Scott King's Blog, page 11
July 25, 2016
5 Day Novel: Day 1!
I’ve decided to write a novel in 5 days. Not a first draft, but a completed novel from concept to polish with rewrites included!
Today was all pre-writing…
At the start of the day I had no game plan for what I would be writing this week other than it would be an action thriller. After staring at computer paper with sketches and strange lists, I officially know what I want this book to be.
I wrote my pitch for the book, a rough outline, did character arcs, did a detailed outline, did some research, did a final outline. So I think I’m ready to go for tomorrow.
I’m really tempted to share the pitch but the book took a more character route structure then pure action and it will touch upon themes that are sensitive. So I don’t want to share the details until I get further into it since things may change. I will say that the protagonist is an FBI agent living in Washington, D.C. and there mix of politics along with the action.
Tomorrow is going to be the hardest day physically. I’m going to try and get 50k done or at least the full first draft. That may end up being 44k or 51k. I won’t know till I get there. Lisa is requiring that I take breaks to get up and move and still do at least a daily three mile walk. So that will cut into my writing time. Not sure how many words I can write in a single day, but I guess I will find out tomorrow. I’m hoping I can do at least 2k an hour which means that I should be able to get a draft done in like 20 to 24 hours.
July 24, 2016
5 Day Novel!
I’m aiming to write a 50k-ish novel this week. That’s from concept to polish with at least two re-writes built in.
I have no idea if I will be able to do it. I’m a bit nervous. I’d like to do it secretly and not tell anyone so if I fail then no one will know. However I feel like that is cheating. So I’m making it public.
Right now I know that the book will be thriller. It will most likely be an action thriller. I know I want the protagonist to be an FBI agent, outside of that I’ve not done any planning. I’ll figure that all out tomorrow once I officially start working.
I have spent the past week researching the FBI, gun types, jurisdiction between Feds and police and those kinds of things. Just to make sure I know enough to write competent characters. I have not done any story or character planning yet.
I’ll TRY to put an update here everyday, though they may be short ‘cause I’m going to be a bit busy. Plus I’m going to unplug my router so I will avoid social media and the web in general. They can be a bit of a distraction. But every night or maybe when I do my daily walks I’ll try to post updates!
July 19, 2016
The Canon 80D!
With my T3i dead I had to make a quick decision on what to do. There were three main options:
Get a Canon 80D
Get a Canon 5D Mark III
Get a mirrorless camera
I’ve wanted a Canon 5D Mark II & Mark III for YEARS. It’s a full frame camera (bigger sensor/chip) and it is a powerhouse. It’s also like $2,500 and if you get it you need to also get lenses for it which could range $500-$2,000. Honestly though it wasn’t the money that convinced me not to get it, its that the 5D Mark IV is rumored to be releasing this fall. At this point the 5D Mark III is a bit dated and even if its a powerhouse it seems silly to get a camera that is a bit out of touch.
I could jump ship. Not get a DSLR and go with a mirrorless camera. Lots of photographers say good things about Sony’s mirrorless cameras. They still cost a fair amount of money for a decent one so its not like I would be saving cash by going mirrorless. Also I was in a crunch and didn’t have time to do the full research on what mirrorless might meet my needs.
The Canon 80D is the top of the line for Canon’s crop-sensors (a sensor smaller than the full frame sensor). It was just released this year and has an upgraded sensor so it’s pretty darn good with low light and features. The price for the camera body isn’t cheap, but it’s also not expensive. It would also be a massive step-up from the T3i. The biggest complaint I saw in reviews was that it didn’t do 4k video. Well I don’t do video anyway so not a problem for me.
So what to do? The 5D Mark III was sooooo tempting, but when staked agains the 80D the features weren’t as good and the prices were DRASTICALLY different. I think if the 5D Mark IV was out, I might have caved and bought one, but since it wasn’t I went with the 80D!
Along with the 80D body I picked up a 18-135mm lens. I need a wide lens to shoot over the head wide shots of games. Then I need something that gets close to macro quality when doing close-ups of games. It was a massive pain in the butt to always switch between lenses so I figured the 18-135mm might cover both extremes. I’ve NOT done a game shoot yet so I don’t know for sure how I will like using it, but I think it will turn out nice.
I’m still learning the system. Mostly it’s about limits. I knew how far I could push the T3i. If I was shooting a game for a client I dare not go over 400 iso or there would be too much noise. So far the 80D blows it out of the water! I went to the local aquarium and took some great photos at 3200 iso!
The 80D has some neat features. For example, I can connect the camera to my iPhone and pull images off it or use it to remotely control the camera (which you can see above). The autofocus has 45 points which is a huge improvement over the 9 that the T3i had. It’s weather sealed so I don’t need to worry about a bit of ran and the touch screen on it is really responsive. So far I’m loving the Canon 80D!
Here are a few test shots I took with the Canon 80D and the 18-135mm lens!
R.I.P. T3i
I was doing a client shoot last week and I heard a strange clanking. I took off the lens and was pretty shocked to discover that the mirror and it’s holder had broken. I messed with it a bit and it seems like the motor went up and when it did the spring holder for the mirror busted.
You can get it fixed but the cost is stupid. So my Canon T3i is officially dead. It’s was four years old and it is the camera I’ve used for every game photo I’ve ever taken.
Camera’s have a shelf life. The T3i is estimated to last about 49,000 shutter accusations. I checked my stats. In four years I took 119,587 photos. That’s pretty darn good. More than double the camera’s estimated life.
July 5, 2016
Guilds of London Preview!
One of the hottest new releases this summer is Guilds of London from Tasty Minstrel Games! Guilds of London is an area control game designed by Tony Boydell. I got a chance to get it on my photography table and these are the results…
One Hit Kill Preview!
One Hit Kill is a humorous set collection game designed by John August & Ryan Nelson. It funded last year on Kickstarter and not too long ago I played it and photographed it! The art and graphic design is fantastic.
In the game, players build ultimate weapons to take out their opponents and its hard to look at cards like the “Most Cuddly Rabbit” and not laugh. If you are looking for something that is a light enough for new gamers or for something quick to play between larger games make sure you check out One Hit Kill.
June 29, 2016
The 2017 Gaming Calendar!
The 2017 Gaming Calendar is live on Kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th3rdworld/2017-gaming-calendar
As has become a tradition, there is a base calendar, which I’ll sell all year long, and then there is the custom calendar which is Kickstarter exclusive. This year there are over 200 photos in the custom calendar pool!
Plus… MEEPLES PLAYING GAMES!
June 25, 2016
Winchell!
Lisa has been wanting a nice photo of Winchell so I took this for her.
Winch was a fantastic model. Basically I just had to take him outside on a sunny day and he was instantly happy. Such a great a dog.
June 21, 2016
Wild Flowers
In April we got a chance to head to the Texas Hill Country to see the wild flowers. It was absolutely amazing and I really need to make time to process all the photos I took when on the trip.
The photo above is of a lone red poppy in a field filled with blue bonnets.
The post Wild Flowers appeared first on Scott King.
Saw this beautiful guy at the Houston Zoo.
