Category Archives: Life - Page 2

The Return of the Humble Indie Photographer Bundle Part 2: The Nikoning

Posted by on October 27, 2014 No comments

Hey all!  Sarah and I will be on the next cruise and that means that there will be a smattering of pictures again!
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I am planning on doing the HIPB thing again!  What’s that mean?  Well, if you weren’t around for it last year, here is the deal.

I am a Pro-mature? Amafessional? Hobifessional? mah, whatever I am a Photographer who likes to take pictures of monkeys, namely seamonkeys!  So the plan is, if you want a picture taken of you doing something on the cruise, or hangout out with friends, or playing games, or lounging on the beach, or at a concert, or with a guest, or standing awkwardly in the corner…. Contact me and I will do it!  Not everyone has a camera on them at all times (except me) or likes the weird pictures they end up with at the end of a vacation, so that’s where I come in.  I will take a professional photo of you doing whatever you want!

I am super easy to find on the ship and will always be available via Twit-arrr under my [SocialNetwork] name Wizzer2801.  I also have an affinity for Batman shirts and will be doing that again this coming cruise.  *That being, wearing a Batman shirt every day.  So if you see a guy with a camera strapped to his hand and he is wearing a Batman shirt, I would say it’s about a 99.999% chance that it’s me.  GRAB me and tell me to take a picture of someone or something and I will do it!

But Steve, what will you do with all of those photos you take of random people?

Good Question!  I will give them to YOU!  All of my photos will be uploaded to the interwebs within a week or so after the cruise for you to oogle, gawk, and reminisce on.  All of them will be professionally processed to bring out the best of all of the monkeyness.  I will also be shooting the concerts and Shadow events so there will be lots of memories preserved.

Ok Steve, what’s the catch, what do you get out of this?

Another good question!  Man, you guys are on fire! (You guys, being the voices in my head)  All of my photos get uploaded under a CC license so they are freely available to anyone that wants them.  WHat I do ask is that if you like what you see, you can donate to the “Steve spent a lot of money on Camera gear and Cruise Tickets and now he doesn’t have that money anymore” fund.  Or the SSALOMOCGACTANHDHTMA Fund.  If you feel weird about handing some guy with a camera money, you could hand that money to my Wife, she also likes money.  If you still feel weird about that, then feel free to buy me a drink on the cruise, or before the cruise, or after the cruise…..  I really like drinks.

This plan has worked out really great in the past and you can check out some of my work over on my Flickr Page here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets

JCCC3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets/72157632797050646/

JCCC4: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets/72157641839237314/

I am sure some of the other monkeys can tell you about how I captured that special moment for them (that usually was photobombed by Anne Wheaton)

Hope to see everyone on the Nerd Boat!

TL;DR version:
I Take pictures and like money and booze.

Shore-Leave!

Posted by on July 28, 2014 No comments

Capture

This coming weekend I will be at Shore-leave, a fan run convention up in Hunt Valley Maryland!  If you are in the area, come by and say HI!  I’ll have a number of pieces from the Nerd Prints up in the art gallery, and I will be all over the floor (not literally, I know where that floor has been.)

Also, keep an eye out for our Lost Trooper! It’s been 10 years since I joined the 501st with this scout trooper armor, so it’s making a special appearance at Shore-Leave.

Click the links to find out more information about the con!

Project Nerd Prints

Posted by on May 19, 2014 No comments

I have attended a lot of conventions.  One of the things I love to check out is the Artist Alley.  This is where the various comic/fantasy/painter artists hang out and have tables and do sketches.  You can walk by and visit with them, browse their artwork and even have them do a sketch for you.

From an photography artist, this made me a little jealous.  I love the idea of sitting in a booth or table and doing on the spot artwork for people, or having elaborate mat-boards for people to browse through.  But as we all have learned, I am still in the early stages of drawing, and I don’t really have some printed artwork that I can display…….

or do I?

Castle in a Panic (P365-173)I went through some of my older photos and noticed a theme.  I have a lot of nerdy prints that I have taken over the years.  Some of these would look cool hung up in a study or in your geeky nerd cave.  So I have decided to compile them all into one place, and then offer them up “Project Nerd Prints”.

If I am at a convention I will try and have some of these printed out and available, as well as having the ability to do on the spot portraits.  This is coupled with my working on sketching.

If you think of something that would be a good Nerd Print, please pass the suggestion on and I will see what I can do.  Please feel free to browse the full gallery over at Flickr and some of the selected works below.

And I am old.

Posted by on May 19, 2014 No comments

Well, it happened.  I never thought I would get this far but I have suddenly become that 40 year old guy that dresses like a bat.

IMG_20140517_191949This last week was my birthday.  I have decided to take a friends advice and just celebrate the whole week instead of just the day, since the day was a Wednesday and it was pretty boring.  The week on the other hand was pretty fun!  We had a party at Bungalow Billiards (one of my old haunts)  (ugh, saying haunt when I am old now seems a tad grim).  One of our super awesome friends made the cake pictured and it was AMAZING!  A lot of my my close friends came to hang out and we had a very cool time.  As always some folks couldn’t make it for one reason or another and it’s always sad to miss them but they should know that they were there in spirit.

I guess when I get old I get more sentimental

Anyways.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you have probably seen that I am working on some new photography stuff.  Project “Take whatever I want whenever I want” has slowly migrated into Project Nerd Prints.  But I think I will do another post on that.  (so I can cross post it to the Comic Page)

So thanks for all the birthday wishes!  You guys are all awesome!

JCCC4 Day 6: All the feels.

Posted by on March 10, 2014 No comments

_DSC3131This is going to (probably) be my last posting about JoCoCruiseCrazy 4 as these are the last of the photos to be processed.

Day 6 was a hugely emotional day as it was the last of the cruise and probably the last we would see many of the new and old friends we have seen on the ship.  I wanted to make sure I took as many “Monkey Shots” as I could so that I would have photos of everyone!  Hugs were given, tears were has and some of you have impacted this monkeys life more than you know.

Can’t wait to see you all again next year.

ON TO THE PHOTOS!!!!

So, here are all the links you will ever need:

Want to give me money? Here’s How!
If you like the photos, and you want to provide me with any sort of compensation, please do! I can accept payments through Square or Google wallet very easily.  Both of these options provide you the ability to send money via E-mail address (spetrucelli@gmail.com).  Please feel free to send along whatever amount you feel comfortable with (even if it’s 0.00) Now with added Square Market!!  http://mkt.com/steve-petrucelli

All of my photos are Creative Commons license:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

FACEBOOK QUESTIONS
A lot of folks have asked about my “Facebook Ban” Just know, it’s not so much a BAN as an advisement.  Facebook has some really wimpy rules when it comes to Photographers rights.  Also, Facebook compresses the hell out of photos and makes them look like crap.  THAT BEING SAID. If you Really really really want to set a photo as a profile picture or share it with someone via facebook, I won’t stop you or sue you or anything. (But I reserve the right to say “Tsk Tsk” to you in person.)

JCCC4 Day 4 and 5! Sooo Many fezzs!!

Posted by on March 9, 2014 No comments

_DSC2351Day 4 wasn’t a huge process seing as how most of the photos were about Artemis, and I already did those.  (Did I post about them? Now I forget.)

ANYWAYS, Day 5 was the all important FEZ Night! (It has a much longer name, but I am tired and have been staring at fezzes all day.)

As per usual, here at the LINKS:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not download the photos and then upload them somewhere else (like Facebook).  FB kills the photos with compression and you lose the attribution.  Instead, feel free to LINK to the photos on my gallery or on Flickr.

Want to give me money? Here’s How!
If you like the photos, and you want to provide me with any sort of compensation, please do! I can accept payments through Square or Google wallet very easily.  Both of these options provide you the ability to send money via E-mail address (spetrucelli@gmail.com).  Please feel free to send along whatever amount you feel comfortable with (even if it’s 0.00) Now with added Square Market!!  http://mkt.com/steve-petrucelli

All of my photos are Creative Commons license:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

 

JCCC4 Day 3: Monkey portraits, Turtles, and Concerts! Ooohhh Myyyy…

Posted by on March 8, 2014 No comments

_DSC1484On the third day of JCCC4 my JoCo gave to me… A Day in the Grand Cayman Islands!

On this day Sarah and I ventured off to see the Cayman Islands turtle farm and encountered many monkeys on the way.

 

 

 

 

 

As per usual, you can find the photos here:
My Gallery:  https://www.wizzersworld.com/gallery/index.php/Road-Trips/JCCC4-Day-3
Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets/72157642057688624/

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not download the photos and then upload them somewhere else (like Facebook).  FB kills the photos with compression and you lose the attribution.  Instead, feel free to LINK to the photos on my gallery or on Flickr.

Want to give me money? Here’s How!
If you like the photos, and you want to provide me with any sort of compensation, please do! I can accept payments through Square or Google wallet very easily.  Both of these options provide you the ability to send money via E-mail address (spetrucelli@gmail.com).  Please feel free to send along whatever amount you feel comfortable with (even if it’s 0.00) Now with added Square Market!!  http://mkt.com/steve-petrucelli

All of my photos are Creative Commons license:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

 

JCCC4 Day 2 Pictures: Scrimshaw, Pomplamoose and more!

Posted by on March 6, 2014 No comments

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Well, another day done!  You can find the photos in a few places:

And broken into specific events:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not download the photos and then upload them somewhere else (like Facebook).  FB kills the photos with compression and you loose the attribution.  Instead, feel free to LINK to the photos on my gallery or on Flickr.

Want to give me money? Here’s How!
If you like the photos, and you want to provide me with any sort of compensation, please do! I can accept payments through Square or Google wallet very easily.  Both of these options provide you the ability to send money via E-mail address (spetrucelli@gmail.com).  Please feel free to send along whatever amount you feel comfortable with (even if it’s 0.00) Now with added Square Market!!  http://mkt.com/steve-petrucelli

All of my photos are Creative Commons license:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

 

JCCC4 Day 0 and 1 pictures are done!

Posted by on March 4, 2014 1 comment

_DSC0376Still working on all the rest but I finished up day 0 (the pre-cruise) and day 1 (boarding and first concert).

 

 

 

 

 

You can find all of my photos on Flickr here:

Day 0: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets/72157641872741745/
Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wizzer/sets/72157641876517234/

Or in my gallery:

Day 0: https://www.wizzersworld.com/gallery/index.php/Road-Trips/JCCC4-Day-0
Day 1:  https://www.wizzersworld.com/gallery/index.php/Road-Trips/JCCC4-Day-1

All of my photos are Creative Commons license:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Do not download the photos and then upload them somewhere else (like Facebook).  FB kills the photos with compression and you loose the attribution.  Instead, feel free to LINK to the photos on my gallery or on Flickr.

Now, the fun stuff.
If you like the photos, and you want to provide me with any sort of compensation, please do! I can accept payments through Square or Google wallet very easily.  Both of these options provide you the ability to send money via E-mail address (spetrucelli@gmail.com).  Please feel free to send along whatever amount you feel comfortable with (even if it’s 0.00) Now with added Square Market!!  http://mkt.com/steve-petrucelli

Also, here is a fun video preview I did of all the photos: (Watch it in HD for best results)

JoCoCruiseCrazy4 – Yeah, that happened!

Posted by on March 3, 2014 No comments

I had the opportunity to spend 6 amazing days with 850 people who understand, love, enjoy, care, and appreciate everything about geekdom and nerdom.  I can’t tell you all the feels that well up inside every time I think about all the people I met on the cruise.

I know that some people will say “It’s just a convention, but on a boat” or “It’s just hanging out with friends while you cruise” but really it’s that times 10000.  Every room you go into there is a SeaMonkey doing something they love to do.  No one judges, everyone is welcome.

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Each year the official talent puts on an amazing show with amazing events that scatter across the week. You go for this show, but you stay for the Shadow Cruise.  The Shadow cruise is all the events that all of the attendees build around the official events.  We have people who are artists from every field who put up shows, exhibits, classes, and art to share with everyone else.  In many cases, it’s a fan run show that has some other stuff that the official people do.  And it’s THAT that makes the cruise special.

This year I brought my own talent and tried to make it available to folks by doing what I called the “Humble Indie Photographer Bundle”.  This meant that I made myself available for folks to have their picture taken anywhere at any time.  Lots of people took me up on it and, after sorting, I have close to 1000 pictures to process to show for it.  In payment I accepted everything from a “Hey thanks!” to drinks, to a couple bucks.  All of the photos will be posted to Flickr under a Creative Commons licence for everyone to see.

If you know I took a picture of you, and you want to provide me with anything in payment, Please wait until the photos are up! (You never know, they could look like crap!) I’ll be working throughout the week on getting them up as fast as possible and then post here when they are all done.

Thanks again for making my cruise experience another for the memory banks!