Photo-Go-Round: My Choice

Today I present to you the final installment of my first series from the Photo-Go-Round assignment my roomate/friend/designer extraordinaire presented me with last year in her inspiration book. This final panorama is from sort of a rural setting near Helvetia, Oregon. Just off of the Sunset Highway (major Oregon throughfare between Portland and the Coast) there is a little tavern/cafe that is perported to have the best burgers in the metro area. No small feat I assure you...it's a big area.

I think my favorite thing in this photo, as with my urban location panorama, is how funny moving things can be in this sort of media. You'll notice a random floating golf cart in the center of the photo. It's actually being carried on a trailer behind a pickup truck. I was very curious what it would look like if I just caught random bits of the hauler as it passed by...now I know! I love it.

Even though this is the final installment of my first series, I will be persuing another series of Panos in the near future...very interesting things happen when you let photos collide. :)

So, without further ado...Photo-Go-Round installment three...my choice!

Inspiration and General Coolness....

As photographers, designers, painters...just artists in general, I think it's important that we keep appraised of all the coolness going on in the world outside of our own personal mediums. *Gets on soap box* In order to be artists, we need to be able to appreciate the great work of our peers all over the world. We should be able to look at others work, and take from it inspiration and discover new techniques. *gets off soap box*

One of my favorite places to surf around aimlessly on slow days at work or when i'm just generally bored is Notcot.org. The cool thing about notcot specifically is that users and viewers can submit the coolness that they find on the internet. It's an invaluable resource to share ideas and what you think looks amazing, and see what everyone else is creating and looking at as well.

The site tends to lean a bit towards the design end of life, but there are some great photographers whose work gets highlighted and some AMAZING furniture and illustration work as well.

Go forth my friends...see the work of others and take something from it!

Geek Hardware: The Antique Store Brownie Hawkeye

What is it about an old, rusted, ugly camera that I just adore? Is it the history? Is it the $20.00 price tag? Is it the fact that it uses film instead of a sensor? Is it the fact that I can tear that sucker apart and do just about anything to it and I won't feel bad if I break it?....well...it's a little of all of those things. :)

Over the course of the past couple of years I have found myself buying up every cool old camera I can lay my little hands on. I have amassed quite the collection. The cool thing is...all of these old cameras work! In my collection I have Kodak Box Brownies that are nearly 100 years old. I have a great old 8x10 view camera that I saved from extinction (and have lovingly named Ruby) and a few Polaroids that will probably never see use again! But y'never know!

Using my blog as a platform, I would like to introduce you to some of these vintage light catchers and show you how cool old technology can be!

First, let's talk Brownies.

This guy is a Brownie Hawkeye. They were made between 1949 and 1961. There are TONS of these little guys all over the place. They make 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" negatives (GET OUT OF YOUR RECTANGLES! Squares are where it's at!!!) on 620 film....wait...620?!?! Do they even make that anymore? Nope, not so much. BUT, fear not my friends, all it takes to magically transform a roll of 120 film into 620 is a nail file and a little bit of time. Just file down the edges of the spools on your roll of 120 until you are left with just a little bit of plastic above the top of the rolled film...and that's really all it takes. You can also procure old 620 spools and re-roll your film...but that's for the super involoved. Plus, my way saves you TONS of time and aggrevation.

Another great thing about this particular brand of Brownie is that the lens can be flipped around to create a very ethereal look for your photos. As soon as I get my hands on another one of these babies, I will mod it with the flipped lens so I can have one of each!

Many times you will find this camera with a flash..the kind we saw in movies from the 50's and 60's. Big bulb, loud pop, tons of fun, your friends will love it.

So, my friends, next time you find yourself in an antique store, or at a yard sale and see a hawkeye, just know that it's an awesome camera that could use a good home! You CAN get film for it and use it! So get out there, and get shooting!

New Hardware Alert: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Digital SLR

So, Canon released it's newest addition to its Digital SLR line up...the 1D Mark IV. I'm super excited to see how well the extended ISO settings look. I'm sure it'll be phenomenal otherwise they wouldn't offer it...but still! Any excuse to get my paws on one or to see the results...I'm there! Check out the Canon Page linked below...

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Digital Dreamboat

Super cool stuff, but now...it puts me one more step behind the times...methinks it's time to upgrade! YAY!

Photo-Go-Round: Rural

Hello All!

I promised a continuation of the Photo-Go-Round project from my little book of tricks. So now I give you...the Rural set.

Rural Panorama

Final installment of the first group (The "My Choice") location to come next week.

Till then, have a great week!

Great new website to edit your photos

I read about this last night and I think it's awesome!  A boon to us crazy kids with iPhones that want to do some quick editing as well as home computer users. Plus it does all of the things that beginners and casual snapshot-shooters need!

http://www.photoshop.com/

The folks at adobe rock...we all know that...but this just seals the deal! You can do basic editing (exposure correction, color balancing, cropping and rotating) and you can go so far as to distort your pics with a faux fisheye type look, add some text and thought bubbles, and just generally have fun with your snapshots without having to shell out the $79.99 for Photoshop Elements.

Go forth my babies, shoot and edit...now for free!

Selections from "Trash the Tranny" Shoot

What happens when 3 photographers and a plucky Graphic Designer get together with an open minded guy/model who is up for anything?

I give you...Trash the Tranny.

Geek Hardware: Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger Set V4

Off camera lighting is the best way to get that professional look that we all strive for in photography. There are countless ways to do it that range from those self contained light heads that we see in every studio across the country, to a tiny little external flash stuck on top of a light stand.

To trigger them many pros lean towards Pocket Wizards. Awesome little triggers and recievers that will allow you to set up your off camera flashes and trigger them from a ways away. That gives us latitude to selectively light a scene and get the look we want. The problem with Pocket Wizards...they can be SUPER expensive for us beginning professionals. The solution...a great little setup from our friends at Gadget Infinity.


Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger Set V4.

These little gadgets do the same thing as our Pocket Wizard friends..at a FRACTION of the price. Thus enabling we kids who live in a super tight budget, to start dabbling in the world of off camera flashes while we save up for the spendier Wizards. So now...there's no excuse to resign ourselves to our on board pop up flashes any longer!

Got your credit card out yet?

Irving Penn

His work in fashion photography was ahead of it's time...resembling the work of his peer Richard Avedon, with their use of stark white and grey backdrops, allowing their subjects textures and forms and their use of light to stand out.

Read up on Penn and his photographic legacy here.

Photo-Go-Round: Urban

Last year I found myself in a photographic slump. I wasn't sure what to shoot, was uninspired, and just wandered around aimlessly with my camera hanging around my neck (or even worse, still sitting in the bag in the trunk of my car) and just needed help.

My buddy the Graphic Designer came to my rescue and created a handbook of concepts and ideas. Now, I'm primarily a technical photographer, I like to find things that present a challenge in that regard. This book helped me use my tech. know how and parlay it into some conceptual works.

A new series of blog entries simply tagged "Book Project" will show some of the assignments and what I was able to come up with.

For my first installment, I present "Photo-Go-Round".

"Pick 3 locations, one rural, one urban, one your choice. Stand in a central location, start in one spot and shoot frames all the way around. Make sure there is some overlap from frame to frame. Shoot one version with a tripod, one handheld and all horizontals, and one version hand held using horizontals, verticals and variable zooming."

Click to view the panorama.

Now, it has to be said that in full resolution...the final print would be 8" tall and just under 11 FEET wide. Awesome! Two fun things to notice - The magically disappearing Tri-Met Bus, and my friend Matty's confused face as I panned all the way around.

Coming Soon: Rural and My Own Choice of Subjects. Stay Tuned!