July 10th, 2006
For most of my time in Bangkok, I’ve been lamenting the less-than-perfect weather and lighting conditions. Two days ago, however, the clouds dissipated and blue skies dominated the air above. Shocked at this fortuitous development, I grabbed a camera, stuffed it into my smaller bag and took it hunting.
I headed towards the vast open park of Sanam Luang that happened to be surrounded by tents where Buddhist monks and worshippers were performing rituals and, well, watching TV. The festive atmosphere extended into the park where more worshippers could be found circling what looked like a temporary shrine. But of more interest to me on was the large number of people flying kites in the windy air.
Adults and kids craned their heads to the skies where dozens of kites danced in the blue skies. Vendors had kites staked down so the ground was covered in colourful streamers. Families sat on mats on the grass and happily watched the ballet above them. It was a great scene.
I didn’t hesitate to bring out my camera. But when I raised it to my eye, composed my first shot, then hit the shutter, I heard a click. That’s all fine and good, but really I should have heard two clicks. The first is the mirror flipping up, the second should have been the mirror flipping back down.
Ever since shooting the water fights of Songkran, the Thai New Year festival, this camera hasn’t been itself. This issue with the mirror sticking up has happened before. Once it has flipped up, I can press the shutter again and it will flip back down (with no image recorded of course). And after a couple times, functionality went back to normal. I could take pictures without a problem. It was like it just needed to warm up.
But no amount of warming up could get my camera going under the kites. It was over thirty degrees out after all. I clicked and clicked, but it just wouldn’t do what it was told. Disheartened I returned to my room, dropped off my defective gear and went to the Internet cafe to search for camera repair shops here in Bangkok.
The next day, the plan was to go out to the shop and see about putting things right inside my camera. The one thing I was worried about was that the shop might be closed – they didn’t list hours on their site and it was, after all, a Sunday. But, I thought I might get lucky. Wrong. Not only was it a Sunday, but I found out later that it was also a national holiday here – there was no chance it was going to be open.
I eventually found my way back to my room where, undaunted by an irritating previous 24 hours, I willed the skies to stay blue. I summoned all the kite fliers back to the park. And with my other camera (yes folks, take a backup!) I headed back to the park where I had a lovely time shooting everyone who once again had their heads happily craned to the skies.
June 23rd, 2006
DSLRBlog.com has a guide to DSLR lenses that’s worth a look for anyone in the market for some new glass.
If you are going to be shopping, before making your purchase, I would recommend making a stop at Fred Miranda’s review section where you can get multiple reviews on each product (lenses and camera bodies) from users who have already made the purchase.
June 22nd, 2006
In an effort to deter photography of sensitive subjects and copyrighted material, researchers at Georgia tech have begun the development of a device that will cripple the use of digital video and still cameras. The system works by scanning the area using infrared beams for the reflection produced by digital camera sensors then beaming light into the camera to blind it. The light is out of the visible spectrum and also said to be harmless to human beings.
Notably, however, this system is incapable of disabling DSLR cameras. The mirror on DSLRs blocks the scan from seeing the sensor, so the more professional cameras are safe from this device.
In addition to its limitations with DLSRs, the system seems as though it would be easy to circumvent. A one-way mirror, an infrared filter or perhaps even a polarizing filter would conceivably block the sensor from being detected.
One of the main purposes of the camera blocker is to help prevent movie piracy by disabling video cameras in movie theatres. It has a host of other potential applications such as defending high-security areas and keeping trades secrets safe at trade shows.
My hope is that this does not become an over-used or abused technology. Would the world have ever known about Abu Ghraib had such devices been installed there? And if it had been mounted to the police car of the officers who beat Rodney King?
If this technology comes to fruition, I can only hope its use is strictly regulated.
June 21st, 2006
Yes, the 111-megapixel sensor I mentioned yesterday has been bested, but not by a single image. Instead Andre Gunther has created this 222-Megapixel photo of Machu Picchu the slightly-more-old-fashined way: by piecing together multiple photos in photo-stitching software. The fantastic detail is well worth a look as is the tutorial on creating ultra-high-resolution images.
Due to all the traffic Gunther’s image has received, the original site may be unavailable. If so, try this mirror.
June 16th, 2006
I have just posted a few more galleries of photos from Cambodia. Most of them were shot one gorgeous morning at Bakong temple in the Roluos group, West of Siem Reap.
Inside the moat of Bakong lies not only the ancient, crumbling temple, but also an elementary school with curious students and a practicing monastery with friendly monks willing to make your acquaintance.
Here are some samples from the galleries:
June 15th, 2006
To follow up on the previous post, computers.net has one of the many early reviews of Google’s Picasa Web Albums that are bound to pop up in the coming days. Check out their review complete with screenshots here.
And because I forgot to mention it before, Mac users have a little less to get excited about with Google’s recent news - the Picasa application is still only available for Windows. Google has stated that a Mac release is an option in the future, but they have not given any firm release dates.
June 13th, 2006
What do you do when you have to shoot, process and capture images of 18 tennis matches in one day with no list of players to guide you? This post on Blue Pixel has a detailed look at how Reed Hoffman overcame the tight deadline for this hectic day with an efficient digital workflow.
June 12th, 2006
One of the many reasons I love the Japanese is for their sometimes incomparable sense of invention. The Flash Helmet is a fine example of this creative spirit. Too bad it’s so ridiculous.
This portable lighting system is designed to produce a soft light as it’s bounced from an umbrella. A head-mounted umbrella. Yes, a flash unit and umbrella are mounted to a helmet, synced to the camera and used to produce a rather nice light. But unless you’re used to taking pictures while wearing a clown suit, the absurd appearance of this device might not be for you.
June 11th, 2006
A lot of new buyers of Digital SLRs are surprised to learn that the sensor on their camera can become the home to irritating dust particles that will pollute images.
If moving from a film SLR to digital, people sometimes wonder why they never had to clean their film camera with such regularity. The simple reason is because with each new photo, you are working with a new ’sensor’ as the film advances. Combine this with the fact that there is no static electricity roaming around the film plane and you generally don’t have to worry about dust showing up in photos.
Owners of compact digital cameras may be similarly irked by the dust problem inherent to DSLRs. But what these potentially-perplexed new DSLR owners forget is that there is little chance for dust to enter the compact, sealed up digital cameras. With the ability to switch lenses comes the potential for the sensor to be exposed to the dusty outside world.
Happily, there are ways of managing your sensor’s exposure to dust and methods of cleaning it when you do have the problem. Michelle Jones’s article on dust management will help you shoot spotless images.
June 11th, 2006
The International Herald Tribune has an optimistic article at the future of digital cameras. They take a look at the rapid development that has occurred during the rise of the digital camera and examine what’s possible if a similar rate of development continues.
I agree with the article that much development is yet to come with digital camera technology, but perhaps the optimism in the piece might be a little too enthusiastic. While I do believe that megapixels will continue to multiply inside cameras, I suspect sensor developers will shift their focus away from higher megapixel numbers. After all, the smaller photo sites required for additional pixels have the tendency to reduce image quality. Though I do believe we will continue to see the numbers rise, I just wouldn’t put too much faith in them rises as quickly as the author suggests.
Instead, I believe camera manufacturers will shift more of their focus to improving the quality of the images. The article does discuss this as well, but I do think this is where the immediate future in camera development lies. Professional photographers now seem relatively content with the size of their images - they now strive for ever greater quality. Higher dynamic range and better high ISO performance are a couple of the refinements that are at the top of photographers’ wish lists.
As for me, I think one of the refinements they should work on is cutting the prices of this new technology. I want to play with these fun toys too!
Previous Posts
Most Popular Tags on dsphotographic.com:
Weblog
