Hello again dA, as you can probably tell I've been inactive on the site for quite a while. I've started adding things to 500PX and Flickr again but I don't know about dA, I think the community is just a bit too broad for me. I was finding it more annoying than inspiring to have to sift through 3,000 drawings every day in my deviant watch notifications panel so that was my cue to leave.

An update on me.

I have completed the first year of photo school at my University. I shot and developed my own film all semester using my own Nikon FM2 SLR and the photo department's enlargers/baths/darkrooms etc. On the whole I think the experience academically has been beneficial but I do find I'm struggling from time to time to go photograph.

I think this is a problem a lot of artists face where they've gotten past the learning curve of their medium or have been at the top of their class for a while and think, "now what do I do?" or "what do I try to learn now." It's not that I haven't been taking pictures, quite the opposite, I'm just getting a lot more picky and a lot more of a perfectionist with everything that I don't post online too frequently anymore.

My photos have improved so so so so so so so much since I began posting on here and on Flickr, but I still have a ways to go before I get to the skill level I want. I've been lucky enough to do some commissioned work for a few museum catalogs and also do some work as a freelance videographer. Being able to work in the field has been a tremendous eye-opener and a great learning experience so far. I've been able to take the money I've earned and reinvest it back into more gear/books/cameras and things which has helped me progress more quickly. I started editing on a Mac with a Wacom tablet and that alone has made me 10x better with post-production work. It's been a very wild few years but I'm excited to see what's next.

I want to leave you with a few good resources since I know I probably won't be back on here very often but dA is still in my bookmarks toolbar so maybe I'll check in.

Most useful gear:

1. Wacom intuos 4 small
2. Western Digital My Passport 1.5TB External Hard Drive (used on every photo shoot, small and fast, good to go)
3. Lowepro Backpack (Used on every photoshoot and every commute to and from school for winter/spring break/weekend shoots)

Tips for the photographers starting to shoot commissioned work:

1. Shoot tethered (Gets major points with the client and sells the "experience" of the photoshoot, instant view of photos right on laptop)
2. Get an Amazon Prime membership (especially if you're a college student, you get a 6 month free trial)
3. Don't underestimate the quality of generic/off brand items. Save money!
   
4. Use time machine to backup your photos often
5. Calibrate your monitors often
6. It's worth it to take a step back and analyze your work and figure out where you want to go next. What work would you like to be making? What's wrong with what you've made? How can you improve? Who does work like that already?

Reading List:

Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies

Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Exposure Photo Workshop

Creative Camera Control 3rd edition

I think out of all the books on photography that I've read these 4 have covered the most ground and I think would probably be responsible for more than half of my understanding of photography, both modern processes and film. Everything from how light travels to the layers of chemicals on film strip to how to get accurate color in a workflow to the bare bone basics of photography, it's all covered.

A few other things

Over the past year or so I discovered Phlearn, and it is now my go-to place for all things Photoshop. I like it because all the tutorials are from the same guy, with the same teaching style, making them all super easy to follow and understand. AND they're not just basic PS tutorials like there are on youtube where the guy eating cheesecurls on the other end of the computer has to show you around the interface every time he tries to do anything. If you really want to get down to brass tacks in Photoshop or are a beginnner, Phlearn is the way to go. 

 If you'd like to follow me and my photographic endeavors you can read my blog here. or you can follow my Twitter

Anyways, thanks for the fun times and I'm sure I'll see you around!

-Alex Hochstrasser (AlexHawkPhotography)

Hello Deviantart! I have just purchased myself a Premium Membership this morning because there's a buy one get one deal until the end of the day. I will be taking advantage of this upgrade for the next 24 months, there will be polls and features and all sorts of new things happening soon.

What have I been up to?

I've been taking a lot of pictures (for yearbook) and doing so many college related things in my senior year. I got accepted to a 4-year photography major for college and I'm SO EXCITED!! A Macbook Pro is required for the program so I'll be purchasing one between now and September.

Merry Christmas as well, I'm am now proudly sporting a Lowepro Fastpack 350 which fits all my DSLR gear and some of my 35mm equipment as well.

My 18th birthday is also coming up in February and I will start selling prints after I create my first Paypal account that weekend. I know I could probably make one now, but just for legal policies and things like that I figure I'd just wait until I turn 18.

I haven't really posted a whole lot to DA and Flickr in past few months, I'm kind of at a loss for things to shoot. It really needs to snow.

Thank you for all the support with favorites and comments you guys are awesome!

Thanks for all the faves and comments!! These past few months I've really gotten a lot more views and comments/faves than I have before. These websites are set up such that the more you comment and fave, the more you'll get. If I don't thank you after you fave something it's probably because I haven't checked my account in a few days or dA thinks my comment back is spam.

I haven't made a journal entry thingy in a while so I figured I would today. Not too much has been going on. There' s been a few college tours here and there and I've tried to upload to dA and Flickr just about every day give or take.

I'm super pumped about spring and summer, despite probably getting a job. My ND filter and remote timer have yet to be used and that's going to be kind of a new frontier for me so we'll see how that goes in the not too distant future.

Still trying to correct some possible bad shooting habits. I think thus far crooked photos are the hardest for me to see. I've looked around on the inter-webs and it is quite possible that I'm just pushing the shutter a bit hard. Some other forums suggested that wear and tear over a period of time could result in a slightly off image sensor. It's so slight though sometimes so I can't really tell.

I think I need to just stick a hot shoe bubble level on the top of my 300D for like a month so I can get to the bottom of this.

Hello world!It's February! My birthday's next week on the 10th, not sure what's happening with that. It seems to me that I've neglected to travel anywhere special to take pictures, so I suppose I will have to get a little crafty indoors, and smash a few old pictures together for you. Not too too much is happening really, I'm super pumped for February vacation from school, because we're gonna go see a few colleges I think and assess my camera situation and see what I'd need. I also think that, regarding the picture taking, the weather where I live definitely is a little restrictive sometimes. If I get enough money, I'm moving the hell out of here, I don't want to just stay in one little section the east coast, I want to see everything the world has to offer, and I'm gonna do it one day.

So I'm currently attempting to master the pen tool in Photoshop, so I can make ridiculously fine selections and apply curves and saturation to individual elements in my photos, which I've never done before, but I'm excited to do. I feel like the results look a lot more natural than running a photo through a bunch of plug-ins.

That's another point I'd like to make. I've found that everything that I'm into, I'm like WAY into. I try not to settle for being "okay" at Photoshop, or being "okay" at photography, or "okay" friends. I feel like that same attitude of not settling for second best is a good attitude to have, it makes me push myself harder, and I like that.

I also won the Gold key for Whitman-Hanson Regional Highschool for The Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards. My teacher made me enter this one fav.me/d355x7t
which I specifically say in the description how I just kind of made it after my "failbot of a lighting experiment" I don't even really like that photo, I don't really feel like I deserve to win because of it. Although, I do think that I have a few good photos I've done and if that's the particular one that's gonna draw attention to me then I guess it'll work. I just hate the thought of being remembered because of a crappy picture. I kind of think that maybe the judges just haven't seen much clone stuff. It's funny, I see it all the time on the internet, take a peek, it doesn't really fascinate me as much as it used to now that I've seen it done about a million times, but I do think it's cool.

That picture also got in my local newspaper, which is nice. I think I almost enjoy the praise from my friends and random people more though, I'm kind of an attention whore. I do like to be alone sometimes, but I very much enjoy the buzz of having another person around, someone to talk to. Photography can be a really social thing, and I love it. The idea of networking, meeting random people you've never seen in your life, going up to a stranger, starting a conversation. Most people wouldn't do that. I would, and have a few times, you never know who you're going to meet. Lots of changes are coming within the next year, and I'm kind of excited. It's a pleasure to be here, sharing my work with you, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now get off your butt and go take some pictures.

-Alex

happy glorious wonderful 2011! I'm so excited. I have some new stuff coming in the mail within the next week you'll see. This is the last day of my Christmas vacation too :/ it was fun though. I've done lots of sleeping especially after the last few days of seeing some old friends and listening to some stories I hadn't heard before. Movie watching :3.

I suppose I should start thinking about my birthday which is coming up in February. I always feel like I get the crappy end of the stick on my birthday because that's when my mom goes on this quilt guild retreat thing and I just find it mildly upsetting that she's not around on my birthday. I'll probably end up instigating some sort of get together with some friends of mine or something, hopefully that works out.

I don't really have too too much of a New Year's resolution, besides doing well in school, getting explored on flickr, doing better on DA, bond with my friends more <3. that's pretty much it.

I hope your new year is good too.