Multiple Fridays

Because I’ve missed quite a few… Friday Five, a few of them.

Oct 25th:
1. What is your favorite scary movie?
Night of the Living Dead. a classic.
2. What is your favorite Halloween treat?
Probably Almond Joy or RPB Cups.
3. Do you dress up for Halloween? If so, describe your best Halloween costume.
I usually don’t but if I do its usually the always scary “Matt” costume.
4. Do you enjoy going to haunted houses or other spooky events?
Not really.
5. Will you dress up for Halloween this year?
Yes, I’ll be dusting off the “Matt” costume again.

Oct 18th:
1. How many TVs do you have in your home?
Three, one in the living room and one in each bedroom.
2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week?
Not a lot, probably only 10-15 hours.
3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children?
Depends on the show. Mostly, yes.
4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you’re heartbroken?
The Daily Show. Hands down the best show on TV.
5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like?
One part Comedy Central, one part Cartoon Network, a few action flicks and the occasional Cooking with Emeral (that guy cracks me up).

Oct 11th:
1. If you could only choose 1 cd to ever listen to again, what would it be?
Paul Van Dyk – Vosprung Dyk Technik
2. If you could only choose 2 movies to watch ever again, what would they be?
Rio Bravo and Casablanca
3. If you could only choose 3 books to read ever again, what would they be?
On the Road – Jack Kerouac, Hamlet – Shakespeare, Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Persig
4. If you could only choose 4 things to eat or drink ever again, what would they be?
Chicken Marsala, Enchiladas, Vodka Tonic and Fluff.
5. If you could only choose 5 people to ever be/talk/associate/whatever with ever again, who would they be?
Lauren, Chris, Chip, Jason and Nagle

Oct 4th:
1. What size shoe do you wear?
10 1/2 or 11 depending on the shoe.
2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Four. 1 sneaker, 1 boot, 1 dress shoe and 1 casual dress shoe.
3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?
Sneakers.
4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?
New Balance sneaks… because they’re comfy.
5. What’s the most you’ve spent on one pair of shoes?
$120. Steve Madden dress shoes.

Sept 27th:
1. What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind?
Hot shower, PJs and some Counter-Strike.
2. What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands?
See if Lauren is home.
3. What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells?
Vanilla and apple
4. Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself?
Group of friends.
5. What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don’t?
Counter-Strike.

There we go. I’m off to class. Later.

Still waiting

STILL waiting for the damn scanner. I hate freshmen that don’t have a clue. Maybe I should give them a clue-pon…. or a swift kick to the face. Why do you think?

Waiting

Well, I’m done with class and so now I’m upstairs in the digital lab waiting in line to use the drum scanner (mmm, 12,400dpi… drool). My critique went well and everybody liked my shots. I recreated a Roxio ad that featured a desheveled college student in a messy room… not much of a stretch for me. Once I get these scanned I’ll go home and install some FTP software and upload a few low-res versions for you guys to see. Please, when I do, let me know your opinions on them. I love to get feedback and I’m sick of hearing “not too bad” from fellow students. So, please, tell me if you like them… and tell me WHY you like them. For example: “I like picture A because it has good contrast and pretty colors” not “I like picture B because it’s nifty.” Got the picture? Ok, I’m going to kill some time until the scanner is ready. Later.

Speaking of…

Speaking of camera equipment, I came across the coolest paper yesterday. The first one I’ll mention I knew about last semester but I couldn’t get my hands on any. The others are brand spanking new.

First up is Kodak Professional Color Metallic and man is it awesome. Basically it’s normal photo paper with an extra layer within the fibers themselves that contains a metallic finish. It makes prints look like those metallic baseball cards. Here’s what Kodak has to say:

“Color Metallic Paper gives color prints an eye-catching metallic sheen, and features an almost 3-D effect that makes images seem to pop off the page. Based on KODAK’S Modular Imaging Support Technology, KODAK PROFESSIONAL Color Metallic Paper uses a patented combination of five film laminates to produce the metallic/pearlescent effect.”

Next up are two papers that are along the same lines but are genious in their inovation. I’ll explain what I mean in a minute.

First is KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA B&W. You’re probably saying to yourself “so what, it’s just another B&W photo paper, they have tons of those.” While you’re right in saying that B&W paper isn’t an innovation, being able to process that paper in COLOR chemistry is certainly a breakthrough. Think about that for a minute. Before now, if you wanted to print both black and white AND color you had to have 2 enlargers, 2 different types of materials and two sets of chemistry. Now, you can print both black and white negative and color negatives with the same enlarger and run them through the same chemistry. That’s fantastic.

Even more fantastic is the next paper which is an extension of the B&W. It’s KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA Sepia Black & White Paper. Same idea, different results. Now instead of just black and white in color chemestry, you can print B&W with Sepia tone in color chemistry. Holy heck!

Camera Equipment

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my current equipment situation. The problem is that I’m very much caught in between the analog equipment I’ve learned on and the new digital equipment that more and more people seem to be using. My problem is this: if I buy a nice medium format camera package, how long will I be able to use it before I have to go digital? OR If I buy a totally digital package, will it break the bank? My solution is to get that medium format camera package but to buy a digital film back for it as well. That way I have both the camera and the digital. The camera can still use film, which I love, and the film backs average between 11 and 16 megapixels and should give me all the digital resolution I need. The problem with that is, that I don’t have anywhere to dump the images to. Those all-in-one digital cameras, the one’s with built in memory or memory sticks, or flashcards etc are all well and good but a professional film back doesn’t have any memory of it’s own. A 16 Megapixel CCD array takes up quite a bit of room and so the images need to be dumped somewhere. More accurately the digital back needs to be attached to a computer or laptop that can receive those images. So, in a perfect world I’d have a medium format camera, a digital camera back and a laptop with USB/Firewire ports and cd burning capabilities or networking capabilities.

Ouch. Just thinking about how expensive this is going to be is making me worry. Where am I going to be in a years time? I’m planning on being married but where will we live? Texas? New England? Both have their share of ad-agencies, photo studios and representatives. Will I have a good job? Will I have a shitty job? Will I be in debt my whole life? I don’t know and it’s starting to worry me. The problem is that I can’t be worried about what I can’t control. All I can do is concentrate on here and now, put together a kick ass portfolio and send it off to as many places as possible. That’s all I can do. If it’s in the cards that I get a job at one of my “top choices” then awesome, if not, then I’ll figure something out. But there’s no sense in worrying about what might or might not happen. You never know, I may get a job at the very first place I send my portfolio and then all that worrying would have been for nothing. Anyway, I’ve gotten off topic.

My main point somewhere was that I need to buy equipment. So, how about some links and some top picks for what I feel would be a nice package. Now, if only I could get it all at a student discount.

Package A:
Mamiya 645 SV II Medium Format SLR Manual Focus Camera Kit with 80mm f/2.8 Lens, FK402 SV Auto Exposure Reflex Finder, 120 Film Back and SV Power Drive Grip – $2,599.00

Kodak DCS ProBack 645 – $12,000

Dell Inspiron 8200 – $1,500

– Accessories – 120 Roll Film backs, multiple lenses, firewire card, cables, etc – Approx $1,000

Total: $17,100

Package B (total digital):

Nikon D1X – $4,650 + accessories (lens, microdrive, flash, etc) $1,000

Dell Inspiron 8200 – $1,500

Total: $7,150

Package C (total analog):

Mamiya RZ67 Professional II Value Pack Medium Format SLR Camera Kit with 110mm f/2.8 Lens, Folding Waist Level Finder and 120 Film Back – $2,999

– Accessories: $2,000+

Total: $5,000+

Note: none of these packages include lights, stands, tripods, and studio supplies or equipment. Most often these things are provided on professional shoots or can be rented at equipent houses. For personal work, they too would need to be purchased.

So there you have it. Money, it’s a shame I don’t have any. Any way you slice it I’m either looking to pay for at least another semester of school ($6000) or another year of school ($20,000). Somehow I don’t see being approved for loans for equipment while I’m still paying off student loans. I think the solution here is to buy the analog package since it’s the cheapest and most useful immediatly and to save up for the digital back and laptop since they’ll most likely drop in price over the next few years. We’ll see what happens.

As for right now, I’ve got to jump in the shower, I’ve got class at 3:00. Later.