Hymenoptera

 


Here is an interesting little guy...

PhotHog 

Photography Books

I recently was at a used book sale, I was perusing the books on photography, and was amazed at the diverse selection and what good shape they all were in, but after going through each one, I was disgusted to find that they were archaic, non futuristic, and thought more of talking about film types then lenses.

So my lesson from this, if you need help with a specific problem or camera, go ahead and buy a book, but if you want data on photography or the latest tricks on getting the "perfect shot" -use the internet.




PhotHog

Neat article

Here is an interesting article, not really of "Photographical" interest, but a good example of the many places and careers, that photography can come in handy... www.seedmagazine.com/photography/jakes_flying_snakes

The sands of time

This will be a short one, I was just looking at the results from a informal online poll, and I though I would share it,

The Question: what kind of film do you use?
The Results-What film do you use ?

None, I use digital 69%
Fuji 14%
Kodak 9%
Agfa 5%
Other 2%
Konica1%

Interesting, no?


PhotHog

A Battery of Tests

If you have a Digital camera, you probably know that Dcams use a lot of juice, I can't begin to process the number of times I have heard how "this camera drinks power as fast as you supply it" or "this camera eats batteries like candy" I was fully aware that digitals used a lot of juice, and was not disappointed...

I shall tell of how I was introduced to the battery sucking camera problem, and how it is solved...

The first batteries came with the camera, they were high grade lithium, and lasted a good two weeks, after that I was using batteries like crazy, several pairs week, I tried all kinds of brands,(including some that I acquired in Florence, Italy, that couldn't even power up my camera!) after looking around at the piles of spent batteries, I thought I would give rechargables a try.

I purchased 4 rechargeable batteries along with a recharger, and after a couple of years I was somewhat impressed that they were still working to order...

I still think that High grade lithium is the best JuiceCylinder for your camera, but re-chargers give decent life, save tons of money and won't litter the floor of your studio...

So, final thought,-get High Grade Lithium and/or Rechargeables.
(or keep using nonrechargers and use the spent ones on making some type of modern art to sell on eBay-you're going to pay for you're bad habit somehow.

PhotHog

P.S. If you don't use up batteries like a water through a sieve- you should be taking more pictures.

Cameras vs. Time

Noticing over the last 6 years or so, the pricing of cameras, it is interesting to note, that while the actual camera is the same, over time the price drops considerably.
I know this is how supply and demand, economics, and the building of new technology, effects things, but it is an interesting thing to witness.

I remember the first Megapixel cameras, how it was such a huge deal. And now, aside from cameraphones, no one would be caught dead with a 1mp camera -well, maybe dead.

Canon's digital Rebel, 6.something megapixel, the first subgrand pro dslr on the market, can today be found in unused condition for around 400$. It is now considered subpro, that is not to say protogs can't use it, but I would be hard put to find a photog artist wanting anything less than 8mp.

I found, last year, my first digital camera at a thrift store. (this is probably a common occurance now in the larger cities, but I was waiting for it to happen, in my area)For nothing but historical value I purchased it, it was 2.99$ and was worth, as a camera, quite a bit less.
After fooling around with it, opening it up, laughing at the miniscule sensor, (It was a 0.1mp interpolated to a 0.2mp camera!) I looked it up on Amazon, and found that in 2000 it was being sold for 89.00$, after looking at comments I found that some people had paid closer to 100.00$ for this camera!

I wonder if some Photog will someday look at my Canon 5D or Nikon D2X and laugh... or will I someday see, in a thrift shop, a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II and think, "kids toy" ? Time will tell...

PhotHog

Lens, length & Nikon

Ok, now I shall be nice.
I will, out of the kindness of my heart, and the pity that I feel for neophotogs, give this link -http://consumer.usa.canon.com/app/html/EFLenses101/

It is useful for those wondering about how lens length works, I will advise however, this is dependent on the size of your cameras "film" this shows how these lens sizes work with a 35mm film, so if you are digital, recompute to your sensor size, it should be easy to find...interestingly some Canon cameras have full sized sensors, ( this merely means that the old lenses will have the same effect as they did on 35mm models.)

I will say that I have, I believe,a bias toward Canon equipment (esp. their lenses) Though in a spot, and in need of a camera, I have been known to actually use film.
in spite of my aforesaid Bias, I applaud Nikon in their forward thinking move in favor of digital. Elimination of all but two film based cameras in Nikon's lineup is deserving of praise...

PhotHog

Film?

What is film, grandpa? that is one question I am sure my grandkids will ask me, maybe my kids will ask me that, although some die hards, fanatics and large format nuts will probably be crawling around out there at that time.

I think, that although film is the best for large format, digital is cleaning up the medium format spectrum, and as for some (like the digital H1 haselblad) are moving into the large format sector.

I recently came across a moderately successful photographers website, while was successful, (this guy specialized in two things, architecture of old churches and a certain location in the U.S.)(I shan't give to many details of this guy, I won't be blamed for people losing interest in his art because of his archaic practices!)He had a total attitude about digital. (probably because he was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with it)
His excuse was that digital might be all well and good for family snapshots and all other "low" forms of his craft, but he worked in LARGE FORMAT, and could not possibly use anything less. The kicker was this- His large format was made to order.
He had his large format machine to be sure, but why not have large format digital camera be built to order!
I myself, in my own nontechnical mind have designed several gigapixel cameras... obviously there are many things that have to be considered, but it is totally possible.

"And perhaps (quoting from The Count of Monte Christo)some good can be had of this tragic affair" -A love affair with Film...

PhotHog

Caution!

just a thought to all wannabe Photogs, don't ever post your stuff for contests, unless it has a chance.

I personally am tired of going through galleries of hundreds of "fine art" photos, and finding that 90% of them to be personal family pics!
I suppose that it makes finding the "Gem" all the more exciting, but I think that really it is a waste of time.

sorry about this little rant...actually, I not sorry in the least...oh well...get over it...

PhotHog

P.S. just because you got to go to a foreign destination doesn't mean your pictures are any good!

P.P.S. if you want better pictures, take more, lots more.

P.P.P.S.Go digital for crying out loud.

Spring

 

As the snow melts, I can practically taste spring in the air, and I can feel it dripping down my neck(which is exactly what happened to this drop moments after I took the picture!) 

PhotHog

Agenda

My agenda for this blog is that I will give my take on various sites, articles, equipment, art, and anything that I may find interesting, also I will post some of my work here as well.

PhotHog

PhotHog?

PhotHog means that I am a photographer, but also that I am passionate (ok, fanatical Has been suggested)in anything to do with my art.

The Hog part is merely an illustrative part to make the oft used Photog (an attempt to make photographer sound cool) interesting and has nothing to do with motorcycles (a question too often put to me, for me to not put it here)

PhotHog