LTS Photography & Retouch's photostream  

This closing image was necessary because I didn't want to be accused of missing a day of 2011. Since I began by taking the first photo on Dec.31st 2010, yesterday's was a full 365 days, but I wanted to fill out the whole year and answer an often repeated question.

Though some might wish it, I will take no photograph tomorrow. Therefore, there will be no 365 version of 2012 from me. I have other plans for the year and may very well revisit the 365 format, but it will not be a chronicle of my northern Indiana life. I feel I have done that fair justice already.

What is next? Well, I feel the need for a grand adventure. But it's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to. Still...you might be able to discern a hint from today's photo...

But if you need it fed to you, pick your generation:

Pre-80s:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO2l7qtyyBw&feature=related

Post-80s:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFa2_hJGUfs&feature=related

So, I regret to announce that ... this is the end.

I am going.

...goodbye.

Here we are. The end of the road and the end of the year. That can mean only one thing ... it's time to melt down the relics of the past year to start fresh.

However, anyone that's been following along will know that I've amassed quite a few items over the course of the year. ...so I'm going to need a bigger pot than the one we started with on Day 1.

For this final photo, I tried to get as many of my props as possible into the shot. And as I could not fly in all the various people that helped me along the way, I either added photographic representations of them, or key items from their shoots. For instance, the source of Melissa's pregnancy is in there somewhere (#336), as is the source of the shoe rule (#17)...even the box that was lost, and then found again (#301) made it's way back again.

It hasn't felt like a year, but wow are there some memories in there. If you're not Flickr literate, here's the link to the whole thing:
www.flickr.com/photos/saga_images/sets/72157625541426939/

...but we aren't done yet...because for Day 1 to be culturally appropriate, it had to be on Dec. 31st. Which means, there must be one more.

Yeah, we've dealt with this subject before, but I wanted to leave you with some hypocritical spite.

I've been wanting a tablet computer for awhile now. Not because I'm a gadget guy, even though I am, but because for a photographer they can make a great mobile portfolio. It's not the same as a nice 12x20 book, but they are easily updated and much more portable. So, the choice essentially came down to a Samsung 10.1 and a version of the iPad. Had the iPad3 been close to completion (and not completely shrouded in mystery and lawsuits) I probably would have been tempted. But my "Apple products make you a bigger snob that you already are" position just could not be over come.

With a little trolling of the internet, I found this little gem of an image that some Apple-hater made [seriously doubt it's an official product image] so to the last I was grappling, from hell's heart I was stabbing, and for hate's sake I spat my (2nd to) last photo at thee.

If you've been paying attention since the beginning, you were probably losing sleep wondering what my Day 13 Guinea Pig image was all about. Well I said it'd become clear in a few weeks...by which I meant 50 weeks. Hey better late than never!

Here we have a fun and steamy (literally) image of Melissa, who you should know by now, and her new husband (as in newlywed, not most recent) Mike. I wanted a "couple" image that evoked the passion people can have for one another without resorting to any overt sexual imagery and this is what we came up with.

Mission accomplished I'd say. What I like about it is that the image makes you wonder what's going through their heads and each time you look at it, you get a different impression. Like, maybe it's the moment right before...well...you know. Or maybe it's a husband and wife moment of "what a crap day, but at least we've got each other". Or maybe it's a "what are we going to do?" sort of thing.

We've got a chameleon on our hands.

I gave a full day to this topic a while back on Day 126, but I'm revisiting it today in response to the more recent Day 346. Now I know some people were wondering who I was going to setup as "The Hero" in opposition to "The Villian" from that day. Well this is NOT it!

The sad state of affairs is that my Hero model is absolutely swamped with commitments...and in another country. So, while we're still going to get that photo on the books, it won't be in the next 4 days. So, I had to scramble and find an alternative. Thankfully, one of the first professionals I ever worked was game to pick up the flag and run with it.

Here we have Evelyn, an actress I met in London who now works out in Las Vegas. She's essentially the good kind of insane and I don't think I've met anyone that hasn't taken a shine to her (easy boys, married). So anyway in discussing trying to put something together, Evelyn's only condition was "I want something like the Silk Spectre". Done and done. Now I didn't want to do a carbon copy of the DC comics outfits, but rather a homage of sorts to the vigilante heroes from the "Watchmen" series. This worked out perfectly in the fact that the heroine Evelyn liked so much was not the "goodie-goodie-two-shoes" sort that I wanted for my "Hero", but rather a "Fights bad guys even if it means breaking the law" type. And so, the "Anti-Hero" was born.

Finally, just a word or two about the image (basically excuses). #1 Like the Star Trek one from Day 347, Evelyn was not at my studio. She shot the image of herself out in her Vegas home with basically a point and shoot pocket camera from 1998. So, the base image was a bit pixelated. #2 I had a background all set to photograph today that I was going to put Evelyn into...but then it snowed all night and my dark industrial scene turned into more of a winter wonderland. So, I had to go with a backup, indoor location. #3 This isn't really an excuse, it's just my compensation for #1 & #2. Since the heroine this is based on was originally supposed to live in the 40s and 50s, I tried to put the image in the vintage sort of feel.