Pier with Miah

I just wanted to throw up my little addition to our outing...
Slim pickin's in my lot, but thought this one was pretty cool.

SC Pier with TROY

So we're back from our adventures and have photos to prove it. There were a ton, seriously a ton of other photographers. One with a colored feather duster shooting families, one with an on camera flash shooting sand, and another shooting remote flash on the pier but was walking away from the amazing afterglow. We clickers are so much cooler than the other photography enthusiasts. Come-on, if we can get shots of "Twizzle" with a beer in hand and sea bubbles and pigeons ready to drop bombs and shadows of two photographers on a date and out of focus colorful horizons and creepy textures than we need to meet up more often and "click" more often....enjoy.

Most images shot with 24mm 1.4 at 1.4-2.0, The texture was shot with Troy's 100 macro, The out of focus pier was with 50mm 1.4 at 2.0, all processed with "pool party" in Boutwell actions.

THE CRAZY BOOTH

What do you guys think? If we all pitch in $25 we could get info on "the image is found" CRAZY BOOTH. I always wondered how they did that...

HDR

This is my first attempt at an HDR image. It was all from i exposure (included), but I started from photomatix and not just the other technic I usually do.
What are your thoughts?

Creativity vs. Burnout

I think there is a fine line between success and burnout. To stay creative is to stay energized. You can clearly see Dave's vision for the future, the horizon. While Hugh looks like he needs a burger after a long wedding...his life has been literally sucked out by the straw of monotony. That's really my mission with this photograph. I think it's some of my strongest work yet.

Creativity Forming

A picture of creativity in action...

As we walked around down at the pier it was Proverbs 27:17 right before my eyes. We had a good time inspiring each other and just having some good ol' guy time. Thought this was a great representation of the moment.



UPDATE:
Ok... So I like this photo without Davo too! Here is the altered version... Dave is still VERY creative. I wonder how he learned to disappear? He should teach us that!

I also added a curve that I have been learning about. Which process do you like better? THis is another double exposure (from the same shot) process

The Urban Zebra

SO the wife and I went to LA over the weekend to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was RAD!! Saturday we went to the fashion district and I snapped around as she looked around. I didn't come up with anything very worthy, but DId shoot the one below.
Not sure why I like it, I just do. Weird subject matter, not much on composition, people in the way... etc

Still it intrigues me to almost LOVE it or HATE it. THought at the very least it would be a good source of discussion.

Light in a Dark World

I saw this shot while leaving a friend's house today. His wife works for the Dream Center in LA, so I threw a quick type on for fun. How sweet would it have been to have a beam of light thru the clouds onto the skyline!

I forgot to mention he lives 30 miles from downtown.

Updated the tunnel post with orig. exposures for hugh, look below

Inspiration from SURFLINE

The last swell in California was so nice and clean with all the beautiful weather we've been having. This guy went up in a chopper and shot the points up north. A unique angle on shooting line-ups that is done to often. So beautiful...

the chopper view

On Paper

This photo has nothing to do with the post, I just wanted more than text. I have a little project in mind that I think would benefit everyone. Find one of our images that's super clean with good detail & color and email the high-res version to everyone. Each of us prints it at the lab that we prefer and bring them in to compare at the next Clickathon. We'd just need to decide the size and paper type (metallic, lustre, matte, etc).

What do you think?

It would probably cost everyone $2 - $15 for an 8x10 depending on the lab. And personally, I wouldn't mind puttin' up some of your work on my walls anyway.

A Post to Post About

Alright. Here is my dirty, little gem to share from my and Troy's photo adventure. This is a very controversial image to me. I just can't decide if I like it. But I do. I'm pretty sure. It makes a statement. "One post stands out among the rest like a beacon of light, but a post."

THE OFFICIAL CLICK CHALLENGE FOR 2009

Ok guys. I have talked to a few of you about how important our feedback is to each other and how many times we refresh after posting a new image (for me like 50 per hour) just HOPING to see another comment. I know for me it is a HUGE part of my motivation to keep on truckin. Thanks guys for all of your support and feedback. As Miah likes to say "All that to say.." I think we should challenge ourselves to add a good comment to EVERY post. that way we will each get at least 5 comments of feedback. I for one have slacked a bit on this and am going to do better.

If your interested in this challenge, comment on this post and ad any additional thought you may have.

Really stoke on "The Click" and how far we have come. MORE TO COME IN 2009!!!

The Devil's in the details

As one of my favorite bands put it in the song Welcome To The Occupation on their new album - "The Devil's in the details, The Devil's in the details..."

See what I'm talking about in this photo? Reminded me that as much as these just looked like a bunch of stones, there is more to one of them when you take a closer look. As we skate through life at So Cal speeds, we should be reminded to put on the armor of God as we never know where we will encounter spiritual warfare.

Tunnel to the Heart

Davo and I took some "man time" and went shooting down at the pier. WE both felt a little rusty and it took a while to get the creativity flowing. All in all I got a few winners. I saw this drain pipe ( the one by the clock tower) and thought it would be cool to make it pretty. My thoughts were about how pretty San Clemente is, but yet there are still many drains that get rid of our waste. I was challenged to examine my life for drain pipes and to "clean them up" so to speak.

5DMII, 24-105 - combined 2 exposures.

Hugh, since you asked, I thougth I would show the 2 exposures I used. I did not use an HDR program.
I have what I think is a pretty cool metod of blending exposures. I think It may be a click tutorial or at least a Jing post!

The last one is the non-colorized version of the blend...

Don't Backwash

Too much color? NEVER!!

The B/W version from the backlit angle

Thanks Dave-O!

Here's a link to my blog...which has been sitting for a week or so until Dave inspired me to actually put something on it! Thanks Miah for the location introduction...
http://rodfoster.blogspot.com/

Pattern

I love tropical stuff. And with no wind today I was able to capture some plant detail.

Baby Momma

Here's some lay lady lay shots of the wife. Pretty pumped on big bellies

5d Mark 2, 100mm, ISO 2000, 1/125, F 2.0 with modeling lights on

The Click Night

Here's some out takes from our last click meeting...let's do another soon.

How to be well lit

To go along with our lighting series, I thought I'd post the photo that made me famous at the AFFF awards this year (Association of Friends Foofing Friends). I think the photo speaks for itself.

...I think this is the worst photo ever taken!

Small Inspiration

Stacy and I went for a walk in this beautiful weather of late and I was inspired by the lighting from the bright mid-day sun and the low-low tide.

I took a few with my iphone... too bad i didn't have the mark 2.

Rod's new site

OK,
Hard drives are restored, program bugs eliminated, and domain servers finally reconciled. So, I'd love some friendly website feedback from some of the great minds of design and layout.
For now, my online printlab is essentially empty as it will need a re-design as well, so the "prints" tab doesn't do much. But I added a full-screen button to the entire site and threw a new slideshow in with the weddings gallery.
She's bound to give you a bumpy ride at first, so go easy...she's a freshy.
Thanks lady and gents.
http://rodfoster.com/

stop-motion. tilt-shift. dang-cool.

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

this is not a new year resolution

the concept came to me on dec. 28th so i started jan. 1. had it come june 28th i would have started july 1st. and so on. but that is neither here nor there.

i've put before myself the challenge to shoot at least 1 picture a day, every day through january, with the intention of compiling a book of b/w images by the end of the month. so far it's been both a challenge (because sometimes i just dont want to make the effort to be creative) and really neat (because images that i wouldn't normally take a second glance at become really cool and interesting, in my minds eye, when i tell myself they will be in a book. and everybody like to take cool and interesting pictures, regardless of their circumstances).

so, here are a few of the spreads that i put together tonight. have a look. i'll throw up some pictures of the book when i get it.

Mac Comes out with a new computer

Check it out


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

30's Glam

My friend Hugh Forte snapped this retro-nugget outside of the Grove in LA. A little noise & wb work in LR2 added some ancient creaminess.

hunter + meghan sneak peak

so miah's lighting-fast, i-blog-same-the-night-as-the-wedding post reminded me that i had a few images sitting on my desktop from the reception slideshow at my wedding last night, as well. shot with some new/borrowed/rented equipment yesterday and got some images i'm really excited about. here's a little peak at some action.




oh, and matty, clearly the bar for blogging immediacy has been set. i know you had a wedding of your own yesterday, get some images blogged asap or else! click.

Next Click

Guys and Gal,
When are we meeting next? Anyone have next Friday off? Let's get together soon and kick off this year on the right foot.

Also, Shawna, you checking the blog? We'd love to see a post or comment if you are around.

Tonight's Wedding

Well Mike Stonis and I have our 5d mark 2s and tested them out today on our first 2009 wedding. Pretty sweet camera but the AV and TV modes are a little funky with the metering. That said it still kicks booty.

Troy, the bride looking out the doorway look familiar?