Submission

The last few months have been really crazy. Finishing the thesis (dissertation, as my supervisor prefers) took a bigger chunk out of me than I expected. However, it's done! I submitted my thesis on Nov 19th 2009. I'm still waiting for my Viva date but at least the monster is out there, hopefully it won't come back to bite me.

At the moment, I'm writing this post from an Ipod and wondering why we didn't have these back in the day! ethics lessons would have been far more exciting. But I digress. I just wanted to tell you that me dad came to visit and we are having an excellent time!

I also have to say that the PSP Go (my thesis submission present) is great, not perfect by any means but at least it is a nice piece of gear.

Back to the submission topic I have to say the myth is true! You look forward to this moment so much that when it actually comes you can't really enjoy it. Weird feeling. More than happy you just feel relieved and more than freedom you feel that something is missing.

The Ipod is going all funny so I'll continue with this story some other time.
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Firework Season is Back in Town

With the wind, the rain and the cold also come the Gluhwhein, the merry songs, and the FIREWORKS!!! So be ready with your camera to capture the moment, in this post I’ll try to help you get the best results.

I took the image above during last year’s Switch-On in Manchester. I’ve received many nice comments and lots of views, here I tell you how to get something similar.

Find a Good Spot

Every year I see lots of people trying to get to the very front, what’s the point? If what you really want is to get good firework pictures then you want to be farther away. You really need to give some space between you and the fireworks so you can catch’em.

Carry a Tripod

I know, I know, I also hate lugging stuff around. However this is a time where the tripod is your friend. You will need long exposures to get the fireworks and give them time to spread-out in your frame so, don’t be lazy for once ;¬)

Get a Wide-Angle Lens

If you are using a DSLR get a wide-angle (10mm), you really need a lot of space to make the fireworks fit on your frame. If you are using a P&S or a compact camera then don’t worry, your lens is already wide enough.

Avoid Touching the Camera

Chances are that it will be dark enough and the movement you generate while pressing the trigger (even when using the tripod) will be unnoticeable. However, it is best if you are using a cable or ratio trigger (if you have a DSLR), or just set your camera on the timer. Even P&S now have an option for a 2sec delay, that will do.

Long Exposure and Aperture

As I said above, you need to give time to the fireworks to explode and spread in your frame, so you need to work with long exposures. How long? to be honest it is trial and error. For  the image above I used 4 seconds. You also want to get a good depth of field. I won’t get into details but try to increase the number in the aperture as much as you can without getting ridiculously long exposures (you don’t normally want to get above 10secs).

Remember the long exposure will give you a better chance to capture the fireworks. But the longer it gets the more fireworks will get cramped in your frame so it is a matter of taste and it will depend on how big the area is and the firework programme.

A Starting Point

If you like the image above and you will be facing similar conditions, then this are all the settings I used. They could be a good starting point for your first frame :D

Exposure:       4 seconds Aperture:       f/16 Focal length:  10mm ISO speed:      200

Now go out and shoot and don’t forget to share with me your results. I hope you find this helpful.

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Irving Penn 1917 – 2009

“A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective”. IRVING PENN

I have been very busy so I couldn’t post this earlier. By now my very scarce readers should know that I love photography and very specially “portraiture”. Well, this post is to remember one of my favourite portrait photographers.

Irving Penn, passed away on 7th October 2009. Just one day after my birthday -- did I forgot to mention it was my BDay? Anyway, Irving Penn is a celebrated name in the world of portraiture and fashion photography. He was one of the first photographers to pose his subjects against a grey or black backdrop to great effect. I love his portraits because they are full of contrast and drama.

Below some of my favourites:

Pablo Picasso

Truman Capote

More after the Jump (NSFW) >>

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Gisele Bundchen, 1999 (Auctioned for $193,000 at Christie’s)

Kate Moss, 1996 (Auctioned for $97,000, Christie’s Images Ltd 2008)

Vogue Cover (Jean Patchett, New York, 1950)

More here and here. Very Recommended.

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What am I doing?

No, I’m not in Venice enjoying life ;¬) I’m at home working hard to finish the thesis on time (this is just a short -–and very needed-- break).

I’d also like to congratulate my friend Francisco (aka El Paco) who just submitted last Friday. He better start writing again in his blog. I hope to be in that situation in the following months. I have to say that even though I’m happy he submitted, I feel the pressure even more on my shoulders. We started the PhD at the same time and this really feels like things are coming to an end.

I’m not particularly afraid of change but still…

 

… things will never be the same.

(writing this post was an excuse to tryout the “windows live writer”, so far so good.

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3,200kms of Travel Pleasure and Photography

You can find the set here

Late in July I had a break from the PhD to indulge in travelling and photography :D My In-laws visited us for six weeks, and after having travelled to Rome and Paris by themselves it was only just for us to join them for eight days.

First we travelled to Paris to catch-up with my In-laws and to take Valentina to EuroDisney. I have to say it was a great time to take her there, she really enjoyed it and fell for the "magic" of the place. I posted some images here already.

After that we rented a car and visited...
Belgium - Bruges
Germany - Cologne, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg
Italy - Venice, Florence, Pisa
Switzerland - Geneva

... for an approx. total of 3,200kms. I have to say that all that driving was kind of a present for me, driving is something I miss a lot since I arrived in the UK.

Obviously I carried some photo gear with me and took plenty of photos. I will post some pics of the gear because some friends have asked me about buying a DSLR, and I want to show here how much stuff I carry with me when I travel.

Above you may see some of my holiday pictures. I am planning to feature some of the images in separate posts -- to explain how they were taken -- but in the meantime you can browse this set since I still have plenty more to add.

Thanks for following...

PS: Thanks to Roy Tanck for the Flickr-widget.



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Someone is always watching...

I just couldn't let this one pass by. First, because I've always been a fan of Star Wars (lease Estar Güars) and second because I'm always weary of what might be appropriate or not to post online. Enjoy the beauty of online society but always think that something might come back and bite your...

Brought to my attention by Gizmodo from The Daily What, apparently it was a T-Shirt from TeeFury.

Now back to work.


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busy, Busy, BUSY! ...

Sorry I haven't been around lately, my thesis is still kicking my ass ;¬)

My In-Laws paid us a six-week visit last July-August, so the least I could do was to take an 8-day holiday with them. We, as you can see from the image above, went to EuroDisney! it was a great experience specially because Valentina is at a perfect age to enjoy the park. She fall in love with Mickey Mouse [sighs] now in her life there is the Mum, Mickey and then me... I just can't win there =)

Apart from the quick visit to Paris, we drove through five countries visiting eight cities in the same number of days. So in the near future I will try to post more pictures and info from the trip, a new post on holiday pics (a bit too late maybe), and another one on macro photography now that the weather is turning and we will have to stay indoors!! Stay tuned.

In case you are wondering, I made the image above using Lightroom 2 --which is a nice tool to quickly fix your pictures-- and a video tutorial from Matt Kloskowski, watch it here.


MTK


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