10.21.09 Sumo

::Foto of the Day::

---

So this is one of my shots from my day at the Sumo practice arena. Six o'clock seemed way to early to wake up and take photos. Especially after working at a wedding the night before. But as they say "When in Tokyo.." So we arrived at the building where we were going to watch practice after roaming the streets for a while. I walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. After walking around the building a few times we could hear sumo sounds from one of the windows. "What exactly is 'sumo sounds'?" you ask? It is the sound of raw meat slapping into raw meat at the speed of a football player.

We went back to the front where I rung the doorbell. The lock turned and the door slid open a crack, but no one looked out at us. So we opened the door and walked in.

We were given designated spots where we were forced to sit. We watched the practice matches, and all the training exercises the wrestlers went through. It was pretty amazing to see such large guys moving so fast. At one point I tried to move to get a better shot. I stayed near my designated spot, but scooted over a little to an unoccupied area. I was immediately yelled at by a sumo wrestler looking guy in sweat clothes to "please sit down" *translated from Japanese*. Embarassed I quickly sat down.

All in all an amazing experiences. To see more photos from the day go to http://fantim.zenfolio.com/sumo

10.15.09 Utsunomiya

:: Foto of the Day ::

---

So I went out and took photos of Utsunomiya the other night, as my goal to take photos of the city before I leave it.
I haven't posted all the photos yet because of slow internet, but you can see them here. And more will be added later.

04.01.09 Contemplation Under the Pale Moon Light

::Foto of the Day::


ORIGINAL





So I took the original, added a moon, and added these power lines




I then changed the image to darkness by adding alot of black layers, and changing the filters. I actually had to do this for a reason, but I can't remember why.

I actually made this image two weeks ago, but it took me a while longer to post it than usual. Which means I have to post two photos this week.


AFTER


F

03.18.09 Impatience is a Virtue

::Foto of the Day::



52/10 Impatience is a Virtue

Isn't it impatience that enables us to act? I think patience allows us to become stagnant, and not strive to do anything better. How is that virtuous?
Actually I completely understand how patience is a virtue, but I think we also need to be willing to go out and try to get what we want, instead of waiting for it to come to us. I think lately this has been a problem of mine. I've felt like I need to go out and get something, but I have felt stuck and unable to get anywhere that I need to go.


So I decided this is the last time I'm going to publish a 52 picture on here. From now on they can be viewed on my website. But I will continue to use this space to post other pictures, as well as post before and after shots from my 52 Project.

So be sure to check out my 52 Projects page and you can also find me on Flickr.

03.10.09 In Good Health, and Take Time to Check the Time

::Foto of the Day::
Well it appears I missed a week on updating my blog. So this week you get two photos.




In Good Health 52/8


I was sick this week, and the photo I was originally working on didn't work out. So instead I decided to upload a photo of myself.


BEFORE:

I didn't actually take the photo when I was sick, but as you can see I did edit it a bit. Mostly bought out my eyes, and got rid of a few skin imperfections. I also changed the color to the weird green, most likely because I was feeling green myself.



52/9 Take Time to Check the Time

So this is my ninth 52 photo. I can't believe how fast this is going. By doing a project every week I can see exactly how fast time ticks by. It feels like just a few weeks ago I was starting my first photo. So today I'm posting a photo which was actually an idea for next weeks photo. I like the way this turned out though, so this is what you get for today's photo.

Now onto last (last) week's photo, and the edits I used.

Kinda Before:

So this image is pretty much all photoshop. I took the picture of myself as a luchador, and also took the picture of myself as the poor guy about to get pounded. I then added them to a wrestling ring which I made out of an image, and alot of vector art, and put the crowd background to it.

Instead of actually jumping in the area I took a picture of myself doing a back arch, then flipped it upside down. And I got what I was looking for.
AFTER:


So yeah that's how I did that photo.

So I know this was a long post, but hope you guys liked it. Please leave me a comment, no matter where you're reading this blog.

Until next time

02.22.09 Over My Head

::Foto of the Day::

Sometimes your worst enemy is yourself.

So now onto last week's before and after photos.

Kinda BEFORE:

As you can see my gas mask didnt have any eye coverings.  So that's one thing I had to add in photoshop, not only that but I also added the hose coming out of the gas mask.

Being the shy boy I am I wore a pair of shorts when I sat on the toilet, just incase there were any slip ups. I then edited the lens curve in photoshop to make my upper body look much larger than my legs, in order to bring more of a focus on my face. After adding a few affects and color changes I was finished.

AFTER:

02.16.09 Toxicity

::Foto of the Week::

FANTiM.COM
52/6 It wasn't me!

Ok so now a look at last week's image. I started out by painting my face. This took a long time to do, mainly cause the kabuki picture I was using as a reference was in a different room, so I kept running in between rooms to paint my face.

This is half way through the makeup

And just for reference this is what I looked like before the makeup

So finally I finished putting on all the makeup.

Then I did my photo shoot. Here's a before and after of the photo.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

So as you can see I turned the photo upside down and added some editing. Ok hope you guys liked it.
For more from the 52 Series click here.

2.13.09 Put It On Or Take It Off?

::Foto of the Week::


52/5
There are times in life where we need to remove the masks that we've worn.


Ok this week I'm going to show you a behind the scenes on last weeks photo "Rock and a Hard Place"
BEFORE



I pass this airfield everyday on my way home. It's wear I watch the helicopters practice their maneuvers. I had been planning this picture for a while, so one day I packed all my gear and came out here. Unfortunately I happened to pick the day there were like 5 other photographers taking pictures of helicopters. So I felt really dumb. but I took my pictures anyways. After I took my photos I converted them to HDR images.

I then went through and actually edited the HDR image to get the effect I wanted. This became difficult when adding elements like the helicopter in the background because it wasn't taken in HDR.
AFTER:


And from there I eventually finished "Rock and a Hard Place" The most difficult part of this project was making the fence extend into nothingness. The vanishing point of the fence, and the horizon made it difficult to edit properly. But I like the way things turned out in the end.

F

02.02.09 Rock and a Hard Place

::Foto of the Day::


FANTiM.COM

52/4

You have to make tough choices in life and see where they take you, because the alternative won't get you anywhere.


This week I will tell you about last weeks photo. Here is a before shot:


FANTiM.COM

I had a few shots from a helicopter base near my house. They were running drills one day and so I also got the shot of the people jumping out of the helicopter. Unfortunately you couldn't see much because there were trees in the way, and also the helicopter got cut off because I was trying to take pictures of the men. So I took another full picture of the helicopter and put it together with the men jumping out to get this effect. I had to go in and draw the rope leading off the helicopter because my photo as I said was mostly covered with a tree.

I then went through and added all the lighting. My favorite light that I added was the light shining down from the helicopter. After I finished I was trying to add a few raindrops on the lens of the camera (through photoshop), instead I got the two bright lights in the lower left corner. I liked the way it looked so I kept it.
Here is the finished image:



FANTiM.COM

Anyways hope you guys are enjoying my 52 project. Until next week... or sooner.

F

01.26.09 At Peace

::Foto of the Day::


FANTiM.COM


52/3 This weeks image is kind of my farewell photo to my apartment. Every weekend when I should have been sleeping I would wake up to the sound of helicopters flying over me. I hated it, but secretly I loved the sound. On my way home everyday I would stop for a few minutes at the military base and watch the helicopter manuevers. It is a great apartment.

01.23.09 Locked Out - 52/2

::Foto of the Day::


Ok for this weeks 52 I decided to do a before and after so you could kinda see the process that went into this photo.


After

This is the after shot (which I'll talk more about in a minute).



Before

The Shoot: So I had this idea in my head, and I kinda want to take it again but from a different angle. It's me just up as a cowboy in his underwear locked out of my place. I'm actually wearing long underwear in this picture and cowboy boots, but since I only have dark long underwear it makes it hard to see. I had to take this picture before it got too dark cause I wanted more natural light in it, instead of relying on my flash. So I was standing outside in my long underwear as all this construction workers were working around my apartment (which is getting renovated right now). It was very embarassing.
Post Processing: So as you can see there was alot of editing in this photo. First of all I had to put the window on the other side. Instead of just moving the window I decided to go ahead and move the whole background. This way the window would align better with the wall. I then had to remove the junk behind me, which is nothing more than the hot water heater at my apartment. After adding the door and the snake I went through and put in all the lighting myself. I wanted the colors to be warmer inside the house then on the outside. So I colored all my light sources with a more yellow tint, while making everything else the dingy blue. I then went through and put in the shadows of myself and the snake. I had to make sure that the shadow matched the lighting pretty well. I usually don't pay this much attention to detail, but this 52 Week series I'm doing is a big deal to me. So I wanted it perfect.
So yeah compare the two images, and be ready for next weeks 52.

01.21.09 Matthew's Headshots

Foto of the Day




FANTiM.COM



Here are some headshots that I did recently





FANTiM.COM



Same image with a little effect






FANTiM.COM



And another one

01.17.09 Not So Safe - 52/1

FANTiM.COM
Not So Safe - 52/1

While taking Aaron Nace's classes I've decided to go ahead and do a 52 Project. I will be posting 1 photo a week for a year.

This one was inspired by my recent immersion into zombie films.

Not sure why the copyright says 200- it should say 2009. The site where I host my pictures automatically puts on my copyrights.

See more at FANTiM.COm

01.14.08 Foto of the Days