Tag Archives: photography

Feb 26 2009
2 Comments
Technology

New Kit

I was particularly interested in the Nikon 18-55mm VR lens, primarily as a way to shoot indoors without having to resort to flash.  It was either that lens, or continue to move myself closer and farther away to compose my shots.

Not that I mind, if I’m doing a dedicated shoot, I move around a lot because I’m using my 50mm 1.8. I’ve also picked a location that will allow me to to move around my subjects.

It’s just that indoors that’s not always practical.  I figure it will be a good walking around lens which will allow me some composition versatility.  Additionally, the VR, or vibration reduction component will allow me some leeway indoors where the lighting isn’t always perfect.

VR’s pretty interesting technology.

I was worried that the Ritz Camera applying for Chapter 11 was going to impact my order.  Thankfully I just got the shipping notice.  Now all that remains is waiting for the lens to arrive.  I got a great price, less than one quarter the cost of the new model 16-85mm VRII lens.

I’m now stalking the package via the internet.  Maybe it’ll get here tomorrow, and I can play with it on Saturday.

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Feb 17 2009
Uncategorized

50mm

I favor the 50mm when I’m shooting portraits with the D70, mainly because it’s fast.  I do have a tendency to shoot wide open, which sometimes leads to some focusing issues, but then I’ve learned to compensate for that.  At least for now.  Shooting the 50mm with a DX format camera means I’m shooting at 75mm equivalent after the 1.5x multiplier.

75mm means I don’t have to be right in my subject’s face if I’m shooting portraits.  I’m a good comfortable distance away, and I can chat without feeling like I’m invading personal space.  Right now, I’m waiting on an 18-55mm VR (Vibration Reduction) lens that I’m hopeful will act like a good walk around lens.

Wide enough so I don’t have to constantly mind my distance if I want to take a crowd shot, but enough zoom for me to get in close if I need to.  The VR should in theory allow me to shoot with longer exposures without too much camera shake, which should allow me to shoot indoors without flash and without a tripod.  This is all conjecture on my part, although the research I’ve done on this particular lens seems to indicate that it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for if I just want to walk around and shoot.

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Feb 16 2009
Technology

Home again, home again

I did some photography this weekend, and I’m happy with the way things turned out.  I’m remembering a lot of things that I used to do with 35mm film. This time, I’ve got a better flash and I’m still learning about exposure both with it and without it.

The D70 is becoming more and more an extension of my hand and eye, and I’m getting eerily familiar with the menus.

It really is about capturing time.  But I have to make time to learn how to capture it effectively.

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Feb 03 2009
Technology

What to do?

I’m so focused on digital right now.  But I’m still trying to figure out what to do with this box of photographs.  It’s sitting, almost forgotten in a banker’s box in a closet.  There are developed pictures and negatives, but without any sort of metadata, they might as well be images from an alternate reality that I’ll never really know.

Like an imperfect mirror, I’m looking at a strange reflection of a life I once knew.

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Jan 31 2009
Technology

iPhoto 09

First Impressions:

First impression is that nothing has changed from the last iteration, with the exception of a few new buttons and two new categories under Events and Photos.

Flickr export apparently only works with Pro accounts.  Way to add value to a Pro account, but not so cool for the folks that have iPhoto, but not necessarily a flikr Pro account.  Facebook connectivity I can’t comment on.

I still don’t have a Facebook account.  I’m playing a game called, “Don’t Join Facebook.”  I may lose eventually, but I’m going for the high score.

Now, onto the big hype, which is Faces.  I have a lot of photos.  A lot of photos.  I’m very interested in tagging them.  I’m very not interested in spending weeks going through each photo and tagging each one.

I love the new Faces feature.  So far, so good, and I’m getting great results for the time that I’ve put in, which is about five hours or so.  I have a full corkboard, and it’s really interesting to see people evolve over the years.  I can only guess at the results for children as they grow older, but if you keep at it, you can have one hell of a slideshow on their birthday.

Next, on to iMovie, but that’s another five hours I’ll have to spend playing with it.

Protip: Learn how to use the keyboard shortcuts for Faces.  I haven’t timed how long it takes me to process X number of photos, but I can tell you that it’s much, much faster than attempting to do it via the mouse.  Like most things.

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