It Begins!

If you arent watching this magnificent show, you should drop everything you are or not doing right now, and watch it!

You wont be sorry.

Sincerly, Your Doctor, Noam Garmiza.

(P.S. I am talking about the new show, which started in 2005, although you should probably watch the older series too, I know I should…)

IGNITION SEQUENCE START

Now, I would like to share 2 batches of photos with you.

The first batch is some stuff I recently edited, not necessarily new photos, that came out pretty good. I think:

This is my first photo edited using photoshop cs5 – and yes, I have used content aware fill in this one.

Its nice, but its not as magical as I thought it would be.

This one was taken on independence day, a… week ago? cant remember. Didnt notice it when I was going through the folder the first time.

I think it came out pretty sweet (and I don’t often think that

The last one is an odd chicken (עוף מוזר? :\).

Its a crop of a shot I took a very long time ago, and always liked it, but it was too noisy and not very sharp. I tried to fix it with photoshop, this is the result:

Now, for the second batch: two days ago we had our graduation night, which basically was a dancing show and a playback fest.

There are 16 shots from that night at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimshon/sets/72157623956388882/

Here are 4 I personally like, although all of them could have been better – I need to learn how to master my flash!

C ya around the block yo yo, cuz im fergilicious def. fergilicious def. fergilcious defenition gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I gotta get this thing out of my head!

1. Mister Mega-Lens, aka EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 USM IS (Why Mega? because it is the biggest lens I currently have. don`t worry, it will change.)

2. Mister Tiny-Lens, aka EF 50 F/1.8 (Why Tiny? well…)

3. Mister Now I am a big boy, aka… BG-E5 Battery grip, a really smart addition.

4. Mister Flashy Flash, aka Speedlite 580EX Mark II, the most exciting purchase to date.

I know, it is not much, but considering the fact that photography is only less expensive than space flights, Im happy

Next on my list are: a good tripod, on-flash softbox, 70-200 f/2.8, 1.4extender, some wide lens, and thats it for now

And now, please welcome the Gang, first time on camera! Applause, Applause…

Until this day will come, I had the chance to take few shots of Melvin on the same day of the “Project Flags” thingy.

I believe they came out pretty good, considering it took us under… 5 minutes, and we didn’t really make any preparations…

Here we go…:

Classic

The Lonely Patriot

Crawler

Surprisingly, I managed to wake up, and we drove to the northern Negev. While most of the people were having bbqs, we went on a tour between different battle hills, a museum, and a small yet very nice forest.

Gotta admit, it was a lot of fun, probably more fun than a bbq (even though I was very hungry that day, especially with all this meat smell around me..).

Anyway, the best thing about that day was the fact that I was finally able to use my camera for landscape, nature, and everything that is not people photography again. It has been way too long since this camera saw a tree, and now I feel like I know her again

I took a lot of photos, but after some screening I was left with only few that are worth sharing, enjoy:

Greenfields

Positive/Negative

Welcome to the… Forest? Acceptance

Growth:

Until the next time, Eagles out!

Yes, its true, Israel is not Perfect. Not a single country in the world is perfect.

We have our inner conflicts, Clashes with other people, Poverty, Corruption and some more.

Yet, Im not afraid to say that I love this country. It is my country, our country, our only country, and I like it.

I get happy when I see the very familiar Tel Aviv`s shoreline when I come back from abroad. I almost cry when I see the official independence day ceremony on tv,

and I get very excited when I hear battle stories and stories about Israel`s achievements.

So happy birthday Israel, Happy Independence day, and may we have another great 62 years, just a little bit more peaceful and quite.

Now, for the photography part.

Over the last 2 years, I have been trying to create special shots for each holiday – usually consisting of a traditional holiday custom with a few words.

This time, I felt like its time to do something better, not the usual “plug-in-a-cheap-light-bulb-inside-my-room-and-shoot”.

So I came up with a different idea, and asked some of my friends for help.

Surprisingly, they all agreed to help, and this project got very big (18 people). The fact that so many people agreed to take part in this “patriotic project” really lifted my spirit, and made me happy

Long story short, we went to the nearest beach and shot various shots and greetings in honor of our country`s birthday.

Enjoy the final results!

The Canon Speedlite 580EX Mark II!

Few weeks ago, I asked the world, you, and my friends to donate me some cash, so I could by the flash.

Obviously, I got exactly 0.00$, but I didnt expect anything else.

I quickly realise I need a flash, and that it is a step forward for me, so, sadly, I payed for it  with my own cash

Its really great, and Im still learning it, a smart little thing that is.

Anyway, I will be posting a picture of it very soon, so stay tuned to a whole new batch of photographs!

Viva La Flashvolution!

On this day (27  of Nissan – 11-12 April) we honor the dead, the survivors, and promise ourselves and to the world that we will never forget those horrible events and the terrible hate that took place, and also promise to never let such a terrible crime happen again, against anybody.

As a photographer enthusiast, I feel very lucky to be able to document and share  the world with my thoughts, my opinions, and the stuff that matter to me.

The Youth  Delegation to Poland (a 7 days journey between different extermination camps, concentration camps, Jewish sites, memorial etc in Poland taking place in high school) was no different.

Throughout the week, I kept shooting non stop. Through my photos I feel that I can explain the world, the young ones, the old ones – the horrors that took place there.

A photograph is indeed worth a thousand words – even more, and when I shot in Poland, I felt like there couldn’t be anything more important than that, documenting these horrors for the future, and providing a definite answer, for all those sick people who claim that the holocaust is a lie.

On this day, I ask you to visit these 2 links:

The first is a set on flickr in which you can find selected photos from the week long youth delegation: 2009 Youth Deligation to Poland

The second link is a 45 minutes movie I edited, using various clips and photos taken by different member of our delegation, concluding and providing some sort of a closure to this journey, although, it will never really be concluded. It was shown in a meeting with our parents held around a month after the journey itself.

The 2009 youth delegation to Poland movie

To remember and never forget.