tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12398219855740391412024-02-19T01:34:14.733-05:00F-Stopping... random musings from an obsessed photo hobbyist ...Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-17456322843518592462010-11-20T09:01:00.006-05:002010-11-20T09:54:54.948-05:00Considering Buying an iMac for Photography?<p>The new Apple iMacs look incredible. You can even get a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00361EZXS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00361EZXS" target="_blank">quad core 27" one</a> now. That beautiful screen and fast CPU with multiple cores is perfect for photography... right? Well, yes, but at some point, you'll probably wish you had sunk a little extra investment in a Mac Pro. </p><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Problem</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="ttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00361EZXS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00361EZXS"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeFRHOJOmoGh7NqgbFUQyF7E1et9rJ6UoLDSERqvf_HFFJGDpJvbAwH0hfSll0JYfPGXyRaBT-4bn6RX1SojsGapCOpTBuL576iZWiXTE6sUKovCKRX5JPgLC0kMDsgZFMXoDgp-NxG4/s320/imac.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541638810142035618" /></a>I bought a 24" 3.06GHz dual core iMac in late 2008 when I was shooting with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5QV4S?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000V5QV4S" target="_blank">Canon 40D</a> in full 10MPx RAW mode. The iMac handled it perfectly - it was awesome. Aperture 2 had no problem with those RAWs, and my nearly empty hard drive zipped along. I figured that two cores running at 3.06GHz should be enough for years ago come... But things started slowing down quickly, and there was little I could do about it.<br /><br />In late 2009, I upgraded my camera to a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTMM?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTMM" target="_blank">Canon 5D Mark II</a>. I now had 21MPx of RAW goodness, but of course that came with a price - slower processing and twice as much hard drive usage. I quickly filled up my iMac's "measly" 500GB drive, and since you can't upgrade the hard drive in an iMac, I had to go external. I bought a <a href="http://fstopping.blogspot.com/2009/12/drobo-beyondraid-enclosures-making-hard.html">Drobo</a> RAID enclosure and a couple of drives to start me out. The Drobo's great and offers data protection, but the housing alone is $300, and the file transfer speed went from 100MB/sec internal to 25MB/sec external. Believe me, you notice that your RAW files are coming across Firewire or USB, and it hurts.<br /><br />In early 2009, Aperture 3 came out with brushes and other new features that I had been waiting for, but they too, came with a price - performance. I started waiting for brush strokes to catch up with my mouse, and got used to seeing the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_wait_cursor" target="_blank">Apple beachball</a>". More RAM probably would have helped, but I was already maxed out at 4GB. By now, my Drobo had three drives instead of two. Needless to say, I was quickly outgrowing my iMac. <br /><br />What made matters worse, because of my RAM situation, I had to close every app when running Aperture to eek out any little bit of performance I could. I would have had *no* problem shelling out $500 for 8GB of RAM at that point, but it wasn't an option - the box would have said "sorry buddy, I'm full".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Solution.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726703-REG/Apple_Z0LF_0003_Mac_Pro_6_Core_Desktop.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEDfmmU_vu185fNHBie9uV6EWLXww7X6vTCnXB6RJDchHCrYK3jDoWEwaJi0eGQSsJFp9fEHBxHdSU0RLwdCYRbJsAYbVTaJQYlXiMfIrSVB_0q48YPmYhGz8r2rQ_Glv5fg7QO62KVw/s320/Mac+Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541639540573636994" /></a>When the 2010 Mac Pros came out, I went for it and got a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726703-REG/Apple_Z0LF_0003_Mac_Pro_6_Core_Desktop.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267" target="_blank">6-core 3.33GHz Mac Pro</a> with 12GB of RAM and an extra slot for 16GB if I need it. If I wanna sell my car, I could go up to 32GB (it's too expensive now, but will come down by the time I "need" it). It's amazing. Since Aperture doesn't use all of the cores, it's not *that* much faster than the best performance I ever saw on the iMac, it's just that it *never* slows down and I can do anything else on the computer at the same time without ever seeing the spinning beachball. I've run two VMs along-side Aperture with no problem. I think you get the point. I'm now a little more future proof than before. There's plenty of hardware to spare, so by the time Aperture 4 or the 5D Mark II comes out, it shouldn't phase this machine a bit.<br /><br />Also, with 5 available hard drive bays, I was able to turn off my Drobo and get back to 100MB/sec drive access. I even now have the option getting 2X, 3X, 4X, or 5X that performance by RAIDing the drives internally. Or, I could go nuts and get <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_noss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3DSSD%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957" target="_blank">solid state drives</a> which run up to 285MB/sec (as compared to a really fast spinning hard drive at 100MB/sec). All of these options come with different price tags, but they're only getting cheaper, and they're always available. I currently have 2TB of internal storage with plenty of room to grow. I can also upgrade my graphics card, monitor/display, and even add on components someday like <a href="http://techresearch.intel.com/ProjectDetails.aspx?Id=143" target="_blank">Intel Light Peak</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/186566/usb_30_finally_arrives.html" target="_blank">USB3</a> PCI cards. I can add on things that I don't even know about yet.<br /><br />I also have the choice of displays with a Mac Pro. Many photographers are frustrated that Apple chose glossy for their displays instead of matte. Glossy screens basically become a mirror when you're viewing a dark scene or if your computer room is brightly lit. I just bought my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039648BO?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0039648BO" target="_blank">Dell 27" U2711</a> and love it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Don't Worry If You're Not A Nut</span><br />All of this craziness is because I refused to shoot JPG mode. If I had, the 2008 iMac would still be great. Someone out there is loving their new 24" iMac they just bought on eBay and questions why anyone would have sold it. If you're a sensible person, then just be happy with your JPGs, but if you're like me, and want the fully quality of RAW mode photography, then give some serious consideration to a Mac Pro over an iMac. I believe that I'll still be using this computer (with various upgrades) 4-5 years out, where I couldn't stand the iMac anymore after 2 years. The extra price of a Mac Pro becomes worth it when you realize how much longer you'll be using it.<br /><br />If you shoot RAW mode and don't want to scream at your computer in a couple of years, then consider a Mac Pro over an iMac. You can still buy brand new 2009 model Mac Pros for cheap. Consider this one - an <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/608730-REG/Apple_MB535LL_A_Mac_Pro_Desktop_Computer.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267" target="_blank">8-core 2.26GHz</a> for $2500, or this one - a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/608729-REG/Apple_MB871LL_A_Mac_Pro_Desktop_Computer.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267" target="_blank">4-core 2.66GHZ</a> for $1899.<br /><br />If you're a serious photographer and you can convince yourself to go for it, I'm sure you'll be glad you bought the (more) future-proof Mac Pro over the sexy, but what-you-see-is-what-you-get iMac.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-38419344886051460792010-11-10T21:37:00.005-05:002010-11-10T22:21:24.712-05:00ETTL in the Studio<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/5165149039/in/photostream/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5165149039_d22b6b3bbd_z.jpg"></a><br /><br />Strobist info:<br />-----------------<br />* Key: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NP3DJW?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NP3DJW" rel="nofollow">580EX II</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" rel="nofollow">430EX II</a> in a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00022KOWU?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00022KOWU" rel="nofollow">Westcott 28" Softbox</a> above, camera right<br />* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" rel="nofollow">430EX II</a> in <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/90032-REG/Morris_32600_Soft_Box_15x18_.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267" rel="nofollow">Morris 15x18" Softbox</a>, camera left<br /><br />Background: <br />* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YJX4B4?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000YJX4B4" rel="nofollow">Savage 107" Seamless Charcoal Paper</a><br /><br />In my past studio work, I'd use an <a href="http://www.alienbees.com/b800.html" target="_blank">Alien Bee B800</a> and several <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_noss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dnikon%2520sb-28%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">old Nikon speedlights</a> triggered optically and by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TANZ0W?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001TANZ0W">Pocket Wizards</a> - all in full manual mode. This gives total control, but requires a lot more setup and tinkering. If the subject will stay still, you're set, but if you meter for the subject to be three feet from the key light and they move back a foot, they've just underexposed themselves a little bit. If they move closer by a foot, the difference is even more obvious, and you might clip some highlights. <br /><br />This is where ETTL (Canon's fully automatic flash metering) really helps out. Here, I used a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NP3DJW?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NP3DJW" rel="nofollow">580EX II</a> on-camera to trigger three remote flashes - a 580EX and two <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" rel="nofollow">430EX II</a>'s. The remote 580ex and one of the 430ex's were in my softbox, camera right in group "A" and the other 430EX was in group B. <br /><br />With ETTL, I can set the ratio of the two groups (A:B) in-camera - their power isn't determined until a split second before the shot. As I press the shutter, the on-camera 580EX quickly sends out coded pulses of light that tell each of the remote flash groups to send out a pulse of light at a known power. The camera quickly meters those pulses, then figures out how bright each flash needs to be. It then sends out another message to the flashes telling them how much power to use, and to fire at the same time. This all happens immediately before the shot - just about too fast to notice. <br /><br />The drawback of ETTL is that two back-to-back shots might have slightly different exposures, but in the case of shooting children, the benefits outweigh it. If the kid moves forward, the flashes will fire with less power. If the kid moves back, the flashes fire with more. If the kid moves toward one light or the other, each light compensates accordingly.<br /><br />In this shot, I used A:B mode on the flash with a ratio of 4:1 - the fill flash was 2 stops weaker (1/4 as bright) as key, just to fill in the shadows a little bit. Total flash exposure compensation was +2/3eV, which, sure enough, meant darkening it 2/3 stops in post-processing (but that's okay, because it actually reduces ISO noise to darken a photo). I was impressed at how well ETTL did. The on-camera flash was told not to contribute to the shot - just to master the remote slave flashes.<br /><br />You may be wondering why I used two flashes in the key softbox - I've never done that before, and I didn't plan on it this time. It was a quick hack at the last second, because the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NP3DJW?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NP3DJW" rel="nofollow">580EX II</a> key light wasn't recharging as fast as I wanted, so I ball-bungeed a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" rel="nofollow">430EX II</a> next to it. With two flashes, each didn't have to work as hard, so recharging was faster.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-68750960960803579942010-10-05T22:38:00.007-04:002010-10-05T23:11:27.739-04:00Why I Shoot RAW (shoot-to-the-right edition)Because horribly overexposed shots like this:<br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5055338377_9238824c5b_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Roger Rabbit - original" /><br /><br />Are still usable, so long as you don't clip any important highlights. You still have the option to drag the exposure slider in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I0JL3M?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002I0JL3M">Aperture</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fstopp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002I0JL3M" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003739DVY?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003739DVY">Lightroom</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fstopp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003739DVY" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> down by three stops to end up with this:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/5055584331/" title="Roger Roger by blakophoto, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5055584331_ddee26d5ee_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Roger Roger" /></a><br /><br />In fact, this'll actually produce a cleaner image than if you expose it properly at the same ISO, since the highlights receive more bits in the RAWs than the shadows. Without RAW, the photo would have been stuck as is. Just make sure to turn on the "flashies" (highlight clipping) option in your camera. This'll blink black and white every place in the photo where you've shot it too bright to fix. As long as you don't see the flashies on anything important, you should be fine. <br /><br />If you find yourself constantly darkening photos in post-processing, then you're doing it right.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-51976448605104716692010-09-27T22:19:00.010-04:002010-09-28T00:39:26.162-04:00Slowly Getting Organized in Apple Aperture 3<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/5032364462/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5032364462_497613578d.jpg"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4995031628/"><i>view the final photo</i></a><br /><br />My <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I0JL3M?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002I0JL3M" target="_blank">Aperture 3</a> library has grown into a giant bin for photos to go and never be seen again. Organizing would take so much time, that I just figured that I'd get to it someday. The library now contains around 60,000 photos and shows no signs that it'll magically clean itself up, so I've started to move in that direction with some simple steps.<h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Goals</span></h3>1. Tack on only a small bit of time at the end of my current workflow<br />2. Start geo-tagging photos "good enough" - within 1/2 mile of where they were shot<br />3. Create more logical projects/albums broken down into shooting locations<br />4. Tag photos with at least very general terms, being more specific with those I'm exporting to Flickr<br /><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Implementation</span></h3><h5><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Find a photo to share</span></h5><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5031605163_4ccdca8950_o.png" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px; text-align: top;" /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5032222968_7d14975519_o.png" /><br />From time-to-time, I'll randomly browse my collection using the "Projects" view, looking for a photo to share.<br /><h5><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Create a new album</span></h5>When I find a project containing photos I'd like to share, I open the project, (which was most likely a single compact flash card import), then select all photos from the same shooting location. Assuming I want to keep these photos in their current project, I create a new album (Command-L for new album, or Command-N for new project), give it a name, and check the "Move selected items to a new album".<br /><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5031605257_f3502cc077_o.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5031605257_729778a5c1.jpg" /></a><br /><h5><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Geo-tag photos (think "good enough")</span></h5>In the new album, make sure all photos are selected (Command-A). Then from the Metadata menu, select "Assign Location".<br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5031605291_3e01743e16.jpg" /><br /><br />Search for the location in the modal window. If you find the exact match, use it. If not, you can click on one of the "Google Results", move and resize the blue circle, then give that location a name that will be available to you later on.<div><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5031675679_5d56dcc3e8_o.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5031675679_bf516408a7.jpg" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Assign General Keywords</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div>Again, make sure all photos in the album are selected (Command-A). Open the "Batch Change" tool from the Metadata menu, or with the shortcut Command-Shift-B. </div><div><br />Make sure "Append" is selected so that we won't lose any existing tags. Check the box next to "Keywords", then enter some very basic tags that apply to all images in the album such as the location name, city, state, and anything else you can think of. Click "OK" to apply those keywords to all photos in the album.<br /><br /></div><div><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5032278468_90ee37fe6c.jpg" /><br /><br />Here, I'm adding the tags "Florida", "Kennedy Space Center", "NASA", and "Orlando".<br /><br />If you care to specify more tags for other groups of photos, just select the subset of photos you'd like to add tags to, then follow these steps again. As long as you have "Append" selected, you won't delete any existing tags, just add new ones.</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Create a general caption for all photos</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>Flickr recognizes Aperture's "Caption" field as the description under a photo. I generally use this to give the name and location of where the photo was shot.<br /><br />Select all photos in the album again (Command-A). Open the Batch Change tool again (Command-Shift-B), check the box next to "Caption", and the radio button next to "Replace". I will also add the location's city and state in this step. Click "OK" to apply this description to all photos in the album. Here, I'm setting the value to "Kennedy Space Center, Orlando, Florida" to all photos in the album. I might replace or add to the description for individual photos later, but this is good enough for now.</div><div><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5032223100_84b3bb6060_o.png" /><br /></div><div><h5><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Exporting to Flickr</span></h5>Before I export an individual photo to Flickr, I select the "Metadata" tab for that photo (seen at the top of this post), set the version name to what I'd like it to be displayed as in Flickr, add tags that are more specific to this photo, and consider adding to, or replacing the caption, which shows up as the description under the photo in Flickr.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5032357922_370ec6b1d7_o.png"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5032357922_331a867807.jpg"></a><br /><br />I'm still in the stone age when it comes to exporting to Flickr. I haven't looked for exporting plugins, and I hate Aperture's Flickr export, so I just manually export to my desktop, then upload using Flickr's tool. This works for me, since I usually like to set the photo order, and only upload 5 at a time anyway. Flickr will pick up all of the tags, captions, and GPS locations set in Aperture. This makes it easy to find photos in your library that are on Flickr. There might be a Flickr setting that I'm not aware of, but for now, I open each photo on the site and click "Add this photo to your map!". The popup window will already have the location you set in Aperture, so just click "OK" to make it public.<br /><h5><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Keeping Flickr sets organized</span></h5>I'll write more on this topic later, but I've recently started using the 3rd-party tool called <a href="http://jeremybrooks.net/suprsetr/" target="_blank">SuprSetr</a> to automatically manage my sets by keyword and other metadata. If I have a big album like my shots of Kennedy Space Center that I know I'll be uploading from often, I find SuprSetr very time-saving. I create a Flickr set in the tool named "<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/sets/72157624966099174/with/4999851469/" target="_blank">Kennedy Space Center</a>", and tell the tool to automatically add all photos that have the tag <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/tags/kennedyspacecenter/" target="_blank">"Kennedy Space Center"</a> into this set. Every time I run the tool and select "Refresh all sets", every photo with this tag will be added to the set, and reordered by interestingness, descending.<br /><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5031605451_9c5dff0c01_o.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5031605451_5261fac643.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Future Goals</span></h3></span></b>I'm looking for ways to keep track of what I've exported to Flickr. I haven't decided if I want to create a Flickr album or maintain a custom metadata field with tags such as "Flickr" or "Blog".<br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Conclusion</span></h3></span></b>The steps above might sound time-consuming, but once you get used to the key shortcuts and have done it a few times, it really only takes a minute or so. Even if I'm only exporting one photo from a shoot to Flickr, I'll bring a couple dozen to several hundred closer to being organized with these simple batch steps. I can always add more detailed tags or GPS coordinates if I want to, but these very coarse brushstrokes really do make a huge difference in my library. If I see a photo in Flickr that I'd like to find in my library, I can use the name of the photo, its tags, or drill down through my map using the "Places" tool.<br /><br />During this process, if I have time, I'll see if there are any photos that I can delete from my library. I'll let them stick around in the Aperture trash for a while in case I change my mind later.<br /><br />If you're using Aperture, give these steps a try - it's a very powerful organizational tool - all you have to do is find a simple way to fit it into your routine.<br /></div>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-35777623737249672632010-08-28T23:41:00.005-04:002010-08-28T23:58:15.269-04:00Apple Aperture Exporting on a Hexacore Mac ProI recently upgraded from a 2008 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Z9A5UY?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002Z9A5UY">Apple iMac</a> to a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726703-REG/Apple_Z0LF_0003_Mac_Pro_6_Core_Desktop.html/BI/2432/KBID/3267">6-core 3.33GHz Mac Pro</a>. The iMac is an awesome computer with a beautiful screen, and I never complained about its speed (3.06GHz dual core) until I bought a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">Canon 5D Mark ii</a> DSLR. The 21mpx RAW files and stunning HD video took its toll on my hard drive and processor. <br /><br />In the week that I've had the Mac Pro, I've been nothing but pleased with how great this machine is. Along with that, however, is the painful realization that most software has yet to take advantage of all twelve of those logical cores. Aperture is *much* faster than it was on my old machine, but I'd expect to see more parallelization of bulk tasks such as importing.<br /><br />Importing isn't ideal, but I just noticed that exporting is! Here's a screenshot from <a href="http://bjango.com/apps/istatmenus/">iStat</a> of an 80-file export, successfully using my machine's full potential. <br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4936846720_dd1786ac82_o.png"/><br /><br />I won't hold my breath for better use of the cores in other areas of the app right now, but I will definitely enjoy knowing that exporting will be nearly as fast as it can be.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-14431082284304783962010-08-24T22:28:00.005-04:002010-08-24T22:40:18.614-04:00Noise Ninja - Why don't I use this more often?I purchased <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P0UXM0?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000P0UXM0" target="_blank">Noise Ninja</a> several months ago, but never spent much time with it. I dusted it off tonight, and now I'm wondering why it doesn't have a fixed spot in my photography workflow.<br /><br />I need to read up on the science and techniques of noise removal to understand better how to use Noise Ninja, but after 5 minutes of basically just using their automatic settings, I was able to clean up this ISO6400 shot from earlier this year.<br /><br />Click the following to see the difference (open in new windows)<br /><br /><b>Original:</b><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4925455154_3a5c23a842_b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4925455154_3a5c23a842.jpg"></a><br /><br /><b>After Noise Ninja:</b><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4924800013/in/photostream/lightbox/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4924800013_951c832554.jpg"></a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-18686133984075367102010-06-04T19:20:00.003-04:002010-06-04T23:15:43.797-04:00Further From The Truth<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4670468168/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4670468168_1f5b177e30.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4670468168&size=large">View on Black</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">Canon 5d Mark II</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I53X?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00006I53X">70-200mm f/2.8L IS</a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-31755068408582291282010-05-17T23:39:00.006-04:002010-05-17T23:56:08.124-04:00Fun With Strobes And A Cooperative Subject<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4617829548/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXVBRUrXRfQeQgujHGpSDyVBsasu42HxQh3cKdV_Hr5RiUNQVV8BLIFdcUlup1qdiNarPGOTxivopih8ZvX9xAtVTAl9N3BoYR7UpENLQeCMZ8NqnUE38btWUrBmnr-i9Sph2jjqRPdc/s400/Creepy-Mannequin-Head-Strobist.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472453687456412642" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4617829548/">view on Flickr</a><br /><br />Shot with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS" rel="nofollow">Canon 5D Mark ii</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000053HC5?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000053HC5" rel="nofollow">135mm f/2L</a><br /><br />Strobist Info:<br />-----------------<br />* single <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" rel="nofollow">430EX ii</a>, above, camera right into <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/90032-REG/Morris_32600_Soft_Box_15x18_.html" rel="nofollow">15x18" soft box</a>, using Canon ETTL<br /><br />Strobe was triggered via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NP3DJW?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NP3DJW" rel="nofollow">580EX ii</a> on-camera, and supported by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009R6IJ?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00009R6IJ" rel="nofollow">Manfrotto 9' light stand</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009VQE7?ie=UTF8&tag=clvrfk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00009VQE7" rel="nofollow">Photoflex LiteDisk Holder</a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-88536563362591105702010-02-11T00:57:00.003-05:002010-02-11T01:04:10.027-05:00Why I Love Shooting in RAW Mode... because after two minutes in <a href="http://www.apple.com/aperture/" target="_blank">Apple Aperture 3</a>, this:<br /><img style="width: 500px; height: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4347503821_9e0479fa78.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br />...becomes this:<br /><img style="width: 500px; height: 327px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4347503947_6cdfebb478.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-4162631387974302072010-02-03T22:08:00.002-05:002010-02-04T08:40:53.912-05:00Finding Sales on Canon and Nikon Gear Just Got Easier<a href="http://twitter.com/EFGlass_com" target="_blank"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 353px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2780/4329764420_263e02ea87.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><i><a href="http://twitter.com/EFGlass_com" target="_blank">Canon version</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/NKGlass_com" target="_blank">Nikon version</a></i><br /><br />I find that you can get some great prices on used camera gear on <a href="http://www.amazon.com">Amazon</a>, but it's usually a single item or two priced well-below the rest that's only briefly available, so I thought I'd do something about it. I spent the past three weeks working on my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing" target="_blank">cloud-based</a>, Amazon price-checking engine. It scours Amazon hourly, checking for changes in new, used, and refurbished inventory and prices.<br /><br />There's no limit to what it can track, but because I had to start somewhere, I just stood up its first two manifestations - <a href="http://www.twitter.com" target="_blank">Twitter</a> feeds for each <a href="http://twitter.com/EFGlass_com" target="_blank">Canon</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/NKGlass_com" target="_blank">Nikon</a> camera gear.<br /><br />The bot currently tracks over 1,500 products hourly for each their list, new, used, refurbished, and collectible prices and availability. Adding new products to the database is still a manual step, but only requires a single click per product with a custom <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greasemonkey" target="_blank">GreaseMonkey script</a>. As I find the time, product imports will also be automated, and even personalized.<br /><br />The two Twitter feeds are at:<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/EFGlass_com" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/EFGlass_com</a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/NKGlass_com" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/NKGlass_com</a><br /><br />Please <b>follow them</b> on Twitter, and tweet any suggestions or other feedback to either of the feeds.<br /><br />The companion lens-buying guide for Canon is online here, with a Nikon one in the works:<br /><a href="http://www.efglass.com/" target="_blank">http://www.efglass.com/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3555959196/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 334px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3555959196_428cc65fbc.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Significant changes in price and inventory are sent through a list of notifiers - any one of those that decides to handle that update will queue up and send out its notifications. Currently, there are two sets of notifications - three (used, new, refurbished) for each Nikon and Canon, which are sent to their respective Twitter feeds with as much info as I can fit in to Twitter's 140 character limit, complete, of course, with a link to Amazon where you can grab that single used lens that's $50 cheaper than the rest.<br /><br />Since this runs in the cloud, all processing is forked off into different tasks, and has a non-relational <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigTable" target="_blank">BigTable database</a>, the only throttle I have to worry about is my contract with Amazon, which allows me to send out one batch of ten requests per second, or 36,000 products checked every hour. If Amazon wasn't throttling me, Google would allow me process those 36,000 in 3 minutes, and I'm confident the system could handle it.<br /><br />Of course there are different strategies to handle many more products, but 36,000 should buy me a couple month's time to implement those work-arounds.<br /><br />These Twitter feeds are only the beginning. I have a notebook full of ideas for directions to take this project. I've spent three weeks with my head in the cloud, and it's only getting more and more fun by the day.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3865790779/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 192px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3865790779_bc5c542ac5_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align:center;">More to come.</div>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-11145643636707635942010-01-14T04:08:00.003-05:002010-01-14T04:19:22.601-05:00EFGlass.com - Know Canon Your Glass, See What It Can Do.<a href="http://www.efglass.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 517px; height: 136px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4273127785_6b5a4268e4_o.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I could spend all weekend reading about camera equipment, but I always found most of the lens listing sites out there a little lacking in areas, so I spent the past three days putting together this initial version of <a href="http://www.efglass.com/">EFGlass.com</a>. It's not that complex right now, but believe me, I have plenty planned for future releases. <br /><br />As it is, you can see Canon's full lens line-up with some basic information about each lens, a link back to its specifications page on <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=150&modelid=7469">Canon's website</a>, a link to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I53X?tag=efglass-20">Amazon</a> so you can check its current price, and one to a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/70200f28l/pool/">Flickr group pool</a>, where you can see what people are using shooting with each it.<br /><br />I'll post major site updates to this blog, and welcome any suggestions or comments - please <a href="mailto:info@efglass.com">email me</a>, or call and leave me a voice message using the widget on the right side of this page.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-27306710455828970562010-01-05T01:04:00.007-05:002010-01-05T01:40:24.143-05:00"Just My Luck" - Lensbaby Video With Plastic Optic on Canon 5D Mark II<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8ac250b505&photo_id=4246521941&flickr_show_info_box=true&hd_default=false"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8ac250b505&photo_id=4246521941&flickr_show_info_box=true&hd_default=false" height="360" width="640"></embed></object><br /><i>(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4246521941/">View on Flickr in high res</a>)</i><br /><br />I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I have been meaning to spend more time tinkering with my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">Canon 5D Mark II</a>'s video capabilities. When my car wouldn't start in the bitter cold* this morning, I decided to take the opportunity to shoot some clips with my new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCUC6S?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001GCUC6S">Lensbaby Composer</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCUCC2?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001GCUCC2">plastic optic lens</a> system. <br /><br />First, if it's not yet obvious, I'm no video-processing guru. In fact, this short clip took exactly three times as long as it should have to put together - about two and a half hours in all. It's the most complex video work I've done with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014X4O7C?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0014X4O7C">iMovie 09</a>, and I'm just now starting to see why advanced users complain about its lack of features and move to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002J1UJ4A?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002J1UJ4A">Final Cut Studio</a>. You can probably accomplish most of what you need with iMovie, but you may have to jump through hoops to do it. Luckily, it's very easy and powerful for general purposes.<br /><br />This was shot with a single camera from three different shots:<br />1. stationary shot with the camera on the seat<br />2. dashboard shot of the flashing lights<br />3. death scene with the sun flares<br /><br />The stationary shot was the longest, so I detached its audio and used it throughout the whole video. I tinkered with iMovie's precision editor to achieve realistic transitions between the different clips. You can nudge around +/- 0.1 second in either direction, and if you're as neurotic as I am, you end up spending quite a good bit of time nudging. <br /><br />I must say that I'm now hooked on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCUC6S?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001GCUC6S">Lensbaby Composer</a>. Its optics really give you creative freedom. A significant portion of a normal lens' cost goes into its ability to reduce flare. Sometimes, like in the death scene here, flare is beautiful, and boy can you achieve it with the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCUCC2?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001GCUCC2">Lensbaby plastic optic</a>! For the dashboard scene, I wanted to draw attention to the flashing lights, so I bent the lens to keep the lower right corner of the video mostly in focus while blurring the rest to hell.<br /><br />I imagine I'll be flooding <a href="http://flickr.com/cleveralias">my Flickr stream</a> with a tad too many Lensbaby shots over the next few months... <br /><br /><br />* I consider 21 degrees Fahrenheit to be bitter cold... your milage may vary...<br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=fstopp-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B001GCUC6S" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=fstopp-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B001GCUCC2" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=fstopp-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B001G5ZTMM" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=fstopp-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B0014X4O7C" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=fstopp-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B002J1UJ4A" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-63627285775240637102009-12-30T21:35:00.003-05:002009-12-30T22:03:52.720-05:00Canon Picture Styles<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4229406051/"><img style="width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2694/4229406051_4555a55ed9.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Like it or not, this image effectively came straight out of my camera, using a custom <a href="http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html">picture style</a>.<br /><br />I shoot entirely in RAW mode, so I never bothered to look into these JPG presets. However, after seeing how far you could push these presets in-camera in <a href="http://www.canon5dtips.com/2009/12/picture-style-explained/">this post</a> at Canon 5D Tips, I thought I'd try messing with Canon's <a href="http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/editor/index.html">Picture Style Editor</a> a bit to see what I could come up with. <br /><br />The author of the 5D Tips blog post wasn't kidding - the software is very difficult to use. I have no idea what I did to achieve the above image, but it's cool enough that I'm going to keep tinkering to see what else I can come up with. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018VH8S2?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0018VH8S2">Adobe Lightroom</a> can't use these picture styles, so I had to export my JPG in <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=386">Canon's DPP</a>. And, since I'd rather swallow a handful of white-hot thumbtacks than use DPP, I think I'll just switch to RAW+JPG for the times when I'm tinkering with picture styles for crazy effects like the one above.<br /><br />The Canon <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K">40D</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">5D Mark II</a> only allow 3 custom picture styles, so I'm going to take only my favorite presets with me. I can always resort to DPP in post-processing, so it's not critical that I have my picture styles with me, but it'll be cool to see how well the effects work with the shots in-camera. Also, I'm no wizard with video processing, so it'll be a nice shortcut to apply these effects to video in-camera as well.<br /><br />Overall, if you shoot RAW, nothing much is gained here but a little fun while shooting.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-70482553566620988272009-12-14T21:52:00.000-05:002009-12-14T23:02:25.187-05:00Drobo BeyondRAID Enclosures - Making Hard Drive Death Less Painful<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/4186034191/" alt="Click to see on Flickr"><img style="margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4186034191_21488a38af.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CZ9ZEE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001CZ9ZEE">Data Robotics Drobo 4-Bay USB 2.0/FireWire 800 SATA Storage Array</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fstopp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001CZ9ZEE" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />My <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K">Canon 40D</a> turned me into a digital pack rat with its 10 megapixel RAW files, slowly filling up my 500GB hard drive up over the course of a year and a half. Every few weeks, I'd burn my recent photos on two sets of DVD-Rs, put them in different boxes, and rest assured that my data was reasonably safe. It was a problem, but a manageable one.<br /><br />That backup strategy wasn't ready for my upgrade to a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">Canon 5D Mark ii</a> a few months ago. I now have 21 megapixel RAW files that weigh in around 27MB each, and 1080P video at 300MB per minute. Not only that, but the camera can shoot in damned-near darkness, so I'm shooting in locations that were previously inaccessible. Most outings with the camera would end in a filled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00281YH4Y?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00281YH4Y">16GB CF card</a>.<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fstopp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00281YH4Y" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> It didn't take too long to find myself 100 DVDs behind in my backup routine.<br /><br />In comes <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CZ9ZEE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001CZ9ZEE">Drobo</a> - a multiple unit hard drive enclosure all of the benefits of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID">traditional RAID</a>, but without the rigidity. The Drobo houses up to four SATA drives, spreading your data across them to protect against any one of them from failing. It doesn't care if your drives are the same size or vendor, and, you can replace drives at any time with one of equal or bigger size. You can also start with two drives, and work your way up to four, if you like. The biggest drive in the cluster is used for redundancy, so if you had four 500GB drives, your total usable disk space is about 1.5GB. <br /><br />Unlike RAID, the unit is data-aware, continually checking for errors. If any are detected, the green light will flash yellow next to the affected drive. If the drive is on the verge of dying, the light turns red. At this point, you can remove and replace the failing drive without turning it off, and while still using it, if you like. The Drobo takes care of assimilating the new drive into the cluster, spreading the data across it to protect from any future drive failure, completely transparent to your machine.<br /><br />I still plan on continuing to burn my data to DVD-R, but have become a little more lax since buying the Drobo. To safeguard against accidental deletions, complete hardware failure, or theft, I signed up to <a href="http://www.backblaze.com/" target="_blank">BackBlaze.com</a> unlimited data offsite backup. For $50/year, Backblaze's software automatically encrypts and uploads all of my data to their servers, even keeping a couple of weeks of incremental backups so that I can rollback some data to a few days ago, if needed.<br /><br />I now sleep just a tad better at night.<br /><br />While you're at it, I recommend you get started with two of these <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066IJPQ?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00066IJPQ">1.5TB Seagate drives</a>.<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fstopp-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00066IJPQ" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> If you have an extra 500GB drive laying around the house, throw it in the mix as well - it can't hurt, you can upgrade it later.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-15595775409141475782009-10-07T23:25:00.001-04:002009-10-07T23:42:29.341-04:00Phillies' Clay Condrey - Action Pitching Sequence<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3991269161/in/set-72157617889838794/"><img style="width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2492/3991269161_058b5852ff.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I shot this at a Phillies game with my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" rel="nofollow">Canon 40D</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I53X?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00006I53X" rel="nofollow">70-200mm f/2.8L IS</a> back on May 8, 2009. This was a composite of 6 shots of 20 taken in high speed mode SRAW, then stitched together in Photoshop.<br /><br />For reference, here's how far back we were sitting:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3514865014/in/set-72157617889838794/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 297px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/3514865014_1dd6cd7532.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />With the 1.6X <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor">crop factor</a> of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" rel="nofollow">Canon 40D</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I53X?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00006I53X" rel="nofollow">200mm</a>, you get in pretty close to the action.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-12746173053186563582009-10-05T23:02:00.000-04:002009-10-06T07:44:02.808-04:00X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Color Calibration System<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3985494161/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3985494161_a19a12d6c9.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I just received the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NU5UW8?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002NU5UW8">X-Rite ColorChecker Passport</a> color calibration and white balance system after growing weary of eyeballing my photos' white balance for some time now. <br /><br />I recently calibrated my monitor with the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CR78C4?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000CR78C4">Pantone huey MEU101</a> monitor calibrator, but still spent too much time trying to find the white balance and tint to give accurate and pleasing skin tones.<br /><br />So, I broke down and ordered the ColorChecker Passport. It's $100, which is a lot, and since I've only spent a couple of hours with it, I'm not yet aware of all of the ways I can use it. But, in this two hours, I was able to find out some amazing stuff... Like... My color thus far... is awful.<br /><br />The first thing I did with the ColorChecker was to take it outside and shoot it at arms' length:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3985287809/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 167px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3985287809_46ba7896e6.jpg" border="0" alt="Straight out of camera" /></a><br />This is the shot exactly as it came out of my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G5ZTLS?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001G5ZTLS">5d Mark II</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009R6WY?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00009R6WY">35mm f/1.4L</a>, with no modifications.<br /><br />I then adjusted the white balance by keying off of the neutral landscape grey square, which gave me this:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3985331617/in/photostream/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 167px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/3985331617_616cec70fe.jpg" border="0" alt="White balanced with Adobe standard color" /></a><br />This is as far as I thought I'd have to go to get true colors. I figured, get the white balance, and use the rest of the color squares to help eyeball up my greens, blues, etc. Well, this is just the beginning. This is where I realized how little I knew about color management.<br /><br />Apparently every copy of a camera and lens - and thus, combination - have different color signatures. The software can analyze a test shot containing the ColorChecker Passport, locate it within the frame, then determine the camera's response to the known colors within that environment. Doing this couldn't be easier. From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018VH8S2?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0018VH8S2">Adobe Lightroom</a>, you just export your test image through their exporter, then give the profile a name such as "Outdoors, 35mm f/1.4L before sunset". After the export is complete, you restart Lightroom, and the color profile is available for you to use for the rest of that photo shoot. The color profiles are available for use in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018VH8S2?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0018VH8S2">Adobe Lightroom</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EUBSL0?ie=UTF8&tag=toprumorcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001EUBSL0">Adobe Photoshop</a>.<br /><br />The results were less than subtle:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3985360503/in/photostream/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 167px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3985360503_15d38248f3.jpg" border="0" alt="White balanced and color calibrated" /></a><br /><br />Open the three test images in separate browser tabs and flip through them. You'll notice a purplish hue in my original photo, corrected in the white balanced one. The difference between the second and third shots is mainly in the blues, purples, and greens - color responses you can't correct for with standard white balance cards.<br /><br /><b><br />** <br />If you found this review helpful, please support this blog by using any of the links to purchase your gear.<br />**</b>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-57264921282950184092009-09-13T01:10:00.001-04:002009-09-13T01:30:57.677-04:00How We Roll<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3914038899/"><img style="width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3914038899_d21e5408d2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />(<a href="http://portraits.smugmug.com/" target="_blank">View my studio site</a>)<br /><br />We might have had a little too much fun tonight.<br /><br />Strobist Info:<br />-----------------<br />* Key: <a href="http://www.alienbees.com/b800.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alien Bees B800 studio strobe</a> shot into Alien Bees large foldable softbox with grid, camera right.<br />* Fill: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&x=0&ref_=nb_ss_gw&y=0&field-keywords=nikon sb-28&url=search-alias=aps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nikon SB-28 speedlight</a> shot into <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UTZA?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00009UTZA" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Westcott 43" Shoot-Through Umbrella</a>, camera left, 1 to 1.5 stops below key, triggered by Pocket Wizard wireless flash trigger.<br />* Background lighting: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Canon 430EX</a> triggered by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TANZ0W?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001TANZ0W" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Pocket wizard</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&x=0&ref_=nb_ss_gw&y=0&field-keywords=nikon sb-26&url=search-alias=aps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nikon SB-26</a> triggered by built-in optical trigger, both at about 1.5 stops below key, pointed into white back. I used the velcro compartment separators from my camera bag as gobos on the two background flashes<br /><br />Background: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BB0HBU?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000BB0HBU" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Savage 107" Super White Seamless Background Paper</a><br /><br />Floor: Two sheets of white tile board, the front one overlapping the back one, which overlaps the paper.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-28997441504354163732009-09-01T19:48:00.001-04:002010-09-29T09:12:37.102-04:00White Paper Background/Tile Board Studio Setup<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3873757806"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/3873757806_a5a1963e65_z.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Here's a studio portrait I shot of my daughter this weekend. I recently purchased some white tile board for my studio flooring <a href="http://www.zarias.com/?p=71">as described by Zack Arias</a> - this was my first attempt with it. Aside from the pretty reflections under my daughter, it also helps preserve my paper background and saves some photoshopping out of creases and folds due to our walking on it. <br /><br />Here's my studio (basement) when I setup the white background:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3872971483"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/3872971483_fd0682d560.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />If you click the image, you'll see that I have just about every bit of equipment labeled. <br /><br />Strobist Info:<br />-----------------<br />* Key: <a href="http://www.alienbees.com/b800.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alien Bees B800 studio strobe</a> shot into Alien Bees large foldable softbox with grid, camera right.<br />* Fill: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&x=0&ref_=nb_ss_gw&y=0&field-keywords=nikon sb-28&url=search-alias=aps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nikon SB-28 speedlight</a> shot into <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UTZA?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00009UTZA" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Westcott 43" Shoot-Through Umbrella</a>, camera left, 1 to 1.5 stops below key, triggered by Pocket Wizard wireless flash trigger.<br />* Background lighting: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Canon 430EX</a> triggered by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TANZ0W?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001TANZ0W" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Pocket wizard</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&x=0&ref_=nb_ss_gw&y=0&field-keywords=nikon sb-26&url=search-alias=aps&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nikon SB-26</a> triggered by built-in optical trigger, both at about 1.5 stops below key, pointed into white back. I used the velcro compartment separators from my camera bag as gobos on the two background flashes<br /><br />Background: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BB0HBU?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000BB0HBU" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Savage 107" Super White Seamless Background Paper</a><br /><br />Floor: Two sheets of white tile board, the front one overlapping the back one, which overlaps the paper.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-166271881702640682009-08-14T00:10:00.000-04:002009-08-14T00:19:48.285-04:00Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3818954209/"><img style="width: 384px; height: 288px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3818954209_efc92acfde.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />** No telescope used **<br /><br />This is a composite of 10 shots taken of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Jupiter</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_(moon)" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Io</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Europa</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon)" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ganymede</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callisto_(moon)" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Callisto</a>), with my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NNUHWK?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000NNUHWK" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">500mm f/8 mirror lens</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Canon 40D</a> at ISO1600, f/8 (fixed), 1/6 second, showing the major four moons of Jupiter. There are at least 63 moons in all. <br /><br />To avoid any vibrations in the camera, I used a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N7VPRW?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000N7VPRW" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">tripod</a> (w/ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000184N22?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000184N22" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ballhead</a>), cable shutter release, and mirror lock-up.<br /><br />I manually focused in live view at 10X, which was tough because every touch of the lens would wobble the subject all over the place. This is such a tight zoom at 500mm that you can actually see Jupiter moving across the LCD screen. I'd then turn off live view mode, wait a few seconds to let the vibrations stop, then fire the shutter with the cable release. This just flips the mirror up, which causes a tiny amount of vibrations. I waited another couple of seconds, then fired off another cable release shutter click to take the photo. <br /><br />After ten shots, I cropped the photos as close to the same spot in each photo, then stacked them all together in <a href="http://lynkeos.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lynkeos</a>.<br /><br />This is screenshot from <a href="http://www.stellarium.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Stellarium</a>, showing the expected positions of the four moons at the time I took this shot.<br /><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3819780990_bdaf1aab8e_o.png"><img style="width: 808px; height: 446px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3819780990_bdaf1aab8e_o.png" border="0" alt="" /></a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-24048768983471179112009-07-24T14:08:00.000-04:002009-07-24T14:10:05.874-04:00Better to Burn Out<a href="hhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3745246770/"><img style="cwidth: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3745246770_8a8e5b634e.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><i>(This is the sun, not the moon)</i><br /><br /><a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3745246770&size=large" rel="nofollow">View On Black</a><br /><br />Shot while trying to capture a sunspot - I'm going to need a neutral density filter or welding glass for any luck - this was f/32, 1/8000, ISO100.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-36360897034743933012009-07-07T00:34:00.000-04:002009-07-07T00:37:35.801-04:00International Space Station (ISS) - Without Telescope<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3697010730/"><img style="500px; height: 357px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3697010730_4c11ca0f48.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This might not look like much, but it's a view of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">International Space Station</a> pieced together from 19 photos taken without a telescope. I used my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NNUHWK?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000NNUHWK" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">500mm f/8 (fixed) catadioptric mirror lens</a>, shooting at f/8, ISO800, 1/1500. Thanks to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyngyrz/3368095186/" target="_blank">fyngyrz for the exposure info</a>. It's important to realize that this is a sunlit - very bright - object, so we need the quick exposure.<br /><br />The ISS travels at an average speed of <a href="http://www80.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=speed+of+the+international+space+station" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">17,209 mph</a>, completing 15.7 orbits a day. The orbit is very predictable, and using the charts at <a href="http://www.heavens-above.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Heavens-Above</a>, you can find out exactly when it will show up in your night sky. I was prepared for tonight's passing, having already manually focused on the moon with 10X live view, keeping the camera on tripod and pointed WSW, where tonight's transit would begin.<br /><br />I found it very difficult tracking it with such a tight telephoto, keeping one eye outside the camera to help get it in my viewfinder. Once I narrowed it down, I led it by a full frame, parked the camera in the tripod's ballhead, and snapped away for the two seconds it would stay in frame before switching views to keep up. I took the cleanest shots at its peak of 57 degrees above the horizon. <br /><br />I wasn't sure I had a single useable capture as I walked back from the shoot, but once I looked on the computer, I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. A 10 megapixel photo will take up about 4 full monitors worth of screen real estate. When viewed at that full resolution, the ISS is much smaller than a fly - a little speck with three blobs - the space station and its two big solar panel arrays. <br /><br />I took about 90 shots of the space station tonight, throwing away all but the best 20, then stacking (combining) them together in <a href="http://lynkeos.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lynkeos</a>. Stacking several images of the same shot helps remove the random noise due to atmospheric distortion. After enlarging and correcting the white balance, this is the final result. Take a look at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3696199575/" target="_blank">one of the raw shots</a> to see what I mean - and keep in mind that I'm zoomed in at an effective 800mm (500mm x 1.6 crop factor) and the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3696944290/" target="_blank">crop of just the space station</a>.<br /><br />Here's a tight crop of one of the unprocessed images to show what a difference the image stacking makes:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3696944290/"><img style="cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 334px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2641/3696944290_26301b93f7.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Equipment:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Canon 40D</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NNUHWK?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000NNUHWK" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Phoenix 500mm f/8 Mirror Lens</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N7VPRW?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000N7VPRW" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Bogen/Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod Legs</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000184N22?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000184N22" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">322RC2 Grip Action Ballhead</a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-12330876339964072842009-05-26T00:04:00.000-04:002009-05-26T00:06:31.373-04:00Check the Diagonal<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3564788161/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3564788161_29cf98e7fc.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />While waiting for my doctor, I snapped this with my iPhone. It was a translucent piece of plastic over an x-ray viewing screen - I imagine to gauge different shades of gray.<br /><br />Taken with my iPhone.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-49741533293260375942009-05-25T23:28:00.000-04:002009-05-26T00:23:45.726-04:00International Space Station (ISS) - Into Earth's Shadow<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3565606092/"><img style="width: 500px; height: 360px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3565606092_ec974119d7.jpg?v=1243308586" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I frequently monitor <a href="http://www.heavens-above.com/" target="_blank">Heavens Above</a> to see if there's any upcoming satellite passes worth seeing. Tonight was one of the brighter showings of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station" target="_blank">International Space Station (ISS)</a>, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude" target="_blank">apparent magnitude</a> -2.3, just dimmer than the maximum brightness of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter" target="_blank">Jupiter</a>. It started in the west-northwest, rising to 69 degrees in the south sky.<br /><br />For whatever reason, I was waiting with my camera pointed too far to the east, trying to get a shot of the satellite rising over some houses. Right as I was scratching my head trying to find the thing, I finally saw (don't ask me how I originally missed it) the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dipper" target="_blank">Big Dipper</a>, which points me to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Star" target="_blank">North Star</a> (since I'm a star-gazing newbie).<br /><br />Brief aside: the North Star is the center of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/2518414307/" target="_blank">this previous star trail shot</a> I took last year.<br /><br />Just as I realize I'm pointed in the wrong direction, I see the space station moving quickly across the sky. I was able to swing around and capture it as it faded into the Earth's shadow. In this shot, the ISS is moving downward as it fades into darkness.<br /><br />Shot with:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" target="_blank">Canon 40D</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002Y5WXE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0002Y5WXE" target="_blank">10-22mm</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N7VPRW?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000N7VPRW" target="_blank">Bogen 190XPROB Tripod Legs</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000184N22?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000184N22" target="_blank">322RC2 Grip Action Ballhead</a>.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-28201961227827552552009-05-25T23:20:00.000-04:002009-05-25T23:27:22.633-04:00Purple<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3564787427/"><img style="width: 500px; height: 336px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3580/3564787427_cd4b1c69bf.jpg?v=1243308161" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The iPhone camera isn't the best, but it's great in a pinch for random shots you might find interesting while walking about.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1239821985574039141.post-70482373721418498932009-05-03T22:28:00.000-04:002009-05-03T23:02:28.999-04:00Ceiling-Bounced Fill Flash<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleveralias/3499550532/"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 334px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3387/3499550532_a5137821de.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/onblack.php?id=3499550532&size=large" target="_blank">View On Black</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V5P90K?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000V5P90K" target="_blank">40D</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007U0GZM?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0007U0GZM" target="_blank">Sigma 30mm f/1.4</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" target="_blank">430EX flash</a><br /><br />The window to the left provided most of the light here, but with harsh shadows on the right. I could either blow out the left side to bring the right in a little bit, deal with dark shadows on the right, or use a flash. The first two options are compromises - the latter, if done subtly, can still look like it wasn't used at all.<br /><br />To pull this off, I used my camera-mounted <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCAISE?ie=UTF8&tag=fstopp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001CCAISE" target="_blank">430EX flash</a>, bouncing it off of the ceiling to the right, set at -1.5eV. <br /><br />The flash was very dim compared to the sunlight, so it didn't affect a majority of the scene, but was just strong enough to brighten up the shadows a bit. At 0eV, the flash would probably have lit up the right side of her face to match the left, but that's just flat, boring lighting. I was able to keep the scene looking more natural by effectively taking the flash off-camera and increasing its size by bouncing.<br /><br />Here's a test shot without flash to demonstrate how harsh the shadows are:<br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3397/3499546078_9edc29b927.jpg?v=1241403467" border="0" alt="" />Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251202022238125272noreply@blogger.com0