Ok it is the End and Beginning all in one. The year is coming to a close with a few things still outstanding. Me trying hard to plan the year ahead already. Wow this is what happens when I have no work to clog my head with. I am on the verge of doing things I would not have thought of doing a while back. I am looking at something and I think I may have to go shopping. Oh it is bad bad bad. Not good. I guess that is the price for having time to think and then see. In the end I have reached the decision and that is I will go for it. I have worked it out and it is not out of reach. I am happy to say that in the end I will be much surprised and happier for having done the shopping.
Oh boy......stay tuned
Yeah. Happy New Year Everyone. I thought I would put it out there early. I just wanted to wish 2014 an enthusiastic bow of appreciation. Thanks once again, the ups and downs of life. Cheers. To 2015 may it be full of Great Health, Great Happiness and Great Wealth (for those wondering not everyone measures wealth in the same way but may you have what you need and a bit more to allow your passions to spring forward).
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Sunday, 28 December 2014
negative to positive part 2
So after a couple of days work I am seeing good results. The next things I have done is changes the setup a bit. I am now shooting off the tripod. Camera still using the same settings with one change i am now using the white balance setting to the warmer tones. I am using incandescent for white balance. This is proving to remove the cooler blue cast that I am seeing out of the camera after I change the curve.
Outside of that the post processing I am now going with auto tone and auto color. I have found this works well. I am sometimes adding a single curves adjustment which I am clipping the highlights and the shadows to give me good colouring.
Outside of that the post processing I am now going with auto tone and auto color. I have found this works well. I am sometimes adding a single curves adjustment which I am clipping the highlights and the shadows to give me good colouring.
So this is the result of the auto tone and auto colour. Not bad really. Probably need to do some slight adjustment but I also do not have the exif data to know if the flash fired or not. I am assuming that it did fire and that is why the harsher light.
This is me trying to find the right colour tone in photoshop. As you can see it is cooler and has blue green tones. I am also going with the fact that I was shooting auto white balance which may also result in this cooler tone.
More to come
Saturday, 27 December 2014
Negative to Positive or how I am trying to move some of my old negatives to digital
First off this is by no means an exact science at this early stage. As I am still really gathering information and working to try and put this together as best one can without purchasing a lot of gear. That said I am not opposed to using some funds to purchase some gear.
So let us start with the basics here.
I am setup with the following gear.
Nikon D600
Lester A Dine 105mm macro lens ( f mount) - for those of you wondering these are similar if not the same as the kiron lenses. They were used by dental offices to do photos of teeth prior to digital. They are wonderful for macros and I would suggest an excellent lens. You used to be able to find them cheap on eBay and such but since people have found them the prices are going up a bit. That said they are great alternatives to Nikon branded lenses. Fully manual by the way.
Nikon Mount bellows (improving the 1:1of the image I think)
Nikon SB 700 flash
Younguo 622 flash triggers
Light box
flash light
Nikon remote for shutter (no hands on the camera during the shot)
Some paper made into a roll for the flash
Paper cut and taped to the front of the light box for holding the negative
Camera settings thus far:
Manual mode
1/200 of sec on the shutter
ISO 100
f2.8
Flash setup at 0.0 ev
So let us start with the basics here.
I am setup with the following gear.
Nikon D600
Lester A Dine 105mm macro lens ( f mount) - for those of you wondering these are similar if not the same as the kiron lenses. They were used by dental offices to do photos of teeth prior to digital. They are wonderful for macros and I would suggest an excellent lens. You used to be able to find them cheap on eBay and such but since people have found them the prices are going up a bit. That said they are great alternatives to Nikon branded lenses. Fully manual by the way.
Nikon Mount bellows (improving the 1:1of the image I think)
Nikon SB 700 flash
Younguo 622 flash triggers
Light box
flash light
Nikon remote for shutter (no hands on the camera during the shot)
Some paper made into a roll for the flash
Paper cut and taped to the front of the light box for holding the negative
Camera settings thus far:
Manual mode
1/200 of sec on the shutter
ISO 100
f2.8
Flash setup at 0.0 ev
Here is the Nikon with the bellows and trigger for the flash. Note I have been focusing with the bellows and lens to test out the results. Thus far the lens is easier to work with in this configuration.
This is the light box and flash. Normally I have the flash positioned behind the light box with the tube (white paper rolled up and taped) up against the back of the light box. I then slide a negative into the green paper on the front of the light box and position it into place.
At this point the setup is really about taking a photo. I use Live view on the nikon to zoom in on the negative and then attempt to focus the image. Using the flash light (see the list of things I have above in the setup) I illuminate the negative so I can see it on the live view screen. Now once I have the focus setup. I shut off the flash light and use the remote and trigger the shutter.
After this it is time to take the image into photo shop and start working the magic. Below is an image that I have converted from a negative. Note there is still a bunch of steps to go to get things looking good. Stay tuned for part 2 of this adventure.
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Let all begin
We have arrived at that time of the year where you get to peel back the layer and start new. Get things in line to restart the engine and set the goals that will certainly be a challenge to live up to in about a week after the new year.
I am amazed by the large amount of stuff that gets piled into a year. 365 small short days that we try and squish into something more. I know a lot of folks that simply are living with the time and hoping for something better. I am in a much better spot this year. Not sure why but I suspect it has a lot to do with pressures at work and life in general. I have found something a little more stable to stand on or something like that. Nobody is immune from life, it creeps up on you and tackles you from behind and let me be the first to say it has certainly provided us with some fun this year.
Mostly right now I am sitting with a pile of used kleenex beside me. Yep 1st day off and boom life hands me a cold so my vacation is spent not sleeping and fighting this in the hopes it is gone in the next day or so. what can I say it is simply just the way it goes.
I had some deeper thoughts on this but really we are all here living it day in and day out. I have taken a longer stride into my pictures this year. I have seen a lot of improvement when I go back I like what I have created. I am always looking now for some opportunity to use my camera. I have started to do some HDR stuff and I am planning some negative conversion but that we will see. I think I mentioned I would post it if it works out. 1000 ways to not make a light bulb come to mind. But that is the part that is both frustrating and inspiring I may get it working who knows.
With that my photos this year seem to be getting more interesting I think my mind is open a lot of the time and I am composing better. Or I am just full of shit and the only person that really likes the pictures is me. But if I am the only person that likes them so what. I am the person that wants to create them. On top of that I am really enjoying the post production process which is what I am truly starting to learn and develop those skills.
Lets talk about something else now. Cameras and pictures are great but what about the rest of the creative process. I have found that I am much more at home with creative people I love the creative mind set. I first thought about this when I met some folks in Winnipeg at my Uncles funeral. It was at that moment I thought wow I love being around people that are creatively open. It was like the clouds cleared and I could see. So as I have taken a look back at what I have been creating I have realized a lot of that has come with the desire that has grown. I enjoy creating. Even if the stuff never leaves my house it is what I enjoy and at time love.
Back to the holidays now. I hope everyone is ready for the holidays. I also hope everyone is ready to relax and enjoy and not get all stressed out. This world is sooooo stressed it is seems like it gets harder for people to find that opportunity to unplug. So hey, just relax, nobody needs to get all in a twist if the turkey is not quite 100%, really just enjoy the moment and the people you have with you. Enjoy life.
With that have a great Christmas and I will either get another note in prior to the new year or maybe it will be a 2015 post. who knows.
Cheers everyone.
I am amazed by the large amount of stuff that gets piled into a year. 365 small short days that we try and squish into something more. I know a lot of folks that simply are living with the time and hoping for something better. I am in a much better spot this year. Not sure why but I suspect it has a lot to do with pressures at work and life in general. I have found something a little more stable to stand on or something like that. Nobody is immune from life, it creeps up on you and tackles you from behind and let me be the first to say it has certainly provided us with some fun this year.
Mostly right now I am sitting with a pile of used kleenex beside me. Yep 1st day off and boom life hands me a cold so my vacation is spent not sleeping and fighting this in the hopes it is gone in the next day or so. what can I say it is simply just the way it goes.
I had some deeper thoughts on this but really we are all here living it day in and day out. I have taken a longer stride into my pictures this year. I have seen a lot of improvement when I go back I like what I have created. I am always looking now for some opportunity to use my camera. I have started to do some HDR stuff and I am planning some negative conversion but that we will see. I think I mentioned I would post it if it works out. 1000 ways to not make a light bulb come to mind. But that is the part that is both frustrating and inspiring I may get it working who knows.
With that my photos this year seem to be getting more interesting I think my mind is open a lot of the time and I am composing better. Or I am just full of shit and the only person that really likes the pictures is me. But if I am the only person that likes them so what. I am the person that wants to create them. On top of that I am really enjoying the post production process which is what I am truly starting to learn and develop those skills.
Lets talk about something else now. Cameras and pictures are great but what about the rest of the creative process. I have found that I am much more at home with creative people I love the creative mind set. I first thought about this when I met some folks in Winnipeg at my Uncles funeral. It was at that moment I thought wow I love being around people that are creatively open. It was like the clouds cleared and I could see. So as I have taken a look back at what I have been creating I have realized a lot of that has come with the desire that has grown. I enjoy creating. Even if the stuff never leaves my house it is what I enjoy and at time love.
Back to the holidays now. I hope everyone is ready for the holidays. I also hope everyone is ready to relax and enjoy and not get all stressed out. This world is sooooo stressed it is seems like it gets harder for people to find that opportunity to unplug. So hey, just relax, nobody needs to get all in a twist if the turkey is not quite 100%, really just enjoy the moment and the people you have with you. Enjoy life.
With that have a great Christmas and I will either get another note in prior to the new year or maybe it will be a 2015 post. who knows.
Cheers everyone.
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Desire
in an effort to put something meaningful together I am finding that writing things is not as easy as one thinks. I have struggled to try and find that little bit of something interesting and convey it to the world in an intelligent way. Most of my ramblings come to me int he middle of the day or on the train on the way home. Not exactly the best time to try and capture those thoughts or directions that I would take a comment.
I really do want this to be a place that is interesting and somewhat worth the time to stop in and read. That being said the ability to find a topic and hold it to make a point seems to elude me at times. I have often had little thoughts about a story about a place in time in the future where things are not very bright. My main character is Ryan. He is a guy trying to continue to survive in the future. Sometimes I think he should have a partner in life and other times I think he is better as a loner. Ryan is a guy that is collecting the only thing that is valuable which is data. He scavenges the outskirts for parts and pieces in the hope that he finds something that he can sell or trade. The data has been lost or abandoned. Most companies and other institutions are broke down. The government uses people like Ryan to collect the data that is out there to use it for "good" purposes. In his travels Ryan decides he can no longer use his normal approach to gathering he decides to go out further beyond the safe zones and see if he can find something that will give him more renumeration. To find that big chunk of data the mother load if you will. What he finds is something different, data that nobody knew existed that shows him what the world is and was. A vision of how the government pushing things onto the people. While out past the the safety of the zone Ryan finds he is vulnerable and has to draw on who he is and what he stands for. He has to question what he is doing and why he is doing it. There is nobody to tell him it is wrong or right he has to decide.
Ryan is now trapped out of the zone. He has to survive but he also learned some dangerous things. Things that others do not want him to know. It is here that Ryan's true challenges start. He returns to the safety of the safe zone with this knowledge and begins to see things differently. He does not know who to trust or what to trust. He begins to venture back out of the zone and search and discover more about what is truly out there.
So that is my thought my story my character. I have not developed much beyond that but I am thinking maybe somewhere there is a story in this.
Enough for now and maybe now that I have that out there I can start to build it.
I really do want this to be a place that is interesting and somewhat worth the time to stop in and read. That being said the ability to find a topic and hold it to make a point seems to elude me at times. I have often had little thoughts about a story about a place in time in the future where things are not very bright. My main character is Ryan. He is a guy trying to continue to survive in the future. Sometimes I think he should have a partner in life and other times I think he is better as a loner. Ryan is a guy that is collecting the only thing that is valuable which is data. He scavenges the outskirts for parts and pieces in the hope that he finds something that he can sell or trade. The data has been lost or abandoned. Most companies and other institutions are broke down. The government uses people like Ryan to collect the data that is out there to use it for "good" purposes. In his travels Ryan decides he can no longer use his normal approach to gathering he decides to go out further beyond the safe zones and see if he can find something that will give him more renumeration. To find that big chunk of data the mother load if you will. What he finds is something different, data that nobody knew existed that shows him what the world is and was. A vision of how the government pushing things onto the people. While out past the the safety of the zone Ryan finds he is vulnerable and has to draw on who he is and what he stands for. He has to question what he is doing and why he is doing it. There is nobody to tell him it is wrong or right he has to decide.
Ryan is now trapped out of the zone. He has to survive but he also learned some dangerous things. Things that others do not want him to know. It is here that Ryan's true challenges start. He returns to the safety of the safe zone with this knowledge and begins to see things differently. He does not know who to trust or what to trust. He begins to venture back out of the zone and search and discover more about what is truly out there.
So that is my thought my story my character. I have not developed much beyond that but I am thinking maybe somewhere there is a story in this.
Enough for now and maybe now that I have that out there I can start to build it.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
It's the most wonderful time of the year.....??
Yeah back again for another moment. Seems I have the need to get things out in the open. It has again been a very busy few weeks. There never seems to be an end to the things that are popping into our daily world. Do this do that. Lots and lots of things and yet nothing seems to be stopping us from getting through the days work. Work is a big push it is suddenly spend this budget and get it in before you take a break. Then it is "oh are you checking emails when you are on vacation?". Uh, NO! that is why they call it vacation people. I find it hard to think that I am working like crazy to meet short deadlines and high demands to only find you want me to what? Work on my vacation? I really do not think so. I plan to vacation on my vacation in other words sleep in and enjoy my time doing the things I love to do with those I care about. That said I am looking forward to holidays. I am also hoping not to have anything to do with work. I really feel like it has been a great bit of work completed in a short timeframe then it is time for a break to recharge. So sorry guys not looking at my email.
Moving on. I have been looking at things lately for moving my negatives over to digital format. It has been a bit of an experiment. I like my father inlaw are taking a slightly less traveled path for this process. I will see how things go and if the results are anywhere worth talking about I will let you know. Not because I care to share this activity but I really think those that put a little bit of useful information out there on the internet for people like me should get something back. So I will try and add some useful content on the web.
Other things on my mind, well not a lot of stuff really. I have been trying to find a way to look at getting more out of my picture taking trips. Seems like there is a lot opportunity coming up so I have put some effort into trying to find some interesting locations to go and shoot photos. I am hoping to maybe get out to some different places over the christmas holidays and see what can be found. If I can't leave town then I will explore the city a bit more. Couple of areas I want to explore a bit, night shots. I am thinking maybe some longer exposures. We will see. Also I would like to do a few more HDR images. They have become more of a favourite for me. I enjoy making them and then seeing the depth in the image.
Moving away from the world of cameras lets get into the concept of what is happening in our house. We have torn out the main wall. Gone. not pretty right now and definitely not really moving forward. Biggest challenge to this is that we need to figure out our plan. Trust me we did the thing we felt we would never do that is to find a person to help us lay it out. They did give us a plan but that plan is really not sitting very clearly in our minds. The more we think about it the less we feel it is 100% what we want. So we are sitting on the plan for bit and then we said lets think about the order in which the work is done and how much can we do if we needed to move ahead a little at least to get the flooring and ceiling done. We have the hardwood and we are doing that install ourselves. But the ceiling work is a job for pros that can mud and sand the drywall so nice and smooth. So we will see probably move forward in January a little bit but I am certain the layout will change. Our main designer that we have used Mickey was not really looking at the kitchen area as that is a specialty but we used a person she suggested and I think that has not panned out quite as well. So we will move on and probably get Mickey to come back in.
So with that I have to go back to working on some patches on servers at work and probably should pay some attention to the systems. But have a great week hope to post a few more times prior to the end of the year!
Moving on. I have been looking at things lately for moving my negatives over to digital format. It has been a bit of an experiment. I like my father inlaw are taking a slightly less traveled path for this process. I will see how things go and if the results are anywhere worth talking about I will let you know. Not because I care to share this activity but I really think those that put a little bit of useful information out there on the internet for people like me should get something back. So I will try and add some useful content on the web.
Other things on my mind, well not a lot of stuff really. I have been trying to find a way to look at getting more out of my picture taking trips. Seems like there is a lot opportunity coming up so I have put some effort into trying to find some interesting locations to go and shoot photos. I am hoping to maybe get out to some different places over the christmas holidays and see what can be found. If I can't leave town then I will explore the city a bit more. Couple of areas I want to explore a bit, night shots. I am thinking maybe some longer exposures. We will see. Also I would like to do a few more HDR images. They have become more of a favourite for me. I enjoy making them and then seeing the depth in the image.
Moving away from the world of cameras lets get into the concept of what is happening in our house. We have torn out the main wall. Gone. not pretty right now and definitely not really moving forward. Biggest challenge to this is that we need to figure out our plan. Trust me we did the thing we felt we would never do that is to find a person to help us lay it out. They did give us a plan but that plan is really not sitting very clearly in our minds. The more we think about it the less we feel it is 100% what we want. So we are sitting on the plan for bit and then we said lets think about the order in which the work is done and how much can we do if we needed to move ahead a little at least to get the flooring and ceiling done. We have the hardwood and we are doing that install ourselves. But the ceiling work is a job for pros that can mud and sand the drywall so nice and smooth. So we will see probably move forward in January a little bit but I am certain the layout will change. Our main designer that we have used Mickey was not really looking at the kitchen area as that is a specialty but we used a person she suggested and I think that has not panned out quite as well. So we will move on and probably get Mickey to come back in.
So with that I have to go back to working on some patches on servers at work and probably should pay some attention to the systems. But have a great week hope to post a few more times prior to the end of the year!
Thursday, 4 December 2014
Catching up again
So folks here we go. December has rolled in and we are at that point in the year where you wonder where did it all go. 2015 is looming on the corner with that ugly stare in its eye saying "guess what?". I honestly do not know where things have gone. Probably one of the biggest things this year has been our wonderful dog and his slow and graceful aging. It has been strange to see the changes that have taken place the last few months. Seems the more I think he is the same old fellow the more he becomes an old dog with sore hips and joints. I am saddened to think that he is getting to that stage in life where we may not have him in our life. I hate the thought that creeps in to my mind that I will have to make a choice some time soon in the future. Really I know it will be a very sad and difficult moment. To me the thought of deciding whether he will still be here or not just seems like a cruel step in life. That said he is still here he still wags his tail. He is wonderfully sharp for 12 and half years old. The body may not think too much of the stairs in the house but we have come to grips with that and helping him get up and down.
Moving to other things that have gone on around here. Let's start by saying the year has produced many fun things. I see everyone becoming so independent from Traci and I. As Traci has pointed out she is trying to hang out with me and do things with me as it is getting more common place that we have our life to live and the kids are really becoming so self sufficient that we are not so needed. Not that we are totally out of any of their lives nor do we want to be. But they just do not have the demands on our time as they once did. That said we are left to basically do our own things.
We have been busy mostly with the general things in life. No big adventures or plans. I am for the most part finding that I am in a calm place. Life is wonderful. I know that when I get to this place usually something flies at me but I am hoping this is really just a good place to be right now. So much depends on our own desire to be happy. I have found this year that I am seeing my future a lot clearer. I know what I have and that what have is what I need. It is a nice feeling.
So I will wrap this short post up by saying in a couple of weeks I have a nice 2 week holiday from work. I have a very busy work schedule in the next 2 weeks. January is already planned for work and traveling for work. I know the new year will come at me with a lot of stuff. But for right now. I am going to enjoy where things are at. I am happy.
Peace and Love
Moving to other things that have gone on around here. Let's start by saying the year has produced many fun things. I see everyone becoming so independent from Traci and I. As Traci has pointed out she is trying to hang out with me and do things with me as it is getting more common place that we have our life to live and the kids are really becoming so self sufficient that we are not so needed. Not that we are totally out of any of their lives nor do we want to be. But they just do not have the demands on our time as they once did. That said we are left to basically do our own things.
We have been busy mostly with the general things in life. No big adventures or plans. I am for the most part finding that I am in a calm place. Life is wonderful. I know that when I get to this place usually something flies at me but I am hoping this is really just a good place to be right now. So much depends on our own desire to be happy. I have found this year that I am seeing my future a lot clearer. I know what I have and that what have is what I need. It is a nice feeling.
So I will wrap this short post up by saying in a couple of weeks I have a nice 2 week holiday from work. I have a very busy work schedule in the next 2 weeks. January is already planned for work and traveling for work. I know the new year will come at me with a lot of stuff. But for right now. I am going to enjoy where things are at. I am happy.
Peace and Love
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)