New Update: I Am Still Alive

Hey folks,

So I know it is been an eternity since I last posted something here.  My Apologies, I was finishing a couple of things and moving to another continent and starting a new job.  So that ate up my time needless to say.

However I am back and I made two videos and here they are!  The first one is about making videos again and the second is on the Black Rapid RS-7.

First Video

Second Video

I have done some photography lately and some time-lapses.  You can see those here and here.

Here is one of the photos from Витоша (Vitosha) which I live near now.

битоша - D600 - 16-35mm

I hope you like these and thanks for your continued interested even in my absence!

Website: Revamp!

Hey folks,

I just restructured, revamped, and added to my website!  Took a while however here it is and I hope you like it!

http://www.tomhoustonphotography.ca

Enjoy the photos!

Update: Photos

Hey,

So I am back from Arizona and I have posted two photos as a early sneak peek on my website.  The link is below for the gallery and I will have more to come soon!  The first photo is of Antelope Canyon and the second is a 7 photo panorama of Monument Valley.

Here is the Antelope Canyon one to spark some interest:

http://www.tomhoustonphotography.ca/#/southwest

Hope you enjoy them!

Update: Youtube

Hey,


I posted my first Youtube video to my new Youtube channel!  I will still use my blog to keep people notified for my photography however I will be doing more videos for larger posts like reviews and such.


So I did my first video just as an intro and my next one will be about what is in my bag/case.  I have a new addition so you should definitely stay posted (or even subscribe to my channel).  I will probably redo all my reviews for my Youtube channel as well as doing all my future ones in video.


Furthermore I hope putting my face and voice to my blog works out.  Personally when I look up photography things for myself I usually go to videos first so I thought I might as well make videos.  I hope you guys follow my channel and here is the link to my first video that is just an introductory video.  Shortly I will have my "what's in your bag/case" video just so everyone knows what gear I use.  I feel this video will sort of act as my introduction to gear reviews.


http://youtu.be/VyBFwzz53AQ


Again please subscribe and I hope so see all of you following my channel like you have done my blog!


Tom

Photos: Update: Flower Series!

Yes that is right folks.  I am posting my Flower Series!

It has been a long time in the making since they were harder to organize than I thought.  Also I was super busy with everything else in my life while I was taking these.  I have a total of seven Flower Series shots and will probably get more later however I decided to post them now.  I did this because I have now moved onto another series.  I have done more than seven Flower Series shoots however some were not quite up to either the standard I wanted, or they didn't turn out exactly the way I had planned.  Therefore I am just posting my top ones.

First I will have them only on my website since one is fairly revealing and is for +18 eyes.  I may post them on my Flick however I will stick to my website right now for the Flower Series.  They will also be posted on my Model Mayhem account soon just so I can "show off" my creative side there.

Here is a link to my website @ www.tomhoustonphotography.ca and you will find the series in my galleries.  Or you can click here to bring you directly to the gallery.

I  came up with all the series ideas as well as planned and organized all the shoots.  Some of the shoots I used my lovely and talented Makeup Artist, Leslie Emmerson.  The concept of the series was from my access to free flowers from a local florist in my city.  I decided I wanted to do a series of photos where I incorporated flowers into the portraits.  It was overall a very fun experience doing the shoots and very tedious at times.  Flower petals do not have much friction on skin.  I had to get creative and a little crafty with my ideas to pull this series off.

I hope to do more however I am very happy this this set so far.  I hope you are as well and thank you again for the support!

Update: Thank you!

Hey,

I would personally like to thank all of you who have viewed my website, www.tomhoustonphotography.ca.  I would consider it a used success so far since I have gotten over 50 visits and over 1900 page views in the first 24 hours.  And I am not sure if there is a time lag for the analytics for my site or the large amount of traffic on the site but it is not keeping up with everyone's traffic and I take that as a huge compliment.

So thank you for your support, I am very happy with my website and hope it will only get better!

I am debating if I will post my Flower Series Shots of which I have 7.  This is because I am starting in bodyscapes and fine-art nudes potentially so I will only want to focus most of my energy on one series.  Nevertheless I think I will always be interested in doing more FS shots.  Therefore check out my website and stay posted because more is to come!

Also due to the more sensitive/sensual subject material I will be doing I may opt to stick to posting some on my blog for educational purposes and the rest on my website.  It might be the best area for the photos since Flickr and Facebook might not be the best viewing areas for these photos.

Update: Website!

Hey,

With great excitement, I want to announce that I have finally created a website for my photography!

I have been testing out layouts and what website hosting company to go with for a while now.  Then I had to pass it by a couple of friends to see if the site was easy to use and such.  I got the thumbs up by everyone so I got the domain name and all that fancy internet stuff and ta da... I have a website.

So please, check out my website and I hope you enjoy it!

www.tomhoustonphotography.ca

I thought I would do a .ca since I am Canadian so there is my website.  I will be blogging about how I did all this soon so that you can read my thoughts on making a website.  Wasn't the easiest thing however I knew nothing about making a website when I started all this so you can wing it... Kind of.

Hope you enjoy my site!

Update & Photos: Beauty Dish

Hey,

So I got a chance to use the beauty dish twice now and I love it.  Still getting the hang of it but luckily for me, a friend came over to help me practice using it.  I was practicing lighting on myself, however that is never as good as having someone else being the model.

Here are some of the shots from practicing with the beauty dish:

Portrait - Beauty Dish - 50mm f/1.4D

Portrait - Beauty Dish - 50mm f/1.4D

Hope you enjoy them and stay posted for more photos and my initial review of the beauty dish now that I have gotten to use it a bit.

Update: Photos and Beauty Dish!

Hey,

So I have now posted all the photos from the dance shoot up.  You can find the others on my Flickr but here is one of my favourites:

Jump - Portrait - 17-55mm f/2.8

Also I just got the beauty dish I ordered and it arrived last night!  So I was testing it out last night and thankfully a friend of mine came to help me test it out.  This was great since I can only do so much testing it on myself and the lighting that may work for me might not work for the almost 100% models I shoot since they are, more often than not, females.  So I will be editing those beauty dish shots tonight so they might be up later tonight, if not some time soon.

Hope you enjoy!

Update: Portfolio & Logo

Hey,


So I just got a portfolio app for my iPad so I can best control how I show photos using my iPad to potential clients.  And with that, I need a logo to best market my photography and brand my photography when I present it.  So I am getting my cousin Katia, who is a graphic designer, to create my logo for my photography.  She is also a lifestyle blogger currently writing a blog about fashion, design and whatever else she encounters in life.  So check out her blog here.  I also updated my blog to include this link just for quick access.  You can also follow her Twitter for her blog @KittySnooks.


Will keep you posted here and on my twitter @TomHoustonPhoto about the logo and everything else with my photography and blog.

Update: Santa made me an iPad.

Hey everyone,

I now am the owner of an iPad and I am going to start the hunt for great apps.  More so photography related ones for the iPad since it will be my photography tool since it will be my portfolio.  I don't have to use my phone anymore haha.

As I get great apps (hopefully) I will review them and start doing photography app reviews.  Just thought I would update everyone.

Hope everyone is having a great season with whatever it is you celebrate.

Update: Twitter

Hey,

So I had to get a Twitter account for something unrelated to my photography and that commitment is now over.  After some deliberation I decided to make a twitter account for my photography.  So if you have Twitter please, by all means follow me.  To be brutally honest with all of you, I have no idea as to what I will tweet about.  But I will think of something.  For sure I will keep you posted via Twitter for what I am posting but past that.  Not sure.

So if you have Twitter, or other friends that you know that to and what to follow my photography please let them know.  If you search Tom Houston you'll find me probably. "@TomHoustonPhoto" is my tag.

Hope all is well!

Update: 35mm Review was Updated

Update: 35mm Review was Updated                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Hey everyone,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
The review of the 35mm f/1.8 G lens is my most viewed post so I decided to update it with my current thoughts on the lens since I have started using it more because it is perfect for my studio.  So if you were one of the many that viewed and liked the 35mm review, or are just curious what more I said please go check out my update at the bottom of the review.                                                                            
You can click here to go to the 35mm review.                                                                                                                                                            
Thank you for reading my blog.  I hope it is helpful!                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Tom

Update: Studio IV

Hey,


Amazing news!  The studio is up and functional.


So I wanted to make a studio with the least amount of money spent and pretty much all DIY.  So I tried duct taping (inexpensive I know) the paper to the ceiling.  I had a feeling it wouldn't work but I wanted it away from the far wall because I wanted to keep the heater on.  The paper didn't stay up so I went to plan B.  Turn the heater off and then tap it to the wall itself and not the ceiling.  This will then give better odds of the paper staying up since the force being exerted is perpendicular to the tape instead of how it was set up being taped to the ceiling.  So far so good haha.  It could fall but I don't think it will.


I put some tacks into the tape just as a precautionary thing so that they might hold it enough if it is falling to give me time to notice.


Since I have a studio now (unless it falls down on me again) I will start doing more photography as well as I will change my Model Mayhem profile.  I decided that since I have a studio I could help models with their portfolios as well as building mine own doing shoots.  I have been contacted by a couple of models to do shoot however they have not had ideas of what to do.  So I think I will set it up that if they want Time For Print (TFP) then I will decide on the ideas unless the ones they have are going to build my portfolio. If their ideas wont build my portfolio I will charge for building their portfolio.


Additionally I might do graduation photos to make back some money form building the studio (which wasn't that much) however making money back form photography is never a bad idea.


I thought the construction of the studio would be a little more complex however it wasn't haha.  So my Updates did not have as much detail about the construction as I wanted but oh well.  C'est la vie.  If you have specific questions for me about the studio please do not hesitate and send me an e-mail at tomhoustonphotography@gmail.com.  Or you can comment on a post and I will respond via a comment.


So here are two photos from of the studio however it is hard to capture all of it with my 17-55mm.  Just to give some dimensions, the paper is on a 8'x8' plywood floor.  So it is roughly 9 feet tall and about 9 feet long by almost 9 feet wide.  So a fair size if I want group shots or even someone laying on the floor.

My studio.

My studio from a lower angle.

I hope you are as excited as I am about this.  So yes, one can build a studio in their spare room quite easily.  I spent less than $500 for sure on the materials to build it (excluding flashes/stands/umbrellas).  Now I shall get some flower series shots done hopefully!

Tom

Update: Studio III

Hey,

Exciting news!  Got the plywood with the help of a friend who graciously donated her time, vehicle and strength to help me get the plywood in my studio.  I decided that making a frame out of 2x4's to attach the plywood to is a little overkill in my case.  So I am just going to try to find a simple solution to stop the plywood from sagging a little when you stand in the middle of it.  It isn't a deal really but I will do that this week.  Then all I need to do is duct tape the paper to the ceiling and away I go.

So here is the updated plywood studio shot:

Studio with the plywood floor!

I am very exciting right now however I am super busy so I am not sure when I will get around to setting all this up.  But I don't exactly have time to be shooting in it anyways so I am not too concerned.

Hope you guys are all excited as I am!

Update: Studio II

Hey,


So I got the seamless paper as I believe I have said.  The roll is now sitting on the floor until I have the floor build.  But I can do another step until then, which is bring in some lights:

Studio, Check.  Seamless Paper Check.

Lights... Check

So I decided to take some photos to play around with the room even though I don't have the flooring or the paper up but... you don't need that to get good shots anyways.

When no one is around to model for you sometimes you must grab a tripod and your remote and do it all yourself...

Self Portrait - 17-55mm

And then if you really want to get all fancy and bust out two flashes with two homemade snoots...  Which can get some cool lighting:

Self Portrait - 17-55mm

So, here is the beginning... I am definitely looking forward to not being the model/lighting assistant/photographer all at once but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hope you are as excited as I am about the potential of this room/studio.

Update: Studio

Update: Studio
Hey,


So my housemate in my apartment is moving out and I will have an empty room.  I wont be here too much longer so I decided to build a studio in the room instead of finding someone else to live here.  This means I will be able to do more shoots.  Less travel time (almost none) involved, ability to do quick shoots like for my flower series and all and all a good idea I think.  I can also start doing grad photos in a studio which will pay back the cost of building it hopefully.


The room is basically empty now so what my game plan (it changes a little sometimes) is to build a basic plywood floor on 2''x4''s and have that be 8'x8'.  This is because there is carpet on the floor in the room which wont be so good for seamless paper so I will need the hard surface.  So that will make the floor smooth and solid (hopefully).  Then I have ordered a 9' roll of seamless super white paper.  The only catch is I will have to trim a little of the paper roll somehow to have it fit across the width of the room.  This isn't a huge deal cause I will only lose 3-4''s.  I would rather do that than order the 4 1/2' roll and lose half the roll.  It will fit across the length of the room however I think it would be best to go across the width. 


I will have the seamless roll on the floor and then attach the paper edge to the ceiling.  This is because I do not want to do any major damage to the walls or ceilings to hold the roll up and I don't want to invest in a background stand or autopoles right now.  So this means when I cut the paper when it gets dirty or ripped I lose more of the paper in one go but that is okay with me cause I just want simple and easy right now.  I still have yet to figure out how I am going to attach the paper to the ceiling.  I really don't care how as long as it isn't to destructive to the apartment.  I don't care if it is sticky tack or duck tape.  But I will figure that out and share how I managed to keep it up.  


As I build this with my "construction manager," I will take photos as we go so that I can keep everyone posted on the progress of the studio.  Also here I can share what is working and what isn't.  Additionally if you are wondering any of the finer details like, "how are you building the floor?" or "how are you going to trim the paper roll?" I will go into specifics as we build it.  The "construction manager" is a good friend (and one of my models) of mine who works at a lumber mill/wood shop that her family owns so she knows her lumber and more importantly construction.  So I have asked for her assistance because she has a hell of a lot more building experience than I do.   So with her, there is a better chance of making less mistakes (which would cost money) as well as she knows how to build things properly and effectively.  I could build the floor and such but I wouldn't have a clue if it was a cost effective way or if it was the smart way of doing it.  


So I am not sure how long all this will take but it should be fun so it wont matter too much on how much time it takes.  Also I can build it at my own pace since I am way to busy with University.  But I want to get it done before christmas at the latest.  Right now all I know is that I have to figure out the best way to attach the edge of the paper to the ceiling.  I might have to put up a thin piece of wood to attach it too since the ceiling is that stucco dry wall stuff.   


It is a fairly big dream/idea to do but it should be good and I will keep everyone posted on it's progress.


Wish me luck!


Tom

Update: Fall Photo Shoot

Hey,

Just did two outdoor fall photo shoots today and I can't wait to look at the pictures!  My camera is currently thawing in its case so I don't get condensation on my gear.  It did get pretty cold outside however it was a beautiful day.  I will be super busy in the near future however I hope to get a sneak peak soon however that depends on how much time I have and if my camera thaws tonight.

Stay posted for some great photos.  I would like to thank Leslie Emmerson for doing the makeup on the models as well as the models for putting up with the cold.

Update: E-mail

Hey everyone,

I just created a new e-mail for my photography so please send me any questions or comments you may have and I will get back to you quickly.  The e-mail is tomhoustonphotography@gmail.com.  Who would have thought haha.  Anywho, please do not hesitate to e-mail me with questions.

Hope all is well,

Tom

Update: Country Shoot With Rachel Bond

Hey,

So I have the final set of photos up on Facebook and Flickr.  I hope you check them out because I really love how they turned out.

Hope you enjoy!