93. Technology - March 22-28, 2015
Byron-
I used a new (to me) technology to make a mess. I put corn starch in a balloon and inflated it. I set up a small speedlight on each side of the balloon. Using the triggertrap app on my phone to trigger the speedlights I darkened the room while Erleen was holding the balloon and a pin. I opened the cameras shutter and had her pop the balloon. The sound caused triggertrap to send a signal from the phone to the speedlights to fire. I had them set at 1/128 power so the effective "shutter speed" should be about 1/40,000 sec. The cornstarch that was on the inside of the balloon is moved in every which direction. The event was over in a flash. I then closed the shutter and turned on the lights to see corn starch on my black background, iPhone and light stands. I'm glad I didn't use corn syrup by mistake.
ISO 100, lens set at 44mm, f6.3, Shutter speed was 3.4 seconds, speedlight exposure 1/40,000 sec.
I used a new (to me) technology to make a mess. I put corn starch in a balloon and inflated it. I set up a small speedlight on each side of the balloon. Using the triggertrap app on my phone to trigger the speedlights I darkened the room while Erleen was holding the balloon and a pin. I opened the cameras shutter and had her pop the balloon. The sound caused triggertrap to send a signal from the phone to the speedlights to fire. I had them set at 1/128 power so the effective "shutter speed" should be about 1/40,000 sec. The cornstarch that was on the inside of the balloon is moved in every which direction. The event was over in a flash. I then closed the shutter and turned on the lights to see corn starch on my black background, iPhone and light stands. I'm glad I didn't use corn syrup by mistake.
ISO 100, lens set at 44mm, f6.3, Shutter speed was 3.4 seconds, speedlight exposure 1/40,000 sec.
Deron-
I wanted to recreate a photo, which I had shot last year, but I rode out to my vantage point with camera in tow, but the planes weren't flying out of March Air Base on Friday evening (I saw them Thursday while I was riding). I wanted to go with an airplane, because, probably 5 years ago, I had asked my Mom to ask 96 or 97 year old Grandpa Braton, "What is the greatest technological advancement he has seen in his lifetime?" He said, "The airplane." From where it began, to where it is now; passenger airplanes, fighter jets, etc., I think that's a pretty good answer.
I guess, I'm going to have to go with the cell phone. When you're out lounging on the back porch, you have to take your cell phone with you! You don't want to miss that important, life changing phone call, like, "What time do you want to me to come over to help spread the manure in your yard?" or "Hey, is your refrigerator running?"
I wanted to recreate a photo, which I had shot last year, but I rode out to my vantage point with camera in tow, but the planes weren't flying out of March Air Base on Friday evening (I saw them Thursday while I was riding). I wanted to go with an airplane, because, probably 5 years ago, I had asked my Mom to ask 96 or 97 year old Grandpa Braton, "What is the greatest technological advancement he has seen in his lifetime?" He said, "The airplane." From where it began, to where it is now; passenger airplanes, fighter jets, etc., I think that's a pretty good answer.
I guess, I'm going to have to go with the cell phone. When you're out lounging on the back porch, you have to take your cell phone with you! You don't want to miss that important, life changing phone call, like, "What time do you want to me to come over to help spread the manure in your yard?" or "Hey, is your refrigerator running?"
Kevin-
For Technology I decided to go in an advancing technology direction. My chosen technology? Wind power. Now windmills have been around in various forms for centuries. But now with on-board microprocessors wind turbine designs are getting to be more reliable, more efficient, and more widespread.
Palm Springs is one of the premier places for wind energy as the Banning Pass, a narrow opening between Mount San Gorgonio and Mount San Jacinto creates a sort of venturi effect and provides the opportunity for wind energy over 350 days in the typical year.
Estimates very widely regrading how many wind turbines are currently located in the Banning Pass area, but 2500 is a good general figure. The two largest wind turbines in the Banning Pass area overlook I-10. They each measure 450 feet from the ground to the top of the blades, the height of a 45 story building! And the poles that support the turbines are 17 feet in diameter at the base. The turbine housing itself is the size of a large mobile home. The two largest turbines each generate about 3 megawatts of electricity per hour
This growing size and sophistication will cause a decrease in the number of wind turbines in the Palm Spring area in the future, while generating even more power than is produced today. Big turbines equals big blades so spacing must be wider. What to do with the ground space that results? Solar power! And Solar farms are already cropping up on the unused land in wind farms.
Behind this big turbine you can see a row of older, smaller turbines supported by lattice-type support frames. Those are the sorts of turbines that will go away in the future as newer designs like the one in the photo are deployed more widely. And this area of 2500 windmills is expected to be more like 700 or 800 in a decade or so.
Captured around a minute or two before sunrise. Nikon D3s, 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 19mm, tripod mounted, ISO 200, f/10 at 1/20th of a second to allow the right amount of motion blur in the spinning blades.
For Technology I decided to go in an advancing technology direction. My chosen technology? Wind power. Now windmills have been around in various forms for centuries. But now with on-board microprocessors wind turbine designs are getting to be more reliable, more efficient, and more widespread.
Palm Springs is one of the premier places for wind energy as the Banning Pass, a narrow opening between Mount San Gorgonio and Mount San Jacinto creates a sort of venturi effect and provides the opportunity for wind energy over 350 days in the typical year.
Estimates very widely regrading how many wind turbines are currently located in the Banning Pass area, but 2500 is a good general figure. The two largest wind turbines in the Banning Pass area overlook I-10. They each measure 450 feet from the ground to the top of the blades, the height of a 45 story building! And the poles that support the turbines are 17 feet in diameter at the base. The turbine housing itself is the size of a large mobile home. The two largest turbines each generate about 3 megawatts of electricity per hour
This growing size and sophistication will cause a decrease in the number of wind turbines in the Palm Spring area in the future, while generating even more power than is produced today. Big turbines equals big blades so spacing must be wider. What to do with the ground space that results? Solar power! And Solar farms are already cropping up on the unused land in wind farms.
Behind this big turbine you can see a row of older, smaller turbines supported by lattice-type support frames. Those are the sorts of turbines that will go away in the future as newer designs like the one in the photo are deployed more widely. And this area of 2500 windmills is expected to be more like 700 or 800 in a decade or so.
Captured around a minute or two before sunrise. Nikon D3s, 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 19mm, tripod mounted, ISO 200, f/10 at 1/20th of a second to allow the right amount of motion blur in the spinning blades.
Paul-
Byron (although he doesn’t know it yet) came to my aid on this picture. So, thanks in advance, Sir B!
As much as I love sharp, detailed, high contrast, in-your-face images—especially when it comes to all things technical and mechanical—I found I was going in a different direction the more and more I played with an idea that turned out nothing like I originally thought it would.
Just in case you’re a little baffled by what you see here—although you guys are pretty perceptive—this is the first instance in WPOTM history of a submission being taken with an 18-55mm and a 35-70mm lens…simultaneously.
Optics. Without them, we wouldn’t see the host of galaxies that imbue in us such a sense of humility and wonder. Without them, I would not see my beautiful daughter if she were standing 20 feet away. Without them where would the research, medicines, and procedures that keep us alive be? And, hitting home, where would the WPOTM be?
So, if it isn’t patently obvious by now, I choose to focus (sorry) on optics as part of “Technology” week at the WPOTM clubhouse. But wait—as the shills on television say—there’s more.
My original intent was to stop down a lens, light it from below, and shoot down (via copy stand) with the aid of a couple of stacked magnifying glasses placed between both lenses for effect. (This is about featuring optics after all, right?) I happened to have an Olympus-compatible lens at hand thanks to Byron’s generously giving it and an Olympus OMG body to me a while back. (Note to Byron: A few nights agoI used a crow bar on the OMG body. Nope, the mirror is still locked up. Next step, strategically placed high explosives.)
The more I tried to align the stacked optical elements in parallel and along one axis, the less satisfying the image became. And boring, too. So I decided to see what kind of effects would come from slightly offsetting the Olympus lens and changing the pitch of the smaller of the two magnifying glasses. Indeed, I found it was more interesting capturing part of the open aperture than the whole assembly. I also tweaked the distance between two magnifying lenses. Finally, extraneous light from the light table on which the lens sat was cut down and diffused by creating a stencil from parchment paper—for an interesting look—so there was only a hole through with the front end of the Olympus lens would fit.
As a result, the more abstract the image became, the more I decided to blow out some post-production settings to make the image more of an artsy and abstract composition than a straight-forward shot. It was a nice exercise in pushing myself away from a more predictable submission. There are certainly things I would try differently next time, including building a more stabilized rig for each piece of hardware, but besides making boatloads of money we’re mostly in the WPOTM for the creative experimentation, right?
Our story so far: 1/60 sec; f/18, ISO 1250, 18-55mm lens focused at 38mm, and bracketed EV. WB set for fluorescence. Aperture setting on the subject lens was f/5.6. Puzzle related to this topic: Once, a rancher decided to bequeath to his three sons his sprawling cattle ranch on the condition they name the ranch “Focus.” Why did the father make this request? The answer, next week.
Byron (although he doesn’t know it yet) came to my aid on this picture. So, thanks in advance, Sir B!
As much as I love sharp, detailed, high contrast, in-your-face images—especially when it comes to all things technical and mechanical—I found I was going in a different direction the more and more I played with an idea that turned out nothing like I originally thought it would.
Just in case you’re a little baffled by what you see here—although you guys are pretty perceptive—this is the first instance in WPOTM history of a submission being taken with an 18-55mm and a 35-70mm lens…simultaneously.
Optics. Without them, we wouldn’t see the host of galaxies that imbue in us such a sense of humility and wonder. Without them, I would not see my beautiful daughter if she were standing 20 feet away. Without them where would the research, medicines, and procedures that keep us alive be? And, hitting home, where would the WPOTM be?
So, if it isn’t patently obvious by now, I choose to focus (sorry) on optics as part of “Technology” week at the WPOTM clubhouse. But wait—as the shills on television say—there’s more.
My original intent was to stop down a lens, light it from below, and shoot down (via copy stand) with the aid of a couple of stacked magnifying glasses placed between both lenses for effect. (This is about featuring optics after all, right?) I happened to have an Olympus-compatible lens at hand thanks to Byron’s generously giving it and an Olympus OMG body to me a while back. (Note to Byron: A few nights agoI used a crow bar on the OMG body. Nope, the mirror is still locked up. Next step, strategically placed high explosives.)
The more I tried to align the stacked optical elements in parallel and along one axis, the less satisfying the image became. And boring, too. So I decided to see what kind of effects would come from slightly offsetting the Olympus lens and changing the pitch of the smaller of the two magnifying glasses. Indeed, I found it was more interesting capturing part of the open aperture than the whole assembly. I also tweaked the distance between two magnifying lenses. Finally, extraneous light from the light table on which the lens sat was cut down and diffused by creating a stencil from parchment paper—for an interesting look—so there was only a hole through with the front end of the Olympus lens would fit.
As a result, the more abstract the image became, the more I decided to blow out some post-production settings to make the image more of an artsy and abstract composition than a straight-forward shot. It was a nice exercise in pushing myself away from a more predictable submission. There are certainly things I would try differently next time, including building a more stabilized rig for each piece of hardware, but besides making boatloads of money we’re mostly in the WPOTM for the creative experimentation, right?
Our story so far: 1/60 sec; f/18, ISO 1250, 18-55mm lens focused at 38mm, and bracketed EV. WB set for fluorescence. Aperture setting on the subject lens was f/5.6. Puzzle related to this topic: Once, a rancher decided to bequeath to his three sons his sprawling cattle ranch on the condition they name the ranch “Focus.” Why did the father make this request? The answer, next week.
Jerry-
I had a lot of fun with this topic and went on a scavenger hunt, finding technology in my keyboard, then some led flashers my daughter gave me (supposed to wear them walking the dog), and a dusty needle on my old turntable. But I got excited about the idea of "screens" and how much time we spend looking at small ones, big ones, and on and on. So I took my spy camera and went to the local Target and secretly photographed the wall of big screen tv's when the clerk turned her back. So the "Screens" photo is my shot for "Technology".
iPhone 5c, 1/20 F2.4, iso 50, 4mm lens (about 33mm on a 35mm camera). The only adjustment to the iPhone was to make sure the flash was off.
I had a lot of fun with this topic and went on a scavenger hunt, finding technology in my keyboard, then some led flashers my daughter gave me (supposed to wear them walking the dog), and a dusty needle on my old turntable. But I got excited about the idea of "screens" and how much time we spend looking at small ones, big ones, and on and on. So I took my spy camera and went to the local Target and secretly photographed the wall of big screen tv's when the clerk turned her back. So the "Screens" photo is my shot for "Technology".
iPhone 5c, 1/20 F2.4, iso 50, 4mm lens (about 33mm on a 35mm camera). The only adjustment to the iPhone was to make sure the flash was off.