Diary of a Network Geek

Really, it’s about dust and keeping it out of your camera, but, let’s be honest, that really is the biggest issue in keeping your camera clean.

As part of their “photography 101” series, The Photo Argus recently ran a story titled “Caring for the DSLR Body and Lenses”, but it primarily focused on cleaning the body of the DSLR, including the sensor, and keeping dust out of the body going forward.  And, to be fair, dust in the body, especially on…
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Specifically, Creativity Exercises for Photographers.

One of my “problems”, it seems these days, is “inspiration”.  I know, it’s kind of a classic “champagne problem”, as a friend of mine calls them.  I work a day job that pays for, well, pretty much my entire life.  Digital photography is just a hobby of mine.  For that matter, so is just about everything on the web, including this blog!  But, photography is a hobby about which I am passionate.  The thing is, when…
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It should be no surprise to the few, brave souls who still come and read this blog that I’m just a little obsessed with photography.

As I’m sure people have guessed, I’m not from here.  Here, of course, being Houston, Texas.  I moved here back in ’98 and, well, just stayed.  In fact, I like to say that I’m nothing but a damn Yankee carpet-bagger who’s only here for your money and your women!  But, all that aside, I’ve learned to love this town and all its quirks.  I’ve even learned a little bit of the history here, though, I have to admit, I’m surprised at how much Houston history is still around.  In Chicago, where my family is from, we have a long-standing tradition of preserving our historic buildings and there are quite a few.  But, I was quite surprised to find that Houston has a lot of historic buildings still standing, too!
So, you can imagine that when a friend sent me a link to a site that combined photography and Houston history, I was pretty impressed.  And, that’s what the HoustoricProject is all about; photography and Houston’s architectural history.  The idea is simple, they take old photos and photograph them out in the world, in front of the historic building that is in the original photo.  It does an amazing job of placing the old photo in both time and space, relating it to how things are now.  It’s quite an interesting project, in a number of ways.
For me, I just love the photography and the history combined in a creative way.

But, hey, don’t take my word for it, go check it out yourself!  Seriously!  I mean, it is Friday after all, and you deserve a creative break, don’t you?  Of course, you do!  So, hit the link and be inspired.

I won’t call it a coin bank.

I mean, theoretically, you can just put coins in it, but if you’re saving for camera gear, those coins had better be silver dollars!
I’m a sucker for kitsch as much as the next guy, but, when I saw this bank in the shape of a camera from Photojojo, I was hooked.  Not only does it look incredibly realistic, but the lens comes off!  That’s how you open it to get the change you’ve been saving back out.  How clever is that?!  And, if you ever wanted to have a less expensive camera prop for some reason, this would certainly fit the bill, even if you’re zoomed in pretty close.
They suggest that you use it to save for camera gear, but, let’s be honest, unless you’re putting some pretty big bills in this thing, all you’ll pay for is your coffee while you’re out shooting.  Still, it does look super cool and would make some photography obsessed person on your Christmas list very happy indeed!

Hey, it’s Friday, so why not at least go look at the pictures.  It really is pretty neat.

Well, this is interesting…

Some time ago, I read about a revolutionary new idea in cameras; focusing after taking the photograph.
Having had autofocus occasionally grab the wrong thing in a photo, this idea intrigued me.  The idea that a camera could simply capture all the available light, store it in a photographic format, and let you choose later where you wanted to focus seemed, frankly, like an impossibility.  It seemed like science-fiction.  Well, apparently, the future is now, because this camera…
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Personally, I find both to be delicious!

But, that has nothing at all to do with this post.
I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff this week.  Mostly, though, I’ve been thinking about creativity and photography.  So, instead of just bringing you one link today, I’m bringing you two.
First, a little about creativity.  Some time ago now, Paul Zii wrote 29 Ways to Stay Creative on his Tumblr.  It’s worth reading.  I can’t promise you that it will fix your creative slump, but, really, the novelty of trying anything from that list is likely to stir something for you, even if it’s not today.  Besides, what can it hurt?
I’ve been thinking about creativity, primarily my own, for a little bit now.  My photography, I feel, has been getting stale.  For a while, going out shooting with other photographers seemed to help me, but, now, I find myself more stymied by them than inspired.  I shoot what they’re into, not because I’m all that interested, but because I’m with them.  Not that it’s a bad thing, by any means.  They’re mostly a good group of photographers and pretty decent people, too, so hanging out with them has been fun.  But, due to some interpersonal “stuff”, I found myself asking if that was really what I wanted to be doing with my photography.  Did I really want someone else to drive what I shot and why?  As it turns out, not so much.  So, change and its relationship to creativity has been on my mind a lot lately.  And, of course, I thought back to Paul’s list.  Some of those things, I did or have done, before.  Some are entirely new ideas.  All of them stimulated my thinking and creativity.
If you’re in a slump, try them.  They may help!

Second, a very creative idea for cameras.  Pinhole Egg Cameras.  Yeah, that’s right, it’s an article about making pinhole cameras from eggs, developing the photos from them and displaying them.
I have never done film photography, really, just digital, so these absolutely fascinated me.  In fact, seeing these made me give serious thought to taking an old-fashioned film photography course.  I have a film camera and I know it works because I’ve lent it to several people at the office when they were taking photography courses.
Well, maybe one day, when I have more time….

Until then, though, you might as well enjoy the links!  It is, after all, Friday!

You may have seen this already…

If you travel in the same tech circles on-line that I do, you probably have seen a lot of the same things I link to here on Fridays.  So, why do I still do it?  Well, for a couple reasons.
First, because maybe you missed it.  Or it didn’t seem like it was what it is so you didn’t actually look at it.
Secondly, because, well, I liked it, so I want to link to it so I don’t lose the link, even if you don’t like it.
And, thirdly, of course, because it adds search engine optimization “juice” to my tiny, little marketing tool, er, I mean, blog.

So, anyway, now that the business is out of the way, here’s the real stuff.
You all should know by now that I’m a little bit into photography.  (Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s like saying Shakespeare wrote a couple plays, but, still, you get what I’m saying here, right?)  And, of course, digital photography is “where it’s at”, as the hep cats say.  Well, as ubiquitous as it may seem today, it wasn’t always so.  Don’t believe me?  Okay, then hop over to ExtremeTech and check out their History of Digital Photography and see if that doesn’t change your mind.
Also?  It’s Friday and you’re obviously slacking if you’re reading this blog anyway, so you might as well go see something fun.

Regular readers may be familiar with my photography obsession.

A number of years ago, I spent some money I’d hoarded on an entry-level Canon DSLR, instead of some medical bills.
I’ll be honest, sometimes I worry that I should have spent the money on the medical bills, but, my shots are getting better.  I take great comfort in the idea that it’s the photographer, not the camera, that takes the photo.  Mostly because the majority of my gear is, well, let’s just say, not “top flight” and leave it at that.  But, still, if my camera were stolen, I’d be quite devastated and I’d want to find it again.  Well, that’s where the Stolen Camera Finder comes in.

First, you should know that this is NOT something you install on your camera.  Nor is it some kind of insurance.  Rather, it’s a webpage.  And, it’s free.
Here’s how it works: You get a photograph which you which you took with missing camera.  You take that photo to the website I linked to above and drop it on the target, per the instructions.  Then, the website does a search, based on the metadata from you photo, which includes the serial number of your camera, to find all the photos it can which match the starting photo.  If, or when, it finds photos posted by someone else that have the same serial number embedded in them as your source photo, it shows you the sites.  You can then go track down the person who used your stolen camera to make some of those terrible Facebook photos, or, I guess now, Google+ photos.

How you handle it after that is up to you.
All that matters is that Stolen Camera Finder helps you find your camera.

Okay, maybe not the “funnest” Friday Fun link I’ve ever posted, but, still, helpful if you’ve had a camera get stolen!

I am, in spite of what some shooting buddies may have thought, a Canon shooter, and always have been.

I understand the crazy devotion that Nikonians have to their brand, but I do not share it.  So, for all you fellow Canonites, I have a special Friday treat; Canon Quick Guides.  These are guides right from the Canon mothership on how to use their gear, the right way.  They are, per the website, “a free downloadable resource for EOS cameras and accessories. These PDF cheat sheets are helpful tools to carry around in your camera bag for quick reference, or to read from your computer for step-by-step guidance on specific product features and techniques.”  And, they are pretty damn cool.

Incidentally, they were first pointed out to me by Syl Arena of Speedliting.com and [amazon_link id=”032171105X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Speedliter’s Handbook[/amazon_link] fame.  Trust me on this, he knows Canon!

So, anyway, go print some out to throw into your camera bag before you go shooting this weekend!
And, enjoy the rest of your Friday!

Yeah, you read that right.

It’s no secret that I love my digital camera.  Not quite enough to give it a name, like some photographers I know, but, still, I love the little fist-full of magic that lets me take amazingly detailed digital photographs.  I remember when my ex-wife got her digital camera, it was a big deal that it was something like 3-megapixels.  Now, my iPhone has a camera at least as good as that built into it!  The camera I use now is a 10 megapixel camera and that’s really just an entry-level DSLR, which is 3 years old.  The better cameras start at 20 megapixels and go up from there these days.  That, let me assure you, is capturing a lot of data.  We’ve come a long way in a short time.

But, researchers are working on cameras that make those look primitive.
According to Scientific American, DARPA researchers are experimenting with gigapixel cameras.  That’s over a billion pixels.  That’s like 333 times better resolution than an iPhone camera.  That, in short, is pretty amazing.  And, not only does the camera take amazing shots, but it looks amazing, too.  Check out the slideshow at Scientific American that shows the camera and a picture it’s taken.

There’s something to think about as you snap photos of your friends this weekend!