This is pretty cool and pretty much a note to myself. Smilebooks is having a Facebook costume contest. Basically all you have to do is upload a picture of the best costume from this past Halloween to the page I posted below and if you had the best costume you might win the prize. I thought I had the best costume this year, I guess will soon find out how good my costume was. You have until November 10th to post your images. Ill go through my pictures tonight after work.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154075619455&ref=mf
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Six Elements of Fisheye Photography – Embracing the Creative Power of Distortion
Shooting with a fisheye lens is a great way to get up close and personal with your subjects. A fish eye lens has the amazing ability to turn regular subjects into interesting and creative works of art with the push of a button. Powerful images such as the stars sparkling on a clear summer night, a bug’s eye view of the world through giant blades of grass and a big city panoramic shot can all become truly inspiring and breathtaking visions. If you are new to the fisheye lens concept, or simply an amateur looking for some additional advice, the following six elements of fisheye photography will start you off on the right foot.
1. Creative Distortion - One of the greatest and most distinguishable elements of photographs taken with a fisheye lens is perceptual distortion. In the field of fisheye photography, distortion can mean a number of things, including subjects that appear somewhat magnified, curved lines that are a far stretch from reflecting reality and warped views that all introduce excellent opportunities for taking creative photographs. Experimenting with creative distortion is the first and foremost tool for learning fisheye photography.
2. Subject Positioning - Any photograph taken with a fisheye lens will feature peripheral elements that appear distorted, while the subject in the center of the photograph will appear sharp and clear. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of fisheye photography is the positioning of your subject or main point of interest. It also helps to recognize that background elements in a fisheye portrait usually become secondary compared to the foreground subjects. Always plan the positioning of your subjects and background elements and experiment with different positions.
3. Large Field of View - One of the major advantages of shooting a portrait with a fisheye lens is the wide angle and 180 degree field of view that allows you to capture groups of people along with numerous subjects, even in a small area. The large field of view also makes it easier to capture action shots filled with fast-moving subjects and creates an almost panoramic view of the surroundings.
4. Straight Lines – Although a fisheye lens is known for its ability to distort straight lines, it is important to note that any straight line in the center of the photograph will remain straight. As a rule of thumb, the further a line is from the X or Y-axis of the lens, the more a fisheye lens will distort or curve the line. The beauty of straight lines in a portrait taken with a fisheye lens is the photographer’s ability to manipulate them through positioning. A photographer can pull straight lines a lot or a little, or not pull them at all. The trick is learning to make the lines work with you, and not against you. Experiment by placing the horizon through the middle of the portrait and “see what develops” (no pun intended).
5. Drawing the Viewer into the Photo – The lines of a photograph taken with a fisheye lens can do one of two things – draw the viewer’s eyes into the photo or draw them out of it. If you are at least an intermediate level photographer, you probably already know that leading your viewer into the portrait yields more interesting results than leading them out, and the same is true for fisheye photography. Once again, the best way to draw a viewer into a photograph with a fisheye lens is by placing the horizon in the center of the portrait, and the results are almost always astonishing.
6. Distortion Balance – Some of the best portraits in fisheye photography have a distortion effect that is in uniform. When the things on the right are bent the same as on the left, and when the things on the top are bent the same as on the bottom, distortion balance is in order. The best way to achieve this distortion balance is to take a photo as if it couldn’t be cropped, so that you can take advantage of the full frame, as opposed to cropping an image and losing the significant distortion created by the lens.
Recommended Fisheye Lens - Canon’s EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens has a 180-degree angle of view and goes well beyond the natural field of vision of a standard camera lens. A wide depth of field, ultra-wide angle and large aperture make the lens perfect for fisheye photography, and a short minimum focusing distance of 8 inches produces tack-sharp focus in close-up shots.
1. Creative Distortion - One of the greatest and most distinguishable elements of photographs taken with a fisheye lens is perceptual distortion. In the field of fisheye photography, distortion can mean a number of things, including subjects that appear somewhat magnified, curved lines that are a far stretch from reflecting reality and warped views that all introduce excellent opportunities for taking creative photographs. Experimenting with creative distortion is the first and foremost tool for learning fisheye photography.
2. Subject Positioning - Any photograph taken with a fisheye lens will feature peripheral elements that appear distorted, while the subject in the center of the photograph will appear sharp and clear. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of fisheye photography is the positioning of your subject or main point of interest. It also helps to recognize that background elements in a fisheye portrait usually become secondary compared to the foreground subjects. Always plan the positioning of your subjects and background elements and experiment with different positions.
3. Large Field of View - One of the major advantages of shooting a portrait with a fisheye lens is the wide angle and 180 degree field of view that allows you to capture groups of people along with numerous subjects, even in a small area. The large field of view also makes it easier to capture action shots filled with fast-moving subjects and creates an almost panoramic view of the surroundings.
4. Straight Lines – Although a fisheye lens is known for its ability to distort straight lines, it is important to note that any straight line in the center of the photograph will remain straight. As a rule of thumb, the further a line is from the X or Y-axis of the lens, the more a fisheye lens will distort or curve the line. The beauty of straight lines in a portrait taken with a fisheye lens is the photographer’s ability to manipulate them through positioning. A photographer can pull straight lines a lot or a little, or not pull them at all. The trick is learning to make the lines work with you, and not against you. Experiment by placing the horizon through the middle of the portrait and “see what develops” (no pun intended).
5. Drawing the Viewer into the Photo – The lines of a photograph taken with a fisheye lens can do one of two things – draw the viewer’s eyes into the photo or draw them out of it. If you are at least an intermediate level photographer, you probably already know that leading your viewer into the portrait yields more interesting results than leading them out, and the same is true for fisheye photography. Once again, the best way to draw a viewer into a photograph with a fisheye lens is by placing the horizon in the center of the portrait, and the results are almost always astonishing.
6. Distortion Balance – Some of the best portraits in fisheye photography have a distortion effect that is in uniform. When the things on the right are bent the same as on the left, and when the things on the top are bent the same as on the bottom, distortion balance is in order. The best way to achieve this distortion balance is to take a photo as if it couldn’t be cropped, so that you can take advantage of the full frame, as opposed to cropping an image and losing the significant distortion created by the lens.
Recommended Fisheye Lens - Canon’s EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens has a 180-degree angle of view and goes well beyond the natural field of vision of a standard camera lens. A wide depth of field, ultra-wide angle and large aperture make the lens perfect for fisheye photography, and a short minimum focusing distance of 8 inches produces tack-sharp focus in close-up shots.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
DVD Duplication
Dvd Duplication is a service many companies in the united states participate in. Pretty much the way it works is if you have content on a DVD, whether it be a tutorial, files, photos,presentation, a virtual tour, etc and you want to mass produce the DVD to send out to prospects or clients it might be wise to outsource the this project to a DVD duplication company. Dvd Duplication companies require one DVD that they can duplicate a thousands of times.
Some DVD duplication companies also give you cases and allows you to print what ever you want on the disc and disc case making your product look extremely professional.
This saves you hundreds or thousands of dollars and hours worth of time.
I recently found SFvideo is currently having a good unadvertised sale right now. If you call them at 866-238-7905 and order 1,000 fully packed DVD's you'll end up paying $.99 per dvd instead of $1.09. I'm going to end up calling them for a project with int he next day or two.
Some DVD duplication companies also give you cases and allows you to print what ever you want on the disc and disc case making your product look extremely professional.
This saves you hundreds or thousands of dollars and hours worth of time.
I recently found SFvideo is currently having a good unadvertised sale right now. If you call them at 866-238-7905 and order 1,000 fully packed DVD's you'll end up paying $.99 per dvd instead of $1.09. I'm going to end up calling them for a project with int he next day or two.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Halloween Cookies
Every year for Halloween my friend throws a huge Halloween party. Some people dress up others don't, either way there is always a lot good things to eat and drink at his parties. Every year I wear the same costume, this year I need to think of something new. Thats a different story.
This year I hope he does the chocolate fountain again! I found site http://www.clevercookie.com and tell me how cool are these Halloween cookies! I wonder how they taste. Are they to kiddish for a bunch of people in their early twenties. Wait better Idea I'll just buy them and bring them into the office.
Friday, September 25, 2009
NPD Research
I just became a member of NPD Research. I think its pretty interesting. NPD Research is not like those cheap survey companies that give you a dollar to take a survey. NPD Research is a lot more then that. After you join NPD Research you are sent surveys. upon completing each survey you receive points that can later be used to enter raffles. If you win you get a prize. They have everything listed from vacations to video game consoles to large sums of money. But if you loose you still win! Regardless if you walk away with a prize or not, your survey data(not your personal information) will be sold to big companies that produce food, clothes, video games etc. Those companies will see your data or opinions and try to change their products or services to make their customers happy. Its pretty cool, You win both ways. The best part is theres always new surveys coming out to accurately represent the market trends.
After bumping into NPD Research on Twitter I decided to give them a shot. about 15 minutes later I was registered, completed my first survey, played a mini flash game and entered two contests. If I win or not I'm excited and will continue to do more surveys in the future. Its like the lotto except the the odds of winning are much better and it doesn't cost you anything.
After bumping into NPD Research on Twitter I decided to give them a shot. about 15 minutes later I was registered, completed my first survey, played a mini flash game and entered two contests. If I win or not I'm excited and will continue to do more surveys in the future. Its like the lotto except the the odds of winning are much better and it doesn't cost you anything.
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