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› archive for April 8th, 2009

PhotoWalk, Behind the Scenes

Getting started this morning.

Getting started this morning.

This morning was chilly, but Derek and I were happily joined by three other area photogs and model Emily Allen.

We chilled out on the meeting corner until about ten after eight and walked back to last week’s shooting location -the Pan American Plaza.

There was surprisingly little cursing of the cold, despite our gelid fingers. I for one fell into the trap of taking two kinds of shots: Emily’s face at 150mm -none of which are bad in preview, and the kind to the left there. You know, what’s going on in a sort of third person, non-omniscient narrative.

One of the most captivating aspects of photography for me is the notion of context. I’m not an art student, I’ve no formal training in composition, and never completed my photography merit badge but it seems to me that in every photograph what you don’t see is as important as what you do. I’ll try to keep my eyes out in post for a picture of Derek taking a picture of Emily and compare  his shot with mine for that “whoa, context” moment.

Thanks, guys, for coming out this morning. It was chilly, it was early, but hey -we took pictures. Awesome.



DroboPro

DroboPro

DroboPro

That mighty beast right there might look like a double-width Drobo. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s because it is in fact a double-width Drobo, and it answers to the name “DroboPro.”

It’s pretty new, so I haven’t had time to learn and explore all it’s nooks and crannies, but here’s the headline stuff:

  • 8 SATA Bay Drives
  • Theoretical support for up to 64 TB (that’s enought to back-up about 32 TB of data or so)
  • That famous Drobo voodoo that lets you back-up your data in a redundant array with hot-swappable bays and plug-and-play expansion.

I want to put more bullets there, but really, I think that’s pretty monstrous enough. Early word about the price puts it in the low-jaw-dropping range, but given that the funcionallity falls into the stratosphere, it’s a good investment if you need that kind of capacity.

More to come as I learn more. Click the picture above to visit Drobo’s page for this honky.



Walkabout 3: The Blondecicle

Walkabout 3, Model 1: Emily Allen

Walkabout 3, Model 1: Emily Allen

It was cold out this morning. You know it’s cold when your fingers are too stiff to work a four-way controller and your model has to take breaks to warm her hands over her mouth. It was that kind of morning. But, our model this week was a trooper and we plowed on despite the lack of heat.

We got some bounce reflectors from the rentals department, and a reflector holder, and between the sun and the reflector we nearly blinded poor Emily, but I think it was fun all around.

What’d you miss this week? Other than a couple loons with Olympus kit, a Pentax (!) K10D in the wild, and a couple Canon shooters? Oh, and a pretty girl? Well, let me show you. Pictures after the jump.

We expect to see you next week. Yes, you. A lack of equipment is no excuse, let our rentals department hook you up with something. They’ll be good for that.

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On your Mark II, get set…

Well folks, here’s something I haven’t been expecting for a little while longer: our Canon 5d Mark II units are now in general stock. Heck, we have enough to call stock.

Since I hired in here back in October, the shadow of the Mark II has loomed across the world of digital photography. Being one of three 20+ MP cameras on the market (including the D3x from Nikon and the alpha 900 from Sony), it’s already a big deal but the inclusion of HD video and a more than perfunctory marketing emphasis on that feature sets it apart from the others.

Now that the Mark II is, presumably, to become more widely available I’m intrigued to see what more amateur videographers (or photographers dabbling in shooting video) will produce with it. I am faced with the reality that it is primarily a still camera designed to take advantage of Canon’s powerfuL lens set so the novelty of shooting HD video seems the sort of practice that will remain a fringe phenomena until the invisible hand pushes expense relative to other comparable options down. Of course, those on the fringe can as easily be on the cutting edge as the trailing and in that regard -being the first or last of a trend- has for me a mystique. Aren’t the brief, the rare, and the elusive things the more difficult subjects of the photographic craft? Ok, maybe finding right moment is the difficult part.

Here’s hoping for this being the cutting edge of media, not the trailing.




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