Check out this tumblr :P

http://terriblefursuits.tumblr.com/

Lots of stuff dredged up from FA :D

CF2012 was a blast. I thought the way it was setup is perfect for an introverted wolf like myself. Many small events that I can choose to go to, and if it gets overwhelming, I get to retreat to the sanctity of my private quarters. All in all, apart from being very enjoyable, it was very relaxing.

The £1.2k bid at the auction has got the be the highlight of Sunday - it was super intense between two of our ukfurs, shaman and cueball for a tani original. 10% went to charity on that, good job guys!

Didn't get much photography done but I did get some shots of fursuiters I've been wanting to see. Clockwork creature suits are soo awesome!

Many thanks to those that attended the photography workshop - I think I made the fatal error of covering too much - definitely need more focus in the short amount of time we had.

Things I liked about the con
- Very well planned and laid out.
- Lots of events to keep occupied
- Hotel rooms are generous and spacious. My particular room lacked a fridge and I had milk curdle but that was a minor issue.
- Staff (both hotel and con) were very friendly and professional.
- Artist alley was very nice, sadly I only spent a short while there as there were soo many things to do, thanks to the busy schedule.
- Tiger Tom/Malamut's studio for the fursuit photography is amazing! Wait for his pictures to show up - it's a big step up for last years' imo.
- Dealers den appeared to be well sized, and the spacing for furs to move about pretty good.
- I liked the fact that the adult pieces were put up behind curtains. I seriously did not see the sign indicating adult pieces were behind the curtain, and I was going "hmmm, I really like the artwork at this con! All nice and pg!" Duh!
- I enjoyed the food at the hotel - maybe because my idea of an awesome meal is instant noodles.
- Good size crowd: I like being a face in a crowd.

Things I found lacking
- Middle of nowhere - fursuit parade around the hotel was quite meh, really need a vehicle to get around as the taxi charges are quite expensive.

Things I wish next year's con will have
- During this year's auction, many pieces went with 0 percent to charity! Come on, 5% would be a good token value, and may gain positive PR as well. I am quite saddened by how many artists had their pieces up at 0%. A minimum of 10% for all pieces on auction to charity would be my suggestion.

A great ted talk.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sine.....re_action.html

http://blog.startwithwhy.com/

Inspiring.

I'm would like to host a photography workshop, perhaps 3 hours long, over perhaps 2, 3 sessions. Topics I'd like to cover include:

- Photography Pipeline: From storage to prints
- Why screen calibration is important
- Exposure, Metering and White Balance
- Why I find flash in daylight critical
- Lens choices and Composition - my personal shooting style.
- Focusing your lens
- Raw conversion/Photo editing
- Books and resources
- Q&A

If you are attending the con, perhaps pop by the CF event sub-forum to register your interest, and if there are any topics you'd be interested in :)

GW

Wooo! Can't believe the week has flown by so fast. Hope you all are having a good start to the new year. I know I'm looking forward to making this year better than 2011 :D

http://gapingvoid.com/ie/

Bloody inspirational. Can't wait to get the book...

In case you guys aren't on his FA - he's released
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6971444
earlier today, a companion episode to Isolation Play.

It is a great finish to the story told by Out of Position and Isolation Play. Let's hope he writes more about the forester universe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO6v.....ature=youtu.be

Was introduced to Bryan Talbot somewhile ago, only finished both grandville books, great furry steampunk detective stuff.

Reminder for all writers, and wanna be writers, nanowrimo starts in november, get your plans in gear!

http://www.nanowrimo.org

But life goes on.

Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4HGQHgeFE

And realize, things aren't that bad.

I came across the 4th Edition of Light: Science and Magic today - just released 27th October 2011!

I only own the 3rd edition, and it is hands down the best book on explaining artificial lighting I've read so far. Apart from the basics like combining ambient/flash exposure, it goes into the nitty gritty crazy stuff like using polarized flash to remove specular reflections, leaving only the diffuse. Not only does it go quite deep into the technical aspects of photography, it presents it in a straightforward manner.

Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
ISBN-10: 0240812255
ISBN-13: 978-0240812250

I would suggest however, understanding regular ambient exposure - i.e. understanding "proper" exposure, then "creative" exposure prior to tackling flash exposure. For that, I'd recommend Bryan Peter's Understanding Exposure:

Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera
ISBN-10: 0817439390
ISBN-13: 978-0817439392

I've got a few of Bryan Peterson's other books, and to be honest I think Understanding Exposure is probably the only one I'd recommend, the others seem to be sort of re-hashy with little extras added.

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/index.html

Draws its roots from many space flight sims and games. Only one chapter, and it's a quite a good read so far. MOO fans may find it interesting as the author indicates it is inspired by it Damn I wanna play MOO2 and WC again.

Worst combo ever.

http://www.bluedevilsunited.com/201.....nd-how-to.html

Sums it straight up and fits me to a t.

And yes, can't sleep. Booo.....

Check it out from Kilcodo's journal:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:20538917

http://therumpus.net/2010/06/oh-so-.....-with-kilcodo/
http://therumpus.net/2010/06/the-st.....ind-the-furry/

may also prove to be interesting.

Pluggin' mah fursuit photography blog as usual :)

http://fursuitphotography.tumblr.co.....-finally-lifts

I've been trying to push the limits of my photography, but the last few months have seen very little results (and leaving me quite exhausted and empty). Last time I went to a zoo I shot about 11 photos. Over an entire day. I did not bother to even process 'em as they are just... mundane. This video got me thinking though.

http://vimeo.com/25380454

Part 3 of the video, linked above, resonates the most with me, as I have been trying to emulate the professionals and amateur photographers that I look up to, and then attempting to branch off on my own.

The first 2 parts are very well worth watching as well, stressing how many things in our day are created based on varied influences.

Currently I have two projects under my wing, but they will finish in early September. Once those are done, I'm hoping to do some photography with Macro furs, if there are any in the UK with full suits and live in or around London, do drop me a note. Also have some ideas for dance furs but I have a few leads there.

Till then, I will probably be taking time off photography. Hopefully like every other hobby, some time away will miraculously give one a new and different insight. Must get some silica gel before putting my glass away.

GW

Link: http://www.briankim.net/blog/2007/1.....ut-introverts/

Interesting facts:
Introverts make up 25-40% of the population. Yay us.
Intro/Extroversion is about how energy is created; not about outgoing or not.

A good book I'm reading up on the subject matter is
The Introvert Advantage (How to thrive in an extrovert world)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introvert-A.....279&sr=1-1

It's quite a breathe of fresh air compared to MBTI as it is more about how we as introverts face the world, how to interact with extroverts, energy conservation, and not about the theoretical predicted "behavioral" aspects of each type. Not that I'm complaining as mbti helped me alot.

Other links of interest include:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine.....ntrovert/2696/
http://www.thedarktrumpet.com/2010/.....or-extroverts/
http://www.newreflectionscounseling.....C_INTROVERSION

In reply to Andreas' question for this photo
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3650181/

Here's a step by step breakdown of how I grade my photos.

Step 1: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3679544/
Step 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3679557/
Step 3: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3679561/
Step 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3679564/
Step 5: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3679569/

An added note is that my general photographs are targeted for print; I use sRGB as my color space (I do swap over to pro-photo RGB for shots that I intend to print large), and my monitor is calibrated to 6.5k, 2.2 gamma.

NOTE: This is an example of how I graded this particular shot; every single shot is graded slightly differently, and depending on the weather, could be totally different. I usually spend anything from 2-3 minutes per shot, individually. Adds up over 20-30 shots

GW