New Zealand Panoramas

I wanted to feature a few pictures that I just absolutely love!!

To start, I want to get into the whole panorama style. We all have seen the apps on the smart phones that do the piecing together to make 360 panoramas. We also have the point and shoot cameras that do that as well. I feel as though the whole environment of making absolutely everything easier makes a lot of things more insignificant, or at least just not as special. It also takes out the skill required to take great 360 panoramas. Don't get me started on the whole Instagram phenomenon. Now, everyone under the sun is a photographer, right? UGH!

All we have to do now is hold up our latest addiction called a smart phone. Swipe it across the room. Press a quick button, and in 2 or 3 seconds flat you have a brand spanking new 360 panorama photograph!! Dont get me wrong I love seeing them! I think Panoramas are awesome even if it is done with a smart phone. But I DO NOT use those apps!

When I first discovered how great a panorama photo is, I looked into how it was originally done before all of this smart phone business came into play.

Take your camera, make sure you have proper consistant prospective, exposure, and a damn good steady hand, or tripod. You later take all these photos(you usually take any where from 15-40 photos, depending on what you want to include. Sometimes even more) and than edit them together. There is specific software you can use that can seam all your photos together for you. I know photoshop has photo-merging. What I wanted to do was to seam everything together manually myself. My first panorama ... geez was that hard!! I knew I needed more practice shooting it, and also editing the seams! It's tough!!!

The above panorama was my first one. It was taken in Goa, India. Colva beach. It was shot as a complete 360, but because I wasn't really even with my horizon some pics trailed off and weren't aligned with the other photos and I wasn't able to get the ends in. I loved it, I picked such a hard location. The people made it extra hard to make sure it was a smooth seaming. I had a hard time with the sky too. You can see the inconsistent color, and exposure in the sky. The sky in photos for me is the hardest to seam together. Also the horizon is a bit lop-sided. Practice was needed!! It helped me shoot better the next time around.


Why did I want to go through all this trouble?? I don't know, I just felt I needed to learn this way first before jumping into some crazy software. I wanted to know how hard it was. Was it paying respects? Maybe. Paying my dues?? Most likely. There is a plus side to doing it all your self though. I am able to control everything, and not have to deal with the details of a software program to make very tiny changes. Cons: it just takes more time.

I have been taking a lot of photos to do panoramas. I have a page on my site that features them.

My Panoramas

I have been working on a big one!! I can't wait to finish it, and show everyone. It was taking me a long while to finish it. I was working on it for hours a day for weeks!! I finally decided to take a break from it. I will be getting back to it, and finishing it soon. I think taking a break from creative work, and going back to it is definitely good for the artist. Your mistakes become more noticeable, and sometimes you can see things a bit more objectively, which will only make your art better, or more of what you envisioned for it in the first place. ON the other hand it can morph into something greater than you originally though. Taking a break is never bad, well, at least not to me. Others will beg to differ.

My most recent finished panoramas are below. They have to be my favorite ones to date!!

This one was taken at the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand. An absolutely amazing place! I remember how I felt that day, and how lucky I was to see that! I felt like I was seeing perfection! I wasn't able to get an entire 360, but a pretty, damn good 180.

I really love this Panorama! It really has to be my top pick thus far. This wasn't a full 360 either. I could have made it a whole 360. The other side was beautiful as well, but there's a viewing area that includes railings, concrete and cement. I'm just not into showing that sometimes. I wanted this one to be just the view, not HOW we viewed it to be included. I am not against showing the entire real environment, but this one, I wanted it to be just the view I got to take in.


You can definitely see my progression, and growth when addressing my skill in panoramas. My first to my most recent, what a difference!!!

So, for aspiring photographers, even if you think you aren't any good at photography, or not up to par now, just know that you'll get there, and definitely get better!! Dont give up!!

Dont Quit Your Day Job.

"Dont quit your day job."
This phrase has new meaning in my newly found settled life here in NJ/NYC. I include NJ because I may live in Brooklyn now, but my jobs are in NJ. A large portion of my time is spent in NJ. I almost look at NJ as a place where I have a bit more room to roam. I can escape the millions of people that are "The City." I guess there is a certain pride that goes with being a resident of the 5 boroughs that everyone knows to be NYC.

Everyone has this glorified image of what NYC is, when you live here its a tough life, not glamourous at all. Some days, all you're left with is the bragging rights, and the ability to say "Yeah, thats right, I live in NYC." I feel like if you aren't working in finance than your life in NYC is a bit of a struggle, at least for people in my age group. Dont get me wrong you can be happy, but it's never easy out here.

I feel like I made a few mistakes since I have been out here. I had my goals intact, I had my plan, my ambition was at its peak, I knew what I had to keep doing. I was actually going in the right direction. Than my focus just crashed! My than partner became my focus. I am not blaming anyone. I am in fact taking responsibility for this with full force. I ended up moving from the bronx, to NJ where my partner lived. I had thoughts about how I didn't want my career to take the front sit. Love matters. Right?? I didn't want to be the woman that had the career, but with no life, and no partner to share it with.

Once I moved to NJ it became so much harder to get work, get my resume out to certain offices, and to keep my freelance PA work flowing in. I had my barista job, but the stress at that work place became so much so that my temper was at an all time high. Mix that with the stress of the said relationship, and I was a mad woman! I landed another barista gig in Hoboken, NJ. From that point I moved from the Bronx, and all ties I had with the city were no more.

Fast forward through the Summer, a break-up, surgery, and than Hurricane Sandy, and you had a broken little girl, so lost, and worried what her life had in store for her. I remember thinking how bad 2012 was and how I thought it was the worst year of my life. Who knows if it really was, but looking back from where I am now, I really feel like it was my year of struggle.



In my last post I mentioned a little bit about my cafe job. Yes, I have stayed in coffee. Like I said before I love it!

I work part time in Coffee, but my "day job" is working for a TV station in NJ. Getting this job meant the world to me. I knew from that point on my life would get better.

The turn around.

Indeed, It really has! I couldn't be more grateful for this job. I was given a chance. The people that work there are great. I adore a lot of them. Anywhere where I can make brown rice for my lunch is okay in my book. hahaha. They have a full kitchen, I should mention that before anyone is like "What the hell is she talking about?"

So, at this point you may be thinking, or who knows maybe you're not thinking anything, but I have two clear paths going on here. My transition from barista/film freelance to cafe manager/TV MC Op has been interesting. There is a stability now that I never had before. I am finding that with that stability comes the restrictions. I cant just take off whenever I want to do a freelance gig. I had another plan that should be a separate post altogether, but trying to transition back to film freelance/some side job is non-existent right now, and very hard to make happen. With all of that too is the fact that things are building for me in other areas. The fine art photography with the Salmagundi club, me moving up with the cafe is a strong force. I've had some job offers that I just didn't take, and the jobs I end up interviewing for that are in production, I interview for them, but it never comes around.

This is starting to sound like I am doubting myself, not at all. I am acknowledging how hard it still is, and how maybe the universal force, energy, or whatever you want to call it, may be pulling me away from the career I thought I wanted for so long. I must remember my thoughts when I am on set. I have had some hard days, and some great days, but challenging. All I do know is I like to lead, be the leader, and control the operations of something. I am actually doing that at the cafe now. I also know I need to be creative. I am also doing that as well.

Sometimes we really want something, and we don't really know why, or know if that is even really what we want. Maybe your day job isn't what you should be getting away from. The day job keeps you going. It gives you the means to make other things happen. It helps you on the way to wherever you need/want to go. My day jobs? I don't know where they are leading me, but I will take the advice and I wont be quitting my day job anytime soon.

My Ultimate Plan is in Motion!

Wow! Its been almost a year since I updated my blog. Shame on me for sure!!

What have I been up to? Well, I have been going through a few life changes. Trying to get my life on track I guess. But it didn't mean that my picture taking stopped!!

I have been taking pictures of a few projects that I have had in mind. I've also been researching contests, and exhibitions and getting into more of what my next step should be. Starting my own business is still my main goal.

What exactly is my main goal? Funny enough this topic keeps coming up more and more in my daily life. I feel like it's coming together slowly. Like I mentioned before, I definitely want to do the Art Festival circuit. Than down the line to own my own gallery. Some of you remember me talking about this...or not. Even so, I also have goals for owning my own cafe! So what is my ultimate plan??? To do both, and combine the two. As of right now things are in motion for this to happen!!

October of 2012 I took the plunge and applied to become a scholarship member of the NYC art club Salmagundi. I thought to myself this is such a great opportunity to learn from other artists!! And not just other artists, but artists with a ton of experience with the type of things I want to do!! How exciting would this be, right?? It was a long process. I had to fill out paperwork, submit my portfolio. I was eventually called for an interview!!! I was super excited. The interview involved me talking with 4 people at once. Which can be a high pressure situation. In my head I knew I was doing great though. Afterwards they told me that they had to present me and my work/application to the board, and vote whether or not I would be let into the club. I was extremely nervous! I knew it was going to be a long wait. My track record with voting never has been in my favor.

Salmagundi

February 8th, 2013 I got my acceptance letter for my scholarship membership!!!! I was on top of the world. I was so happy I put myself out there and tried. I got in! I knew it was a step in the right direction. I can enter my work into exhibitions now, and network with other artists finally. I must utilize this the best I can to the furthest extent!

The other half of the Ultimate Plan for my Cafe Gallery... is the cafe part. I have been working with coffee for almost two years now, and I love it!! I love the history of coffee, the science of it, how difficult it can be, but also how fun it can be! I work for Aroma Espresso Bar, and I started out as just a barista, now I am a shift manager, and the opportunity for me to move up is also coming into reality. I have been promoted fast. I have really put my best foot forward (as "they" say) and its working out. I'll be running my own cafe soon. I will get the managerial experience I need for my Ultimate Plan of owning my own cafe. I think I may need a small weekly internship at a gallery or something of the sort. I have been thinking a lot about that actually. so, who knows. I'm glad things are in motion!!