Tag Archives: camera

Another Band Photo Phoot: The 48*

Posted by on February 2, 2023 No comments
Candid from the shoot

One of the members of Throckmore asked if I could do another quick photoshoot at Area 15 in Las Vegas for a new up and coming band: The 48 (name still in progress). Before heading out to the location I did a little more research and got a good shot list together of poses and props that I thought would make some great shots.

Bringing a spare Guitar is always good

Area 15 is an amazing location with lots of interesting background and environments. The biggest boon to the site was the colors so I really wanted to focus on them and make the photos pop. We shot primarily in the Emporium Arcade which was a dream with all the games, tables, and murals. Knowing this going in helped a ton.

Skee-Ball as a stage? Sure, why not.

The 48 is a fairly new band in the Las Vegas area focusing on original rock songs. The three members were great to work with and came in with their own ideas for things they were looking for. We went over my shot list and compared notes to incorporate everyone’s ideas. The end result came out fantastic!

The Hover Guitar (don’t worry, the guitar is fine)

Click the below image to view the Gallery on Flickr for all the photos from the shoot:

The 48 Flickr Gallery

* The band is still working on an official name, so this may change.

Project 365 status: Complete!

Posted by on January 2, 2014 1 comment

Reflections (P365-31)What a year!  As you have probably read in my New Years post, this year has been quite the roller coaster.  So many ups and downs that I probably would not have even remembered them all if I hadn’t been doing this project.  On of Dec 31st 2013, I took my last Project 365 picture.  It was one that we had planned, probably from the beginning of the project.  My buddy Louis and I both started P365 on Jan 01 2013 and have had lots of conversations through the year about “What should I take a picture of?” and “I am out of ideas!!” also “Why did we agree to this!!”.  In the end I am glad we stuck with it though.  I look back on some of my earlier shots and can actually see a lot of progression in technique and style. (Quick Edit: Louis wrote up his post about P365 over on his site: http://www.gamutofgeek.com/i-need-to-figure-out-my-picture/ )

There are a number of types of shots that I don’t know that I would have done had I not been forcing myself to take something every day.  By the end I really started to see myself shooting in 4 different categories:

  • Life event – Something significant happened that day and I wanted to document it.  Usually this was something like a concert, or event we went to see, but occasionally was something like “we went to see a movie”.
  • Outdoor Artistic – This was when I wanted to capture something outside in good lighting, and usually had to travel to get, or at least spend some time getting the right shot.
  • Indoor Artistic – If weather was a limiting factor, or I just couldn’t get out, I typically went for a new style or technique. These shots often involved a lot of set up and there is a certain style to them.
  • Lazy – Let’s face it, getting a shot every day is tiring.  Some days there just isn’t much to shoot and life has beat you up.  So I would just grab the camera and take a picture of something/anything.

We had some pretty lenient rules set in place before we started:

  • Using the DSLR was primary, but falling back on a Cell phone was ok (Sometimes you just don’t have your good camera on you)
  • Midnight was not the cut off, before you went to bed was.  (When we started, Louis was working a late shift and would often be up till 2-3am)
  • Try and do something different each day

One of the big issues I had in the project was the time change when I was going to and from Kuwait earlier in the year.  There was actually a huge scare involving day 35.  You see, I apparently suck at numbering.  I was constantly getting my day number mixed up (until I found this website to help me with it) so I would usually use the picture from the day before as a reference.  Well, with dateline crossing and time shifts, also being up after midnight, my numbers were always getting messed up.

Emergency Breakfast! (P365-35)Some time in August, I went into the Flickr set and did a manual count, only to find that my pictures were off by 1 day.  Not just the numbering, but the actual total count was missing one.  I was crushed.  I traced the issue all the way back to Feb 5th.  This was the day I traveled back to the states from Kuwait and apparently lost almost an entire day in the process.  I freaked out and started looking everywhere for any pictures I may have taken.  Thankfully I found that I had taken a picture of my breakfast that Sarah made me.  The time frame matches up and I was saved.

After that I was much more diligent about numbering.

So now that I am done, I am planning on taking a small break from carrying my camera around everywhere I go. (Even though Sarah bought me an amazing new camera backpack). Now it’s on to projects that I can focus the theme.

Some advice to anyone willing to try P365?  Do it, but go out and explore!  Work on something new each day, be it a location, a technique, a style, etc..  Explore Flickr and find some types of shots that you want to try and then do them.  Most importantly….. document your life with it.  Lots of stuff happens around you, grab a picture of it, but don’t forget to experience it too.  When you have the picture, put the camera down and enjoy the show with your own eyes too.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

6000 Miles from home

Posted by on January 14, 2013 No comments

Trooper Adventures - It looks so tall!Howdy folks!  Live from Kuwait City It’s Satu…wait, no it’s Monday for me.  Well, I have landed and been on site for almost a week.  There is certainly a level of adjustment to living in a Middle East nation.  Things are a LOT more conservative here than back home, but for the most part, it’s not that different.  I am staying in a simple 2 Br apartment in the Fintas region.  We have Cable TV and the internet is not terrible.  Only now and then do I run across the “This Web Page is Blocked.”  The work here is good, it’s keeping me busy and most of what we are working on is done from our Apartments with the occasional trip into the Datacenter.

 

 

There are a few things I wanted to try and see/do during this trip.  Of course, one of them is to keep up with my Project 365, which I have done pretty well so far.  As an added challenge to my photography project, I managed to leave the charger for my DSLR battery at home!  Sarah mailed it to me but it can take up to a week to get anything.  I have been very sparing due to this.  You would think I could just buy a new charger out here, but I have hit, and I am not kidding, 12 different places and NONE of them carry the charger.  I did manage to buy a backup battery (because you can never have too many) so I should last until the charger arrives.  I still kept up on the pictures and I’ll add them at the end of the post.  Another is to scope out some cool places to see when Sarah comes out in March.  And the latest addition to the agenda is finding a Gaming culture.

In the Americas we have a rich gaming culture.  Be it video games, board games, card games, or dice games.  There is usually something for everyone.  Out here, it’s a little harder to find, but I think I just need to dig a little deeper.  (Not speaking arabic is a hurdle as well, but I have google translate to help me with that.)  One of the saddest things I have found here was in a park near the beach close to where I am staying.  It would appear that there is a “Fun Times” park that has an arcade, go-karts, and family fun area just across the street.  In a fenced off area near by I found this:
Arcade CabinetsYes, that is a bunch of arcade cabinets just sitting out in the elements.  I don’t know what games they are, but I can see the PCB’s and CRT’s still intact.  I cried a little.

Another thing I am working on is a project that I will detail in another post later this week, but it involves those little guys at the top of the page.

Now, for the catch up on Project 365.

Kuwait Towers (P365-13)

Kuwait Towers (P365-13)
I had been waiting for the chance to get out to the Kuwait towers, today was the day. Beautiful clear sky’s and a nice wide angle shot from below the towers.

Kuwaiti Sunrise (P365-12)

Kuwaiti Sunrise (P365-12)
The first time I have ever woke up early enough to get a sunrise picture. Normally I hate waking up early but I took advantage of the time change effect on my system.
Lesson learned from this shot, I really need to work on my landscape pictures.

Rough Ride (P365-11)

Rough Ride (P365-11)
While driving through the desert we came across this car that had been in an accident and abandoned. This is commonplace around here. You can see a bit of a dust storm off in the distance.

Reflection on conversions (P365-10)

Reflection on conversions (P365-10)
The weather today was incredibly bad. Lots of win and sand everywhere. This made any sort of outside shot despicable. So I fell back on some of my travel accessories.

Traveling Man (P365-9)

Traveling Man (P365-9)
We arrived a bit late for me to get out and see some of the local scenery so today’s picture is about the transition.

Ready for take off? (P365-8-2)

Ready for take off? (P365-8-2)
Bonus Pic! Quick shot on the plane. See you in 12 hours

Late Night Flight (P365-8)

Late Night Flight (P365-8)
in the airport looking for a good shot for today, saw the reflection in the window and thought I would play a little.

P365 Progress and Getting ready for travel.

Posted by on January 7, 2013 No comments

I told you I probably wouldn’t be posting the P365 pics here as I take them, but to catch everyone up I wanted to post what I have so far.

BUT FIRST.

A few notes about my trip.  I leave on Tuesday the 8th….yeah, tomorrow.  Flight leaves at 9:50pm and is a 12 hour jog over the Atlantic to land in Kuwait City at 5:50pm.  Kuwait is 8 hours ahead of EST so no one call me in the middle of my night!  Actually, you can’t call me since my phone number will be voice mail only.  You can call and leave me a voice mail, it will get sent to my e-mail and I will get it.  I will be available on IM, Skype, and through e-mail.  I should still have access to Facebook and Twitter, so for most folks it will appear as if I never left!

The Project 365 is going pretty well.  I haven’t hit any sort of wall about what to shoot.  I am approaching it with the idea of shooting what I am doing/working on for the day, that way it documents my year as well as practices the art.  Here is the catch up:

A Long Time Ago? let's test that! (P365-6-2)

A Long Time Ago? let’s test that! (P365-6-2)
Bonus Pic!
Since I caved and used Auto on the group shot earlier, I felt I should do another one. This may lead into a series of pics with these two guys as they take the Tardis to different locations. I wanted to grab this shot as a bonus pic since I am leaving the country soon and wasn’t sure if I would have the chance, and I already have the next two shots planned out.

 

RetroNick Radio (P365-6)

RetroNick Radio (P365-6)
Just a fun picture of the RetroNick Radio crew. I cheaped out and went auto for this shot because I just wanted a quick shot of the guys.

 

Days gone by (P365-5)

Days gone by (P365-5)
Today we went to a convention called Magfest. It’s mostly about games and gaming, kind of a “Pax-lite”. Still fun and they had a lot to see and do there. I wanted something that represented the time we spent there. Classic consoles are always a favorite.
No flash this time, all natural (well, indoor con based) light.

 

It was a Dark and Stormy Adventure (P365-4)

It was a Dark and Stormy Adventure (P365-4)
Friday is our game night. This was our first run together playing D&D, normally we stick to card/Board games.
The drink is called a Dark and Stormy, rum and ginger ale.
Simple shot, with an on camera speed light.

 

That time of year (P365-3)

That time of year (P365-3)
Yup, it’s time to toss the tree and tear down Christmas!
For this shot, since it was late in the evening, I used both of my strobe lights. One positioned down and to my left, the other I held at arms length above and to the right of my POV. Both were remotely triggered.
This was also post processed on the iPad using Snapseed. I like the iPad for some quick touch ups and adjustments.

 

Light Orb (P365-2)

Light Orb (P365-2)
Always wanted to try this trick with long exposure. A friend gave me a small blue LED light so I tied it to a string and went out for a twirl.
Nikon D5100, 35mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 103 second exposure.

 

Mobile Photography

Posted by on September 25, 2012 1 comment

The Apps

I have been traveling around quite a bit lately.  The thing that always goes with me is my photography bag.  (It’s contents are listed in the sidebar)  What doesn’t always go with me is my laptop.  You see, I have a behemoth of a laptop.  It’s an older ASUS gaming laptop that, while great for gaming, and processing photos, and everything else, is just HUGE!  I love it to death, but it’s just not a feasible option for simple travel.  Sure, if I am going to be someplace for an extended time, or have a lot of luggage I can take, it would make more sense.  So in most cases, I just use my iPad.

When I bought the iPad I have now, I knew I would be using it for photog stuff, so the 64gb size made sense.  I shoot primarily in RAW and that takes up a lot of space.  Of course, storage isn’t the only concern though.  I needed a few good quality applications to round out it’s usage.  I thought that I would post about what I am using and the process in which I use them.

The apps that I tend to use the most (for photography) are:

So, there’s all the tools, but how do you incorporate them into a shoot?  Easy!  Here is a play by play on how I would go about using all of these tools out in the field to Shoot, display, organize, process, and publish.

Release Forms

I have an upcoming project I am working on for a photo essay on Portraits. (subject to be explained at a later date)  I will be on location for the duration of the project and won’t have access to my PC until much later.  So I would go about the shoot, like usual.  Meet with the subject and discuss the plans for the project and their involvement.  If they agree to the project they would then fill out the release form in Easy Release and sign.  Then I would have them fill out the form I created in Numbers that asks them for information specific to the project. (Simple questionnaire)  It’s important to have questions in the survey that would identify them in the pictures.

Using my Nikon camera and lighting gear (supplemented by the SoftBox app) we would take the photos.  The Eye-Fi card would wirelessly transfer the JPG preview to the iPad, which would be standing nearby, to display the picture I just took (within a second or two).  This allows a larger screen to see framing, lighting, exposure.  I like the LCD on my camera, but sometimes it’s just not big enough to judge if I got the shot I wanted, or was just off. The downside to this is the time it takes to transfer.  If you are shooting at an event where speed is a factor, this is not a good solution.  Of course, if you at an event like that, you probably aren’t checking your LCD every few shots either.

Eye-Fi used as quick Preview

Softbox can show different colors or textures

Once the shots are done I import the RAW into the iPad using the camera connector. (it’s an important step to delete the Eye-Fi imported JPG’s to avoid duplicates).  Then I can use Photosmith to organize the shots into groups, flag the ones I want to keep/discard/etc. Now, I can stop here and wait for my PC to process photos, since when I get to it I can sync Photosmith to Lightroom and go from there, but, if I am going to be out for a while and want to get some work done quickly, I can proceed with processing.

Organizing and tagging like a PRO!

Using Photosmith I can identify the shots that I want to focus on.  If I shot in bracketed mode for HDR use, I would find the two shots I want to combine and open them in Pro HDR.  Adjust the levels, and save then move on to Snapseed.  For a typical shoot, I would just open in Snapseed. This allows me to adjust all my levels, colors, and balance.  I can do some selective adjustment as well.  If I need to use more precise editing, or want a more Lightroom type feel, I can use Filterstorm instead of or in conjunction with Snapseed.

HDR Editing on the fly

Quick Professional edits

Precise edits

Once editing is finished I can use the iPad to post to various social networks, email, and even my own website.  Using FlickStackr I can upload to Flickr directly, add all the info I need, tag it with keywords, location, and people.

Uploading and tagging on Flickr

So there you have it.  The whole process described above can be done, on the scene, in a matter of minutes.  (depending on shoot time)

Now, that’s not to say that this process doesn’t have it’s faults. You certainly aren’t going to get as accurate processing as you would with Lightroom on a PC.  As with all electronics, battery life is an issue too.  The Eye-Fi card adds a draw to the camera battery, and having the iPad up and receiving drains it as well.  Barring that, I love being able to set up, shoot, process, and publish all while on the road.

We’re Back!

Posted by on July 16, 2012 No comments

This was the start of our London Journey

Hey all!

We are now back from London!  We had a total blast the whole time out there and I took a metric F-Ton of pictures! (They use the metric system over there.)  Most of them are the touristy style pics, you know, because that’s what we were.  I did manage to set up and take some good solid pictures that will require some post processing and tweaking.  Those will be trickling out over the coming days.  Sarah actually as a very good day by day accounting of our trip over on her website.

 

Sarah got a few snaps of me taking snaps

I did want to touch on a few things that really made the trip though. (from a Gadget/Tech/Game perspective, that is.)  For my photography stuff I brought the whole backpack of gear, but rarely used all of it.  For general city travels I used my messenger bag and typically just the camera and my 18-270mm lens.  It was great for all around shooting.  On a few days I brought my 35mm with me, but rarely needed to swap it out.  I found that carrying around my full 15-20lb bag of gear would wear me out fast.  Also, I am not ashamed to say that a lot of shots were done in AUTO.  I was there as a tourist, I liked some of what I saw so I wanted a picture.  These were for memories, not art.  I know there are some photogs out there that claim they would never use the AUTO setting on their camera……they are full of crap.  It’s there for a reason.  To get the memory you want at a good quality.

Setting up for a shot of the London Eye

That said, I also set up a number of shots specifically to be processed and done in an artistic way.  These were set in M and bracketed.  The downside being that 1: I have a large number of photos to go through, and 2: Sometimes I would forget I was bracketed and ended up with some shots all over the place in exposure. (what, I was tired!)  All of my Touristy shots are in my gallery on the site here.  My Artistic shots will be trickling out as I work on them and probably uploaded to Flickr.  Keep an eye out!

 

Actually, we had good Signal everywhere

We had a very fun experience with Cell phones while in the UK as well.  My friend loaned me an old iPhone 3G for the trip and my wife as using her unlocked Motorola Razr Maxx.  First thing at the airport I tried one of the kiosks to grab a sim that we could at least use to call our driver. It was an O2 card that was 10£. Sadly, I didn’t use it at all, it had no data and we found our driver before needing it.  Next, while out we hit up a local shop that dealt in various phone stuff. I picked up a 3 sim that had the low end of texts and min, but unlimited data for 15£. Since we were only using data while here it would be perfect. It worked perfect in the old iPhone but in the wife’s Motorola it wouldn’t get any data. The guy said to go to the 3 store in westfields and they would fix it.

Had I realized (or not been tired from the plane) there was a mall right next to me, I would have just gone there.  The 3 store was shit for help. Their on staff folks were clueless and their phone support couldn’t figure out the Android APN settings.  We decided to hit the O2 store and got a sim that had 500mb data topped up to 1.5gb. The Guru was enamored with the Motorola and set up the APN very quickly. Everything worked great! Again, had I been more aware of my mental state, I would have just had them top up the card I bought at Heathrow.

As a side note, while out and about we noticed that O2 had better service with better coverage, but 3 had that unlimited data factor for cheap.  The final score board was 1 O2 Sim from the airport never used. 10£ 1 3 Sim from random store, never used 15£ 1 3 Sim from random store, used in iPhone 15£ 1 O2 sim from O2 store, used in Motorola, 20£

Yeah, that’s a game.

From the gaming side of things, we had a great meetup with some of the RetroNickRadio fans out in the UK!  You can find the details of that over at the RetroNick site.  We were also clued in to a little hole in the all Arcade located right near the London Eye.  I got very few pictures and didn’t have enough time to really explore, but it was a great find.

 

 

I know this post is starting to drag on so I will cut out here.  Expect some more excerpts from the trip in the coming weeks!

Gadget Time!!

Posted by on February 16, 2012 No comments

It’s been a while since I have posted about some interesting gadgets, and I happen to have come across a few that are post worthy!  So here goes.

Having driven the MINI around for the last few months, and being a part of the DC Metro MINI club, I REALLY enjoy my car.  Many of the club owners like to make videos of their drives using the GoPro brand cameras.  Being a camera type guy, I thought I would check one out and have some fun.  So here is my pro/con list

 

 

Pro:

  • Light weight – Very small for just the camera and easy to pocket.
  • TONS of attachments (I got the Motor-sport version)
  • Easy to use – Menus are quick and easy
  • Cool Wide Angle – Gets everything in the shot
  • Good Quality (Not great, but good) – Auto adjustment of speed and ISO does oddly in low light

Con:

  • Over Simplified – It would be great if there were a few more options and configurations.
  • Low light sucks – In low light it ramps up the ISO a lot so there is some significant grain. But it’s not really meant for low light so….
  • Ball Joint mount would rock. – All of the mounts are pivot one way, you can add pivot points in, but it increases vibration.

Overall, I like it.  It is currently mounted behind my rear view mirror and is nearly invisible to my FOV while driving.

This ties into another gadget I picked up.  The OBDII adapter for Blue-Tooth.  This is a chip that plugs into the data-port on my MINI (and any car after 1996) and provides all sorts of information on real time data from the engine to fault codes.  I connect to it using my Android phone and an app Called Torque.

Now I just need to know what all that data actually means!  (I am still learning).

Now, how does this all come together?  Well, there is another android app called aLapRecorder HD.  This connects to the OBDII chip and then can record all of that data for a specific drive.  I can then output that data into a format that can be overlayed on to the GoPro video.

I will be using this for future drives out with the MINI to record the results.  Especially the upcoming MINI’s on The Dragon event.  If you have any questions about the above gadgets, please feel free to ask!

Chat Noir

Posted by on October 14, 2011 No comments

Chat Noir

Chat Noir

Sarah was out gathering food for the evening and ran across this bottle of wine. I thought it would make for a good shot.

Strobist info: SB-600 speed light on wireless remote trigger located roughly 2 feet off to the right of camera. Camera: Nikon D5100, 50mm F/1.8, 1/125, ISO-100.

Looks like I have a new toy waiting for me at home!

Posted by on April 18, 2011 No comments

Looks like I have a new toy waiting for me at home!

Workin for the Man

Posted by on February 6, 2011 No comments

So here I am working on Super-bowl Sunday.  I have a bit while I wait for some code to compile and figured I would write up an update to say what I have been doing for the last few weeks.  I mean, that’s what the blog is for right?  Lately it seems like my blog is more of a place where I forget to write things.  I guess that’s what Twitter has done to me.  I think ‘Oh I already updated folks on twitter so I don’t need to post to the blog as well”.  The downside to that is that I really like writing.  When I look back at all my posts from last year and beyond I realize that some of them get crazy long.  I see other peoples blog posts and wonder how they can cram so much into so few paragraphs, then I realize that they have left out so much detail.

Perfect case in point for this, I have downloaded and started reading Stepto’s (Stephen Toulouse) new book, “A Microsoft Life”.  It’s a compilation of a number of blog posts he wrote throughout his career at Microsoft.  All of the stories are fascinating, but I am left wanting more details.  Each chapter is a post from the blog but I read one and am left with the feeling that there could be so much more that could be fleshed out.  I guess that could be seen as a complaint about the book, it was so good that I wanted to know more.  If you are a geeky type of person and interested in the more inner workings of the MS world, I highly recommended it.

Meanwhile back on the gaming front, I mentioned last time that I picked up a new laptop.  The ASUS beast, or Tumbler, has been an awesome addition to the house.  I have found myself playing more PC based games in the last month, just because I could.  Yeah, it could be a little more portable, but I love that it’s big and powerful.  Because of this I picked up both Civilization V and Starcraft II.  SCII is great for a quick 30min to 1 hour map, while Civ V is awesome if I want to kiss my weekend goodbye.  It’s amazing, I feel like I have discovered time travel.  Seriously!  I start playing Civ V and suddenly I am teleported to 6 hours in the future where the dog is whining because he wants food and the plants are dying.  I also realized how much I suck at SC II.  I bought the game because I love the storyline and am I steeped in the single player game.  I tried to play Multi-player though and was just swamped.  I guess it’s because I love the building aspect and hate the idea of just fast building stuff to throw at the enemy.  I want to build my troops up so they will survive the attack and that takes time!

On the photography side of the house, I am pining over a new camera.  Unfortunately it doesn’t exist yet.  I have seen lots of rumor reports of a Nikon 5100, and everything I see in the rumors lead me to believe that it’s the perfect camera for me.  I really want to replace my D3000 before DragonCon, so while I still have a few months to figure it out.  I love that the D5000 has the flip out screen and better everything than the D3000, but not as good as the 3100, the D90 is about the right price range, but lacks some of the newer features like an auto-focus while filming movies, the D7000 has all the best features (except the flip out screen) but is well over $1k.  There is a great site that has been helping me compare models of cameras: http://snapsort.com/compare. There is some speculation that the February 9th press conference may bring an announcement, but even more rumors saying that the 5100 won’t be announced for a while still.  Either way, I will be giving the D3000 a true test at PAXEast.

So for now, I sign off.  I hope to finish up here soon and head home for some chili and Super-Bowl action.  Not really a football fan, but I love watching the big game.  Weird right?