I fall on my sword. Since 500px is really the only social media I involve myself in, you would think that my participation would be habitual. Alas, it has not been. I haven't visited or commented on nearly as many images as I should have over the last 6 months, so my sincere apologies. If it makes you feel any better, I've been out shooting less than I've been commenting. I've started a new job, and without going into any details, it involves people trying to kill me from time to time. I'm kidding of course (sort of), but it does sap my limited mental capacities which doesn't leave time for much else. I'm sure many of you applaud this new development and wish them luck. =). It also makes me think of the old Peter Sellers"Pink Panther" movies, where he instructs his assistant Cato to try to kill him every time he walks into his apartment. Hence the title. You young whippersnappers aren't familiar with these movies are you? Do yourself a favor and get on your facetube or whatever you kids are doing these days and watch a bit. Comedic genius. Anyway, about the picture. It's no secret to those of you that know me that I have an undying, deep, and passionate love for my buddy Ryan Dyar. It's not quite enough to make his girlfriend Candace nervous, but I've noticed our tents get closer and closer to each other as the years go by. I was beside myself when Ryan informed me he and Candace were heading down to my neck of the woods, so I suggested we do a sunrise. Didn't even bother to check the conditions. Didn't care whether I got a shot. Just wanted to spend some time with 2 of my favorite people. It turns out we got lucky. We wandered around for quite awhile, basking in the ticks, and after fearing that we were going to miss the good light, managed to make an image. Hang in there... I have a point. Trouble is, this scene wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. The perspective was off. Since I wasn't sure what I was doing, I just started shooting away, focus stacking like a mother at different focal lengths. Trying a technique I've heard the great Marc Adamus describe about using the natural distortion of the lens to your advantage and shooting to make certain parts of the frame look larger than others. It is at this point that I'd like to thank the Baby Jesus for making this day 100% wind free. When I got it home, I had a pile of frames and absolutely no idea how to put them together. I spent hours on it trying different combinations and techniques. It just wasn't quite right. Finally I realized that I needed to break out the big guns. So I did a Skype session with Ryan. With a massive amount of his help, I was able to put the pieces together and come up with this. If you are a single shot kind of person, then you will hate it. I have no idea how many frames it ended up taking because I started and stopped it so many times. Many of you know that Ryan is a full time landscape photographer. One of the cool things about being into this hobby is that many landscape photographers have come up with creative ways to impart their knowledge to us amateurs in order to pay the bills. Think Dale Earnhardt Junior offering driving lessons. Ryan has been offering Skype sessions (like the one I took to help me with this image) for quite some time now, but he has recently embarked on a 21st century journey of producing processing videos. The third one which he just released dives into the techniques used to make this image come together, and it's a wonderful tool for those of us that are challenged by blending, warping, stacking, etc. I couldn't recommend it more highly. You can find his videos at his website here: Ryan Dyar Photography Thanks for all the help, my Dudeness. Not just on this image but in all things life. via 500px http://ift.tt/1qhxGnS
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