I'm still here....

And that wasn't always a given....

This week was a doosy, I had to prepare for a court appearance to protect property from seizure. On Thursday I went to court, then I spent the rest of the day with a friend and had a very enjoyable dinner. The next morning I spent time taking action to protect property and then I spent the rest of the day on the Lake Front, a wonderful sunny day, exploring some new areas with my DSLR, so take a look at the slide show on the sidebar for the latest.

Just trying to achieve some balance. I'm kind of proud of myself for splitting the day between court drudgery and enjoying myself.


Or you can see it here or in improved grid format if you have Adobe Flash 9 installed. For more information look at my latest photobucket tips here. Or you could use the dynamic slideshow option here.

I am sorry to have neglected my blogs, you would be surprised what's happened to me IRL in the last 6 months. Everything from a whirlwind romance to a carjacking burglary that nearly killed me. It was a violent hate crime a few months back.

Two car accidents, one that totaled my car and would have killed me if I would have been a five feet forward, tore off the front of my car and spread it for over 100 feet. The road had to be closed to clean it up.

And as if divorce court wasn't bad enough. Some former blogger buddies are even taking it upon themselves to try and interfere with my visitation IRL. Divorce actions and legal harassment still present 10 months after final decree, but I'll save those details for my divorce blog.

But I'm still here... Alive and well, despite the wear and tear.

Status: First Draft - Last Update 04/20/08 2:40 AM
All photos loaded 04/20/08 1 AM

35mm replacement complete

It was only a matter of time, and actually a short time at that, when 35mm film could be completely replaced. As an avid 35mm photographer, I have watched this process closely.

I have a very complete 35mm SLR system, by Canon. It is old, well worn from tens of thousands of photos under difficult conditions. I am on my second consumer digital camera and find I take the 35mm system out less often. But there are many times I long for the creative control in that system. My solution, a DSLR system, the new Canon 40D, that has all the capabilities of 35mm in a digital format. The DSLR market has matured very well and there are no barriers left.

Basic Requirements

The step from consumer digital to DSLR adds the following features,

• full control of camera and flash exposure
  
• resolution of 10 MP (or more) for large enlargements and editing
  
• large image buffer to reduce shutter delay
• quick auto or manual focusing
• separate flash of guide number 150 (or more) with adjustable head for bouncing to produce softer shadows
• interchangeable lenses of high quality
  
• multiple selectable focusing modes
• RAW mode
• Solid construction and weather proofing
  

Live View

One feature that can be lost on the DSLR is live view, the ability to look at the LCD and compose the photo. Canon and Olympus newest DSLRs contain Live View, others do not. One reason for not using live view is that holding the camera away from your eye is a less steady way to hold the camera than the traditional SLR method. Another reason is the mechanics of an SLR. The film plane (SLR) or digital sensor (DSLR) are behind the mirror that allows you to see through the eye piece. When you look into a DSLR, the mirror is down showing you the view through the lens, with zoom, filters, depth of field and the focus sensors are also expecting the mirror to be down, but then the image sensor is blocked and can not see the image, until the shutter is depressed. To engage Live View you need to focus, flip the mirror up and then you can see the image, but the autofocus is no longer tracking the image. This feature is excellent for macro or architectural photography.

Sensor Size

35mm film produces an image of 24mm x 36mm, all but the best DSLRs have smaller image sensors. The average DSLR uses an image sensor that is 1.6x smaller, called APS-C. Many other cameras use smaller image sensors. Larger image sensors found in DSLRs help improve image quality.

This multiple size makes a difference in lens choice. With a full frame sensor, a 28mm lens is wide angle, with an APS-C sensor, wide angle requires a 17mm lens. There are lenses optimized for the APS-C sensor size, however these won't work on a full frame camera, so any use of full frame cameras is a consideration in lens selection.

Digital Processing

Two interesting digital effects allow the flexibility of film in the digital age. The most popular is RAW format, which creates very large unaltered uncompressed files. These RAW files are analogous to the film negative which is post processed to produce a print. Another feature called Picture Profile mimics the type of film. Just as you may use different types of film (not just ISO) to suit different subject matter, a film that produces vibrant colors, or faithful colors, or softer focus, or even black and white.

An interesting problem that digital processing brings on is how can anyone tell if the photo is doctored. Well high end digital cameras can security lock the image so that it can be proven in court to be an original unaltered image.

DSLRs need very capable processors in order to do the large amount of processing in a responsive manner. In the best camera's more than one processor may be used.

Digital Convenience

Seeing the results and the ability to magnify the image in camera to verify the desired results helps to capture the intended shot. Having the image in a digital format allows speedy transmission of the image to anyone who needs or wants it. Advanced DSLRs also have video out and wireless output that can transmit the images to a computer for immediate display and editing.

Sensor Cleaning

One potential disadvantage of DSLRs is that interchangeable lenses allow dust to enter the camera and possibly get on the sensor. Unlike a film camera, where the film is moving after each shot, the sensor remains in the fixed position where dust can accumulate and interfere with image quality. For this reason it is more important that changing lenses be done in the cleanest environment possible with DSLRs.

The newest DSLRs will clean the sensor each time the camera is turned on or off. Advanced DSLRs can do post process dust removal by taking a photo of a white subject to obtain a dust baseline which will be appended to the image file and removed by software. If dust isn't adequately removed by these two methods then a specialized cleaning product must be carefully used to physically clean the sensor (after locking the mirror up).

Accessories

Digital Media is an obvious requirement, it should be fast (266x) and from a high quality manufacturer (SanDisk or Lexar). Depending on your shooting preferences the media should be from 1 to 4 GB.

Get an extra set of batteries for the camera and flash. Having a high quality DSLR with dead batteries makes an expensive paperweight.

The lenses, especially Image Stabilized Lenses can easily cost over $500 each. It only makes sense to invest in a quality filter (Hoya, B+W, Sneider) to protect the front lens element.

A good, high powered, shoe mounted, bounce flash is a good supplement to the built in flash.


Status: First Draft

Photobucket tips

I implemented a new feature of blogger on the sidebar called slideshow. Like most features from Blogger it isn't quite finished, but i figured out how to get it to work, despite that there are no help files or blogger employees answering questions on the support forum.

This will be a convenient way for me to display new photos before I put them into their final album or use them in a post. If you hover over the slide show a back/pause/forward buttons will display. You can also double click on the photo to enlarge it, but it will not show the extra photobucket things like EXIF, Tags, or the other albums. To see that, go directly to the photobucket account using the link in the sidebar. The sidebar slideshow is in the "SS JQsLife" subalbum.

Blogger SlideShow Layout Element

Some photo hosting sites have widget features that generate a bunch of HTML/embed/javascript code, which can easily be botched up. For those using the layout feature of the new blogger, then can simply add the slideshow element to the sidebar. it appears that if you use Picasa from Google it may work, but if you use another photo server their is no place to enter your album information.

I use photobucket and the trick is to use the media rss feature with the Other provider. In photobucket go to the subalbum of your choice and look in the lower left for the rss feed, which is similar to your photobucket URL, but prefixed with "feed" and suffixed with "feed.rss". Copy this link. Select Other in the drop down box, paste this into the feed.

That's it, no fooling with javascript, no redoing your slide show and repasting, its done on blogger. Now simply add or delete photos in the subalbum and your photo slideshow will dynamically be updated via the rss feed.

Photobucket Tags

Usually when we think of tagging we think of tagging the whole entity (photo or post). In photobucket tagging refers to a portion of the image. When you tag a photo, a small square appears in the center of the photo and it can be resized and repositioned to tag a portion of the photo. Multiple tags can define multiple areas in a photo.

You can find the tagged photos by clicking on the tag list on the album page. When you are on a tagged photo you can use it in one of two ways. You can hover over a tag in the tag list under the photo and the rectangle will highlight over the area of the photo. You can also hover over an area of the photo and a bubble will open with the name of the tag.

One very popular use could be to identify people in group photos. Clicking on their tag will highlight them in the photo. Hovering over them will open a bubble with their name.

There is new embed code that will appear for a photo that has been tagged which is supposed to allow it to be shown in a blog. I have not worked with this yet.

Photobucket Descriptions

Now you can add multi-line descriptions to your photos. The best way to take advantage of these new description or tag features is to check the desired photos in the album page and then click TAG SELECTED at the bottom. This will show multiple medium size photos that can be tagged, described, or re-titled. You may want to shorten your title and include the detail in the description.

Posting Photos

Blogger allows using hosted photos by putting in the URL (photobucket Direct Link) of the photo. But when you click on the photo it will show you just the enlarged photo only.

With a little editing of the HTML, you can show the photobucket page which will show you other interesting things like the album, EXIF, Tags, Title and new multi-line description. Photobucket has another form of URL called Email & IM, this points to the Photo page, but if you use it in blogger it won't show the photo unless you edit the HTML.

There are two links in the HTML, one is HREF= that points to where you will be taken if you click on the photo and SRC= that points to where the photo is. So if you use the Email and IM link then you can jump to the page with the photobucket info with the HREF=. But the SRC= has "?action=view&current=" that needs to deleted for the photo to show up properly in the Blogger Post.

Another item you may want to adjust in the HTML is the <img style="width: nnn px;" where nnn is the width of the photo.

Sharing Photobucket Albums

This feature displays the most current photo and then has a link to the photobucket album. This is done by selecting the Share button. The code generated tends to be too wide, so the table width needs to reduced and an additional parm needs to be added to the SRC= for the photo "width=narrower" to allow for margin of the photo. This photobucket feature does not seem worth the trouble.

The same thing could be accomplished by using the Blogger Post Photo feature with the Photobucket Direct Link (rather than the Email & IM Link mentioned above) and then changing the HTML for the HREF= by deleting "xxxxx.jpg" where xxxxx is the name of the photo. Clicking on the photo will then take you to the album page.

Sharing Photobucket SlideShows

A photobucket slideshow can be viewed at the photobucket site or using the Share feature it can be added to a post on Blogger. The first step is to select the Create Slide Show button to the left and then drag photos into it. This is different from the Blogger Layout Feature in that it is statically defined. Changing the slide show means going to Photobucket, generating a new slideshow and its code and making a new post. This slideshow can have custom frames, watch for this option to the left of the slide show window.

Sometimes this slideshow can be too wide for your blogger post. There also should be a way to find the slideshow URL so you can send the reader to Photobucket to see a specific slideshow, where they will also have the option to see your other slide shows.

Photobucket Summary

Photobucket is one of several possible photo hosting sites, others include Picasa, Flickr, and Webshots. Photobucket allows an unlimited number of photos to be stored in public or private albums. The free service limits the size to 1024 x 768 pixels. Ifranview is a great tool to view your photos, crop, or resize them. Picasa incorporates local viewing of photos with an integrated connection to the hosting site. Flickr allows you to post your copyright preference and have other users comment on them but has a limited number of photos on its free service.


Status: Third Draft - Last Updated 12/17/07 3 am
See draft of next set of Photobucket Tips here on my new Popular Technology Blog.

Another step on the digital photography path

I take a lot of photos, I always have. But with digital photos I take even more. With 35mm, you naturally printed each photo. Even when I planned on maker made prints, I'd still have the lab print as a basis to get a feel for which photos I was going to print. But with digial photos, I rarely make prints from my computer or from a photo lab. Instead I usually look at them on my PC or using the PhotoShop Elements Organizer which allows me to tag, rate, and describe my photos.

Now in my home I usually have at least one of my computers active at any given time. But still do I want to go through the trouble of running a slide show on my PC, especially if I'm using it. So there you see a Digital Photo Frame on my desk. And since my son finds my things irresistible, you see one of his cars near the frame and a pumpkin on my stapler. He leaves his mark everywhere in the house, but since I don't see him as much as I'd like it's a nice reminder.

So now I can see a slide show anytime, regardless if I'm using my PC. Digital Frames can still be pricy, but so is printing several hundred photos that easily fit on a modest flash card. So after shooting a bunch of photos, I can take my flash card out and show photos from it or I can load them to my PC, edit, select, and copy hundreds of photos to a flash card and plug that flash card in the frame. Very simple. One of my next experiments will be to imolement the PC to TIVO connection and then display photos on my TV through my TIVO and AV system.

But for those who don't have a PC on all the time, my parents and my son, this will be very handy. I am giving each of them a Digital Frame and 2 SD cards. They can watch the photo albums and then every now and then exchange an SD card for a new one that I give them with a new slide show. I could burn photo DVDs as my brother does, but then you put in the DVD turn on the TV and watch it. The photo frame allows the ultimate simplicity. When you power it on it does a slide show.

It seems to me with the dropping flash prices and the digital photo frame, that a non-computer person could use a digital camera and occasionally have a computer friend backup their images. The days of 35mm film seem numbered for sure.

As far as purchasing advice, compare resolutions, sharpness/contrast, PC connectivity (if you want it), size, and of course price.

Maker Made Photography...

...Old School

My earliest memories of photography was as a young child, seeing my Uncle's darkroom, dim safelights, odd looking equipment, black and white 8 x 10s drying.

Years later in college I took photography classes and worked in the darkroom. First in BW, then later in Color. Displayed here is a photo I took of the college darkroom, enlargers on two walls and a large sink in the middle.

Back then you sent your film out for developing and printing. If you did it yourself, you entered contests in a special category - maker made. And believe me, maker made meant something. It was craftsmanship, hand made. BW contrast or Color Correction were done with test strips and colored gel filters.

The college darkroom was set up for BW, doing color was difficult, the BW safelights are not safe for color. So I had to ask the others to go to total darkness when I was exposing color materials. How can you do anything without any light whatsoever? Just like a person without sight, by memorizing locations and sense of touch. Don't put things in the wrong place! After a while as I liked doing color prints I setup a darkroom at home. I have an enlarger with continuous gel filters built in and a light sensitivity meter connected to the exposure timer to help speed up the process. I have foot pedals that control the programmed timer unit. A paper safe is light tight and ejects one sheet of paper each time you pull the handle down.

My Uncle did not live to see his influence grow to be a serious hobby of mine. And I've often wondered how things would have been if we could have shared the experience, the growth in photographic technology over the years. In the twenty years since my youth, color chemistry and processes became so much more accessible than they were when BW 8x10s were the standard in my Uncle's time.

What would my Uncle think of my first maker made color contest winner entitled "Curious Squirrel"? As a Photojournalist and Professional Photographer he would be looking at so many things beyond the cuteness of the photo. What was the technique that made the squirrel stand up, how did he happen into the narrow focus plane?

I set up a tripod mounted camera with a 50' electric shutter release. The camera was aimed at an active spot for visiting squirrels and seed and nuts were left as an enticement. Sitting back well out of sight and smell I waited patiently, the squirrel came within camera range, I started pressing the shutter release, click, click, click the motor drive made a foreign sound and it had no scent, the squirrel became curious, looking, standing, staring, at the odd sound, click, click, click. In focus, standing, staring directly at the motor drive that is slightly under the camera lens.

I have hundreds of maker made prints in the 20 years following college and been through a lot of equipment during that time, much of it Canon, first the AE-1, then the top of the line A-1, then the T-90. I have so much Canon FD compatible equipment I bought a second T-90 as they were going out of production phasing in the auto focus EOS line.

But it is a new era, digital photography is firmly entrenched, but I will discuss that in another post...

I still have the maker made equipment, it is harder to find the materials (chemicals and paper) as they've been replaced with digital processes. But I hope to at least be able to demonstrate the lost art of maker made photographic chemistry to my son. Just so he can see how lucky he is to be born in the digital age. My Uncle would truly marvel at it, just as I do at times, realizing the history of how it was done.