astradele

A fellow alumnus was in town recently, so it seemed a great opportunity to spend some of my soon-to-be-lost vacation hanging with a friend, seeing the old campus again and taking Zipcar’s MIN Convertible out for a spin!

The convertible is a lot of fun, by the way… if you can figure out how to operate it!  Took us an hour of fiddling and being on the phone with Zipcar support, but it turns out there’s locking latches in the trunk that need to be set, or the computer refuses to take the top down (it will operate the sunroof only).  In addition to locking the latches, the onboard computer only “re-detects” the latches if the sunroof is closed AND you restart the engine.  Restarting the engine with the sunroof open doesn’t reset it.

There’s not much to say about Waterloo, it’s all about the pictures and resultant nostalgia really.  For example…

The campus seemed smaller somehow… I’m pretty sure I was in better shape then than now, so perhaps it was the weight of the books or the sleep deprivation that made it seem larger.  Interestingly, I seemed to remember most of the shortcuts and relative position of buildings - once I got within reasonable range anyway.  Here and there, I spent a few moments reliving those halcyon days…

I did keep my photograhy class assignment in mind, so many shorts were taken with “interestingness” in mind, as you can see from my commentary in the description.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/relgar/sets/72157607439831410/

First day of photography class at Ryerson (CDFP383) was a mixed bag.  The environment was unpleasant, but I did learn some interesting tidbits.

Ryerson’s Image Arts Building is ugly.  It strongly reminds me of my high school, aged ungracefully like me.  That’s probably why it’s under renovation.  Unfortunately, this also contributes to background noise during class.  The classroom itself reminded me of an art class’ room (open space and some large tables scattered about).

The class size wasn’t too large (~16 people after the stragglers arrived), and the instructor spent the first hour making jokes to put us at ease, and discussing at a high level what the course would cover.  Summarizing the handouts:

• How to use your camera (a.k.a. read your manual).
• How to print your photos (a.k.a. buy an Epson, read the manual).
• Practice taking pictures (a.k.a. two assignments to turn in 500 pictures, before processing).
• Printed photo presentations (a.k.a. everyone compliments/critiques each other’s selected photos)
• How to use Adobe Lightroom (a.k.a. how to manage your pictures, basic corrections).

Some of the students were clearly not new to their cameras, while others seemed to be just starting out.  One of the latter remarked concernedly that there was clearly a wide range of skill levels present; I had the same concerns, although probably coming from the other direction.

The lesson wasn’t a total loss, however.  The instructor brought in some of his prints, and we were able to see the impressive effect of high quality ink on good paper (i.e. the kinds used for paintings); it was quite stunning.  He emphatically insisted that Epson printers were the best for photography prints, because Epson has the best inks.  Some other useful advice: buy a camera bag with a belt strap so you can run.

During the course of the evening, several websites and names relevant to digital photography were mentioned.  I knew some of them, but the new were useful to know.  Here’s a reprint of them all, in case it’s useful:

• www.123di.com: an e-book for the technical side of digital photography.
• www.kenrockwell.com: camera analysis.
• www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm: more photography tips.
• www.bhphotovideo.com: to buy equipment.
• CCBC (King & Spadina), Tricera (Queen St.), Headhots (www.headshotsrentals.com): for paper and inks.
• www.robgalbraith.com: memory card reviews.
• www.mydigitaldiscount.com: good for cheap memory cards, extra batteries (third party).
• www.dpreview.com: extensive camera model reviews.

Overall though, the emphasis on answering the question of “how do I use my camera?”, instead of “how do I use my camera?” (i.e. to good effect) left me concerned.  Fortunately, the follow-up to this course, CDFP 384: Digital Capture II, runs this semester, too, and the instructor suggested switching classes for those who were concerned about the course material.  Definitely an idea worth exploring.

I’ve been subjecting unfortunate people and objects around me to the business end of my new camera, applying the same principle I’ve applied to my previous cameras: shoot first, shoot often, evaluate later.  I end up taking uninteresting pictures, but the point is to determine what the camera will and won’t do, and how to worth with it to coax better pictures more often.

There are many reviews of the Nikon D40, but some of my favourite “features” in the first couple weeks are:

• The “click” of an SLR shutter.  Something about it is so much fun!
• The external flash.  Ceiling bounces are a great way to avoid red eyes and shiny foreheads.
• 16 GB SD card with USB adapter.  Room for 2000 RAW pictures, very easy to move files around.
• Smart Auto-ISO.  The camera will bump the ISO up to a configurable max. ISO in order to achieve a min. shutter speed… in 50 point ISO increments!
• Feeling cool with an SLR slung over my shoulder.  Yes, I’m a poseur, and an “entry-level” one at that!

Most disliked?  None really so far, but I’ll stretch for some:

• External flash “only” gets about 200 shots with two AA batteries.
• Challenging “user training” curve, e.g. learning how Auto Focus chooses and working with it.
• Using a DSLR demonstrates why one “needs” a telephoto lens and a fast low-light lens.

I took a short jaunt to Seattle to attend a wedding, and for the occasion I had my new DSLR, a Nikon D40, delivered ahead of me.  The bride had asked me to help out by taking candid pictures, which provided the perfect excuse for a new toy!

I learned that it’s a bad idea to take on a new challenge (wedding photography) alongside new tools (opened the camera box a few hours before wedding preparations started).  Nevertheless, it was certainly educational, and I learned a lot by overdoing it: snapped 850 pictures, 250 of which were completely unusable, and tried my hand at individually post processing the other 600.

A smaller subset of the results are up on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/relgar/sets/72157606411864781/.  Tips or feedback appreciated; I think I used to get better final results with my point-and-shoot!