Oct 242010
Nov 122009
Taken with Genius. Edited with Tiffen Photo Fx.
I took this photo on my drive to work this morning. The power lines vanishing into the distance always strike me for their sheer size and what they represent: industry, technology, innovation, communication and our ability to create something where there once was nothing.
This photo reminded me of one of my favorite songs by Thomas Dolby, The Flat Earth. Yes, it’s another metaphor, but what does it mean? Dane Sanders, in his book Fast Track Photographer refers to a flattened world as one where “your vision, your roadmap, your inventive ideas are just as valid as anyone.” We live in a world where you can be anything you can imagine.
The Earth can be any shape you want it
Any shape at all
Dark and cold or bright and warm
Long or thin or small
But it’s home and all I ever had
and maybe why for me the Earth is flat
Lyrics from The Flat Earth by Thomas Dolby
Don’t forget the outtakes.
Manual: p.1 Introduction
Images: Dane Sanders
After onOne recently updated their DSLR Camera Remote to be able to work with Nikon Camera, I was intrigue. The app remotely control your Canon or Nikon DSLR camera from your iPhone or iPod Touch
I guess you could say that I’m an iPhone app addict, especially when it come to taking and editing photos. Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t found the perfect app yet, but that’s beside the point. I don’t mind dropping a buck or two on an app. That’s part of the reason I try so many of the various photography apps. But it was a bit harder for me to pay $20…but only a little.
Yesterday, I finally decided to buy it and see how well it worked. I’m here to report that it does what it says it does. And it’s kind of fun. I can envision using it from time to time in various scenarios which could range from model shoots, photographing from strange angles to self portraits. (It might be sort of weird to actually have myself in a few more photos from time to time.) If you really want to push the proverbial envelope you could combine all three: photographing yourself and a model from a strange angle. 
Here’s how it’s hooked up. The camera, in my case the Nikon D90, is controlled via USB cable that connects the camera to my MacBook Pro. A free server application runs on the computer and seamlessly takes care of the dirty work of communicating between the camera and the iPhone. Wifi needs to be enabled for all of this to work. But thanks to the genious of wireless I was able to takes photos from my basement with the camera that was situated on the floor above.
Those cameras that have certain live view capabilities are even able to display that live view through the iPhone. Very entertaining! I love to be able to adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO from the comfort of my iPhone touch screen.
So it sounds like I’ve given DSLR Camera Remote a pretty glowing review. The question remains…will I really use it. Only time will tell. Ask me in a few months if it’s still on my iPhone or if it gone to iPhone app graveyard. But I suspect that there will be several photography apps removed before this one.
Oct 082009
This is my favorite time of year for clouds. On my drive home from work, sometimes I can’t keep my eyes off the clouds. It makes driving very dangerous. I stopped the car for this shot. It’s composed of 8 individual photos.
This morning the clouds were once again stunning. I’ve been enjoying the film grain that I can get out of NIK filters. I looks like there is a hand in the sky…a three fingered hand from the Simpsons.
