pictures to prove it™

i didnt actually jump on the strobist bandwagon, but it doesnt mean i dont appreciate the ingenuity and enjoy solving problems and creating things. its just sometimes, i’d rather make photos than make light modifiers. however…

i just stumbled across this and i gotta say, im stoked.

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2010/01/ivar-loves-dolly.html

On his blog Dallas based shooter Jensen Walker has posted a video showing how he gets things done. you can peep it here. it’s almost enough to make me wish i photographed pretty girls.

i was going through a few old emails and found this link that Joey Pulone had sent out about this lens. (surprisingly?) it is still for sale. it says it is rare, but does anyone know who owns the others?

the geniuses at WiebeTech have done it again!!! these guys make great products and any issue ive had, they’ve solved. so easy to deal with. but now i’ve got a a new reason to love these guys, their innovation. this is the Ultraduck. you can expect a full review from me soon.

John Harrington talks about his prep for the inauguration.

im not sure how i feel about this? originally i thought the beauty of this camera was it’s size, but every time i turn around someone has made something to make this tiny camera as big as the others.

thanks for sending me this bill.

Im pretty crafty so i was thrilled when Puck sent me THIS LINK to how to build a foam diffuser for a hotshoe mounted flash.
Chuck Gardner, the guy who made the how-to for the diffuser also has a lot of basic photography info, lighting and camera tutorials on his site.

For years i’ve only considered using the Domke Gripper camera straps. they are great. they are designed with rubber woven into the strap to grip your clothing to help keep my camera from falling off my shoulder. it’s a really simple design and it works.

sometimes wear my camera across my body (riding my bike, working in protests, carrying more gear). it’s comfortable, easy to walk with and if you are using two bodies, they aren’t banging on each other. this is the time that the gripper is less than optimal, because it doesn’t slide across your body when you raise your camera to your eye. it clings to your clothes and tries to bring them along too. today i stumbled across this video.

it is called the R-strap and it was dreamed up by a shooter named Ronald Dean Henry. it looks really comfortable and well made. it will cost you about $50, which is nothing really when it you add the comfort factor to the idea that you dont want to hang your camera from something you don’t trust to hold it.

If for some reason (maybe you’re thrifty or maybe you’re crafty) you decide to make your own version, there are already a few designs online. you can find them here and here.

i for one am going to get the R-strap. you can expect a full review after i spend some time using it.

in the DC area it is available from Ace Photo. i dont know if you have been to the new location, but it is the best store in the area, by far. Mo that owns Ace is a fair and funny guy. the only problem is the shop is all of the way out by Dulles.

i constantly find myself watching podcast tutorials and how-tos online. this evening i found that the good folks at Apple always want to make sure you know how their products work. they’ve got a few dozens tutorials on their site. they run about a minute each and they are worth your time. you’ll learn something and you’ll wind up using some of them.
i never feel like i know enough about how to really utilize what programs will do. these are simple, but they help.
hi fives to the cats at apple.

the ones i liked most were probably:
pictures in email
maps in address book
and i really love that perfect word.

it doesn’t end there either, because they’ve got tutorials up for everything from aperture and finalcut to iphoto and idvd.

now im just curious when they are going to ask users to make these tutorials.

im sure it is only because of Photokina, but im swamped by the news of all of the new gear hitting the scene. this morning the NEW lens baby caught my eye. i’ve been a critic of theirs for awhile, but you can be sure i’ll be buying the Composer but you’ll probably only see the pics i make with it here on my blog.

the Lensbaby site says “With the Composer, Lensbaby introduces a completely new lens, based on a ball and socket configuration that delivers smooth selective focus photography with unparalleled ease. The new Composer retains its position after being bent and is easy to use even with one hand. Photographers no longer have to squeeze the lens to focus, but can simply tilt the lens to a desired angle and then focus with a traditional barrel focusing ring. The Composer stays in the desired bent position without requiring a locking mechanism and features the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System.

The Composer features a unique manual focus design which requires more rotation to move the optic as you approach infinity. This makes it easier to focus on objects at intermediate and distant depths than regular manual focus lenses”

they’ve got a ton of new accessories too including interchangeable optics and what they call a creative aperture kit. this “you can custom cut your aperture disks into any aperture shape you want. Out of focus specular highlights (bright points of light) in your photos take on the shape of the hole in your aperture disk”.
you wont find those in my bag, but i bet it isnt long before someone winds up cutting out the virgin mary in their aperture disk. im sure we will see the results in the Weekly World News and on flickr.

and today’s other notable was that Apple just made Adobe CS4 available for preorder. you can also go to the Adobe site and sign up to be notified when the beta version of the CS4s (like Photoshop for instance) will be available.