Posts about Entertainment
All the posts...Favorite Flickr Groups: The Secret Life of Toys
15 July 2009
Everyone loves Pixar's Toy Story movies, right, so go check out The Secret Life of Toys on Flickr.
Toys from all over the world show up there, and some will send you on interesting chases around Google trying to figure out what they are and from where they came, like cardboard box robots and odd designer dolls. Other figures will be more recognizable, like Little People, Stormtroopers, and Lego people.
There are so many beautiful images and interesting stories that I'm sure you'll start getting ideas of what your own toys may do while you're not watching. You'll likely find a toy or 2 of mine there as well. This is becoming one of my primary photography styles, since it's so much fun.
Photography July and Beyond
14 August 2008
While preparing for last night's No Fear Photography meeting, I realized that I've had a pretty exciting month of photography!
- As Independence Day approached, I realized I didn't care a thing for trying to take some fireworks photos, but we still stumbled upon some, and I happened to get a fireworks photo or 2 that I actually liked.
- I got away with taking all my gear on the beach vacation -- flashes, umbrella, lenses, foam and poster board reflectors, everything! The monopod bungeed to a chair or railing makes a great lightweight light stand.
- I crudded up my sensor pretty badly on vacation, and ended up learning: 1) small apertures show dust really well, 2) to clone out lots of dust spots in post-processing, and 3) how to clean the sensor with a blower, swab, and Eclipse fluid.
- I managed to shoot a few strobist-style shots of the family on vacation -- they played while I setup, then I shot for 10 minutes or so. Then we abruptly tossed all the gear in the van and ran off, because someone needed to hit the bathroom.
- I passed off my D40 and 50mm f/1.8 crammed into a too-small bag as a point-and-shoot, so I got it into the Kill Hannah show at Chameleon.
- Upon acquiring a super-cheap Sigma 70-300DG lens which only focuses manually on my D40 and a few other accessories, I've acknowledged that I have all the gear I need for now, and that opinion has stuck for nearly a month now. 300mm fits my needs nicely, and I seldom wish I had "just a little more".
- I've actually started shedding gear -- Stacey's borrowing my Nikkor 55-200VR lens which was effectively replaced with the 70-300. If she doesn't buy it, maybe someone else will.
- I'm having lots of fun shooting close-up shots with the Sigma lens.
- After about a month of shooting almost exclusively with the 70-300, I went back to my kit 18-55mm lens a bit to shoot some wide-angle -- I'm particularly enjoying wide landscapes and a bit of distortion in portraits.
- My manual-everything 50mm f/1.8 remains my go-to lens for parties, low-light, and street photography.
- I was looking at the Fall non-credit photography courses at HACC and trying to choose 1 of 2 possible classes. Today, I just registered for both, instead of trying to choose: Portrait Photography and Perfect Pictures.
Year in Photos: 2007
02 January 2008
I've had my camera (and sometimes, my mobile) in hand for much of 2007. In that time, the kids and our travels have been my main subjects.
In April or so, the lights got brighter, as I started experimenting with strobes, and over the summer I started stuffing a larger camera bag with some lens adapters, filters, and more strobes around my modest little Canon PowerShot S2.
Even more recently, I've started building light modifiers and trying to get to the next step in lighting. I hope in the coming year to step back and work a bit to develop some style beyond the technical aspects. So I'll see you all out on photo walks, workshops, meetups, and maybe a class or two.
Photography
21 July 2006
I've been reading and learning many tips from the Digital Photography School Blog. I like the tips about composition, tuning, and all that, but I'm not sure how to actually accomplish it. Testing, adjusting, reshooting, and taking your time is fine with a bowl of fruit, but I'm usually in a quick camera-phone mode.
Fortunately, my S710a makes for one of the better camera-phones available in the United States, so my shots come out reasonable. Unfortunately, my real camera is getting pretty old, so it has no better resolution than my camera phone (1.3MP), and it's much slower to use. I've actually been using my camera phone much more than the real camera.
Most my shots are just quick shots of something interesting, and often, I'm photographing the kids. I've never exactly felt the necessary patience exuding from the adults I've tried to photograph, and I know I need to be much quicker with the kids. There's just no time to snap a few shots, play with settings, snap a few more, reposition. Maybe I need to find a photo editing school blog.
All the Posts
July 2009
August 2008
January 2008
- 02 - Year in Photos: 2007
July 2006
- 21 - Photography
December 2005
- 05 - Levels vs Curves