August 30, 2007
Two Tree Island Adventure
As promised, I have put together a couple of photo albums from my adventures on "Two Tree Island" with the Ontario Visual Heritage Project.
You can go look through these albums either on Facebook or Flickr, depending on your social networking preference, the pictures and captions are the same at both locations, with Flickr having the best resolution versions.
Part of my adventure on "Two Tree Island" involved this skull found by one of the cast members, as you can see, it has long canines and impressive whiskers. These two characteristics originally led me to believe that it belonged to a Bobcat, but further examination showed some unusual tooth wear, as well as eye sockets that just aren't consistent with those of a focused predator. Visit either album to see the full range of angles on this unusual skull and take a guess as to just what it could be from!
And, hust for Reference, this is an actual Bobcat skull:
P.S. The lenscap is from a 62mm lens.
August 7, 2007
All the Little Details
Super article with tips and tricks for photographing bugs and insects.
May 10, 2007
Photoshop Tip
This is simply the best photoshop tutorial I've ever come across with regard to digitally photographing jewelry.
December 12, 2006
From The Nine Lives Department
It may be that you need to grow up around loads of cats like I did, but I find the jokes on this page and this page to be pretty darn funny!
November 18, 2006
Mega PixPix
Well, I finally took the plunge and picked up a digital SLR camera to replace my Nikon S4, which I loved dearly, but which gave me nothing but grief when it came to photographing jewelry for the website update I'm working on.
My choice of SLR was a Nikon D70s. I had originally avoided the D70, as it was only a 3.2 megapixel camera, but the D70s has been bumped up to 6.1 megapixels, which is just dandy for my purposes. I also checked out a Nikon D80, which has 10.2 megapixel sensor and maximum ISO of 3200, compared to the D70s, which has a maximum ISO of 1600, but found that I actually preferred the less expensive D70s.
I also picked up a Sandisk Extreme IV 2GB Compact Flash Card. At the highest resolution this allows the D70s to hold nearly 600 images and apparently the rechargeable lithium-ion battery that comes with the camera is good for up to 2500 shots on a single charge!
The camera came with a nice starter lens, which I eagerly traded with a Nikon-enthusiast buddy for a very nice general purpose/macro lens.
Being my first real SLR, I am still exploring all the various options, but here are a couple of sample shots from this afternoon. Black's Photo has a great 15 day return policy, so I want to make sure that I am completely happy with the results!
This is a test shot of on of my signature bracelets; it's European 10 in 1 pattern in stainless steel.
One of the inherent problems of translating my successful market business to the 'net is the lack of tactile feedback (website browsers simply won't be able to experience the "feel" of my work). So I feel that really top notch photographs are an absolute must. They have to convey "elegance", "sexiness", "beauty" and a whole lot more in a single glance! Which, can be quite the task for someone like myself, who is about a million miles away from being a professional photographer.
This is a mouse skeleton that my dad found inside a piece of limestone from the south shore of the Island. (Limestone from this region naturally forms deep pits, like this one, making it the über-swiss-cheese of the sedimentary rock set.)
As much as I will miss the flexibility of the S4's twisting body (which I sold to a friend to partially finance the D70), I am already falling in love with shear sexiness and power of the D70s!
Time for bed (with visions of exposures and f-stops dancing in my head), I have to be up early for the "Christmas Shopping Spree" at the Manitoulin Secondary School in M'Chigeeng!
November 10, 2006
Quicksilver Droplet
Here is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago with my Nikon S4. It may not be the best digital camera in the world, but it's hard to beat the twisting body for taking abstract shots.
Audrey, in her usual backhanded way, said that it was the best photo I have every taken. Betcha never thought a plant could be so sassy, wa?
April 2008