Archive for November, 2008
Nov
21
Let American Automakers Go Bankrupt
They want in on a share of the bailout money? Heck no. Let GM, Chrysler, and Ford go down.
A combination of factors have led the the invariable decline of the American automotive industry.
My opinions as just another freaking observer on this? Keep reading if you’re so inclined…
Nov
20
Smoothie Sale
Yeah. This is how i feel right about now.
Nov
19
Don’t Use Crappy Memory Cards
I was shooting a Kunqu Chinese opera some time ago and was at one point shadowed by someone using a nice midrange DSLR. He was copying my angles and at times I could hear the autofocus motor of his lens whining as it was right next to my head. It was also apparent that he was trying to shoot as many frames as possible by the way his shutter was machine gunning off a few shots… and then left to agonizingly wait as his camera’s storage buffer were being written to the camera’s memory card. I could hear him silently cursing under his breath. Was it at me?
Nov
14
Black and White Photos Equal Death?
Apologies in advance for what is a thinly disguised rant, but I originally wrote this when I was upset. However after looking back on it, I still find it reasonably appropriate and have posted it here with minimal edits.
I have to occasionally deal with odd outbursts from the Unreasonably Stubborn Man who is a relative that will remain unnamed. It does not matter who he (or she) even is, as that is not particularly important. In the past I just sort of let these things go but recently my attitude on things have changed. You could say that my ignorance tolerance level of took a nosedive, and this time things got interestingly stupid.
Nov
11
Canon 1D Mk.III Versus Canon SX110
This will be a bit of an ongoing comparison between one of Canon’s pro-level cameras (the 1D) and a convenient point-and-shoot camera that was purchased on a binge at a bankruptcy sale of a large retailer- the Canon SX110.
This is not meant to be a joke. It’s part of my way to try and be a better all-around photographer and get used to equipment from both professional and casual shooter territory. I’ll be posting more of these types of comparisons as time permits. It’s actually rather fun and isn’t meant to be a put down for the more expensive camera- and definitely not a situation where a rinkydink point-and-shoot is being fed to a tiger den.
Nov
10
Pixel Peeping Absurdity – Brand vs. Brand Color Rendition
I’m generally for the practice of pixel peeping, as long as it is done in moderation. In case you don’t know what pixel peeping entails, it’s real simple and roughly goes along these steps:
- Get two or more cameras that you want to compare. Let’s use one that you love, and one that you hate.
- Pick a subject to photograph, preferably a still life or something that won’t move much or change colors between shots.
- Set one camera up on a tripod, and take a shot.
- Set up the other camera to replace the first, using the same settings, and take a shot.
- Load the images from both cameras to your computer.
- Zoom into one section with high detail and compare the hell out of both images side by side.
- Linger around at step 6 or repeat EVERYTHING until you feel that the camera you love and always wanted to ‘win’ all along gets better results than the other one that you hate.
Okay, i’m being a bit sarcastic. But seriously, this is how pixel peeping usually ends up happening.
It’s not that pixel peeping isn’t without its merits, but if you have taken more pictures of $20 bills taped to a wall compared with actually interesting subject matter, you have chosen the wrong hobby. Perhaps chainsaw juggling would be a more suitable endeavor instead.
Nov
6
Gallery2 Upgrade Error “Unable to selectAdminUser for core upgrade”
I use Gallery2 for the backend service of photos. It works rather well, despite a few quirks. But none of these issues are nearly as bad as something in the world of a closed-source vendor.
I recently tried to upgrade the Gallery software and found this nasty error in the logs right around when I was trying to push the big red ‘Upgrade’ button:
...Unable to selectAdminUser for core upgrade...
Hopefully if you are reading this, it is because you found this page on a web search and are grasping for some answers. I’m not saying I have all of them, but this is the process I used to figure things out.