This blog is a lifestream. It's an aggregation of all my life as I move around in the world. Mostly it is mobile pictures taken from my mobile phone, but occasionally you'll see videos and other things I find around the net. If you want to see *everything* I make/write/create, check out my FriendFeed.com/evantravers. If you tire of this random excursion into my shoes my serious blog can be found here.
Whatever Enters My Head
May 28, 2009
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Common Scorpion: Scorpions are arachnids, like spiders. We usually find them under rocks, around wet areas. This guy was around two inches long, we found him while on our epic four mile hike. Michael hand held a SB900 with diffusion dome on it close to him off to the left while I shot rapidly while handholding the 300mm macro. Rain was coming, so I didn’t have much time. It turned out all right, though I would have liked to have spent more time on it. I ran out of time though, so it wasn’t to be.View On Black
Common Scorpion: Scorpions are arachnids, like spiders. We usually find them under rocks, around wet areas. This guy was around two inches long, we found him while on our epic four mile hike. Michael hand held a SB900 with diffusion dome on it close to him off to the left while I shot rapidly while handholding the 300mm macro. Rain was coming, so I didn’t have much time. It turned out all right, though I would have liked to have spent more time on it. I ran out of time though, so it wasn’t to be.View On Black
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May 27, 2009
What Robert Scoble AKA @scobleizer sees on friendfeed.com!
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Funguskeh: Another simple HDR. HDR prevents me from having to really set up flashes and lighting in order to get the fungus lit. If you don’t do something, you won’t see the top, or you won’t see the leaves, or just something won’t be right. I’d rather strobist it up, but when it’s about to rain, you are getting eaten by bugs, and you want to see if there are deer over the next ridge, bracketing for HDR is a good compromise.View On Black
Funguskeh: Another simple HDR. HDR prevents me from having to really set up flashes and lighting in order to get the fungus lit. If you don’t do something, you won’t see the top, or you won’t see the leaves, or just something won’t be right. I’d rather strobist it up, but when it’s about to rain, you are getting eaten by bugs, and you want to see if there are deer over the next ridge, bracketing for HDR is a good compromise.View On Black
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May 26, 2009
Toad’s Bowl: This is an HDR taken using my 70-300. Light was bad, I thought this would help me get both the red on top of the mushroom as well as the delicate gills underneath. It worked ok. Several of the other attempts I made failed because I didn’t tighten my tripod enough to fight long-lens creep. :( This is geotagged using my android phone. There is a free app on the android market called google tracks. It’s basically a glorified geo logger. It will display the map on the phone of course, and give pertinent data like distance traveled etc., but the main feature I used is the email the .gpx file to friend. After the hike, (which was arduous and is detailed in the previous photo!) I emailed the .gpx file generated by Google Tracks to myself. I then loaded it into my geotagging program (in this case, Maperture Pro for Aperture 2. I had previously synced the clocks on my phone and my camera, so they lined up perfectly, and tagged easily. Some things to note: Doing this geotagging will drain your battery. After two hours of tagging, my battery was half gone. It’s really only suitable for an afternoon outing or such, not a trek into the wilderness. You could improve battery life by decreasing the number of GPS updates, but still… you should keep your phone for emergencies.View On Black
Toad’s Bowl: This is an HDR taken using my 70-300. Light was bad, I thought this would help me get both the red on top of the mushroom as well as the delicate gills underneath. It worked ok. Several of the other attempts I made failed because I didn’t tighten my tripod enough to fight long-lens creep. :( This is geotagged using my android phone. There is a free app on the android market called google tracks. It’s basically a glorified geo logger. It will display the map on the phone of course, and give pertinent data like distance traveled etc., but the main feature I used is the email the .gpx file to friend. After the hike, (which was arduous and is detailed in the previous photo!) I emailed the .gpx file generated by Google Tracks to myself. I then loaded it into my geotagging program (in this case, Maperture Pro for Aperture 2. I had previously synced the clocks on my phone and my camera, so they lined up perfectly, and tagged easily. Some things to note: Doing this geotagging will drain your battery. After two hours of tagging, my battery was half gone. It’s really only suitable for an afternoon outing or such, not a trek into the wilderness. You could improve battery life by decreasing the number of GPS updates, but still… you should keep your phone for emergencies.View On Black
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May 25, 2009
Home for Old Birds: This was taken using the brenizer method. It’s a panorama of six shots, taken using my handheld 300mm. The idea was to have a creamy smooth shot, without background noise while still shooting handheld at 800-1000 ISO. I think it worked out quite nicely. Yesterday I decided to take a short hike, both to test my new method of geotagging and to possibly get a picture of a fly amanita mushroom. I didn’t find a mushroom. But I *did* get quite lost. Two hours later, after four miles of hiking, my brother Michael and I found ourselves drenched and quite happy on our front porch. We had hiked through some ridiculous rainstorms, had no idea where we were but it was just great fun. I am able to accurately say that the Lowepro Flipside 400 AW is indeed completely waterproof. My gear was safe and dry, and also even after a four mile hike with two tripods my back doesn’t hurt a bit. I forgot the backpack was on my body. I’ll post the few pictures I took on the trip as well as a detailed analysis of geotagging using the google android phone tomorrow.View On Black
Home for Old Birds: This was taken using the brenizer method. It’s a panorama of six shots, taken using my handheld 300mm. The idea was to have a creamy smooth shot, without background noise while still shooting handheld at 800-1000 ISO. I think it worked out quite nicely. Yesterday I decided to take a short hike, both to test my new method of geotagging and to possibly get a picture of a fly amanita mushroom. I didn’t find a mushroom. But I *did* get quite lost. Two hours later, after four miles of hiking, my brother Michael and I found ourselves drenched and quite happy on our front porch. We had hiked through some ridiculous rainstorms, had no idea where we were but it was just great fun. I am able to accurately say that the Lowepro Flipside 400 AW is indeed completely waterproof. My gear was safe and dry, and also even after a four mile hike with two tripods my back doesn’t hurt a bit. I forgot the backpack was on my body. I’ll post the few pictures I took on the trip as well as a detailed analysis of geotagging using the google android phone tomorrow.View On Black
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May 24, 2009
Untitled: I also learned that you should kind of go with the flow on portraits. Chris started throwing this thing because I was moving the light and he was bored. So I asked him to keep doing it. It worked out nicely I think. And also, get rid of the shadow! Man. Looking at these now I *really* wish I had positioned the SB 600 on the right further behind him, and also moved him away from the wall. I still like the concept of the shot, I just made alot of lighting mistakes. Oh well. Strobist: SB 900 on left, badly placed SB 600 on right.View On Black
Untitled: I also learned that you should kind of go with the flow on portraits. Chris started throwing this thing because I was moving the light and he was bored. So I asked him to keep doing it. It worked out nicely I think. And also, get rid of the shadow! Man. Looking at these now I *really* wish I had positioned the SB 600 on the right further behind him, and also moved him away from the wall. I still like the concept of the shot, I just made alot of lighting mistakes. Oh well. Strobist: SB 900 on left, badly placed SB 600 on right.View On Black
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May 23, 2009
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I got a mac pro!
I got a mac pro!
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Classic Sounds: Of course, mom wouldn’t be satisfied if the only photo I have of Christopher on his birthday didn’t show his face, so I of course shot a few more. I like this treatment… it really shows off the stripes in his shirt, and the texture on his mandolin. Lighting didn’t change much I think… but I was always tweaking it so I’m not sure. I think it also is a throwback to ye olde portraites of Monroe and other bluegrass greats. (By the way, we’ll be playing twice today. :-P Wish us luck! I’m going to try and record at least one of the sets, depends on the setting when I get there.) I have found that the last few portraits in session that I do are frequently the best. By this point, the subject is comfortable, isn’t put off by the weirdness of all the flashes and is able to be themselves. So next time you shoot some portraits, make sure and do it for a while. :D Strobist: SB 900 on the left with a warming filter, SB 600 on normal with diffuser on the right. Whoah! Lighting on the right is really bad! Well. Live and learn. :P View On Black
Classic Sounds: Of course, mom wouldn’t be satisfied if the only photo I have of Christopher on his birthday didn’t show his face, so I of course shot a few more. I like this treatment… it really shows off the stripes in his shirt, and the texture on his mandolin. Lighting didn’t change much I think… but I was always tweaking it so I’m not sure. I think it also is a throwback to ye olde portraites of Monroe and other bluegrass greats. (By the way, we’ll be playing twice today. :-P Wish us luck! I’m going to try and record at least one of the sets, depends on the setting when I get there.) I have found that the last few portraits in session that I do are frequently the best. By this point, the subject is comfortable, isn’t put off by the weirdness of all the flashes and is able to be themselves. So next time you shoot some portraits, make sure and do it for a while. :D Strobist: SB 900 on the left with a warming filter, SB 600 on normal with diffuser on the right. Whoah! Lighting on the right is really bad! Well. Live and learn. :P View On Black
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Bluegrass in Brown: Here the lighting, background, and everything worked quite well. Chris has had his mandolin signed by several famous musicians: Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and Sam Bush of many different bands. Both were amazing when we went to see them. This lighting tends to exaggerate the beating his mandolin has received over the years. Strobist: SB 900 on the left with a warming filter, SB 600 on normal with diffuser on the right.View On Black
Bluegrass in Brown: Here the lighting, background, and everything worked quite well. Chris has had his mandolin signed by several famous musicians: Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and Sam Bush of many different bands. Both were amazing when we went to see them. This lighting tends to exaggerate the beating his mandolin has received over the years. Strobist: SB 900 on the left with a warming filter, SB 600 on normal with diffuser on the right.View On Black
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May 22, 2009
Fountain of Bokeh: Every once in a while, I get behind on my photos, so I have to post two a day! (And surprise, this is one of those days! This was taken using one SB 900 to the left, shooting up to illuminate the droplets and light up the bottom of the fountain. I hand held the 300mm Sigma. The bokeh is just icing on the cake. I’m going to get back to my discussion on vision eventually… one thing to note is that although you shouldn’t skew every image you take, one way to take a bland composition and make it interesting is to tilt the camera one way or another. It can cause leading lines to be more pronounced and dramatic, and guide the viewers eye around the photo. (Not that I do that too well in this photo, it’s just a useful trick. See the shot I took of the trees and wall two shots back, that’s a good example.)View On Black
Fountain of Bokeh: Every once in a while, I get behind on my photos, so I have to post two a day! (And surprise, this is one of those days! This was taken using one SB 900 to the left, shooting up to illuminate the droplets and light up the bottom of the fountain. I hand held the 300mm Sigma. The bokeh is just icing on the cake. I’m going to get back to my discussion on vision eventually… one thing to note is that although you shouldn’t skew every image you take, one way to take a bland composition and make it interesting is to tilt the camera one way or another. It can cause leading lines to be more pronounced and dramatic, and guide the viewers eye around the photo. (Not that I do that too well in this photo, it’s just a useful trick. See the shot I took of the trees and wall two shots back, that’s a good example.)View On Black
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Got a head for music.: Yesterday was my brother Christopher’s birthday. He is a very skilled mandolin player, you can check out his mad skills here. This was shot with both the SB-900 and the SB-600… the SB-900 had a warming filter on it, and the 600 just a diffusion cap. I was going for a hot/cold feel, but I’m wishing I had now tried to eliminate the shadow and kept it nice and warm. It’s still funny to me. I hope you enjoy it.View On Black
Got a head for music.: Yesterday was my brother Christopher’s birthday. He is a very skilled mandolin player, you can check out his mad skills here. This was shot with both the SB-900 and the SB-600… the SB-900 had a warming filter on it, and the 600 just a diffusion cap. I was going for a hot/cold feel, but I’m wishing I had now tried to eliminate the shadow and kept it nice and warm. It’s still funny to me. I hope you enjoy it.View On Black
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May 21, 2009
Vision: (WARNING: I am too young and too inexperienced to truly speak about this topic, but that’s never stopped me before has it? :D ) Vision is the quality that separates photography from photographic documentation. We sometimes commend it by saying “Good eye for [insert descriptive here],” or sometimes “Well seen.” It’s the part that takes the science and knowledge and turns it into art. For most of my life, I’ve sought to acquire and make this part of my brain better by looking at pictures, and studying what parts of them make them great. I pored over National Geographic, studied blog posts and books. I consume around 120 photos per day on flickr, asking myself the same question. “Why did I click on this thumbnail?” I want to know what draws the human eye. I’m going to try and break this idea down into different parts, and address different aspects of this in the next few posts. Feel free to chime in in the comments if you have some input or a good story. Firstly: Using a film camera, a medium format, shooting blurry lurid street scenes with a holga, blasting out color in an HDR, or dropping photoshop actions like it’s acid in the 70s does *NOT* constitute vision. I’m not dissing the use of any of these techniques or technologies. I know amaziing photographers that drop my jaw every time I see their work who shoot exclusively on Medium Format, B&W, and Holga. I don’t hate HDR or photoshop actions. I hate using them so much that you dull the part of your brain that allows you to create something new. I’m falling into that trap myself. I developed a nice little aperture setting that can make a dull photo look quite nice. And while I like the effect, I’ve been trying to avoid using it *all* the time. Not because I don’t want to develop a set style, but because I don’t want to prevent myself from discovering something that is equally or more fascinating. And that’s just in post pro. I know I’m not qualified to speak on this topic. I’m a young shooter, my first pic was taken with a point and shoot on 11/29/04, only five years ago. I am told I have some sort of style/eye/sense of vision, and I’ve been working on it ever since. For me, much of the learning process is breaking down what makes my previous work successful, destroying it, and reincorporating the idea in a new way. Whether it’s composition, post pro, subject matter, lighting… the beauty of digital is constant experimentation is free. Find a rule you have followed in your work, and break it on your next shoot. Deliberately do something you have never done before, and see where it takes you. You may be surprised. from my blog at www.evantravers.com
Vision: (WARNING: I am too young and too inexperienced to truly speak about this topic, but that’s never stopped me before has it? :D ) Vision is the quality that separates photography from photographic documentation. We sometimes commend it by saying “Good eye for [insert descriptive here],” or sometimes “Well seen.” It’s the part that takes the science and knowledge and turns it into art. For most of my life, I’ve sought to acquire and make this part of my brain better by looking at pictures, and studying what parts of them make them great. I pored over National Geographic, studied blog posts and books. I consume around 120 photos per day on flickr, asking myself the same question. “Why did I click on this thumbnail?” I want to know what draws the human eye. I’m going to try and break this idea down into different parts, and address different aspects of this in the next few posts. Feel free to chime in in the comments if you have some input or a good story. Firstly: Using a film camera, a medium format, shooting blurry lurid street scenes with a holga, blasting out color in an HDR, or dropping photoshop actions like it’s acid in the 70s does *NOT* constitute vision. I’m not dissing the use of any of these techniques or technologies. I know amaziing photographers that drop my jaw every time I see their work who shoot exclusively on Medium Format, B&W, and Holga. I don’t hate HDR or photoshop actions. I hate using them so much that you dull the part of your brain that allows you to create something new. I’m falling into that trap myself. I developed a nice little aperture setting that can make a dull photo look quite nice. And while I like the effect, I’ve been trying to avoid using it *all* the time. Not because I don’t want to develop a set style, but because I don’t want to prevent myself from discovering something that is equally or more fascinating. And that’s just in post pro. I know I’m not qualified to speak on this topic. I’m a young shooter, my first pic was taken with a point and shoot on 11/29/04, only five years ago. I am told I have some sort of style/eye/sense of vision, and I’ve been working on it ever since. For me, much of the learning process is breaking down what makes my previous work successful, destroying it, and reincorporating the idea in a new way. Whether it’s composition, post pro, subject matter, lighting… the beauty of digital is constant experimentation is free. Find a rule you have followed in your work, and break it on your next shoot. Deliberately do something you have never done before, and see where it takes you. You may be surprised. from my blog at www.evantravers.com
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May 20, 2009
I need some help deciding…
I need some help deciding…
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Secret Lab by Peter Vidani.
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