I, Curtis

Category: Photography

  • Worst Image of M42 Ever

    I do believe this is the worst image of the Great Nebula in Orion that has ever existed:

    I must say I am at least somewhat proud of it though, since I have never seen anything like this in any of my astrophotographs at all until now. I’m kind of proud of my little pink blur.

  • Camera Bag Diagram #1

    Getting this diagram into a usable form was not easy.

    Just an overview of how my camera bag is laid out.

    The bag itself is in the center, the two side areas are the two zippered sleeves on the sides. The thing that looks like a square growth on the main bag is the bag for the SB-600, which is attached by external straps, similar to the way the Gorillapod is attached on the other side. Not very orderly, but hopefully it shows how I think through my bag. The diagram is #1 because I intend to produce one for the remaining bags.

  • Project 365 Notebook

    I have finished the software side of the site that will be the online equivalent of my physical Project 365 notebook.

    http://project365.livecurt.net

    There is still some info missing from the pages, but all of the images are present and the structure is as close to matching the physical notebook as it can possibly be.

  • Project 365 Substitution Challenges

    I have decided to accept Jared’s opinion for the substitution of days in the event I am to miss a day. I will substitute the day with a prearranged challenge, as prescribed by the following list:

    1. Self Portrait
    2. Inversion Harmony (an image that makes sense normal or color inverted)
    3. In the Moment (capture a moment as it happens, not just a representative close up)
    4. The Drip (cliché photo of water drop hitting puddle)
    5. Ugly (a photo of… ugly)
    6. Macro Beyond Recognition
    7. Artificial Season (create one of the 3 seasons that it isn’t, photographically)
    8. Dancing Fizz (capture in stop-motion form, carbonation fizz)
    9. Personality (capture a person’s entire personality in one shot)
    10. Opposites (paired opposites, in the same frame)
    11. Void (photo of an empty space…using other objects as context)
    12. Something Sensual

     

    Here are the first 12 challenge ideas. If anyone has any more, I am open to suggestion.

  • Project 365 Substitution Rules

    I have just been thinking about Project 365 in a more administrative capacity than usual. So far, I have made 33 days without missing a day, but I still have to repeat that 11 more times before the end of the project. My question is now this: What is to happen in the event of a missed day? What about if there is a loss of photos due to technical issues? There are many things that COULD go wrong. The best answer I can come up with at the moment is a representative image as a “substitution”. In this concept the missed day would be made up as soon as possible after the original day. For example, if a day is missed due to illness, perhaps the day you are well, you take a photograph of a medicine bottle or something similar. This seems to work well in theory, but how does it work for the project based on its own rules? Is a substitution day a cheat? I think it would be silly to have to start the project over after getting into it and being reliable, and then having a day missed due to illness or other responsibilities.

  • An Introduction to Project 365

    I have created an introduction to my personal Project 365 to place in the front of the binder in which I am mounting prints of all of my project photos. Here is the (quite lame) introduction I wrote. Its good to know that I have not lost all of my skills of BS that I learned in English Composition II and Creative Writing.

    September 25, 2009

        I am beginning project 365 as a personal project to increase my technical photographic skill as well as to challenge my creative composition skill. The project’s objective is to be a complete body of work of 365 days of photographic effort. Due to the nature of the project the creativity aspect will wax and wane throughout the run of the project, but technical proficiency should remain constant.

        Executing a project like this encourages continuous interaction with the camera, making its controls an extension of the functionality of the photographer’s optical system. It is also a way for the photographer to work with more advanced techniques that go far beyond the snapshot. Additionally, the project encourages the camera to be with the photographer a larger percentage of the time, making chance photographs of events in action a lot more likely, bringing a bit of the unexpected into the body of the project.

        The goal of the project is a bit undefined at the beginning. The vague description of being a “complete body of work of 365 days of photographic effort” does not give a lot of detail as to what is being covered. The vagueness is intentional, as it is not possible to predict the route that photography will take over such a long period of time, however, it is expected that towards the conclusion of the project there will be more consistent themes and an overall understanding of what is important, or at least aesthetically significant in the photographer’s life. This exercise is as close to an autobiography as can be constructed in a visual work. The freeform nature of the project ensures that property, even if the photographer tries to escape that trait.

        Experimentation is a large part of where the advanced techniques are developed. This project is not expected to be a stand-alone portfolio of the photographer’s work. It is a less than polished collection of photographs that are to represent growth and potential. The project will contain successes and failures both technically and compositionally as the photographer advances in skill. In my execution of the project I will endeavor to attempt anything that grabs me, and then work on it. I will place my best failed attempts in the project body, and then if I later have a success, I will place it in the project as well. The motivating factor for all of this experimentation is boredom, it is not possible to have enough ideas and objects immediately available to make 365 days of interesting photographs without experimentation.

        The project will conclude after 365 days, but the skills learned should outlive the project by a lifetime, and while not a portfolio itself, the body of the project should contain more than enough examples of fine quality work to begin a portfolio.

     


     

  • Light Unhappiness

    A few days ago my new softbox light arrived, I was so happy, I even played with how it worked on the ground, etc. I was a little unhappy because the light wouldn’t screw into a tripod, so I figured, ok, there must be a trick to this, that’s why Adorama was trying to sell me a light stand, so I bought a light stand. Today the light stand arrives and I feel like a monkey with a wrench. I know its useful, I’ve seen others using one and know it can work, but I can’t figure out how to get my light on to the stand. I have tried turning my head, the stand and the light every way I can think of. It took me 10 minutes to realize that the thing that came in the bag with the light is NOT an adapter, but instead a handle. Woohoo me! So now I’m still desperately trying to figure things out, attempting to not have to spend any more money on this particular issue, but I guess if I have to I will, although, usually when I throw money at a problem, I at least know what the solutions are and how they will work, if only in a conceptual way (don’t understand internal combustion that well, but I get that you add gas and you get vroom!). I shall keep monkeying with the light stand and see if I can make magic happen. Grrr… so frustrating, and no one provides freaking manuals.

  • The Pleiades

    The Pleiades
    Not the greatest astrophotograph, but its a start. Chris pointed to a blue patch in the sky and asked what it was, I pointed the camera and gave it a shot. Not a long enough exposure to pick up the blue in the Pleiades or the Reflection Nebulae, but I did get the stars themselves. It was very cold outside, so I wasn’t particularly inclined to make too many long exposure attempts at this.

  • Updated System List

    Post-D90 System Inventory Update

    SLR Bodies:

    • Nikon D90
    • Nikon D60

    Lenses:

    • Nikon (2176) AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
    • Nikon (2166) AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED
    • Nikon (2161) AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED
    • Nikon (2183) AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
    • Nikon (2179) AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
    • Samyang 500mm f/8 Ultra Telephoto Manual Focus Reflector Lens
    • Opteka 2x T-Mount Teleconverter (for manual reflector only)

    Filters:

    • Opteka +1, +2, +3, +4, 10x Close-Up Macro Kit (52mm)
    • Opteka +1, +2, +3, +4, 10x Close-Up Macro Kit (55mm)
    • Opteka +1, +2, +3, +4, 10x Close-Up Macro Kit (67mm)
    • Opteka 10x Macro HD2 Filter (55mm)
    • Opteka .45x Wide Angle Lens (55mm)
    • Opteka 52mm R72 (720nm) IR Pass Filter
    • Opteka UV Filter (52mm)
    • Opteka CPL Filter (52mm)
    • Dolica CPL Filter (67mm)
    • Tiffen 52mm UV filter
    • Tiffen 67mm UV filter (2)
    • Samyang 37mm ND +2, ND +4 and Skylight Filters
    • Generic 52mm UV, CPL and ND filters

    Lighting:

    • Nikon SB-600 Speedlight
    • Nikon SJ-1 Gel Set
    • Sto-fen Omnibouncer 600
    • Opteka Softbox Diffuser for Speedlights
    • Opteka i-TTL Flash Sync Cord
    • FlashPoint VL5070 Softbox (*arriving 10/20)

    Power

    • Nikon EN-EL5
    • CTA Digital EN-EL5 (2)
    • Nikon MH-23 Charger (2)
    • Nikon EN-EL3
    • CTA Digital EN-EL3
    • Nikon MH-18 Charger
    • Sony AA 2500mA Ni-MH (20)
    • Sony CyberPower 4 Battery Charging Station

    Stabilization

    • Sunpak TM-7500 Tripod/Monopod
    • Sakkar Digital Concepts Standard Tripod
    • Generic Monopod
    • Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom
    • Joby Gorillapod Ballhead BH1

    Bags

    • Case Logic SLRC5 Camera Backpack
    • Lowepro Topload Zoom 65 AW
    • Lowepro Lens Bag 2
    • Opteka Long Zoom Holster

    Storage

    • SanDisk 4GB Secure Digital Card – Black
    • SanDisk 4GB Secure Digital Card – Blue
    • Transcend 4GB Secure Digital Card
    • SanDisk MobileMate SD+ Card Reader
    • Zeikos High Speed Professional Card Reader
    • Kinamax 24-in-1 USB Card Reader

    Odds and Ends

    • Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote (2)
    • Nikon Hot Shoe Cover BS-1 (2, plus each camera has one)
    • Nikon LC-52 Lens Cap (spare)
    • 55-52mm Step Down Adapter Ring
    • 52-67mm Step Up Adapter ring
    • 55mm to T-mount Adapter Ring
    • F-mount to T-mount Adapter Ring
    • Nikon Lens Pen
    • Nikon Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth
    • Blower Sensor Cleaner

       

    Consumables

    • Nikon Lens Cleaning Wipes
    • Nikon Cleaning Spray

    This seemed like a shorter list and an easy task to complete before I started on it, and I am still certain I probably missed something.

  • P365: Day 19

    Day 19
    This isn’t originally the image I was wanting to take. I was sitting at Chris’ desk and thought his CD rack looked interesting with this audio connector sitting beside it. Only problem was that optically the whole thing didn’t translate the way that I wanted it to, I wanted something more reflective I think. I instead found the contrast between the lime green and the cherry wood to be very interesting, so I picked it.