Tea is more than a drink, but a lifestyle. Recommended Video
Liziqi posts some wonderful videos about an idyllic village lifestyle: the production quality is fantastic. This video shows a concept of Tea as a lifestyle and is fascination extraordinaire! Such a beautiful homage to hand crafted tea in a simple way. Well worth watching. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá
ITA Certified Tea Somelier Certificate
#ITA Updated their online courses and Assessment procedures. It has been two years since I last did their courses. I have reviewed the changes and refreshed areas in which I appeared to have become lax or deficient. I am happy to say I am glad to have redone this course after the last two years of personal exploration into Chinese Tea, and I am glad that I have grown and developed enough to pass ITA’s new Certified #TeaSommelier Certification. 😊😊😊 https://internationalteaacademy.com/
Today’s Tea Project
#TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá has been an interesting and compelling project for me. I started it to, a) drink my way through my, “small” collection of tea, and b) to learn a little more about the tea I was drinking. I have definitely achieved both those goals.
However, though they are complete, I have come to some kind of impasse: What to do now? What’s next for me and this brief journey into tea?
“My cup is empty, but the promise of tea remains…”
I am far from an expert on any of these teas, and whilst I have grown in knowledge of them and Chinese Tea in general, there is still much to learn. So, what to do now? Let’s drink our way through them again, but this time talk about them in a somewhat different way.
I hope you will continue to join me along the way.
My Crius is “unresponsive”
UPDATE: Unfortunately I was too lazy to head and shoulders deep into repairing this theme and have finally bitten th bullet and swapped it out for a generic template. I found that in a desktop web browser the pages weren’t loading, and on mobile not even the menu would load. Such a shame really, I did so like this theme. When I get off my lazy, fat, behind I might get around to developing my own custom site once i finish my Coding Studies…
____________________
The theme in use on this site was the Crius Responsive Theme, purchased from a developer on Themeforest in 2013. Unfortunately the developer is no longer supporting it, and the theme itself is no longer available for purchase.
This in and of itself is not an issue, however there are many, many installations of this theme across the web and they are all going to crash one way or another as a result of the implementation of php 7.0 and most site owners are not going to know why there is a problem. So here’s the heads up, the skinny, if you will.
As of php 7.0 there are several backwards incompatibilities you, or your web developer, will need to be aware of. You, or your developer, will either, need to completely re-write the code, or take the time to change the incompatible code, and there might be quite a bit of it, or…
…get a new theme. It is after all, soooo 2013!
BUT! fear not, I have just spent the last hour or so making the necessary changes. It turns out that the help of a WordPress Plugin you can keep your site live, AND scan all the code for incompatibilities with php 7.0 What an amazing tool! It has taken all the worry and guesswork out of the equation.
Are you ready for a major ugrade to your Crius Responsive Theme based site? Here’s what to do.
- From the Dashboard, got to WordPress Plugins, Add a New Plugin and search for PHP Compatibility Checker. It should be the first one on the list. Install It!
- Activate the Plugin and Run it.After a while it’ll return some Errors and Warnings. In my case 24 errors, and 8 warnings. These basically amounted to 4 distinct issues, site wide. (print out the list)
- Next, from your Web Host’s login landing page, log into cPanel, then goto to your File Manager. Follow the file path to the relevant file, click on the file, Click on, “Edit” and make the necessary changes.
- Job Done!
The warnings amount to issues related to php 4 style class constructors, so it is strongly advised that you look into these and make some updated changes. The only other issue requires a small amount of rewritten code due to the deprecated, create_function( ) function, which cannot be replaced with the anonymous function, function( ) as it doesn’t directly swap over like, ereg( ) which can be substituted with, preg_match( )
So, if you are having problems navigating around my website, it’s not you, really… it’s me… well, the php.
A Brand New Day
Hello and Welcome to 2019 – Year of the Pig.
I am finally happy to say that this website is back! Up and running again. Over the last few years I have had to endure some heavy online changes. Society is changing. People are becoming less tolerant and are no longer so easy going. That is a shame.
In 2016 Facebook suspended and later deleted my Profile. I believe it was a case of religious persecution: they claimed the issue was that they could not verify the authenticity of my name; and demanded official government issued Identity Documentation, documentation that did not match my original registration on Facebook, as “Tsc Tempest.”
In 2017, my Twitter Account was flagged, and later in the year, my LinkedIn profile had to be removed. My MSN and Hotmail accounts became un-recoverable, and many online membership groups and sites became defunct.
Then in 2018 Bluehost killed my website and when I tried to initiate a transfer of Domain Registration (DR) away from Bluehost, their newly (at the time) implemented policy regarding GDPR meant that all the Privacy Settings were arbitrarily changed, and reversing this to enable DR Transfer took almost a year to process. Had they not done away with their Tech Support Ticket process, AND had I not posted daily to their Online Chat Tech Support, I could comfortably say the would still not be resolved.
However, it is all sorted now, it is a Brand New Day!
Site Changes include changes to the site name and the focus; I am no longer freelancing or running my own studio, as my “business?” has been effectively killed both in Social Media and as an Online Presence.
I have also moved to Shanghai with my family and I am exploring new things and ideas, including scanning old film shot during my first visit to China in 2000. There are over 4000 images so the scanning does take its toll.
This has led to the task of re-cataloging all my images, both film and digital, and creating a viable, long term, backup strategy. Funnily enough, DVD media is not the long term, shelf stable, storage I had believed it to be. I’ve pretty much lost everything from 2009-2010.
Lightroom and Photoshop have changed. So has Kumu, and CreativeLive, and MasterClass, and my life circumstances. BUT it is a Brand New Day!
My website is finally back online and once again, in my…
Line of Sight.
MoMA – Seeing Through Pictures
Well today, I finally completed an Online course with New York’s, Museum of Modern Art and I am very happy to have completed it. The course was hosted (delivered) by Cousera who’s Support Services have proved to be outstanding indeed.
The course itself was well structured, with ample video resources and written resources. The written resources DO need to be read as some of the Testing materials require not only a passing awareness of various photographers and their work but also a deeper understanding of motivations, issues and movements in Photography as an Art medium.
The course is self-paced and broken down into 6 Units, each with a suggested deadline. If you have the time you can progress through the course quicker, if you like. Testing is by multiple choice questionnaires, which can be re-sat as often as necessary in order to reach the minimum pass mark of 80%. The final testing involves a couple of submissions which are then subjected to peer review. Although not completely obvious, careful reading of the FAQs indicate how to resubmit the Final Project and the consequences in doing so.
All in all I found the course interesting, challenging and at times the testing to be somewhat quirky, functional but quirky. Learning to navigate these quirks caused me some frustration and left me with a wasted time feeling due to, “shoot (mouth off) first, ask questions later, then wipe down the virtual wall where your cry-baby spittle had left an incoherent mess. Had I carefully read the FAQs I would have saved myself a lot of virtual embarrassment.
In the midst of all of this, the Coursera Support Service provided, awesome, polite, timely, and helpful service – I originally signed in using Facebook; then I was bumped out by Facebook’s random drive-by shooting of profiles, demanding proof of identify documentation in typical stand and deliver fashion. Since I refuse to capitulate to this injust and unnecessary act of ID Harvesting I was no longer able to participate in my course. Coursera sorted it all out in a flash, and subsequent requests were equally met with a can do response.
From an assessment evaluation perspective, I felt that one of the questions in the quizzes (1 in 60 questions?) may have be misattributed. The correct option was provided but the resultant assessment of it, was as incorrect. A similar, differently nuanced option turned out to be the preferred response. Did some web programmer misread which was the correct check button whilst writing up the form? As for the Final Project, the instructions for submission, as they presently stand are unclear, thus leading many students, including myself, to incorrectly submit their Final Project, and having to resubmit after extensive searching for the process for that. A quick link to the relevant section in the FAQ would solve that.
There is nothing wrong with the performance requirements for the Final Project itself, however the submission form would benefit by explicitly indicating that there are two parts to the project, both parts must be submitted, and that they are not a one or the other choice. This would eliminate many issues that end up on the Discussion Board. Provision of the Peer Review Rubric, which IS mentioned in the instructions, would also clear up many issues of student confusion: not only in what needs to be done; but also in the manner of approach to the task at hand. These issues are matters of, what words appear on which page or form, and have nothing to do with quality of the course curriculum, which is excellent. My only reservation is the adequacy of the rubric to effectively guide and inform a fair and even handed Peer Review process.
In spite of the quirks, and my comments above on some testing issues (which truly are minor concerns), I highly recommend this course because of the information and engagement it provides and demands; the thought required to evaluate what is being presented; and the insights into how views and issues of concern to photographers vary depending on which side of the Artistic–Vernacular fence they stand. I do suggest to anyone wishing to do the course, to spend a little time reading the FAQs and the Discussion Boards. Both are highly illustrating with regards to what other students are struggling with – and most of the how do I do this or that answers, truly are in the FAQs.
Finally, if you’d like to see what you might get after successful completion of the course, here is the verification link for my completion of this course.
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight.
Facebook’s Guantanamo Bay
I do not choose this title lightly, for there are parallels in the real world that this situation mimics. The situation? Facebook’s Profile Review Process that requires Photo ID to Prove one’s Identity and thus right to use a designated Profile.
Schematic:
- One day you wake up, attempt to use Facebook in the normal way
- Next, you are confronted with a Log-in Request
- Then you are confronted with a “Stand and Deliver!” Demand to provide your ID
WTF!?! You are locked out, your Profile is no longer visible and you are confronted with the very real face of a “Toll Troll.”
- Now, you cannot log-in UNLESS you provide REAL photo identification
- If you do, it must be verified by some faceless, unidentified dweeb – probably the same dickhead that blocked your Profile in the first place.
- Once you’re logged-in then and only then can you use the communication system
That’s right, there is No Avenue for Communication with Facebook unless you capitulate, to their ID Harvesting Blackmail. Hence, for the last 16 days I’ve been running a Twitter Campaign (@TscTempest) with the hashtag #ReleaseMyProfile.
So why Guantanamo Bay? Well, without notice, or warning, or justification my Facebook Profile is no longer active, it has been incarcerated. I have no mechanism for communication with Facebook to discuss the issue, and I have been excluded from all online interaction, except for receiving group message updates.
Did you get that? Facebook sends me regular group page updates and no other communication. My Profile is in Facebook Prison, without charge, subjected to torture – fully constrained but still able to hear what is going on, actively encouraged to hear what is going on. And while thus constrained this faceless policy of Facebook demands at every interaction or repeated attempt to Log-In my personal and private data. This is Facebook’s version of Interrogation.
Facebook does not require Proof of Identity to create a Facebook Profile, yet under the terms of this Inquisition, Proof of Identity must be provided in order to safeguard the Facebook Community – from what? Me? A long time advocate of civility online, a proponent of being Firm, Friendly, Fair & Frank in the exchanging of online opinions?
The problem with this current Facebook Policy is that it penalises the target/victim of this policy. One is Guilty until proven Innocent, and even then, one’s profile is never the same again, nor is it immune to further targeting under the same policy. In other words, once a victim of this policy, one is forever guilty in the Facebook Universe: there is no proof of Innocence only the chance to recant before being put to Social Media Death – This is Facebook’s #IDHarvesting #Inquisition.
What I’ve come to realise in the last sixteen days, is that it is not just the disengagement from an online community that is lost, it is all the connections with friends and family that have been cultivated through the use of the Facebook Platform, many where there is no other form of communication or contact, not all of my Facebook Friends are on my Computer’s Contact List, in my Email Safe List, attached to Skype, LinkedIn, Xing, ICQ, or a Phone Contact. Thus I have been torn away from a community I have slowly, carefully, and decidedly built up.
Now, some might say, “just provide the documentation,” and in some way, this would alleviate the issue: pay the demanded bribe, give in to this blackmail, accept this act of corruption, capitulate, recant! And this is all part of the torture, and torment, that is Facebook’s Policy of unwarranted and unjustified Inquisition against Facebook Profiles by demanding Proof of Identity.
I am not a witch. I am not a terrorist, I am not a stalker. I am not preying on the unwary. I am not pretending to be someone. I am fully unmasked and declared, “As My Self,” on Facebook and I Will Not Surrender to this unfair, extortion of my identity documentation while others can go freely about their way, as terrorists, as predators, as stalkers, as trolls, as fake names with impunity!
If there is to be One Rule in the name of protecting the Facebook Community, then let it be the same one rule for all users of Facebook, or do away with the rule and #RestoreMyProfile!
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight.
Lightroom: Upgrading and Revisioning
Its taken me a few lean years but finally I’ve just upgraded from LR3 to LR6. In the process I’ve learned that I could have been doing somethings better, and one large catalog is not so good. So I’m starting from scratch all over again.
Now, I’m scrutinizing Kevin Kubota’s Lightspeed Workflow (from a CreativeLive session) and setting up Kumu, Goodsync and LR (presets and templates) so that I can reprocess my image storage and management (since 2003) and perhaps gain greater management control over my growing database of images; as well as forward some of my, stagnating for too long, personal work goals.
Having installed the application, re-tasked an ineffectual backup hdd to be my main file storage device, set up my file structures, and started tweaking LR6 with import defaults and Catalog Filters, I’m using a dummy file set of some 700+ kids football fotos that need to be processed before the weekend, as I still need to setup Kumu properly and get my “Client” data entered in chronological order.
That means going back to 2003 and completely rebuilding my file storage system. Its a lot of work, but in the end, if ever one of my models or clients asked for a new copy of a photo, I’ll be able to find it more easily (although I may need to re-edit them all over again, in some cases)
Similarly, this should allow me to sort through a backlog of personal work that has been sidelined for far too long. Now, the task-in-hand is to finish optimizing the LR6 Catalogue and saving a Default that can be duplicated for each job on demand, and add some presets.
And, on the subject of presets, some not so common ones, these are, “Print Presets” also, “Free Presets” from On1, …also, “Brush Presets” from Gavin Seims and of course, Kevin Kubota’s (not free but very good) Presets for Lightroom.
A personal Retrospective in progress.
Soon to come, some new work: a retrospective look at 40 years of personal work, as a survey of Twentieth Century Photography.
Exploring representative samples of Twentieth Century Photography as shown in the Encyclopedia of the same name, I will collate examples of my own work that have either a similar direct subject, treatment or theme, and rework the images for contact printing on a hard substrate.
The retrospective aims to explore in some way, direct and indirect/osmotic influences on my own work over the past 40 years. Many of the images have no direct conscious connection other than coincidence or similar subject matter, while others are a deliberate attempt to either reproduce a similar image, or image treatment.
The images are primarily for personal evaluation and enjoyment and with be Laser Printed on high gloss paper and then contact printed to a plastic/perspex substrate.
This print making process is a small attempt to get back to my roots in photography where Darkroom work was an integral part of the photographic process and essential to the process of sharing images with others.
Of course at some point I will share some of the images and their pseudo-doppelgängers online so you can see what I’ve been working on.
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight.
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, 2013
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is almost upon us. 28th of April IS the Day! Time passes quickly and today I was reading a Facebook posting which had the wrong day. Today’s date: April 8. I panicked! I’ts night time, what can I shoot? I looked at our Grandmother Clock and slowly the seeds on an idea emerged. There was still time, I could still get a shot off tonight. This is what I created:
“The day is not yet over, there is still time.”
Digital Pinhole Photo. Canon EOS 7D, 0.2/40mm f/200 BCPH 30 sec. ISO 12800.
It’s top lit from the front left with a single halogen desk lamp and the rest of the room is in total darkness and a cover over my screen – I was getting some annoying reflections from the screen. Camera-Pinhole details: Canon EOS 7D, 0.2/40mm f/200 BCPH 30 sec. ISO 12800.
Hope you like it, and remember, relax, there is still time until Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2013.
For today, that’s what’s in my,
Line of Sight.
Happy Post-Easter, 2013
Hello. How are things for you?
Just a quick update of what’s happening at Tsc Tempest Photography. The wife is in Dakar,Bangladesh on a 4 day clothing order Quality Control stint for her job. Easter has just finished and my son is back in school. I’m still attending German Language lessons to get up to speed with the local lingo, and I’ve started shooting for a Fashion Supply House. Its a sample Summer Collection. involving around 20 odd pieces of mens and women’s summer clothing items.
The shots involve modeled clothing and flat shots on white background. The modeled shots are done in studio and then a suitable background is then montaged in, in image development. Lots of neat little challenges with this. particularly with respect to getting the lighting believably right given the choices of backgrounds.
More news soon.
For today, that’s what’s in my,
Line of Sight.
Christmas Break, 2012
Just a quick note to let you know that Tsc Tempest Photography will be closed for business from now until January 2013.
We’d like to thank all our clients over this past year and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.
Tsc Tempest.
Christmas Break, 2011
Just a quick note to let you know that Tsc Tempest Photography will be closed for business from now until January 2012.
We’d like to thank all our clients over this past year and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.
Tsc Tempest.
Advanced Notice: World Wide Pinhole Day
Recently I received an email with basically the following information, World Wide Pinhole Day, which has prompted me to re-consider my current, ongoing love affair with my pinhole bodycap which I’ve made and modified several times for my Canon EOS 7D camera.
The main problem I have with my current pinhole is softness, so soft that, well… it’s just blurry images. Nice in a dreamy like way but, I desire better. Going back to the drawing board, and using Mr Pinhole’s Pinhole Camera Design Calculator, and carefully going over the specs for my camera I’ve come up with what should be the standard specs for a Canon EOS APS-C camera bodycap mounted pinhole.
| Optimal Pinhole Dimensions for Canon EOS 7D | ||||
| Focal Length (sensor to pinhole) | 44.1 mm | |||
| Pinhole Diameter (Optimal) | 0.28 mm | |||
| F-Stop | f/157 | |||
| Film Dimension (Sensor Diagonal) | 26.8mm | |||
| Image Diameter (Image Circle) | 84.5mm | |||
| Angle of View | 33.9° | |||
Now, the distance from sensor to lens mount on the Canon EOS 7D is 44 mm. This means that the pinhole needs to be almost flush with the lens mount. That is, the pinhole needs to be mounted inside the bodycap on a 3mm shelf, to meet the above specs. That’s pretty difficult and fiddly.
Using what I have available, bodycap and black film canister cap, the actual focal length comes in at around 40mm (+/- a poofteenth). Re-jiging the calculator values renders the following data:
| Pinhole Film Canistercap-Bodycap Dimensions for Canon EOS 7D | ||||
| Focal Length (sensor to pinhole) | 40mm | |||
| Pinhole Diameter (Optimal) | 0.267 mm | |||
| F-Stop | f/150 | |||
| Film Dimension (Sensor Diagonal) | 26.8mm | |||
| Image Diameter (Image Circle) | 76.8mm | |||
| Angle of View | 37.1° | |||
Thus, with the equipment available, the following data and specifications should create a pinhole that has the equivalent coverage of a ‘Normal‘ Lens for APS-C format.
Consider, all Canon’s dSLR’s have a sensor to lens mount distance of 44mm. It follows then that using a black, plastic, 35mm film canister cap (stopper type) as the pinhole mount inside a standard EF/EF-S-mount bodycap, reduces the focal length to 40mm.
So, on Canon EOS dSLR, 1.6x crop sensor cameras, the above data produces a 48mm ‘Normal‘ Lens equivalent pinhole; on Canon EOS dSLR 1.3x crop sensor cameras, the above data produces a 39mm ‘borderline wide angle‘ Lens equivalent pinhole; and, on Canon EOS dSLR full frame sensor cameras, the above data renders a 30mm ‘wide angle‘ Lens equivalent pinhole.
So much for the data. I’ve been back and forth and over and over this. This should produce ‘sharp‘ images. Should…
The problem with sharpness is myriad-fold. First, the optimal focal length, by calculation, is 40.1mm – 1/10th of a millimeter leeway. That’s almost the thickness of a pinhole shim! And the glue, etc. Next, as this is lensless photography, diffraction, and time of day, will effect how different wavelengths of light achieve focus on the sensor. On top of this, hand made pinholes rarely achieve 3 decimal accuracy, especially at less than 1mm dia. e.g. 0.26mm => 38mm focal length; 0.27mm => 41mm focal length; 0.2666mm = 40mm focal length – the tolerances here are very fine indeed!
It follows than that, there will be a certain level of ‘softness‘ in the image. The question then becomes an artistic one, rather than an academic one, How much softness is acceptable; and, when does softness become, just a blurry image?
Looking at how the figure work out, it’s probably best to make as small a hole as possible and then to progressively enlarge it and test against a standard target until you reach something that works for you, or err on the large size and target a nominal 0.27mm dia. pinhole.
Time to start remaking that pinhole for my camera. The previous one was 43mm, no wonder the images I create with it are so dreamily soft.
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight.
Addendum [2011.12.1]
Just spent the morning making pinholes.The first one turned out to be just about on the money, 0.3mm BUT I didn’t have the right measurement settings in Photoshop so I continued to drill out the hole and stuffed it up. Six tries later I finally drilled a 0.2+ mm pinhole. and It’s shooting really nicely.
Closeup of Christmas Decorations. Camera to Subject, 40cm. Foreground to Background distance 80cm. 0.2/40mm f/200 BCPH. Canon EOS 7D. Exposure 241sec approx. 4 min. Post processed in Lightroom 3. Overcast + Rain.
| Pinhole Bodycap Specs | ||||
| Focal Length (image plane to pinhole) | 40mm | |||
| Pinhole Diameter (Approx.) | 0.2 mm | |||
| F-Stop | f/200 | |||
| Film Dimension (Sensor Diagonal) | 26.8mm | |||
| Sunny Day Exposure | 1.56 sec | |||
| Angle of View35mm equiv. | 39.4°50 mm | |||
As a final note, I’ve been thinking about how to define, in simple terms, a pinhole as used either on a bodycap, or on a camera. Standard lens nomenclature, specifies the lens focal length & widest aperture. This doesn’t quite work for pinholes. Plus if a pinhole is placed on a camera at non-optimal focal length for hole diameter, then additional confusion arises. I think, that the most appropriate way to address this is to use the following nomenclature:
pinhole diameter/image plane to hole distance Apparent F-Stop Pinhole PH, or bodycap pinhole BCPH, etc.
e.g the above pinhole that I’ve just built would be referenced as a, 0.2/40mm f/200 BCPH
Addendum [2011.12.5]
It’s always a marvel to me that when you seem to have gotten things sorted out, and figure that you’ve got all the bits defined, something new turns up. Well here it is. There is an easier way to do all this and almost anyone, handy, should be able to make a very good bodycap pinhole for the Canon EOS camera.
First let’s look at the camera body. From sensor to lens mount is 44mm (44.1 mm to be precise). The bodycap measures, from the edge that sits flush with the lens mount, to interior cap end, around 4mm. The lens cap plastic is approx. 2mm thick thus by using the lens cap we have available two focal lengths based on whether you put the pinhole inside the cap or outside. These are, 48.1mm and 50.1mm respectively. Now, the pinhole shim takes up a bit of space as well, and based on a soda can, which is what I used, we can more or less figure it out to be about 0.01 mm thick or a shade less. this changes our focal lengths to 48.09mm or 50.11mm.
Now, it turns out that if you drill a 0.3mm hole the optimal focal length is 50.6mm and that the optimal hole diameter for a 50.11mm focal length is 0.298mm Even in Photoshop with a 600ppi scan, the measurement accuracy is only down to 0.1mm. Tell me, can you drill to a three decimal accuracy and measure it effectively? I’ll be buggered if I can. So, 0.3mm is as good as it gets for me.
What this all means is that, if one takes a hypodermic needle, as fine as you can get, and a shim of soda can, place the shim onto a business card and carefully, carefully drill a hole, it is possible to drill a 0.3mm hole +/- a smidgeon that will be just right for a Canon EOS Camera Bodycap Pinhole experiment. The shim should then be mounted on the outside of the bodycap. One needs to make sure that any raised logos or markings are first sanded away. Of course you’ll need a suitable hole through the cap, and the it might pay to paint the inside of the shim prior to glueing it in place (don’t forget to keep the hole clear of paint) so as to minimize internal reflections. To keep the pinhole dust protected, glue a microscope slide cover slip over the outside facing part of the pinhole, otherwise your focal length will change by the thickness of the coverslip.
Based on all this, new information, the Optimal Specs become,
| Pinhole Bodycap Specs | ||||
| Focal Length (image plane to pinhole) | 50.11mm | |||
| Pinhole Diameter (Approx.) | 0.3 mm | |||
| F-Stop | f/167 | |||
| Film Dimension (Sensor Diagonal) | 26.8mm | |||
| Sunny Day Exposure | 1.09 sec | |||
| Angle of View – 35mm equiv. | 30° – 85 mm | |||
Ref this arrangement as: 0.3/50mm f/167 BCPH
Canon Photo Marathon 2011 – Hanoi
I decided to give this competition, sponsored by Canon Asia, a bit of a go. It’s been a while since I took the camera out and competed against others in a shoot out. unfortunately I forgot the first rule of the game, “Make sure you follow the rules.”
The results of the competition have been reported here.
The competition was a little unusual for me, very few guidelines, and very little guidance as to indicate what the judges would be look for. Turns out that they were looking for hardcore, photojournalistic images with an Heroic bent. I guess that’s what creative means in Vietnamese.
The images that won, are really good images, and some of them definitely needed a team or cooperative group in order to produce them. Well done to those who made the grade.
There were three Themes for the day, “Busy,” “Joy,” and “Fly.” All images needed to be in jpg format and direct out of the camera, with no post-production treatment.
Here’s my Competition ID and submissions. With each submission, I’ve provided here, the actual camera image, reduced for display on this blog, and an edited version that shows how I would have post-processed the image for my normal use.
Canon PhotoMarrathon Competition ID
Busy
Submited: Pinhole bodycap image of a construction storage site. The mess and jumble looked busy to me.
Edited
Joy
Submitted: When I came to submit this, I’d left my ID at home and I took a guess at my number, ummm… HN-1783? Doh! Last two numbers around the wrong way. Disqualified! I guess.
Edited
Showing this submission on the big screen…
Fly
Submitted: Same issue with the number for this one. This was quite a test. I used fishing line to tie up the pig and suspend it from a tripod. I guess this would have been more compelling if I’d used a bicycle instead. but I like the final result, especially in that I was able to make the fishing line dissapear.
Edited
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight
A Question of Light
As a photographer, the question of light is always a primary concern, too much? not enough? how to use it? how to modify it? etc.
However, it is quite easy to lose sight of what light might mean to others, especially those who are the poorest of the poor who live in the slums, with limited or no access to basic infrastructure, such as water, gas, electricity. Sometimes, the infrastructure is there, but the ability to buy in and pay for its usage is not.
To day I saw a brilliant idea, being reported on BBC World. A Litre of Light. A simple idea, using a PET bottle filled with water and sanitised with bleach to control algae growth, pushed through a sheet of corrugated iron, as flashing, and put through a hole in the roof of the tin shacks that make up people’s homes.
Source: http://www.ashden.org/blog/litre-light
Using refraction, this solar light, creates about 50W of illumination within the shack during daytime, thus allowing people to work within their homes and not be left mucking away in the dark.
This is simple idea, and its impact, fantastic!
For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight
Happy New Year, Welcome 2011
Well it’s a cold and overcast day here in Hamburg, -8 deg. C at the moment. Everything is covered in snow, and has a monochrome, sepia look to it.
Colors are muted, and the reflectiveness of snow makes it really hard to photograph anything. I’m not too inspired at the moment and not particularly liking the cold, or the snow doesn’t encourage me to go out and “find” the beauty in the moment.
But, whilst sitting here at the window, with my house-shoe encased feet firmly buried under the oil heater, I thought I’d wish you all a very good time for New Year’s Eve. Hope you have a blast of a party and stay safe. Happy New Year and “bring it on, 2011!”
… For today, that’s what’s in my,
Line of Sight
Christmas Break, 2010
Just a quick note to let you know that Tsc Tempest Photography will be closed for business from now until January 2011.
We’d like to thank all our clients over this past year and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.
Tsc Tempest.
Rebuilding
Hello. If you’re a recent visitor here, you’re probably wondering what on earth is going on.
Simply put, we’re rebuilding. Our website, directory structures and in general, the way we’d like to interact with you.
Please bear with us as this may take some time to get it all sorted out.
The Comments Box works on a paragraph by paragraph basis and can be dragged around your screen. Please feel free to leave appropriate feedback.
In the meantime you can contact us via the Contact Page.
This Just In – Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day
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Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day will be celebrated on Sunday, April 26, 2009. Please join the celebration! www.pinholeday.org.
THE DETAILS:
The coordinators of the eigth Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day are busy preparing for this upcoming major global festival. It will be the traditional last Sunday in April; the next one will be April 26, 2009. Anyone, anywhere in the world, who makes a pinhole photograph on Pinhole Day, can scan the image and upload it to the www.pinholeday.org website where it will become part of this premier gallery of lenless photography.
Last year, 2628 participants from 62 countries contributed images to the WPPD 2008 Gallery. Over 100 events – workshops, exhibits, lectures, etc. – were held throughout the world. All of these events were coordinated locally by volunteers.
If you don’t have this celebration marked on your calendar please do it soon! Join the world in this joyous celebration of simple photography.
Watch the www.pinholeday.org website for more information.
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So how can you get involved? Well first you need a pinhole, then you need some means of recording the image 😉
Here are a few links:
My Submission from last year; one taken just after Pinhole Day; and my dSLR Pinhole Kit
Digital Pinhole Photography group on Flickr
Making a Pinhole Lens for Digital Cameras
35mm Single Lens Reflex Pinhole Camera
Some simple theory behind the idea
From Pinhole to Lens – Theory
Video Podcast on how to make a pinhole camera
Juice Box Pinhole Camera
4.5 x 6 Pinhole Camera
Pinhole Photography by Paul Jones
Kodak’s instructions from 2004 sourced from www.archive.org
Welcome to my
“Line of Sight“