Take a picture once a day, whether you need to or not

[NiX]

I typically spray large flying bugs to disorient them or so they drop off wherever they are. I don't have the patience to chase the useless bastard around so I can set him free and be all "YAY ME!"

[Sky]

1. Rolled newspaper. 2. Call cat for clean-up (but don't tell fiancee #2)

Fuckamoth on mah cloth.

[AutomaticZen]

I never thought an insect just a bit smaller than my hand could hold so much goo.

Well, the fuckers aren't hollow or anything.  At that size, it's too big to kill.  I would've caught it and thrown it outside. 

Had it been a spider I would've just moved.

[Sky]

We've talked about spiders before. Spiders and I have an agreement, a treaty, if you will. They stick to their spidery places, and we're a-fuckin-ok. You decide to creep out into my humany places, and you're history, squarshed.

My fiancee and mother hate my policy, they'll see a spider in a spidery spot (in some corner behind a table or something) and demand I kill it. Fuck no, little brother is down there doing his duty! I will remove egg sacs, but that's about it. Right now I know where there are two scary motherfuckers lurking just outside the house. I had a talk with them about staying in their spidery habitat, I don't think one was listening. He's up above the back door near where we sit on the patio and now my mother and fiancee don't want to sit on the patio, so he's kind of my door guard and I get to sit out back and play guitar in peace. But I know he's going to try slipping in the door, the fucker.

I should get a picture of the dude in the basement window well, he's getting to be a respectable size. Going to have a talk with the other spiders and tell them he's been appointed their leader. Maybe I could move any trespassing spider into his web and watch him gorge himself on them.

[SnakeCharmer]

Spiders and I have no such agreement.  We're at constant war.  If one encroaches upon my immediate area - that immediate are being within 2 square miles of me - they're immediately met with instant and painful death that can involve a boot, broom or tennis racket that is swing at superhuman speeds launching them into the next time zone, or a makeshift flamethrower.

I steadfastly refuse to click that spider thread.  I would have nightmares for years and probably require massive amounts of therapy.

[Sky]

So you like the other insects they are feeding on to be in your immediate area?

[Ookii]

If I see a spider I cannot do anything but kill it, ignorance is bliss and if I see one I'm no longer ignorant of their existence.  I like to be ignorant.

Other bugs are cool with me!

[Brogarn]

We've talked about spiders before. Spiders and I have an agreement, a treaty, if you will. They stick to their spidery places, and we're a-fuckin-ok. You decide to creep out into my humany places, and you're history, squarshed.

My fiancee and mother hate my policy, they'll see a spider in a spidery spot (in some corner behind a table or something) and demand I kill it. Fuck no, little brother is down there doing his duty! I will remove egg sacs, but that's about it. Right now I know where there are two scary motherfuckers lurking just outside the house. I had a talk with them about staying in their spidery habitat, I don't think one was listening. He's up above the back door near where we sit on the patio and now my mother and fiancee don't want to sit on the patio, so he's kind of my door guard and I get to sit out back and play guitar in peace. But I know he's going to try slipping in the door, the fucker.

I should get a picture of the dude in the basement window well, he's getting to be a respectable size. Going to have a talk with the other spiders and tell them he's been appointed their leader. Maybe I could move any trespassing spider into his web and watch him gorge himself on them.

You and I have pretty much the exact same "Spider Agreement".  I also have a wife that feels the same as your fiancee.

I will say, that sometimes I feel benevolent and if a spider slips outside of his boundaries and into mine, I'll give him a chance. Maybe he went on a bender the night before and is now lost. I can't kill something with a hangover after a night of righteous partying. That's kinda fucked up. He hasn't had time to hi5 his buddies. So, I'll gently take him outside and back into his boundaries and remind him of the agreement. We're usually cool after that. If we're not, I invoke the Boot Clause and that's that.

[SnakeCharmer]

So you like the other insects they are feeding on to be in your immediate area?

Living on the Gulf Coast, it pretty much comes with the territory. 

Mosquito's that will carry away small children, dragonflys that cause trees to bend, and other assorted fun stuff. 

Spiders just terrify me.  I've got a fairly deep voice that goes valkery supersonic that only dogs can hear.  I think I even broke glass once.

[Merusk]

I've never understood the spider hate.  I just toss the ones that have scrambled inside back outdoors.   Grasshoppers, however, are nasty fucking things that give me the willies but I don't actively try to kill the bastards.  Unless of course they've chosen to leap in front of the lawn mower.. then it's their own damn fault.

[nurtsi]

We had national firework championships. Shooting fireworks is hard.

[Samwise]

Awesome pic, nurtsi.

On the topic of flying insects, here's what happens to the ones that get in my house.



The little puddle of moisture around the bug at the top of the frame is the digestive process at work; the leaf forms a little dimple under the bug once it's sure it's been caught, and fills the dimple with digestive enzymes to hasten the process of breaking the bug down into useful nutrients.

I've had this particular plant for a couple of years now and it's never caught much of anything before, but this summer it's been a bug magnet.

[Viin]

What is it? I need like 10 of those strategically placed around the house.

[Samwise]

It's a butterwort -- Pinguicula laueana specifically, but any more common butterwort should do the job just as well.

Sundews and pitcher plants are bitchin' flycatchers too, depending on what kind of flies you've got.  Each plant uses a slightly different bait smell and therefore appeals to different bugs in varying degrees.  My Nepenthes ventricosa (tropical highland pitcher plant) used to gorge itself when our old apartment had a fruit fly infestation, and the Drosera aliciae catches craneflies now and then.  And there's a picture earlier in this thread of my new Drosophyllum lusitanicum grappling a housefly, which it does with almost frightening efficiency.

[NowhereMan]

Considering I kind of like having the window open and at night with the lights on this acts as a bug magnet I should probably think about getting some kind of carnivorous plant.

[Fraeg]

on a pier in northern CA.   Starfish or Facehugger, you decide.

[schild]

Do not want.

[nurtsi]

A red car in Frankfurt Motor Show.

[Sky]

Random visitors to my backyard.





Turkeys and the white skunk are regulars, the two little coons are new. Might be dead by now, took that two nights ago and they kept climbing upwards and seemed unable to figure out how to get down, both are young and probably freshly cut loose from the mother. Love the white skunk, she has two kids and one is a white one as well. Usually a few more turkeys, too.

[Nebu]

Raccoons out in the daytime would frighten me.  In the wild, seeing raccoons during the day is a sure sign of rabies.  Granted these look young and they're off the ground. 

[Sky]

That's why I mentioned the situation. I think they've been cut off by mom and are freaked out. They were about 25ft up when I first saw them and when I last saw them they were about 45 feet up and getting to some real thin branches. I stopped watching because one broke a branch and almost fell and I didn't really want to watch it plummet to its death, or worse, lie bleeding and crying and broken.

[gryeyes]

Don't let them die! You can pseudo-domesticate them if they are young enough.

[Sky]

Don't let them die! You can pseudo-domesticate them if they are young enough.

This is me. Shooting you, through the internet.

Raccoons are not pets.

[gryeyes]

They are not but its preferable to watching them die. Friends parents used to heal up and raise any abandoned or wounded creature they came across. Some would leave once healed some would stay. Their possum and raccoon were both great little friends. The possum was completely domesticated the raccoon was basically a cat with hands.

[apocrypha]

Managed my first shoot with someone from ModelMayhem the other week. Got some OKish pics, learnt a lot in the process! Including the fact that my retouching skills need some serious work.

[Venkman]

They are not but its preferable to watching them die.

That's why he stopped watching 

[Ookii]

Managed my first shoot with someone from ModelMayhem the other week. Got some OKish pics, learnt a lot in the process! Including the fact that my retouching skills need some serious work.

Shoulda kept it in the Digital Camera thread, all we get here are scenery pictures and food!

She's very nice looking, did you do TFCD? I just wish the first picture had her separated from the background more, but I like it! I'm not sure what's up with the lighting in the second, it looks kind of glowy!

I took a stab a the fotoshop, a very quick one:


I can't compare to some of those retouchers on MM though. It's funny because I did another casting call and I am apparently shooting black women for the next couple weeks, and a number of black guys responded. Not that I have a problem with that, I'm just not used to lighting dark skin.

Oh, and totally PM me your MM ID so we can be friends.

[Grimwell]

They are not but its preferable to watching them die. Friends parents used to heal up and raise any abandoned or wounded creature they came across. Some would leave once healed some would stay. Their possum and raccoon were both great little friends. The possum was completely domesticated the raccoon was basically a cat with hands.

Here,  , that's from all the animals who just love you and want to be your friends. I've heard if you sing to them just right they will sit on your shoulders, make you clothes, and help you against your enemies.
 

[Sir T]

Some pictures of Manilla flooding today from http://www.flickr.com/photos/javajive/

[gryeyes]

I've heard if you sing to them just right they will sit on your shoulders

Totally, singing or raising them from a young age till they can be released into the wild, ya know, whatever works out best for ya. Just like any other fucking social mammal you happen to come across at a very young age. And while you cant domesticate them in a single generation consistently you sure as fuck can tame them in the right circumstances. And even a domesticated breed will act feral if not raised with human contact.

Dem rabbits,silver foxes (8 generations for high occurrence of tame offspring,38 generations till complete domestication),ferrets and dogs are not domesticated through hugs. 

[Sky]

Do you keep them in cages?

[Bunk]

Managed my first shoot with someone from ModelMayhem the other week. Got some OKish pics, learnt a lot in the process! Including the fact that my retouching skills need some serious work.

Shoulda kept it in the Digital Camera thread, all we get here are scenery pictures and food!

She's very nice looking, did you do TFCD? I just wish the first picture had her separated from the background more, but I like it! I'm not sure what's up with the lighting in the second, it looks kind of glowy!

I took a stab a the fotoshop, a very quick one:


I can't compare to some of those retouchers on MM though. It's funny because I did another casting call and I am apparently shooting black women for the next couple weeks, and a number of black guys responded. Not that I have a problem with that, I'm just not used to lighting dark skin.

Oh, and totally PM me your MM ID so we can be friends.

Nice stuff Apoc, I really like the idea in the first one. As for critiques - the only thing that hurts it is the angle and lighting result in her chin blending in to her neck a bit too much. I don't mind how she blends in, I think that works for the shot. A rare case when a shot straight up the model's nose still works.

Ookii - I worked with a black guy in school for a couple of shoots, and main thing I'll say is plan for hotspots when you envision the shot. It's really hard to soften the light enough to avoid them, unless you plan on emulating Bob Guccioni and shooting through tissue paper.

Warning to those not sure of their masculinity! Semi-undressed male:

[apocrypha]

Been away for a few days, sorry for the slow reply :)

She's very nice looking, did you do TFCD? I just wish the first picture had her separated from the background more, but I like it! I'm not sure what's up with the lighting in the second, it looks kind of glowy!

I took a stab a the fotoshop, a very quick one:


I can't compare to some of those retouchers on MM though. It's funny because I did another casting call and I am apparently shooting black women for the next couple weeks, and a number of black guys responded. Not that I have a problem with that, I'm just not used to lighting dark skin.

Oh, and totally PM me your MM ID so we can be friends.

Yep, was TFCD, sent her a CD with every shot from the shoot that was in focus and unblurred in medium res (4MP) and selected highlights in full res (12MP). She seemed very pleased with them and wants to do another shoot soon.

The shot in the flowers was one of only 3 that I managed to get in that spot - as soon as she started blowing the seeds they all went up her nose and then she stood in a patch of brambles so I only got 20 secs there! Lesson 2: if you find a good spot work it more! Would have loved to get a backlight on her to separate her more but I was tired, she was tired, etc etc.

The glowy effect on the second one is just bad photoshopping from me. I'm really struggling with pp time at the moment, it seems to really flare my sciatic nerve up. I definitely want to work on some of those shots more when I can handle it.

I like your photoshop of the 1st one, much better than my 30 second attempt, thanks 

I've never shot black skin myself yet but the theory I've read and seen is that it's all about specular reflections. Get some baby oil and move your umbrella around until you're getting nice highlights is all I know :p

And my MM id is #1334667.

Nice stuff Apoc, I really like the idea in the first one. As for critiques - the only thing that hurts it is the angle and lighting result in her chin blending in to her neck a bit too much. I don't mind how she blends in, I think that works for the shot. A rare case when a shot straight up the model's nose still works.

Thanks, and I totally agree on the criticisms! It was completely unposed and I was working very fast as I mentioned above. Really wish I'd made the effort to stop at that spot for longer and get more than 3 shots there.

Anyway, got a few more shoots coming up, including (hopefully) an Asian male model which should be good experience.

Here's why I've been away - demonstration at the New Labour conference in Brighton, for jobs, peace & education:

Was great fun, a scorching hot day and a really good natured demo, although I was a little disappointed with the size. I reckon about 2500-3000 but it was really hard to estimate because I couldn't get any distance from it.

[Margalis]

When I was young I had a pet squirrel for a while after it fell from a tree.

That is all.

[apocrypha]

I am apparently shooting black women for the next couple weeks, and a number of black guys responded. Not that I have a problem with that, I'm just not used to lighting dark skin.

Just coming back to this, I had a look in a couple of books I've got ("Light: Science & Magic" and "Skin") and the consensus seems to be that if your subject is in dark clothing then you can possibly get away with just overexposing slightly to get some detail in both skin and clothes.

If they're in lighter clothing though you'll lose highlight detail so that won't work. Instead you need a *big* light source from the front (bounce off a white wall or something or as Bunk says, light through a giant sheet of tissue or a bedsheet etc) so that you get direct specular reflections from a larger family of angles and thus get more highlight areas on the face etc, which is where the baby oil can be useful.