78 rules of photography
Ivars Gravlejs wrote up, and gave examples of, 78 right and wrong ways to shoot a photo.
http://gawno.com/2009/05/78-photography-rules/
For example:
When you take a picture of a sausage, try to use a diagonal composition. It is important to show the cut which is made in 45 degree angle.
compromises and photography
Photography is always about compromises. Trade-off's such as image quality vs cost vs operational speed vs weight vs size vs etc... are always taking place.
I like our digital point and shoot, especially the rotating screen. It can travel all over with us, uses AA-sized batteries, and has lots of manual control But, because of its design, it's not able to produce the images that I really want to produce right now: those with shallow depth of field.
I want images where the subject is clearly separated from the background and with a digital point and shoot, due to its small sensor and the subsequent wide angle lens (not to be confused with field of view) this is rarely possible (unless the subject is very close to the lens and the background is very far away).
The above is an example of what shallow depth of field can do for a subject. Had I shot this with the point and shoot, everything in the background would have been far more in focus and very distracting.
In the world of photography though, a digital point and shoot that can do this is as rare. And to do so with little expense is non-existent. In part, the lack of such a camera has been with physics. Until someone invents silicone (or a different type of sensor) that can flex and bend, light incident to the sensor needs to be as perpendicular as possible (or exotic designs like off-set micro-lenses above the sensors need to be employed which drives the costs way up). When using a large sensor you also need to use larger lenses (compromising on camera size) or with lenses that have smaller base apertures (compromising on functionality).
The other problem, of course, is that such a camera, even when made, is a boutique item. 99% of consumers couldn't care less about DoF (in fact, shallow DoF runs contrary to the entire direction of the point and shoot market of the past 25 years). So such a camera is immediately more expensive.
To date, only two companies have tried to go after this market:
Sigma released, first, the DP1 and recently the DP2. The DP1 had, by all reports, a stellar lens (albeit at a fixed 24mm-equiv wide) but that the operation was rather slow. The DP2 (I've yet to see a review) has a better field of view for my needs (40mm equiv, still fixed focal length) and may or may not be as slow. This may be fine for some people (and may be fine for me even) but there's nowhere for me to test such a camera and at $550 for the DP1 and $650 for the DP2 I will not be buying one.
Olympus and Panasonic announced (last year)the development of a format called "Micro 4/3rds." It was a rather exciting move as the removal of the mirror box could greatly reduce the size of the camera and yet it could still use interchangeable lenses. [Indeed the shortened registration between mount and sensor has allowed many, many other types of lenses to be adapted to be used on these cameras.] Panasonic released the G1 and most recently the GH1 (expected in June) that are essentially mini-SLR looking cameras. (Olympus has yet to release a product.) While that is fine (they are quite small and handy), the cost of these cameras is really amazing: $700 for the G1 and $1500 (estimated) for the GH1!
Clearly these are not cameras that are built-for or priced-for the consumer. So, for me, for the foreseeable future, if I want a digital camera I can stick in my jacket pocket, I'll be (happily, to be sure) shooting with our A650 and simply dreaming of a day when a point and shoot built just for me comes out. 
13 Wolf and Ritz stores closing in IL
I missed this recent announcement, but Wolf/Ritz announced which 300 of their stores they're going to close.
http://lnk.nu/businesswire.com/udl/
13 in Illinois are going away, though it's odd as the one next to where I were I work is not mentioned and has been closed for a couple of weeks.
Link to the PDF from businesswire.com is here.
I'm glad to see that the one in Crystal Lake, where we have all of our prints done, is not on the list. They have a knowledgeable staff and have always been accommodating. It would be a shame to lose them.
reconstituted
Thanks to efforts by 
moonwick the missing images from cetan.org have been restored and the blog is complete again.
From the first image to today's.
It feels good to be fully restored.
As an aside, when I restored the software portion of the site, I enabled some extra features I had not been using. Specifically, the "Archive" page now shows only 25 images at a time and allows you to scroll backwards a page at a time. Previously it was loading all the thumbnails on one page, which was really annoying. You can also browse by various categories and by month (again at 25 images-per page). Check it out by clicking on "Archive." The category options are currently at the bottom of the page.
carrying that camera
Here's a rather clever idea:
http://www.blackrapid.com/video/intro.php
I've been carrying around a SLR a lot during my lunch hour walks and have had some concerns with both stability and security. In fact, the other day the strap slipped off my shoulder without me even noticing. The only thing that saved the camera from hitting the ground was that it fell onto the top of my work bag (which is flat and flexible) which was also over my shoulder at the time.
I don't really like carrying the camera around my neck either for two reasons. First, it usually ends up rubbing a raw spot and second, it's difficult to walk without the camera either bouncing around or swinging out into something when I bend over. Even over the shoulder this happens (as demonstrated this weekend when, in an attempt to keep Nate from being close-lined by a dog lease, I ended up clunking him in the head with my camera.)
Using a standard strap across the chest is very unwieldy but is my current solution. It just takes a little bit longer to get set up for a shot (which is fine for 99% of my subject). I just like knowing there's a better way (albeit a $50 one).
the bluebird of happiness
I believe I saw my first Eastern Bluebird in the wild only a couple of years ago. It was an Easter walk with family in Sterns Woods in Crystal Lake. There were a number of man-made nesting sites in the area, so I guess it was inevitable, but I was still surprised. Such a brilliant blue!
Today, while eating lunch, I noticed a bluebird hanging out on our red Maple tree. As quickly yet stealthily as possible, I grabbed my camera and telephoto lens. I knew the shots were not going to be very good, as I'm using a rather cheap telephoto and was shooting /through/ the glass of our sliding door to the patio, but still, he stayed on the branch for so long, I had to try for a few frames.
Also, male robins have been sparring over territory all around us. It feels so much like spring is just a step away.
Ritz & Wolf Camera file for Chapter 11
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D96HEULG0.htm
The Ritz in Crystal Lake has always been good. Decent prints, good service and knowledgeable staff. It's where we have our regular prints made, thanks to their online service.
Prices for equipment have always been on par with big box stores in the area but they can't compete with the likes of B&H and Amazon. We did buy our DSLR from them due to price matching Calumet though.
I'd hate to see this location go away.
Kid-proof digital cameras
For a long time if you wanted a digital point and shoot that could, at the very least, survive getting wet (rain, amusement park, spit-takes, etc), your choices were: Olympus & Pentax. Both had a line of waterproof cameras (up to 3m and 4m respectively).
Since then, though, Olympus has gone further to make this line more rugged. Their most robust camera (the Tough 8000) is waterproof up to 10m (~32ft), drop-proof from a height of 2m (~7ft), crush-proof, up to 100kg (~220lbs), and can operate in temperatures down to -10 deg C (14 deg F). (It should be noted that these are official numbers. I take my non-rugged point and shoot out into much colder temps and am not concerned).
In the rather tight digital point and shoot market, trends have shown up in clumps as manufacturers scramble to "me too" each other. (Witness trends like the megapixel race, or the megazoom race, or the rash of new "detection" modes: face detection, blink detection, smile detection, etc. There is also an HD Movie trend now that HDTV is so popular.) So it's rather strange that Olympus (and to some extent, Pentax) have been able to operate in this "rugged-ized" market for so long uncontested.
With this years PMA, however, things have changed.
Both Canon, Panasonic, and Fuji have joined in the fray and released "stronger" cameras. (Though it should be noted that Fuji has had a rugged camera in the European market for some time but it was not a consumer camera.)
Canon has released the D10
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021805canond10.asp
The specs seem respectable (waterproof to 10m, shock-proof to 1.2m, freeze-proof to -10 deg C, supposed super-bright LCD) but quite frankly, the design leaves a lot to be desired. A flash right over the top of the lens? If you think red-eye is bad with your current digital camera, just wait until you start using this model. Even with the camera running a "Red Eye Correction" function automatically after the image is captured, I have a feeling this camera is better used outside without the flash.
Fuji has released the Z33.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021705fujifilmz33.asp
It's a pretty standard point and shoot with the added benefit of being waterproof. But there's no mention of it being able to withstand being dropped or sat upon.
Panasonic has released the TS1
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09012705panasonicft1.asp
Panasonic has made great strides with their point and shoots in the past two years and this entry seems in line with that goal. Waterproof and shock-proof it also features HD video in HVCHD format.
All in all it's nice to seem some more development (har?) in this market. Maybe it'll push older Olympus models into the used market at decent prices.
negative 10 deg F
I had two rolls of film developed recently. On one roll were my photos from January 15th and 16th. You may recall that those were the days when it was bitterly cold (-18 deg).
Well, around 4:30 pm, on January 15th it was a balmy -10 deg F. with a wind-chill of around -20. Walking from work to the train station I encountered the following scene:
I don't know why he was wearing only a thin sweatshirt, shorts, and below-ankle socks...but he was. A very dangerous thing to do...
cetan dot org update
Just a quick update on my photoblog: cetan.org.
- Because only files and not the database were lost, I was able to reinstall the software and pick up where I left off. The problem, however, is that because the files are missing, the photo-portion of the blog is just empty past a certain date.
- Because I'm a stickler for details, I set up the software to not obfuscate the filenames of the images I uploaded. So I could, technically, retrieve all the filenames of the images from the database, match these to files on my computer, and copy the files up to the server, thus restoring the site. However, even with this information, it will be a lot of work, and I would still (probably) need to create all the thumbnails by hand. I'm holding out on possible data recovery from the problem hardware.
- cetan.org is syndicated on LiveJournal as
cetan_rss but they still are having problems with external feeds. Entries in the photoblog are not showing up for hours and hours. Silly LJ.
And I guess that's it for now. I'm trying to update once a day during the week mostly from the archives right now. I've been shooting film during the lunch hour and don't have anything developed yet, so it'll be a bit before anything "new" shows up. Also, the weather has made walking difficult and this weeks' range of high temps doesn't really help matters any.
winter is for digging through the archives
Winter, for me, often means that, instead of being out with a camera capturing and creating new photos, I'm in my existing archives digging for forgotten images.
A little reflection on the past year or two isn't a bad thing though. It's nice to look back.
Case in point: this image is from one of my lunch-hour visits to the Garfield Park Conservatory.
I need to get back there a couple times this winter. It's a great way to enjoy some hot and humid temps without getting on a plane.
the long dark tea time of the soul
Because I've been making my lunch at work (having access to a full-size fridge on my floor is great for keeping a variety of food available) I've done almost no walking in the past month. When I have walked it's either been to the store or for short distances and never with a camera.
The situations has not helped by the fact that, we've been averaging 10 deg F below normal for this time of year.
I want to walk, but I also want to eat. And eating out all the time is not a trend one can maintain for very long, especially in this economy.
I need a good kick in the rear. I also need a camera that I can use while wearing gloves...or I need to come up with a better method to keep my hands warm than ski gloves. A post over on the Luminous Landscape website has give me something to chew on.
Also, I just have to make it through the next week and a half, then I'm off the entire week of Christmas, back for two days, and then off again from the 31st until the 5th. I can't wait.
The luxury of heat
I wrote this last week and never posted it...
Standing on a train platform when it's 3 deg F out and the windchill is somewhere around -7 deg F, makes for a chilly morning.
Stepping onto a heated train car and feeling the comfort of warm air surround me, reminded me of a photo essay by photographer Cosmin Bumbuţ in an issue of LensWork Magazine a few years back. The photographer had traveled Romania by rail, and photographed some of his fellow travelers. The cars are not heated and people bundle themselves as much as possible. Some warm themselves with fur, pelts, and that staple: vodka.
The photo essay is here: http://www.bumbutz.com/portfolio/transit/
And when I say it reminded me, I mean: I am extremely thankful for, and grateful to have, heated rail cars. It's a luxury not enjoyed by some when traveling.