[ravnostic]

Did Olav and I contribute to the crabbiness, Elsinore? 😉

[ravnostic]

Where’s the +1 buttons for the comments here? The thread is full of win in a number of places.

Regarding circles: As one of the early people who got in when G+ was restrictive, I got a head start. Started with the people I knew, and it grew from there. When G+ went wide, it got so I couldn’t keep up with the adds, then I figured out how to mass-dump quantities of people into a folder called ‘Followers’, which got up to 2000+ before I said ‘enough of this crap–the stream is a raging river and I can’t keep up’–and I deleted the circle.

This, as it turns out, is not a bad thing. Circle management got a whole lot easier. Turns out this just leads to more followers–and now I can just ignore them. They don’t go away. Gadflys? Nah. Just haven’t bothered to comment or share something that compels me to add them as a person of interest.

Regarding the ‘popularity’ factor–ever since MySpace–and hell, even blogger.com before it, which is as far as I thin back–this has been an issue. The whole follower thing is a giant popularity contest, and there comes a point when enough people follow you that the followers among us just want to belong to the tribe. 90% of those are suck-ups. Scott Jarvie actually posted on this a couple months ago. Or maybe it was Wil Wheaton. Celebrity has it’s price–paparazzi.

I personally favor a title, and I try to think of good ones when I can. Elsewise, I go for a location title, at the very least. But if there’s a ‘why I took this shot’ needed, or I feel compelled to share my mood while taking the picture, I definitely do.

The other thing I’ve learned is a re-learn from the MySpace blogging years. Once upon a time, “Teach, with a ‘Tude” and her husband “William (somebody’s) Voice” (the guy who did K.I.T.T. on knight rider) decided to have a barbeque, and all their MS friends were invited. I was the only one who drove in from Arizona, but a number of bloggers in and around the L.A. area (about 30) came. We had a ball. We became a tighter-knit sub community within the MySpace rhelm. For 2 years, we met quarterly–newbs were always welcome, and I met well over 100 people, in life, through those channels (and also a trip to NY, about 70 people, Mexico for just one, etc.) I’m still friends with nearly all of them on Facebook (except two,who’ve died). I’m slowly converting them to G+, muah-ha-ha.

The same thing happened on the photowalk in Phoenix; we came, we met, we shared some experiences, and I spend more of my time rapping with this new group, viewing just the stream of 17. Which will grow, next weekend, as I go to a Tucson photowalk, and meet a few more, plus reaquaint with some others.

This is where the social networking thing has led me–YMMV. Finding people I like, meeting them with a shared common interest, and enjoying bits of our lives either virtually or in person. And all the suffocants and haters and nay-sayers and followers et al? As a nerd and geek and wimp, I’ve dealt with them my whole life, and at some point along the way, I chose to ignore them, and have fun where I can make it.

And I must say–I’ve had a lot of fun. This group, in particular, has helped me grow not only photographically, but also personally and, in it’s way, has also helped me professionally. That’s why I’m still around–people who care always shine through. Those are the ones you keep.

[ravnostic]

I’ll be honest–I’ve had a lot going on in the past 10-12 days, and spent a lot of time on the D&D theme (Awesome contest pictures, unfortunately none of them appear to be mine, heh heh). I kind of need a break from the get-out-and-go; I think I’ve taken enough shots of the general theme type that I can be selective in my choices through the archives.

/unless I spy something better when I have the camera handy.

[ravnostic]

Yugoboy, TL;DR version: yes.

Okay, I keep seeing the TL;DR thingy and have no idea what it means. Anyone care to enlighten me?

//edit, thanks NBD!

[ravnostic]

A couple b’s before I head to work. Thank goodness I’m back to my 6:25pm start–much easier to get my pics loaded when I have more than 5 minutes!!

http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2011/nov/30/dd02sml.jpg
http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2011/nov/30/dd08sml.jpg
http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2011/nov/30/dd13sml.jpg
http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2011/nov/30/dd14sml.jpg

[ravnostic]

That one’s good, but I love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54VJWHL2K3I

/half-elf mage

Love it!

[ravnostic]

Nice shots. Very jealous here.

[ravnostic]

So I acquired one photograph this morning for the Dungeons and Dragons Theme, and I haven’t even looked at it closely. That and I still need 2 more before tomorrow evening. So I guess what I’m getting at is “Mandatory Procrastination is no different than any other theme for me”.

I was trying to think of how to say something just like you said. But I couldn’t. +20 to your savings throw and god’s speed. I only got my final shot today.

edit// WTH? Woops, this wasn’t meant for here. And the ‘delete’ button isn’t here, so I can’t remove it.

[ravnostic]

Shooting strangers (with a camera) can be intimidating. In my experience, the easiest, most forgiving light is…shade. Shoot outside, find some shade and use one diffused flash. If you can, get the flash off of your camera. If not, dial it down to just light your subject a bit more than the surroundings.

Easy-peasy.

moved to the ‘tips & suggestions’ area, for response and further input from the community. 😀

[ravnostic]

Saw U-Man‘s reference and found gambit‘s post–I’m so sorry you’ve lost someone! I 2nd what U-Man said; we’ll be here if you need a lift, and we’ll be here when you come back.

[ravnostic]

I’ve spent every free moment (and some not so free ones) working on this theme, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to 15 that I like. Working with models was fun! It’s like doing tilt shift, only you don’t need the fancy lenses…

I have no idea what to go with, though, G+ people just don’t get D&D (or, in my case, War Hammer).

Great fun–I’m sure to be clobbered in the competition with the likes of ennuipoet‘s pic. Good experience though, I learned a few tricks about long exposure shots using flash. And that’s the point, right? To learn and grow?

And, oh, hai! I got invited by my gorgeous female amazon friend (she’s 6’1″ and likes heels, used to model, absolutely stunning figure) to do portraiture of her over the Christmas break! I’m very excited. I’ve been practicing my portraiture with neighbors and family, it’s my first invite to do so…

[ravnostic]

I think I have 2/3. Unless 3/3 doesn’t work, which I won’t get to till tomorrow. Then I have 3/3, of a lesser grade. The real problem is there’s no interest in D&D over at G+, so I can’t get any feedback on what’s good.

[ravnostic]

Google + photowalks. Just saying.

[ravnostic]

I has a sad.

CISS, Orionid–I don’t think we have as great a number of viewers as the IP’s suggest. I know about 1 of 3 times, I have to reset my IP due to my paid-for pilfering of my neighbor’s wi-fi. Mobile devices and other mediums, etc. have their needs.

This week, my Shifty Sal shot got some 2758 views (the small version),

I know I’m back viewing the page at least 10 times over the duration of the contest, esp. during the beginning–having a shot posted early automatically gains views, as the first page is the one that comes up for anyone, from any computer. On posting night, I’m at work, at various computers at break, logging in, checking things out. There’s at least 4-5 different IPs just for me (as our work network is set up at least).

The Shifty Sal shot got some 24 views (the large version). 24 vs 2758

If there were 2700 individuals, I’m pretty sure more than 1 of 100 would have clicked through, even at #9.

But besides all of that, remember it was a holiday weekend, things do slow down this time of year, it was a challenging theme at a time when a lot of people wouldn’t have time to put something together.

It’s all good. I pro-actively pimped farktography out at the photowalk today.

//made me feel dirty, like a Christian Scientist, but: Oh, well. Whatever.

😛

[ravnostic]

So I visited my long-lost friend this morning–it’s good to see long-lost people. Her hubby’s action figure set is contained in 4 tool chests, plus assorted closet-sized landscapes, etc. I borrowed just one toolbox and a few accessories. If I fail at this one, it will most certainly not be for lack of props.

I trust the figurines can be from any D&D-type series, and not particularly D&D ‘proper’? I got orcs and dragons and various other middle-earth type creatures, but they technically go with the “Warhammer” game series.

Si, o no?

//edit: Nevermind–from the Theme forum post:

Yeah any RPG game would be fine for this

🙂

[Author]

Posts