“Freeze” by Kyle Thompson
I'm Kyle, I'm 21, I'm from the Chicago area, and I like taking photos in abandoned houses and forests. This blog is all original content. A lot of the shots are self portraits. If you have any questions, comments, etc, I'd love to hear from you!
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Kyle Thompson
• About
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Kyle Thompson
tyv2000 asked: what camera would you recommend to someone who is thinking about getting into photography but doesn't know if they'll like it as a hobby/profression?
If you arent sure if you will like it, I’d say just start out with what you have. Like if you have a point and shoot or whatever. The lower range DSLRs still cost at least $400, which is a big investment if you aren’t sure if you’ll even like it. If you decide to get a DSLR, a t3i (or t2i) is a good cheap camera (like $400). I shot most of my photos on a Canon 60d which is like $600 for the body only. A good starting lens would be a 50mm 1.8, which is around $100. But before you get into all that, just play around with what you have and make sure you like it!
Anonymous asked: Is there going to be a way we can keep track of where you are throughout this trip so we could see if you're near us and then let you know of cool things nearby or something?
Yeah! I will be updating this blog still obviously, but I also plan on making a separate tumblr blog with more text and random photos and stuff like that so it doesnt clog this blog up haha. Ill keep my location updated on both
I’ve been planning and mapping out my trip all week so I haven’t had much time to shoot. I’ll be leaving at the beginning of next month, I’m so excited! If you guys missed it, I’ll be driving around the US/Canada for 5 or 6 months to put together my first photography book. I have more info on my Kickstarter here, so check that out, I appreciate any support!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/87408654/conceptual-photo-roadtrip-book
Next month I’ll be starting a new project I’ve been planning for a while, and I’m so excited! I’ll be driving around the US and Canada for the next 5 or 6 months and will put together a photo book filled with images I take, and text describing my travels. I can’t wait to get started on this and I have really high hopes for this book! I plan on going pretty much everywhere, so if any one has a couch I could sleep on, or wants to shoot together, or has any places you think I should go, please contact me!
I made a Kickstarter for the project, where you can preorder the book or get any number of rewards. I appreciate any support so much! Theres also more info on the book and trip, so you can check that out here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/87408654/conceptual-photo-roadtrip-book
I’ve been planning this for a while now, and I can’t wait to start! If you have any questions about the project or the kickstarter feel free to message me, thanks again for the support!
aghostsapathy asked: You may have been asked this question before, if so I apologize for not seeing it previously. I just want to ask how you execute your self-portraits? When I have ideas, I find it hard them hard to photograph when I'm in front of the camera AND behind it...but I still want to make them happen. Do you have any tips for photographers attempting to do self-portraits or would you mine talking about your process? Thanks! You inspire me.
Yeah for sure! So I use a tripod and a remote timer (something like this, but make sure the one you order is compatible with your camera!). So I go to location with any props I need, and I preplan as much as possible. So figure out the outfit, props, composition, etc as much as you can before you shoot. With the remote timer, you will have to manually focus. I know a lot of people use a wireless remote, and you can use autofocus with that, but I don’t have experience with that so I can’t explain that well.
To focus, I set something where I will be and focus on that. To focus accurately I turn on live view so I see the image on the LCD, then I digitally zoom (the + magnifying glass button). Move to the item youre focusing on, then focus. So if you are shooting wide open (like a 1.8 or something), it will be easy to mess the focus up. So take a lot of test shots. Stand in the position, take a photo, then zoom in on it and make sure you are in focus when you look close up. Keep repeating and adjusting until youre in focus
Ok, so if youre using a timer like the one I linked to, here’s how it works. Basically its an advanced version of the 10 second timer that comes with your camera. With it you are able to set any amount of time until it starts shooting, any number of shots, and any interval between shots. So for example, you can have it wait 20 seconds, then shoot 15 photos with 4 seconds between each shot. One reason I like this more than a normal wireless remote is because you don’t have to hold it and worry about seeing the remote in your shots. This way you can do a lot of shots that would be really hard otherwise. Like if you are in water or something, you cant hold your remote under. Once you shoot a set, take a look at them, readjust if necessary and try again if you need to.
If you’re going to composite anything, you can shoot that too. Not sure what to say about that, because it completely depends on the concept. Just shoot until you are happy with it. Sometimes I will shoot a couple hundred photos until I’m happy with it, so don’t get upset if it doesnt work out at first. Sometimes its good to break away from your original plans and to improvise a bit.
I also often expand my photos with the brenizer method. Basically after I shoot the photo with me in it, I take shots panning all around where I was. So Ill shoot above where I was, below, and all around. Then when I edit, I stitch them all together to get a wider frame. Of course I could have just moved the camera 20 feet back to get the same view, but this way I get a more narrow focus, high resolution (which means I can print big in high quality) and I can crop the final image however I want without worrying about it being low resolution.
And not sure what else, thats pretty much it!
Anonymous asked: Which lenses do you use currently?
50mm 1.8 (when outdoors) and 35mm 2.0 (when indoors)
Anonymous asked: Have you ever had a really profound moment in any of the locations you've shot in?
I like this question. But I dont know if I have had anything profound happen to me when shooting. So Ill change your question and write about a couple interesting or exciting moments during shoots. These might be boring though haha:
Really early morning in Peru, we just arrived in a small oasis town in the desert. There was a thick layer of fog everywhere. I started exploring the foggy dunes by myself to shoot some photos. Since it was like 5AM there was nobody out and the place was completely quiet. A stray dog followed me every where I went. (You can see him in my first set of lifestyle photos from a few days ago) He kept running through my shots, it was really funny. We just walked further into the dunes and I rested on top of the tallest dune and watched the town with the dog next to me as the fog faded.
Driving through cornfields in the middle of nowhere looking for something to shoot when I saw a broken airplane in a field surrounded by abandoned barns. It was just such a crazy find. It looked as if the plane had crashed into the hill
Shooting in the forest and saw a pack of deer. Got about 7 feet away and they just stood curiously staring at me. Theres not much nature where I am so it was a nice moment for me haha
Swimming in a pond in the middle of the woods during a huge rainstorm. I know that is a really bad idea, but it was nice.
Finding the perfect abandoned house can be incredible. Like if you find old photos, or letters they wrote. Its like a time capsule, and cam be amazing to just spend a couple hours looking through the homes to piece together some ones life. I also went into a burnt down house where a terrible crime had recently happened. It was a really sad experience to see everything in the home and knowing none of them lived. Also being in the middle of nowhere, by yourself while shooting is an amazing feeling. When you know there is nobody else around. feels liberating.
