The Sibling Post Trifecta
July 18th, 2007 at 11:59am Been a month since my last post and much has happened in that time period. Since The Blarg and MRI both updated I'll finish things off with a sort of sibling blog hat trick if you will. First off I left my position with the consulting firm I had been with for the past year. My last day was July 6th and I'm taking a month off before starting up at LA County with their Web group. I'm really looking forward to the change, hopefully the work will be more challenging and rewarding. The benefits are excellent and you can't beat a 2.5 mile commute (I was doing 25 miles each way to Diamond Bar and my gas bill was approaching $180 a month). Wedding stuff: 4 days and counting and nearly everything is done. Taking time off helped since I was free during the day to do whatever needed to be done. Took some late engagement pictures last week and got those printed up (thank you Richard!), printed up place cards, table numbers, programs and made favors. Our new place: With my sister, MRI, moving to San Diego they needed to rent out their condo. With Sarah and I getting married we needed a place to rent. To say the least there wasn't much debate about what we should do. Sarah is already moved into the condo and we're getting settled in. We have the 2 most important things already: a bed and a HDTV. Previously mentioned HDTV: My new toy is a 42" Panasonic Plasma and I'm loving it. We've been watching TV on my 20" LCD for about a year and I was ready for something really nice. Cashed in credit card rewards and got a free HD-DVD player (would have had to spend $100 on a player with HDMI anyways) and I've got the receiver already. OTA HDTV and DVDs look gorgeous. Pics of the setup will definitely be posted once I receive my speakers. Honeymoon: I just need to do some last minute confirmations but everything is booked and we are picking a few things we want to do. I just kind of want to explore and take a bunch of pictures. Kauai and Maui here we come. Photography experiments: My goal is to come back from Hawaii with a bunch of awesome pics to print and fill our large empty walls with. One of these pics I want to be a nice big panorama and to facilitate that I'm taking a tripod and new gadget to make sure it is perfect.
- Homemade rear speaker stand made from metal bookshelf end spray painted white and screwed to wall.
- Box with water bottle wrapped in paper with line and nail in front, Panosaurus calibration equipment.
- Phone which hasn't actually been plugged in for several months for some reason.
- Numerous pictures of soon to be wife.
- Cluttered desk
- Bookshelf. Normally top shelf dedicated to SNES game collection and other video games. Next shelf dedicated to miscellaneous literature: Greek mythology, WWII and Vietnam books, fantasy and sci fi. Next shelf would be almost completely dedicated to a mostly complete Star Wars book collection. Next 2 shelves are filled with math and programming books. Wow that all just screams nerd.
- Boxes in living room ready to be moved out.
- Boxes in bedroom ready to be filled.
- Wardrobe consisting mostly of t-shirts, that might have to change soon.
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?
