For those of you who read my recent article on High Dynamic Range images, you’re already aware of the power of HDR in creating images that trample the boundaries of traditional photography. When pushed to the max, it’s quite easy to create eerie, surreal or just plain fake looking photos.
I recently did some night photography at the old train yard outside of downtown St. Paul, near Shepard Rd. The photo opportunities were endless. Surprisingly, both times I was approached by someone with a blaring walkie-talkie on their belt, I didn’t get kicked out - they only stopped to chat photography. And trains.
Chances are, many of you have stopped to enjoy a sunset and taken a quick photo of your significant other to capture the moment. Chances also are that when you looked at the preview on your LCD (instant gratification!), you found that it was quite different than what you were actually seeing. Not in a bad way. In fact, some of those photos may have displayed even more vibrant colors and a nicely silhouetted subject. Not bad. Just different.
The reason for this is simply due to the nature of photography and exposure. New techniques and technologies, however, are blurring this discrepancy between our eyes and our images.
The last twelve months; particularly the last six, have seen big steps in my photographic vision. I’ve taken a camera where I haven’t done so before, looked at things from new perspectives and improved my processing skills. I’ve selected 10 of my favorite photos from 2007 to share with you. Some of them I’ve selected for technical qualities as a “good photo”, others simply for the personal experience that surrounds it. I hope you enjoy what you see. Read the rest of this entry »
I spent a good portion of my holiday weekend sifting through the documentation for Papervision3D (let this load, it’s worth the wait!). Papervision3D is robust, open source ActionScript class library that aims to simplify the process of creating and animating 3D objects and effects in Flash.
Just as promised, I have a more exciting experiment that makes use of the Grid Maker from my previous post. For those who caught the OOP reference in the title, the Mosaic Creator is actually not a subclass of the Grid Maker… although it probably should be.
After about $15 worth of Vanilla Lattes (which, sadly, is probably only 3), I’m pleased to introduce my Mosaic Creator - and AcionScript 3.0 experiment that dynamically creates a mosaic based on a few variables - photo, tile/cell size etc. Read the rest of this entry »
This weekend I spent some quality time in front of a scanner archiving important documents (yes, in Wonderfile). Our office scanner rarely gets any use these days. With PDFs, vector art, high quality stock art, and the growth of digital photography, using a scanner is becoming a dying art.
A few people however, have found new uses for these once proud members of a digital artists arsenal. After all, a scanner is essentially a giant digital camera with a ridiculously slow shutter.
Check out Mike Golembewski’s website for some really cool scanner based photography. The motion of the environment coupled with the scanners movement creates truly unique and incredible imagery, and at very high resolutions.
Flickr has a great feature that lets you annotate your pictures by drawing little boxes right over the image and adding text. You don’t have to browse Flickr long to find some incredible photos enhanced with this fun feature.
I find exploring someones photo annotations much like embarking on a treasure hunt. You never know what you’ll find.
I recently took advantage of this feature to document the typical developers work environment (mine).
Click the photo or here to view the annotated version.
Last Saturday, after a good dose of caffeine at Sebastian Joe’s and some grapefruit juice and zucchini fries at the Independent (seriously), I decided to throw my own after-party and do some night photography. Read the rest of this entry »
