Friday, April 29, 2011

Following a blog

Apparently there has been some confusion on how to follow the blog.

The Follow button is at the bottom of the blog, so scroll down all the way. You will see a Follow button on the right side. A window will appear with three main options to follow Google, Twitter and Yahoo. If you already have an account just choose which one and you’re following.




If you do not have an account with any of these providers, in my opinion the easiest way to follow is through Google.

Select the Google button and it will open to a login window for Google accounts, this is where people are getting a little confused. On the left side of the screen about a third of the way down there is a hotlink that says create one for free


Once here you can type your existing email address, instead of creating a new email. You are signing up through Google as a throughput to your own email. After clicking the button at the bottom that says “I agree to the terms”, another window will open to follow the blog. Click the button to confirm that you want to follow.




If you are not familiar with this process, it can get a little convoluted, however once setup, you then get 
an email informing you that a new post is on my blog to read.

Hope this helps,

Mitchell (punko) 





Friday, April 22, 2011

SHSU Mass Com News Team Back on the Airwaves






The Sam Houston State University television broadcast studio “A” in the Dan Rather Communications Building is up and running!

Rock Eagle Communications team of specialists and engineers, headed up by Craig Loper has worked with the Mass Communications department since mid December 2010 and re-engineering master control and studio A has the system up and running smoothly.
Many individuals came together to make this happen. The team included 10 people from Rock Eagle, 4 employees from Keena & Company as well as project management support and more than 12 staff, instructors, and interns from Sam Houston.  The project also involved multiple contractors from around the country and state with hundreds of hours logged and long days had by all. 
Thank you everyone!

Here are a few photos and video of the current and past students at Sam Houston “going live” with their recent weekly news broadcast on Huntsville’s Channel 7.



















713 Tattoo Commercial


Well I just finished editing a 30 sec. spot for 713 tattoo www.713tattoo.com
What a joy it has been to create something artistic! Dad (Craig Loper) and I spent 2 evenings at the parlor and had a great time with everyone. The crew is congenial, helpful and fun to be around.

The commercial was shot on a Nikon D7000 HDSLR camera. What a great camera. Being a photographer and working in film/video this is a great hybrid for my personal needs. As a still camera it's incredible. Using the camera as a video camera, all of the gadgets and accessories certainly come in handy, however they're not a must. On this shoot I had the camera in several configurations and liked each one for each particular purpose. This camera is not the "end all be all" camera (when you find that camera, let me know)
yet it is another great tool I have come to rely on.

Check out the commercial for 713 Tattoo!







Thursday, April 21, 2011

713 tattoo Promotional Poster

713 Tattoo www.713tattoo.com is having there Friday the 13th event.
#13 incorporated tattoos for $13! Got to give your $7 tip for good luck!

I designed a promotional poster for the event. It was a ton of fun to design something more up my ally. 
I did a lot of research and was inspired by circus and worlds fair posters, as if it were 1890. This incorporates well with 713's website.
Homer Saenz, owner of 713 Tattoo, let me go "hog wild" and create something that gets the information out 
and is entertaining to look at! 

Stop by the shop!







Tuesday, April 12, 2011

713 Tattoo Shoot

Another shoot at 713 Tattoo www.713tattoo.com under the belt! The HDSLR rig is working great! Still figuring out the quirks of the format, but so far I really like shooting with the camera and the quality of the picture.

Here are a couple of pictures from the shoot and a short clip of the new improved skate dolly. Dad and I managed to get the Sachtler  head on the skateboard, and I stole my wheels and Red Bone bearings off my longboard. Smooth as silk! The rig works great for the HDSLR with minimal setup.












Sunday, April 3, 2011

Behind the scene photos on the 713 Tattoo Shoot

Here are a couple of photos of me in action with my new HDSLR rig.




Also, here's a short clip of me using my DIY skate dolly rig. Inexpensive, fast setup and really smooth shots.






Check out 713 Tattoo, www.713tattoo.com





Letter 3 Films Promotional Photo Shoot

Here are a couple of shots of Dad (Craig Loper), my good friend Cory and myself on location at Shady Tavern on 20th in the Heights setting up for promotional photos to raise awareness and funds to shoot the short film "1 Up 4 Down", an award winning screenplay (Writer/Director Jack Updyke).

Check out the links and pass it along!










Saturday, April 2, 2011

I'm bloggin'!



Well its finally happening. I have a blog. With this tool I will be able to keep friends, family, and colleagues up to date with whats going on in my world.

Life is busy, to say the least, the Rock Eagle Communications team has been working hard at Sam Houston State University in the Dan Rather Mass Communications building re-engineering two studios and their master control room.

With all of this happening it's been tuff to keep up with everything else.

February I finished up a whole graphics package for print for TOWTRC's annual conference through Keena & Company.

Recently, I shot some promotional photos for Matt Stevenson a good friend and fellow graphic artist.
http://www.mattmedium.com/index.html


I have also been working a HDSLR rig. I purchased a Nikon D7000 and love it. The photos are fantastic  and the video is beautiful. 

I'm currently working on a project for Homer Saenz, owner of 713 Tattoo, http://www.713tattoo.com/
shooting a commercial with my D7000.

Here is a picture of my rig.


I have always been intrigued by the "look" of old photos from just about any era. I have spent years perfecting these looks in Photoshop and have worked hard to create a digital darkroom, so that I have control from photography to the finished product. 

After shooting Matt, I did some research on tintype photography and the process of developing the plates. I soon found a dry plate method that made by Rockland Colloid. I got so excited about this I went ahead and purchased a Graflex 4x5 Crown Graphic press camera.


Many, many other things are popping. I will do my best to keep you all posted. 

Hope you enjoy,

Mitchell Loper (aka) Punko