I’ve always been interested in photography.  I started out with an old Minolta shooting black & white and developing everything myself in college some years ago.  Then I got my first digital SLR and have never looked back.  That is, until now.

I found some designs for building a pinhole camera online, and thought I would give it a shot.  Why not?  It sounded like fun.  And besides, I wanted to know if I could still take a decent picture without having my histogram to “cheat” off of.

I built the camera and set off on an exploration of discovery.  All the images were taken in and around my home town, including the Rocky Mountains.

It was a lot of fun, and just having something on the film excited me!  I did learn a few lessons also.

1. Lesson One: Always write down your exposure times.  If I had, then I could go back and look to see which times worked best in certain situations.
2. Lesson Two: Use some sort of tripod or other stable device.  Due to the fact that I shake, holding the camera for the long exposures was a trick.  And you can see by some of the pictures that I was pretty unstable!
3. Lesson Three: Be sure that you’re winding device isn’t loose.  On more than one occasion, the film backed up and I had to guess at where it was before I took another picture.

All in all, it was a great experience.  So here’s 6 of the best that turned out.

One more note…

Take your film to a professional lab, and not a one-hour place like Wal-Mart.  “Non-professional” labs don’t care if your images are 24mm square (like mine were).  They just develop and send you on your way.  My local lab, where I used to work, worked with me and did a great job.

…to those who carry their camera!

Today started off like any other normal day.  I woke, reluctantly.  I went to work, reluctantly.  I went to class, not so reluctantly.

However, this morning I decided to take my camera with me because it was pushing 70 degrees.  And that doesn’t happen very often in the middle of November in Wyoming!

I thought I would take this opportunity to try and get some images for my new series…tilt-shift photography.  Well, it didn’t go quite as planned, so I started to head home.

As I was driving west, my eyes went skyward…(I’m always looking for those cool patterns in the clouds!)  What I saw blew me away!

Not only did the patterns in the sky look like they came straight from Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings, if you didn’t know!), but the clouds were a brilliant orange!

Holy crap!  I had to get home quick!  Oh wait, I have my camera right here.

So I pulled over at a stop sign with a clear view of the mountains and the sky.  I got out and shot about 3 dozens photos.  Since I was only about 500 meters from home, I finished the journey.

Once I got in the driveway, I went down the street to get some more before the clouds and sun disappeared.

So what am I trying to say here?

Always take your camera!  Always!  You never know when that next shot is going to come, or where.  If had to wait until I got home before I took any pictures, I wouldn’t have been able to get the “good ones”!

So here is one that I took.  It’s a vertical pano from 3 images.  I wanted to get the skyline in the shot, but also the top clouds.

Enjoy!  And please comment if you like them!

Dragons in the Sky

The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens is arguably one of the best and most popular general purpose lenses from Canon.  I only wish I had bought this lens before any others, as I would have saved a lot of time and money.  Although the price of this lens is quite high, it is definately worth it.  If had to choose just one lens to take with me, this would be the one.

It has a solid build and is easy to carry along.  I like the weight and feel of the lens while I’m shooting in the field, and the weather sealing is great for those not-so-great days.  (I use a UV filter to further protect it.)

If you’re serious about photography, and want a well-built lens with great optical quality, the 24-105 L delivers.

I also like the 77mm filter size.  Although it is not the cheapest filter size, most of Canon’s better cameras use it.  So sharing filters between cameras is easier and cheaper.

The auto-focus drive (driven by Canon’s Ring USM) is smooth and quiet.  The lens doesn’t extend with focusing and the barrel doesn’t rotate, so using circular polarizers is much easier.

The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens is very sharp wide open.  Although longer focal lengths show a little softness.  The color and contrast is also excellent with this lens.

The Image Stabilizer (IS) is awesome and provides you with an additional 3 stops of handholdability, and is also very quiet.  And since I have a neurological disorder that causes me to have tremors in my hands, this is my favorite feature.  I can handhold a shot at much lower shutter speeds than I can with other lenses.

While in Germany over the holidays last year, this lens rarely came off my camera.  It worked great while taking pictures of the castles and held up to the cold German winter weather.

I am positive that anyone who tries this lens will fall in love with immediately, and wonder how they ever survived without it before.  I highly recommend this lens and give it 5 stars.

Below are shots taken at 24, 35, 50, 70, and 105mm respectively.  (The weather was just too bad for me to take any outdoors!)

24mm

35mm

50mm

70mm

105mm

*Note:  I’m using a Canon Digital Rebel XT, so the actual focal length is more like 38-168mm

Characteristics:

Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 24-105mm f/4

Lens Construction: 18 elements in 13 groups

Diagonal Angle of View: 84° - 23° 20′ (with full-frame camera)

Focus Adjustment: Inner focusing system with focusing cam

Closest Focusing Distance: 1.48 ft./0.45m

Zoom System: 5-group helical zoom (front group moves: 32.5mm)

Filter Size: 77mm

Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.3 in. x 4.2 in., 23.6 oz. / 83.5mm x 107mm, 670g (lens only)

PROS: Size, Focal Length, Color, Sharpness, Great Build, Optical Quality, IS, Fast AF

CONS: Price, Some Vignetting, Flare

Being interested in both Astronomy and Photography has led me to take many shots of the night sky.  I could literally spend hours outside just staring up.  That is, until I couldn’t feel my neck anymore!

Well, this night was special, it was the Lunar Eclipse.  So I quickly grabbed my camera and headed outside.  I didn’t have my tripod, big mistake!, so I just used the side of my car to brace myself as I took dozens of images.

This is one of the best.

I hope you enjoy!

I’m posting this one a day early because I’ll be busy most of the day tomorrow.

This shot was taken in Germany last Christmas while my family and I were visiting my wife’s family.  I was outside getting some shots of the streetlamp, which looked pretty wicked in the mist!  A couple cars drove by so I started taking longer exposures of them to get the light trail.

I was using a tripod, of course, and a wide-angle lens.  My camera was set to “bulb” under the Manual setting so that I could control the length of the exposure.

Here is my exact EXIF Data for the shot:

• Exposure: 13sec
• Aperture: f10
• ISO: 200
• Lens: 13mm

Enjoy!

I took this shot one morning while strolling down a walking path.  I would usually get up before sunrise in hopes of catching a great colorful sky.  This particular morning didn’t disappoint!

So I found this cool blog the other day while surfing around.  It’s another photography blog, but with a theme of “Skies”.  You may or may not have heard or seen these types of blogs.  You post to your own blog following this theme and then link back to the original site.

This is a great way to get visiters to your blog and to find many other wonderful places!  I’ve decided to join a few, and who knows, maybe even start one myself!

Each week, I’ll be posting a different photo into each of the themes.  If you enjoy them, why not get involved too?

Hey everyone!  I thought I’d share with you something I was given in my Art Portfolio class.  As much as I would love to take the credit for this, I can’t.  But I wish I did.

So for all of you art people out there that have had to participate in some sort of critique, try these next time!

Enjoy!

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The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator

Feeling inarticulate?  Critically gauche?  Or just verbally powerless?  With the Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator, you never again need to feel at a loss for commentary or “insights.”  Here’s how it works:

Pick at random any five-digit number, such as 48752, then read off phrase #4 of Table A, phrase #8 of Table B, and so on.  The result is a Critical Response to the Art Product, or CRAP, sentence.  Add a few more five-digit numbers to make a longer CRAP statement.  After you have mastered the basic technique, you can realize the full potential of CRAP by arranging the phrases in DAECB order, or BCEAD order, etc.  Soon you can produce CRAP critiques as easily and fluently as anyone in your MFA program!

TABLE A

1. I’m troubled by how
2. With regard to the issue of content,
3. I find this work menacing/playful because of the way
4. I agree/disagree with some of the things that have just been said, but
5. Although I am not a painter, I think that
6. Um…
7. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned yet that
8. It’s difficult to enter into this work because of how
9. As an advocate of the Big Mac Aesthetic, I feel that

TABLE B

1. the internal dynamic
2. the sublime beauty
3. the disjunctive perturbation
4. the optical suggestions
5. the reductive quality
6. the subaqueous qualities
7. the iconicity
8. the aura
9. the mechanical mark-making
10. the metaphorical resonance

TABLE C

1. of the biomorphic forms
2. of the sexual signifier
3. of the negative space
4. of the spatial relationships
5. of the facture
6. of the purity of line
7. of the Egyptian motifs
8. of the gesture
9. of the figurative narrative line space
10. of the sexy fish

TABLE D

1. verges on codifying
2. seems very disturbing in light of
3. contextualizes
4. endangers the devious simplicity of
5. brings within the realm of discourse
6. makes resonant
7. visually and conceptually activates
8. notates
9. spatially undermines
10. threatens to penetrate

TABLE E

1. the accessibility of the work
2. a participation in the critical dialog of the ’90s
3. the eloquence of these pieces
4. the remarkable handling of light
5. the inherent overspecificity
6. the distinctive formal juxtapositions
7. the essentially transitional quality
8. the larger carcass
9. the substructure of critical thinking
10. the exploration of montage elements

EXAMPLE:

The five-digit number proposed above (48752) would produce the following CRAP:

“It should be added that the aura of the Egyptian motifs brings within the realm of discourse a participation in the critical dialog of the ’90s.”

With this advice, you can speak about Art with both authority and confidence.  Use this marvelous tool to challenge, amaze, and menace your friends and colleagues!

Post some of your favorites as a response to this blog.  Let’s see how much CRAP we can produce!

Now that you have your new digital camera, you need to look at some other equipment to “complete” your package. These include everything from batteries and chargers to storage devices and tripods.

POWER SOURCES

Batteries

There are two types of batteries we’ll discuss here, rechargeable and camera-specific. Most point-and-shoot cameras will take AA batteries. The best thing to do is to buy several set of NiMH rechargeable batteries and a charger. Always keep the batteries charged and switch them out when needed. Rechargeable batteries are going to cost a little more up-front, but will be well worth it in the long run.
Camera-specific batteries are those usually sold with the more professional DSLR models. And because they are very specific to the camera, they can be harder to find. So before you travel off the some far away land, make sure you have a few extra on hand. They can also be quite expensive.

Some cameras also let you shoot with a direct source. This is when you plug your camera directly to an outlet using a power transformer. This is handy when you’re shooting in a studio.

*NOTE: Never mix battery types and always make sure you use the correct voltage. Not doing so could result in damage to the batteries or your camera.

STORAGE DEVICES

CDs

You should always have some blank CDs on hand when you’re dealing with digital images. They are cheap, easy to find, and reliable. You can even find 100-year archival CDs and DVDs to ensure your photos are safe.

External Hard Drive

If you’re handling a large quantity of images, you need to invest in an external hard drive. Prices keep falling and you can also get portable drives for when you’re on location.

*NOTE: Never keep all of your images in one location. It’s good practice to save your original files somewhere besides on your computer’s hard drive. If anything should happen to your computer, you’ll have your originals safe.

ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT

Here is a list of some additional equipment you should consider when doing digital photography. Although these aren’t necessary to be able to take photos, they sure make the job easier!

• Cable Release
  Allows you to trip the shutter remotely without touching the camera.
• LCD Shades
  Protects your LCD from glare while viewing outdoors.
• Tripods
  Essential for any photographer.
• Waterproof Cover
  This covers and protects your camera from the elements.
• Photo Lens Pen
  Use this to clean your lens without scratching it.
• Lens Filters
  Not absolutely necessary, but can protect your lens against scratches and dust. Also used for certain photo effects.
• Lens Hood
  Protects against the annoying sun flare in your images.

Ok, so that should get you started. Keep in mind that not all of these are necessary to start taking pictures, but over time will help you improve the quality of your images. Also, be sure to shop around, your camera store may not have the best prices.

Take care and happy shooting!

No doubt in your journies as a photographer, be it professional or hobby, you’ve run into a creativity block.  Writers have, and so do artists.  There are time when I want to go shoot, but just don’t have any ideas.

Well, I’m going to share 12 different ideas that my help get those creative juices flowing again!

1. Winter - Cold, Blue
   With winter right around the corner, get out there and capture the ice forming on buildings or patterns in the snow.




2. Furry Feathers
   Cats, dogs, and birds are first to come to mind.  But don’t be afraid to create abstract images either.




3. Sky High
   Sunsets and clouds are usually what comes to mind here.  You can also get great shots shooting the reflections in water or windows.




4. Plant Life
   Try to get as many different angles when shooting plants.  You can even get behind the petals for a nice back-lit effect.




5. Panoramas
   Do you live somewhere where there’s a great skyline or mountain range.  Take a series of shots and combine them into a panorama.




6. Out and About
   Take your camera everywhere!  Don’t be afraid to shoot whatever you see, you just might be surprised!




7. A Bugs Life
   Get down low and capture the little creatures.  Sometimes you’ll be surprised at how they actually look.




8. Symmetry
   Find subjects with symmetry; buildings, plants, etc.  Great for creating abstract images.




9. Texture
   Another abstract idea.  Capture the rough tree bark or smooth glass texture.




10. Roads
    They’re everywhere!  And with the weather changing, you could get some nice reflections of rain water or ice.  Remember your composition rules!




11. Emotion
    Everyone shows it.  Try to preserve the moment in time.




12. Christmas
    There are so many different things you can do during the holiday season; lights, smiles, gifts, ornaments.  But don’t take snapshots, make photographs!

I hope these few ideas will help you get started.  If you have any others please share them as well!