For an upcoming meeting I bought 20 pairs of red-cyan 3D glasses from Deal Extreme (these ones here).  I figured since 3D is the big thing in the theatres it should be in our sprint reviews too.

There is an excellent free application called Anaglyph Maker that can combine two images into a single red-cyan 3D anaglyph.  Hand holding the camera and moving it over about 4” between shots ended up with a surprisingly descent 3D image.

(left: focus blended image / middle: near focus / right: far focus)

This image was a blended focus image from 6 different exposures using Enfuse.  None of those images had both foreground and background in focus at the same time.  I think it’s clear from this experiment that:

1. Don’t use a lightweight camera on a tripod on carpet.  It moves.
2. Don’t try to focus blend moving people.  It’s bad

Otherwise though it looks like this might actually have worked.  How cool!

My first attempt at focus blending.  I shot a few images on my G9 at lunch today and used enfuse to blend the exposures, neither of which had both pop cans in focus, into a single sharp image.

Near Focus:

Far Focus:

Blended Focus:

There is a bit of a halo effect on the highlights on the tin can but otherwise it looks relatively good. 

The Process:

First align the images using "align_image_stack".  This would be more important if they were hand-held or something crazy like that.  This produces "aligned_img1.tif" and "aligned_img2.tif".

$ align_image_stack -a "aligned_" -m img1.jpg img2.jpg

Now run them through enfuse to blend the focus:

$ enfuse –wExposure=0 –wSaturation=0 –wContrast=1 –HardMask -o test.jpg *.tif

This takes a long time (a minute or so) but the result is pretty decent.  Not bad for free software!

I finally got after processing about 25 rolls of B+W film I shot over the past two years.  It took about 6 hours of work but I’m caught up now.  My plan for the future is to shoot more B+W film but every week or two (no longer) set aside 45 minutes to process it.

I also want to start doing more printing.  My plan is to actually go some printing too. 

There is just something about B+W I love.  I think it’s the old cameras.  I love the sound of the shutter and the quirkiness of my old cameras.   Whether it’s the brilliant design of my Olympus XA series point-and-shoots, or the history of my FED 2, or the sentimentality of the Minolta Maxxum 7000s (I have three) or the absolute coolness of the Canon T90, each of those cameras just has something that makes them fun to shoot.

I recently bought a Canon G9.  I love my Canon 20D but there are times when dragging the SLR and array of lenses around just isn’t practical.  I wanted to get a point and shoot but I wasn’t willing to give up the control I’m used to with my SLR.  The G9 seemed like a great solution.  It’s not too tiny, it has all the features I want, and it’s awesome   The build quality of this camera is fantastic (with the sole exception of the flimsy seeming lens mechanism) and the accessibility of the normal features from well placed buttons is great.  It all fits nicely in a smallish Roots bag with a bit of extra room for a table-top tripod, extra batteries and SD cards.

Here is my current G9 setup:

• Canon G9
• Lensmate Filter Adapter (protects the lens and makes it easier to hang on to)
• Richard Franiec Thumb Rest + Grip (allows me to hold on to camera with just one hand)
• Richard Franiec Cable Relelase Adapter
• Homemade wrist strap

This test only has one question, but it’s a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision.

Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Please scroll down slowly and give due consideration to each line.

THE SITUATION:

You are in America , Washington DC to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are a photo-journalist working for a major newspaper, and you’re caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You’re trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing into the water.
Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

THE TEST:

Suddenly, you see a man in the water. He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the
debris. You move closer… Somehow, the man looks familiar… You suddenly realize who it is… It’s George W. Bush ! You notice that the raging waters are about to take him under forever.

You have two options:

You can save the life of George W. Bush or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world’s most powerful men!

THE QUESTION:

Here’s the question, and please give an honest answer…

Would you select high contrast colour film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

The camera club went out to Big Hill Springs park last night to take some waterfall pictures.  I got a lot of images I really like.  I also got devoured by mosquitos despite the heavy coating of repellant I was wearing.

Several of us drove up to Drumheller on Saturday morning.  We left Calgary at 4am and managed to arrive at Horseshoe Canyon pretty close to sunrise.  Unfortunately the sky was very overcast so we didn’t really get much of a sunrise.  Also, unfortunately, it rained (more unfortunate for Wes who rode his motorbike out there) so wander around in the canyon was a bit mucky.

Anyways, I got a few pictures I’m happy with so it was a success.

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Originally uploaded by charsplat.

I’m pretty pumped. My first solo wedding shoot was this past weekend and I think it went really well despite some pretty difficult shooting conditions.

The formals were outside in horribly harsh high bright sunlight and the ceremony was dark and backlit. I had to use flash throughout the whole day but at the results were pretty decent.

My Wedding Portfolio such as it is thus far.

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Originally uploaded by charsplat.

I took this shot of a downtown Calgary construction site and turned it to B+W and added some grain.

I entered it into the CPS open category and scored a 9.0! Sweet!