Honeymoon Pictures Are Up
August 9th, 2007 at 10:56pm Hawaii + 3 cameras = 900+ images but I managed to whittle it down to 220. Some might be a little redundant but there's some pretty nice shots in there. I'll be posting some very NICE panoramic shots of Waimea Canyon and some other beautiful locations soon. Honeymoon Gallery Quick list of what the pictures cover:- Our private cottage
- Spouting Horn
- Sarah reading Harry Potter
- Lots of eating and drinking
- Salt Pond Beach
- Drive up the west side to Waimea Canyon and then up to Kokee State Park
- Dinner at the Beach House
- Swimming in completely enclosed swimming area at Lydgate Beach
- Poipu Beach
- Goats and lizards oh my
- 4 mile hike up to Sleeping Giant
- Shipwreck Beach and lithified cliffs
- Couple waterfalls
- Queen's Bath
- Kilauea Lighthouse
- Moon on the ocean from our hotel window
- Sunrise on the beach
- Sunset in Maui (including turtle)
- Swimming in Maui
- Old Lahaina Luau
- Long exposure of stars (Big Dipper!)
Wedding Pictures
August 7th, 2007 at 09:39pm We're back from our honeymoon (was awesome), I've started my new job and I've got a bunch of wedding day pics up in my gallery now check em out. Pictures from bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner and honeymoon will be up soon. Wedding GalleryCanon SD700IS - Quick Look
June 17th, 2007 at 06:03pm I bought the Canon SD700 last month for my upcoming trip to Hawaii. It is replacing our Canon S400 that has served us for several years and even survived a replacement of the rear LCD. The S400 has a new home in an underwater housing case. My experience with the camera so far has been excellent. I was a little torn between the SD700 and SD800 (which has a wider angle 28mm lens and face recognition focusing/metering), but I've got my Nikon D70 for wide angle and the wider 28mm won't be missed by most (especially if you've never had it on a camera). Another thing I had to consider was high ISO performance for night shots without flash. Compact point cameras have tiny sensors with lots of pixels on them, turn up their sensitivity and it leads to noise. The Fuji F30/F40 use a CCD sensor that performs very well at higher ISOs like 800. ISO 800 on the SD700 is very noisy and barely usable except for sized down prints on the web, the Fujis would have no problem on prints. For me it came down to what is my most common low light shooting situation and the trade offs of Image Stabilization and High ISO. IS for shooting still objects, High ISO for low light action shots. I found the IS to be more useful since I can set my D70 at ISO 1600 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens for really low light situations. Enough of me being picky, let the pictures do the talking. I'll post a more in depth review comparing the SD700 to the S400 and D70, should be interesting to see how the new SD700 stacks up against the older S400 which was hot stuff back in the day.
Panoramic View of Dodger Stadium on a Sunday
May 28th, 2007 at 04:28pm Headed out to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for Mike's Bachelor Party and snapped this series of photos and merged them in Photoshop, not to shabby and just a little distortion on the near foul pole. Click for a larger version.
Long Beach at Night
April 18th, 2007 at 11:35pm Went down to Downtown Long Beach this past weekend to get some drinks and dessert at Parker's. Sounded like a good idea until we got down there and found out the Grand Prix was the next day. We finally got there, ate and walked around to take some pics. Here's a couple but check them all out here.  Â
Backyard Creepy Crawly Pics
March 11th, 2007 at 04:48pm Found these two guys hanging out under the patio furniture today, took pictures before they got torched with BBQ lighter. 
Got your good old Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
And one I've never seen before, after a little research it seems to be bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax), great markings.
Got the Nikon 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 AF-S VR
March 9th, 2007 at 12:31amI had been eying this lens ever since it came out over a year ago but it is so popular it is back ordered everywhere and I didn't feel like waiting in line and over paying (most places sell it $100-$200 over MSRP). I watched the used gear forum at Nikonians until one came up at a price that looked good. Finally saw one that was barely used, shipping included, no tax, 2 free filters and for less then if I had got it at a store. My two big reasons for getting the lens were the extra range 200m vs 70mm and Vibration Reduction (VR). I'll let the pictures below do most of the explaining.
It's not a pro lens but it is hard to beat the size and weight, I got it specifically for walking around all day.
Comparison to the 18-70mm kit lens and 50mm f1.8
Zoom extension comparison
Shot on the 605 on the way to get Golden Spoon, eww blurry (VR off, 200mm, 1/20s, f5.7, ISO 1600)
Same shot with VR on, not bad for something shot at 200mm at a low shutter speed in a moving car
100% crop comparison of the license plate, that's pretty crazy, could be luck but out of 5 shots that was the best "VR off" performer
Comparison between 200mm shots while stationary
Now one thing VR can't help you with is subject motion as seen here when a shot is taken at a pretty slow shutter speed like 1/10s. Everything else is nice and sharp but movement is bad, but I'm not shooting sports or birds so I'm not too concerned.
Hopefully this gets me motivated to get out and shoot more considering I need to justify my expenditure with the fiance. More to come!
DIY Photography Softbox / Light Tent
January 27th, 2007 at 12:35amI had a little spare time today as I recovered from a cold. I've been trying to get into photography more and really figure out how to make pictures that aren't just ordinary. I wanted to try my hand at some macro photography when I read this article. The project involves making a softbox (light tent) out of ordinary household supplies (was free in my case) and then shooting into the sides. The tissue paper on the side diffuses the light very nicely and it then bounces around filling in most of the shadows. I'm using my flash, but a bright lamp would work just as well.
Here's a few shots of stuff I grabbed off my desk and tried in my new cheap-o photography tool.
The Setup
Light being diffused by the tissue paper
Swiss Army Knife (in the full size pic my fingerprints are very clear)
The old trusty point and shoot that needs to be retired
Compact flash cards have never looked better
A lonely battery
Not so lonely batteries
Exact same setup as above but using direct onboard flash, flat and boring
The softbox still needs some work, I'll probably make a larger one and count this one as a prototype. As I continue to dabble I'll post more stuff up. Any suggestions for something to shoot?
