Today I learned: Strobes go boom.

Of course I have a ton of photo gear laying around the studio but I never knew the strobes could blow up. Yikes. Here is a thing from Strobist to help avoid that.

Have a flash that's been sitting, unused, for a long time? Or did you buy a used flash with an unknown history? Turn it on the wrong way and you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

Example: Paul Buff Flashes

1. Dial the power control slider all the way down before turning the flash on. If the flash is a powerful model such as a WLX1600 or WLX3200 (with capacitor switching) make sure the quarter-power switch is not engaged. (You want all of the caps to be involved in the process, and they are not so at the quarter-power setting.)

2. Turn the flash on.

3. Pop the flash for 5-10 shots at the lowest-power setting. (If you can trigger the flash remotely, that probably would not be a bad idea.) This process will partially cycle the capacitor while giving it time to reform the thin, insulating oxide layer that it needs to work properly.

4. Raise the power level one stop and repeat step #4, slowly working your way up to full power. This will help to avoid the possible "thermal runaway" vicious cycle described above and will in many cases safely rejuvenate (or "re-form") a capacitor that may have deteriorated over time.

Oli Kellett-Cross Road Blues

Some really nice cityscapes here by Oli Kellett. Nice use of lighting.

New Personal Project: Deliberate Acts of Stillness

Just finished up a personal photography project I started in May in Yachats, Oregon called, “Deliberate Acts of Stillness”. I series of Landscapes I made while down there trying to explore some different photographic techniques. Links to here on the Site and on Behance.

Testing new photo technique

Trying out some different techniques with a ND filter. Starting to wrap my head around it a little better.

Oceanside Oregon

Here are some iPhone snaps from a recent trip to Oceanside Oregon we went on. All from the iPhone SE, but I am getting tempted to upgrade to the pro13 possibly.

Smartphones will kill off the DSLR within three years says Sony

While I do prefer the look out the gate from my iPhone, when I look at 100% or in a print they do not hold up compared to my fuji x100. Will be interesting to see if this pans out.

“Some fascinating slides (opens in new tab) presented during the briefing were even more specific, with one slide showing that, according to Sony, "still images are expected to exceed ILC [interchangeable lens camera] image quality" sometime during 2024.

Those are two slightly different claims, with 'ILCs' also including today's mirrorless cameras, alongside the older DSLR tech that most camera manufacturers are now largely abandoning. 

But the broader conclusion remains – far from hitting a tech ceiling, smartphones are expected to continue their imaging evolution and, for most people, make standalone cameras redundant. 

So what tech will drive this continued rise of the best phone cameras? Sony points to a few factors, including “quantum saturation” and improvements to "AI processing". Interestingly, Sony also expects the sensor size in "high-end model" phones to double by 2024.”

Mike's Motels 1974

Pretty cool photo set here from Mike Mandel on Motels from the 70’s. Some fun stuff that could be interesting to recreate in CG… maybe…

Mike's Motels 1974

"I want to post my photographs to Instagram, but my ethics are getting in the way."

Interesting Reddit thread here where people are discussing the ethics of using Instagram with all the information that has come to light about Facebook’s data harvesting/manipulation. A good read with a lot of interesting opinions. As I have mentioned here before, I am very anti-social media.

“As I'm sure many of us have been, I have been using my pandemic induced free time to do some intensive organizing and editing of my photography archives.

I now find myself with an ethical dilemma: I want to post my pictures to Instagram, a Facebook CompanyTM

I quit Facebook some 7-8 years ago and Insta some 3-4 years ago due to the many scandals Facebook has been implicated in over the years - from massive data breaches, to major privacy concerns, to anti-trust issues, to willfully illicit use of user data to manipulate elections and public sentiments around the world:

CNET, NBC News, CNBC, NPR / WBUR, Wikipedia Mega List, etc, etc, etc

Sometimes it seems like a silly stand to take / hill to die on-- I am, after all, an infinitesimally small cog in the machine-- but that hasn't stopped my conscience from shouting at me every time I think about giving the 'gram another shot.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I being ridiculous? How ridiculous? How do you navigate the ethical/moral challenges involved with social media platforms?

​I'm curious to see what this community's take is :)”

Continential Breakfast, by Niall McDiarmid

Found this series of photographs by Niall McDiarmid on This Isn’t Happiness. The color and composition is pretty awesome. Really would like to try something like this in CG. That lighting is so spot on.

Snaps from Manzanita

Couple frames from a family trip to Manzanita Oregon we just got back from. Did all the edits in Luminar again. No Photoshop used at all.

Luminar is pretty interesting. I am hammering these pretty hard and not getting a ton of artifacts or issues. The one-button AI sky swap is pretty fun to play with as well. All shot on the new Fuji 100v which I recently picked up.

Gregory Crewdson, New Work. "An Eclipse of Moths"

Write up in the NYT about his new work, “An Eclipse of Moths”

“The section of Pittsfield where he staged his pictures is near a General Electric transformer plant that poisoned the environment with PCBs but also employed most of the town. Ms. Hiam, who was born in Pittsfield, said, “My parents worked for GE. Everyone I knew had parents who came here for GE.” Pittsfield was devastated in 1987 by the closing of the factory, which now looms over the landscape like a ruined castle in a European village.”

Yachats, Oregon.

Went out to Yachats, Oregon for some much needed decompression time a little bit ago and here are some snaps from my phone that I took while wandering around. Really beautiful place.

Knife still life study

Been meaning to do this lighting study for a bit now and I finally decided it was time to put up or shut up, lol! I did not want to clean the knife too much because I want to show the texture there. Many knives have some really cool surfaces and that could really be brought out with this technique. Also, this knife is like 20 years old so it’s earned those scuffs.

Shoot At Oddball Tattoo

So the last post was all about getting the Vivitars fired up and this one shows the results.  Because they are so small you get razor sharp light on your subjects.  Man, they are moody things to work with though.  Moody but worth it.

Cymbal & Gong Study

Just picked up this new Cymbal & Gong 22" crash ride,  "Holy Grail" from Revival Drums and it sounds so damn good I wanted to do something visual with it.  They do a custom patina which makes it really have that vintage look as well.  Shot with my Dedolights and comped into a sweep made in Modo. 

Vincent Laforet: The Age of the Standalone Still Camera is Coming to and End for all but PROS

"And that’s the point:  it’s not necessarily about the search for the BEST camera, it’s the challenge to make the MOST POPULAR and WIDELY ADOPTED camera.   And the Smartphones have already won that battle.

So as you like;y continue to see the camera market shrink in the next few years, (remember those things called “Point and Shoot” cameras that we used to buy just a few years ago that you don’t ever see anymore…)  you’ll hopefully better understand that pros are going to increasingly become a niche market.   Long gone will be the days of huge conventions with massive camera manufacturer booths."

Interesting write up, but I would say they won at least two years ago. If it was not for the Fuji x100 I would not travel with a stand alone camera at all myself.  Can't think of the last time I took the DSLR out of the studio.  I am saying this as a good thing.  Here is a link to a few snaps I took with the Fuji just to show how good the quality is.  

The thing with me though is that I now spend more time working in CGI then shooting. So make some predictions based on that metric ;)

Art: Sarah Martinet Aerial Photos

Was looking at Sara Martinet's Aerials photos last night and I really like the post process she uses.  It's subtle but flattens out foreground to background in a interesting way which makes it feel painterly while avoiding the HDR uncanny valley. 

Oneonta George Hike

Went on a relaxing hike in Oneonta George over the past weekend and took a few snappies. Now we are back in sub freezing temps…. boo.