I’m Satisfied w/ not Getting Electrocuted.

Following the unprecedented success in print sales from Coming Home to a Sherbet Twilight, I also looked to capture the opposite effect; the sunset during a disgusting storm. I only wish every sunset was sexy but it doesn’t always work out, especially after it rains.

To put this photo over the top I decided on converting it to monochrome, adding in a copper tint. I enjoy it every time: when I’m able to witness those light rays striking through the clouds and spotlighting the land below. Now that’s the sexy part. ^_^

The Most Legendary Landmark in Dwntwn

Well, you can’t even see it in this shot, but the Freedom Tower encapsulates 85 years of Miami history. You can’t say that about too many structures still standing in the dwntwn area.

Currently, this guillotine is still on display just outside the Freedom Tower, apparently for the awareness of past torture methods used by… yea, I really have no idea why this random guillotine is out there. But I was asked to take a shot of it for a last minute assignment a couple months ago. Came out pretty well, but I made sure to keep my distance. :p

This Makes for a Sexy Desktop!

Head over to my Eyecandy Portfolio, where you can download this photo and use it as wallpaper for your computer desktop! Even though I’m extremely bias in saying this: it feels great waking up to this photo in the morning when I open my Mac. ^_^ (Soooo bias I know, but my ego made me say it!) I released this photo over at Eyecandy a few days ago and it is selling astronomically! It was grand opening mayhem! You can go buy this print now as well.

I mentioned this within An Orgasmic Sunset: I’m rarely ever at my condo to witness all of the sexy evening sunsets. It pisses me off because I miss out on a lot of them and I almost missed this one! Luckily I got home from Miami Beach in time to capture what I call a Sherbet Twilight. I’ve never seen anything like it in real life. I only enhanced the vibrancy, not the saturation. There were a couple guys on the balcony of a high rise across the way that know exactly what I’m talking about: this sunset was surreal. =D

7 Days Until Portfolio Grand Opening O_O

This is going to be more Colossal than xynntii.com! I continue to say it and I absolutely mean this. My portfolio and its sexy interface is going to be the ultimate playground renovation that the Fans have been waiting for. Keep in mind, my premiere portfolio, hosted by smugmug, will be designed with the same theme and feel as what you see here at xynntii.com. Same playfulness, same corniness. It’s gonna be pretty disgusting [in a good way]. Remember to check-in on Monday 24 May for this update. I want you to be the first to see. If you’re friends with me on facebook or you have joined the fansite, then you’ll be sure to receive status update and promotions about it.

My Balcony Makes Way for Some Intense Eyecandy

The condominium realtor detailed that I would only have a good view of the west. Is that so? This photo was shot pointing to the south. But I made sure to crop out my balcony wall that was raping the left side of the frame. I had to make it seem as if I have that perfect view; you know how it is, my ego made me do it. If you’ve been following :xynn tii imagery for several months, then you’d recognize this blue tower as the Bank of America skyscraper that I’ve photographed in several other landscape shots, including one my favorites: Bank of America ‘State of Mind’. I elevated up to one of the unaffordable penthouses for that shot. I enjoy basking in the ambiance of places I know I’ll probably never have the opportunity to live in. It’s called… denial.

No, seriously, it really is!

All these one-way streets in the dwntwn area is what really pisses Miamians off! I complain about it on Twitter all the time yo!

Now, from an Everglades on the Bay vantage point, looking to the north, you just might see the legendary Freedom Tower, American Airlines Arena, Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne, Ten Museum Park or even the ridiculously luxurious Marquis Miami. But none of that is what makes dwntwn Miami just straight-up weird.

It’s the fact that dwntwn has an unusual look to it, or at least for right now it does. =/ With all this construction going on you could see it as a renovation period, or what architects are dubbing a “Manhattanization wave”. But that’s just half the story.

What’s my Point?: nothing is being done to expand the roads in dwntwn, which is a major mistake. As I mentioned in an earlier vlogcast™ image detail, so much money is being invested to bring traffic and residents in, but Miami is simply too damn small for this movement. Some might say the city is ‘too far gone’ meaning an excess of construction has already taken place, eliminating the opportunity or room for road expansion. =/ Would you believe that construction on Miami Beach has created the same exact problem? Ha, but who am I to say: I’m just a broke college student! Oh well.

Image Detail.

Another HDR brought you to via the Canon D7, my new Akemi >_< I actually didn’t have to edit this image too much; lighting was the main focus. Some artificial light was implanted on the main road [Biscayne Blvd] in the image to contrast it from everything else.

& yes, I have to admit the moon is fake, but give me credit; it looks pretty damn real. c; I added it using the selection tool in CS4 and it is placed behind the clouds. I also dodged the skyscapers to highlight them. I edited this image using the following software below.

NECESSARY SOFTWARE!

Photoshop CS4

Lightroom 3.0

Photomatix Pro

There are also several plugins for Photoshop which I also find useful. They will be revealed in the next few vlogcasts™ for xynn tii imagery.™ Anticipate progression and improvement from xtii™ in 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

to the entire fanbase over at the xynn tii imagery™ facebook fansite! Love ya so much for your interest. ^_^

Twitter = The Best I Ever Had

Yea, it’s kind of a big deal to become an active Twitter user. For serious, make sure you’re following each and every tweet of xynn tii imagery.™ I like to think I am a true twitter user [& there goes the ego].

Some often get the misconception that Twitter is simply a social network where you only let people know what you’re doing every minute of the day. WRONG, WRONG! It’s more than that. Trey Ratcliff [the best HDR photographer in the game] will tell you firsthand that its about sharing the Internet with… with the Internet. Twitter makes it easier to share links with one another at the fastest rate possible.

Links are what make up the world wide web, and we’re constantly searching for news, inspiration, etc. Twitter is ideal for bringing all of this together as one big foundation. As a person that enjoys taking photos, I am constantly receiving links via the people I follow for inspiration and… everything. You can only get the most out of this Twitter by simply following the right people and being proactive and educational within your own tweets.

Look, the bottom line is: If you use Twitter for what’s its truly meant for and if manipulate all of its capabilities, you’re bound to discover that it’s actually quite useful and worth your time. Most importantly, follow xynn tii imagery™ c;

Image Detail.

The Marina Blue. Yea, it’s pretty sexy. It’s architecture is just ridiculous, and I mean that in a good way! It’s another relatively new condo residence of the dwntwn Miami area. It’s almost directly across the street from where the Miami Heat play [AA Arena]. I really don’t know much about it except that I know I can’t afford to live there… and that… it’s a sexy-looking skyscraper. ><

I wanted to lead the viewer’s eyes to the tower by finding an angle in which it would be centered and in the background. Do you think I accomplised that? =p I would love to go inside this place and hopefully within the next few days I will have the opportunity to shoot some images from one of their top floors. I would be able to get a decent shot of the AA Arena from up there, with the traffic strobe-lighted through the long-exposure process. Mhm, sounds like a plan.

Soooo, do you like this photo? Are you a Twitter user? Are you following xynn tii imagery™? Do you strongly dislike how the media is eating Tiger Woods inside out!? Tell me what you’re thinking. Comment this post and leave a comment via Twitter using the hastag #vlogcast. [ I will be able to find your tweet easier when you use the hashtag c: ]

Become a fan via the xynn tii imagery™ facebook fansite. c:

Fortunately I live on the west side of my condo

residence in dwntwn Miami, so I get to experience all of the differently colored sunsets. But it’s a shame because I’m rarely home in the evening, so I’m sure I’ve missed a serious amount of sexy sunsets. This has got to be the most spontaneous image I have taken so far, simply because I had awoken from a nap just before seeing this sunset. I walked into my living room and I promise you: the image you see is exactly what I saw. 0_0

I literally felt like it was my obligation to take a photo immediately. Haa This is easily the prettiest sunset I’ve witnessed in Miami. I was struck by how the color tones in the sky were so evenly stacked and blended. It was… so… orgasmic to see it in real-time. c: Hopefully this image will make you feel as if you were seeing it in person as well.

I went through several masking processes while editing this image, specifically for lighting purposes. If I hadn’t done this, you would not be able to see the detail within the entire inside of my condo. My Nikkor lens captured the inside as a silhouette, [ all black ] so I felt that if you could see objects indoors in addition to the outdoor scenery, the image would be more interesting.

This is very boring

but as you may already know, a camera lens does not capture evenly spread lighting all the time, especially when you’re pointing at an object with the sky in the background. Hence, the editing process. >< Also, I used my simple 50mm lens, which had a perfect range in relation to the length of my living room. I took 5 shots at 5 different exposures to assist me when I did the masking for the curtains.