When we saw that Gotham was premiering today, we immediately remembered running into this awesome Selina Kyle at DragonCon 2015! We both love the show, and Selina has to be our favorite character (though Harvey Bullock comes in a close second). This cosplayer was so in character when we bumped into her that I made sure to check my camera bags to see if anything was missing. Hold onto your cell phones! Who else is watching tonight?
One of the best things about DragonCon is the chance to see cosplayers go all out for their favorite fandom. We knew the Skyrim cosplayers would not disappoint, so we went to their photoshoot on Friday to grab a few shots. Skyrim is an immersive action role playing game set in a fantasy setting. I have only played the game a little because there is so much to it and the possibilities are endless. For someone as indecisive as me, I find it simultaneously beautiful and overwhelming.
One of the great things about cosplay for such a game is the fact that you can cosplay a NPC (non-player character) with established attributes, or you can play your own character that you build in the game. Again, the possibilities become endless and you can have a great deal of variety without the added pressure of the “did I get it right?” question that plagues those cosplaying established characters. At any rate, these costumes were fun.
If you don’t know how these meet and shoots go, many times they assemble the whole group and then little subgroups of characters. We tend to focus on individual characters, so we practiced our portraiture in taking these shots.
So my Arcanum Sphere 2 cohort has become obsessed with (or possessed by) this fun twirl technique in Photoshop. I finally got around to joining in the fun today. I wanted to pick something both colorful and spiritual, so I chose this photo from the Tibetan sand mandala process I witnessed in the spring. I followed the examples from Alicia D’Amico’s twirling tutorial (see the end of the post for the video).
After doing the basic work of the tutorial, I played with some lighting, saturation, and contrast issues in Viveza by NiK Software and then made some color adjustments in Lightroom.
The resulting pattern reminds me of both a lotus flower and the acorn. Additionally, the sweeping lines of color from the corners reminded me of the process of mandala destruction as the monks brush the sand towards the center of the image.
After playing with the saturation slider, I also wanted to try a monochrome image. I decided to do a split-tone version of the same image in MacPhun’s Tonality Pro. This gave me a totally different feeling, with more appreciation for the lines, structure, and appearance of light and shadow in the image.
Here is the instructional video!
Twirl Photoshop Tutorial by Pure Emotions Photography from Alicia D’Amico on Vimeo.
Not sure who this character is, but she’s rocking’ the dual lightsabers. Taken at DragonCon 2014. ©2014 Garber Geektography.
© 2015 Garber Geektography
©2015 Garber Geektography
I was busy photographing some lion cubs at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium when I heard this massive roar behind me. It was lunchtime for this young male lion, and he certainly let the whole area know. I was fortunate enough to fire off a few photos for a stunning portrait session. I just love the deep gold of this lion’s eye. Lion imagery is so important in the texts I interpret, and simply visiting the local zoo from time to time helps give me a deeper appreciation for this creature.
You probably know that Michelle and I are dog people, but happy international cat day! This character in the streets of Jerusalem caught my attention.
No, don’t worry Mom or Michelle, it really isn’t, but I did have a great weekend in Tel Aviv on my recent trip to Israel. I was there for the Christian Leadership Initiative, a Jewish-Christian dialogue seminar sponsored by the Shalom-Hartman Institute and the American Jewish Committee. We travelled to Tel Aviv to spend Shabbat there, and it was quite the lively, colorful city.
One of the highlights of the trip was the Shabbat service on the Tel Aviv pier and this amazing sunset.
All sorts of guests showed up to the service.
The next morning, we walked in nearby Jaffa to see the development of this coastal town. These crows ended up thieving some pretty good baklava from our group.
“Gaining Ground.” A little attempt at street photography in Jaffa.
This Tel Aviv market was closed for Shabbat, but bustling the day before. Alas, we didn’t have much time to explore that day, though.
Another look of the produce market. I shot this as part of a photo assignment with The Arcanum on “balance.”
Our walking tour of Tel Aviv on Saturday brought us to this monument. The three mosaics in front of the modern building depict three biblical stories. The front mosaic tells the story of Jonah that is set in nearby Jaffa (Joppa in English Bible translations). The center mosaic tells the story of building the temple, and the furthest mosaic depicts the transportation of cedars to Jerusalem. Around the fountain, there are more mosaics depicting the history of Tel Aviv.
I appreciated a lot of graffiti in Tel Aviv. Some of it was political and some simply art.
A beautiful snow leopard at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. I learned nothing from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Garber Geektography 