Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Posted on July 16, 2008 - by Matt

The Universal Globe

I have been home for about a week now and have just begun to skim the surface of photos I have taken. If Apple’s Aperture did not exist I would be in some serious pain. My main focus for this vacation was HDR, so needless to say I have a ton of 3 shot sets to process. Currently, I have a few up on flickr.

Above is a shot that came out much better then I expected it to, I was anticipating a problem in the way that the “Universal Globe” is constantly spinning. But luckily Photomatix Pro is an incredibly smart application and no trace of this is visible in the final photo, although it is visible in the individual exposures.

Check back from more shots in the coming days.

Posted on June 30, 2008 - by Matt

Summer Vacation 2008

As I write this, I am frantically trying to assemble my suitcase and carry-on for our early flight to Orlando tomorrow morning. This will be my bazillionth time going to Disney World but it will be my first time, in a long while, at Universal Studios and Seaworld. I can’t guarantee I will post at all on this site, but I can say for sure that I will be “twittering” like crazy and will be uploading an occasional photo to my flickr account. So now would be a very good time for you to follow me on twitter.

Our impressive and expensive itinerary includes stops at Seaworld, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Universal Studios and three of the four Disney theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios). We will be staying at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal for 5 nights and then we will move to the Boardwalk Villas for our 3 nights at Disney.

I am definitely most excited about our day at Discovery Cove because I am a huge fan of aquatic life. Discovery Cove is all about an incredibly immersive experience which includes getting the oppurtunity to ride a dolphin, swim with hundreds of species of tropical fish, and feed various exotic birds.

Lastly, this trip should allow for some pretty stunning photography now that I have some decent glass. I will most likely be focusing on my newly developed attachment to HDR and of course portraits of my family.

So be sure to check my flickr photostream and follow me on twitter.

I will return July 10th.

Posted on June 20, 2008 - by Matt

New Glass, Once again

A few days ago, I purchased another piece of glass to add to my photographic arsenal. Some say that this piece, the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, is the best piece of glass Nikon has ever made and I must agree.

Because of it’s f/1.8 aperture, it functions incredibly well in low light. This will be very useful in my bag, because I absolutely hate using a flash. Another plus of the f/1.8 is it’s short depth of field, which looks good in any type of photo.

In the photo above, I used the mirror in my bathroom and all existing light to produce a stunning self-portrait. This is something I have attempted to complete in the past but my other lenses just don’t fare well in those lighting conditions, nor do they produce the depth of field that truly makes this image pop.

So, if you are on the market for an affordable lens that produces crisp, clean images be sure to check out the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8.

Posted on June 5, 2008 - by Matt

Pownce Photo Contest

Pownce, the up and coming social networking website, announced a few days ago that they were running a contest to find the best photo with their logo.

I am a big Pownce fan, so I took the vector version of their logo and blew it up to fit an entire sheet of paper. I then printed it out, but instead of printing on standard paper, I printed on a transparency sheet.

To pose it, I merely slid the transparency under my keyboard and then cropped the image slightly in Aperture to get rid of any edges of the transparency that you could see.

I really like the way it turned out (it makes a great desktop background). For some reason the printer put extra ink around the edges of the text, so it has the look of a bevel or three dimensions.

Posted on June 2, 2008 - by Matt

Mulch

I have returned to the site known as Flickr. My main reason for the return is the social networking aspect of the site. It really allows you to get great feedback on your photography as well as meet many new people.

This photo was taken with the new 70-200mm f/2.8 and is my first with a focus on texture.

Posted on May 27, 2008 - by Matt

My new baby! And no, it is not the dog.

I finally recieved a package which I have had on order since April 28.

The package came in perfect condition and included the ultra-fast, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8, a 77mm UV filter for the lens, and a Bogen 681B Monopod as well as a Bogen 3229 Head for the monopod.

Now, I have had waited for a month for this awesome peice of glass because it was on backorder at literally every reseller whether online or not. My guess is because Nikon makes their lenses in batches and they had not made it in a while.

That being said, I am so glad I waited this eternity. The 70-200mm could not be any faster when it comes to focusing and it’s sharpness blows my previous 70-300mm out of the water.

Above is a photo that I shot with the new lens handheld and the Vibration Reduction makes this very easy to do.

Now that I have it in hand, I just need to buy my own body because my parents aren’t letting me take our D70s to college. Currently I am thinking the D80 but if my salary allows over the summer, I would love to get the D300. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment (obviously it must be a Nikon).