Archive for December, 2008

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Dec
09
2008

Macro Spider

Macro Spider

I’m a big fan of bugs. I mean… I still kill ‘em and everything, but pound for pound, they’ve got more weird stuff going on than most creatures. I have a few like this, but even with a monopod, you have to hold your breath to get the focus just where you want it. This is the only one you could see it’s mouth and leg together.
  • ApertureValue: f/3.2
  • DateTimeOriginal: 2008:09:21 07:03:55
  • ExposureTime: 1/125 sec
  • Flash: No Flash
  • FocalLength: 100 mm
  • ISOSpeedRatings: 200
  • Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

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Dec
09
2008

A Macro View

I said before that I’m not a one trick pony. I’m still going to claim at least three tricks and when you talk bang for your buck, macro photography has some great ones.

Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens

Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro - my weapon of choice

When I’m taking macro pictures, I’m using my Canon 100mm 2.8 lens.  Add it to a camera like mine and you get an effective 160mm lens, but with a minimum focusing distance of only a few inches.  In a nutshell?  You can take pictures of REALLY small things and honestly, what isn’t interesting at very high magnification?  The other trick here is that macro lenses like this one have extremely shallow depth of field, so everything but your exact point of focus will be very blurry.  This is actually a great technique for keeping the attention where you want it.  I’ll post a few and you can let me know what you think.

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Dec
08
2008

What You'd Expect

Cadillac Sedan, TtV

When I started taking these TtV photos, something clicked. Usually I’m not a huge fan of the pictures I take in Seattle. I think it’s the light – they lack contrast and the colors don’t pop. When I looked at these pictures I realized, that’s just what you need. With an old cruddy camera, scratches and rust on the viewfinder, the square format with the visible prism edge, you expect muted colors and gray days. Shooting this Caddy (admittedly still a little modern for the technique) just seems to work.  Compare it with another shot, on the same day, of something a little more modern - am I making this up or are you with me?
  • ApertureValue: f/3.5
  • DateTimeOriginal: 2008:12:05 11:49:16
  • ExposureTime: 1/160 sec
  • Flash: No Flash
  • FocalLength: 100 mm
  • ISOSpeedRatings: 400
  • Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

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Posted in Photos | 3 Comments »

Dec
07
2008

On A Winter's Day

Winter Balcony View, TtV

Alright – I’ll just say it. I’m a BIG fan of *stuff*. One of the things I’ve talked myself out of buying more than once is a LensBaby attachment for my camera. This trick lens lets you blur parts of the frame and leave focus in the middle. It just never made enough sense for me to buy, and that’s saying something. One of the great parts about the TtV style is that you get the quality of the viewfinder you’re shooting through and most of these old cameras have some issues. My particular copy has some pretty serious blur around the edges – I love it!
  • ApertureValue: f/5
  • DateTimeOriginal: 2008:12:04 15:05:48
  • ExposureTime: 1/320 sec
  • Flash: Off
  • FocalLength: 100 mm
  • ISOSpeedRatings: 4294902160
  • Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

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Dec
07
2008

Lucky Does His Thing

Lucky the Cat, Through the Viewfinder

I promised I’d make him famous, so here he is – one of the denizens of our couch, Lucky the Cat.

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    Posted in Photos | 2 Comments »

    Dec
    07
    2008

    Live from my kitchen

    Eggo-Syrup-TTV

    Two great things about TtV photography: due to the shape of the contraption used to take the pictures, you get a great viewpoint – periscope style, if you will. The second is that you’re taking a picture of a negative view, so until you flip things, they’re backward. I don’t know why, but I like most of my pictures better backward.

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    Dec
    07
    2008

    Through The Viewfinder

    Kodak Duaflex

    I wouldn’t call myself a one trick pony.  I’m at least a three trick pony.  As I already mentioned, one of the things that made me decide to set this whole blog thing up was being unemployed.  It also gave me time to work on a photo project that I’ve had on my mind since I read about it WAAAY back in JPG Magazine, issue 8.  The premise is pretty easy – you’d love to take some pictures with that old camera you’ve got sitting around, but who is going to deal with the film?  How will you digitize them later?  Maybe it doesn’t even work.  Through The Viewfinder takes care of all that.  What you’re doing is constructing a contraption that lets you point your digital camera at the viewfinder of your old camera, capturing all the inperfections, distortions, and instant creativity that comes along with it.  I really liked some of the pictures I took this way and I’ll be posting them for a while here.  If you want more information, the place to be is the TtV Flickr group.

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    Dec
    05
    2008

    Hello? world?

    So it’s come to this.  After working on internet-related things for 12 years and not creating a blog, I’ve gone and created a blog.  I had a good reason not to create a blog thusfar – I really have very little to say about anything truly unique and my own and anyone who wants to hear it probably has ample options for doing so.  Two things have changed though.  The first is I find myself in my own employ – or to put it another way, I find myself no longer being paid by anyone else, and as such I have some time on my hands.  The second is that with that time I’m trying to take pictures again – something I’ve always loved.  So that’s what I’ll do here – post some of my pictures for your persusal, compliments, disdain, etc.  Maybe it takes, maybe it doesn’t – I’m going to give it a try.

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    Posted in Minutia | 1 Comment »

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