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A new book is on my coffee table: Swiss Army Knives at Work and Play. Of course, it's my own book, published at Blurb. So far, it is a, uh, very limited edition. The book has been entered in the 2009 version of Blurb's book contest.
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Showing posts with label knives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knives. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Swiss Army Camera
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I set this up because I like Swiss Army Knives and wanted to emphasize the versatility of the G9. As if the fully automatic camera features were not enough, the G9 has features like slide shows, direct printer connection, voice recorder, calendar, clock and more. Is a knife soon to be on the list? (Summarized from my longer essay at MyCanonG7.)
More of my Swiss Army Knife photos are on Smugmug.
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Tuesday, August 7, 2007
PopPhoto Shootout 2007: Second Assignment
The second assignment for the PopPhoto 2007 Shootout was a portrait. I’d guessed, almost assumed, that portraiture would be part of the contest so I was ready except that my model was in Florida. But wait, there was more! Rock, scissors, paper? The assignment required rock, scissors and paper to be included as elements of the portrait.
I had expected one of the assignments to be a bit odd but photographing my name (the first assignment) should have covered it. Although tempted, I decided to avoid the obvious “rock, paper, scissors” game and simply include those objects in the portrait.
The need for “scissors” created the concept for the first portrait.
My Swiss Army Knife has scissors and enjoys being photographed. Paper? How about having the knife read the newspaper I had just finished? Rocks? Put the rocks in the background. Model? Most likely, my knife would not qualify for both scissors and model. I needed someone who was readily available, would sign a model release, work for free and be patient with me. Since my Canon G3 has a flip around screen and remote, I selected, well, myself.
The rock, paper, scissors self-portrait was much more difficult than I thought. For one thing, even in the morning, a mid-July day in south Mississippi is hot. Even worse, the LCD display was just barely readable in the brightness. Then, the remote didn’t seem to work very well so the self timer had to be used instead. This meant constantly moving between camera and setting. Fortunately, the auto-bracketing feature allowed three shots per move but that was only a small consolation. This was the best shot but most people don’t “get it”. Anyway, I think it is hilarious – the silly little knife can’t even read!
With a light-hearted photo on the memory card, the next photo was
to be a bit more serious. For this scene, I set up three small wireless flashes. The main light was at about 45 degrees to the desk; the second light was at my back; the third light was snooted and aimed at the rock, paper and scissors. All in all, a realistic location portrait even if it is not a particularly exciting one. Besides, my mother likes it.
With two images selected, processed and uploaded to PopPhoto, I put the batteries in the chargers and myself to bed a bit early for an extended recharge.
I had expected one of the assignments to be a bit odd but photographing my name (the first assignment) should have covered it. Although tempted, I decided to avoid the obvious “rock, paper, scissors” game and simply include those objects in the portrait.
The need for “scissors” created the concept for the first portrait.
My Swiss Army Knife has scissors and enjoys being photographed. Paper? How about having the knife read the newspaper I had just finished? Rocks? Put the rocks in the background. Model? Most likely, my knife would not qualify for both scissors and model. I needed someone who was readily available, would sign a model release, work for free and be patient with me. Since my Canon G3 has a flip around screen and remote, I selected, well, myself.The rock, paper, scissors self-portrait was much more difficult than I thought. For one thing, even in the morning, a mid-July day in south Mississippi is hot. Even worse, the LCD display was just barely readable in the brightness. Then, the remote didn’t seem to work very well so the self timer had to be used instead. This meant constantly moving between camera and setting. Fortunately, the auto-bracketing feature allowed three shots per move but that was only a small consolation. This was the best shot but most people don’t “get it”. Anyway, I think it is hilarious – the silly little knife can’t even read!
With a light-hearted photo on the memory card, the next photo was
to be a bit more serious. For this scene, I set up three small wireless flashes. The main light was at about 45 degrees to the desk; the second light was at my back; the third light was snooted and aimed at the rock, paper and scissors. All in all, a realistic location portrait even if it is not a particularly exciting one. Besides, my mother likes it.With two images selected, processed and uploaded to PopPhoto, I put the batteries in the chargers and myself to bed a bit early for an extended recharge.
Friday, August 3, 2007
PopPhoto Shootout 2007
OK, so I didn’t win, place or show. I didn’t even make the finals in the 2007 Shootout contest sponsored by Popular Photography and Imaging magazine. But I did finish the assignments and had a good time doing it. More importantly I learned a lot and am a better photographer for having participated.
But I sure wish that even one of my shots would have been published. Hmmm, I have this blog and …
This year was the third year for PopPhoto to sponsor their great shootout. Their procedure for the first two years was to select three finalists, bring those photographers to New York and give them three days of tough photographic assignments. This year, the entire contest was conducted over the Internet.
The first phase was to register and submit four photographs: a landscape, an action photo, a portrait and a product photo. I sorted through some of my favorites and quickly entered all four.
Naturally, I first selected one of my favorites, Wallace, which has already been posted here and will be included in my Reify and Redact project as well. The other selections were
It seemed to me that between two and three thousand photographers registered but some entered only one or two photographs. Some entered more than four. At the end of this first phase of the contest, there were nearly seven hundred fully qualified entrants and I was hanging in there.
Next, the assignments ...
But I sure wish that even one of my shots would have been published. Hmmm, I have this blog and …
This year was the third year for PopPhoto to sponsor their great shootout. Their procedure for the first two years was to select three finalists, bring those photographers to New York and give them three days of tough photographic assignments. This year, the entire contest was conducted over the Internet.
The first phase was to register and submit four photographs: a landscape, an action photo, a portrait and a product photo. I sorted through some of my favorites and quickly entered all four.
Naturally, I first selected one of my favorites, Wallace, which has already been posted here and will be included in my Reify and Redact project as well. The other selections were
It seemed to me that between two and three thousand photographers registered but some entered only one or two photographs. Some entered more than four. At the end of this first phase of the contest, there were nearly seven hundred fully qualified entrants and I was hanging in there.
Next, the assignments ...
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