Category: arts and letters

Patriotism is not blind devotion

“Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience…”
—Rocky Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City

This is in response to Rumsfeld’s speech in that same city equating dissent with appeasing the Nazi’s. To understand the context, Salt Lake City is the capital and largest city in the state of Utah which is the most pro-Bush state in the union and one of the few places where he still enjoys a positive approval rating. This city and state is also the home town of my mother’s family.
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Posted on by tychay 6

Hatin’ Katie

Am I the only person in the world who simply thinks that the Katie Couric thing was just a pretty good retouching job?

Katie Couric

(Some people say that this isn’t retouched and then go into a spirited defense involving anamorphic film. Haha you guys are funny! I bet you believe that those girls on the magazine covers at the checkout stand really look like that.)

Sure, I think as much as the next guy that someone as vapid as Katie Couric being anchorwoman for CBS is a sign of the Apocalypse, but puh-leez…Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 1

Light Painting

This movie is simply amazing. To understand why, you still have to know what “light painting” is.

Basically, the concept is to take your camera and put it on a tripod and set it on bulb exposure. You open the shutter, then take a lighter, matches, or a flashlight and paint the scene (or doodle), and then close the shutter.

These people did that, did it again, and again, until they had made a stop-motion movie!
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Posted on by tychay 1

Canon is the only brand…

Reid Stott, an unapologetic Canon photographer, quotes: “Canon is the only D-SLR brand to own and manufacture the sensor, processor and lenses in house.”

How come when I read that I think to myself the days when Apple was the only personal computer brand to have their own design (industrial, chipset, architecture, protocols), software operating system, and manufacturing “in house”?

How did that turn out for them again?

Posted on by tychay 6

Nikon’s compact digital (S)uccessor

Photokina is coming and the pre-announcements are coming with it. Today it’s Nikon’s turn.

I thought I’d pick out one camera to mention: The Nikon Coolpix S10.

Nikon Coolpix S10

It’s only one of many Nikon compact cameras with Vibration Reduction built in. The other cameras are the thin, periscope style S7c and the more standard compact L5. (The S9 and L6 don’t have vibration reduction.)

By the way, Nikon’s designations are quite confusing. The key is understanding that Nikon uses the letter designation to denote the budget for the camera: L = budget, S = stylish, P = professional. Then the number after it is in order by time. This leads to confusion like the L6 being worse than the L5 and the S7c being an S8 with WiFi, and both being better than the S9. And the S10 being completely different than the S8 or S7c… more like a newer S4. Very silly!Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 5

The next Rebel

Engadget scooped the next Canon Rebel (Canon 400D dSLR) that everyone has been speculated would be released for Photokina.

If the specifications are true, I’ll have to eat a little humble pie. I was predicting the 9 point AF system (as Nikon has switched to the CAM1000 11 point AF system with the D80), but I wasn’t predicting the following:

  • 10.1 megapixel CMOS.
  • Anti-dust removal. I thought this was a feature that Olympus/Panasonic and Sony would want to keep away from the big boys (Canon and Nikon).
  • Shitty shot buffer.

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Posted on by tychay 6

Lies, Damn Lies, and Bias

Mike Johnston points out a Michael Reichmann review of the Panasonic L1.

DMC L1 front

Here is a one line summary of the review: Michael Reichmann says he should love Panasonic and the L1 design in particular and then tears the camera a new asshole.

I’m not surprised about the review. Reichmann’s “full frame” snobbery has been peeking through for a few years now and is now in full bloom. The fact that he qualifies his review by stating that he has a Panasonic bias is laughable.

Should I begin this review of the reviews and comments by stating that I have a Nikon bias? How is that relevant? If I wax glowingly of the the L1, does that make it more valid because I’m a Nikon guy? Typical fallacy.Continue reading →

Posted on by tychay 11

A strategy against terrah

“There are no quick fixes when you are fighting an ideology. Like communism before it, I suspect Islamic fundamentalism will only be defeated through a slow war of attrition. Ideologies must die out, they cannot be killed.”
—Anonymous Liberal, “Strange Burden Shifting”

A scathing indictment on a false choice that the only options on the War on Terror are military or nothing at all.

Posted on by tychay 0

HDR photography hits mainstream

The New York Times has a wonderful summary article of High Dynamic Range photography.

(I have a strong suspicion that the article is heavily influenced by discussion on the HDR Flickr group.)

This was a little serendipitous because I had a discussion at lunch where I heard the tired old line that “nothing new is in Photoshop since x came out” and I pointed out some of the features in CS2, of which HDR support was one of them.

Continue reading about High Dynamic Range photography after the jump

Posted on by tychay 5