D 19 - Magic components

Od Dark Light Back

RGB - the components of color TV magic. Tiny colored light spots that fool our eyes and minds to see illusions.

Equipment

A570 IS on a tripod about 5 cm from the CRT TV screen surface.

What I learned

Capturing the right moment isn't that easy with live television broadcast. I should have used a still frame from my DVD with more colors in it. Here the red dots are barely visible.

I chose compact camera for this, because they are pretty good with macro having small optics and matrices. The magnification factor didn't seem to be enough. For this shot I should have used E-510 with reversed Helios 44-4 lens mounted in front of ZD4015. They give a very good magnification factor but extremely shallow depth of field.

D 18 - Stainless

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I had a good idea to use my DIY softbox with a compact camera built-in flash as a makeshift off-camera flash for my E-510. The immediate results weren't too great, but technically it worked, as long as I gave myself some time for manually releasing the compact camera flash by using delayed shutter release and longer exposure time - in this case 4 seconds.

Eventually I made this shot without any flash. The light came from Christmas-tree and dimmed lamp at the other wall of the room.

Equipment

E-510 with Helios 44-4 lens on a tripod without built-in flash. A570 IS stuck in the softbox working as external flash was not used in the above photo.

What I learned

Unusual light and angle can change ordinary home tool into a strange object. Macro ftw.

D 17 - Time to go, Starboy

Od Dark Light Back

I have been playing around with my new softbox today. It works quite nice as a main light source but also makes a great fill light, which is something I have been looking for a while. I like to use the natural light (sunlight or indoor lights) and now I can use it without having to use a tripod.

Equipment

E-510 with Helios 44-4 and my new DIY softbox on pop-up flash. ISO 800 and 1/90 sec exposure time.

What I learned

I had today a primal fun taking shots of everything around with my new gadget, because it opened new opportunities for me. Still I have to compromise by going high ISO and getting grain (which I learned that is mostly chroma noise which can be easily dealt with in Lightroom with minimum loss to sharpness).

For now I'm ignoring the differences between tungsten or sunlight and the flashlight in color temperature because I like doing b&w photos. But it is a problem to be faced in the future.

D 16 - Positivism

Od Dark Light Back

Od Dark Light Back

Today my work on photography was more a groundwork. Since my tight budget keeps me safely away from an external flash then I had to go DIY.
I sadly don't remember the exact website which gave me an idea of making a softbox for pop-up flash from cigarette box, aluminum foil and a napkin. It goes much as H E R E except it is slightly more... MacGyver.

The photo is example of how the softbox works in a candid portrait. I like it. And my favorite model at least smiles this time when she punches me with her wool mittens.

Equipment

E-510 with pop-up flash popped up, perfume box, aluminum tape, a sheet of lignin and some scotch tape.

What I learned

It works! I should make some time another one from stronger materials and giving more light upwards to get some reflected light from low ceilings.

D 15 - Brutalism

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For thirty years I keep wondering who designed this? and why? The building was completed in the end of 70s so I thought that it must be some misunderstood application of modernist concepts.

Wikipedia says:

"Brutalist buildings usually are formed with striking repetitive angular geometries, and where concrete is used, often revealing the texture of the wooden forms used for the in-situ casting. Although concrete is the material most widely associated with Brutalist architecture, not all Brutalist buildings are formed from concrete. Instead, a building may achieve its Brutalist quality through a rough, blocky appearance, and the expression of its structural materials, forms, and (in some cases) services on its exterior. (...)

Brutalism as an architectural philosophy, rather than a style, was often also associated with a socialist utopian ideology, which tended to be supported by its designers, especially Alison and Peter Smithson, near the height of the style. Critics argue that this abstract nature of Brutalism makes the style unfriendly and uncommunicative, instead of being integrating and protective, as its proponents intended. Brutalism also is criticised as disregarding the social, historic, and architectural environment of its surroundings, making the introduction of such structures in existing developed areas appear starkly out of place and alien."

Equipment

Canon Powershot A570 IS. Natural light from city lights and a series of lamps just below the frame.

What I learned

I must plan ahead for what will I shoot on a given day. Otherwise my photos will become more and more boring and I will gradually lose interest in this project.

Raw ugliness of this building (which I happen to live in) does hold a strange aesthetics which can be re-discovered by a willing eye. I should hurry with appreciating the geometries and textures while it is still left unchanged. The other 3 buildings in this condominium project have been insulated with polystyrene foam and repainted loosing their brutalist character.

D 14 - The Same River

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The same snow, the same cold, the same limitation. After taking shower i noticed how the vapor condensed on a window created interesting vignettes and worked from there. Then when I review first photos I saw that the bar dividing the window pane looks a bit like a lake shore.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD4015. Natural light.

What I learned

Hangover does increase my creativity. Conclusions are dreadful.

D 13 - The Dog

Od Dark Light Back

The snow has arrived in large amounts. And so did my cold. Therefore I was working on how to make photos of the snow from the inside.

You probably don't want to know. This photo is another proof for the fact that good ideas often come to us while we are on a toilet seat. This was the case for the photo above and this is exactly the vintage point from a toilet seat. You definitely didn't want to know. Anyway...

Equipment

E-510 with ZD4015 (the longer kit lens of Olympus DSLRs giving 35mm film equivalent range of 80-300mm). Natural light only.

What I learned

Nothing is more important than health. If I were not sick I would have taken a "photowalk" and get some truly Winter landscape photos from the fields and orchards.

Snow outside gives a very pleasant light indoors. Particularly for black and white photos where it doesn't matter that the light is cold in color.