Mike Branski » Photography

Brand New

Mike Branski — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:13:09 +0000

This is short and sweet, but oh so sweet…

I put in a request for a photo pass to shoot at the Brand New show this month. I’ll let you guys know if I get it.

A little back-history: I’m heavily into concert photography and shot professionally for the Pabst and Riverside Theaters for while when my schedule allowed for it. Shooting a Brand New concert would be a culmination of everything I work for in concert photography and my passion for music…it would be incredible.

It was fun

Mike Branski — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:49:07 +0000

Cassie recently went home after coming over and doing a shoot with me. It was a lot of fun, and we laughed and got along so well, it was really, really refreshing. I worked on improving my lighting techniques, and once I added a large reflector to the scene (a la a big dry erase board), the quality of the shots greatly improved. I also tried to cut loose and have fun with it, and I’m really glad I did. I put the results from the shoot in my deviantArt gallery.

I just want to say THANK YOU to Cassie for being so awesome!

Predetermined Purchases

Mike Branski — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 23:27:59 +0000

I’m pretty sure part of my first paycheck is going to pay for this. I’d also like a high-definition TV, to pay off my car and school loans, a new camera, some lighting equipment, and who knows what else.

php|tek 2007 anyone?

Mike Branski — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:41:45 +0000

So, I’m sure there has to be at least one person who’d like to see me go to this year’s php|tek PHP Conference, right? It’s only $750…..no? Damn it. I’ve wanted to go to one of these, ever since hearing about the PHP cruise some years back.

I’ve been super busy this past week getting my portfolio account on deviantArt up and going. After sorting through 11,000 some photos of mine, I narrowed down the best of the best and put them online, making many available for purchase as prints and other goodies.

You know what I get annoyed with myself over? Forgetting I have RSS feed subscriptions. I’ll boot up my laptop some days and realize that I haven’t checked the darn thing in a week or two, and as I’m subscribed to LifeHacker and Make Zine, I get quite a few items in there. So, I often find myself spending an hour or so pouring through all the new entries, catching up on the latest cool thing to do with your iPod or the newest way to stay productive (good for you college kids who get distracted while writing papers).

As of yet, I haven’t heard from Layer One Media, however last Friday they did e-mail me saying they were planning on making me an offer!! I’m really stoked on this, but as my friend points out, it’s not 100% until I walk in my first day. (Still excited, though!

My Photography on MySpace

Mike Branski — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 08:27:12 +0000

I recently created a photography page of some of my very best work, which you can check out at:

http://www.myspace.com/shatteredrealityphoto

PLEASE, if you like my work, or just photography in general, check it out. If you like what you see, add me to your friend’s list and tell one of your friends about me. I’m also interested in constructive comments, so if you have intelligible feedback about my work, please let me know!

All the best!
Mike

Follow a Trend

Mike Branski — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:05:27 +0000

After learning about this GTD craze thanks to Hyaline Skies, I ventured out to Barnes and Noble today and picked up two Moleskines: one regular and one pocket-sized. For a while I have been in great need of a more organized way of keeping track of things; my current method of Post-It notes everywhere has started to take its toll. Save for the tabs, I have my pocket-sized GTD Moleskine all set up, but I’m still debating putting in my own tab for journal/blog entry ideas. I’m leaning toward not doing so simply because I have the larger Moleskine I picked up which will be used as my pen-and-paper journal, which I can always go to for blog ideas.

Today’s Tuesday, meaning tomorrow’s Wednesday… Do I get a gold star for that one? The reason I mention it is because I hope to find out tomorrow whether or not I landed that job at Layer One Media; I have confidence in how I did at my second (first in-person) interview. I know I sort of botched the first question, which was a hands-on display of how I would layout database tables for a store selling DVDs online. Considering I had roughly 7 seconds to think about it, I think I faired okay; that and I got bonus points for erasing it when I was done. The rest of the interview went well, and we saw eye-to-eye as far as salary requirements go, which always makes thing run smoother. I’ll keep everyone posted when I hear more.

A New Year

Mike Branski — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:47:40 +0000

Seriously, could I not have come up with a more original title that that? At any rate, it is a new year, and for whatever reason now is the time we’re supposed to make changes and improvements in our lives. That’s right; if you haven’t made a “resolution” yet, you’re too late and will just have to wait until next year.

On improvements, however, this is a nice list for improving your blog from lifehack (which I admittedly mistook as a redesign of Lifehacker).

When I walked Cassie to her car I couldn’t help but stare at the beauty of the moon this evening: it’s invigorating glow penetrated the nighttime darkness and was encompassed by a rainbow ring up in the night sky.

Here’s an HDR merge of some of the shots I took before determining I wanted to go back to the semi-warmth of my house:

/jawdrop

Mike Branski — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 07:32:26 +0000

I wanted to quickly mention an incredibly stunning photo gallery I recently had the pleasure of discovering on flickr. I haven’t seen work this beautifully mastered for some time now. It’s really an inspiration for someone such as myself who wants to learn more about portraiture. Excellent stuff. Enjoy!

It all ties together

Mike Branski — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 07:14:12 +0000

I just finished uploading the photos I took at the Heroes! Villains! show Friday night at the 8th Note Coffee House on the UWM campus. As I said earlier, the lighting was absolutely horrendous, and I didn’t bring my flash (usually don’t use one at shows), but the lighting was so bad that I had no other choice. Couple that with the kit lens not being able to focus for shit in even remotely dark conditions, I shot in manual focus for the first time at a show, which worked surprisingly well. I’ve actually been focusing manually more often lately; it’s kind of fun, and can be a lot quicker with lenses that tend to “hunt.” All things considered, I’m really happy with how they turned out.

Tonight I re-realized my liking of a band called Forgive Durden; I highly recommend going to their site and letting their three songs play out. While you’re at it, why not go ahead and add them on purevolume and MySpace?

In the meantime of getting more clients and/or a regular full-time Web development or photography job, I might go to Art’s Camera and apply for a part-time position after the holidays are done. The extra cash would be welcomed, and I love photography so it might be kind of cool at the same time. That, and maybe I get a discount on camera gear! That’d be dangerous.

Are you mad, man?

Mike Branski — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 06:22:07 +0000

No post yesterday. Crazy.

I just got back from a show headlined by Heroes! Villains! It was cool to finally see them play, and they put on quite a good show, albeit rather short. I think they played just the five songs off their newly released sampler, but it was solid stuff. The opening and bridge of each song particularily shined for me. If you’re interested in hearing what they sound like, check out their MySpace page.

I took photos at the show tonight, which was tough even for a local venue. They played at the 8th Note Coffee House at the UWM campus, and I think they only had one light on, and that was lighting the far wall by the drummer. I didn’t bring my flash because I hate using it at shows, but I had no choice, even shooting at ISO 1600. I don’t have a decent wide-angle lens yet, and with local shows you’re usually right in front of the band or you can’t see them at all, so I only brought my 18-55mm kit lens and ended up having to use the XT’s built-in flash, which is just a nightmare. Pictures coming later today.