Photography
« Previous EntriesThinking about a 365 project… started with a lawnmower.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010p>For the last month or so, I’ve contemplated doing a 365 day photo project (a picture a day for a year) to try and jump start my photographic passion. Sometimes life just gets too busy and photography, since it’s not required, gets pushed to the backburner. I’d like for that to change, at least some. I want to do a project that will make me push myself creatively, mentally, but also stylistically and artistically. I want to broaden my photographic eye, so to speak, and a large project like that just might work. Right now I have some commitments that might interfere with a picture every day, but we might be able to find ways to work around that. I’m testing the waters right now, so here’s my first attempt at ‘branching’ out a little bit:
I had some yard work to do amongst a busy schedule yesterday so I figured I’d try and squeeze a picture in during that time. I mounted my D80 with a Tamron 11-16mm WA lens to my lawnmower via a superclamp and went ahead moving it around. It was very hard to get one clean capture since the ground isn’t perfectly flat so I decided to make a run on some concrete since it was smooth.
We’ll see where this goes. Wish me luck.
I’m now on Twitter. So is Nuts.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Just a heads up, you can now keep up with my exploits on Twitter by following @Vorpahl. I’ll warn you, it isn’t just exclusive to photography and I have a weird sense of humor some times, but it is there nonetheless. I keep it updated pretty regularly.
Also, Nuts the Secret Ninja Squirrel, being the copycapt that he is, is also now on Twitter. I really have no idea why he needs to be on there as most of his stuff is supposed to be “secret”, but he couldn’t keep himself away from the microblogging community anymore. Follow him here: @NutstheNinja. I apologize if he doesn’t make any sense since he is, in fact, a squirrel.
Some G11/portable camera kit pictures from Valentine’s
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Not a big update today, but I wanted to share a few of my re-edits from my unfortunate loss last week. I took my portable camera kit out on my wife and my Valentine’s date a couple weekends ago, hoping that maybe something would pop that we’d want to photography. We used the Lumiquest Softbox III and the SB800 in one of the pictures, the rest we took next to this very cool looking wall that also happens to be very background/photographer friendly. I also took some pictures with my DSLR but I figured these pictures taken with a point and shoot were more interesting, considering it was a point and shoot after all.
I should note that I shy away from retouching because, frankly, I’m not too good at it. So if you see any stray hairs, it was a windy day, and I’m no Photoshop master.
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Some results from my G11/SB800 portable kit
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
I know that sometimes I write about something and leave you guys hanging and waiting for more info (like my year old promise that I’d review the 28″ Westcott Apollo Mono softbox) but today that is not the case. I was so excited after putting together that portable kit that I went ahead and did some preliminary shots using models a few of my buddies as subjects. It took me a brief moment to put it all together (including the Lumiquest Softbox III), I used the light meter to get my readings for aperture and distance, and then we were set to go. This is exactly the reason I put this together and am so excited going foward: its quick, its light, and for what it is it produces respectable results. Remember: this is a point-and-shoot.
Click here to see the pictures…
My portable kit: a love triangle between a camera, flash, and softbox
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
The saying goes that the best camera is the one that’s with you, and mainly that’s used to talk to about cell phone cameras, at least in recent times. That’s all well and good, but didn’t you buy that spiffy new Canon G11 or S90 (or maybe a Panasonic GF1 if you’ve got the funds) to take with you everywhere so that you always had a somewhat reliable, manual control camera with you? I did. But I found that the camera itself wasn’t enough for me. After spending so much time with off camera flash and depending on its capabilities to create the pictures inside my head, I wanted to have it with me all the time. Kind of like ” the best camera and flash are the ones that are with you”. So I set out to create a portable kit that would meet my needs.
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From an old LG flip-phone to the Motorola Droid: what can I as a photographer get from a cell phone camera?
Friday, January 8th, 2010
If you look at the marketing points for the Motorola Droid, Verizon’s latest and greatest (and heavily advertised) smartphone, you’ll see some interesting tidbits: 5 megapixel camera, dual LED flash, ability to take shots at night, calculate missile flight patterns while simulateously making you the best omelet you’ve ever had. You’d be correct if you assumed those marketing points mean almost zip. We could discuss the technical matters at length, but I’ll just say this: trying to cram all of that stuff into a tiny area on a phone probably isn’t going to get you the best results. But more on that later.
Instead, after playing around with cell phone cameras, specifically the ones on my most recent two phones, I’ve really wondered at what I as a photographer can realistically get from photos I take with my phone. When you think of what you need to take a quality photo, a cell phone really doesn’t fit in there anywhere, at least not for me. Yeah, some people like Chase Jarvis have been able to find a market for that sort of thing (a very small market), but, personally, I find the pictures in his book to be pretty… boring. Perhaps its not my taste, but, do I really want to see a picture of a ladder just standing upright with a little mobile Photoshop thrown in? What’s so compelling about that? Anyways, I hope not to offend, I respect Chase’s work a lot, but for that particular project I just don’t “get it”.
Nonetheless, I won’t say that quality photos can’t come from a cell phone, and as the saying goes, the best camera is the one that’s with you. So, what is the point of all of my rambling then? I guess I’m just trying to figure out what my perspective should be when it comes to camera phones: is it an artistic tool or is something that you’ll get a cool picture or two out of by sheer luck (i.e. conditions being just suitable enough for the camera on the phone to be able to take a decent picture). To be honest, recently I’ve seen it as both. Let me explain why.
New year, new stuff: the Motorola Droid, VisionMongers, Canon S90, and the Lumiquest Softbox III
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Happy New Year everyone. I’m sure you’ve heard the question asked, but, where did the year go? It seems like it was just yesterday that the stock market was rallying back from its historic losses with a few pessimistic analysts proclaiming a sucker’s rally (they were partially right), but that was this very day back in 2009. It seems that life’s fast pace just keeps speedily increasing. But enough pondering about those sort of things, we’ve got some photography topics on the agenda.
Within the next week, I’m going to be working on putting up a few different pieces on a pretty wide range of topics. First up, I’m going to look at cell phone cameras. I’ve recently become the proud papa of a Motorola Droid, and I absolutely love the thing. Having information at my fingertips at all times of the day has proven itself to be very useful and entertaining. But one of the big marketing lines for the Droid was its 5MP camera and naturally that’s reason to give photo enthusiasts a little tingle inside (along with a healthy dose of skepticism if you understand the tech). But, just how good is it, if at all? I’m going to look into and I’m going to bring along some recently discovered photos I have off of older and current phones that’ll serve for comparison.
Second, one of my most wanted gifts for Christmas was David duChemin’s book VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography, and thanks to my mother and father-in-law I got it. Not only does it talk about an area that I, and I’m sure many of you out there, routinely heavily consider, going full on working-professional, but it features photographers who I regularly read and follow, such as Zach Arias. I’ve only had the opportunity to get a little ways in, but I’m hoping to get going on it soon, and when I do, I’m going to share everything I gleen from it with you readers.
Lastly, we’re going to aim to feed a little of the gear bug in all of us with a look at the Lumiquest Softbox III , which I also received for Christmas thanks to my parents-in-law, and the Canon PowerShot S90, which was my wife’s new Christmas present from yours truly. A good comparison with the Canon G11 is order, and with regards to the softbox, I’m just going to say that while it’s not revolutionary, I think you’ll be pleased with what you see.
Be sure and check back as I’ll have these updates up just as soon as I can finish typing. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
Testing out Zenfolio
Friday, November 20th, 2009Quick weekend coming up before the longer holiday weekend and I’ve got small request for everyone out there: feedback. I’m testing out Zenfolio on a trial basis and one thing that concerns me is ease of use for the customer/client. I’ve already had someone check it out who isn’t on the cutting of computer education and there were a couple of hiccups with the cropping process. If you wouldn’t mind, head on over to my zenfolio site and play around with it a little bit.
Oh, and the photo selection is something I put together real quic, so it may not have much cohesiveness. Also, I’m not asking for purchases, just feedback (though, if you feel so inclined…).
Head on over: jacobvorpahl.zenfolio.com
Feel free to leave feedback in the comments or shoot me an email. Thanks in advance!
Made the move to Adobe Lightroom 2; some regrets
Monday, November 16th, 2009If there’s something I’ve learned from looking at the stats for my blog everyday, it’s that you guys (and gals) out there are interested in two things when you come here: softboxes and umbrellas, and the Canon G11. Specifically, there are a lot of you out there that are looking for macro shots from the G11. Sadly, right now I’m sitting on one pretty cool shot I took of a spider a buddy of mine and I snapped recently when we took some kids from our youth group out camping.
We woke up in the morning and the spider was a little under two feet from his head. I killed the spider with my knife (not as cool as you’d think) and then we proceeded to play with the dead remains, positioning it in all sorts of ways to try and get a cool picture. My G11 was on hand for the fun and we got a nice, close up macro shot of the little bugger that showed off his eight eyes.
So, I come back here and see all the Google and blog searches looking for macro G11 shots and I’m dying to put this picture up, along with some others, but I sadly don’t want to upset my carefully followed workflow for putting pictures on my blog and other online venues. And therein lies my problem: I’m now shackled to one computer for almost all of my photography work.
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Here You Go: how does ISO compare between a compact and a DSLR? (G11 vs. D80)
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009My obsession with all things related to testing my new G11 continues. Today: ISO.
When I got my G11, and even before I purchased it, I knew that if I wanted to use off camera flash with the advanced point and shoot I’d have to go full manual. I’ve been blessed (and cursed) using a full Nikon spread when it comes to serious photo gear: Nikon D80 with a Nikon SB-24, SB-25, and three SB-800s. Those three SB800s and the D80 work fantastic together: I get full manual and iTTL control wirelessly, all from the camera. Unfortunately, it’s made me use iTTL a lot, and I haven’t developed a good sense for manual light levels.
Knowing this, I decided to go ahead and buy a light meter (thanks for the birthday present sweetheart!) to take out the chimping that I knew would come without one. I ordered a Sekonic L-358 off Amazon last week and it arrived on Monday. I played around with it, than I came back to a question that had me curious when I was looking at buying the G11: I know that DOF (depth of field) is greatly increased because of the smaller sensor size in the G11 compared to a DSLR, but how similar are the light sensitivity levels between the two types of cameras? Does f4 on the G11 let in as much light as the D80 that I own? Only one way to find out.
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