david king
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I heard somewhere that the State Department had a list of countries that could become “failed states”. Mexico was in the top 5 behind the likes of Afghanistan and Pakistan! A failed state on our border…Awesome!
I watched the video and downloaded the demo but I haven’t had a chance to play with it. Everything digital looks digital, not many people can tell the difference or care anymore. It will probably work well for point and shoot images where getting a soft background is more difficult to achieve.
There is no substitute for power and that is what Broncolor, Elinchrom, and Profoto have to offer as well as a lot of versatility. Strobist is aimed at hobbyist and amatuer or maybe the person that is trying to monetize their hobby. MacNalley’s book The Hot Shoe Diaries which is all about small portable flash photography. He does some great stuff but, he’s paid by Nikon to endorse and promote and sell their gear though so you know where his goat is tied!
If its candid photography the small flashes are ok that is what they were designed for. Its hard to get a decent F stop with the small units if you use any kind of light modifier unless you run you asa up. They are fun to play around with but they are limited.Thanks for the excellent info Allan. I will keep that in mind should another good dog come my way. Thanks to all of you for your kind remarks.
I’m going to try the Boulevard Wheat. I had some locally brewed wheat beer at the Black Forest Restaurant in Minneapolis a long time ago with some Hasenfefer aka rabbit. The beer and the rabbit were both great.
It seems wheat beer is seasonal, or maybe thats just marketing.I learned the Zone System from a couple of guys that had worked with Ansel at the Yosemite Workshops in the late seventies Bradley Burns, and Ansels assistant Alan Ross. We used a book called Zone VI Workshop by Fred Picker. Its a lot easier to learn the Zone System from this book than from Ansel’s Basic Photo Series. The best way to learn it is at a Workshop.
Its a straightforward system of exposure and developement created for BXW film photography but it translates to color negative, transparency and digital photography as well. Most of the photographers were large and medium format shooters using hand held meters. You could use the system with 35mm film too but the use of custom development was a problem because you would have to develop the entire roll for the same time and temperature.
Whether the Zone System is geeky or not if you use it it will elevate your understanding of light and the range of light and how it is reproduced by any method. I used a small paper form called the exposure record to record the placement of values and exposure and development used. If you do that you can “call” a exposure by experience like Edward Weston. Weston pointed his meter at the sand dunes in California and it said 1 sec at f45 he said “i’ll give 3 seconds”. He knew that if he exposed for 1 second the sand would reproduce like mud but if he gave 3 seconds The sand would print silky white.
The technology that we have as photographers today is impressive but it can be a crutch. The geeky tricked out cameras and computers of today are no substitute for knowledge understanding or artistic sensitivity. They do make mediocrity available to everyone that can afford the latest D-whatever as long as the batteries last.
Good technique should be understood practiced and transparent even if the camera meter system is doing the work most of the time. You may be in situation where you want to override the camera settings just as Edward Weston did with his new hi tech meter in 1938.
They are just pushing the benefits of their new boots. Pretty effective as far as getting them noticed, whether they sell its another matter.
DROBO is a great option if you seriously into photography. If your really serious you need to mirror your files in more than one location. You can put them in the “cloud” like your Apple MobileMe storage area.
The science of how and why things work the way they do is pretty interesting. If you can take the science and bring it to a point where a user can make a practical decision about what line would word with a given rod is really helpful although manufacturers suggest what line will work under most conditions. I had 4 or 5 lines for a 5 weight once and the rod cast all of them well but it changed the “feel” a great deal.
I would think it really comes down to trial and error a lot of the time, a good fly line is more of a recipe than a creation of computer model. Computer modeling would be really valuable to fine tune things but some person has to quantify and evaluate the qualities of a taper for its intended purpose which is more art than science.
Cloudveil needs to stick to the Snow Proof stuff or make a Simms employee a offer they can’t refuse! As far as rods I broke a Winston and they got it back pretty fast, 4 weeks. Scott took 6 weeks. I was glad I didn’t have to buy new rods!
Back in the late 90’s Scott built a 6 weight that was a update on the rod that they built for Lee Wulff. It was a Heli-Ply and I think it was 6’7″ or 6’9″ in length. I cast one and it was a really nice rod. I cast much further with it than I expected and I feel that it was a very accurate casting rod.
Rods 8’9 and shorter just feel lighter in hand than 9 footers and feel a little crisper. Lines make a huge difference as well and can really have a huge impact on feel.Nice job Cameron! I’ve always admired O’keefe’s work and Moen’s video work is top drawer. I’ve worked as a photographer and videographer and not only does it take a great deal of skill but a really substantial investment of time to get quality work at that level.
