Photography, particularly landscape photography, is a passion of mine. If I had my way, I’d travel the globe at least six months out of the year, exploring, observing wildlife, working on my photographic technique, and coming back to share the images and tales from my adventures. In reality, I know from my friends in the business, being a professional nature photographer is a tough gig. The grass is always greener on the other side… but when I’m chained to my desk in Burbank, I’d just like to be over there photographing that grass.
I’ve been keeping a photo/travel journal site for the last 5 years or so, which some of you may already know: bryankonietzko.com
My web designer and I are planning an overhaul on the site soon, to eradicate the Flash engine and make it compatible with mobile devices, and to generally make it work smoother, and also easier to send out notices when there is a new gallery. For now, if you’re interested, I just uploaded a new gallery from a trip in November to Death Valley and along the Eastern Sierras. Thanks for looking…
Photos © Bryan Konietzko
My sentiments exactly.Yes it was a short game. Yes the story wasn’t all that great or important. Yes the cutscenes were cel-shaded. Yes the combat system was a pain in the ass. But I still loved everything about this game.
This game was so undeniably beautiful on a level I’ve not seen since; it could turn a boring hallway into a veritable work of art. I’m hard-pressed to think of another game that uses color so boldly or effectively. The controls were tight, the missions were memorable and felt justified in the context of the story and above all it was different. Save for Sins of a Solar Empire, I can’t think of another game I’ve enjoyed recently that wasn’t a sequel or part of an already successful franchise. So while it may not have been a commercial success, it was still an endeavor worth taking and we need more of these kind of games.
This was my game IKEA.
I think the best way to play this game is actually to watch someone else play it. Then you can really appreciate the environments. There’s some good HD playthroughs on YouTube that are totally worth watching.
lifesasundaeheresthewhippedcream:
I have dreams about a forest like this.
aaahhhhh so beautiful!! And strangely enough, I was trying to draw something quite similar to this yesterday and just GAVE UP all over the place.
If anyone has any good forest digital painting tutorial/walkthrough recommendations send them my wayyyy.
In a detail-rich environment like a forest, it’s so hard to pick and choose which details are important to define and which ones would just be too cluttered to over-render. SIGH SIGH SIGH
http://yuumei.deviantart.com/art/Princess-Mononoke-Process-209727642
http://yanimator.deviantart.com/art/conceptart-org-EOW-50-roughs-53471580
Those are the only ones I seem to have on file. Though there’s some good finished pieces I use for reference:
http://tiggerfactory.deviantart.com/art/Nadine-176574356
http://vityar83.deviantart.com/art/slum-188429262
http://forsythia.deviantart.com/art/The-Truth-20861310
http://noah-kh.deviantart.com/art/waterfall-46771837
http://enayla.deviantart.com/art/Golden-31422468
http://rozefire.deviantart.com/art/Prelude-to-Something-25232197
I also try to pay close attention to photography techniques, since there’s usually a lot of focus/framing practices there that can be used to an artist’s advantage:
http://matic.deviantart.com/art/River-and-Asian-Ruin-8752584
http://micahgoulart.deviantart.com/art/Strada-5289037
(Source: violinkitten)
Karst topography - is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestoneor dolomite.
Fuck yes, karst topography; responsible, IMHO, for some of the most incredible, hypnotically beautiful places on earth.
