andre's blog

Dodge Commercial

2008-05-11T02:57:32-04:00

In March i was walking through Downton Los Angeles one Saturday when I saw a Waterslide unrolled in Downtown and tons of cameras all around. I didn't bother much and took a few photos that you can see in my L.A. Gallery. On my way home I walked right by the slide, took a couple of shots and went on.

One month later, while watching TV i saw the advertisement for the new Dodge Journey when I discovered the same scene again. I only took 3 shots, but I really liked the one of the actor in the suit.

My 450D arrived

2008-05-06T00:53:50-04:00

Canon Rebel XSi - 450DMy brand spanking new Rebel XSi arrived from Amazon Today. I finally have a new Toy but I promised to wait for my Birthday that is right around the corner. I already drew up a series of tests I am going to subject the camera to to compare it to my previous models and to test the resolution limit. Until I am ready to unpack my new toy (and get a year older), I have a tutorial to upload.

It has been a short while since my last tutorial since I have been busy with my failing computer and data recovery.

Finally this was over when Tina scared us out of our minds. We had to take her to the emergency care and get her checked out. Tina is our beloved Tabby Feline. Her sibling brother Tigger died almost exactly 2 years at the tender age of 4 and 11 months (yes their birthday coincides with mine). It was heartbraking and it is hard to learn that Tina's days are precious as well, as she has been diagnosed with an illness that could cost her dearly one day. We took her home with us after 2 days of emergency care.

I am a soft hearted person and when it comes to my baby Tina I am just a big sucker.

Back to business: I am probably going to write a 450D diary, adding little pieces of information as I am using the new camera.

Protect your data with Raid

2008-04-27T23:32:52-04:00

The Culprit: Broken 80GB Wester Digital DriveThree to four weeks ago, I got the shock of my life. I turned on my main Photoshop Computer that also holds all of my photographs in form of undeveloped RAW files. Suddenly my computer reported that it could not find any hard drive to boot from and it made loud clicking noises. One of my drives was trying to spin up but could not. It sounded very much like a head crash.

The next day was pure agony for me, when I had to wait to dissect my computer. Although used to back up everything to external drives, I had become lazy recently. My most recent backup was already several months old. I took my internal hard drive to usb adapter and hooked up my main picture drive to my computer. The adapter works with Laptop and Desktop drives as well as the new SATA drives.

Fortunately, I was able to connect to the picture drive. I immediately copied the drive image to another drive of the same size with my laptop before I started checking the other two drives. I found that my small 80GB drive that held the boot record was completely dead. This drive also held many processed jpeg images, but nothing I could not recover from the RAW files. It took me two weeks of experimentation, trying to get the MBR moved to another drive before I finally gave up trying to restore my current installation. I was concerned about my software licenses but I got unexpected help from a friend.

After this disaster, I realized that I would never be as diligent with my backups as I needed to be and that I would need a raid solution. A raid level 1 takes two hard drives and combines them like a single hard drive, writing all data twice. Even if one drive went bad, I would still have another good one. When I build my computer a while ago, I based it on a Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard, since it supported a lot of RAM, had two IDE connectors, a whole lot of SATA connectors and decent on board graphics with DVI out. Fortunately, the board also has an NVIDIA nForce 430 southbridge that supports raid.

After building and setting up the raid array, I tried to install Windows XP. Based on the DOS of the 1980ies, I should not have been surprised that Windows demanded additional drives to be on a Floppy. Since Windows also does not have drivers for the nForce, I had to learn how to build my own Windows installation CD, since it refused to install from any other location.

I found a good tutorial online that I used when I built my first Windows CD with added drivers. I took the official Nvidea drivers from their website, supposedly WHQL signed. Windows would now install correctly, but at the end of the installation, Windows was locked up in an infinite reboot loop. I was surprised, since the correct drivers should not have resulted in a reboot loop. After I built a new CD with the drivers from Siemens, omitting the sata_ide drivers, I finally got windows installed correctly.

Nvidia Mediashield showing both hard drives and the raid mode (mirroring)

Most problems came from the fact that I wanted to boot from the raid array to avoid the exact same problem I had before. I could not afford to lose any licenses or even the weeks to restore everything.

I installed another large hard drive where I can put all my project files (tiff, psd, stitches). Those files do not need to reside on the raid, where I will keep my software, my raw files and my final pictures.

I now have a bulletproof computer system and it only cost me an additional hard drive. I can even configure the system for hot-swapping, where I can remove a drive while the computer is running normally. I still have to copy all my pictures and install software, but I am finally back. And I am back with a redundant system that should be completely safe from data loss, due to my simple raid setup.

UPDATE1:

Shortly after composing this article a sobering experience set in. My computer used to freeze up when a lot of hard drive activity started on the raid array. Windows would hang but the mouse would still move around. Besides that, nothing else happened and I could ony reset the computer by pushing the power button.

I dug around for a while and came up with this forum thread. The amount of problems Nvidia seems to have with their nForce is staggering and the lack of updated drivers is just unbelievable.

To cut a long story short, I went to my local best buy and got the cheapest raid controller they had: this one

First I installed the drivers, hoping that I wouldn't have to go through a new Windows installation. I then connected the two hard drives on this card and Windows did boot right up. After it decided to rebuild the array (probably related to my previous problems) everything ran smooth. It has been quite a while of heavy data activity and so far everything runs smooth.

The card supports the full speed (3Gb/s ~ 300MB/s <- bits vs Bytes+CRC) of the SATA II standard and does everything I want (Raid 1).

Painting with Light

2008-03-26T09:42:00-04:00

The dictionary (Webster) defines photography as "the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface".

This means that we create our images by capturing light (photons), reflected from our subjects, with some sort of detection device. That means we will not be able to capture anything in absolute darkness.
Landscape photographers usually rely on the sun as their source of light, but creating our own source of light at night is not a new concept. Painting with light simply means that you brought your own light source and that you choose what to light and what not.

On my last trip to Mono Lake, I thought that the bizarre shapes of the lake would lend themselves to this technique. After the sun set, I set up my camera on a tripod and chose an exposure of around 30 seconds, so I would have enough time to sweep as much of the landscape with my spotlight as I needed. I used a mid range aperture setting of around f-8 to start and adjusted the aperture accordingly after the first shot. You have to use manual settings, as the camera cannot evaluate the scene correctly with the spotlight. You need about 20s-30s to evenly paint a scene with a strong spot light.

I bought a 2.2 Million Candlepower light, before I went out to Mono Lake. I recommend at least 1 Million Candlepower for landscapes. The further your subject is away from you, the longer you need to paint it. Stand a few feet away from your camera and use a remote control or timer or another person to release the shutter. If you stand too close, your light beam might make nasty streaks across the frame, especially if you are shooting with a wide lens. Start painting shortly before releasing the shutter and keep painting until you hear the shutter again. Move your spotlight with an even pace across your subject.

If you light something that is farther away, you need to expose longer. If you double the distance, you need to increase the time by roughly four times to get the same brightness.

Painting with light drastically changes how a scene looks like (compare the two images at the top of the post).

Backroads of California

2008-03-24T09:05:00-04:00

Driving through California is one of my greatest joys. On my way to the great photographic sights, I have plenty of time to think about how California really looks like apart from the glossy pages and polished frames people are used to seeing. One of the main sights on my travels are golden hills lined with trees. Depending on the time of the day, they may glow golden or look rather dull and brown.
For some reason, I always pass the most beautiful rolling hills in perfect light when there is no way to pull over. This is pretty much how most of central California between I-5 and 101 looks like. I am sure that I will finally succeed in capturing a better image.

I quit the split

2008-03-21T09:42:00-04:00

Split Neutral Density Filter (c):kodak.comLandscape scenes often contain more dynamic range than our cameras can capture. Even though digital cameras have increased their resolution tremendously, the dynamic range they can capture has not changed much over the years. Fuji has introduced the Super CCD SR to extend the dynamic range, but the technology is expensive and has not been adapted throughout the industry.
Split Neutral Density filters are one solution to this problem. They regulate the amount of light hitting the image sensor. A Split Neutral Density filter works like graded sunglasses for your camera. The gradient will make sure that there is a smooth transition between the shaded and the clear area.
Usually one would use these filters with the darker area covering the sky, to reduce the brightness levels there and reduce the dynamic range of the scene to something the camera can manage.
I do not use these filters anymore for their many limitations. The transition is usually on a straight line, which works well for reasonably flat landscapes with a clear transition between sky and land. In other cases, this is not the case. I would not use a split neutral density filter to shoot an alley, a tunnel, or a city skyline (a fact that bit me in this shot).
Another big drawback is that you need too many of those filters, depending on your focal length. Wide-angle shots require a much smoother transition, since your lens covers a much wider area. Telephoto lenses require filters with a much harder edge.
These days I usually take multiple exposures or try to recover as much dynamic range by processing my RAW files through HDR software.
If a scene has no movement and there is plenty of time to set up a tripod, I always prefer to take multiple exposures. During post processing, I can create any kind of transition with any shape I want. Even easier is to run these images through the same HDR program. This is what I did for this image of False Kiva.

Happy St. Patricks Day

2008-03-16T15:03:57-04:00

Monday is Saint Patricks day, where all Irish communities around the world celebrate one of the patron saints of Ireland. The San Francisco Bay area has a large Irish community and hence Saint Patricks Day has always been celebrated with fanfare.

Yesterday San Francisco kicked of the St. Patricks Day Celebration with a big parade. I took this chance and tried to capture the spirit of the day.

See some of yesterdays pictures in my St. Patricks Day in San Francisco Gallery.

Fishermans Wharf

2008-03-09T16:11:36-04:00

Yesterday I drove to San Francisco and took a stroll along Fishermans Wharf. Spring is the best time to visit California. I soaked in the sun and the bustling market, watched street performers and cable cars.

After an hour I drove to little italy to sit down at a local coffee shop and watch the busy life pass by, ending the day with a visit to the Legion of Honor.

After all these years living in the bay area, San Francisco still has an appeal that makes it my favorite city. Some neighborhoods still feel like a small town. People are friendly and welcoming and open to everyone.

Check out my San Francisco Street Photography Gallery for more images or my general San Francisco Gallery.

Arguments against the Megapixel Race

2008-03-04T08:40:00-05:00

Canon Rebel XSi - 450DEvery year the photo industry whose aim is to make money just as the rest of us, is trying to seduce us into buying new gear and discarding the same equipment that was so hot just a year or two ago. Pumping out Megapixel monsters with features that rival those of pro cameras, they tell us that we have to have these wonderful new items. I admit, I am a sucker myself. Every time I open up a magazine and see the latest Megapixel monster staring back at me from glossy pages my heart beats faster. Of course, I read the testimonials from the "pros" (probably endorsed by the industry) who rave about the new technology. Looking at their fantastic images, we might think that we can only succeed with these tools. I am even thinking about upgrading my truly wonderful Canon. I am waiting for the 50D to hit the shelves and I might just buy the Rebel XSi in the meantime to have something new to play with, because I need toys to be happy.
On a more rational note, it is unnecessary to buy new equipment. Already the sensors of the last generation of digital cameras are pushing the limits of diffraction. The Rebel XSi will have a greater pixel density than any other camera with APS-C sensor size. This means that the maximum tolerable circle of confusion for this camera becomes smaller.

This means that we become more and more restricted to the minimum size of our aperture (largest f-stop). In order to boost Depth of Field, a small aperture is necessary.

What is the significance of this?

For once, the higher resolution is not going to make things worse. At the best case, we will get a picture that is 2 times better when the resolution of the sensor is 2 times higher, but in most practical situations, the lens or the optical resolution will limit us somewhat. I think at some point we will get to a point of diminishing returns in terms of resolution, but the camera industry will still taunt us with megapixel numbers for quite some time.

Another way to grow resolution is by growing sensor size (full frame). However, those are extremely expensive to manufacture are much more demanding on the lenses, since they require a larger image circle with the same perfection.

In the future, the industry should probably focus on more pressing issues like increasing the dynamic range of their sensors. If resolution is really all that counts, we can always resort to stitching.

P.S.: Don't worry if this discussion was a bit too technical to understand. I will soon elaborate these things in greater depth.

Titan 2 Missile Silo Photographs

2008-03-01T08:31:14-05:00

During our Christmas Trip of last year we came through a place in Arizona that was once home to the largest and deadliest weapons system ever built by the United States.

The Titan 2 Missile System in Arizona is the only of its kind left. It has been turned into a Museum where one can be stunned by the reality of what was once the cold war of two of the most powerful countries on earth. It serves as a reminder to a time not so long ago.

After seeing all this madness and talking about blast radius and destruction I am surprised that we are still not much smarter then we were during this time.

Enjoy the grisly-beautiful Gallery: Titan 2 Missile Silo and Pima Air Museum

Ghost Towns of the Sierra Nevada

2008-02-27T19:00:43-05:00

One of my favorite places in California is the Sierra Nevada. Unspoiled Nature and left alone by tourist crowds it is a photographer's heaven. During the hot summer months, I usually try to avoid those places, but spring and autumn are wonderful for exploring Eastern California.

I have recently added a new gallery entitled Ghost Towns of the Sierra Nevada. These pictures used to be part of my Highway 395 Gallery, but this gallery is growing too large already. There are still a few ghost towns left for exploring. I added some pictures of Silver City. The city is a collection of old stuff and old buildings brought together from other real cities. I guess they are doing a good thing, claiming to have saved all this stuff from decay. The attention to detail is fantastic. I would not mind paying again for another tour. Remind the person at the entrance to show you his "ghost pictures."

The only mistake I will not be making again is to stay in Ridgecrest. I think officer B. will have to find another victim to stick his traffic tickets to. If you drive through any city in the area, you should be very aware of the cops, as tourist traffic is a major income source for these cities and the cops down their pride themselves in how many tickets they hand out year. They are so proud that they even announce this on big billboards.

New Site Design and White Sands Gallery

2008-02-24T17:01:20-05:00

Last week I spent an enormous amount of time updating this Website. It is the part of being present online that I like the least as it involves hours of work without much of a visible result. I finally updated the underlying CMS framework to a newer version, and since I had made many customizations, I had to spend some time changing the programming of the new version to suit my needs. The gallery system I use works completely different now, so I had to do some patching there too. I am usually a lazy updater and a later adapter, since I use so many functions that are not always available on the bleeding edge. If anyone really cares what it takes to run a site, I can add a few pointers later.

The main reason to go through with this now was actually the fact that I need to organize the data better. Finding articles has become harder as this website grew, so I have added all those tutorial links to the front page, in an effort to improve access, and I have added some auto discovery links at the bottom of many pages. It is just the first step, but I am making great progress now that I finished the programming work.

I even found time to upload a new gallery yesterday. I still have a long backlog from recent trips. I did upload some pictures of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. I hope you enjoy the new gallery and that you come back next week for more.

I will also start to write a few new tutorials soon. As always I am open to suggestions on what to write.

Entry Level Cameras rivaling pro models - a preview

2008-02-15T07:56:18-05:00

Just a few years ago, I was following the online debate between advocates of the Digital SLR revolution and followers of film. At this time, I had already made up my mind with the purchase of my first Digital SLR, the newly released Canon 300D. A true marvel and ahead of its time, it was said to rival the quality of 35mm film cameras. Back then, the Canon 1Ds used to be the nonplus ultra of Digital Imaging technology. At 11 Megapixels and equipped with the world’s first full frame CMOS sensor it was the dream of many wannabe photographers (including yours truly) and a must for pros. Many agencies just started to accept digital pictures and required “at least” 11 Megapixels. At the time of its introduction, the 1Ds did cost around $8,000.

Canon Rebel XSi - 450D Soon, Canons new entry level SLR, the Rebel XSi will debut at around $800. It will offer 12 Megapixels. Granted the Camera does not offer the weather seals and Full Frame Sensor of the “old” 1Ds, but crop sensors have many advantages. The new features like liveview really make the XSi stand out. With the smaller image circle of a crop sensor, lens design becomes easier making lenses cheaper and lighter. Regardless of feature counting, pixel peeping and rich playboy coolness factor, the XSi is the best camera available to amateur photographers with features exceeding those of previous professional models. Its lightweight design, quiet and inconspicuous shutter operation, and general tourist appeal is a real advantage during street photography sessions. The loud clonk of my 20D’s shutter resulted in stinkeye on more than just one occasion.

Some of you might know that I am a Canon person. Throughout the years, I have bought many lenses and some cameras from Canon, so I will probably stay on this path for a while. But the Camera I really wish to rave about today does not carry the Canon label at all.

Faster than the Pros

The Casio Exilim EX-F1 will hit the shelves with a big bang. It is not even available for purchase yet and already reaping rewards.

Casio Exilim EX-F1 At 6 Megapixels resolution and a fixed lens of 35-432mm zoom range, it looks like an average superzoom with less resolution than its peers do. What makes this camera so exciting is its unbelievable speed. Let me put things into perspective.

Professional sports photographers pay $5000 for a Canon 1D M3, capable of capturing 10 frames per second (fps) at 10 Megapixel Resolution. This speed is necessary to get the action shots we are used to seeing in the papers. To capture an athlete in mid air, they aim at the action unfolding and keep the shutter pressed for a while. One of the pictures will be the desired action shot.

The Casio EX-F1 can capture 60 photographs per second, exceeding the speed of any professional camera many times. Pros will argue that the resolution is not comparable, the noise levels are higher due to the smaller sensor and the fast action and fixed lens requires bright sunny daylight, but the EX-F1 is still faster.

Capturing the moment a balloon explodes, a golf ball takes off or your cat in mid air is easy with the EX-F1. Although the frame buffer is only one second deep, you can keep shooting until the action happens. The EX-F1 will overwrite older pictures and stop as soon as you release the shutter button. No flash memory would be fast enough to store all this data.

The EX-F1 even supports RAW images (DNG), but it is unclear what kind of bit depth those are and if they support RAW capture at 60 fps.

Out of the way Mythbusters, here I come!

Casio Exilim EX-F1 Rear View The Casio Exilim EX-F1 has several movie capture modes and supports full HD at the normal speeds. At Youtube resolution, high-speed captures of up to 1200 frames per second are possible. These resolution / speed combinations are possible.

512 × 384 @ 300 fps

432 × 192 @ 600 fps

336 × 96 @ 1200 fps

Although that does not exactly say home theater, it is sufficient to study the world in slow motion and may even be good enough for low budget scientific research projects.

Casio has put together a compelling package for action photographers. The EX-F1 will be the camera of choice for enthusiastic soccer moms, hobby rocket scientists, and animal lovers. At a price of just $999, I may even decide to pony up some extra cash during a weak moment.

We have just started the New Year and had already two big announcements. I think this year is going to be very exciting.

XMAS Trip 2007 - New Photographs

2008-01-23T03:02:41-05:00

We shot many photos on our year-end trip. I have begun to upload the first batches of photos to my USA West Galleries.

I have added a new Gallery for Canyon de Chelly National Monument. This was a unique experience and one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen, mixing unique Navajo archeological sites with wonderful landscapes and wildlife.

Another amazing place was the False Kiva (shown in the picture above) we found in Canyonlands National Park. This is another archeological wonder situated among one of the most beautiful landscapes.

Ever since my Peru Trip, I have enjoyed taking photos of ancient ruins in amazing settings. Seeking them is a great pleasure and adventure.

I will keep uploading more pictures during the next couple of weeks, mainly in my USA West Galleries.

With the help of Dani (of TripGalleries), I have written an article on Native American Sites in the Soutwest. Its a great resource if you are interested in finding out more and to see some of the things I will be uploading soon (among many other).

XMAS Trip 2007

2007-12-29T00:26:10-05:00

During the past years, I have been year-end traveling. This year, I am on a trip through the Southwestern States. After we bolted straight to Phoenix from the San Francisco Bay Area, suffering through a monstrous 30-mile traffic jam around L.A., we were somewhat disappointed by Phoenix. We explored sights in Southern Arizona, New Mexico and headed into El Paso – Texas, where we spent Christmas. If you can avoid this city, you will spare yourself a big industrial looking blob of no particular beauty.

After Christmas, we headed North into New Mexico and the White Sands National Monument. The park was a real treat for our strained souls. We had a good time there and I finally got to use my Jetboil cooker for some hot treats.

Albuquerque and Santa Fe were a nice diversion from mundane El Paso, although we didn’t find too much things to do, as many of the smaller parks were either closed (Puye Cliff Dwellings, El Rancho de Las Colindras) or less photogenic (old town). Pecos National Monument turned out quite nice (see picture). Santa Fe and Albuquerque are freezing with a temperature shock so far below freezing that our thin Californian blood circulates at Mach 3.

I am looking forward to heading into Bandelier NM tomorrow and then leaving New Mexico for Arizona and Utah again.