Jun 112010
May 092010
I was reading today on DPS (Digital Photography School) a post that was titled Finding Your Camera’s Current Shutter Actuations. I have always want to know exactly how many clicks had actually committed my camera to doing.
I Can't Believe it (55247)
In order to find out how many actuations you camera has taken you need to look in the EXIF data. Now I currently am shooting with a Nikon D70s and I have been shooting with this camera since June, 2006. Last night I had my camera with me while my wife and I were baby sitting her brothers kids. We took them to the park and had a good time chasing them around. The last image I shot last night was shutter click #55247. I figure that when my 4 year anniversary with this camera come this June, I will be up to at least 60,000 camera actuations. That is an average of 15,000 clicks a year.
Here is the link to the web site MyShutterCount that allowed my to grab this information for my Nikon camera. If you have a Canon or another brand go to the article on DPS to find your Shutter Actuations.
May 072010
Apr 042010
Happy Easter Everyone
My wife teaches third and forth grade combo class. Every year they do Life Science, so they hatch chicken. This is some one of the first baby chicks from this years hatchlings. The kids in the class named this one after me, since I played chicken herder this year and got all the fertilized eggs for them to hatch. 102 or 9 dozen eggs for six third grade classes.
Every year I go into the my wife’s class and do a chick fashion shoot. I do a different theme. The first year was KFC Box theme. Last year was a KFC Bucket theme, this years theme is Easter.
The eggs in the basket are real. They came from the same hens that laid the eggs that these baby chicks were hatched from.
Here is the link to the Chicks set
This is a late Tech Tuesday post. I have always wanted to try my hand at time-lapse photography. I have seen several videos that I thought were great. Unfortunately my equipment didn’t allow for easy time-lapse set up. I currently shoot a Nikon D70s. The newer Nikon models have the time-lapse (intervalometer) feature built into the firmware.
In order for me to achieve time-lapse I need to purchase external equipment i.e. The Mumford Time Machine. The new equipment wouldn’t even make it seamless. I would have to make modifications to my current camera setup and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go that route.
In July or August of 2008 I met a Pro Photographer from Australia. He was using high end Canon Cameras, but he also had the Canon G9. The G9 had a intervalometer built into the firmware. However shortly after Canon discontinued the G9 and replaced it with the G10. I purchased a G10, from a local store thinking it had a intervalometer. I was wrong, and all the G9′s out there on the used market either were abused or cost more then the G10.
A few weeks ago while researching this project again, I ran across the PocketWizard MultiMax. I already had PocketWizard Plus II that I use for my studio strobes. In the MultiMax the software has an intervalometer. I went to my local photography store to test it out. It worked great. It was expensive, but I at least could justify the purchase, because I knew I would use it with over studio gear, so it would serve dual purposes.
As with all new unfamiliar equipment I need to work out some bugs. However over the weekend I did manage to take a time-lapse of the sunrise in San Francisco, and later that evening I did another of the sunset in the same direction. I marked my tripod and when I returned, I placed it in the exact same spot. However, I did find out you need to babysit it to make sure that the lighting is right. Cameras setting is one of those bugs I will work out as I do more. Making sure the ISO is set right, Aperture an Shutter are set correct. I read that you should put the camera in Aperture Priority. I did that and it didn’t work like I hoped. I will play with the setting and come up with the right recipe.
My next quest is to find inexpensive (free) software that will complies all the images together. I have gone to VersionTracker, but most of the software they offer is for iSight on the Mac’s. I use a Mac, but I need something more then that. A few people have pointed me to QuickTime Pro 7. It isn’t very expensive and may work seamless with iMove. Unfortunately QuickTime Pro 7 doesn’t have a trial.
On a side note, while I was doing time-lapse research, I did find a photographer Nicolesy Photography, that does a two video series on How to Create a Time-lapse. Below is the first video of her two part series. Plus as a bonus I will add another of her videos of a time lapse that she did of a portrait shoot setup and the shoot it’s self.
Stay tuned for next weeks Tech Tuesday. I that series I will explain how I set up my first time-lapse and what I leard from my mistakes. Plus I will include Nicolesy Photography second How to Create a Time-lapse video and a bonus video as well.
If you would like tocomment or add links to your time-lapse photography video, please put them in the comments below.
Are you a PocketWizard user? I am a PocketWizad user. I have investigated several different types of wireless triggers for when I purchased my first studio equipment. I currently use three PocketWizard Plus II and a MultiMax for more specific needs and time-lapse photography on my Canon G10.
I use Calumet Geneses 200 gear for my home studio. However, since my camera gear wasn’t set up with a PC link (Nikon D70s and Nikon SB600) I decided to go wireless. My choice is the PocketWizard Plus II. It was not the cheapest wireless system on the market, however it filled my needs, with the ability to expand and grow as my needs grew.
When I found out last year that PocketWizard released the Flex TT5, Flex TT5 Mini for Canon equipment, I couldn’t wait for the release of the Flex TT5 for Nikon. However, PocketWizard ran into several issues with the Flex TT5 for Canon. These issues delayed the development of the Nikon gear until the worked all the kinks out of the Canon Flex TT5.
Now it looks like they have figured it out and hopefully they have worked all the bugs out, and corrected them for the release of the Flex TT5 for Nikon.
Mark Wallace of Mark Wallace Photography and SanpFactory has put of a short video on his test of the Flex TT5 for Nikon at WPPI last week. Mark Wallace is a Canon shooter, but he is using Nikon equipment for this test.
Check out the video below or hop over to his SnapFactory Blog to get the write-up. Or get the official work from PocketWizard here.
After talking to a few local photo stores the speculated release date will be some time in April.
Mar 102010
40/365 Redjected, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 40/365
The other day I woke up and I saw these sitting on top of the of the closed dumpster. I guess someones romantic night went horrible wrong.
After several days these roses were still on the dumpster, so I took a photo of them before I tossed them in the compost been. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Mar 102010
39/365 Spicy BBQ Ribs, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 39/365
I cooked some Spicy BBQ Ribs in the slow cooker. It required for them to be in the cooker for 6-8 hours. If I would have left them in their for 8 hours, the meat would have been totally off the bone. As it was all you had to do is pick up the end and the meat slid off.
Strobist Info:
SB600
Pocket Wizards II
Lasolite 24in. EzyBox
3/16 White Core Foam Board
Mar 082010
36/365 Oak Gall Art, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 36/365
My wife is a 3/4 grade teacher. This term they are doing a study of the local indians that lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the things they do is create a piece of art from a “Oak Gall” or “Wasp Gall”. These were the best among and my wife asked me if I would photograph them.
Strobist Info:
SB600
Pocket Wizards II
Lasolite 24in. EzyBox
(2) 3/16 White Core Foam Board
Mar 042010
35/365 Urban Mushroom, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
Image 35/365
I found these mushrooms on a tree just down the street from my house. I waited until the afternoon light. Since the light was fading I used a 12 inch silver reflector to get light under the mushrooms.