MikeRaats

Hi Everyone,

Well its has been a long time since I was last active on dA, but I am thinking about giving it another go.

Its been a long time since my last Photo post and even longer since a Journal update.

For now this is just a quick update for those of you amazing people who still follow me, that I am coming back. I have a huge back log of messages to go through, and I do not have internet at home, so this will be done at work during lunch. So please bare with me.

I am going to be doing a massive cull of my old work, as much as I enjoy it, I think its time for an update.

I have done some more travelling during my absence from dA, and been experimenting with different formats of photography that I will share with you all.

For those of you who cannot wait, can click on the links below for my different social media profiles or can click here for my blog:

Mike Raats Blog

See you soon.
Mike.

Hey guys,

This isnt going to be a proper journal update, but just a quick check in.

I am currently in Orlando Florida, and I travelled halfway around the world in the space of 3 days. Orlando has been great, I have been able to be a little kid at Disney. There havnt been many photo opportunities yet, I have a few shots that I will post as soon as I get home from my trip.

I have done the touristy thing in Orlando with most of the theme parks, I still have Epcot and Animal Kingdom to go. So hopefully there will be more photographic opportunities soon. After Orlando we are off to Washington DC for my bday which I am really looking forward to, only problem is that we are there for 2 - 3 days. Then on to New York for christmas, should be many photo opps there. After that we are off to Las Vegas for new years, that may get messy haha. Then we are going back to California and then back home to Australia.

Hopefully I will be uploading some decent shot by the middle of January.

In terms of gear I am hopefully going to be getting the lens hood for my 15-85mm and the filters, that have been on the 'Essential List' for a while now. I need to get them ASAP so add the final waterproof touches to the 7D, which is going to be needed for the snow that we should be seeing very soon!

Talking about the 7D, I had a 'little' accident last night, I was taking some night shots at Universals: Islands of Adventure, in the Harry Potter section. I was in the middle of packing up and I picked up my tripod and the camera came off the mount about 1 - 1.5m above the ground... I watched the camera fall in slow motion as it hit the ground, my 1st concern was for the camera then I thought about my lens, the new 15-85mm. After some inspection I noticed a slight deformation on the barrel of the lens, but it seems like the camera and lens is fine. I will be taking some more test shots tomorrow to see if there is any visible damage... I am really hoping there isnt any damage, I want to spend my money on new gear not repairs.

Oh well only time will tell.

Catch ya all later.

Mike.

Greetings my fellow Deviants, it has been some time since my last Journal.... so much for trying to write one up every month.

Anyway I have been around checking up on dA every now and then, I am in the process of replying to comments and posts. Please be patient with me there are over 4200 messages that I need to look at (these are not all comments, they are mostly images )

I noticed last week that this new account has been live for over a year, its amazing how quickly time flys. I have almost hit the 3000 page view mark, so I will once again say a big thank you to everyone that has enjoyed my work.

I have given myself the goal of doing a Photo-A-Day challenge using just my iPhone and some of the apps that I have, for the most part I have been good with mosting everyday but I have had a few slip ups. haha
For those interested, take alook at my Tumblr page for updates: Titanslog

I have been very quiet in terms of uploads, but I have been busy and have a few shots uploaded onto Sta.sh so there will be uploads soon.

Gear:
I have had my 7D for about 4 months and I am very happy with it so far. I have also finally purchased a new lens; the Canon 15-85mm its is a great piece of glass. A brilliant replacement for the kit lens. With my trip to America getting closer (4.5 weeks to go) I have a few items that I will be buying, have bought already for the trip.

Items already bought

• Op/Tech 18" SLR Rainsleeve(for the snow)

• Canon 15-85mm

Items still to be bought

• The lens hood for the 15-85

• New UV Fiilet

• New Polarizing Filter

• 32gb Memory Card

• Remote Control

• Extra Battery

• New Polarizing Filter

Anyway thats it for now, check back soon for post updates.

MikeRaats.

Well ladies and gentlemen it is once again a new month, and again it is bloody scary just how quickly the year has gone by. A quick update on the time till my USA trip 149 days to go

I must say a big thank you to everyone who has helped me reach 2000 page views over the last 9 months, I am humbled by all the 's and comments from everyone. One of my photos was, much to my surprise, included in an article on the 'Nifty Fifty'. Thank you for the feature. For those of you who are actually interested in reading the article it can be found here:
PhotoTuts+


I bought my Canon EOS 7D 1.5 weeks ago, I am so stoked!! Im am still trying to get my head around all the new features and settings, its such a different camera in comparison to my 450D. I will still keep the 450D for the time being, my brother has said that he would like to play around with it. So now it just comes down to saving some cash to get some new toys and glass for the 7D.

• Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3.

• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM.

• Some new filters.

Featured Artist.

Andrew Marston

I recently came accross the account of Andrew Marston while looking through some Japanese photos, this guy has some really wonderful shots on his page. But the real place to see his great work is his website: Unframed World
I highly recommend that you go and check out his site, you wont be sorry.

So thats it for now, hopefully there will be some new decent updates so keep an eye out.

MikeRaats

Well once again another month has gone by, we are half way through the year. Ive only got 182 day before the trip to America... but who's counting

May was pretty busy with work, but its been great. I have been a working man almost been 2 years, and once again is really scary when you stop to think how time has flown by. I have learnt alot in my field and will continue to grow as my experience grows.

I noticed that I exceeded 1900 page views since starting up this new account 8 months ago, thank you very much to all the watchers and people who have favourited & commented on my work.

I have about half of what I need to get my Canon 7D, I am really excited to get the new camera. There are a few other items that I will be picking up along with th 7D:

• Canon 7D with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit.

• Kingmax 16GB 200x Compact Flash Memory Card.

• Canon Battery Grip BG-E7 with spare battery.

Hopefully I will be able to order the items by the end of the month, so that I can start playing with it so that I know what everything does before going away in December.

I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with this journal... apart from updating those of you who actually read these journals that is. haha

Most Viewed, ed and commented.

This photo was taken on the 21st of May, while I was out with .
When I posted this photo I didnt think it would get the kind of response that it did, it became the most view, faved and commented on photo in my gallery. It only took 2 days to surpass the last title holder. So I will say another HUGE thank you to everyone who viewed it and and even bigger thank you to those who ed and commented on it.
I appreciate the faves very much but for those who take the time to write a comment on my photos, it really means alot.

Anyway enough of the 'brown-nosing' haha I have also created a page on FaceBook showcasing my work. click in the facebook link below and 'Like' the page.

I will try and get my act together and post up some of my photos onto Fllickr!, it just begins to get a little much updating 3 different gallerys.

Time to sign off, talk to you all later.

MikeRaats.