We’ve come a long way (Photographically)
Posted on September 21, 2008
View from a window at Le Gras - 1826
We’ve come a long way in the world of photography. The photo above is the first known permanent photograph.
The photo was captured by a camera obscura focussed onto a sheet of 20 × 25 cm oil-treated bitumen. Due to the 8-hour exposure, the buildings are illuminated by the sun from both right and left.
An 8-hour exposure! Now we take photos with an exposure time of under 1/60th of a second or faster and we can see the results immediately.
My friend Ryan shared an excellent website about photos that changed the world. I’d say the first ever permanent photograph qualifies.
My First Flickr Meetup
Posted on May 28, 2008
Saturday I participated in my first Flickr meet up. It was a lot of fun. Myself and a group of 12 or so other photography hobbyists met up at Dinosaur BBQ in Downtown Rochester for a hearty lunch. Then we were off to explore the Abandoned Subway. If you don’t know anything about the subway I suggest checking out the RocWiki Page and reading up a bit. It’s actually quite interesting and may become a part of downtown Rochester again soon.
The slideshow below showcases all the photos the participants have shared. These are not only my photographs, they are the photographs taken by all participants of the event.
NOTE: If you cannot see the above slideshow please view the original post or view the slideshow directly.
Fairport Sunrise
Posted on May 17, 2008
I’m not up early often. Today I was, so after dropping Rachel off at the airport at 4:30am I decided to explore a nearby Fairport park to see if I could find a scenic spot to watch the sunrise.
I haven’t been able to figure out what the name of the park is, and it’s not really advertised as a park at all. There’s just a small stone parking lot and an old worn out sign that no longer has anything on it.
The scenery there is quite beautiful though, and it’s probably one of the best places to watch the sunrise in Fairport NY.
RIT Big Shot 24
Posted on May 8, 2008
RIT has been doing what they call the Big Shot every year since 1987. They pick a point of interest and take a long exposure photograph using only flashlights and electronic flashes for illumination. This years Big Shot was located in Pittsford NY at Schoen Place to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal.
The Erie Canal was originally proposed in 1808…On July 4, 1817, Governor Dewitt Clinton broke ground for the construction of the canal…it was often sarcastically referred to as ‘Clinton’s Big Ditch’
Rachel and I heard about this a while ago and decided to go. It was fun. I was impressed to come home and see the photograph already online so for your viewing pleasure it is included below.
If you’re interested in seeing past Big Shots check them out here.
The All New Canon XSi
Posted on January 24, 2008
I haven’t been able to try it out yet but the new Canon XSi looks to be a nice upgrade from the Xti. The enhancement to 12mp and the move to SD media alone is worth it, not to mention the other enhancements.
Maybe this will be my first step into the world of DSLRs instead of the 40D I want so badly? We’ll see, although at this point I think I’d outgrow the XSi much too quickly to warrant the purchase now instead of waiting a little longer to purchase the one I really want (the 40D).
Details below to save you the jump.
- 12.2 effective Megapixel CMOS sensor
- Supports all EF and EF-S lenses
- Uses new 14-bit A/D converter, improved AF sensor (still 9-point), and DIGIC III image processor
- 3-inch LCD display (230k pixels) with live view and contrast detect autofocus
- Full manual controls; ISO range of 100 - 1600
- Can shoot at 3.5 frames/second for up to 6 RAW or 45 JPEGs
- Auto Lighting Optimizer corrects image brightness and contrast automatically
- New spot metering (4%) option
- Same dust reduction system as the XTi
- Uses SD/SDHC memory cards (instead of CompactFlash)
- Optional battery grip
- Uses LP-E5 lithium-ion battery; 500 shots per charge
- USB 2.0 High Speed support
- Shipping in April for $799 body only, and $899 with the new 18-55 IS lens; comes in silver and black