Holy Blogs Batman

My blog reader has been inundated with new blogs lately. Here is a list of my favorites, some of which are new to the list some I've been following since I started reading blogs on regular basis

Music:
A Riot Of My Own: punkrock, straight edge and literature (Twitter- @xroldx)

Double Cross: We'll Have The Straight Edge They Can Have The Rest
How's Your Edge: Straight Edge.
WorldMovesFast: Hardcore Life
xilovebroccolix: Livejournal of Davin of xKINGDOMx (Kingdom myspace)


Photo/Design:
Gurus Unleashed: Scouring the Web 24/7 for the best creative pro news and how-to so you don't have to.
Layers Magazine: The How-to Magazine For Everything Adobe
Minervity: Tutorials, Freelance Tips, and Designer Information



Vegan:
A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise: All the vegan ice cream recipes you could want.
Eating Consciously: Always a Choice, Never a Chore
The Urban Housewife: Vegan Cooking
Vegan Dad: Vegan Cooking that even the kids will love.
Vegan Life Online: Vegan Recipes, Blogs, Videos, and More From Vegans Around The World

Travel:
Brave New Traveler: Exploring The Inner Journey, Through The Outer World
Backpacking Travel: Learn everything you need to know about backpacking travel and vagabonding around the world
Solo Traveler: A Blog For All Of Us Who Love (Or Struggle) To Travel On Our Own.
VagabondBible: Magazine for backpackers and travelers worldwide


Other:
Adbusters: Journal of the Mental Environment
Alternet: Independent Online News Magazine
b-listed: People building human rights culture
Brave New Films: Revolutionizing Traditional Grassroots Politics
Democracy Now!: National, Daily, Independent, Award-Winning News Program
GOOD: A Collaboration of Individuals, Businesses, and Nonprofits Pushing The World Forward
Mashable: The Social Media Guide
Submedia: Independent Media
Take Part: Social Action Network
Tree Hugger: We care about the environment. There. We said it.
Truthout: Devoted to the principles of equality, democracy, human rights, accountability and social justice.

Since I began retouching I've always come back to this one portrait of me and just keep changing things trying to make it better. I'm pretty pleased with what i've come up with and i'm hoping I can move on now...

Original

New

My Very First Tutorial

As I mentioned before I will be doing some video tutorials that will only be available on my myspace. In my first tutorial I mentioned that you should reference this post to learn how to set up to photograph for an HDR image. You will need a camera and a tripod for this. With HDR you are taking multiple images and merging them together so it is crucial that your camera remains still while taking the photographs. The basic concept of HDR, which by the way stands for High Dynamic Range, is that your camera doesn't see exactly what you see... it exposes for one section of what is in the frame. So if your camera is exposing for a bright area, everything in a darker area is going to be too dark. So, what you need to do is take from 3 to 5 exposures, one that is perfectly exposed, one that is under exposed by a stop and one that is over exposed by a stop. This is known as bracketing... if you look on youtube i'm sure you can find some useful info on bracketing. You can also have one exposure that is under exposed by two stops and one that is over by two stops. The point of this is just to have enough information for the camera to read that it can see every little detail whether it is bright or dark. Also, you should be taking these in RAW and not jpeg... agian youtube is a great resource on how to learn how to do things like that. So head on over to Myspace and check out the video... good luck.

Back To Myspace:

I've been off of Myspace for a long time, but I'm trying to further my business (DSWieting Photography) and I'm hoping it will help. Please join me...



What can you get from being my friend on Myspace? I usually Plan what i'm going to blog about in advance, on Myspace you will have access to when i will blog about anything photography based. Also I am working on putting together some material to start doing tutorials which will only be posted on there. So, go be my friend... Link

Here's the logo. Nice and simple....

This is what my day has been consumed with today...

The Black and Whites are being submitted to my school's newspaper. I obviously have a ton more pictures that i took but this is what i have for now.

Nine Grand Coming My Way

I'm finishing up my junior year in college and I have yet to take out a loan. That was until about an hour ago when i was approved for a $9,000 loan through SallieMae. Since graduating from high school I have worked my ass off every summer doing some kind of construction, most of the time it has been carpentry. Doing this has allowed me to make enough money to be able to pay for school. But this past summer i broke my collarbone and wasn't able to rake in the dough like usual. When I'm going to school I have a hard time juggling school and a job so i rely on what i make over my breaks to get me through. Well, school is just about up and so is my money.
As you can probably tell I'm into photography. Right now I'm working with my school's equipment but when that loan comes in it's going to my bills and to an assortment of new equipment. What is below is what I'm planning on getting....

Camera:

• Canon 50D Star Package

Other Essential Accessories:

• UV Filter
• Polarizing Filter
• IR Filter
• ND Filters
• Strap
• Battery
• Charger
• Flash

Debating on:

• Photogenic Strobe Kit

Computer:

• MacBook Pro

15-inch: 2.66GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M
GT with 512MB
Illuminated keyboard

• Free software (Because I'm getting it through my school)

Final Cut Pro
Adobe CS3 Creative Suite Design Premium
A ton of other awesome stuff that I'll let you know about when I get it

• Other software (That I'll get on my own)

Upgrade to Photoshop CS4
OnOneSoftware Plug-in Suite 4
SiteGrinder 2
PhotoMatix Pro 3
Lightroom 2

Stuff:

• Wacom Tablet
• NAPP Membership

The Start of Something New

Good Morning Blogger.com! Yesterday I announced that I would be launching a daily series today and as promised this is the start of it. I call it, Watch Me Read. Pretty much every day I will peruse the internet looking for something for all of you to read or in today's case read and do.

Here's the deal with this morning's Watch Me Read. I woke up and knew I was going to be posting soon so I came straight here. I looked through my Reader and the first thing on the list was a post from David Cross, who I started following after I started watching PhotoshopUserTV. If you haven't checked that out do so now. (Well, not right now, please continue reading first.) I've been watching the show for a few weeks and already it has been a huge help in my work. The give tutorials, have contests, and show off great products that are extremely useful. Like I said, if you haven't seen it yet check it out when you're done with today's reading assignment.

What I read this morning was an assignment that Dave has started doing on his blog where he has people send in photos that need restoration and once a week he picks one and posts it for everyone to fix up and he displays whichever he thinks is best. This week he has chosen to assign the picture on the left. Click on it and it will bring you to his blog where you can read the post and get a little better idea of what I'm talking about. Also, make sure you go to the link that he posted to upload your work to Flickr.




I Know What You're Thinking

If you've been keeping up on my blog I know what you're thinking. Yesterday I just posted an offer to restore a photo for the first person who wanted it because I didn't have a picture of my own to use. Well, I do have one now, but the offer still stands. I'll post what I come up with from this and you can see if it's something you want me to do. I should have it up in the next few days for your viewing pleasure. So, if you want an old photo of your parents or grand parents restored, drop me a line because the offer still stands

FREE!!!I shit you not. I offered this on Twitter last week and no one took me up on it so here's your chance bloggers... I want to start doing some photo restoration and I don't have any photos that i can restore. If you scan and email me a picture that you want restore i will do it for free for the first person who wants it. If you want to check out my Photoshop work you can check it out on Flickr. Don't be afraid and back out if you think that someone has probably already taken me up on this, if someone has I'll give you a good deal. I'm a poor college student just trying to pay rent. If you refer me to someone and they decide to work with me i will give you a discount on your next photo. email me @ DSWieting@gmail.com

...to flickr that is. Link attached to the photo.

DSWieting Photography offers Photo Retouching.

Email us at DSWieting@gmail.com

If you're interested in buying something from me then go to http://DSWieting.photostockplus.com/

or

If you're a photographer and would like to sell some of your work go here

This is the image that I entered in the 29th ANNUAL COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST. I was a finalist and this picture is being published in the book that they put out every year of the finalists. What's so special about this photo is the long exposure that made the river look so smooth. During the middle of the day it's not an easy thing to do.