Jeffzilla

Links for 2009-06-30 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Is Twitter Moving Too Fast For Society?

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:35:20 +0000

In this short video clip, Nicole Wong speaks at UC Berkeley on social responsibility and societal acceptance in using Twitter, and how society is adapting it’s usage in real time.

Interesting thoughts – she makes the comparison to the introduction of TV, Cable, and the relatively drawn out period of time when the new medium’s acceptable usage is being fleshed out by society. Today, with communication technologies moving so fast, there’s much less time for society to figure out what’s acceptable and useful – we’re in a stage of “runtime”, where the value and usage must be figured out as it’s being adopted. This “runtime” makes me think of Twitter’s potentially critical mass inducing introduction to the main stream by Jannis Krums, when he posted the famous photo of the US Airways jet down in the Hudson River on his Twitter Stream, before any formal news agencies were on the scene. Similarly, James Karl Buck was widely noted for being the first to use Twitter as a way of notifying his friends as he was being hauled to an Egyptian jail.

Video Link – The Unexpected Dangers of Twitter

Jill Learns About Caipirinhas At Beco

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:52:27 +0000

My sister Jill is a chef and runs a personal catering business called The Dish’s Dish. Recently she visited Brazilian restaurant Beco in Williamsburg, and learned the secrets of their pao de queijo and caipirinhas. She wrote all about it on her All Things Delicious blog, and posted this nifty video of pao de queijo and caipirinhas at Beco.

The bread looks delicious, and trying out some tasty Brazilian food seems like a perfect summer foodie endeavor…

Links for 2009-06-08 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Feltron Eight

The Putting Lot Putt Putt Golf Course Opens in Bushwick

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:50:37 +0000

This past weekend I got to check out The Putting Lot, a new put put golf course in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The Putting Lot is a temporary installation on Wyckoff Ave in Bushwick, Brooklyn, only there for this summer. It’s constructed on a previously vacant lot, and aims to emphasize the usage of community spaces and neighborhood sustainability.

Opening day at the putting lot was great! When Emily and I got there at around 5pm, the place was busy with a mix of hipsters and families with kids. A round of golf is $5, and they also sell some drinks and snacks. Since each hole is designed by a different designer, they are each vastly different – there’s a hole, called G.L.O.R.Y. Hole, designed by PLOT, with a choice of tubes to hit your ball down – only one gives you a hole in one. There’s also a Rube Goldberg machine style hole, called Panchinko Putt-Putt and designed by Meat Pallet, build out cabinets, parts of old electronics, and mirrors. By far the coolest hole, however, is the “Last Gasp” hole designed by Zabor/Tsien-Shiang, which features a whole corner of a house, complete with working gutters (which you hit your ball into).

Organizers Gabriel Fries-Briggs and Rachel Himmelfarb, along with a bunch of the other designers and organizers were all on hand for the day, hanging out and intermittently repairing holes, such as the temperamental kiddie pool central to the “Are You Wet Yet?” hole.

Video and photos below, all taken with the Canon SD-880is digital camera.

The staff at the Putting Lot – From top to bottom, left to right
Mariel Villere, Lydia Ross, Natasha Aswani, Rachel Himmelfarb, Giti Dadlani, Gabriel Fries-Briggs, Austin Mitchell, Sydney Talcott

The Putting Lot - Filled with people

The water hole...

Lining up a shot at the second to last hole

Links for 2009-06-05 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Salomon XT Wings Trail Running Shoe - Gary Valle's Photography on the Run

Links for 2009-06-03 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Oops. I tweeted my pants. By FL2

Links for 2009-06-01 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

http://www.bestiario.org/research/metaxonomy/

Shooting Quintessentially’s Evening At Philips De Pury

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:17:41 +0000

This week I shot photos for Guest of a Guest at the Philips De Pury Gallery for Quintessentially’s NYC Evening. The party was right at sundown, which gave a great opportunity to get some intensly naturally lit indoor shots of the sunset. Additionally, the gallery is in a building overlooking the Highline, so I was able to get some interesting aerial shots. Finally, got a look at some of Bruce Nauman’s work, including his 1975 “Ah Ha“.

Google Wave In Action

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:36:08 +0000

At their IO conference this week, Google unveiled their new communications platform Google Wave. It supposedly combines multiple forms of communication – namely email and IM, into a collaborative communications suite. There’s been HUGE buzz on this lately, and Ben Parr of Mashable has posted a good Google Wave guide.

I think Google Wave does have great potential, and its success will be largely dependent on how effectively Google manages to distribute it and enable universal access – users must be able to seamlessly switch over to using Google Wave from their current email/IM platforms. This could mean significant API access for developers (already available), and cross platform interface compatibility. Additionally, I love seeing that they’re enabling access to social nets like Twitter and Facebook. Could we get universal login with our Google login / Facebook login / Twitter login / OpenID login?

Links for 2009-05-22 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The Acid Lounge – First Episode

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:33:42 +0000

Here’s the one that started it all – the pilot episode of my college radio show, The Acid Lounge, broadcast in 2001 on Radio1190, KVCU, Boulder. The audio is a little hot, but you get the gist of where the show began. Enjoy!

The Acid Lounge – Pilot

Photoshoot: Henri Bendel Chocolate Bar

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:31:15 +0000

I did a photoshoot at Henri Bendel Chocolate Bar for a cocktail party hosted by Bernadette Haley and Nina Willdorf. For this shoot, I was shooting handheld, alternating between using a Sto-Fen flash diffuser, and the built in bounce card.

Shooting the Red Carpet for Hennessy Black

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:14:31 +0000

Shooting red carpets is usually interesting – people giving it their best shot to look good and photo-worthy, and not breaking their composure the whole time. No matter how much people are shouting at them, when they’re in front of the backdrop, they’re always trying to look good. Recently I shot the Hennessy Black product launch party for Guest of a Guest. The press was quite thick that night, and we were sandwiched into the velvet ropes to get a good position.

Shooting the Belvedere Macerated Launch Party

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:01:20 +0000

At the beginning of May, I shot photos for Guest of a Guest at the Belvedere Macerated product launch party, down in SOHO. For this shoot, I was experimenting using the Rayflash ring flash adapter on my Canon 580 EXII Flash. Basically, the adapter slips over the flash head, and makes it into a basic ring flash, redirecting the light from the flash through a series of plastic optical channels into prisms arranged in a ring around the lens. Shooting at a party with the ringflash makes for some interesting lighting – when shooting close up, it tends to make a pool of light in the center of the frame, and a pronounced vignette like effect around the images. Additionally, for people wearing hats, it avoids any weird shadows. At longer range, though, I’ve found that it can tend to flatten out the frame, stripping away interesting shadows. The other consideration for using this at a dark party is that the flash adapter blocks the Canon 580EXII’s AF illumination light and sensor. In low to no light, this effectively prevents the camera from autofocusing. Luckily this Belvedere event wasn’t too dark – but next time I shoot in a dark room with it, I’m going to try affixing a red flashlight to give the AF enough light.

Dancers at the Belvedere Macerated Launch Party (Not shot with the Rayflash)

New Pocket Camera – Canon SD-780IS?

Jeffrey Donenfeld — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:22:34 +0000

Earlier today I got an email asking for recommendations on a new pocket “point-and-shoot” camera, and fired back with a wrapup of the three that I too am considering for my next pocket camera.

My trusty Canon SD-500 has finally died after 4 years of hard use and abuse, and over 12,000 pictures taken. It’s been a great camera, and went all around the world with me, even scuba diving with me to 100 feet, in the Canon waterproof case. Recently the focus stopped working, and the two rechargeable batteries I have for it barely hold a charge – they’ve probably each been recharged close to 1000 times. Also, a little puff of smoke comes out of the top speaker grill every time the flash fires a full burst.

Buying a new piece of gear is always a major research effort, and weighing the options is important. I’m currently stuck on three cameras, each with their own good and bad features.

My brother Jason and I using the SD-500 to film our discovery of the crashed weather balloon in the backcountry of central Alaska, Summer 2008.

Canon SD780IS -
This is the smallest and thinnest pocket camera Canon has ever produced, and it really is super small – just checked it out at the store, and its rounded corners make it easy to slip in your pocket. It’s 12MP, but a very small sensor. From what I’ve read, it’s very solidly built for its size, and takes great pictures, however it’s picture quality is not as good as some other, larger pocket cameras. Also, it takes 720p HD video, with sound, and has a built in HD HDMI output for plugging directly into an HDTV. The lens is in the “normal” range for zoom, with the widest angle being 33mm (in film equivalent) The big questions for me on this is – I really love that it’s ultra super small, and takes 720p HD video, however, I’m not sure how much it’s worth it for ever so slightly reduced image quality. I suppose, though, given that this is a pocket cam, and ideally suited for going out with friends and taking fun snapshots, and not more intense photography, it would be acceptable. Also, it comes in flat black, which is sleek and low-key looking. This is currently my top pick.

Canon 880is -
This is the camera that I bought for my brother Jason recently, and researched quite a bit before I bought it for him. It’s a bit bigger and heavier than the 789is, and doesn’t have an optical viewfinder. Also, it’s lower resolution (10mp)(not an indicator of image quality), and only shoots “standard def” video. However, that being said, it is noted as having among the best image quality out of the current canon pocket cameras. Additionally, it has a wide angle lens, 28mm (in film equiv) being the widest. (Compared to 33mm for the 780is) This camera is def still pocketable, but nowhere near as sleek. My brother can pocket it easy because he wears baggy jeans, and it fits easily in a coat pocket, however it might be a little bulky to slip into the wallet pocket of a suit jacket, or dress pants, or tighter jeans. So, it’s a trade off of getting slightly better pictures and wider angle, but having a slightly bulkier camera with no HD video recording.

Canon D10 -
The one ultra standout feature for this camera, and the feature that majorly puts it on the radar is that it’s waterproof, shockproof, and freezeproof. You can submerge it to 33feet underwater. Although I have a dedicated scuba case for actual scuba diving, having a waterproof and shockproof pocket camera seems like an awesome feature for a traveler, especially for sailing trips, hiking in the jungle, and other potentially hazardous or dirty areas – no worrying about getting sand in the lens mechanism, or taking it out in the rain or snow. The main detractors for this camera are the lens focal length and the size. The lens’ widest is 35mm (in film equiv), which is not the widest at all. Also, it’s one of the bulkier “pocket cameras”, and I think it looks kind of bubbled out and stupid – def not as sleek as the 780is.

It does have the waterproof and shockproof going for it, though, which is a major factor…

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions!

Links for 2009-04-24 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT

bio-bak.nl - now featured in 1000 megapixels!