography. I'll make it happen... you'll see!

R

PS... I've been trying to take some photos out of storage... but my gallery won't display them for some reason. Any ideas why?