The Sand Castle

Swiss Army Knives are known for being technical and versatile – exactly the tool to have with you in a difficult situation.  MacGyver always had his Swiss Army Knife and I almost always have one with me as well.  I’ve enjoyed photographing my Swiss Army Knives in challenging and amusing situations.  Some of those photos have been featured in this blog and additional ones are in my SmugMug gallery.   I even made a book of my Swiss Army Knives.  Lately, though, I’ve had a feeling that something was going wrong – I was having to work harder and harder to get a good photo whereas the little knives were contributing little except to enjoy their celebrity status.

To prove my point, I secretly made the video below during a recent shoot in Destin, Florida.  Clearly, the Swiss Army Knife is not contributing except to pose as the “talent” and take all the credit!

The story behind the photograph

(Video shot with G12 in “miniature” movie mode and edited in Premiere Elements 9.)

PAW 28

One of my favorite subjects:  Swiss Army Knives.  This one is from a walk on the beach in Destin, Florida.  Picture taken with the G12 at f2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 80, handheld to get a low view.  Processed from RAW in ACR and cropped in Photoshop.

Yes, he did get wet!

PAW 23

This picture of the week is the latest addition to my collection of Swiss Army Knife pictures.  This one is PAW 23 and also the seventeenth in my Adventures of the Swiss Army Knives gallery at SmugMug.

Of course, the little critter could not possibly eat everything on that plate and I had to finish it.  Knives!

G12: Unused Features

The G series Powershot cameras have so many features that they are a veritable “Swiss Army Knife” of cameras. I really like Swiss Army Knives and have, uh, quite a few. Like my Swiss Army Knives, my G12 has a number of features that I don’t actually use but am glad to have around because, well, you never know when they might come in handy.

Before anyone gets upset, I’m not saying that the features about to be listed are useless. I’m just saying that I haven’t used them – yet.

For starters, look no farther than the Mode Dial on top of the G12. I never use Auto because Program mode is preferred for automated shooting (although I rarely use Program mode either). Somewhat surprisingly, I’ve never used the “Quick Shot” setting – no particular reason, I just haven’t. Perhaps I’ve missed something useful. Also on the Mode Dial, I’ve rarely used the “Low Light” setting but this rarity seems reasonable. I’ve used the “SCN” (think of “Scenes”) setting on occasion, especially the HDR and Nostalgic features but that’s about it. I’ve used my G12 to make videos but have yet to use the Miniature mode (although I intend to play with it).

Also on top of the G12, I rarely use the Exposure Compensation dial although I’m glad exposure compensation is provided. My usual practice is to shoot in Aperture Priority (Av) mode and, instead of using the Exposure Compensation dial, switch to Manual Exposure if the Av exposure isn’t quite right. I probably should use Exposure Compensation more often.

On the back of the G12 at left top is the Quick Print or Shortcut button. I agonized over which feature to assign to it as a shortcut and finally selected i-Contrast; however, I promptly forgot that assignment and have never used it. I don't use i-Contrast either. Also, I never print directly from the G12 so the Quick Print feature is wasted on me.

There are Dynamic Range and Shadow corrections that can be accessed through the Function button on the back of the G12. These adjustments do not apply when shooting RAW or RAW + JPEG – my normal practice – so they remain unused.

In the Main Menu, I immediately turned off these features: Digital zoom, AF-Point zoom, Servo AF, Continuous AF, Safety MF, Red-Eye Correction, Red-Eye Lamp, Blink Detection and Date Stamp.

After taking a picture, I’ve never used the G12 for editing. That is, from the Playback menu, I’ve not used these features: Smart Shuffle, Protect, Rotate, Favorites, My Category, i-Contrast, Red-Eye Correction, Trimming, Resizing or My Colors. (Actually, in finding these features, I should learn more about them.)

Well, my list of unused G12 features is shorter than I thought it would be. Plus, I’m now curious about some of these unused features and will be learning more about them.

More Preview Pages at Blurb

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I've made several Blurb books, learned a lot in the process and (I hope) am getting better at both editing and book design. Previously, Blurb allowed 15 page "previews". Now, a Blurb author can choose to allow unlimited previews. I've opened my Swiss Army Knife book and my dad's autobiography to full previews.

Update: Just like last year, my entry to Blurb's Photography Book Now (Swiss Army Knives at Work and Play) did not win, place, or show -- or get mentioned at all. Oh well, I like it and voted for it. Wait 'til next year!

Lessons Learned: Not all, but a significant number of the winning or mentioned books in Blurb's Photography Book Now contest used a very simple design: blank page on the left page, one large print on the right page. Sometimes the left hand page includes the caption or a comment about the right hand page. This is especially interesting considering that Blurb offers so many page templates and variations on design. No doubt I've been using overly complex designs and layouts.
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Another for the SAK Gallery

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This little fella poised inside a diffusion zone made from a 2’ x 4’ translucent light panel bent into a U shape and lit from the outside with a Nikon SB-24 triggered by Cactus wireless units from my Canon G9. I liked it well enough to include in my collection of Swiss Army Knife photos at SmugMug.

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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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