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Michael [mahy-kuhl] – noun
1. A male given name. 2. A witty, charming professional wedding photographer who enjoys movies, exercise, romantic walks on the beach and large pepperoni pizzas.
Maven [may-ven] – noun
1. A connoisseur or trusted expert in a particular field who seeks to pass his knowledge onto others. 2. An intense gatherer of useful information. 3. An individual who demonstrates passion for learning and teaching a specific topic, particularly through a well connected social network.
Thank you for coming to my blog! I update it regularly, so if you ever want to know what I am up to, please come by and take a peek. Feel free to leave your comments below.
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365 Self Portrait Project |
I learned of this as a thread on the forum which you can find here:
Michael The Mentor Forum 365 Self Portrait Project thread
and it turns out to be a really great way to improve your photography, well known on many forums:
365 Self Portrait Project
The only real rules are that you have to be in the picture in some way, and be the one pushing the shutter button. You can use timers or remotes but you have take a picture of yourself. Photoshopping and any type of post processing is fair game. Because I know I am going to get crazy about this, I am adding a few other rules:
A. I can use videos. If I make a video, and it has my voice on it, its game. This includes random blabbing about whatever.
B. I can take multiple pictures on one day and post them over the period of several days.
C. If someone approaches me and asks to take my picture for the 365 Project (if I am on a wedding shoot or a Michael The Mentor Photorgraphy Festival for example) I can use this image as long as they asked, are in the picture, press the shutter, and send me the image through email. I dont think Im going to get a lot of these, but there you have it.
D. Costumes, props, just plain sillness and any other way to be creative is game.
I also reserve the right to add a few rules here and there as we go, as I am sure tweaks will be needed.
I want to note how absolutely nervous and uncomfortable I am with this idea. I have been thinking about it for about 6 weeks now and have thought myself out of it make times, still it comes back as something I should try. I know this feeling, its like when I was debating taking up skydiving. I HATE having my picture taken still, I see it as a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow and especially force me to think creatively. Ive seen some really amazing growth with the students doing this on the forum and I need to try it out...yes for a year.
So essentially what this means, is you can expect a new image of me, everyday, right here on the ol' blog.
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Adobe Sneakiness |
I love my Adobe Products, but you have to hear this one.
I have a Canon 5DII, as you know, which takes great images and I like to shoot in RAW. The current RAW program in CS3 is RAW 4.6, which in Photoshop cannot support the 5DII's RAW files. Lightroom 2, which also uses RAW 4.6, oddly, can, which tells me 4.6 in CS3 probably can too if someone (Adobe) wanted it to.
Furthermore, it is impossible to get the new RAW (5.2 or something like that onto CS3).
So I decide to take the simple route, upgrade Photoshop CS3 to CS4, its only $200 right? WRONG!
Because I bought a production bundle for CS3 last year, Adobe will only allow me to upgrade with another Production Bundle.
To top it off, in order to get my money back for the upgrade, I have to go through a lengthy "form submission" process and wait 2-6 weeks. LOL!
So, if you have a production bundle and are thinking you can upgrade just Photoshop CS3 to CS4...you can't!
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Temple Square |
I know Ive been slacking big time on my photography...I feel awful about it. This is, after all a photography blog.
Well..tomorrow you will probably want to come back and read some of my New Year's Resolutions, one of which is to post a picture, every day, get this...of myself. Im totally uncomfortable with this idea, I hate having pictures taken of me in a huge way. However, there is a thread in the forum called the 365 Self Portrait and I have been so impressed with the creativity of beginning photographers in this that I simply have to try it. More on this to come.
Ive made a new friend who is just starting to get into photography. Its fun because I dont think she completely understands who I am and what I do, but when she first mentioned to me that she was just getting into photography, I said "thats cool...I might be able to help you learn...." :) We went down to Temple Square in Salt Lake City for a quick lesson on long exposures using a Tripod. I gave her a copy of the Digital Photography Crash Course to help her get started.
These are some images taken with the 5D II, in RAW and processed in Lightroom 2. Its the first shoot Ive done in 2 months, my hands have been so tied up with the Photoshop Crash Course and Canon 50D DVD, and then the marketing for them.
Not much, but it was good to shoot again, and I am recommitting myself to getting creative with my photography. |
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Need a new slang term for:..... |
Someone who offers to help someone else, only after the work has been completed.
For example, One individual sees another carrying something heavy, but waits to offer help only when the heavy object has been moved completely and then says "hey, do you need any help?" knowing that none will be required.
Feel free to make your suggestions in the comment box below. The winner will receive a Michael Andrew DVD of their choice.
A big thanks to Scott Roeben who won the last slang contest and the official definition is listed below. Scott wins a free Photoshop DVD Crash Course Set. It will be interesting to see how fast Google and other search engines pick up this new slang word, and be sure to use it when you can! ;)
Thanks for playing! |
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Stort | Definition |
Stort - An American slang term formed from the two words "stop" and "short". The definition of "to stort" something means, to use something up in its functional entirety yet to leave a very small remaining amount so as to not render it completely empty. An individual who "storts", usually does so in order to claim the object in question is not completely empty, and therefore is not responsible to replace, refill, or throw away the object in question.
The individual who "storts" something, may also be affectionately called a "storter".
Storting events are most commonly found in:
- Gas tanks of shared vehicles.
- Orange Juice or Milk containers in the refrigerator
- Shared Bank Accounts
- Pizza
- Toilet Paper Rolls
Examples include:
"Who storted the car?" (Which means: "Who drove the car last and was so kind as to leave just enough gas in it that the only place it will get to before dying is the gas station?"
"Please stop storting the milk" (Which would be said to someone who likes to leave nearly completely empty containers of milk in the refrigerator.)
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Year In Photos |
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Bedtime Stories |
I thought Bedtime Stories was a fun kids' movie. If you have children ages 8-16, its a safe bet. Not a huge blockbuster, just fun and a few good laughs. I thought it was worth seeing. If you dont have children, or dont appreciate cute, silly humor you probably wont enjoy it.
By now you realize what a movie nutcase I am. I probably see about 5-7 movies a week, mostly rentals, but if they are in theaters and I am interested, I am going. Not many of my friends know that I hope to one day direct a few of my own, and yes, I have two awesome stories already in the works. One is already written as a book...just patiently developing it, and getting all the chess pieces in place. :) |
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Valkyrie |
| Of the movies I have seen in the last few weeks, this was by far the best. I would recommend seeing this in theaters over The Spirit and Benjamin Button. I know there have been some bad reviews out there, but this was a very well executed film, great tension. I found Claus Von Stauffenberg a fascinating and extremely brave individual to do what he attempted to do. I thought it was a very good movie. |
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The Spirit |
"The Spirit" was flat out AWFUL!!! Probably some of the worst dialogue EVER in a motion picture film.
Painfully sucky.
I am embarrassed for Samuel L Jackson.
Please do not waste your time or money seeing this movie.....EVER, even on DVD.
Please dont even spend another thought about even wondering if you should see this movie. |
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
Ok, so we have about four semi-intriguing looking movies that came out today. I went after the one that seems to be getting the best reviews, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
This is a movie about Contrast, Life and of course Death.
I though Brad Pitt did a great job, the cinematography was really outstanding and the premise was interesting. There are too many similarities between this and Forest Gump to ignore. Both movies had two physically "handicapped" individuals from the south who go on to live extraordinary lives and are constantly back and forth with the same girl they meet in their childhood, they both even write to them from their adventures, etc. Forest Gump was better, much better.
Overall it was a decent and interesting movie. I found many symbols throughout, and it was weird to watch Brad Pitt get younger as the movie progressed.
My only real gripe about it was that it was too long, 3 hours....I dont know what the deal is with three hour movies, but if its going to be that long, it better be utterly captivating and awesome in every way. I would recommend this movie as a rental, watch one half one night and the other the next.
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