Farsong Blog-o-Matic

Spent the afternoon yesterday at EWU, where my brother was attending a Jazz festival. I realised that I missed the magic that accompanies Band Trips. I brought the camera with, natch. It's probably terribly redundant (and annoying) to state, but I absolutely love everything about my Sony dSLR camera.

One note: all these were handheld, and many were taken between brief pauses of walking. I turned down the ISO in most cases, as well, and worked with shutter speeds of closer to 1/30" (by contrast, I was loathe to hold my film SLR for anything longer than 1/50"). This is a product of the combination of image stabilization in the camera base and a short, wide, fast lens.



There are more from the walkabout on campus, here. Also, don't forget that clicking the picture will send you to the Flickr page for said photo (where there are also larger sizes to view).

( My favourites, under this here cut. Also, no, I have not been taking a telephoto lens with me, either. It makes photography more of a challenge )

[I'll start at the end]

There is a reason that people go to local shops. That reason is, simply, because of the friendly service.

( In short, I have a new 28mm lens and a free tee-shirt that I might actually wear )

The funniest part of the whole story is the fact that it was all placed in a big, yellow Nikon bag (they had run out of Sony Alpha bags).

Yep, camera loyalties (and the three-way debates between Nikon, Sony-which-was-Konika-Minolta, and Canon) rage even more fiercely than the Mac-vs-PC debates (and everyone knows that Macs are better).

You know why I put them here? Because I've been inconsistent with the up-dating.


Last night, I watched a really amazing movie called The Station Agent. Briefly, it's about a dwarf who moves into an old train station, and the people he befrends. It's comical, and bizarre in the way only real life can be. Additionally, the plot doesn't matter in the slightest, only the characters. I was also pleased by the awesome photography in many of the scenes — a lot of the shots are wide, placing the characters within the frame, but only as a part of the whole.


I'll start by saying this is the post that really got me thinking about my camera lenses in a serious way, specifically in regards to the photos I take and how I take them. Specifically, it talks about how the wonderful 50mm lens, which makes pictures look "real" and which took most of this past century's most-memorable photos, has fallen out-of-favour.

I would ramble, but instead I'll simply say that I need a 20mm or 28mm fixed focal length lens to take pictures with because it will have an aperture (ƒ-stop) of ƒ/2 or lower, as opposed to the ƒ/4 of my zoom at 28mm (a difference of two stops, which is the difference between blurry and awesome, even with the built-in image-stabliser — which is quite stellar). ( I continue on about photography, showing one of the differences between film and digital SLRs — it's pentaprismic )

It's nice having my desk out in the main area of the office, because it's wide open and I can know what's going on. It's not nice having my desk out in the main area because my back is to all the doors and the windows, and its uncomfortable. Tactically, it's a poor place for a desk; someone could sneak up behind me easily. And then stab me. It's like a good morning greeting, but instead of a good-morning greeting, it's a good-morning shanking. Additionally, because my desk is out in the open, it's loud. So I put in my noise-blocking headphones. People then insist upon talking to me. Especially when I'm the only one in the office. This breaks all the concentration and rhythmn that I have going; it throws off the groove.

I don't like this Apple keyboard. All the keyboards for all of Apple's desktop machines since the switch away from the Extended II are terrible. The Pro keyboards are a little better, but they're still soft mushy and quiet, and I don't like they way that they feel at all; I bang too hard to get the feeling and sound that I want, and I can hardly tell when I have depressed the keys. I am at liberty to complain, because the laptop keyboards have remained excellent, especially the little MacBook's chicklet-shaped keys. Plus, I do a lot of writing. There was an update to the keyboards with the release of the new iMacs, with a low-profile keyboard based off the design of the MacBook's keyboard. Perhaps this means that the actions of the keys are better? I hope so, but I still prefer to use a full-size, full-height keyboard with a desktop.


I have also begun to loathe the camera that I use, day in and day out, the Canon PowerShot S2 IS. It's not that the camera is outright bad, but it's just not good. The lens artifacts at the edges. The sensor allows a significant amount of noise, and any image at higher than 100 ISO shows noise graining, the camera claims to be a 5 Megapixel, but it is untolerably grainy and noisy when viewing at 100%; the color reproduction is very nice, but the camera seems to have a problem with wide contrasts between dark and light. Bad source means bad finished product, even when reduced in size.

Yes, this camera is from 2005, but this is unacceptable; the PowerShot G2 is a superior camera, and is from no later than 2003. There is also a bad placement of the all together too many buttons, placing the menu button right under the place where my thumb rests. This is annoying because I will inadvertently press it when holding it. I have large hands, but that is no excuse for the placement of this button. Then there is the shutter button, whose first stage is intolerably soft such that I cannot tell when I have depressed it properly. Then the second stage, the actual shutter fire, is hard, but the distance it travels is far too short; and because of the softness, I find that I am, at times, unable to hold the shutter down properly.

Then, there is the fact that I have a nearly-constant battle with the camera to make it do what I want, which amounts many times to merely zooming and pressing the shutter. Other times, it will mysteriously shift back to older settings without warning. The flash cycling is not nice, either. Most of the time, the flash cycles and recharges quickly, but when I need it to take another picture immediately, it will take the longest to recharge the flash. The flash is also picky, especially under Automatic mode, and only fires if it thinks there is not enough light; to make it flash consistantly with the shutter, the camera must be in at least Program Autoexposure mode; this means that, while my boss knows what pictures she wants, she can't get them with the camera — I have to trick the camera into taking the pictures. No, I am not imagining this, either. It is a constant struggle with the camera to make it do what I want. I have succeeded in bending the camera to my will, but I do not like the camera, nor does it like me.

I think that I can tolerate it for one more week without throwing it against a wall or drop-kicking it into the lake. We will survive with a mutual loathing, and I will pine for my dSLR for the rest of this week.

When I bought my camera, I bought it because it was a 7 Megapixel for under $200, and it was a Nikon CoolPix, which I had found to be of quality workmanship. I, however, bought it without any research, getting it solely because I had no digital camera yet, and was not yet ready to spend the money for a digital Single Lens Reflex. When I got it, it was somewhat annoying that it took AA batteries and drained them so quickly. It was also annoying that it had so few features, settings, such a small aperture, and that it took a long time to boot.

It has only been after using a number of other digital cameras that I realise that the CoolPix I bought is actually a decent camera: it takes crisper pictures than most cameras — even ones with better lenses — and the pictures it takes have good color that is not washed-out, cloudy, or heavy on one hue. Moreover, even with the small lens, the camera has crisp, stable optics which are better than some higher-end cameras with larger lenses, and is actually quite fast at both booting and taking pictures, even in low-light.

I do still have a bone to pick with the anemic flash, and the fact that it takes forever to cycle, but the camera is not large by any stretch, nor is it full-featured, being rather rudimentary at best. It's small enough to stash in my bag and take with me wherever I go. It's sad, though, that without thinking about it, I bought a better camera than most others I could find.

Yes, I am looking at getting a new digital SLR camera to take the place of my state-of-the-art yet outmoded 35mm film SLR (the point-and-shoot CoolPix did and could not take the place of a SLR). Specifically, it's a sub-$1000 10 Megapixel dSLR (price is for the camera base only), the Sony A-100, which will use all my old Minolta AF lenses, saving me money in the fact that I do not have to purchase new lenses for a new camera — seriously, it makes the camera affordable for me, placing it at about $1000 lower than I would have anticipated. Moreover, I get to use the same optics that I'm familiar with from my old camera. It's a good entry into the dSLR realm of photography. And it's neither a Nikon nor a Canon. Market leaders are annoying and allow the market to stagnate, with fewer new ideas and less innovation.

The Alpha 100, originally a joint venture between Konika-Minolta and Sony, is Sony's first dSLR, and is based squarely on the technology of the Konika-Minolta D7.

One of the notable things about the Konika-Minolta cameras, and now the Sony, is the fact that the image stabilisation is in the camera base, not in the lens its self (unlike Canon and Nikon) — allowing one to use older lenses and still retain the newer features — a great thing when there is and installed base of millions of lenses. Plus, this series of AF lenses goes back at least 15 years — an obscene length of time for any technology.

And considering obscene lengths of time, the A100 is old by dSLR standards, meaning that there should be a new model in the near future, wherein the previous model will drop in price.

Blah blah. In Summary, the little CoolPix is actually a decent camera, and I will keep it with me even when I up-grade to a better camera. And buying a new camera? Cheaper by half than buying a new laptop, and I've already saved up and bought one of those.

( Arcade Fire lyrics — “Windowsill” )

I've always found it cool to look through a series of pictures taken at the same time, but at different locations — to look at a mashup of picture series I have taken, and those taken by others at the same time. It is a humbling thing, showing how much larger the world is than ones own self, and how no one person is the centre of the world. If anything, there are at least six-billion centres in this world, and just as many cameras in phones, in pockets, on shelves.


Amazing things: Giant robots are amazing. Transformers has giant robots and explosions. What more could you want?

and

A Super Mario version of the "Herman the Worm" song.

I was intrigued, and have been thinking about photography rights recently, so I decided to look up a few things that I had read recently. I had recalled a BoingBoing post about copyright of physical spaces, and had recalled reading about Photographers' Rights sometime earlier.

So I looked it up.

It seems that pictures in a public space (a mall or a market) can be taken, and there actually cannot be restriction of this (ie, asking people not to take pictures of a building, taking film, etc), though no photography rules can be enforced on private property. Moreover, the photographer holds the rights to the negatives or digital files (I do not mind if people look at and use my own photographs, even modifying them, so long as they don't try to pass my photographs off as theirs or make money off of them).

These laws are true specifically for America, though I believe that the laws are generally the same for most western countries, including Germany. I would assume that it is similar in China, but this is something I should look into. The laws also work better when one exercises courtesy.

Interestingly enough, most museums I have gone to here in Germany have allowed photography as long as there is no flash (mainly because it is disruptive). Since my camera has such a small aperture, this means that I end up setting it on things to get stable pictures without having a tripod.

Print off a copy of The Photographer's Rights and carry it with your camera.

Verdi makes me happy. I got a CD for a dollar at the Library. It was a dollar. I could not pass it by. I also got a book on Linux. For a dollar. It will invarably help me understand the Unix/ BSD commands better. It came with a distro of Red Hat 8.0 (so, yeah, it's old).

I also found (for checking out) a copy of the Penny-Arcade book.

Today was rather pedestrian. I hung out with mom, chatted, and picked out a few gifts for my birthday.

We actually stopped at the new Sonic place—it's no better or worse than Zips. We then went to CompUSA, and I looked at the MacBooks. The black MacBook, specifically. It has been confirmed now: after I buy books, I'm buying that machine.


I now have:

• 1 awesome birthday card with a Chinese tiger on the front (Year of the Tiger, baby!)
• 1 Firewire iPod charger (because, yeah, the USB ones don't work with my iPod; this one has a firewire port for charging, and is quite awesome)
• 1 awesome belt (for pants) that is an aeroplane safety-belt. It is green (and also awesome) [note: that is 2x awesome]

Then we had Chinese for dinner. It was tasty.

I was also glad to get back onto my Mac. A real mouse is nice!

Now, then, a number of my favourite photographs from the past few weeks. A number of them were taken with my 35mm SLR camera, then digitised in processing. Personally, I think that the colours are richer on the film (plus, there's film grain!).

( Photos [10x images] )


( Arts in Photographs [7x images] )


But I suppose that, even though I like the Photography, I get more pleasure from drawing. I have not drawn nearly enough this summer, though—I just haven't had time. Finally, I have time to scan things into my machine.




This is Farsong.



Coffee vs Tea—arts which I need to send to the Secret Crocodile Adventure Club.

( Drawings [6x more images] )


I think that might be it. Of course, there are more images pending, but they're not drawn yet.

There are plans!


Plans and things yet to come!

I'm going to start my own, independent micronation. Eventually.


I'm going to have Genesis boys next week—a cabin of 1^st- and 2^nd-grade boys. Everyone tells me that I'm going to have a blast [but I'm still nervous about being a good counselor].


I bought a book. A book about dragons. Specifically, Steven Brust's The Book of Jhereg. The ensuing conversation, as I walked back to the truck:

( Conversations )


Anyway, after the Barns and Nobles excursion, and an encounter with a crazy lady (who was wearing a Kaiser Aluminium Union Strike Solidarity tee-shirt from the lockout, a few years back), I went over to Best Buy and got a new, rather-cheap, light tri-pod. I got it to replace a decaying Sears, Roebuck, and Co. tripod which has seen better days. The new one is quite nice, with some built-in levels, a leg-stopping screw, and an extra mounting plate (which I placed in my camcorder's bag), the latter of which made me squee. I used the new one at a gathering tonight to honour my old Scoutmaster for his thirty-seven-some awesome years of being awesome, and being an uncommon mentor to hundreds of boys.

( I'm a photographer and a philosopher )


I emerged from this other end of the day, then, with:
• One new album—Daft Punk's Discovery (which is most excellent)
• One new book—Steven Brust's The Book of Jhereg (which has a fucking dragon on the front)
• Five rolls of Fujicolor film (I like Fujifilm—more than Kodak—because of the cool colour [temperature] tones it gives)
• One new tripod (I am quite pleaséd with it)
• Stories to tell
• Completed schedule, now including art 196, Design Fundamentals (including colour theory! Yay!)
• A Playlist (entitled “Songs with Bells in them”, containing two songs: Architecture In Helsinki's “Neverevereverdid” and Daft Punk's “Aerodynamic”)


Oddly enough, when I cut my finger last week, I believe I cut a nerve, because now, in a roughly 8mm-by-10mm patch (above the third knuckle of the middle finger of the left hand [of the human] on the ventral side) above the gash, the skin is numb, as if injected with Novocain. I can feel under and around the spot, and can feel pain on the gash, but I cannot feel touches on the skin at this spot. It does not impair function, though I can feel no pain or sensation of either touch or temperature. Quite frankly, I don't want [the nerve] to heal because [the numb patch] is rather cool, actually.

I might just be rather odd.

Signals Sparkle and sheen

Having too much fun in PhotoShop. I like how this turned out.

Time to go off and actually take some pictures for once …


ETA:
This is a weirdly ironic day. First, I say "I want it to rain" and then it does. Next, 8-am is useless to go to to-day, so I don't, and now my 9:15 is cancelled; the prof got into a car accident, but she's okay.

Let's see how this day plays out, now.

Next class again at 11:15.


Also, Billy Joel is just plain old awesome.

Steve calls them as he sees them, and his call is one word: China. And It is a subject that I find endlessly facinating. I shall elaborate:

( In regards to that dragon which is now stirring from its slumber )

My advice? Learn Chinese. That’s what I’ve been wanting to do for that last year – perhaps year-and-a-half, and apparently PLU has an excellent Chinese programme.

Just remember, "Shhh!"



Also: This is insanely funny. Great movies. Watch them all in order.


And honestly? I don't really know why I did this:



It took like 15 minutes to gratuiously photoshop text in this way. Apparently this is what dragons do when they are bored.


My aunt and uncle dropped by, and we went out for dinner. Awesome. We also got some more film and a couple batteries for my camera, which means that it's time for another photoshoot! Yay! I'm so stoked. They were also rather impressed with my little PowerBook, too.

Recently, I've been getting into this band called The Firely Furnaces -- namely the album Blueberry Boat. They sound a little like The White Stripes + Architecture In Helsinki, with an eclectic electronic beat mixed in there at times, like something from Vitalic. Their music is really trippy and awesome.

And, just now, I was helping a girl take apart her Cellular Phone, as it has been vibrating for the past 5 days. We actually found the vibrator, which was in the top of the screen, next to the speaker.

*goes back to eating salad & roast-beef sammitch … and Diet Pepsi*

*Is totally tired of riding in trains*

You know what? I really <3 DB (Die Deutsches Bahnhof), especially the electric trains that are fast and quiet and awesome. The Diesel trains, not so much.

I have been asked at least three times within the course of about 6 hours, just why I need 40 Gb of iPod. My reason, it was cheaper than a new iPod, as it was refurbished, and came with a full warranty. Plus, I need the 40 Gb for all of my music, especially when I am away from my computer for extended periods of time (like now), and I want to listen to a variety of things.

*Shakes fist at Internet Explorer, which keeps opening due to spyware*

*hugs Firefox*

Sometimes, I think that I do have too much glee about the little things in life, like a simple thing added to a fork or a lightswitch or a bottle, which makes it many times better than an ordinary one, and I think really takes a genius to think of.

This weekend, I went inside a mountain (about a half-kilometre), and also into a grand old German castle, that is shiny and cool. I spent far too much time fahren am dem Zug, weil wir die falsche Zug mit fahrt. Also, Ich hatte too much unhealthy food geeaten. Eaten. Essen Gegessen. Yeah. Like too many Döner and too many cheeseburgers bei McDonalds.

The Germans are totally abusing the fact that I can draw things.

Oh, and about 100159700262049502130 pictures were taken. I ran the battery completely down. Approximately 66,78% of these pictures were made entirely of awesome. The other pictures were made of 49,5999% awesome, usually lowered because of human error.

( Without further adieu, here are some pictures for you )

( Edit: I totally forgot this cool picture that Cassie took of me, too! )