Random Rants (Double R)

So it's day three. We went out shooting last night...but there were no cameras involved...I recently got a new .22 so last night I got a group of friends together and we went out shooting. My brother, Manuel Maldonado, brought his Smith and Wesson 40 caliber, Justin Roberson brought his new Beretta 9mm. We fired regular target rounds and hollow points to see the difference in the kickback...hollow points definitely win that fight with no contest haha...so you know i'm not going to leave you with out a picture...

Walthers P.22
Yeah, thats my baby...it's calming to go shooting. if you even have a really bad day and just want to blow off some steam, go fire off about 100 rounds, clip after clip...it'll work lol...one of my other favorite things to do is just go walk around the town. Mikey and I recently did a little walk around...it was right after i purchased my D300 and let mikey take over the D80 (upgrading for the D40)...if u are on any of the forums we are on, Mikey posted a thread called "walk around town"...it showed off some of the pictures we took...which in my opinion were pretty good considering i didn't know how to use the D300 yet haha...here are a couple of his pictures:

The menu of the D300:Me with the D300Hampton Inn downtown Greenville
Here are a couple of mine...i didn't edit as many of mine as Mikey did...for some reason the camera raw plug -in for my Photoshop CS2 just stopped working. so i have to open the pictures one by one is Nikon NX (software that came with the camera) then convert them to Jpeg...which got old really quick...so once i finish fixing CS i'll have more pics:

All I can say is practice makes perfect...the more u just get out and shoot random stuff...the better you will get...you learn with your hands really...don't be afraid to get down and dirty...if you see potential for a good shot...do what ever you have to do to capture it on film (or sd/cf cards in our case)...so i will show you one of my randoms...i was driving down the road with my D300 and noticed the sun kind of coming down...in mid-drive i roll down the window adjust the shutter and aperture and snap this button...think of how scared i was that i would either drop my camera out the window or slam in to the back of the person in front of me...it wasn't the safest thing to do...but i love the outcome:

it's all about trying and pushing yourself...same thing applies to flash work...most people are scared with the concept of flash but it's really the same...i started using flash extremely early and i'm ready better then some people who have been using flash for a long time...it's how dedicated u are and how much time and effort you put in to it...which really is dedication haha...so dedicate to dedication and you will be good. Take Mikey and myself for example...in these pictures we look like we know what we are doing:

but we really don't...i kid i kid...haha...we some what do know what we are doing, but thats only because we got out there and tried even when other people told us it was stupid and we are trying to early...the outcome is great...we are pleased with it and most important...the customer loved the pictures...if someone puts you down and tells you that you can't do something...do whatever you can to prove them wrong...because most of the time they are only going off how they learned...just because someone else is a slow learner doesn't mean you won't pick it up fast...OH and i need to thank this guy:

Kyle BarnettHe supplied me with my last SB-600 i bought for a extremely great price...he is also a fellow Nikon user...shooting with a D50...He might not say it himself but i will...he takes some KILLER automotive shots using natural light...I always talk about how flash makes a picture look great...but if i could shoot with natural light as good as this guy...i'd put down a flash or two and just rely on the sun...big ups to Kyle...

Just for a little customer feed back........if you wanna know how I am getting some of my pictures to look a little weird and kind of "stretched"...it's the lens...when I upgraded from the D40 to the D80 I bought a Nikon 50mm f/1.8...it was my favorite lens...and i was happy i didn't have to use the AF-S lenses anymore that i could ONLY use on the D40...i loved that lens more then anything...but it was the smallest lens i had...i needed something smaller for some more up close and personal shots...so Mikey and I went to Wolf Camera on Haywood Road and i was looking at lenses when i came across a Sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6It's a wide angle lens...so it gets a farther spread of whats around you...i can sit in the driver seat of my car...point the camera forward without putting the seat all the way back...and if i take a picture...it will get the whole dash and even some of the windows...and i drive an Expedition...i just get someone to lean towards me and I just above them and angle myself down and snap the picture...then do my love/hate editing to it...thats how i get all my goofy pictures...just so you know :)

till next time...and hopefully Mikey will stop being lazy and post something on here...