But here is one photograph that does not have that effect, yet it is indeed a panoramic made of no less than 7 portrait photos, so why is there no bending? Simple there is nothing in the centre, so you cannot see it! But look at the horizon line, it is bent so ever slightly…

And there you have it, the simple explanation.

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Unfortunately, success comes at a price and that price is as we have more walks we have greater numbers and greater numbers mean requires greater care.

Etiquette on street photography and photo walks as I see it is paramount, I find that it makes for better photos. I thought I’d share what I consider proper and please note this is not researched by far this is my thoughts.

1. Be mindful of your surroundings and fellow photographers, do not put yourself in front of another’s lens.
2. Be courteous, it cost nothing and brings out the best in people.
3. Before you even pickup your camera to shot someone, ask, you will rarely be told no, I never have.
4. Children are fascinating but this in my opinion is a sensitive subject, more so every day. Ask the parents for permission first, if you can.
5. Do not invade private space, this only creates an uneasiness that will be felt in your photos and gives a bad reputation to all photographers.
6. You can take anything and anyone in public space, it does not mean you should, think and look before you pull the trigger, you may just be embarrassing someone or invading their privacy.
7. Do not hog a space, you are not the only photographer there.

Though I intend to expand on the subject in the future, those are my 7 rules, what are yours?

1. By anonymous:  “10 000 images does not make for a good photo walk – think before you press the button- it’s a question of quality not quantity.”

Related posts:

1. Photo walking

A good, not an over the top, over done HDR, a good HDR requires planning and thought. The framing has to be right, the light has to be right and the contrast has to exist and textures helps a lot. You mess one of these up and that is it, the HDR is no good. Much like traditional photography, it’s in the eye and experience, the more you do HDRs the more you pickup what will and will not work before you shoot it.

I have, in the past months, created many HDR and even often tackled Panoramic HDRs, not the easiest of feats. Most of which was handheld because most have been done during photo walks and to be honest I hate carrying around a tripod for 3 hours to use it a couple of times, a monopod does little to help in the HDR world, so I don’t carry either. Instead I learned to use my body as a tripod and sweep panoramic like a robot.

The equipment helps, obviously, in fact I would probably not be able to do what I do without a tripod if it was not for my ever faithful Canon EOS 7D. It’s shooting speed and bracketing, even though it can only do 3 (this is where I am jealous of the NIKON owners, whom in some cases can go up to 7) and presets make my life easier. When I see an HDR opportunity, I switch to preset 3 and voila I am in HDR mode.

What is my HDR mode? Well f/8, bracket 0 , –2, +2 stop at – 0.5 of a stop, ISO 100, RAW. The only things I will change is the ISO and rarely the aperture, I found f/8 to be a sweet spot for HDRs and the lens I use, the 16-35mm f/2.8 L from Canon.

What is the aim of an HDR? Triple the colour, triple highlight and triple  shadow information allows for triple the details. Triple the details allows for a better visual experience, closer to what the eye sees. In my case, I bring back colour and details, I try not to over do it and from the reactions to my HDRs, it seems I go a good recipe.

The bottom line, try it, I have a short primer here and there are wonderful books by the like of Trey Ratcliff of www.stuckincustoms.com and many others.

I will post about the issues I encountered with HDRs in a latter post, it’s not all fun but the results are what they are stunning images.

Related posts:

1. High Dynamic Range revisited
2. Mini book Review: Rick Sammon’s HDR Secrets for Digital Photographers

I get a lot of question about Joburg photowalkers, here are a few typical ones and answers:

• How do you join?
  Like “Joburg photowalkers” on Facebook, the Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/1210029@N21 or  go to http://www.meetup.com/joburg-photowalkers/.
• How much does it cost?
  Nothing and nada, though you may have to pay for access, tour guides or transport for time to time.
• What do I need?
  You need a good pair of walking shoes, I advice a backpack or bag with something to drink, take a lot of patience with you too and be open minded and inspired. Oh, you mean to ask what camera and lenses? Sorry. All you need is a device digital or analogue that can take a photograph, from your mobile phone to the mighty DSLRs no one will care, anything is good enough.
• Is that it?
  No there is another important element, enjoy yourself, your photos will show it.

On last Saturday, the 16 of January 2012, we took a 3 hour walk in Alexandra, a 100 year old township, which was cut short by bad weather. here is the route we took.

View Alexandra Heritage Photowalk – January 2012 in a larger map

As usual, the result of a photo walk is photographs and here they are:

I would like to thank Mark Straw and the tour guides for making this possible.

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I recently bought a new car, after some tribulations and great service from VW Alberton and Malcolm, my radio was exchanged and a Caska Multimedia System was fitted with a rear camera. I thought I would share my experiences. Firstly, I must say that the service levels from Planet Electronics was exceptional.

Much as expected from the documentation and advertising the unit looks like it was factory fitted. It looks the part. Before I carry on, let me be clear I would get this unit again on a car that has no multimedia system fitted.

It works as advertised and and it does most of it’s individual functions well enough but it is not without failures. A simple example is when I engage the reverse gear and the rear view camera switches on the sound is cut off or muted on most my speakers. Another scenario is even more baffling, music streaming via the Bluetooth, a call comes through, no problem, then the call ends and for some unknown reason the device switches itself to the radio, not back to streaming.

Another irritating fact is the SD card slots, they are upside-down. And the last of the lot, most probably the worst, the user interface, it’s all over the show and inconsistent. For example, the SD interface is totally different to the iPod interface and so it goes on.

The Bluetooth, radio and iPod sections of the system work very well are are a joy to use. The GPS works as expected though the interface and configuration are nothing to rave about, the maps are accurate. I just wish that it used the Garmin or Tomtom software both of which are available on the Windows CE/Mobile platform as I understand it.

I tried to use the DVD and it worked as expected, it’s a shame about the interface, which is shared with the SD card reader interface as a matter or interest. i have not attempted to use the the built in music drive as yet but I expect that it will work just as well as the rest.

To summarise, I think with a little tweaking on the switching of purposes and a new user interface this could be a great multimedia system. I think it needs a little work. For now it remains a good unit but not a great one. It is a petty because it has everything to be more than it is. Currently, it appears as disjointed software on a Windows CE shell.

Maurice van Heerden, Director of Planet Electronics replies:

Hi Pascal,

Thanks for your valuable feedback!

A product of this nature, is highly feature loaded and complex to design, both physically and in terms of software. Although Caska makes every effort to streamline software design as much as possible, they are limited by the code used across the range of vehicle specific models which they manufacture. Different code for different units is not done in order to keep costs down and manufacturing numbers up. We have made various changes and improvements for the South African consumer  however, SA is a minuscule part of CASKA’s business (they manufacture and sell around 200k units p/month globally) and therefore our requests are a fairly low priority to them.

No piece of software is perfect, my phone sometimes freezes, I often have to re-set my computer and I find some of the software design for online applications frustrating however, the products which sometimes irritate me also make my life much easier and afford me far more joy than frustration. I feel our Caska range of products, although not always perfect, add a huge amount to the driving experience. It make my driving experience a better, easier and more enjoyable one which is at the end of the day, the goal.

That said, we continue to strive for the perfect product and hope to one day achieve this.

I trust that you will enjoy your system in its current format.

Added: 2012/01/11 Maurice van Heerden’s reply

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I experienced what I like to call “compact hi-fi audio” a few years ago with a BOSE Radio, the sound was amazing. Since then I have dreamed about owning one of these, until 2 years ago that is.

2 years ago I make the move to the iPhone and a year ago I got myself an iPad, both these devices are capable of acting the media player role, in fact they both are built for it. in the case of the iPad, you either need to have earphones or jerry rig a speaker system to use the 3.5 inch audio jack, unlike the iPhone, the iPad did not have speaker docking stations. This has changed recently, there are a few available on the market now, BOSE still does not manufacture one though. My dream crushed, I turned to another “compact hi-fi audio” specialist JBL.

The JBL OnBeat Xtreme is just what I was looking for, an iPhone/iPad portrait or landscape sound docking station that “sounds” the part. I like good sound and I recently have taken to listening to radio and music on the iPad. The station will also recharge the iPad/iPhone/iPod whilst docked but this is only the beginning. It sounds amazing, generally these devices, and JBL suffers from this too with the JBL Onbeat (the little brother to the Xtreme), lack full bodied sound, particularly the lower frequencies. The JBL OnBeat Xtreme does not suffer that fate, in fact I have to be careful on how loud I have it. One could easily through a party at home with it and not worry about having big sound, that is how good it is.

As a sound docking station it has another few surprises up it sleeves, it will also accept a Bluetooth audio (A2DP) connection from any Bluetooth audio (A2DP) capable devices. In fact, if you pair your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and remove it from the dock when it is playing, it will automatically switch it to Bluetooth.

Additionally, it has a video out as well as an (auxiliary) mini stereo jack in. You can also plug in a USB to sync your iPad/iPhone/iPod wilts using it’s multimedia functions. A nice touch is the built in microphone so you can answer you iPhone or make Skype or other video/audio calls with your device docked. It also comes with a remote and an App to play music and control, albeit in a limited way, the station.

As for the design, it would fit about anywhere in any situations. As for the sturdiness of the dock, it holds my iPad firmly in place. Even if I find it difficult to dock my iPad 2 at times, the iPad 1 literally easily slides into place in comparison, I think the iPad 2’s curved design is partly at fault.

There are a couple of drawbacks to JBL OnBeat Xtreme, it needs power, it is bulky and not very portable,also for some reason my iPad cannot control the volume. The last drawback and this maybe the biggest is it’s price, it comes at a premium.

So what do I use the JBL OnBeat Xtreme for?

• Listening to overseas radio stations with Tunein radio (free and paid $0.99)
• Listening to music with the iPod app
• Use it as an alarm clock with Alarm Clock ($0.99)
• Use it with Skype
• Watch videos with PlayerX (free) and YouTube

Related posts:

1. iOS 5 first impressions
2. iPad with OS 5: The good and the really ugly

I have never written a review for a car, simply because I fondly believe that one needs to use any item for more then 10 minutes to review it objectively. It’s been over a 1500 kilometres and a few hours. It’s been driven on open roads and bumper to bumper traffic alike. And, more importantly, I use it everyday.

The things that makes the car nice:

• The 6.9 L/100km in heavy traffic was a surprise, particularly with the fact hat is is very new.
• It is relatively confortable, the cabin is spacious and there is perceived quality that is expected of a more luxury manufacturer.
• The panoramic sunroof is really nicely done.
• The steering wheel radio/Bluetooth telephone controls, though I believe it should be standard on all cars.
• A nice touch is the Hill Hold Assist which will hold your car for a time sufficient to release the clutch and pull off and not roll back.
• I also found the Cruise Control very accurate and efficient, I think long trips must be a joy because of it.
• Forgot to close your windows or sunroof and left the car, press and hold the lock button on the key and voila. It closes and locks up the car tight.

There are also missing items from the menu at the price the car goes at I would expect, these are not even optional, maybe I just miss them from my Peugeot:

• Auto headlights
• Climate control
• Auto windscreen wipers

Now there are issues that bug me with the car but generally it’s been a good experience, so what bugs me? Or am I just nit-picking?

• The key remote control, that press twice to open all doors gets the better of me.
• The clutch action, in traffic you tend to use the clutch a lot, I know I do not always take my foot off and I should, however there are times in bumper traffic where the stop and go is such that you don’t. I drove another 2 POLOs to check this and they all do the same, there is a irritating vibration coming through the clutch pedal when you foot just lies on it, with or without the gear engaged.
• The mud flaps keep touching the floor in many situation, the car is generally too low.

I think that I’ll wrap it off now and give another report later in it’s life.

PS: For my photography friends, I will try to shoot it better, I am looking for a location and weather to do so.

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My requirements:

• The data table had to be treated separately, there are other tables in the page.
• The table had to be zebra striped for row visibility.
• On hover, the row had to be highly visible for knowing where the user is on the page.
• On click, the row should appear selected so the user can keep track when scrolling.

Some years ago this would of been highly complex, today thanks to jQuery it is extremely simple.

Firstly we need a table with a CSS class, in this case I used “stripe” as my class.

   1: <table style="width: 100%; background-color: #ffffff;" class="stripe">

   2:         <tr style="background-color: #bae5fe">

   3:             <th>Rank</th>

   4:             <th>Name</th>

   5:             <th>Country of origin</th>

   6:         </tr>

   7:         <tr>

   8:             <td>1</td>

   9:             <td>Ahmad Suradji</td>

  10:             <td>Indonesia</td>

  11:         </tr>

  12:         <tr>

  13:             <td>2</td>

  14:             <td>Aileen Wuornos</td>

  15:             <td>United States</td>

  16:         </tr>

  17:         <tr>

  18:             <td>3</td>

  19:             <td>Alexander Pichushkin</td>

  20:             <td>Russia</td>

  21:         </tr>

  22:         <tr>

  23:             <td>4</td>

  24:             <td>Andrei Chikatilo</td>

  25:             <td>Russia</td>

  26:         </tr>

  27:         <tr>

  28:             <td>5</td>

  29:             <td>Carl Eugene WattsJack</td>

  30:             <td>United States</td>

  31:         </tr>

  32:         <tr>

  33:             <td>6</td>

  34:             <td>Carlton Gary</td>

  35:             <td>United States</td>

  36:         </tr> 

  37:     </table>

Next, we need some styles to apply to the table.

   1: <style type="text/css">

   2:    .alt { background-color: #d0dcd9; }

   3:    .over  {  background-color: #ffff80;  cursor: pointer; }

   4:    .selected  {  background-color: #E98D6F;  }

   5: </style>

Finally, we need the jQuery library (<script src="Scripts/jquery-1.7.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>) and code.

   1: <script type="text/javascript">
   2:     $(document).ready(function () {

   3:  

   4:        // Mouse over action

   5:        $(".stripe tr").mouseover(function () {

   6:            $(this).addClass("over");

   7:        });

   8:  

   9:        // Mouse out action

  10:        $(".stripe tr").mouseout(function () {

  11:            $(this).removeClass("over");

  12:        });

  13:  

  14:        // Mouse click action

  15:        $(".stripe tr").mousedown(function () {

  16:            $(".stripe tr").removeClass("selected")

  17:            $(this).addClass("selected");

  18:        });

  19:  

  20:        // Zebra stripe the table

  21:        $(".stripe tr:even").addClass("alt");

  22:  

  23:    });
</script>

And that is it, note that $(".stripe tr").removeClass("selected") on line 16 is required to reset the entire table before a new select is done, otherwise all the selects would remain.

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After a long absence as a developer, I have decided to come back to my roots. Though I never left the development world, I have been engaged in other facets of it. I am now developing again, full time.

Having closed all my other blogs over the past few years, I decided to add a Development category here, call me lazy if you will. I hope that my photography followers will not mind. If you do, leave a note on this entry.

The technologies and methodologies will vary but most of it will be Microsoft based from ASP.NET Webforms and MVC to Microsoft SQL and everything else I might touch.

The site is now split better so you can follow what you want according to the categories.

Let the devolution of an insane developer begin, again.

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Disaster strikes, though. My old Nissan Almera, with 350,000 km on the clock, broke down on various occasions as I started my new job. It could not have be at a worst time. So, my wife and I decided that it was time for a new car. It had to be fuel efficient, compact, reliable, affordable and comfortable. That left us with a very few choices, Renault and Peugeot (and Citroen by association) were out of the running and we wanted a diesel, this was not negotiable. Eventually, we opted for the VW Polo 1.6 TDI. I must say that the first 100kms were a revelation, the car is very comfortable, I would even say it borders luxury without the price tag. Many of it’s features are expected of far more “premium” manufactures, the cruise control just works, the air conditioner is the same, though the latter is not controlled, and it has traction control. Traction control! WOW. But I’ll report on it more deeply once it has done far more than the mere 100 kms.

So what are the new ideas? Well, soon. December is around the corner and so is “The rude frenchman”, another one of my wacky ideas that had to happen, and more photographs, reviews,…

Related posts:

1. New Year’s resolutions
2. Aggghhhh…

That is where my ranting stops dead, the new operating system has great new features for both the iPad and iPhone, here is my list:

• Notification Centre, it just works, though  it can get irritating if not set up correctly.
• The new split keyboard is great for thumb typing whilst holding the iPad.
• There is a noticeable speed improvement across the board, try to open a PDF or an eBook.
• I love the new Safari Internet browser tabs, it brings the desktop to the iPad and it seems faster too.
• The “task switching” by swiping is so easy I am already used to it.
• Same goes for the button double tapping that gives you access to Music without unlocking and on the iPhone the camera too.

There are things I find utterly useless such as the

• Message Centre (aka Messages) it’s not SMS friendly so what is the use?
• iTunes & Videos, until the music store goes global or there is a South African music store, all you can get is podcasts.
• iBooks, similarly to iTunes there is not South African store, however there is access to various classics from the Guttenberg Library.

Not quiet related to iOS 5 but worth the mention is a few apps that appeared at the same time as iOS 5 (or I just noticed them):

• Facebook, to my surprise Facebook is now optimised for the iPad.
• Adobe PDF Reader though it does not read protected content.
• Kalahari.com eReader, synchronises your eBooks bought on www.kalahari.com and let’s you read them. It’s a rudimentary reader and it does crash but generally it works. For South Africans this is good news.
• Tomtom, the GPS app that never let me down so far, and thanks for the traffic updates and now also opyimised for the iPad!

Apps that work on the iPhone and wish would work on the iPad but do not or are simply not optimised:

• Whatsapp, the cross platform instant messenger, I call it BBM for all. (Does not work)
• Google +, Facebook did it why not Google? (Not optimised)
• Windows Live Messenger, come on Microsoft you did it for the iPhone now optimised it for the iPad.

I also now added a use to my iPad I never thought I would, thanks to the TuneIn Radio app, I listen to radio, mostly European.

All in all it is a better operating system, you will notice that I make no mention of iCloud, this is because I feel our bandwidth is not suitable as yet so I did not enable the backup part of it nor have I tried to use it to it’s full potential, in a future post maybe?

[Edited on 2011/10/22 - Tomtom]

Related posts:

1. Using the iPad, the good and the irritating
2. iOS 5 first impressions
3. Review: JBL OnBeat Xtreme

First impressions are positive, though I already had some disappointments, no “Personal Hotspot” on the iPad Wi-Fi/3G, I am still baffled as it is available on the iPhone.  Also, I was under the impression that I would be able to send SMS’s on my iPad frm “Messages”. it does not appear to be the case either.

It’s only been a few hours, I will report on iOS 5 and iCloud in more details once I have used it for a few days on both the iPhone and iPad.

[Added latter in the day]

The upgrade to my iPhone 4 was very slow but very smooth, after the download it does a backup, the upgrade, a restore, a app restore finally followed by a music and video restore. After the restore the phone asks for activation. I feel far better.

Related posts:

1. Review: JBL OnBeat Xtreme
2. iPad with OS 5: The good and the really ugly

It became an inseparable companion on which I rely for business, learning, writing, reading and sharing blogs and some times entertainment and it’s all good. All things being equal, it also has some irritations, missing functionality I would like to see. Here is a breakdown of both.

Things I really like:

• The spell checker works everywhere, it actually becomes an irritation at times but mostly it is a good thing, I am a terrible speller, I just wish it did some grammar too.
• Makes a great video camera with 720 HD video too.
• Fair quality meeting scenario recordings.
• Fantastic notepad, Evernote makes it even easier.
• Light and portable
• Fantastic screen
• Long battery life
• Full Skype support including Video, though only recently.
• Awesome mail application, just needs more text editing functions such as coloured text for commenting.
• Always connected feel.
• Camera connection kit

Things that irritate me:

• I cannot share my internet connection with my laptop, my iPhone does it with the same hardware and software.
• Unstable 3G and WiFi at times.
• Developers of new apps a little slow, no Google + integration and lack of apps dedicated to the iPad, most iPhone apps work but look silly.
• iPhone apps works but not all of them, Whatsapp being one, what’s up with that? I have a 3G card, I should be able to SMS too.
• Without a screen guard the screen really gets dirty quick.
• I cannot just network it and grab files from my PC or Mac and vice versa, it has to be wired and all file transfer are done with the dreaded iTunes.
• Limited Bluetooth functionality.
• I would love to see full Tomtom or Garmin support on the iPad, not the iPhone app but a fully fledged iPad app.
• No dedicated microphone jack.
• No memory card support, SD card would be nice to increase capacity.
• And what about the country localized app store? Is this not an open world, enough already.

And there you have it, a brilliant devise with some quirks, if you can live with them all the better.

I am hoping that iOS 5 and the new apps built on top of it will step up to my expectations.

Disclaimer: This applies to the iPad 2 with iOS up to version 4.3.5

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
[2011/09/23 – Added iPad photo, cleaned up text]

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1. iPad with OS 5: The good and the really ugly

I found the the close focusing distance and shortness of the lens was handy, additionally small flowers are well defined. It’s not a macro by far but it works. I had a 100mm macro along and used it far less then I expected, just the length of the lens was a problem, seriously try to get under a 200mm bush with a camera that is 200mm, does not work well, take it from me. My wife however found it hilarious…

So how does one capture this splendour? I opted to try something very different, I call it the “ant view”, how would an ant see the flower? From under obviously, not all my shots are like that but very few are from the “human” view as well, in fact I tried my hardest not to do the “human” thing, it’s so snapshot  don’t you think? I also found a low aperture (f/2.8-4) advantageous, since flowers are in scattered bushes it give an illusion of depth, who said that photographers can’t be magicians? For some reason, I also found that shooting at 1/3 to a stop lower gave a far better contrast and definition to the final product, it may have to do with the blue sky.

I also shot a few panoramic composites, all prepared for HDR, only one worked as an HDR, the drama in the sky tell it all.

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Firstly, the Namaqualand is a quasi desert, and even in this time of blooming and flowers, it is a barren forbidding place, dry and sandy. Here you will not find carpets of flowers, they do exist but few and far apart and mostly it’s an illusion. You will need to get out on foot and to your knees and elbows, lie down in the dirt to see them and appreciate them, you will need to see it as an ant sees the world. Therein lies the beauty, therein lies the miracle of nature. And suddenly the barren forbidding place becomes a place of infinite possibilities, a visual marvel, I’ll write more about that in my next post.

Some recommendations, if you want to do the Flowers of the Namaqualand, get yourself a 4×4. The roads, even the regional ones are in a really bad state, some are heavily corrugated, potholed sand roads, were as the so called tarred roads are damaged by time and lack of maintenance. The only good quality road we found was the N7, the national road. In the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape Province the rest of the roads leaves a lot to be desired.

As for camping, we used the Springbok Caravan Park and the Vrebe Caravan Park in Kamieskroon both supplied electricity and a clean environment. In my opinion the Vrebe Caravan Park is the better of the two and at just 70 km from Springbok and on the border of the Namakwa National Park it is the better choice. There is also a park adjoining Springbok, the Goegap Nature Reserve, you can go there with a car but as with the Namakwa National Park, there are many 4×4 trails and few are sand roads for sedans or the likes.

To find the flowers you will need to be a little adventurous and go deeper into the country side then you may expect. The tourist information centres at Clanwilliam (the best in my opinion) and Springbok will help you to find your way to them.

You can find good information here but I advice you to go to Clanwilliam’s Tourist Information Centre on your way to Springbok from Cape Town.

Finally, the preferred time to go to the Namaqualand is at the end of August beginning of September but all in all it depends on when the rain comes.

To see some of my photos of the Namaqualand go here.

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It’s a quiet start to what will turn out to be an adventure. 2 cameras, 2 photographers, 1 camper, 14 days and nowhere to go, everywhere to go. Just the way it should be.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Disclaimer: Firstly and again I have no

I recently acquired two new Lensbaby Optics, the Soft Focus and Sweet 35, both of which I will be reviewing, the first in this post. For full disclosure, this was tested on a Canon EOS 7D with a Lensbaby Composer attached.

First shock, is how soft the Soft Focus is. The aperture is controllable as with most Lensbaby Optics using normal Lensbaby disks or 3 of these multi-hole disks that are specific to the Soft Focus. I found that focusing with it is a bit a of a challenge, you never quiet sure if it’s correct or if you missing the point but I think that also brings some charm to the process. However, the Soft Focus, unlike most of it’s siblings is focused across the view finder, and photograph, in pretty much the same way, there does not seem to be a sweet spot as such.

The dreamy soft look may appear to be Photoshoped  but I can assure you that the sample photograph was not altered beyond some exposure correction. I assume you could get the same results in Photoshop in post-processing but would it be as much fun? I do not think so.

Related posts:

1. Lensbaby Composer with Double Glass & +10 Macro review
2. Lensbaby Composer with Double Glass, +10 Macro, +4 Macro
3. Lensbaby

Enters Richard Ashburner, my guest blogger of last, that day I had a migraine and had taken something for it. The unfortunate side effects are that I loose the ability to show emotions, not advisable on the first time you meet a client. The first half hour was filled with explanations of the plan for his future and his vision, exiting stuff (and Me as unemotional as a brick in a pond). Then we stepped into my lair and we shot a couple of test wilts chatting. Setup the strobes, setup angles and power, setup the camera and behold magic…

Richard Ashburner (30) is first and foremost a magician, followed by the other roles life requires. This is what makes him so interesting to talk with and photograph. He started playing with magic at about eight years old and hasn’t stopped, becoming an adept magician with a vision. Ashburner’s enthusiasm for pure illusion is fascinating.

Ashburner first read about David Blaine’s work about ten years ago and from that moment starting exploring the boundaries of how far he could stretch himself and the boundaries of magic. Richard’s favourite form of magic takes place in public places and on the streets, he says “People are amazed by magic on the street, they wonder about the reality of the magic they experience in a public space versus that of a theatre where the perception is that the illusions are rigged. I love seeing the surprise on their faces as the realisation of what they are seeing registers in their minds.”

This young man is going places… magically. Watch this space, he has something big happening early next year.
To speak to Richard about amazing you, contact him on 071 303 4936

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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I love Magic. I always have. I’m not talking about spells but illusions and sleight of hand.

I find that these days when a Magician performs it becomes about how he did it and not about the performance art itself. In today’s modern society very few people believe in ‘real’ Magic; so therefore when seeing a Magician most people see it as a challenge to try to expose the art of the trick and he becomes a walking puzzle.

I have had many discussions with Magicians about this and all of them say it is unethical to claim that your powers are ‘real’. Instead you should tell your audience that we are all capable of doing magic with some training and knowledge of where to find the secrets.

This, I’m afraid, weakens the allure and art of magic to a point where people think to themselves “I could do that if I knew the secret; it must be easy; let me try and expose how he does it”. Sadly Magicians become a novelty act and nothing more.

Uri Geller in my opinion is the only ‘true’ Magician of our time. He openly claims his powers are real and even had the guts to let a group of scientists do experiments on him with truly remarkable results.

These scientists from the Stanford Research Institute were immediately criticized by Magicians all over the globe; but mostly by a Magician who goes by the name of James Randii. He has been out for Geller’s blood since Geller gained popularity and has repeatedly tried to debunk Geller as a fraud and claims his methods are fraudulent, saying it’s ethically wrong to claim supernatural powers.

He has said many times that there were no Magicians amongst the scientists at the institute and only a Magician can spot fakery. In his words “the least educated Magician can fool the most educated scientist”

He then went on to host lectures where he supposedly ‘exposed’ Geller’s methods. I say ‘supposedly’ because although he can duplicate all of Geller’s feats; he cannot claim that his methods are the same because quite simply – he can’t prove it.

Now here is my question: can Randii call himself a true Magician if he is giving away secrets that puts food on Magicians tables – he claims it is in the name of ethics. I think not. He is breaking the cardinal rule of Magic; don’t tell the secrets of magic. That makes him the worst kind of Magician there is because he sucks all the mystery out of a good family entertainment.

Whether or not Geller is using trickery is beside the point. He remains in character and true to Magic itself. That’s the point isn’t it? Making people believe in Magic?

Magic gives people hope that there’s more to life than what they can see and even if they don’t believe that at least it transports them away from reality and into possibility, even if just for a short time. Where’s the harm in that?

I do agree with Randii that it’s dangerous to tell people you can cure illness using Magic – faith healers being an example – but Geller isn’t harming anyone by bending a spoon; and if mining companies want to pay him to find minerals it remains their choice.

Randii claims that it’s dangerous because people who believe Geller will go to him with their problems and their money. Would Randii say the same of a medical doctor who happened to bend spoons as a way of relaxing her client at first meeting? What is the harm in giving people decent advice? I am pretty sure that Geller if told about a medical problem would advise that the person go to a doctor. Not once in all the material I have researched about Geller, did he claimed that he could heal the sick. He did say that the mind is a very powerful tool that can be used as an aid to getting better. Is that any different from what new agers or even medical doctors are saying? If there was a personal problem bothering someone he would offer encouragement and tell people to believe in themselves. I think more people should be as encouraging as Geller.

John Edward is another example. Randii claims that telling people he can talk to their dead loved ones is very unethical. Once again I have to ask; who is getting hurt? Edward is a very good cold reader and if that helps people to get closure on a death then he’s doing more good than harm. Some people believe Edward’s ability is real and it makes them happy to believe it. Why defeat hope. What will we replace it with?

Randii has done a lot of good when it comes to exposing fake healers who hurt people and that is a truly noble cause. I just think he should use care using the sword of ethics and pause once in a while instead of placing everything and anyone who thinks differently to him in a guillotine. Slow down, pause, allow people to enjoy again if it doesn’t hurt anyone before everybody becomes too jaded to enjoy anything.

In my opinion Magic is supposed to challenge what people believe. It spoils it when it becomes a puzzle. Today people think a good Magician is one whose puzzles remain un-solved; how sad.

A few hundred years ago a man called Reginald Scott printed a book called ‘the discovery of witchcraft’ in this book he explains sleight of hand and trickery. According to some Magicians this was the first ever book of its kind.

An important thing to remember is that it was not written to teach people how to become Magicians; instead it was written to stop people from burning witches at the stake. It was a craze back then to condemn people who did things that seemed impossible to death. Generally humans are very afraid of the unknown. Magic; even if it was making a coin disappear; was ‘real’ back then and secrets were very closely guarded.

David Blaine walks on to the scene and he’s an immediate success; why? Simply, it’s because he works on the street. People think it’s impossible to set anything up outside in such close proximity to other people. Therefore they start to question if it’s really trickery or not. That is the whole point and that is why he is a success. He has provoked debate.

I’ll never forget hearing people talk the day after his first TV special. They would say something along the lines of “ he levitated right on a side-walk surrounded by people! Is he the real deal?” That was the start of his very lucrative career shrouded in debate and awe – the whole point of the art of magic! He made people question if it was real or not and I think that is the point most Magicians miss.

People want to believe in magic. Perhaps we should let them.

For a while I was also completely against psychics; mediums and people who claimed supernatural power. I thought that they were using my art and passion to deceive and take advantage of people. It took me many years to realize that Magic cannot be called an art if it’s nothing more than a puzzle. The art of anything is changing people’s perceptions and viewpoints; not hiding a solution by stacking it under the “wrong” label. Perhaps it would be kinder not to treat people as idiots and allow them to decide for themselves.

Much respect to Geller; he has guts and vision.

Much respect to Blaine; he understands Magic.

They both know what the public and Magic needs.

To the critics out there – sour grapes.

Originally posted here.

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This is my list  of software for “The inevitable 20 uses of the iPad…”

1. Show my photography portfolio to potential client and works to clients.
   Photos is the native application on the iPad and is far sufficient for my purpose.
2. Email
   Again, Mail is the native application on the iPad and is far sufficient for my purpose.
3. Alarm clock
   That’s a little tougher, I use Living Earth for this purpose.
4. Recording and taking notes in meeting.
   I use Audiotorium for long meetings and Evernotes for quick ones both sync to the cloud (Audiotorium uses Dropbox).
5. Reading ebooks.
   Bluefire Reader because it reads epub and PDF including those with DRM and it has a night mode.
6. Browsing the Internet for information.
   Well Firefox is not available for the I pad so we are stuck with Safari.
7. Watching ASP.NET MVC video tutorials.
   Wait ain’t the tutorial using the Microsoft codec? They are but VLC does the trick, it will decode just about anything you through at it. Unfortunately, it has been removed from the app store.
8. Watching photography video tutorials.
   App store, these tutorials are all found in the app store from various photographers.
9. Reading my RSS feeds.
   Reeder does a good job of syncing my Google Reader account and caching it locally.
10. Listening to music.
    The iPod application, obviously.
11. Getting the weather forecast.
    Both Living Earth and AccuWeather do a good job of keeping me informed, I just hope that these will be enhanced with iOS 5 so I do not need to open them to get the weather.
12. Keeping a to do list.
    I use Evernotes, I have tried others but iOS 5 is coming with Reminders, let us see… 
13. Keeping notes.
    Quick notes are best done with Evernotes and it syncs with my laptop and iPhone.
     
14. SKYPING friends and colleges into audio conferences.
    SKYPE, the only issue is that SKYPE is built for the iPhone, but it works fine on the iPad.
15. Facebook.
    I tried a few apps and eventually settled on a paid app called MyPad+ after testing MyPad
16. Mind mapping.
    MindNode because it’s compatible and it works.
17. Keeping track of my car’s fuel consumption.
    Numbers, the Apple’s spread sheet and it works with Microsoft Office too.
18. Billing clients.
    MiniBooks is an iPhone interface for Freshbooks, I have not found an iPad one yet. 
19. Navigation via GPS
    TomTom South Africa, so far the better of the lot even if it’s still is an iPhone app and has not grown to iPad.
20. Writing blog entries.
    BlogPress or http://blogpressapp.com/ is really nice and interfaces well with WordPress, now bring a full HTML editor and I will be really over the moon.

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I am not going to bore you with how incredible the iPad 1 is, even if it is, or how I wander how I lived without it, even if there is some truth to it. I am though going to list the uses I found for it in the last week in no specific order and let you decide for yourself.

1. Show my photography portfolio to potential client and works to clients.
2. Email, a place for my all email accounts in 1 portable place.
3. Alarm clock, yep it wakes me up too, too bad it does not make coffee.
4. Recording and taking notes in meeting.
5. Reading ebooks.
6. Browsing the Internet for information.
7. Watching ASP.NET MVC video tutorials.
8. Watching photography video tutorials.
9. Reading my RSS feeds.
10. Listening to music.
11. Getting the weather forecast.
12. Keeping a to do list.
13. Keeping notes.
14. SKYPING friends and colleges into audio conferences.
15. Facebook.
16. Mind mapping.
17. Keeping track of my car’s fuel consumption.
18. Billing clients.
19. Navigation via GPS
20. Write this blog entry.

And that was this week, imagine next week…

In case you wandered it also has some irritations but let me live that for a future post.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

Location:Swartgoud St,Johannesburg South,South Africa

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Firstly, the good new is that you can enjoy this event without the worries of damaging your eyes or equipment’s sensor.

Shooting the moon is actually pretty easy, manually set your camera at f/8 and about 250/s at ISO 100 and you are set, these are approximates and may change according to environmental conditions.

Now for the harder parts, you will need the following:

1. A sturdy tripod
2. A zoom lens, 400mm and above, I use a 2x tele-convertor too.
3. Either a remote trigger or you can use the camera timer to reduce shake
4. A lot of patience.

The biggest problem faced when shooting any celestial bodies is the fact that they are moving, we are moving and for some odd reason I cannot understand we cannot ask any one to stand still for a second. So you will have to re-adjust your tripod position every 90 seconds without fail. Irritating I know but, as I mentioned earlier, patience is required.

Lastly, if required, as it was in my shoot of the eclipse, do not go under a second of exposure, the moon moves too fast, rather increase your ISO.

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1. Google Apps, a cloud based business solution, premium paid service is available.
   As a start-up it allows you to have 10 Gmail boxes (7GB+), Google Calendars, Google Site, Google Docs, Google Contacts for free on your own domain.
   It has some limitations in it’s free form but it will do fine for a few years.
   Works with any device with a browser, has apps or functionality for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry
2. DropBox, a free hard drive in the cloud, premium paid service is available.
   The basic version is 2GB of space and by inviting friends that do not have Dropbox yet, you get and extra 250mb per accepted request.
   It’s a great way to save those critical documents and Dropbox is compatible this a multitude of devices and software packages, the big thing is it synchronize the files on it’s own, I don’t have to think about it.  
   Works with any device with a browser, has apps or functionality for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry
3. Evernote, free notes in the cloud, premium paid service is available.
   Not as heavy as DropBox and with a totally different purpose, the basic (free) version gives you 60MB.
   I found it a great replacement to Microsoft’s OneNote, the later being limited to Windows (in most forms). I found the Notebook approach of OneNote very friendly and wished it was available across all my devices with synchronisation. It took me a while to find a worthy replacement but EverNote is it. No more looking for where I put that note. (I sound like a sales rep now)
   Works with any device with a browser, has apps or functionality for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry.
4. Flickr, free photograph repository and sharing in the cloud, premium paid service is available.
   Still the best photo sharing site around, and it’s free unless you want to go pro and have unlimited space.
   Most of my publishable work is on Flickr not all is my best but I use it as my repository. I can mark photos private or limited access and it has full copyrights support.
   Works with any device with a browser, has apps or functionality for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry.
5. Skype, free phone and messaging.
   I know that they have had a few serious issues lately but let us stay honest, they are still the best.
   Works with most devices (well at least all devices I own), Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, iPad,…

There is another cloud based service I’d like to add, FreshBooks as with the others premium paid service is available.
It’s an online invoicing, Time Tracking and Billing system.
FreshBooks also integrates directly with Google Apps which make life easier.
I am new to it but so far it’s been great. 3 clients for free. And it has mobile apps too, I run it off my iPhone.

This last one is not so much for business then for information, Google Reader is an RSS aggregator in the cloud with many sync apps for a variety of platforms. 
Create your own newspaper, I did and did I mention it was free and accessible via any browsers?

All in all, these a are bunch of useful cloud based applications to make life a little simpler, no more worry about loosing that all important data.

Now I am looking for a viable online backup solution that will work with South African bandwidth.

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There are pros and cons to going photo-walking. The pros outweigh the cons every time. So why do it?

Mark Straw, one of the men behind the ever-growing Joburg Photowalkers, asked this very question on Facebook the other day and the answers were varied.

In my opinion, being with other photographers and the immediate synergy is a serious attraction. But there is so much more to it, meeting interesting people and making friends. Discovering your inner photographer, discovering new interesting places in your own backyard and you get to have some exercise to boot. Photo walks are for everyone from beginners to professionals and what is more is that no one will turn you down or laugh at you if you have a problem on site. It’s all about the socializing and enjoyment of sharing one passion, photography.

One more advantage is that Photowalkers end up criticizing each other’s work and I found that the criticism is rather positive.

So how about getting involved in photo walks in your city?

In Johannesburg, follow Joburg Photowalkers and PhotoComment for the next walk.

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The original idea was to separate my work from my photography, after all Macs have the reputation of handling media better then PC. Is it true, though? In my experience, the answer is no. Surprised? I was.

The Mac difference is not only in the hardware, it’s in the software and more precisely in the operating system. My previous statement holds true when running Windows on a Mac. Switch to Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) and life changes for the different for the better or worst. All of a sudden it is faster with, well, about anything but mostly media. I must not forget to tell you that with Windows 7 x64 the longevity of the MacBook Pro is about 3.5 to 4 hours whereas with Mac OS X you are looking at the better of 8 hours, standing record being at 11 hours, though I was not working on it permanently.

I have the 13-inch version and though admittedly the screen is small it is sharp and very usable at 1280 by 800. It’s enough to make small adjustments on photos but that is where it stops. I then hookup the 24-inch monitor and life is better and I can carry on editing. Plug in in an external monitor does take an adaptor, what is that all about? There is only 1 port out for the display and it’s an Apple display port, my pet peeve.

So what is so amazing about this machine? Try this, get on a plane at 5:30 in the morning and use your laptop for an hour only to realize that you left the power supply (charger) back at the office. Catastrophe, you have a full day’s work ahead of you at a client. So you arrive at your client and hook up your 3G modem, the fear is increasing that the battery will not make the day with the USB modem attached, so you dim the screen to minimum viewable and switch off the illuminated keyboard. You do further confortable hours of work. Would like to add that the machine was never shutdown, it had gone into sleep mode a few times though.

Talking of illuminated keyboards this is always a nice touch on a laptop. It comes in handy in various situations particularly when traveling in a plane or working in a relatively dark place. Both my MacBook and my Dell have one and I could no longer live without it. Since I am on the subject of keyboards, the Apple keyboard layout and shortcut keys have been the hardest part of my transition, not OS X as one may have thought.

OS X is intuitive enough to get used to, though I miss some of Windows functionality, Window snapping is one of these. However, one gets used to OS X’s ways.

Mouse pads, track pads, I have always hated them. The Mac multi touch track pad is efficient though rather different it’s PC counterpart. Firstly, it is truly multi touch, it also takes a little time to remember that double tap is not a click, with the Mac a click is a press of the pad.

Using both Mac and PC, OS X and Windows, I often get asked which one I prefer; my answer is always the same, for what purpose? Each have their own strength and weaknesses, I choose the one I need for the purpose I require it for. My MacBook Pro I use it for photography and other multimedia as well as when I need to be independent of electricity for long periods, however I would not use it for Microsoft development. For the later I will use my Dell after all it makes since to use a Microsoft based machine for Microsoft based development.

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His first entry is entitled “Going Mobile Quickly” 

We wish him the best in his blogging efforts.

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Firstly, if you are really serious about HDR there is a wonderful tutorial on Stuck in Customs by Trey Ratcliff, or his amazing book A World in HDR which acts as a inspirational, tutorial and coffee table book. This post covers my basic understanding in a short summary.

1. Shooting an HDR photograph:

• HDR photography is not that different from standard photography, however you will need a tripod or something to rest your camera on as you will be taking multiple shoots of the same thing.
• Set your camera
  • Newby way: Set your camera to Aperture Priority, Continuous Mode and bracketed by 2 stops. Nikon cameras will do up to 7 photos in some models where as Canon cameras will only take 3.
  • Advanced way: Once you have your scene meter the highest light and the darkest shadow, from here you will take a photograph every 1 stop from the one to the other. This would be done in manual mode whilst locking the aperture and ISO and only using the shutter speed. So if the scene as a range between 1/125 and 1/2 of a second the resultant would be 7 photographs each taken at 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2  of a second.
    F-Stop equivalence in shutter speed. Values shown in seconds.
    

    8

    4

    2

    1

    1/2

    1/4

    1/8

    1/15

    1/30

    1/60

    1/125

    1/250

    1/500

    1/1000

    You can use this scale as a reference, I do.

• Shoot RAW
• Make sure that your auto focus is OFF.
• Make sure that the tripod does not move or vibrate.
• Take your time!!!

That concludes the easy part.

2. Compiling the HDR

• You will need either Photomatix Pro or HDR EFEX Pro both have a trial. There are more HDR software out there, these two are the highest rated. HDR EFEX Pro will also require Adobe Photoshop CS4 or above,  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 or above or Apple Apperture 2 or above all of which are also available for trial.
• Do not colour correct unless you do it on the whole set.
• Do not crop or alter the photos at this time. 
• Do convert them to JPG at maximum resolution.
• Import the set into your favourite HDR program and adjust as required.
• DO experiment, I personally like it when the final output is natural.
• At this point you can crop and adjust the photograph.
• Once the HDR process is complete you may want to get back the colours, I use a plugin called Topaz Lab Adjust mostly using the Spicify or Photo Pop presets.

That’s how I do it and here is some examples:

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Thanks to my good friend and photography enthusiast  Kevin Naicker, I have a photo to show you. This was taken at 19H45, yes that is late, from Otto Du Plessis Drive (Beach Blvd) in Blouberg.

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Thanks Michelle.

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The one place that strikes me, the most in beauty and splendour is the Blyde Canyon in the Mpumalanga province. There is a wonder about standing on the edge of a canyon and felling the updraft from the plains below, walking along a chasm in the ground. Here you will see the 3 Roundavels, the Blydepoort Dam and beyond to the Kruger National Park. It just takes your breath away living you feel exhilarated and insignificant all at the same time.

The sight is unmistakable and beautiful. This is one place not to be missed whilst on you way to the Kruger National Park from Johannesburg.

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iMovie, much like the rest of the suite and OS X, is very intuitive. Easy to get, easy to use until… I own a SONY Cyber-Shot DSC-HX5V, it is on the list of compatible cameras for iMovie but what I found is disturbing. I took you the SD card from the camera and put it in my card reader as I do for my photographs. To my surprise, I got a message telling me that no compatible files where found, though I could see it. Admittedly, it was greyed out. I could not import this file. Than it came to me, the camera is compatible, what if the file was not? So I connected my camera with the USB to my MacBook Pro and behold, I successfully imported the video, it even picked it up by itself. Great or not.

You see I have a bunch of videos done with this camera on my hard drive, how do I import those? MTS files are not recognised as valid video files by iMovie (I even tried to rename it), so now what Apple? Do I have to put them back on the camera to import them? That would just be silly!

I will keep you updated.

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Something you should know about the park is that it has deteriorated over the past few years, I was forced to ask a friend for her 4×4 to travel through it with guests, not so much for it’s 4 wheel drive as for it’s ground clearance. The North-West province, the owners and curators of the park, are building beautiful and impressive entrances to the park but not maintaining it’s roads. As far as the rest of the park is concerned it look as beautiful as ever.

Something odd happened between my 2 visits, a week apart, it comes to show how un-expectable and temperamental nature is. I have always said that entering a nature reserve is a bit like going to a casino you know what you enter with, hopefully an open mind, but you don’t know what you will get out. The first weekend we were there we saw an abundance of elephants and very few rhinoceroses, the second we saw an abundance of rhinoceroses but no elephants. This is a typical example of nature’s will at work, it will give you what it will. I can always guarantee that going to any reserves makes for interesting trips.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve also has a charm about it, being in a 1300 million year old volcano helps, this is best enjoyed in one of the many picnic sites. Take something to eat with you and have a small barbeque at lunch in one of these, I guarantee you you will enjoy it. The many dams should also be visited, most have bird hides, they often have unexpected sights such as fish, birds, bucks and maybe a predator. Another positive aspect of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is it’s distance to Johannesburg, at about 200km, it is an acceptable distance for a day visit.

Photographically speaking, it’s a gem, because of it’s abundance of wildlife and distance to Johannesburg. You will need a long lens and I recommend a polarising filter when near dams, the glare can be quiet bad. I usually only take my 100-400mm lens along with my point and shoot for such a trip, anything else is a waist of space.

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One in particular stands out, simply because through the hardship of her life she has found time to share her passion of South Africans and thus South Africa with all that will listen with her podcast. Her site may be simple and that would be my fault for I am trying not to deter from the message; with all it’s faults, South Africa is a great place to live and South Africans should be proud of their achievements not matter who they are or where they come from. I am not born a South African but I can assure you I am South African to the core and I say South Africans like Michelle should stand up and be proud.

Michelle has invited me to an interview on South Africans You Should Meet which will tentatively air on the 23rd of March, though the interview itself is scheduled for early next month, let me say it’s an honour.

I will be chatting to Michelle about photography in South Africa and who knows what else. She has already interviewed a few South Africans and her site is booming, so maybe go and meet some South Africans.

You can meet Michelle at South Africans You Should Meet and be sure to leave her a note of encouragement as you are at it. And maybe you know South Africans we should meet, tell her about them.

If 1 element can change the perception of a simple photograph of a desert, why should one person not change the perception of a country?

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There are things I learned for this project and I thought I would share them with you.

1. I had pre-visualised and planed the Panoramic HDR of the Cenotaph Room and it shows in the final image.
2. Organise with the caretaker to be able to enter with your tripod before hand, maybe even to get in at a time where the monument is empty.
3. Do not be in a rush, if you need to do the photo again, do it.
4. Think up, down and both ways the Cenotaph fisheye photograph came about that way.
5. Take your time looking and planning on site too, something I need to learn.
6. Take your time with the post processing, redo it if you feel you need to.

And finally a big tank you to the staff of the Voortrekker Monument for their support.

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It might have become a symbol of a system of government that did not work for or represent the greater good of all South Africans in the country’s infancy. It might not be the prettiest or most photogenic of monuments I have ever encountered, however it speaks. It might be ugly on the outside, but it has a heartbeat – a life and story of struggle, of creation. It’s a part of the fabric that gives us our heritage.

It speaks of the hardships of the Afrikaner people and reminds us of one viewpoint on the historical events of our beloved rainbow nation. The Voortrekker Monument is no more a relic of the apartheid regime than the Castle of Bastille would be to the French Revolution. It’s a reminder of how the combined stories of many nations have collectively made up the multi-coloured tapestry that is the country we call home.

Thanks to Geraldine Paulsen, custodian at the Voortrekker Monument, who provided the necessary permission that allowed me to use my camera and tripod. I spent three very short hours preparing for a few HDR’s that I will post on Flickr over the next few weeks. I can only hope that I my offerings showcase and give the credit to each of the artists that painstakingly carved this monument’s beautiful interior.

For more information:

• http://www.voortrekkermon.org.za/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voortrekker_Monument

Text edited and reviewed by Michelle Ashburner from South Africans You Should Meet

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This is a panoramic composite view of Blydepoort Dam and the 3 Rondavels at Blyde River Canyon I took in June of 2005. Except for the merging of the photos using Canon PhotoStich no other post-processing was done, in fact if you look carefully you will see the lines where the photographs are joined.

Fast-forward to 2011, I decided to have a look at this panoramic photograph again and see what I can do with today’s tools.

Step 1, merging the same 5 JPGs using Adobe Photoshop CS 5 and adding some content fill for good measure.

Step 2, Adjusting the merged photograph in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.3 (I am too lazy to do it in CS5)

The result

A far cry from what I did 5 years ago.

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Unfortunately, not all is rosy, I wish I could say that OS X was better then Windows 7 but in all honesty it’s generally on par. It is stronger in certain aspect, responsiveness, power management and media manipulation, however it falls short on others. For example, I have downloaded near 3GB of updates in 1 month, even the infamous Windows Vista did not reach that. That represents 2 bundled updates (I gather that Microsoft would call that “Service Packs”) and a few patches for printers (that I still cannot get to work).

Now for the really ugly, each time I install one of these update bundles it seems it corrupts the installation and I have to fix it with disk utilities that only seems to work from the installation disk. Is this is not done OS X does not boot, what’s up with that?

So is it better than Microsoft Windows 7, I my opinion for daily life definitively not. However for specialised application like photo/video/audio manipulation it definitively is, even with the quirks.

If you intend to go MAC there is one more thing you might want to research first… Is there software for the intended use and the cost of it.

The real question is will Apple fix these issues in Mac OS X Lion?

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2. Living with a MacBook Pro
3. Windows Live Writer

In short, if you are thinking of going HDR this is a brilliant book to start with. It has step by step instructions on every aspect of HDR photography, coupled with amazing photography. The results are I managed to replicate what I call the Rick Sammon HDR Look without too much mental effort on my first outing with HDR in mind. I also like the fact that the book is riddled with tips not limited to HDR photography but rather tips on every aspect of photography. One can only make better photographs after reading such a book.

For more information on Rick Sammon as well as good photography tips and how-to’s head over to his site: www.ricksammon.info

One disappointment though, it tries to pitch some products a little to hard, but it’s all forgiven through the rest of the content.

On that note, and I am not trying to pitch anything, to enjoy this book you will need a DSLR, a tripod, a MAC or PC with trials of Photomatix and Topaz Adjust.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: "The Hot Shoe Diaries" by Joe McNally
2. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V mini review
3. High Dynamic Range revisited

Resolutions (in no particular order):

1. Start making serious money out of my photography by the end of this year!
2. Post more photographs.
3. Blog twice a week as opposed to the current once, that would be at least 1 blog entry on each of my blogs (www.onlyinsouthafrica.com and www.theaspnetguy.com) or 2 entries on one.
4. Make time to go and photograph more often.
5. Learn and/or master the following techniques:
1. HDR (Tone Mapping)
2. Location portrait photography with and without flashes
3. Studio photography
4. Street photography
5. Lensbaby photography
6. Landscape photography (Panoramas with an SLR)
6. More macro photography, I actually enjoy that.
7. Learn to put work in working hours so I can do all the above.
8. Improve “Only in South Africa” by adding functionality and ease of use.

Add to that a one month trip to a place I have either never been or have not been in a long time.

That is it!

Happy New Year too all. 
May it be healthy, happy and fruitful.

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1. And now for something completely different… Geotagging
2. My Camera history – The Digital Age.
3. Blogs I read

Since I stumbled on 2 of the HDR masters, Trey Ratcliff and Rick Sammon, bought both their books, A World in HDR and Rick Sammon’s HDR Secrets for Digital Photographers respectively, and fell in love with the look.

So here is my first attempt at the “Rick Sammon“ look.

Hartbeespoort Dam Arch wall

Tan’ Malie se Winkel to the right of the entrance

Tan’ Malie se Winkel to the left of the entrance

Tan’ Malie se Winkel the entrance

How was it done? Well 2 to 5 photos at 1 f-stop apart, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Photomatix, Topaz Adjust and a lot of patience. The results are incredible.

This last one I was just really playing and ended up with something I liked… Now it tell a story…

Tan’ Malie se Winkel interior

Related posts:

1. A word on High Dynamic Range
2. Mini book Review: Rick Sammon’s HDR Secrets for Digital Photographers

1. Copy the files to their final resting place, a Drobo S. I use the Canon software for this, amazingly enough. Though I am looking at alternatives, mainly because the Canon software does not handle video files well, particularly if it’s not a Canon file.
2. Download the geo-tagging file from the GPS and save it to the photograph folder so it does not get lost.
3. Apply the geo-tags to the raw files, this is by far the longest part of the process.
4. Do an in-place import using Adobe Lightroom at this point apply the copyrights (depending on the job type) and keywords. Keywords are important, it allows me to find the photographs quickly. My folder structure is by date and I cannot always remember when I took a photograph.
5. Go through the photographs and rate them as follows:
1. Forget it, out of focus, to dark, blown out, … in short the garbage I will be deleting.
2. Keep, maybe one day it will be useful.
3. Good photographs that may be published.
4. Definite publishing quality
5. Ultimate keeper, it goes into my portfolio (Rare, very rare)
6. Either process the HDRs in Photomatix or the Panoramas in Adobe Photoshop Elements though I am thinking of upgrading to CS 5 for the content aware fill. This does not include any editing yet.
7. Editing
1. A 2 minutes limit in Lightroom to enhance the photograph.
2. If the photograph is worth it, jump into Topaz Adjust or Adobe Photoshop Elements, no time limit set here.
8. Publish the 4 and 5 stars to DVD for clients or if it is of a personal nature Facebook, Flickr and my blog, depending on the situation.
9. If it is a 5 star, I also often print it.

Not an overly complicated workflow, but one that works.

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1. Wildlife photography in a studio!

So what was it that caught my attention so that I just had to go and fetch my camera? Bees, simply bees feeding, gathering in one of my bushes… And so I grabbed my camera, fitted my LensBaby fitted with the double glass lens a +10 macro and the teleconvertor (I did not intend to get stung for coming to close). A weird contraption If I ever seen any but it did the job brilliantly.

Both photos were modified in Photoshop Lightroom and Topaz Adjust.

No related posts.

This photo was taken at “The Glen Shopping Centre”, my question is how do I pay the 6 Rand (close to $1) for the parking?

Unfortunately, in South Africa, you are often expected to pay for parking anywhere you go. This is to supposedly secure your vehicle and content, though I am unsure of that. The problem is that pay stations are either missing or not maintained, so you end up running around to either find one that works or going to the management office to be able to get out. I already find it a rip off as the shops pay a levy (often linked to their turnover) for this but to also make me loose time is the bitter pill on top. Unfortunately, the practice of payable parking at shopping malls has widely been adopted around the country so going to another shopping mall does not help.

No related posts.

For one, the whole machine fells very different, the keyboard has these strange characters on it and some keys are missing. The user interface is very different, not only in look but also in function. For example “closing” using the “X” does not terminate the running software, instead it put’s it to sleep in the dock.

Speed is also different, it seems more responsive, I suspect a lot of the software is preloaded or cached to achieve these speeds. Also surprising is the machine’s longevity, at most I can get a 2 and a half hours from my Dell XPS 16 with similar specs. The MacBook has already done 5 hours and was reporting another 4 to go. Again, I suspect very intensive power management. And another surprise, it does not heat up as much as I expected, my lap is not cooking.

The best part of the transition, not that I will stop using my Dell / Windows laptop, is that all my favourite software is available on the Mac like Firefox, Lightroom, Skype even MSN and Office (Word, Excel). It does make my life easier albeit in the case of the Microsoft software it’s not the same, in fact I would say that it’s a scale down version of Office on the PC.

Time will tell but so far it’s been a positive experience.

No related posts.

These are a few of the photographs I took at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, for the sake of realism I have not modified these photographs other then resizing them.

Panoramic photograph with the Nautica docked.

This photograph of the Ferris wheel was cropped and sharpened slightly for dramatic effect. In this case, the camera and I were not in agreement with the lighting requirements so I put it in manual and forced it to do my bidding.

No related posts.

I needed a solid functional with reasonable resolution pocket camera and I mean “pocket”. Though the Canon Powershot G12/G13 and the Nikon Coolpix P7000 are great, they are cumbersome, not pocket stuff. I was left with The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V. By the way, where do the marketing department find these names anyways?

The first thing I was reminded of when I got the camera was the fact that, as is with most point-and-shoot cameras, there is no RAW function. However, I do not believe that this function is required on point-and-shoot cameras. To me point-and-shoot cameras need to be practical and in reach, no more, no less.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V certainly has a comprehensive feature list that would satisfy most photographers from excellent low light capability to in camera HDR not forgetting two of my favourites, panoramic sweep and 10 frames per second burst. I found that leaving it in full AUTO I get far better results than trying to out smart it. The only time I take it out of AUTO is for panoramas, which it does very well if you know how to, and HDR which actually works well enough for my use, finally for video.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V also has some shortcomings, for one the aperture is rather limited from f/3.5 to f/8 and to be honest the GPS is really slow to acquire a fix. Lastly, this may surprise everyone, it’s heavy but that brings a sense of solidity not often found in this type of camera.

In short, it is not an SLR but it does a brilliant job for what it is a pocket camera that is always ready.

I posted some sample photos to my Flickr account.

You can find in-depth reviews here:

• http://www.digital-photography-school.com/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-hx5v-review
• http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Cyber-shot_DSC_HX5/

Samples:

Related posts:

1. Mini book Review: Rick Sammon’s HDR Secrets for Digital Photographers
2. Book Review: "The Hot Shoe Diaries" by Joe McNally
3. Lensbaby Composer with Double Glass & +10 Macro review

Bottom line, we are back and contemplating the launch of www.mondayville.net!

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1. Service disruption

The truth is I was only armed with a 70-200mm, I can honestly tell you it is not the lens for this type of photography.

In my opinion this is how, though I have not tried you can be assured I will, I just need to find another co-operative grasshopper (this may be the biggest problem):

1. A long lens, 300mm or above. I will try with a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L USM.
2. Ideally a fast f/2.8, I have to settle with f/5.6
3. A high burst rate, 5 frames a second or higher.
4. The camera set to continuous centred focus, this is debatable.
5. A lot of luck and patience

For now though here are the “heavily” cropped photos I did this weekend.

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In this case I am going to focus on what I personally encounter every day while driving.

Our (South African) taxi industry, for those of you that are thinking “yellow cab”, it’s not that kind of taxi. These are minibus type taxis (Toyota Quantum Ses’fikile) usually capable of taking from 10 passengers upwards, most commonly 16 at a time..

In recent years, this industry has become more demanding and capricious, in fact I would offer the opinion that at this stage they have little if no regard for the law or any other vehicles on road.

Since actions to prevent this or even curb it are not evident, the lack of action would seem to suggest that the South African government merely bows to their demands. The latest tabled demand is the cancellation of the demerit “point” system as implemented in other parts of the world.

The case made by the Taxi Associations and drivers is that this will cause a large job loss and I can only agree. They drive so badly that within a month few will have a valid drivers license.  (See here and here)

The bottom line is the South African taxis are a danger to all that drive on South African road. Considering that as all South Africans are aware of the dangers that the Taxi Drivers pose, I was disgusted that MTN, one of our mobile operators, has leveraged from this on a advertising campaign on one of our main highways and even more so that nobody seems to care about the Taxi’s or supporting this clear and present danger on our roads.

Does this mean that we have given up? That we will continue to tolerate or accept such behaviour? I pay taxes and toll road fees. I know that I certainly will not.

[Editor’s note: The article was edited by the ever diligent Michelle Ashburner after publishing]

Related posts:

1. Bandwidth in South Africa – Part 1 – Cost
2. South Africans You Should Meet
3. Shout for a safer South Africa

In her own words about South Africans You Should Meet:

Welcome… and we’re South African!

This forum is about South Africans who are doing amazing or wierd, funky?, different, world-rockin’ or breath-holding things.

So if you know a South African, anywhere in the world, that is doing anything amazing or different that we can all be proud of,  think about or support or there is a South African you would like to meet – then let me know, I would love to interview them and shout it out from the top of the Milky Way of the World Wide Web.

Proudly South African
Michelle Ashburner

Michelle I wish you the best from a proud South African, I can’t wait for the first instalment and may there be many in the future.

You can go over to http://www.southafricansyoushouldmeet.com/ for more information.

Related posts:

1. Tolerance in South Africa
2. Bandwidth in South Africa – Part 1 – Cost
3. Shout for a safer South Africa