Tag: What’s this?

Thank goodness for the blog!

Jason8 Comments

Ever have one of those days where you know that you are doing something wrong with your gear – but for some reason it’s just not clicking (so to speak)?  I had just such a day recently.  I still have the DIY-style radio triggers from Cactus I bought last year (still have not upgraded to the Cybersyncs), and I was trying to light something off camera for a macro shot with this little solution.  Try as I might, I could not get the transmitter to fire my 580 when on camera.  For the life of me, if I tried one setup, I tried at least several dozen, all to no avail!  Finally, in frustration, I tossed the whole thing aside.

Then today, I was considering some advice on blog content to help “promote” archived content.  One such technique is to do a theme of  “a year ago today…” and reference a post from that same day last year.  Well, last year today I did a neat little write-up on…yup, these little Cactus triggers.  Lo and behold, the one combination of cables, wires and gadgets I did not try was the one I demonstrated nearly a year ago to the day that does work with these guys.  Oh the joys of camera gadgetry!  With all the gear and gadgets we own, it’s really amazing that we are able to keep this stuff in our heads as we do.  Well, mine must have sprung a leak, because I ended up reading my own blog on how to configure my own gear!  Well, thank goodness for the blog, eh?

In honor of finally figuring out (from my own writing no less) how to create the shot I was trying to get, and in kind of a rebirth of the “What’s This?” series from last year, here’s that shot for you today.  The first person to guess what this is – wins!

Can you identify this?

I’ll give everyone a hint – it has to do with photography! 🙂  Oh, and as an aside, I am loving the noise reduction in LR3 Beta 2!  I was at ISO 100, but some noise still creeped in – nothing LR3B2 couldn’t cure rather quickly!

Also, in light of it being “tax day” here in the states, to lighten your mood, here’s a laugh from WTD (I’ve not posted one of their cartoons in a while – though I do keep visiting every day!)

Whats This?

Jason3 Comments

What's This - Week 22

Now in week 22, see if you can identify the latest picture of the day for the “What’s This?” series shown above.  Lastt week’s shot as a constructio garbage chute from the inside.  As promised I am including an exterior shot today so everyone can see what they look like from a “normal” perspective.

In other news, don’t forget the poll on the sidebar!  We’re at 30 votes and counting – let’s see if we cna break that 50 mark!  I also noticed that the feed readers are now over 500, and CB also hit a new one day high of 572!  Very exciting stuff to see that many people enjoying the blog.  Tomorrow’s Thursday Thoughts is none other than Rob Jones ot Towner Jones Photography.  You may recall he asked me to guest post on his blog a few weeks ago, so I invited him to come in here and do the same!  He’s got some great insights to share too, so be sure to stop back for that.  Until then, happy shooting!  Hope all your shots are good ones

Can cards be cool Christmas candy?

Jason7 Comments

Yup, I talk about 3 different types of cards that make for cool holiday gifts this year for the photographer you know. That, along with online photo contests, the nomination announcement for the Top 8 of 2008 blogs/podcasts are now open, and of course, listener questions. I do have to apologize for the audio quality as I had to record it on the fly using the MBP in my car! Not too shabby after putting it all together, but not the greatest either. Continue reading “Can cards be cool Christmas candy?” →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

What’s This? – Week 19

Jason2 Comments

It’s a little late this morning, but we’re now in week 19 of the What’s This? episode series.  Last week, there were no guesses, likely because it was a super tough one.  The full sized original can be found here, (it’s a tree with blue bottles hanging off knobs on the trunk).  It is definitely one of the more abstract shots to begin with.  Looks like the gallery of participants was stumped!  So, this week, things are going to be a little easier (this should be easily guessed – I just really like the textures of this shot.  Anyway, without further ado, here is Week 19’s image:

What's This? - Week 19

Don’t forget to stop in tomorrow for the latest Thursday Thoughts With….  This weekI have the honor of talking with Michael Palmer, photographer and a friend of the blog.  So tune in for that tomorrow.  In the meantime, feel free to share your “guesses” on the week 19 image in the comments!  By the by…can anyone tell me anything different about the blog today (this is specific to the layout/design for today)?  If so, share that in the comments as well? *devious grin*  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow…

Nitty Gritty Details

Jason2 Comments

The weekly podcast that usually goes up on Tuesdays was supplanted yesterday by the Election Day message. Returning to photography topics today, the weekly podcast has been posted and is ready for your listening enjoyment. I’ll have some notes related to the podcast to include at the end of today’s post.

In the interests of keeping the “What’s This?” on schedule, we are now in week 18. Last week’s was in fact, the stained glass that a reader correctly identified rather quickly. So, I am hopefully going to make things a little more intriguing for you this week. Let’s see the first to identify this image:

What's This? - Week 18

Podcast Notes:

  1. Gadget Infinity is the site to get the Cactus Triggers from – be careful to order for the correct lights
  2. There are some great patterns inside CS3 (not available in CS4 anymore), just go to the following folder to find them: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Presets\Patterns\PostScript Patterns
  3. Q&A – Recording Software, Crop Factors, and photo terminology

Wrap-up: Contests, Road Tip, & Polls

Happy shooting all, watch those apertures, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

[display_podcast]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

What’s This? – Week 17

Jason2 Comments

It’s a little late in coming (busy morning today at work), but here is the Week 17 edition of “What’s This?”:

What's This? - Week 17

As always, those who correctly identify the image from this cropped portion win fabulous prizes, win fame and fortune, money, money, money, and lots of photo gear and software….yeah okay, that part’s not true…but you do get bragging rights!

Some of you may have noticed that there is now a widget on the sidebar for my twitter account.  It’s kind of fun actually and I can see how so many are addicted.  I’m trying to post there more regularly, but cannot guarantee a lot of activity.  It’s really just daily stuff – work stuff, occasionally photo-related, but if you want a glimpse of the “personal me”, that would be the place to find out.

Also, don’t forget – today is the last day to vote in the TWIP photo contest.  The prize is a 1st generation Drobo.  I am currently in 7th place for vote tallies, so any help would be appreciated (not that I expect to win or anything, but stranger things have happened…)  The link to vote is here (you have to have a Photrade account)

In other news, be sure to stop in tomorrow for the latest Thursday Thoughts with Jason D. Moore!  Thanks in advance to Jason for taking the time to sit down with me and talk about a variety of photography subjects.  It really was an informative session and I learned a little more about him (which of course is the goal…).  If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Thursday Thoughts, and get some free referrals to your blog, let me know in the comments or via email and we’ll see what we can work out to help one another!

Well, that’s it for this Wednesday. Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow with Jason D. Moore!

What’s This? – Week 16

Jason1 Comment

Before I get into this week’s edition of “What’s This?”, I need to go back and share the full size versions of some previous What’s This?” entries that had not been done yet (thanks to Andrea who emailed to remind me).

So, here’s the last few weeks, cropped version and full versions:

Week 15 – CD Stack

Crop:

Full:

Week 14 – Turtle’s Mouth
Crop:

Full:

As you can tell, each of these had some downsides to where I didn’t like the whole capture, but portions would be fun to isolate out for their textures or looks, to see what others could come up with.  Thanks to everyone who has been participating in these weekly activities.

So, having done some house-keeping on the trend, here is this week’s version of “What’s This?”

What's This? - Week 16

What’s This? – Week 15

Jason3 Comments

The turtle mouth of last week kind of took us to a different place, so let’s bring things back toward photography and technology a little bit (or is it a byte?) with the latest edition of “What’s This?”  Now in week 15, we’ve officially passed the two-week mark of image posts, and I would like to take a moment to thank those that have participated and shared their thoughts in the comments section.  So, let’s see who deduces it first this time.  Here’s your image:

What’s This? – Week 14

Jason8 Comments

If you post it, they will guess…that’s the theory I’m going with this week.  Anyone have any ideas?  I took a different approach to it this go around, hopefully a little more abstract…  Good luck, and Happy Shooting!