Photography – Page 44 – Random Connections

Game Changing Cameras

October 30, 2012 Tom No Comments

As one might imagine, digital camera technology keeps getting better and better. Cameras are tinier than ever with even more features. Smartphones with editing apps are almost eliminating the need for point-and-shoot cameras. Even with all this, there are a couple of cameras to come on the market in the past couple of years that look like potential game changers – the Lytro camera and the GoPro Hero.

First, a note of disclaimer for my beloved wife – having just bought two fairly high-end cameras over the summer, I am NOT considering these for purchase. I just think they are worth mentioning here, and if someone I know does get one, all I ask is the opportunity to play with it for a few minutes.

Disclaimer out of the way, I’ll start with Lytro…

Read More “Game Changing Cameras” »

Hyper-Lapse

October 16, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Photography

I love time-lapse photography. I’ve experimented with it a bit, with both iOS devices and various cameras. However, time-lapse really takes commitment. I’ve done this math on this blog before, but I’ll do it again. Let’s say that you’re shooting one shot every 30 seconds. If your video is a standard 30 frames per second (fps), then it would take 15 minutes for one second’s worth of video. One hour would give you four seconds. 24 hours would be 1.6 minutes worth. That’s not a lot.

However, for good time-lapse you need some persistence of vision. 30 fps is probably too fast. You could either reduce the frame rate, or you could decrease the time interval to something like once every 5 seconds. Either way it’s still a commitment in time.

Plus there are other factors to consider. If you’re shooting outdoors or on location you have to protect your gear from the weather and you need to keep it secure. There’s also the issue of power. Will your camera run that long on batteries, or does it need external power? It can be daunting.

Alan on the Side

October 8, 2012 Tom No Comments

Photography

I had to laugh after writing about yesterday’s paddling trip on Saluda Lake. My lead photo was a shot of Alan Russell, out in front and slightly off to the right…

It occurred to me that I LOTS of shots of Alan like this. Here’s one from a trip up to Lake Jocassee…

…and one from a trip to Lake Marion…

For paddling shots I like to establish context, and that means including shots of my fellow paddlers, and not just the scenery. Using the Rule of Thirds, the paddler is offset to one side. I paddle more with Alan than anyone else, so he is more likely to be in the shot. I guess since I’m right-handed, I tend to place him on that side. Here are a few more examples…

Pickens County Ramble

September 17, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

Local, Photography, Rambling

I’ve been going a bit stir crazy. The weather has been perfect for hiking or kayaking, but with this lingering cough I just haven’t wanted to risk getting sick again. Laura was busy writing an exam, so sister Glynda and I decided to head out and find something to photograph.

For this ramble we repeated a trek that I had made with Duckhunter back last year. Our route took us north of Clemson and into some of the old communities of Pickens County.

From Greenville we drove to Easley, then followed 93 to Liberty, then on to Norris. From Norris we headed north to our first stop at the mill village of Cateechee. Glynda had never visited this part of the state, so it was new territory for her. We circled through the mill village and looked at the ruins of the mill, then drove around to the old Cateechee School.

Read More “Pickens County Ramble” »

Getting Religion on the Edisto

August 12, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

The Current be with you.

And also with you.

May the waters of the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto flow over you and bless you…

I’ve mentioned before how our Lowcountry Unfiltered core group tends to consist of guys with names of the disciples. On this latest trip to the Edisto River we noticed other religious aspects. While not a defined liturgy, we do have our own order of service, dictated by the nature of the paddling venue. There is The Gathering then The Launch. Instead of wine and wafers we take communion with beer and brats, and our preferred method of baptism is via rope swing. What happens in between tends to be more free-form Charismatic than Episcopal, with a touch of Calvinism thrown in for good measure.

Lake Blalock Paddlefest

July 29, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

This past Saturday Spartanburg Water held their first annual Paddlefest on Lake Blalock. In addition to highlighting paddlesport opportunities on the lake, the event was designed to promote water quality and watershed awareness. The Western Carolina Kayaking group announced the event, so I decided to sign up and check it out.

Lake Blalock is located in northern Spartanburg County. It is fed by the Pacolet River, which it shares with its upstream neighbor, Lake Bowen, and by Buck Creek. The lake is a small lake with limited boat motor size, and a watershed buffer zone around the lake between landowners and the lake’s edge. That makes it ideal for paddling.

Read More “Lake Blalock Paddlefest” »

Guidestones and Bridges

July 24, 2012 Tom 3 Comments

Photography, Rambling, Travel

Glynda had asked me to go pick up our brother, Houston’s truck. I had mistakenly thought the truck was in Prosperity. Turns out it was at his house near Watkinsville, GA. So, Sunday I was in for a long drive that I hadn’t really counted on. No matter – I hadn’t been to my brother’s house in awhile, even though he had been up our way lots of times. Also, with a new camera, I didn’t mind another excuse for a ramble.

We decided to avoid the interstate and take the back roads down through Abbeville, Elberton, and across to Watkinsville. After all, you can’t see sights like this from I-85, much less stop and photograph them…

Read More “Guidestones and Bridges” »

Furman Photo Walk

July 23, 2012 Tom No Comments

Local, Photography

Despite the earlier disappointment with the new camera, the D7000 had a chance to redeem itself. I had signed up for a photo walk at Furman with the Upstate Photography Walks Meetup. I managed to make it home from North Carolina in time to catch a quick nap and meet the group at the Furman Bookstore at 6:00 pm for an evening walk.

I’ve participated in the Greenville Canoe and Kayak Meetup, but not the photography group. I didn’t know any of the participants, but was willing to give it a shot. I was joined by seven other photographers for a walk around campus.

Smiley’s Flea Market

July 23, 2012 Tom No Comments

Photography, Rambling

On my recent trip to North Carolina I stopped by Smiley’s Flea Market. I had wanted to visit, but for one reason or another had never gotten here early enough, or when I wasn’t in a rush to get somewhere else. So on Saturday I added another flea market to my list.

Smiley’s actually has three locations – this one on Fletcher, one in Macon, Georgia, and one in Micanopy, Florida (where ever the heck that is.) This one seemed fairly large, but not as big as the Anderson Jockey Lot or the Pickens Flea Market. It’s about the same size at the Augusta Road market.

As mentioned in my last post, i didn’t take the big camera in. I did, however, take the LX-5 and one other tool. I had my iPhone set to take one shot every 5 seconds as I walked around with it on my belt. I would see what I would capture.

Read More “Smiley’s Flea Market” »

North Carolina with the New Camera

July 23, 2012 Tom 3 Comments

Gear, Photography, Rambling

Laura is out of town for awhile traveling with her mother. Saturday morning I dropped her off at GSP for an early flight, then headed out to try out the new camera. My plan was to head up into the North Carolina mountains for a bit and see what I could see. I have to confess, it was quite a bit of a learning curve.

Friday night I charged up the batteries and got familiar with the menu and controls. The temptation is to start with an absolutely perfect shot – something worthy of such a fine instrument. Didn’t happen. I shot one of the cats, and shot him poorly. So much for breaking the ice.

When the time came the next morning I felt ready for a cursory outing. From the airport I drove north on Highway 14, pausing in Landrum to get some shots of the sunrise through the fog. Here’s the shot I was after…

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30