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[ My Blogger ]
[ posted 10:40 AM ]
\> 'Tis the Season
I swear that radio stations start playing Christmas music earlier and earlier every year. I think there was a time when the music came over the radio two or three weeks before December 25th. I remember being surprised one year when radio stations started playing holiday music the weekend of (US) Thanksgiving. Yesterday I was driving to work when I heard 106.9 play "Continuous Christmas Favorites" already. Geez. Next thing you know they'll start at the autumnal equinox. I haven't even figured out what to do for next week (Turkey-holiday) yet.
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# posted by: 12:01 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2008[ posted 9:08 AM ]
\> Groomsman
Had dinner with SG last night and was asked to be a groomsman at his wedding in July. :D This'll be the second time I'll actually be involved in a wedding; the first was when I was a ring bearer in my uncle's wedding when I was ~10 years old or so.
I wonder if I'll be able to carry around my DSLR.
I've known SG for almost 4 years now. Even though we shared an office for a little over a year we didn't really talk much for the first six months. Funny how it was thanks to me that he met his fiancée.
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[ posted 7:24 PM ]
\> Boreal
I haven't felt like blogging much lately. Mea culpa. Somehow I need to kick start this again.
Thanks to the last evening's Numb3rs episode, Magic Show, I learnt of hydrophobic sand from Penn of Penn & Teller. Pretty cool. On a related note (if you clicked the third link or the image on the side), one of my favourite pastimes in middle/high school was flipping through our science department's copy of the Boreal* catalogue. I remember it being a really thick book. There was just so much cool stuff in there-from microscopes to models (I remember trying to figure out which one I could convince my mom to buy me; I think I settled a model of the eye). I don't think I ever ended up getting anything though. Ah, the memories. Our biology teacher used to award these** funny science bumper stickers too.
* Actually, I can't say for sure it was Boreal, but the name rings a bell for sure.
** Not exactly like these, but similar.0 comments </Comments:Post a Comment
[ posted 7:38 PM ]
\> Coming up for Air
I've been so busy lately as we geared up for our big release at PDC 2008. I've been working weekends for the past 3 weeks and often stayed past midnight. Crazy. I don't think I've ever worked this hard for.. work. Anyhow, we finally shipped! Woot! Unfortunately, it's really only just beginning. The next 3 months towards MIX 2009 will be pretty crazy.
And that's all that's new with me. How about you?
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[ posted 7:27 PM ]
\> 2008 Digital Photo Expo
Today I managed to make my way over to the Lynnwood Convention Center for the 2008 Digital Photo Expo, hosted by Kenmore Camera. The actual floor of the expo was smaller than I would have expected, with booths by Canon, Nikon, Bogen, SanDisk, Tamrac, Lowepro, and the like. Things were discounted, but I didn't buy anything. At the Nikon table, I got to play with the D40x (I'm so glad I didn't get this camera), and several lenses, including the:
- AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED: I have heard good things about this lens as a cheap (~$500) carry-around lens (especially on a pro camera like the D3, since it has such low noise at high ISOs). This lens is bigger than I expected, though it feels plastic-y, and doesn't zoom quite that smoothly.
- AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6D ED: Wow! I was looking at this lens for its versatile zoom and long telephoto capabilities. This lens retails for ~$1400. This would be one of the lenses I'd consider if I were going to Africa for a safari. Surprisingly, the lens is actually smaller than I thought. It's not light, but it's not too heavy either. Nice.
- AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8G ED: This is the one that everyone's been talking about since it came out last year. At ~$1600 it ain't cheap, but it delivers unbelievable sharpness. It's also smaller than I remember it to be, when I played with it last December in Tokyo. I want this lens.
What I was more interested in, though, were the free classes being offered by Bogen, Canon, and Nikon. I only managed to attend two of the session by Bill Fortney, a photographer that works for Nikon as a Nikon Professional Services tech rep. They were both pretty good and enjoyable talks, filled with great imagery and tips. The following are very rough notes from each talk I went to.
Learning to See Photographically
- Photography is all about shapes and lines.
- compose on the fluid action of lines in photograph
- bending lines. A photographer has the ability to control where the viewer's eyes go.
- bullseye syndrome. Sometimes should be broken.
- pumping color/saturation in Photoshop (almost always does this).
- rule of 1/3s
- color!
- patterns
- light
- lines of direction
- learn to see differently
- texture -> sidelighting (sunrise)
- color -> hot air balloons!
- No guts, no glory: had to ask shopkeeper to borrow step ladder for this picture.
- stop down f/16 -> glow
- humorous story about being threatened legal action by artist; complements work wonders.
- HDR: full stop difference, 9 exp - wow. I was super surprised that many in the audience had never heard of HDR. Sure, there was a good amount of bald/white-haired people in the crowd, but still...
- dust on sensor. Officially, don't clean it. Unofficially ...
- cropping: learning to shoot on slides (where cropping is extremely painful), his frames are made in camera, and rarely need cropping afterwards. I thought that was interesting.
- shoots JPG. Someone asked about RAW vs. JPG. RAW is a file format, not a religion. Certainly, there are uses for RAW-when you're not sure about exposure, white balance, or very important shoots, etc.
- Cameras are designed years in advance. Hardware is nailed down a year to months before release. The software/firmware is what gets tweaked right to the very last day-very important! (Note to self: update firmware.) Very secretive, even within Nikon. Doesn't hear/see things until two months to launch. Athens Olympics, 90% Canon; Beijing, 60% Nikon! Leapfrogging companies.
- Technology convergence (video on DSLRs).
- ShortRunPosters: cheap poster printing at high laminated quality.
Landscape and Nature Photography
- "Photography is only two things: ..." - Jay Maisel. (Doh, I can't find the quote online.)
- All successful images have four things: 1. A definable subject; 2. Appropriate light for that subject; 3. Conditions right to make the image; and 4. Control of the foreground and background.
- walk around looking at light/absence of light
- the best time to visit Hurricane Ridge is before the sun comes up. (!)
- shooting looking downstream is rarely done.
- the Grand Landscape: mountains, vistas, "wow!", etc.
- nature photography needs right conditions. Go 25 times to a place and you'll get maybe once with the right conditions.
- the Intimate Landscape: ie. landscapes closer up.
- photographing streams is best down after a rainfall -> rocks are wet (dry would overexpose)
- the Close Up Landscape: 105mm, 200mm. If you get too close, body heat creates microclimate, and wind affects things like dew drops.
- People in Landscapes: If you're serious about your work and want to sell, you *must* do this. Companies/magazines want: this particular shot was staged for magazine cover-"this is how I want it" before even going out there.
- Water Landscapes
- Filters: Only uses a polarizer and a Singh-Ray variable ND filter
- Few people are nature photographers by profession anymore-too saturated a market. An exceptional photographer that is a mediocre businessman will fail, whereas the vise-versa is false.0 comments </Comments:Post a Comment
[ posted 8:37 PM ]
\> Snail
I've been quite busy at work lately and haven't been motivated enough to update this blog. I have been, on the other hand, fairly diligent about posting pictures from my Rocky Mountain trip to flickr. I'm only on Day 3, but you can look at them all here: 2008-09 Rocky Mountain Trip. Once I get motivated enough and can find the time, I'll start blogging about it too. In the meantime, watch the pictures.
I received a letter via snail mail from KE tonight. I was perplexed prior to opening it. Had I left something in Berkeley that had to be mailed back? Was this an invitation to a wedding?! (One month from dating to marriage!) What else could it be?! I hastily opened up the letter. It turned out to be a regular correspondence via postal mail. Boy, did that throw me a curve. I have to say, though, it is nice to receive an actual letter rather than a one-off mail.
KE, yes, I still owe you a phone call.
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# posted bySunday, September 28, 2008[ posted 1:31 PM ]
\> Learning to See Creatively
"Learning to See Creatively" is often recommended as a "first book" for aspiring photographers, but I was so keen on reading "Understanding Exposure" this past week that I left it to second. Like the former book, this is a short book with a good number of pictures, by the same author. I didn't get as much out of this book as I did out of UE, but it was a pleasant read regardless. Some of the before/after pictures were interesting as well.
You can actually read a good portion of the book online here: Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography.
Rough notes:
Expanding Your Vision:
- human eye sees like a 50mm lens "normal lens"
- "eye exercises" to see what your lenses see: With fixed focal length, take picture of subject so that it falls in middle of frame with plenty of empty space around it. Walk 5 steps closer and re-compose and shoot. Repeat until lens can no longer keep subject in focus. Repeat while on knees. Repeat while on belly. Repeat with other focal lengths. Repeat every week for three months.
- wide angle lenses: incredible DOF; pay attention to POV-encompass immediate foreground interest. Face your 'fears' (shyness)-who cares if you look foolish? Look up! Get down!
- full-frame fish eye
- street zooms: 75% of work w/ Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8!
- telephoto lens: "Our desire to see objects up close is innate." General rule: don't use off-tripod when shutter speed falls below (largest) focal length of lens (since weight of lens doesn't change). 1/60 and 1/30 normally considered too slow for hand holding (non VR).
- extension tubes vs. teleconverters.
- telephoto exercise: take picture framing person in middle with shortest focal length of telephoto (at least 10 ft away from background). Zoom in and walk backwards until same proportion. Repeat. At shorter focal length, background is more discernable than longer focal length. Lack of DOF at longer range is why pros choose that range for selectively focusing subjects. (I see this in practise, but I can't rationalize it.)
- macro photography: shallow DOF due to close focusing distances. Keep film plane parallel to subject when possible. Macro isn't just for nature photography. There is always something to shoot.Elements of Design:
- what makes a striking image? single theme/idea, organized without clutter.
- line, shape (2D), form (3D), texture (sidelight), pattern, color (color first, content second). Exercise: focus on each.Composition:
- fill the frame (completely)
- golden section and the rule of thirds
- no horizon
- the *right* third. (This was interesting. The premise is that it's natural for the eye to enter a space from left and flow to the right, so more often than not, the subject should be on the right side third. He also presented a couple counter examples though.)
- diagonals
- frame within a frame. Tree branches are cliche, but work. Arches National Park!
- watch your edges! Should "contain the eye."
- horizontal vs. vertical. 90% of amateur's pictures are horizontal. Always (most of the time) shoot a vertical format after a horizontal.
- picture within a picture: almost every picture has another picture within the first. Stay with your subject longer.
- working with your subject: look for distractions in the background. Feel free to rearrange subject matter *before* shooting. (A couple excellent examples are presented, like using leaves to cover up a wooden post in the background-brilliant!) Prefer making images in camera than on computer; imaging software tends to invite a 'lazy' approach to picture-taking process.
- break the rules.The Magic of Light:
- available light: visit a location at various times during the day, from sunrise to sunset, facing a single direction, to see the difference light and the 'right' time of day can make.
- buy postcards and figure out where pictures were taken; spend midday looking for fresh viewpoints of same subjects.
- direction of light
- color of light: dawn & dusk are golden hours. Most photographers aren't morning people.
- overcast and rainy days: softer light of cloudy day creates richer colors. Same with people. Avoid landscape or forests that include too much gray sky. Use polarizing filter.Digital Photography:
- touch-ups; removing unwanted subject matter
- even a small addition can make a huge difference (excellent example of putting windows on a dark barn to achieve "lived-in" look).Career Considerations:
- (1) Constantly strive to look at world from new vantage points. (2) Consistently employ fresh POV with all your lenses. (3) Always think of ideas that demonstrate your skills at visual problem solving.
- choose a theme or themes0 comments </Comments:Post a Comment
