Impressive HDR Video
17
Sep0
Sep0
As photo and video technology advances, new creations become possible and here is what the guys at sovietmontage.com have created using new video technology:
“This video highlights several clips we’ve made using our new High Dynamic Range (HDR) process. Video is captured on two Canon 5D mark II DSLRs, each capturing the exact same subject via a beam splitter. The cameras are configured so that they record different exposure values, e.g., one camera is overexposed, the other underexposed. After the footage has been recorded, we use a variety of HDR processing tools to combine the video from the two cameras, yielding the clips you see above.”
“HDR Video provides filmmakers with many exciting new opportunities. Not only can HDR video create interesting effects, it can also allow for even exposure where artificial lighting is unavailable or impractical. For example, when a subject is backlit, one camera could be set to properly expose the subject, the other the sky, resulting in video with perfect exposure throughout.”
“We will continue to develop and improve the HDR video process for better results and efficiency. For more information, check out our website www.sovietmontage.com.”
Great music lasts
16
Sep0
Sep0
I have always found rap music interesting and artistic, and although I will admit that I do not enjoy all rap music, I find that they are artists just as well as all other musicians. What they do with words and a beat is art. It is communication and some may find that it does not appeal to them, but that does not mean it might not appeal to others.
One thing I have heard rap, hip hop and rnb music accused of is the misuse of earlier artists work and being unoriginal, but to this I must wholly disagree. Artists are often inspired by the art of others to create something of their own and this can be done by adding to the creations of others. Some of the best music around is music created in collaboration. And when artists are inspired by or borrow from others, they forward the communication of that artist. So the modern renditions can lead us back to the classics, and without the classics, the modern renditions would never have been.
I will add to this post some collaborations and some classics that I have found this way:
Beasts at the zoo
16
Sep0
Sep0
Recently went to the zoo accompanied by some kids and with my 400D and new 52mm lens close at hand.
The rest of the pictures are in the photoblog as usual.
New task, new experience, new products
9
Nov0
Nov0
Product photography has never been a focus of mine, but when new opportunities arise I like to take them and gain new experience.
My only real obstacle was my own focus on the person in the shoot. I like taking photos of people because there is a lot of communication and other qualities in that, but for this assignment I should focus more on product presentation, than the expression and communication of the person in the shot. I quickly found that clothing is not easy to photograph, as you want the key elements to be shown and at the same time the model to seem as natural as possible.
When working with products its important to get a firm impression of how the product salesman wants to present the products. What is the vision? How are the other products presented? Otherwise you will end up with something that does not fit in.
Secondly you need to be as organized as possible. What do you need to come out with? How many products in how many combinations? You are directing people and you need to be sure about what you want them to do. The more sure you are the better you direct them, and they will feel and perform better. If you can, get someone to help you keep an eye on the details like how the clothes are on the model and if the print or other key elements are visible. This way you can concentrate more on the angles, lighting, focus and general settings.
Lastly I learned that its important to take ones time, take some extra shots and take a look at a few of them. Zoom in and make sure the focus and lighting is correct. It takes time to set up a shoot and you want to come out with a satisfying product. Make sure you get it!
Halloween is pumpkin season!
31
Oct0
Oct0
Some people celebrate halloween with scary costumes and gory movies, and some people just sit down and carve pumpkins !
Check out the rest of the pictures in the photoblog!
Camping makes for nature pictures
18
Oct0
Oct0
The last camping trip of the year produced some nice fall pictures, and we ended off in a warm cosy living room, with tea, pinapple, pancakes and hot chocolate. What more should sunday bring? (You can find the rest of the photos in the photoblog)
Importing contacts as csv to Gmail
16
Oct0
Oct0
Last night I decided I would quickly import my Outlook contacts from my old phone to Gmail so they would automatically be added to my new HTC Hero. This was far from as easy as expected. When exporting the Outlook contacts to CSV (comma separated values), Gmail would only import the phone numbers without any of the other information. I tried following the Gmail guide on how to create or edit a CSV file, but even narrowing down to those few fields (firstname, lastname, email adress, phone), did not prevent Gmail from putting phone numbers in the notes section.
Searching the net I found that many others were having the same problems, and some had posted old CSV files for others to use. Problem was though that some of them had changed, but while looking at that I realised what might be the solution.
HERE IS WHAT YOU DO:
Log in to Gmail, go to Contacts and choose Export. Mark “All Contacts” and choose “Outlook CSV format (for importing into Outlook or another application)”. Save the file and open it in Excel. Copy the entire commaseparated line cell and make a .txt file where you paste it.
Now open a new Excel spreadsheet and go to Data > Import external data > Import and choose the .txt file and the file format “Text file (*.txt…)”. Now follow the guide and choose “Delimited” and “Next” and “Comma” and then click “Finish”.
You now have an Excel sheet with all the correct columns. Now open Outlook and Export your Contacts from Outlook to a CSV, open it in Excel and copy the correct data to the correct columns in the other sheet. When you are done, save the file as an Excel sheet for backup and then chose “Save as” and save it as a CSV. You are now ready to open Gmail and choose “Import” and you will get all your contacts into Gmail.
Repairing old toys and getting new ones
14
Oct0
Oct0
Its hard to take pictures, when you drop your camera outside Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid and the screen keeps popping out. Making sure the camera is safely buckled in before you bend to fetch the tele out of the bag is a lesson I have now paid to learn. So now that I finally have it fixed I can get at some photography again and Im looking forward to it!
Meanwhile I decided that it was time for my HTC Touch to be substituted by a new fresh and more mediasavvy phone. I looked at the Iphone, Blackberry Bold and many other models, but ended up going for the HTC Hero.
Why? Well, I must admit that while I am not Apples or Microsofts greatest fan, I do really appreciate Googles straightforward way of working. They set out to do something and they do it well and they do it for free. So Google Android was a large part of it. I wanted to try it and I wanted to see how it played together with gmail, google calendar, google maps and all the other addictive google inventions. On top of that I was growing tired of Windows Mobile and I wanted a phone with 3,5 mm jac plug, 3G and GPS.
So I have now had Hero for 12 hours and I must say I am very pleased. Setup is easy, Android Market supplies thousands of great and amazing apps, from the Twitter and Facebook widgets to Wikimobile and the funny Metal Detector.
The ability to customize the multiple desktops makes Hero incredibly fast to work with. With a single tap one can turn on or off the wireless, gps or bluetooth, and one can even make a shortcut directly to a gmail label. The Market is packed with apps for any and every interest, so soccerfans like myself can have an app just to update us on favourite matches. Thank you Soccer Livescores, thank you Google and thank you HTC for taking the new operating system in stride and not sticking to Windows Mobile!
One tee and one design for thee
22
Sep0
Sep0
Walking home from my local video store I decided I needed to make a tee with my favourite converse on it, so when I came home I made it in a few minutes. Its just a mockup and Id like to spend time making speedlines and shadow on it, but for now its just fun. I need to make more tees and hoodie designs, because its just plain fun :)
Converse tee design
Design for a cleaning company
A place for my creations
18
Sep0
Sep0
I have made a new page called creations, where I am going to show some of my different mock-ups. I get many ideas, and sometimes I make the time to sit down and visualise them in Photoshop or Indesign. Its a great feeling to get an idea and make it come to life, and even though most of them dont come into use, they are still enjoyable creations, that I just havent found a place for. Until now!
Let me know what you think
Mock-up for a banner
Funky converse design idea
Random from photoblog