retina said:

Pretty. I like this one a lot.

jan 12 at 3121 enjoying the "special menu".

retina said:

I don't know why you're bellyachin'. Those are fantastic!

JustErin said:

Thanks! You know the type of war pictures where you see battle-weary soldiers in contrasting light? Well, this kind of reminded me of that, only we see battle-weary sunflowers instead.

heartbeatocean said:

Thank you so much! I haven't taken pictures in ages, so it feels great to hear that.

The reason I'm "bellyachin" is that the original pictures turned out so-so because of lack of time and fading light. What makes these particular ones decent is the colour- and contrast-tweaking I've done afterwards (which is a valid and standard way of handling pictures, but I still feel awkward about manipulating reality).

Anyway, thanks again. That was wonderful to hear.

EskomoKisses said:

She is so cute

retina said:

You seem to have a very fluid and flexible approach to photography. Your images are all different yet they have a cohesive voice behind them. And they're playful. I know what you mean about manipulating pictures, but with the advent of computers and photoshop, it really has become a new art form.

heartbeatocean said:

All the photographers that I admire have that quality, where each of their pictures is its own universe but they're all still connected to each other somehow, so if you think I have that quality too then that's mindblowing. Seriously, it's one of the best compliments you could ever give me. Now I feel like taking more pictures again.



It has and I accept that, so I guess I should instead have said that I feel weird when I'm operating somewhere in the no man's land between realism and all-out manipulation. For example, the last picture I posted here has clearly been manipulated quite a lot and nobody would think otherwise, so I don't feel too bad about that. When it comes to the first picture however, nobody could say for sure that the sky didn't actually have that colour so they might believe it did, and then I feel like I've betrayed them, do you know what I mean? It's a tricky balance act, for sure.

retina said:

I was hoping that would be the effect.



I do know what you mean, but I think it's too late to hold onto an ethic of photographic realism in this day and age. The thing that I think works for your photos is they have that sense immediacy and experimentalism in them but it's clear you use modern tools.

heartbeatocean said:

Well as long as it's clear when I do use them, then I'm okay with that. Thank you very much, you've really given me a kick in the butt to go out there and snap away.

When are you going to post one of your short films by the way?

retina said:

I tried posting a Quicktime film from photobucket,but the frame was the wrong size so it came out all chunky and digital-looking. I'll have to figure it out. Problem is, my films are getting kind of out of date. I should have a new computer system soon though, so I can start editing and produce some more work. I really admire that you're out there snapping pictures.

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

she dug up 50kg of potatoes last autumn for the winter

retina said:

I was just scrolling through this thread and just went WHOA!

love this one, it's like there is a light in it!

retina posted:

I would know dozens of people who would love to use some of these as album artwork.

swans are black here did you know!

ZombieKitten said:

Thanks! Flash is not a bad thing as long as its mighty powers are controlled.

novabrkr said:

Seriously? Well in that case they've found a match, because I've been wanting to do album artwork for years! I already have a bunch of pictures in my portfolio that I think would be appropriate for that purpose, but I'd definitely be willing to take new custom-made pictures too. Do you think you could put me in touch with some of these people? It would be greatly appreciated!

new pictures!



zombie that doesn't look like the height of summer in your pictures
but wonderful none the less

retina said:

That kind of photography is usually quite sought-after in the underground electronic circles - the darker, abstract end of it (see: http://www.kompaktkiste.d.../act89.jpg for example). I'm a relative newcomer to the whole thing so I can't just toss around names on message boards and people I know to promote a photographer that doesn't live in the same country. To be frank I'm not sure if anybody would listen to me at this point But of course I will give a mention if you want to and somebody is griping about not having suitable material. I'd love to see the portfolio anyway though.

People aren't usually able to pay much in these circles (if anything at all, most tend to just steal the photography and manipulate it themselves). I'm talking about releases that sell around 300-2000 copies globally, so it's quite far-stretched from the commercial marketplace. And some of the politics endorsed by the acts I know here are, at the very least, dubious.

I am personally looking for a quality shot (at least 2000x2000px) of an open view of a late-autumn park scene with the ground all covered up in dead leaves. If you'd have something like that available, I can pay a modest sum for it.

novabrkr said:

Thanks!



I did put together an online portfolio on Yahoo Photos a while ago, but now that I went to review it, I realized that it was mostly just pictures from a certain limited period. My "real" portfolio goes back further in time and also includes my most recent stuff, so I'm going to try to put that online too eventually . In the meantime you can always take a look at the limited stuff I have there already (I'll org note the addresses) and see if there's a certain style you like. In that case I could dig up more pictures in that same style.



So do they steal even lo-res copies? In that case I wouldn't even want to show them my portfolio...

I don't mind the small market though. At this point I just want to get work done, so I have something to show potential future employers who could pay more.



Well thanks for the offer, but of course season-dependent pictures are the most difficult to produce à la carte unless it just happens to be that season at present. I'll see if I already have some autumn pics though. I might.

lo-res pictures aren't really worth stealing because album covers need to be at least 250dpi and that requires quite a huge source pic in the first place (300dpi is the standard).

I really don't know how a photographer could promote him/herself seriously in the underground circles though, altough there is always shortage of quality material and people sometimes put all kinds of garbage on their stuff and wonder why the release isn't selling. It's mostly just about getting to know people first-hand and being willing to do everything with a minimal-profit attitude (at least at first). People don't want extra costs. Knowing the music would be preferred too, now that I think about it. It's more about just "stumbling across" the right image, unfortunately. The way it works is totally unprofessional.

A lot of the label heads are themselves the ones who design the artwork for the albums they put out - that's sometimes one of their initial motifs to start a record company in the first place. Believe it or not.

novabrkr said:

I know all that, that's why I asked if they steal the lo-res ones as well. It would have surprised me if they did.



Right, well if they have a look at my pictures then at least there's a chance they'll do their stumbling in my portfolio. It's just a matter of getting one's work out there and creating opportunities for cooperation, so if you hear anyone who is even remotely interested I'd be glad if you let me know. Thanks!

So what did you think of the portfolio folders I gave you the link to? I know that most of it isn't exactly "goth", but some of it might have the right atmosphere anyway.

.

The portfolio was good. I've orgnoted my further ramblings.

What people usually steal is some detail and then manipulate it. Altough I've seen some folks taking lo res stuff and stretching it for the end-result. Not terribly good-looking.

heartbeatocean said:

Well I've never seen any of your work so to me it's all new and fresh. And I don't mind chunky quality. Upload it and post it!

Spookymuffin said:

:steals:

whore.

i think i still like mine better, though

retina said:

No. I posted it on a thread and it felt weird. I've learned to respect these feelings with regards to my art, otherwise I get neurotic. I will work on finding a way to send it to you. I really should get my web page back up. This may take a little time.

evenstar3 said:

tbh, that top looks better on the floor.

Spookymuffin said:

so would yours