inspirational websites.

blog style sites:
http://fashionphotographyblog.com/ (fashion photography)
http://www.flickrista.com/ (fashion photography)
http://www.digitalabstracts.com/ (more art related)

major websites:
http://www.behance.net/ (the BEST artists in the world are on this site - portfolios and such)
http://www.deviantart.com/ (ridiculousness all day - all types of stuff)

photographer sites:
http://www.ruji.net/ (automotive photographer - always impressive)
http://www.photographersportfolio.com/ (fashion/beauty photographer - steven eastwood)
http://www.flickr.com/ (no questions asked if you're bored there is ALWAYS something new to look at)
http://www.modelmayhem.com/ (sometimes i find stuff - other times i just feel like the industry is a joke.. but i assume its just the people who are on the outsides speculating with their opinions in the forums)

more automotive photographers sites:
http://www.eastonchang.com (automotive - commercial)
http://www.stevedemmitt.com (automotive - commercial)
http://www.dukesphotography.com (automotive - commercial)
http://www.devinlefevere.net (automotive - commercial)
http://www.clintdavis.net (import tuner)
http://www.raviangard.com (automotive/people - my site)

-
more fashion photographers sites:
http://www.howardhuang.com
http://www.marcogrob.com
http://www.vincentpetersphotography.com
http://www.dbem.net
http://www.manipulator.com
http://www.joelgrimes.com

(these sites are all ridiculously good)

updates?

i really haven't updated this blog in a long time because - well there isn't much going on that i have found online and i have been working on building up my real website - www.v2lab.com | versiontwo laboratory

so please visit that

email me if you need any help with anything

complete explation of automotive rig shots

http://www.rigshots.com.au/howto1.htm

automotive rig shots - completely and thoroughly explained - with pictures!

edit your photos online?

http://www.splashup.com
- splash up seem's like its still in beta format

http://www.picnik.com/
- picnik seems to be a well rounded program

sorry for the lack of pictures...

how to light a white background

http://www.zarias.com/?cat=13

great link and reading material

apple

i heart apple

misc. flickr - additions

http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/

seem's fun - make calendars and other free crap here too lol good times

DIY Photographer

another Do-It-Yourself photography website

http://diyphotography.net/

more information for all =)

illustration tips

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

basic to some advanced illustration techniques - very good write up

one year

im proud to say we made it through our first year with v2lab.com

thanks to all our clients, all the people that stiffed us on money that made us learn the business quicker (even though i still want my money..),and to all the people who support us :)

also a big thanks to all the artists that have done collaborations - pushed us - and pushed the limits of design through out the year.

and to all our friends that showed up to help us at photoshoots, events, etc..

ravi - brad - steve & the rest of the group.

another blog - good info

http://my.opera.com/nghiadan/blog/show.dml/

over-powering the sun

by stepheneastwood.com

http://stepheneastwood.com/tutorials/skychart/skychart.htm

very similar to what they show on strobist blog

free flash gallery - software

open source gallery (looks a bit more complex) - i haven't looked into it
http://gallery.menalto.com/

another free one (just found it today) - flashgallery.org
http://www.flashgallery.org/

most commonly used flash gallery - simpleviewer
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer/

so no more excuses about not being able to build a website to host your pics!

high fashion - video shoot (youtube)

a little insight on a high fashion shoot



ideas.

good photoshop tips

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1100284

definitely a good read.

off-topic : researchers knock out HIV

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071020103343.htm

great advances...will the crazed money making corperations let it go to the public and actually cure something for once? only time will tell..

compact flash Wi-Fi cards?

well..they've managed to do it with SD cards, we'll just have to wait for the CF ones to be made ;P

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wireless/eye+fi-wi+fi-sd-card-gets-fcc-approval-313713.php

pretty dope.

domo!

that is all.

freakingnews.com - interesting site

http://www.freakingnews.com

another strange photography / photoshop type of website, has quite some strange and different things on it...

check it out?

banksy - street-art

"there is always hope"
http://www.banksy.co.uk/

truely dope - crazy messages - and really makes you wonder

suicidegirls - photographer's nightmare

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

all i want

is a 10 minute nap!

vonage is garbage

we switched to vonage after seeing the commercials.... it seemed like a promising service.. but that was just the beginning of our nightmare... it caused our internet connection to go bananas...we were missing calls, and if we did get them they weren't clear, the phone would ring and we'd run into connection issues while being online - static on the phones, problems everywhere we turned... after being getting customer service for about an hour, we resolved parts of the issues... but it was still garbage..

then looking into the pricing, we realized that we were infact paying more for internet connection + vonage than what we were paying with our phone service..so with all the bullshit problems, we decided we wanted to get rid of vonage... then out of no where? it was impossible for us to get incontact with vonage..and when we finally did.... to cancel the service, they continued to bill us for the modem tool, the service, and all that even after our service was completely canceled... what a load of bullshit, we eventually just had to cancel the credit card to avoid being charged...for a service we weren't recieving...

now that i ask people if they use or have used vonage...its amazing that everyones opinion on it is the same as mine...its a nightmare. truely garbage.

v2L

depthcore : freestyle III

alot of artists anticipate the release of depthcore's image packs, they've always produced incredible imagery...this pack is no different.

www.depthcore.com

(the image above was not designed by me - but merely a sample image of what is on the website)

infared

shot with a hoya r72 filter on a nikon d70 w/ kit lens
( i did not take this photo - i posted it for sample purposes )

the r72 filter costs about $50 from your local hobby/camera stor for the 58mm kit lens...

this image was edited using duotones and coverted to black / blue / white - when you take the image straight from the camera they appear purple-ish and require a lot of editing and processing to get a good final image

prints | collaborations

v2lab x pixel playground

v2lab x 57even

v2lab x heinz.buggman

v2lab x damage control

coming soon.

civic update

if anything can make me smile on a shitty day - here it is.

creation of rain (photoshop) - i make it rain!

since ive been asked a few times how did i create the rain in my rsx-t picture, ive decided to post a how-to

step1. create new layer, select brush tool at 1px

step2. create a bunch of small dots (you can just do a bunch randomly in one area and duplicate the layer and move em' around and merge the layer into one)

step3. motion blur the dots at whatever angle you feel is fits your piece

step4. duplicate that layer, and move it aroun a bit and motion blur again, but a bit stronger this time, creating a contrast between slower an faster / foreground background - drops

step5. adjust opacity to fit, and you're done :)

two of my favorites!

http://www.ruji.net

one of the best automotive photographers in the game. period. (screen shot above from his site)

http://www.koendemuynck.com/

something different - definitely worth a look ;)

blending

first a background of a sunset


original rsx-t picture


cleaned up version with blending, rain, sky color,
clouds, cropping, burning, coloring, smoothing, levels...

most idolized?

in every genre of life, there appears to always be one or two people that everyone wants to be like... in basketball it was michael jordan, in design static/motion it's eric jordan of 2advanced.com, in photography, it appears to be "dave hill" davehillphoto.com ...

i've come to realize, most n00bs and at some point most pro's have been asked to replicate or emulate his work.

(the picture above is a screen shot of dave hill's website)

dragan's technique of editing

so far all i've found on these process of editing is "actions" which can be found if you search google.. but i am still looking for the individual step by step process...

(i did not take the picture above..it is merely a sample of dragan's technique)

strobist - on assignments

strobist assignments
learning a little more about lighting - lighting 101 - GREAT stuff.
"the more you know the better you'll be."

adobe lightroom 1.0

slowly figuring this program out bit by bit..still seems..like more editing tools are needed..especially for fixing skin blemishes on models, smoothing, etc.. adobe lightroom | tutorials

alisica (new shoot)

new photoshoot of alisica - using the new umbrella / 2 flash set up (580exII & 430ex speedlites) - so this is just one of the samples from the shoot - check my flickr page for another shot - until i edit more shots..

my flickr

best business investment?

so one day, sometime ago..maybe 5-6 months? or so me and alisica were in target and i came across a dry erase board with a cork board attached, a half and half to be exact.

this has been the single greatest thing i have ever purchased. it helps me stay organized, manage my projects, and just keep phone numbers for short periods of time, it eliminates 1000 post-it notes (which i also have)!

DIY studio box

slight update, after some reconstruction, wtih some "banner" paper, and re-positioning, in the same box...i came up with this of my "xmod rsx"

i think i am going to "construct" a larger one tomorrow, with a bigger area, plus a plexi glass floor, for reflections..taking it one step further.



first try at the whole diy macro studio, i think it worked out really well...



this is what my DIY box looks like, tissue paper on the side cut outs.. white computer typing paper down the middle.. 430ex flash on left side, 580ex II on the right with hot shoe cords connected to the camera.

the original project was inspired by the strobist blog, but i only tried again to make it because of some posts on the "photography-on-the.net" canon forums.

interesting hour long project

HDR?

another thing i plan to learn soon..

vanilladays hdr-guide
tutorials on how to take/make hdr photographs like the one above. with photomatrix

howto-hdr
another great blog (on blogger) on how to do hdr's with photoshop

(i did not take the picture above..it is merely a sample of HDR photography)

today

being let down and disappointed .. has become a way of life.

the big L

mmm beautiful ain't it........ :)-

civic update

civic is running with a slight exhaust leak due to a crack in the manifold... just waiting on a payment from a website to get the new manifold made by gato, then to cft for the obd1 harness and chrome tuned p28 - i can't wait ;D


valve cover just got powder coated too - tealish color.

its aliveee!!

the civic is now alive! fuel system still needs to be upgraded (with the walboro) and i need to get the chipped ecu (with chrome), but other than that, its running no more missfiring at 5k rpm..everything is looking good right now

orlandodancehall.com is coming together nicely and the site is almost complete for its release on thursday.



release date: june 28th 2007

yamaha - i win! ;D

so a month or so ago? i submitted a picture i took of my friend chris' motorcycle (he wanted me to submit for him), and so ...today i recieved an email of the entire nation and how ever many bike pictures, we were one of the ones selected to win - and win vip + 2 tickets to mazda's leguna seca! = awesome





+1 more for the v2lab! ;D

flickr.com

another photography site i have taken a real liking to: flickr.com

my page on flickr: flickr.com/photos/fourv2 :)
sign up, enjoy, leave come comments ;D

strobist

strobist.blogspot.com

strobist, has some great lighting techniques and great information :)

camera

this is the camera that started it all my sony cybershot 3.2mp! :)

a new day

peaceful. :)

first rig attempts

brad's mercury.. 15sec shutter, f5 i believe... tripod mounted to the car.

automotive rig shots explained.

photoshop removal and everything

mattwatkinson.com/blog/?p=60

i love google

best services on the internet, all they need now is "free web-hosting" and they'll have the complete package. :)

best email, best search engine, blah blah blah best everything period.

imagination

"imagination is more important than knowledge" - albert einstein

skateboarding is my savior

just thought id share this - me doing a hardflip over the hip at the oakridge skatepark

well....

well...looks like i gave up again for the night on this new design...but i got the original v2lab site fixed and working again... so i guess thats good enough. also the mixietunes "hangover" cd cover, has been finalized and printed and it looks great..im happy with the overall product, can't wait to see how it does on the shelves!

lack of inspiration?

i have been wanting to re-design my official v2lab website for awhile now...but i just can't seem to come up with something i really want... i think its a bit of lazyness, lack of ideas, and a bit of restlessness..im not really sure what i want to do, or how i want it to look so i guess..thats a big part of the problem...i need to get too it..the page is currently down due to some server errors, not allowing us to re-upload our photography page..go figure...

todo list

todo list - which i hope to have accomplished within the week...

· airport landing strip photoshoot - house of performace 350z - tampa florida
· collect money from omar pse $50 ind playground / victor pse $30 Cfe flyer
· jackie dragonroom (contact about flyer)
· nemesis business card (designed + digitize logo)
· committed miami party flyer (concept)
· puerto soul ent. myspace layered developement concept
· v2lab posting for myspace picture
· re-edit mixie tunes cd covers
· comp card design - edit for print + payment $50

"Small minds talk about people, Average minds talk about events, Great minds discuss ideas"

soon...!

i've been saving up from doing design jobs left and right..the 10-22mm canon lens is coming! this weekend im going to pull my transmission off my civic and try and re-thread this bolt into my crank and lets all pray this all works out and my civic runs right again! 300+ horsepower is going to be a beautiful thing ;D

new styles? new day

i was looking around at some art and i've been wanting to form a new style around whats becoming ever so trendy, so i finally made a new default image for my myspace page (www.myspace.com/v2lab), it came out damn near perfect! i couldn't ask for anything better.

yesterday so much got accomplished, finished another myspace layout, sent out some emails, and am now trying to get this photoshoot squared away with a past client who never got his pics due to payment issues.

hopefully the rest of the week will go just as smooth as today =)

how to block text messages..

How to Block Text Messages:
step 1. identify the person
step 2. drive to their house
step 3. ring door bell
step 4. call their phone so it rings
step 5. locate phone
step 6. proceed to slam phone into ground and stomp violently
step 7. walk out out like a G
step 8. proceed home, never to be bothered by the person again.

by ravi

i originally wrote this for "misz trina" on myspace, in response to her bulletin "how do you block text messages?" apparently she thought it was funny enough to put on her myspace page, so i figured it post it here as well.

inspiration* (updated)

with all the madness that's been going on, from my daily driver (my integra) being stolen to my civic motor being fully built and not working right to my ex g/f and i going our seperate ways, its been one hell of a year already...so i've decided its time i really set goals for myself, and get focused. so here are my goals that need to be accomplished by the end of summer:

· finishing my civic for hot import nights in july (didn't happen...but its running!)
· finding a photography studio in orlando for use / rent. (might have one soon(?))
· buying: 10-20mm sigma lens, and 70-200mm f2.8L IS canon lens. (got both)
· getting my business cards printed (soon hopefully) (done!)
· submitting 3 shoots to suicide girls (i gave up..maybe one day..?)
· v2lab model search (maybe soon?)
· more photoshoots, websites, flyers, covers..etc (definitly got done)
· graduating from valencia
· buying: a laptop (put on hold..)
· pushing V2LAB even harder. (always!)

inspiration? i don't fear failure, i fear not living up to my own dreams.

first

today, ive decided its time to start a real blog, keep track of my thoughts and stuff... today, ive canceled one photoshoot due to the crappy weather, and i still have one myspace layout to do..but other than that, everything seems in order. finally my business is back on track and i am making real money again - v2lab.com.. im about to book two more girls for shoots, and hopefully..still no word on the suicidegirl style photoshoots, that i want to submit to them...but who knows if the opportunity comes..ill jump on it..

other than that i still want to go out today and skate and probably take some pictures of some random stuff for fun... who knows maybe get a few good pictures of us skateboarding.

as a whole i'm trying to keep my life moving and going in positive directions. :)

side note; i have enabled commenting by anyone even if you do not have a blogger or gmail acct.