Check Out My Shop!

    Hey everyone, I just wanted to throw out a reminder that I sell my photography on Etsy.com.  My shop is called Remember That One Time.  Here is the link so you can browse my work, and see what kind of formats they are available in.  You can click on the link below or on the tab at the top of my page where it says My Etsy Store to be redirected to my store.
 https://www.etsy.com/shop/RememberThatOneTime?ref=shop_sugg
 I can also do custom work, and I know my way around the latest photoshop.  I can also perform event photography to locals that live in or near Cincinnati OH and Covington KY areas.

More Examples of work I have posted on ETSY

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RememberThatOneTime?ref=shop_sugg

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/RememberThatOneTime?ref=shop_sugg

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/RememberThatOneTime?ref=shop_sugg

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RememberThatOneTime?ref=shop_sugg

Photography Research Presentation

http://prezi.com/nspi_n-u4-53/james-van-der-zee/

A Walk in Downtown Cincinnati

    I was taking a stroll through the downtown area in Cincinnati, near Washington park.  I had brought my friend, Sam, with me to assist for my school project.  I was supposed to take over 100 pictures of various subjects, which I went into blindly.  I had no idea what kind of photos I was to shoot and so I decided to do the smart thing.  I shot everything I could see, taking about 300 shots in about a half mile radius. 
    I believe there is no such thing as the perfect picture if you have to prepare to take it, with the exception of perhaps portraits.  Allow me to quickly elaborate.  When I take a picture of an object, its anywhere from 10 pictures to 100, or even more of the same subject.  I will try different angles, settings, zoom, and even different lenses all together just to see the different aspects of what it is that my subject has to offer.   With digital technology, it is too easy to take that many pictures and pick out the best or most interesting ones, in comparison to the traditional film, where once that button is pressed, that negative now exists whether its a good shot or otherwise.
    Although I no longer own one, I do have the highest respect for the traditional film methods.  I feel that there is true skill involved.  A photographer who practices in the traditional film method must have a clear idea what they are trying to accomplish with each shot before they even press the button.  With a digital camera, we have many options with the press of a menu button or scroll of a digital dial while the old style definitely requires a more thorough understanding of your equipment.
   But that is enough about that.   Lets check out some of the pictures I posted on here.  The first one is part of a face that I saw carved out of some sort of plaster/ cement on the side of a building.  There were a few randomly placed faces in the side of a building and I found it extremely interesting, so it quickly found itself in about 15 or so photographs for me to sort out later.

This next Photo is simply a glass design on top of an old church that was again, on my stroll around Washington Park near Downtown Cincinnati.  I found a few different angles and zoom options that I liked, though I favored this one the most.

The first one on the left side is a bunch of iron re-bar.  As I took my stroll, I noticed a lot of construction around the park in the street, where there were lots of heavy equipment digging the center of the lane up.  As I walked by I noticed two things.  The first one was the pile of re-bar that you see here, and the second is a sign explaining the road construction.  Cincinnati is in the process of constructing a trolly system that runs from downtown to... downtown.  I believe they are spending about 11 million dollars or something in that ball park for a trolly system that is almost worthless.  Originally, from the rumors that I have heard, Duke energy was to relocate the electrical lines in the path of this trolly system at no charge, then went back on their word, pushing the already stretched budget even higher.  A few other things fell through for the original plans to have this trolly system to at least as far as University of Cincinnatis' Main Campus.  So for whatever reason, the city decided to go ahead and blow the 11 mil anyways on this system that takes you as far as you could walk anyways.
    The one on the right actually kinda looked like a falling barn off of Wizard of Oz or something of the like.  Its actually a stop light I just happened to look up and snap a shot of while going through the cross walk.  I took a few more from different angles, but thought this one looked kinda funny.

And this rusted sewer cover I found fairly interesting.  It just had this rustic feel that I found pleasing to the eye so I took some pics and continued on my merry way. 

Learning Panoramic Stitching in Photoshop

Another picture I took for a school project.  The idea behind this was the process of a true panoramic photo, and how to stitch it all together.  I had already known how to do the process, but it was still fun to see how a picture like this would turn out.  When I took the photo, I was at least 30+ feet above the field and towards the left side.  As I lined up my shots, I could tell the difference in angle as my lens moved down the field.  I couldn't wait to stitch it together to see what kind of odd effects it might have once the final product was stitched and cropped.

Perhaps if I can find some more time on my hands, I can post how to stitch and crop these kind of photos on photoshop for you.

SAM

The photos taken here are also results of an assignment for a photography class I was participating in.  This was a friend of mine who went to the same school as I did, but also served as a marine for the US Armed Forces, where I was in the Army.  We ended up getting along pretty good and for a while were inseparable.  He had a rough stroke of luck when his fiance died from cancer and he didn't really have the support he needed, so he moved back home to Maine.

A few randoms

This is me in a Ford Escape.