If i don´t make it back here tonight due to work...lol...yeah right like work would ever stand in my way. :tt2:...i´d like to wish you all a wonderful weekend!!!!

Great shot of Eija! Perfect for this week, sunset and moonrise! I've given up trying to figure out what you guys think is good!
BJ

Great shot of Eija! Perfect for this week, sunset and moonrise! I've given up trying to figure out what you guys think is good!
BJ

Great shot of Eija! Perfect for this week, sunset and moonrise! I've given up trying to figure out what you guys think is good!
BJ

Hi Everyone, Me at work.hehe. Andreas that Lofoten image took my breath away. You have such an eye where landscapes go. Such beautiful country. I cant post any image as i am on work pc. Lucky i am own boss. Cant sack self for slacking off a little.Wow BJ you got three messages. That must be a record. Cute Chris ps Didnt try dropshot as was busy:(

Rich, love the one with the hand and bird...very nice!

As for my "still life experiment, I agree totally with what you have said.  For your info, the exif for that shot is ISO320,  f/8, 1/8 sec.

Why one 100 watt bulb?  In a week a crew will be here to put down new flooring. All photo lights and most other little stuff is packed away. That's why.  If I can even squeeze the time to do the still life, I will be using 2  bulbs of 250 watt each.  Still, that is limiting things. I will diffuse one and use a 10 degree grid over the other.  Likely, I won't get it done in time for the genre challenge.

The background is brown kraft paper, left overs from templates used to install wall paneling along a staircase to the laundry room..all the good stuff if packed away.   So, that's the whys of this try..just seeing what I could or could not get away with.         Tom.

Andreas, I agree with Chris. That Lofoten shot is beautiful. You sure have a way with landscapes...but then, these others are wonderful as well. You did a great job with the portaits of that witch. ( It was kind of you to remove all those ugly hairy warts...lol. )

And here's another hideosity o' mine...and one reason it's so sucky is because it's taken from inside the house, ( so the glass gives it that extra quality of stink...)... ;^P

Extra quality of stink huh? LOL. Never heard that before. I actually like it, i think it´s just as adorable as the others. The picture i mean....not the expression about stink. Some shadow/highlight and i think you got a photo just as worthy to be in the gallery as the others.

This is gold wire with preliminary bends to fit the basic design. That will be refined as all is assembled and brazed together. The lower second wing will be out from the large wing. Stone will be set into the large and small wing.  She choose a large round stone for the body...so this will be a butterfly to her but more of a moth to me.  Anyway, when done, it should look quite fine. This is stuff I can do much better than taking photos.  LOL

A second working sketch is below a sheet of green wax. The wax allows me to see the location of the wires in the design and also to place the formed pieces of gold so none will be disarranged and confused. As of the end of today, the butty has a head and antennas, with the top of the lower wing permanently in place. All is polished as done since some areas would be unaccessible after assembly.  The work is done with one or two main members then the internal structure added reaching to the final main member of the wings.

Now, from one of the more simple things I have done and am doing now, this post anything tells a bit more abou TomD'Art.     

Some might be interested in seeing this stuff. Who knows.         Tom.

My avatar is a cat posed as a bunny.

Now i see the bunny!!!! Yesterday when Chris replied and said she liked it....all i saw was your old cat-avatar. :blink: Weird how it´s not updating simultanously (better spellcheck that one) for all members.

LOL I have no idea what's going on regarding your avatar, but I certainly don't see a cat!

Anyway, fascinating project you've got going there, Tom. I hope you'll post a pic of the finished product.

And thanks Andreas, but I think not. If I post that other one, it will be more than enough for my gallery. Besides, I'm worried they'll start to multiply...lol...prolific lil buggers...  ;^ )

Okay now me confused. What cat. Only see a bunny winking at me?So Tom do i get easter eggs? Andreas your flower shot with white background using your light tent. Do you use photo lights? Tom do you do stainglass?
Marlene is that a little squirrel? We dont have here in Australia. But when i went to the states  i come across a couple. They so cute:) Great close up.
Chris

Chris, I have stainedglass but do not use for photos. The cat comment came when a member saw the avatar had changed from my usual cat to a bunnie.  So, I in joke called the bunnie a cat in disguise.

For anyone interested, here is one persons take on "drop shadows":

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/creategraphics/ss/dropshadows_3.htm

As for me, with small stuff, I use an infinity curve. The shots at work are totally down and dirty with little facility for fine shots. There, I use a piece of white plastic I heated and curved to give an "infinity" to the back of it..about 6 inches away or less so dot is important.    For a fake drop shadow, opposed to a "shadow cast by the object", I have taken an infinity curve thing and blackened a middle to rear section with spray paint.  The effect works fairly well.  Or, a large box or similar behind the object works, long as the box is out of view and the darkness from it shows behind the subject.

At home, I use a backside of floor covering, linoleum or vinyl sheet which is generally offwhite on the back side. This is protable and works well for medium sized stuff for an infinity curve.

I simply do not have a place to set up dedicated studio space. I must do as can at the time with space borrowed for the moments from the home.         Tom.

Thank you,Chris.Yes, it's a squirrel. And they are cute, as long as they're not  *going at it * in your attic all day and night. Like I said, they're prolific lil buggers...and they're not quiet about it, either...lol.

LOL! We don´t have squirrels in our attic...or as i once said "addict"...sigh. But we do got mice running around inside the walls during the winter. I suppose those poor bastards need to keep warm somewhere.  

It´s 5am here in Sweden and i´m finally going home from work in a while. So this is Andreas signing out and wishing you all a marvelous weekend!

Awwww. He's adorable, Kai.  I love the softness of this. You did great! I hope you'll show us more.

 :m_wave:

That is cute Kai. So Margana is your Mommy. Andreas you Papa and i am your sister. Wow Andreas has the dog. So average female of two kids and dog.hehe. One big happy family.
Have a great weekend everyone i am off to farm.
Takecare
Chris

I have no idea how my comment got posted three times! Tom I love your jewelry piece, do you have a website for your shop? Thanks Kai, I'm terrible with computers and thought I wasn't doing it right. The little one looks fascinated by the view, it is really tough to get candid shots of little ones, they always become enraptured by the camera. The expression on that squirrel's face is priceless! Marlene. Enjoy the weekend all.
BJ

BJ, I will show the finished piece when done. 

  BTW, in doing this work as well in photography for a "client",  there are often creative restraints dictated by the needs of the client, the likes and don't likes and the purpose of the work to that particular client.  That is true with the butterfly jewlery item I have almost finished.  The gemstones are not what I would want for the real beauty to be show and a few details are not as I would want if done with no client.   Alas, having a client is the reason the butterfly is being made in the first place!  I have no doubt she will be very happy and pleased with the result. I will be happy, too.  However, if my choice some changes would be made but those are not in keeping with the reason behind the design.

This is not an apology...only a reality of doing any sort of work for the needs of others. The finished product must meet those particular needs.   I do love doing this sort of work.

I will try to remember to IM you when the jewelry is finished and give a link.    See ya. Thanks!
  Tom.

Thanks Tom,
The creative process involved in jewelry making has long fascinated me. I love to see the finished pieces, but the difference in the pieces from what is orionally conceived and what comes from the vision are often astounding! I imagine when you add the desires and vision of a third party must add dimensions of difference as well as frustration. I had a friend in high school who made the most amazing things, one that often comes to mind is an angel with small emerald chips, which somehow morphed into a whale!
We lost him in Viet Nam, the last I knew the whale swam off at a garage sale but I always remember it when I see jeweler at their craft.  I'll look forwrd to seeing your finiahed oiece.
BJ

And now i´m off to watch some TV. See ya later!!!!

They are adorable! My Dad had a friend who phtographed kids for a living, I remember my Dad asking how he got so lucky to have such an easy job. Joe laughed loud and long and said it was easier to nail jello to a tree than to get kids to sit still! BJ

Nail jello to a tree? :blink: ROTFLMAO!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! Yeah that sure can´t be easy, lol. Thank you by the way BJ.

WORSHIP Superb shot buddy! You've done a masterful job on these if I may say so....

Hey Kai,
The birds are great, I've never seen most of them, but I love the grass. The light and shadow seem to be the main characters in an amazing dance, you've captured midstep! What is that sign for, bumps in the road?
BJ

Those little girls are adorable, Andreas. What chubby cheeks they both have. You did a great job with these. Have their parents seen them yet?

And noooooo, son, lol, you haven't lost your touch. I like the black and the white one of the ducks, especially. 

Love to know what that sign is. To me it looks like it's 700 m to the space ship...lol.

Geez why are you people posting all your best pics.
 to a thread in the forum ?

LOL hey buddy anything goes in this forum I think that's a pretty cool shot you put up there... Running vista eh? happy with it? :biggrin:

Thx Kai
Yep Vista has many advantages for the photographer :)

Okay what is a vista?
Hope you all had lovely weekend. Beautiful portraits Andreas. Did you change the background on portraits? Or did you have a blackwall or screen? Hi Kai great bird shots. And Richard i thought yours was very creative.
Another week and i am off to work:(
Chris

Onslow, I love the photo on the screen beside the ase with the flower you snapped! The creative process at work! I'm always amazed at what,"isn't good enough" to post!
Off to work once again! 
BJ

Thx Chris & BJ.

Vista is the latest version of the Windows Operating system. 

Hi Richard. Nice to see the source of that beautiful photo of yours.

I need a new lappy but I'm a bit hesitant to get it with Vista installed. Any particular reason you like it so much?

Love the Lear quote, btw...thanks for the link. :^ )

Speed mostly Marlene.

It does have other advantages like:  colour management, security, better power management ( good if you're on a laptop),  memory management with the power boost feature if you are a bit short on Ram for any editing tasks. Just generally the whole thing is better laid out and much snappier than xp.  Before any Mac people read this - just like a Mac - but with all the advantages of Windows ; )

I have had no issues other than with Adobe where they insist on  using their paying customers as pawns in their disagreement with Microsoft.  Photoshop will open a registration screen everytime it opens, but I now have a solution for this. Acrobat 7 is totally incompatible with Vista. 

All other software and hardware I have has had no problems whatsoever with Vista.

I don't see any reason to be hestitant about getting a new laptop with Vista pre installed.

hth