Hello to all-

My name is Rob Ochtera.  I have been lucky enough to work with Eric and am honored to have been asked by him to participate in the blog.  He actually asked me a while ago, but like so many things in my life these days I have had a hard time getting around to it.  Why- I don't really have an answer.  For some reason when life gets hectic it seems like the things I really enjoy are the first to get put aside.  It seems like each January I make a vow to myself to not let this happen.  Here I am in the waning days of the second month and I can't think of the last time I just went out and shot for fun.  Nobodies fault but mine.

Anyway, It's tough to pick a first post- luckily Eric recommended I start with this shot from Honolua Bay.  It was shot with my infra-red camera and received minimal post work.  I love having this camera as a go to option.  The infra-red spectrum is at it's highest during the brightest part of the day and is a great way to kill some time between those golden hours.

Updated SportsShooter page

I updated my SportsShooter page with humpback whale goodness. Take a look...

www.sportsshooter.com/ebronson

[motion]

I started a project I've decided to call [motion]. It was started by this image...
There isn't really anything too special about the image. While I was editing though, a lightbulb went off in my head as to a recurring theme. I like motion.

Image details:
While vacationing in Lake George, NY I shot this. There was a winter festival going on and the lake was swarming with ATVs, snowmobiles and dirtbikes.

D700 - 24-70mm, 1/60 @ f/22, ISO100

Fake Tilt Shift

Have you ever wondered how this was done? Well Jeremy Payne has come up with his way of doing this without a Tilt-Shift lens. Take a look

http://www.jeremypayne.net/2008/01/this-is-test.html

I will try a few and see what they look like. Let see your examples.
-Schwegs

Drawing

This is the latest drawing that I have finished, I don't have any new exciting photos yet, but its nice to be blogging again!

iao valley stream

The Iao Valley on Maui has a lot of steams deriving from the second wettest place in the world: the West Maui Mountains. This shot was taken with a Nikon D200, 17-55mm, tripod, no filter, and there was a little dodging and burning done in post.

Creative Tip: Free 10-Week Photoshop Course

There is a free 10-week Photoshop course that has open enrollment right now. They use CS4 but a lot of courses translate to earlier versions.

Week 1, Feb 26 - Interface, Tools, and Shortcuts
Week 2, Mar 5 - Photoshop Layers
Week 3, Mar 12 - Selections
Week 4, Mar 19 - Advanced Selections
Week 5, Mar 26 - Masks
Week 6, Apr 2 - Pen Tool / Shape Layers
Week 7, Apr 9 -Drawing Tools / Brushes
Week 8, Apr 16 - Retouching
Week 9, Apr 23 - Color Correction pt 1
Week 10, Apr 29 - Color Correction pt 2

More info can be found at: http://creativetechs.com/freephotoshopcourse

It's free and there are a few areas we could all brush up on. I enrolled since the courses start at 9am for me and I usually work evenings. Leave a comment if anyone enrolls as well.

Welcome Back!

Jake: How are you gonna get the band back together, Mr. Hot Rodder? Those cops have your name, your address...
Elwood: They don't have my address. I falsified my renewal. I put down 1060 West Addison.
Jake: 1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field.

Thanks for getting the blog back together, everyone. The other blog died a slow, drawn out death and at some point this week I will take it out back and put it out of its misery.

We should make a goal of posting at least one image per week, per person. Articles/links are entirely up to you. I'll also try and do a better job of keeping up with the sidebar as well.

Thanks again, everyone, and hope to see you posting on here soon.