Category Archives: Gadgets/Gear - Page 6

Inside the Bag

Posted by on June 10, 2011 No comments

This week I got the chance to tag along on a photo shoot with a buddy of mine in an abandoned NIKE missile bunker.  It was pretty adventurous, but sounded like fun.  He had a model that was coming up for this and we aimed to make it as professional as possible.  Paul was the primary photographer on scene with his Assistant/Apprentice, Andy helping out.  I was on hand more for the behind the scenes shots to document the shoot itself.  Overall it was a blast!  I uploaded the Behind the scenes shots to my gallery and you can find the model shoots over at Paul’s Flickr stream.

This got me thinking about what all I am carrying in my portable kit and why.  So I thought I would break it down for anyone who may be interested:

 

Some of the things to draw attention to here:

      • The iPad: I mostly use this for very quick spot processing and shot review and looking up any info.  I can also do instant uploads  of shots if I need to send them out ASAP (depending on Signal on my 4G Thunderbolts tether).  The app I use the most for processing is Filterstorm.
      • The SB-600 is my Speedlight.  It’s a low end light but I am working to get some remote triggers for off camera lighting.
      • The combo of the GorillaPod and the Pistol Head tripod mount makes for a small easy to aim pose-able mini tripod that is great of remote locations.

The item that I catch the most grief for is the one that brings it all together.  You may have noticed that all of my gear is Nikon based, yet I have a Canon bag.  When I was shopping around for a backpack that would carry everything and not break the bank, the Canon one kept coming up.  It has protective compartments for everything and is small and light.  Sure it’s misleading sometimes but it gets the job done.

So there you have it.  All of my gear laid out for all to see.  now that I have shown you mine, how about you show me yours!

Photos of Charlie

Posted by on June 5, 2011 No comments

So yesterday was an extremely difficult day for me.  After 12 years of Companionship, 5 of those was battling kidney disease, we had to put my cat Charlie to sleep.  It was a long hard battle for him.  Every few months he would get a little sick and we would run through the usual checklist of things to help him get better.  Sadly this last week we reached the end of the checklist and it was not looking well.  

We knew this day was coming and unfortunately there is not much you can do to mentally prepare yourself for how hard of a decision that is.  In the end, we knew that he was uncomfortable, Charlie was good about letting us know that, and we wanted to do best for him.

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We picked a good spot next to one of the oak trees in the back yard and Andrew dug out a very impressive hole.  I think it was his best way of coping with it.  Yesterday evening we laid him to rest and there is a large boulder on top of his site.  Charlie always wanted to be an outside cat and loved to climb trees.  

To help lighten the mood a little here are some fun facts about Charlie.

  • He has outlasted 3 of my serious relationships
  • He outlasted at least 3 cars we have owned
  • Longer than 4 of my computers
  • He has lived in 7 different places and 3 different states
  • I have owned him longer than most of my friends have had children
  • He would fight tooth and nail to get at Chicken Wings
  • He loved to lay across shoulders, but only facing to the left
  • Daddy’s lap was the best place to sit, regardless of what Daddy was doing
  • The day I got rid of my CRT Monitor, he sat on my desk and pouted at me because he couldn’t lay across my LCD.
  • When we picked out Charlie from the Denver Dumb Friends League, he was the loudest cat in the shelter.
  • Charlie loved to have conversations with people.  If you talked to him, he would talk back.

And with this I present that last two photos of Charlie:

Charlie's Face

Charlie looking out the window

Gizmodo Shooting Challenge 1/1000th

Posted by on May 22, 2011 No comments

For this challenge I wanted to capture something in extremely fast motion. I knew I was going to the driving range with family so I thought the impact of a golf ball would be perfect. Unfortunately this is a lot harder to capture then you would think, and a golf club is moving a lot faster than what 1/1000 can catch. This picture took roughly 600 shots to capture, out of them I had only 4 shots that even featured the club. Eventually my father in laws arm got tired and we had to start cycling through the family to keep hitting balls. The lucky winner was my wife with this shot.

Driver near impact

There was one other picture though, This was the shot that I didn’t choose because there was a bit too much blur.

Driver Impact

Portal 2: The Gateway drug

Posted by on May 17, 2011 No comments

As we get ready for L.A. Noir to be released, I have finished up playing Portal 2.  (Still haven’t finished Dead Space 2 yet, man I need more time in the day).  So, impressions?  

Loved it!

No, really, I don’t know that I could love a game more.  This was just what I needed to pull me back to my xbox lovin world.  From start to finish, the dialogue and environment of the game where astounding.  There were breaks in the story in all the right places for the casual gamer to know when to pause and step away, and the puzzles were infinitely more enjoyable than Portal 1.  Now, the reason I say that is because there were certain puzzles in the original Portal that involved so much twitch style of playing that if you didn’t nail shooting that portal from 30 feet in the air while you were flying from another portal and now you have to start all over.  That sort of gameplay is Ok, but can wear on you.  Plus, and this was one of the reasons I loved it as well, Sarah was able to play Portal 2!

Thus the reason I call it the gateway drug.  After I finished up the single player side of the game I asked Sarah if she wanted to try the Co-Op.  She agreed and we both had a great time.  She is awesome at puzzle games so she was wired for this sort of thing.  Sure enough, when we finished up, she wanted to play through Single player.  

Warning!!!  If you have played through the single player, DO NOT WATCH YOUR SPOUSE PLAY!!  Seriously, it could lead to a nervous break down for one or both of you.  I had to do my best to refrain from “Oh, put that portal there!” and “No, use the gel over here”.  I thought she might kill me.  Thankfully we both made it through unscathed.

I have also heard from friends that the same scenario is playing out in their homes!  (The playing part, not the kibitzing part).  So I would HIGHLY suggest this to you, Go get Portal 2 and play it with someone you love!

(and them do your best not to crush them with spike plates)

I’M IN SPACE!

Banannas! Was walking through the Lotte aisan market and saw a…

Posted by on May 10, 2011 No comments

Banannas!

Was walking through the Lotte aisan market and saw a giant pile of Banannas and thought it would make a good picture.

Zoo Photos!

Posted by on May 8, 2011 No comments

Some shots from my trip to the National Zoo.

Orangutan at the National Zoo

Red Panda at the National Zoo

Prairie Dog at the National Zoo

Bird at the National Zoo

Monkey at the National Zoo

Paul and Storm & Jonathan Coulton Photos are Up!

Posted by on May 8, 2011 No comments

You can find all of the P&S and Joco pics over in my Gallery on the main Website.

Such a great reason to Rejoice!

Paul and Storm & Jonathan Coulton

Posted by on May 7, 2011 No comments

Just got done with the concert!  It was amazing, as per usual.  I took a TON of pictures.  Once I go through them and polish them up I will have them uploaded.  Should be sometime this weekend.  Zoo planned for tomorrow,  I guess all the events this weekend will make up for not really doing any shooting this last week!  

Sleep now…..

Mornin Munchies This guy was chowing down on some of the…

Posted by on April 27, 2011 No comments

Mornin Munchies

This guy was chowing down on some of the spilled bird seed near our feeder this morning. I went to grab my camera and was happy to see he was still hanging around.

Busy weekend

Posted by on April 25, 2011 No comments

This weekend was pretty damn packed!  Spent some time with Louis and Jen helping them move.  It was practically just across the street but still managed to smash my face on a box, rack my knee on the concrete and jam my thumb to the point where it flipped the nail up.  Came home and finished up adding the divider to Sarah’s planter so she could finish up her herb garden.  We also had a small visitor emerge from his cocoon.  The butterfly from the previous post got some garden time before taking off (or being eaten by a bird, we aren’t too sure about what happened with him, but we will hope for the best.)

Battered and accomplished I set in for some Portal 2 time.  I will do my best to get a full review of it up sometime after I finish the single player and start in on Co-Op (and whenever I can stop laughing!).

Sunday I managed to replace the kitchen sink disposal too!  Thankfully Lowes was open and had a great plumbing expert on hand!  Install of the new one was done in about an hour and they were an awesome help, despite the kludge that is my kitchen sink plumbing.

All in all, a very fulfilling weekend!