Somebody. Anybody. Everybody. Nobody.

Two new galleries up...

2008-07-07T04:06:29Z

I don't remember if I posted that I'd put up Randi as the Biker Bitch or the test-shoot with Evolve... I'm pretty sure I didn't put up the breakwater shoot with Jamie... Nonetheless, the shoots from this weekend are up.

Test-Shoot with Meghan

el Wehda & AIEWA School of Cultural Dance performed at Market Square

No cut, just click the images to go to their respective galleries.

Dystopian Knights...

2008-05-30T04:15:19Z

While the project may be on the shelf for the moment, and the website no longer registered, I've re-uploaded the almost-finished pages to my my personal website.

Because a number of people put in a lot of effort to make it happen and I am still proud of the results.

As it is, I've got a casting call on Model Mayhem for a combat-scene I've got in mind to open up the first of Dream-Shapers... I've got Dave, Randi, Gavin and Shaun... I just need one more... a short light-headed girl to beat up the two beefy agents...

Dream-Shapers will be easier to produce, I think. We've identified some of the issues from Dystopian Knights and I'll be working to actively avoid those...

Caught this little tidbit on my way out to work the other day...

2008-05-30T02:07:34Z

Three new galleries up...

2008-05-29T08:22:43Z

I've added code to the gallery website to keep the viewing of images inside the website--no longer loading images to a second tab/page. Now, it loads in the same pane as the thumbnails, and has a previous/next preview to allow you to do a mini-slide-show. I've also added in the first results of the Squished Faces series of images... Will eventually get around to uploading the cowled/veil shots...

Click on the images to go to the galleries...

Randie - Biker Bitch

Did a shoot down at the Esquimalt Lagoon, of Randie in jeans and leather, which is far outside her normal clothing. Yes! She actually has legs! Nice to get outside, and I've got a couple of good panoramic shots.

Evolve - Test Shoot

Finally managed to get in contact with Evolve. the gallery is up now... a month after we actually did the shoot. The intention with this shoot was to teach myself not to be afraid of shadows... While this image doesn't show any of that, it's not a bad shot... The others in the gallery cleave more towards my intention...

Squished Faces

There's something almost child-like and magical about giving people props to play with... And a simple pane of plexiglass can create some stunning results. The point here is to lose all pretense and just make faces... Forget grace. Forget poise. I'll be adding a lot more images as I incorporate results from each new session.

"... but if you need me..."

2008-05-23T23:55:58Z

Okay, so this is a bit of pet peeve.

I had a coworker ask me a couple weeks ago why I never ask her to model for me anymore. I explained that I don't want to sound like a broken record. I'll mention it two or three times, but then I drop it. I don't want to cajole people into it. I know people are busy. And truth is, I'm not desperate for more models. I just like variety.

But one of the things that kinda really bothers me is when people say, "blah blah blah... but if you really need me, I'll be there..." I get that they want to feel needed. Sure, I want them to be excited about it, but I don't want them to feel that they're doing me a favor when they model for me. I Mean, I don't feel that I'm doing them a favor for shooting them.

So, typically when someone says, "... if you need me..." I won't call. 'cause I don't, actually, need them. Is it too caustic of me to take "if you need me" as "No thanks."?

Round 2 with Paypal

2008-05-23T22:43:26Z

So, I finally got around to getting a new credit card specifically for online transactions. And I've just opened another bank account with a different financial institution and a low regular balance... so that if I do happen to get caught in an dispute with Paypal, they may only end up freezing that account... Not that I'm expecting it to happen, but with some of the horror stories I've read recently and the stubborn and unhelpful customer support I've had from them, I think it's better to cover my butt.

So... I go through the premier account sign-up process and come across one of the standard questions:

Do you understand your rights... as outlined in the Legal Disputes section of the User Agreement?
[] Yes
[] No

The words "Legal Disputes" point to a URL:
https://www.paypal.com/row/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/ua_pop-outside&popup=1#section16

Only, the thing is, there is no section of the User Agreement entitled "Legal Disputes" nor (going by the actual URL) is there a section 16. So, while Section 14 covers most of this information, I cannot in good conscience select YES to this question, because it didn't ask if I understood my right with regard to arbitration. It asked if I understood my rights... as outlined in the "Legal Disputes" Section...

If I say YES, then I'm lying, as I don't understand my rights under "Legal Disputes". If I say NO, then I can't complete the account application.

So... I talked to customer support (Damn, somewhere, when I closed my account, I made record of the 1-800 customer support number that you get only AFTER you've closed an account) and they were confused. Big surprise. I sent an email off asking to be advised when they've resolved this issue.

What do you want to bet that they never bother to get back to me?

But, you know... there are some cheap photography equipment stuff on eBay I'd like to get my hands on, and some steampunk stuff I might want to buy... and I've got a mounting pile of RPG books I'll be offloading soon... so, having PayPal will be more of a help than a hindrance, I'm hoping...

This feels like a lot more hoop-jumping than it should be.

New Gallery up: Christina...

2008-05-10T07:53:25Z

No cut, just click the image to go to the gallery.

A little tidbit on MP John Baird

2008-05-04T04:48:01Z

Copied without permission from my sisters' Facebook note

So nice to know M.P. John Baird doesn't care what Canadians want
I just received this email today. I've never gotten a "not-read" receipt before. But there's a first time for everything...

Your message

To: Harper, Stephen - P.M.
Cc: Baird, John - M.P.; Warawa, Mark - M.P.; Watson, Jeff - M.P.;
Vellacott, Maurice - M.P.; Harvey, Luc - Député
Subject: Bill C-377 and all other scientifically-based environmental
initiatives
Sent: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 13:19:26 -0400

was deleted without being read on Fri, 2 May 2008 17:08:59 -0400

Eight New Galleries up!

2008-05-02T18:22:30Z

A double-handful of new galleries... It's been a busy couple of weeks.

The point of the last handful of shoots has been to teach myself not to be afraid of shadows, to start using them to a benefit... This could easily take years before I'm truly comfortable with it...

Evolve	Randi, Blue Faerie	Lindsay, B&W	Gord in Garb
Brandy, Wet	Lucy, B&W	Karen, B&W	Danna

Evolve

Randi, Blue Faerie

Lindsay, B&W

Gord in Garb

Brandy, Wet

Lucy, B&W

Karen, B&W

Danna

New photos coming...

2008-04-29T05:14:31Z

Not here yet, nothing to see...

But in the last ten days, I booked--and shot--

* Danna Waldman (portrait set)
* Karen Woodward (portrait set)
* the_shootr (portrait set)
* Brandy Sapala ("wet" bathing suit set)
* Gord Henderson (SCA Garb set)
* Lindsay Chase (portrait set and "squished faces" set)
* Randie Dey (purple faerie set)
* "Evolve" (test set for a new Model Mayhem contact)

I've delivered the Waldman, Woodward and Porter sets. So, I'll have stuff going up tomorrow or Wednesday... By that point, i should have delivered the Sapala, Henderson and Dey sets.

Y'know... it's been about twelve hours of studio-time and twenty-five hours of post-production, and these images didn't require a lot of color-correction... I'm just getting more picky.

Grumble grumble livejournal yahoo grumble....

2008-04-27T00:36:39Z

So, I went looking for an email message I knew I'd received, and had to go exploring in Yahoo!...

Lo and behold I've got a thousand and some odd notifications about stuff from livejournal...

All those comments I'd made and then forgot? people commented. plans coulda been made. If I wasn't quite so daft, or distracted...

So, I've updated the filters and will actually get those notifications now.

inlandsea? Are Fridays still reasonably good for coffee? Now that I have a daytime life, I would very much like to get reacquainted...

Personalized internet-annoyances...

2008-04-25T19:56:49Z

So, I've had two things happen recently that're really starting to bother me. Both are a sort of personal attack of sorts, though I'm not entirely certain they're intended as such. It might just be someone's stupidity.

Youve got to understand that I've had the yahoo.com account i use for my primary public filter. (ie, unsolicited and internet sign-ups requiring an email). I've had jait@yahoo.com for eleven years now... I get over 3000 spam messages a month, though Yahoo does a really good job of filtering most of it out. I'm sure that some really-honestly-not-spam messages get caught by it too, but most people know to try me at one of my other addresses (if you don't and you think you should, comment here!)

So, the problems...

Vonage
First, someone logged into their vonage voicemail account and directed it to send me email notifications. Luckily, each email notification also comes with a phone-number of the from and to people... I've talked to vonage tech support and am waiting a week or two to see if it stops or if there's a decline in the number of voicemail notifications I get. I mean, I don't even use Vonage. Why should I care if Juanita Eikey gets a message?

Sign-me-up?
Then there's the occasional automated response I get from websites I didn't register with, telling me that my account is set up.. .I just need to click the link to register. Like, web.tickle.com, for instance... I did follow the link to one such site (by copying the URL, not just blindly following the link)--I forget which--and changed the password.. making it truly *my* account, not whoever intended to use the name jait there... And I've done it three or four times for sites I might be interested in at some point. But it is getting annoying.

I'm at the point where I'm not certain it isn't someone being a malicious annoyance. Back in a previous life, I had someone I'd made enough of an enemy of, that she copied my email address book, and sent email to random friends, informing them that I'd died in a car accident... I think I've had my name and address signed up to at least one commercial mailing list, since I've moved to Victoria, and there may be more...

Thankfully, it's all low-level annoyance kinda stuff. And, it still might be stupidity on someone else's part... they might've intended to type in jait&064;yahoo.some other-domain-extension and just not bothered to check...

That is all.

el Wahda - rehearsal

2008-04-22T05:57:53Z

I'm uploading the photos right now. Took B/W to compensate for the low-light yellow-levels... Only a handful of images, 4 videos (including the first full song you rehearsed, though the sound quality isn't so hot, given the camera and the fact I was right behind the percussion)

A Panorama of the band... (probably the best shot in the whole mix)

The possibly worthwhile ones have been uploaded to my photobucket account at:
http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk63/geoectomy/the%20band

Finntroll!

2008-04-18T20:08:15Z

Some of you may know that I'd developed an amusing interest in fusion music, after reading Lyda Morehouse's Messiah Node, in which one of the main characters--an artificial intelligence gets temporarily "downloaded" into a human host, a Cello player for a fusion polka band...

So, I did a random search for "Death Metal Polka" and came up with Finntroll.

Black Metal Polka.

For real.

It's a bizarre mix--the growling, angriness of Black Metal mixed with the upbeat happy tempos of Polka. And yet, it works. They've got five or six albums out and I downloaded enough to know I'll be buying a couple albums... Apparently, they sing in Swedish because they thought it sounded more trollish.

They've got a teaser on the front page of their website for an upcoming album.

http://www.finntroll.net/

Shoot with Danna...

2008-04-18T04:43:20Z

Did a shoot with Danna today. In the end, we did most of it with one hot-light and the flash unit. Much better results than I'd expected, leading me to believe I need to shoot more this way... Shadows need not be a bad thing. This set shouldn't need much post-production work as the lighting is largely good as-is. Makes me think I might actually be learning something.

Haven't done any work on the images yet and haven't delivered, so can't show much of anything yet. But this, I had to show...

the_shootr drew my attention to the neat contrast of textures... This is likely one of my favorite shots of the entire shoot. Maybe possibly even album-cover worthy?

The roommate rocks.

2008-04-17T17:17:54Z

'Cause I had a slightly different educational background, I never did make a lamp in wood shop, or anything like that. So,the_shootr offered to replace the switch on the studio-light. Quick, easy job. I understand how it works now... and I don't have to replace the whole light... It's working now, in time for the half-dozen shoots I've got planned for this week.

Yay for awesome roommates!

Crap...

2008-04-17T02:56:52Z

Setting up for a photo-shoot tomorrow, and I've got a handful of shoots planned for the next week.

One of my lights just blew out--at the switch. If it were at the bulb, I'd just replace the bulb. But it went at the switch, leaving a nice little scorch mark... I've unplugged it, of course. Can't use it. Must go see if I can get it repaired.

I presume it just needs new wiring and a new power-switch...

Any idea where I should go for that kinda thing?

Small appliance repair? electrician? lighting store?

Daffodil shots up...

2008-03-20T01:43:56Z

Daffodil Portrait pics are up at My Website

Some mixed results. Must get myself a light meter. Really. Still, there's two or three good ones in there.

My favorites:

Unfortunate Daffodil Portrait Out-Take #1

2008-03-19T08:11:32Z

Gotta remember to pay attention to the lighting....

Frustrated - re: Daffodil Portrait Pics...

2008-03-18T23:49:30Z

Okay. this is now the third time I'm sitting down to correct the images.

The first time I did them, I did a bunch of sweeping changes and corrected too high on the fill light and saturation levels... After maybe five hours work, I left it and went to work. Came back and reviewed the pics. Hated them. Started over. Better correction the second time. Learned some new techniques for taking care of color-casting and some overly red blotchy flesh pigments. I got to the point where I photoshopped out some background elements and removed acne... But, same thing. I reviewed them after work today, and I hate them.

Too red, from trying to go too bright. So, Once again, I'm correcting the images. Probably, I'll have them up tomorrow night.

Probably.

Still, I've learned enough over the last couple of years to make me think I want to go back and remaster some of the sets I did years ago... Ones like Wil & Erins wedding, The Finns and Tonguesweat.

From a shoot that never got published...

2008-03-13T08:53:30Z

An outtake from a Dystopian Knights scene that got shot, but never used...

The Sims2

2008-03-08T17:16:14Z

Well, I shoulda known this would be addicting....

Picked up a pirate copy to see if I'd want to buy it.

Yup.

The social situations boggle the mind. I might do the occasional graphic novel (like laridian), but probably not too often.

I've created four families and raised at least one kid in each to adulthood... The latest one was two single parents splintering off from a massive cult project. They got together; their kids got together. Father electrocuted himself just before the son became a man. The son proposed to the daughter (single parents, remember?), who rejected him... The mother stepped in to console him and they ended up in bed... I guess she was just waiting for him to grow up... ease her loneliness. Perhaps he reminded her of his father? Well, she got pregnant the second time they went at it, but apparently she starved to death when they went at it a third time that night. The daughter had a mental breakdown. The son, realizing he needed to make some changes, joined the army and bought a personality-changer. Unfortunately, the daughter tried it too, and she didn't' come out so well. Now, all she wants to do or talk about are grilled-cheese sandwiches. It's possible the son may move out on his own... I don't think they've got a Sim Mental Hospital, so, I may use her twice-haunted self as a means to torture other single sims...

Yeah, I'm going to buy it.

Self-Portraits...

2008-02-29T06:51:22Z

So, I've started shooting again this year. Took me long enough. Been having really big problems with sleep from basically September last year til a week or two ago, when I switched to the day-shift. Part of the winter-malaise is the total and utter lack of creative projects. So, last weekend, I had Randie in for a shoot and Brandy in for a shoot. Today, Jamie came over to play... Eventually, I'll get the galleries up to show...

While setting up the lights, I decided to play a little with the remote... and the goggles.

Can't forget the goggles.

Body For Life (Canada) competition... 2007

2008-02-05T04:53:05Z

So...

A guy I'd taken pictures of for him to enter the Body For Life competition pulled in 2nd runner-up... and you can see one of my pictures on their list of champions page...

http://www.eascanada.com/Webpage.asp?Page=528133&Name=CDN.%20BFL%202007
Darren C... Hardwood floor, Black backdrop, 2 hot-lights, a couple of horse-kicking stomps and an air-gushing blow-it-out smile...

We thought he was going to give himself a heart-attack...

But if he got a fair amount of coin because of it...

Another friend (who I also took pictures of) pulled in sixth place--go Christy!

Shift-Change...

2008-02-01T08:13:04Z

So, I'm done with night-shift for a while (maybe)*.

Starting Sunday, I'm working Saturdays through Tuesdays... Sure, I lose my Saturdays and Sundays, but I'll gain week-nights. Pretty much all of them. And I'll get Tuesday through Friday afternoons too...

My god, I might have a chance at a social life again.

----
* Maybe, because, in the way of things, one of our first-aid attendants didn't pass his OFA renewal, and something else happened to another, so they're going to need an OFA to cover weekend nights. I've got seniority, so I've stated my preference to go with the current day-shift plan. But at the moment, it's going to mean pulling one of the day-shift OFAs to nights for six weeks... And if the person I think they've got in mind makes a big stink... they'll probably turn around and ask me to do it. Being the kind of schlub I am, I'd probably do it.