Diary of a Network Geek

Oh, God, help me, I’m writing about Facebook.

Yeah, so I’m all up in that Facebook stuff and the average Facebook profile picture is terrible, especially mine. Here’s a link to something you can do about that.  Maybe I’ll even update my Facebook profile pic when I get a couple minutes to rub together!

More photography add-on software.

Now, as regular readers know, I loves me some digital photography.  What not everyone may realize, however, is that, in spite of being a professional geek, I have disturbingly weak photo-editing software skills.  It is my greatest shame.  On the other hand, it’s also one of the ways I’ve sharpened my photography since getting my camera.  I generally haven’t edited any shots I toss up on the web, so any “correction” has been “in camera”, with settings and lighting, not post work.  But, I do sincerely want to change that.

Now, this software may not improve my photographs, but, I suspect, that Fotosketcher will make many of them more interesting.  This FREE software will take your digital photos and make them into drawings or other kinds of line art.  It will convert them to black and white or leave just part of them colorized.  Simpler than Photoshop, though certainly less versatile, but also a whole lot cheaper.  Worth taking a look at, even if you’re as bad a photographer as me!

Enlarging photographs is harder than it seems.

No, seriously, getting a section of a digital picture enlarged without introducing all sorts of photographic “noise” is far, far more difficult than you might suppose.  When zooming in, the edges get jagged far more quickly than people realize, even when you’re using a fancy-dancy Canon 5D Mark II and shooting in RAW mode.  (No, I don’t have one either, but I so, so am saving my nickels and dimes to get one!)  So, what is a creative photographer to do?  Simple, use SmillaEnlarger, free, opensource software available on Source Forge.

Or, as you commonly know it, Friday the Thirteenth.

I haven’t mentioned this more than once or twice this year, so, enjoy a history lesson, of sorts, while I’m out and about.
Most people in the Western World think of this day as unlucky, though I never really have. For years I wondered why people were so funny and superstitious about Friday the Thirteenth. I always thought it was because Judas was the Thirteenth Apostle or something like that. No, according to this article on GlobalPsychics.com, it has to do with the plot to suppress the Knights Templar. Hey, stop laughing! That’s what it says!! And, I quote:

The modern basis for the Friday the 13th superstition stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant against “the Knights Templar”. The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified. A Black Friday indeed!

So, there you have it, Friday the Thirteenth is a global conspiracy, though, for a nice twist, it’s not the Knights Templar or Freemasons who are behind it! Though, I do suppose they are indirectly involved. Personally, I usually have better luck on Friday the Thirteenth, but, then, I always have been a little out of step with the world. Oh, and here’s a link to some alternate ideas why everyone else is afraid of Friday the Thirteenth.

Personally, I’m just enjoying having my parents in town, so, for me, there’s nothing bad about this particular Friday the Thirteenth.

Enjoy it.

So, I may have mentioned once or twice that I was going to take a photography seminar this past weekend.

To say that two days with Joe McNally, 25+ year veteran of Life, National Geographic, Time and others, learning about flash and portrature was fantastic is an understatement.  I don’t quite know what I was expecting, but I figured that it was mostly going to be over my head.  Still, at a mere $150 for two days worth of access to a brilliant photographer like Joe McNally, anything I might possibly pick up would be worth the money.  I’m so, so glad I took that attitude and just went in with as open a mind as possible, ready to soak up whatever I could.  I learned so much in those two days that I think my brain is going to melt and ooze out my ears.

First of all, I was completely expecting to roll out of that class with a wish list that was filled with all kinds of expensive “big” studio flash and portable power packs.  I was anticipating a list of equipment that ran into the thousands of dollars.  Instead, I was shown what tiny, hot-shoe flashes can do.  I listened to a pro talk at great length about how much we can get out of shaping the light that comes out of many different light sources, but especially how to use these little “pocket” flashes to get big effects.  It was, to say the least, an eye-opener.  It completely changed how I think about light and flash and portraiture.

Secondly, I’ve learned to use my camera in a totally different way.
I now sight with my left eye and use a different stance, which I now think of as the Joe McNally Hold, or the McNally Stance.  It lets me stabilize the camera better, keeping it tight in against my left shoulder and use what turns out to be my strong eye.  For years I’ve known that my left eye was stronger due to my slightly varied perscription, but I’d always forced myself to use my right eye, which I’d thought of as my dominant eye.
I also had gotten used to shooting in full manual mode, but now I’m changing to Aperture Priority mode as my “default”.  Why?  Beacause, as Joe said, using a camera in full manual mode, is “… like driving a Ferrari to church.”  That digital camera is a very sophisticated bit of electronics and not taking advantage of all that built-in smarts is, well, just a waste.  So, now, I’m trying to take full advantage of those smarts for a change.  My learning curve oof photography just got knocked down a peg or two, but I’m okay with that.  I’m hoping that it will result in some better pictures, eventually.

And, finally, based on what I saw this past weekend, the secret to great photography, somehow, is gaffer’s tape.  Man, they used that stuff for everything!

Incidentally, you can see some of the photos I took at the seminar on my Flickr page; Joe McNally Seminar.

If I get time, I may write some more about what I learned at this fantastic seminar.  It’s a little overwelming at times to consider all the “stuff” he poured into our heads.
Again, it was fantastic!

Do you know what the Golden Hour is?

No, it’s not the hour after sex.
And, actually, it’s two hours.  The so-called Golden Hour is the hour right at sunrise and sunset when the light is “perfect” for photography.  It’s when the light is even and indirect and the most flattering.  In other words, it’s just when you want to take beautiful, wonderful pictures of your favorite lover so as to remember them perfectly forever.
But, as lovely as that is, I’m a geek, so I was more excited about the software tool/webapp that helps you find the Golden Hour in your location, called, oddly enough, The Golden Hour Calculator.

So, there it is, the best light, especially for outdoor photography, where ever you happen to be in the world.  Go figure out your local Golden Hour and then get your camera to work!

ParanormalActivities

Originally uploaded by Network Geek

I saw Paranormal Activity Friday.

So, you might have noticed that I haven’t reviewed many movies in the past couple weeks. Well, I’ve been busy. Stop laughing!
Anyway, I wanted to hit a movie and even though it’s not my kind of film normally, a friend convinced me to go see Paranormal Activity. Now, I didn’t find it scary. That’s not why I don’t generally care for these kinds of movies. No, rather, it’s because I’m generally two or three steps ahead in the plot. So, when most people are getting scared, I’m nodding, or adjusting my internal predictions of how things are going to go. And, yes, I do keep that all inside so that I’m not ruining the movie for anyone else with me. I’m not rude. But, I’m also not often wrong when it comes to the plots of movies like this.

I will say this, I actually liked this film.
I liked that it was made on a shoestring budget and still had some pretty decent effects that the actors sold really well. I liked the little tricks they did by filming with a single camera from the point of view of footage recorded by the participants in the film. Sure, it limited them in both scope and certain aspects of cinematography, but as a concept it worked well, especially in this particular scenario.
The basic plot is simple; a couple are being “haunted” and they try to get to the bottom of it with a video camera. As it turns out, she is the one being haunted, not the house or land. The “ghost” follows her and becomes more and more aggressive as she and her fiance try to capture it on film and then also try to enlist a medium to get rid of it. Those attempts fail, incidentally, but that’s only early on in the film. After that, things get much, much worse.

Now, as per usual, I won’t give away too much of the plot here, but eventually we do see a ouija board, sleep walking, and footprints made by an invisible creature. Not to mention all the strange sounds and odd, little camera effects that go on. The director does a fantastic job building up the suspense until the final confrontation with the angry spirit.
There were, for me, few surprises. All I can say is go see the movie and pay close attention to all the hints and you’ll see most of this coming, too. But, I promise you’ll still get a surprise at the end, just like I did.

If you like scary movies, or even if you’re just not scared by them and want to check one out, hit this movie. This really is the sleeper hit of the season. It’s not gory and really not overly violent, though there is violence in the film. It does drag a little in the early stages, but once the momentum starts to build, it just keeps building until things explode!.
Well worth seeing before it gets squeezed out of the theaters by the more “feel good” holiday films. Paranormal Activity is certainly one of the best films of the year.
Go see it!

There is nothing I can say about this website that will make you understand it.

Have you heard of Strobist?  You know, the lighting site that has helpful hints for photographers?  Well, Joshua Hoffine‘s blog is like that, but for horror photographers.
Don’t go here if you are easily frightened or prone to nightmares.  Seriously.

But, for the rest of you, Happy Halloween!

Cool mazes made from, uh, maize.

No, really, this is something I’ve seen in the Mid-West, where I’m from, but not so much anywhere else, so when I saw an article on the creation of corn mazes, I had to share it.  Every year back in Illinois, there were always farmers who would carve giant mazes out of their fields for people to come and wander through.  Naturally, there was a small charge, but it was well worth it for a maze lover.  And, I think it kept more than one farm afloat, to be honest.  I seem to recall that the better mazes made more money from selling admission to the maze than they did from the crop itself, which is actually kind of sad.

Anyway, this article is about the fun of making them, so go check it out.

The happiest time of year!

Okay, so, maybe Halloween isn’t everyone’s favorite time of year, but I still think it’s fun.  But, then, I’ve always loved the strange and odd that makes other people uncomfortable.  Back in the “Before Time”, as I like to refer to my adolescence, I got really into a writer by the name of H. P. Lovecraft.  In fact, he was the inspiration for my writing under the name “J. K. Hoffman”, not that Rowling person.  In any case, he created a series of myths around a terrible elder god who slept in an ancient city sunken beneath the waves of a long forgotten ocean, dreaming of devouring all of mankind who was named Cthulhu.  There were all sorts of stories about him and his kin and they were actually quite frightening and a little unnerving at the time, even for me.

But, apparently, old Cthulhu has gotten himself a new publicist and a whole new, “kid friendly” image.  No, seriously!  Check out these 14 Great Cthulhu TOYS and see if you don’t agree!

And, for those of you who remember that high-school 0r junior high-school fascination with things man was not meant to know, go hit that link and have a smile at what the night terrors have become.
Happy Friday everyone!