If you're crazy, we can share the same rubber room some day, 'cause I'm right there with ya!
"What kind of tools and such do you incorporate into your photography?"
I use a macro lense, so I can get up very close, a tripod for the camera sometimes, and a Bogen magic arm to hold the off-camera Flash, and an IR transmitter in the camera's hotshoe that fires the flash, so it can be clear across the room from the camera is I want. I recently got a cheap 2nd flash so I can have one for fill and one for rim lighting or background lighting if I like. I use textures from 3D FPS games and print out 11x17 backdrops like brick walls and concrete floors (I've uploaded these to the Files section, BTW).
"Do you create actual effects in the real world? Or maybe Photoshop is your forte?"
I do a lot of my effects in front of the camera, because I feel they're more believable that way, then I also try to do a lot of work in Fireworks (my "Photoshp") and some Flash. Sometimes I'll shoot against a "blue screen" so I can cut the figure out easily. I did that for the Frostbite snowboard shot. I put a piece of cyan poster board behind him so I could use the magic wand to delete the background. Saved a lot of time.
"Do you consider yourself an amateur (maybe semi-pro or pro) photographer or do you only pick up the camera to create your Dio-stories?"
I consider myself semi-pro. I went to college at RIT, majoring in Photojournalism, but I took a lot of Studio Photography classes along the way. I have a nice set of lenses from when I thought I'd be a newspaper photographer (I'm a Creative Director now, for a web design team in a PC game division of Sony) and last year I got a good digital body to go with the lenses, the Canon 10D.
What's the strangest (or Hardest) thing you've ever done to capture a perfect shot?
To get the look of distance and endless desert, I hauled 2 MCC's (one painted balck) in my back seat up to a hiltop park here in San Diego to get shots for an upcoming "MCC Duel" I have planned, for maybe... Chapter 15 or so of Disciple.
Here's a taste from a shot with my 300mm lense:
That was taken almost a year ago. they seeded the lot not long after and it's all grass now.
Took me maybe a week to paiunt the Cobra one, and maybe 2 hours at the park to get the shots. I had a lot of curious onlookers. While I was packing up a guy in his 30's asked me if GI Joe won.
Plus, I keep the Toyfare exclusive Snake Eyes & Scarlett in my camera bag, so they go with me on all my trips. I have 3 good pics so far:
Maui:
Deep in a forest west of Melbourne in Australia:
Plus one from Disneyland I haven't uploaded yet. Got lots of stares taking that one.
Great thread! Let's keep it going! I marked this thread as news so it shows up on the front page, BTW.
