Astrophotography

If you are fascinated in Astrophotography and how they do it, wired.com has a great article of how Rogelio Bernal Andreo does his Astrophotography. He walks you a quick tutorial of how it's done and the equipment that he uses to make his fantastic images of the stars. Here is the link to Wired.com article "The Making of a Mind-Blowing Space Photo".

My attempts have never show the results that Andreo has produced. The closest celestial body to earth is the only thing I can get a good image from in space.

Talking to Strangers

Zack Arias an Atlanta based photographer was in New York City last September. While in NYC he took some time out from his busy shooting schedule and gave himself a little shooting assignment. He decided to take 10 portraits of 10 strangers in 10 hours. He found that most people can be receptive while others are scared of his glass.

Take a look at his work and how he approached his subjects. He includes a video so you can see as he put it "His Dork like approach". Here is the link to his Blog post: Street Portraits :: NYC 09/2009 :: Video + Stills

Magic Lights...

I have to admit I have turned out to be a bit of a blog Junkie. Have been using the Google reader to combine all the blogs I subscribe to into on little readers digest online version. I have my reader set up to only load the newest entry to a subscription blog.

One of the blogs a frequently read is the Strobist. In some incestual way all these blogs are linked together. I first started to read Scott Kelby’s blog Photoshop Insider. I have read most of his books and I am a huge fan of his Business Plan and work ethic, not to mention I enjoy his writing style and photography.

Next is Matt Kloskowski. Matt has the very popular Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips blog that I read. Also, Matt works for NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). Now Scott Kelby is the editor and publisher of Photoshop User and Layers magazines, president and co-founder NAPP and author of many books, and co-author with Matt on a few books. So Scott is Matt’s boss.

Then there is Joe McNally’s blog. I am a new reader to his blog. He has been a photographer for over 30 years and his expertise and experience is educational. He has recently released a book called “The Moment it Clicks…”. Ever since I read this book I have become a fan of his work and a subscriber to his blog.

Joe is a regular contributor to NAPP’s Photoshop User magazine. He also has on-line classes on the new Kelby Training web site. Do you see where I am going with this?

This leads us to David Hobby. Yea that’s right his last name is Hobby. What a great name. Months ago I stumbled across his blog (Strobist) and found it interesting and fascinating. David is a master of off camera lighting. Either he uses a flash or strobe or studio lighting, but his focus is getting the light away from the camera. He is also a big fan of D.I.Y. (Do it Yourself) projects. I am currently working on a D.I.Y. project that I read about on his blog, that he got from another blog.

Back to the incestual part of this post. I read Joe McNally’s blog about his trip to Dubai to teach photography techniques. Also on the trip were Scott Kelby and David Hobby. David went into the desert one evening to help with a photo shot. I say this because he assisted in setting up the Nikon SB-800 Light Tree for off camera lighting.

I imagine it will only be a matter of time before Scott Kelby will Assimilate David Hobby into the NAPP Collective. If it hasn't happen already.

David on his blog this morning has added a link to another blog. This blog talks about the use of rope lighting to show action. Here is a picture and the link to the blog. It is well worth a read. I have some new ideas now.

Ansel...

At the top of my Gmail was a news link that linked to The New York Times. The Times had a little snippet on Ansel Adams. On the left side of the article they have an interactive feature that is very informative. I hope you enjoy it like I did.

Journeys Yosemite National Park
What Adams Saw Through His Lens
By LOUISE STORY
Published: April 27, 2008
Many know Yosemite’s sights by name, but more know them by sight alone, as captured through the lens of the legendary American photographer Ansel Adams. mIsSiNg LiNk:





Ansel Adams at Point Lobos, California, 1979.
©David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
Adams, Ansel

El Libro…

If anyone is looking for some good “how to” reading for taking better pictures, I recommend a book written by Scott Kelby, The Digital Photography Book. It’s very informative and easy to read. Scott has a unique teaching style. He will tell how to do certain tricks like you were next to him asking the question. He doesn’t get into analytical detail on how and why, he explains this is how you do it and it’s done.

Now for the real exciting news. Scott Kelby has just written and published The Digital Photography Book Vol. 2. Woo-hoo… Once I found out there was going to be a sequel, I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.com. It arrived a few days ago.

Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. According to the author Scott, “This isn’t a book of theory-full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it.”

Here is a list of other books on Amazon.com that have been written by Scott Kelby. Good luck, and may your images always be tack-sharp.

Paradox…

Last night my wife and I had the opportunity to view the Olafur Eliasson, Take your time: exhibit at the SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It had many interactive and visual illusions.

Two exhibits that stood out were the 360º room of Color. The other was the BMW 2HR Art car. The car is a Hydrogen powered race car that has been wrapped with a wire grid and entombed in Ice. The BMW 2HR display was exhibited in a 3º F giant freezer.

As I returned to work and starting reading about the artist and the BMW 2HR I found myself immersed in the technology of hydrogen fuel and how it works. In an article I read it stated and very interesting “Environmental Paradox” that it takes “Dirty Energy” to make “Clean Energy”.

Jay Tyrrell...

What’s in a name? Well I have been inspired and intrigued by one of my coworkers. He is an older gentleman that has been working for my company for a few years. I really have just met him.

One day while he was standing looking out one of the large plate glass windows, I approached him. I was just curious to inspect what had caught his eye on the San Francisco Bay. There was a large Norwegian flagged container ship passing in front of our office building. On this container ship were very large blades of those ginormous wind turbines that you would see stalking the windy hills and ridges of the East Bay.

It turns out that this co-worker is an avid photographer. He specializes in large format panoramic images. He is still shooting on film. He has been shooting with one particular camera for years. He says “It’s perfect for the type of shot I am trying to capture”. “The camera gives me more of a cinematographer feel of an elongated movie screen”.

He is working on a series called Wind Army. It is a compellation of Images that he has taken of wind turbines at various wind farms. He was interested in the ship carrying the blades from a turbine, because he said it would fit in his Wind Army series.

You can check out more of the images of Jays “Wind Army” series on his website. Plus you can check out some of his other work there as well. You can also check out Jay’s work on LensWork DVD: LensWork Extended - 72

Website: Jay Tyrrell
LensWork