tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2486545465965773142024-11-17T02:25:22.998-08:00Art is like religion in this respect: that many horrors have been perpetrated in its name. And also that there yet remains such a thing as epiphany.Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-73300926883597648962008-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:002008-09-22T20:40:55.644-07:00

Recently I've tackled (and I believe conquered!) a problem that has been bothering me for quite some time. Here are some of the puzzle pieces:My computer is a laptop - a Lenovo X60T - which I love with the exception of the screen. When I bought it I didn't realise there were different screen options otherwise I would have gone for the best one. As it is the screen is really fairly unusable for

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-57429714144097732082008-07-01T18:38:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:20.184-08:00

That is to say, I'm pretty much done with this blog for the time being. I thought I would wrap it up with a quick synopsis of why...The main reason is that it takes too much time.Right now photography is a hobby for me. I'm really into it but don't have much time to do much except take photos and look at them, evaluate, delete, send to people to whom they will mean something to etc.As I became

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-64837311860953325402008-06-03T18:14:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:22.297-08:00

The funny thing is, a week ago it was not.The first two photos are from 2-3 weeks ago. The last one, from this morning. A week ago the birch trees were finally in leaf - but the weather had still not made up its mind. These photos are all taken a bluff near my house.First "Alaskan Crocus":The Delta River in Spring: (I'll post a summer update for comparison; see archives for some shots during

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-55434746719102071402008-05-15T22:50:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:23.502-08:00

Yes, I did buy a Canon 20D recently. It had a few issues... Firstly, I noticed the viewfinder did not register focus no matter how I dialed the diopter adjustment. During a conversation with the seller (who was great to deal with despite the issues!) he mentioned swapping out a custom split-prism focusing screen for the standard Canon one in order to sell the camera - he had scratched the custom

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-21042091563858323552008-04-29T22:56:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:24.178-08:00

This is an initial shot taken by my 20D at F8.0 (the lowest my lens will focus at right now :) ) - in manual mode with the shutter speed at 1/100s. The flash is held at point-blank range so any E-TTL mishaps should be disastrous. Seems like it worked, though! - This is of course my trusty fujifilm F30 camera that most of the photos are from on this blog... Here is one taken at 1/1000 sec - I am

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-5119592043810965012008-04-29T22:46:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:24.590-08:00

Ok - here are the last photos of construction. I am having to blog these four at a time because I am using Picasa's "blog this" feature - for some reason the web interface is down on blogger and I can't sign in that way. I was lucky to have the network jack fit so nicely. I had to cut the metal "frame" that used to clamp the cord (see previous post photos) in order to fit the jack, but after that

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-12900058429946447672008-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:24.909-08:00

Here are a couple of assembled pics:Flash shoe end, taped. I used linerless rubber splicing tape to wrap the cord/flash end because I like it better than plain electrician's tape. Camera module

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-59943139681921441152008-04-29T18:05:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:25.818-08:00

Wires re-wrapped around "choke" (flash shoe end)Wires punched down (flash shoe end) I sent the ground shield down two wires. 1stly the w/blue to be a pair with the blue (see previous post) and secondly just another free wire since there were two spare and the shield was too fat to fit in one punchdown space...

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-65474839044770590992008-04-29T18:04:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:26.631-08:00

The thing to notice in this post, apart from the photos, is the way the copper shield is wrapped not only around the main bundle of wires but specifically around the red wire. This means a "delicate" signal is coming down that - either that or a really strong one that would interfere with signals on other wires. The twisting of the wires in an ethernet cord also works as shielding: it is

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-30260582473513599322008-04-29T17:58:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:27.469-08:00

In this post and a follow-up I will show how I modified a Canon off-shoe flash cord to use a standard ethernet / network patch cord. Why? Well, the length of cord that the item had to begin with was really unusable except for handheld flash. See the first photo for this. I want to use my new 420EX flash more remotely than that. A quick look at the cord told me I had 6 wires to deal with and what

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-66026904908813598732008-04-15T17:29:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:27.798-08:00

SpringtimeIt is supposed to be springtime here but continues cold with occasional snow. I've just finished processing the last of my wedding photos and so hopefully will have a bit more spare time! This does not necessarily follow though since I have started a new exercise regime that effectively knows about an hour off each day. Nice. Thought I should post a photo after so long though... In

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-47602611432474231892008-03-18T22:03:00.000-07:002008-12-09T22:50:28.915-08:00

This is a cool looking staircase I found......and looking up...The Tanana Bluff & Pipeline Bridge1/850sec - F8.0 - iso100...I love the sky on this one.This is the newly finished back of my softbox, wires covered, painted black. As you can see, I have velcro all around the circumference so the reflector can detach easily.And following, some more experimenting with the softbox:hmmm. Almost

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-36541984367882677322008-02-26T22:36:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:30.770-08:00

Loneliness1/4sec (from van window!) F2.8 iso200Secondly, a photo of a finished scone, for those who were curious! Sorry, its the best I have right now. Take it from me though, they do look great.Although I wanted to start this post with a good photo, the rest of it is going to be about the DIY softbox I am in the process of making.I ran through a variety of ideas for making this softbox but this

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-34508803161678360512008-02-21T23:40:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:32.225-08:00

1/45sec - F5.0 - iso100Black Spruce1/220sec - F5.0 - iso100This sky is gorgeous!The framing is a little off, but I wanted to show more of the sky...I shot the three photos directly above in Fuji's chrome color mode, as I could see the camera was not capturing the color properly. It is certainly an improvement - but no exaggeration, the real sunrise was better!1/10sec - F4.0 - iso100Here you can

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-49941304546703759252008-02-19T00:08:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:34.327-08:00

In the beginning there was... a gift from pottery barn - a pair of wall sconce candle holders.This post will deal with converting it into an electric fixture.Step one: drill a hole for the wire to enter through. I'm planning on using the little rubber grommets (local hardware store) you see in the photo to soften the edges. Drilling this hole was the hardest part of the project. Two low and the

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-49806566678877216622008-02-13T15:35:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:50:34.846-08:00

iso100 - f8.0 - 1/850secview of a snowy curved roofThat's a moose, that is!

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-26853078907325405752008-02-11T23:51:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:50:35.366-08:00

...But after -55F, what wouldn't seem warm? It certainly isn't summer yet :)Sunlit - iso100 - f4.0 - 1/220secSnow Dunes - iso100 - f8.0 - 1/950secI love using low iso when I can... This camera may be better than most compacts in that dept. but I find I still can't really bear anything over 400.

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-76802789499789403492008-02-08T22:57:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:50:35.997-08:00

I like night photos!fence - 15 seconds

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-13367835380900500932008-02-03T00:08:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:50:36.352-08:00

1/20s - f5.0 - iso400f5.0 because I am zoomed in, iso400 because I had no tripod and couldn't afford a slower shutter!Well, a fair bit of time since my last post... This blog has become wildly popular in the meantime, garnering its first comment! At last I understand what Friday meant to Crusoe! I am in touch with humanity!Ok, enough of that.Above you see the inside of a fiber optic splice case.

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-27459029681111722982008-01-28T23:38:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:36.490-08:00

F2.8 - 2.0s - iso200

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-38763732927487126502008-01-28T00:11:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:50:36.981-08:00

F5.0 - 1/170s - iso200This photo is from a few days ago. In my very first post the image with weird trees contains this very same sunset - you can see the diagonal dark backslash in both photos. I pulled over further down the road on my way home to take this (my driving was suffering...). You can see snow blowing off the peak to the mountain left center. It was quite glorious.This manhole is

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-64117572294539002802008-01-27T01:26:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:37.572-08:00

Fuji F30, F7.1, 1/480, iso:100This first image I am calling "Homecoming" because it happens to be what I see every time I round the last few bends in the road and am, to all intents and purposes, home. Sometime I will get a night shot of this. I took this one mid morning with the arctic sun shining northwards straight and low. After taking this shot I climbed the bluff (to my right in the photo

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248654546596577314.post-61846907770405999582008-01-25T23:31:00.001-08:002008-12-09T22:50:37.946-08:00

So... There is the first photo. Is that the largest size I can get from this blog's standard machinations? if so, I will have to work something else out.The caption could be "weird trees". A forest fire took out hundreds of acres of black spruce around Ft. Greely some years ago and their black skeletons are still Seuss-ishly standing guard today. The photo is untouched, and for sure at least the

Jon.Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12260434844501536430noreply@blogger.com0