Digital Effects with Slide Projectors

Back in 1997, digital cameras were new and rare. Typical camera resolution was only 0.5 megapixels. You could get 10 megapixels, but it would cost you $15,000. If you needed digital, you probably relied upon a film lab with a scanner to convert film images to digital. Most scanners were very expensive drum scanners, but Kodak provided us with the cost-effective Kodak Photo CD system; price for a scan was only a few dollars.

Well, here is a nifty trick from 1997. This effect was included in a slide show using two 35mm projectors and a dissolve controller.

The original image was a 35mm color transparency, which was scanned to digital (Kodak Photo CD). I digitally manipulated the image to a line drawing, like a child's coloring book, and filled in some color. Then the digital image was output back to a 35mm slide using a digital-to-film recorder.

Under the direction of a dissolve controller, one slide projector faded out while the second projector faded in. Projected onto a big screen, it was a really great effect.

Refinement

Here is an example that illustrates two concepts in composition. First concept is picture within the picture. Sometimes a perfectly good image includes another good image within it.

Second is refinement; studying what you are looking at and understanding what exactly is igniting your creative fuse. In this case it was the light on the hull. Through a series of images that gradually excluded non-essential elements, I arrived at the second photo shown below, which is entirely about (1) light and (2) texture.

Tall Ships

After some financial wrangling, the tall ships did come to Boston, though there were a few oddities. If I understand correctly, there was no formal parade of sail. And a few of the tallest ships were berthed at piers that were frequently closed to the public.


















With weather forecast for sunny skies, Tom S and I arrived at South Station shortly after 7am to catch some good morning light. However, our plans were soon foiled as we discovered that the Fish Pier and World Trade Center pier were entirely closed to the public until 5pm. After conversations with several police and pedestrians, we opted to take the water taxi to Charlestown Navy Yard and so achieved some nice images from out on the water. The attached image shows the Kruzenshtern as the water taxi came around the World Trade Center pier.

In Charlsetown, we were among the first group of people to board the Picton Castle and Bluenose II, before the crowds and long lines formed. USS Constitution, permanent resident in Charlestown, was undergoing major renovations, but still earned a very long line of eager spectators. We skipped it, thinking it is here year round and there is no need to wait in line today.

By 11am, the light was harsh and we called it a day. Shooting film that morning, Tom dropped off his film at a local lab where it was processed within a couple hours. Though I was shooting digital, Tom beat me to the punch, posting a couple of scanned images in email before I could complete my digital workflow.
.

Kodachrome is dead; long live Kodachrome

With the increasing dominance of digital photography, the demand for film has been ever decreasing (but not dead). It is amazing that Kodachrome endured to 2009. While most color transparency films are developed via E6 process, venerable Kodachrome films are not. So, Kodachrome is both a film and a developing process.

Having experimented with a variety of films during the late 1980s and early 90s, I preferred Ektachrome over Kodachrome. But more importantly, for the outdoor images I typically shoot, my favorite film was not Kodak at all but rather Fuji Provia.

"In 20 stunning photos, the glory of Kodachrome comes through in the work of Fortune's distinguished photographers."

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0906/gallery.kodak_kodachrome.fortune

In 1973, Paul Simon wrote:
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
.

Windows vs Mac -and- Nikon vs Canon

Windows 7 will be available later this year and most reports agree that it is the operating system that Windows Vista should have been.

Considering Mac OS X and Windows 7, some people dare to say that the culture war between Mac and PC has now become somewhat moot. Feature-for-feature, Mac and PC are now entirely comparable. It's akin to the culture war between Nikon and Canon cameras. Those people who maintain extreme brand loyalty usually do so because of experiences 10 years ago and not because of objective comparison.

If you're looking to buy a new SLR camera, and you already have some Nikon lenses, you will likely buy a Nikon. Same goes for Canon.

f you're looking to buy a new computer, and you already have a software and accessories for Mac, you will likely buy a Mac. Same goes for PC.

Social media - reality vs hype

Personally, I know friends and family who tenatively signed up for social media, such as Facebook, at the urging of someone else, but ultimately do not find it compelling. Worse yet, for some people, social media is simply more noise in their already busy lives. Yet, many many writers online continue to promote social media as absolutely essential for modern living. So ... what is the disconnect here? Is it reality or hype?

The primary disconnect lies in how different people use social media differently. There are millions of people who use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc just for fun, posting videos of their family vacation, or exchanging thoughts on matters that endure for mere minutes to maybe a week (then forgotten). Then there are tens of thousands of small buisiness owners who are trying to maintain their professional identity or "brand" on the internet. In truth, there is a broad spectrum of users. Most people do not have a critical interest in promoting themselves online. Most of the talking and writing is being done by people whose buisiness involves internet services and/or media, particularly independant contractors, consultants, and small buisiness owners who rely upon clients or simply fans. But if you sell tires at a local auto mart, "social media" is mostly hype.

In a recent blog post, photographer Jim Goldstein made some very good clarifying points regarding social media, particularly for visual artists. He contrasts different types of online networking. Static web sites are oriented around posting content, to which viewers might possibly leave comments or ask questions. Blogs are a part of that, perhaps encouraging more reader feedback. Podcasts are similar, though there seems less of an option for leaving comments/feedback. Discussion forums provide more of multi-person conversation, where participants can periodically pop in and see if anything interesting is being discussed. Although Jim does not mention it, there is another style here, the digest; a forum may optionally send to you a digest topics that interest you. Ultimately, down the far end of the spectrum, you end up at Twitter, a gumbo of communication streams that never stop.

"The interesting thing about Social Media and how to get the most out of it is to change ones mindset from merely posting content, but to talking to your target audience about your content." - JG

My own perspective is that all these tools are just that, tools. Not everyone needs every tool, though some writers seem to suggest it is so. If you don't have a lot of time on your hands, Twitter is probably not for you. And if you're looking for work, Facebook may not be the most effective tool.

.

Here is a very different type of image from Katahdin / Baxter State Park.

Both painted trillium and purple trillium are common in the northeast forests and both have a very small window of time during which they bloom, maybe three weeks. Purple trillium are more difficult to photograph because the flowers have a nodding presentation (the flowers droop over and face the ground).

What always catches my eye is groups of these flowers. Typically they are solitary plants, so a cluster of them is a nice find. For this shot, I used a wide-angle zoom lens with an extension tube. Without the extension tube, focusing distance is perhaps 14 inches. With the extension tube, I can get much closer to the flower, reducing the distance about 50%.

Canon 5D mk II, ISO 400, f/14, 1/6 sec (on a tripod of course)

.

Katahdin

While Mt. Washington (New Hampshire) is the highest peak east of the Mississippi, the terrain of Mt. Katahdin (Maine) is clearly the most challenging "hiking" that I have ever seen (excluding technical "rock climbing"). Before hiking up to the Knife Edge via the Dudley Trail, I thought perhaps carrying a tripod might be a hinderance, so I left it at camp. In retrospect, this was a prudent choice; the Dudley is more rock climbing than hiking. I am not typically afraid of heights, but this trail gave me the creeps!

Atop the Dudley Trail is the infamous Knife Edge between Pamola Peak and Baxter Peak. Having now personally traversed the Knife Edge, I must tell you that words cannot do it justice. It is the most dramatic landscape I have ever seen in the northeast USA; beyond that, I am at a loss for words.

It is widely reported that Mt. Washington is home of the world's worst weather. Truthfully, many mountains have the same weather; they just don't have an observatory at the summit to record the facts. At Katahdin, when the weather turned bad, I left and went home.
.