Pro Tip: If you are ever taking a shallow depth of field photo, and it has a pair of eyes in it, ALWAYS have the sharpest focus on the eyes! The second to last photo above is good, but in all the rest the you've focused on the bridge of the nose, and for the cat it's a patch of fur above the left eye.
Normally focusing on the bridge of the nose, or just the face in general, isn't a bad thing. But now you only have under an inch of depth to play with, so focusing is now far more difficult.
My favourite out of all of these photos, by far, is the ant.
I wrote an article about the Berlin Juggling Convention this year, and I need some photos. Instead of focusing the show and normal things that appear in convention reviews, I'd concentrate on five other things: Daniel's Geek Table, Fight Night, The Fashion Show, Sport Hocker and the Fashion Show. Katrin had asked me to take photos of the fashion show too, so I put in extra effort to capture the spirit of the event. They are displayed in a chronological order, click for high resolution versions, and all are released under a creative commons 3.0 license. Enjoy!
Breakfast.
Daniel's Geek Juggling Table.
Neta and Noam preparing for the fashion show.
Frix and Katrin, two of three fashion show organisers.
"It's such a beautiful day, I think I'll walk." Actually, I went to the canal to feed the swans. I took my camera, to practice taking photos without looking through the viewfinder.
As I was trying to take a photo of a swan taking bread out of my hand, a man walked past with two small dogs. Here is one. Behind are some other people enjoying the sun, and behind them is a hospital.
A swan pulling bread from my hand. Taking photos directly into the sun is quite tricky. For all these photos, to stop too much of the swans being "blown out" white, I turned the exposure compensation down a notch.
Aiming a 50mm lens without looking through the viewfinder is really tricky, but I got some good shots. I decided to process them to look like greetings cards.
Increasing exposure? Check. Boosting vibrance and saturation? Check. Decreasing clarity? Check. Over the top vignetting? Check!
This one is taken without holding the camera five centimeters from the water.
This one is my favorite.
I discovered a great way to know if the swan is in the center of the frame. I looked at the automatic shutter speed readout on the LCD. When it read "1/600" I knew it was pointing at something dark, like the water or trees. When it said "1/3200" I knew it was pointing at something bright, like a swan in the sunlight. I'm going to use this trick in the future if the subject the right contrast.
Also, I discovered that ND filters would be a really cool tool for photographing anything in weather like today, using a 50mm prime lens. That's a project and a lesson for another day.
Most lenses have fish-eye properties, which means when you zoom out, straight lines curve inwards at the corners. See every skateboarding video ever. Rectilinear means that all lines stay straight, but when tilted at an angle it makes parallel lines diverge drastically. You get this same effect with FPS games. I love the look. The DP on Dexter does too, as it isn't really how the eye sees things (if that can even be known), and by using that kind of lens in a TV drama, it instills an unusual vibe.
Yeah. It's so awful. Things like The Shining (the very beginning) used to be great, but now I can't look at a wide angle lens shot without thinking of skate vids.
The weather was terrible at the first stop in Iceland. Seydisfjordur isn't really a jumping place, so all I did was go to a hotel to use the internet.
In fact, the rain was so bad, I spent part of the morning watching Dexter. I finished all of season 3 in two days.
My only photo while off the ship in Seydisfjordur, some wooden sculptures.
Guest entertainers get nice cabins with windows, but often those windows look out onto life boats. I only notice the man working on the boat once I'd stripped off my wet trousers.
Reykjavik! A silhouette of the cathedral.
I visited the Blue Lagoon for the first time. I took a bus out from Reykjavik by myself because I couldn't secure a place on the crew tour.
The part of the blue lagoon where swimming isn't a good idea.
Jon and Stewart.
As I met up with the crew tour at the lagoon, I decided to sneak onto the bus for the journey back to the cruise ship.
Greenland! My first time visiting the biggest island in the world. This is a glacier near the entrance to Prins Christian Sund, a channel between the mainland of Greenland and some small islands. The helicopter flew the length of the channel, to make sure it was clear of ice.
Another glacier. The ship stopped close to this one, and the officers on the bridge sounded the whistle. The blast of sound knocked a huge chunk of ice off the front into the water. It's good to see a plan come together like that.
Kids on the ship playing their own version of Jenga.
A waterfall.
Looking back along the sound.
A typical Greenlandic village. Population: 160. Main income: seal hunting.
The village scrap heap.
A sailing boat rounding an iceberg.
Qaqortoq from the top of the hill.
The Ocean Princes and the Saga Ruby (a ship I worked on last year) anchored off Qaqortoq.
A helicopter flying past the Ocean Princess.
The same helicopter.
A test shot for a juggling clip. I stood on the edge of this ridge, and tried not to fall off the cliff.
Luke, do you drink Dos Eqius? Because I think you are probably the most interesting man in the world.
I had to look this up, and I'm glad I did. Those adverts are really good. There is a subtlety to the line "I don't drink beer very often, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis" that hits the perfect spot. Full marks to the ad agency for that one.
As for me being the most interesting man in the world... I doubt it. But here's the thing: if you're not TRYING to be the most interesting man in the world, at every opportunity, you're dong life wrong.
Comments
The strange thing about this picture is that I walked out and though "Wow, the world looks over-saturated.", so I took a picture.
Leeds Hackspace Barbecue.
The people in the shed opposite ours; Restoring a VW beetle.
Normally focusing on the bridge of the nose, or just the face in general, isn't a bad thing. But now you only have under an inch of depth to play with, so focusing is now far more difficult.
My favourite out of all of these photos, by far, is the ant.
Breakfast.
Daniel's Geek Juggling Table.
Neta and Noam preparing for the fashion show.
Frix and Katrin, two of three fashion show organisers.
DJ.
Katrin.
Preparing the bubbly.
DJ and JJ.
Paparazzi.
Ana sorting the music.
Karo and Gonzalo.
Jacob looks Sharpe.
V.I.P.
Press.
JJ and DJ.
Milan.
Anja and Joerg.
DJ.
Neta and Noam.
Jacob.
Guillaume.
Milan and Alan.
Karo and Gonzalo..
Karo and Gonzalo.
Umbrellas.
JJ.
Hannah and the press.
Stefan and Guillaume.
Stefan and Guillaume.
Stefan and Guillaume.
Karo and Neta.
Karo and Neta.
Stefan and Guillaume.
View from the sound desk.
Frix and Ana.
Frix, Katrin, Ana.
Davidone.
Flo and Jochen pose for a combat photo.
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Volleyclub
Water melon.
Sven tries cigar boxes.
Sport Hocker.
Sport Hocker.
Yeah, I know it's not a costume, but I do want to show off my geekiness some way. ...really need a quality camera instead of just my phone.
Monetization: Write a book called The Juggler's Diet. Make millions.
Gene Hoglan will fuck you up son.
Penn Jillette is a fat juggler.
Penn Jillette is mostly a magician, and there are many fat magicians.
Also, do note that most of these photos are from a fashion show and two sporting competitions. They are further self-selecting for fitness.
As I was trying to take a photo of a swan taking bread out of my hand, a man walked past with two small dogs. Here is one. Behind are some other people enjoying the sun, and behind them is a hospital.
A swan pulling bread from my hand. Taking photos directly into the sun is quite tricky. For all these photos, to stop too much of the swans being "blown out" white, I turned the exposure compensation down a notch.
Aiming a 50mm lens without looking through the viewfinder is really tricky, but I got some good shots. I decided to process them to look like greetings cards.
Increasing exposure? Check. Boosting vibrance and saturation? Check. Decreasing clarity? Check. Over the top vignetting? Check!
This one is taken without holding the camera five centimeters from the water.
This one is my favorite.
I discovered a great way to know if the swan is in the center of the frame. I looked at the automatic shutter speed readout on the LCD. When it read "1/600" I knew it was pointing at something dark, like the water or trees. When it said "1/3200" I knew it was pointing at something bright, like a swan in the sunlight. I'm going to use this trick in the future if the subject the right contrast.
Also, I discovered that ND filters would be a really cool tool for photographing anything in weather like today, using a 50mm prime lens. That's a project and a lesson for another day.
Most lenses have fish-eye properties, which means when you zoom out, straight lines curve inwards at the corners. See every skateboarding video ever. Rectilinear means that all lines stay straight, but when tilted at an angle it makes parallel lines diverge drastically. You get this same effect with FPS games. I love the look. The DP on Dexter does too, as it isn't really how the eye sees things (if that can even be known), and by using that kind of lens in a TV drama, it instills an unusual vibe.
Yes, swans are assholes. But pretty assholes.
In fact, the rain was so bad, I spent part of the morning watching Dexter. I finished all of season 3 in two days.
My only photo while off the ship in Seydisfjordur, some wooden sculptures.
Guest entertainers get nice cabins with windows, but often those windows look out onto life boats. I only notice the man working on the boat once I'd stripped off my wet trousers.
Reykjavik! A silhouette of the cathedral.
I visited the Blue Lagoon for the first time. I took a bus out from Reykjavik by myself because I couldn't secure a place on the crew tour.
The part of the blue lagoon where swimming isn't a good idea.
Jon and Stewart.
As I met up with the crew tour at the lagoon, I decided to sneak onto the bus for the journey back to the cruise ship.
Greenland! My first time visiting the biggest island in the world. This is a glacier near the entrance to Prins Christian Sund, a channel between the mainland of Greenland and some small islands. The helicopter flew the length of the channel, to make sure it was clear of ice.
Another glacier. The ship stopped close to this one, and the officers on the bridge sounded the whistle. The blast of sound knocked a huge chunk of ice off the front into the water. It's good to see a plan come together like that.
Kids on the ship playing their own version of Jenga.
A waterfall.
Looking back along the sound.
A typical Greenlandic village. Population: 160. Main income: seal hunting.
The village scrap heap.
A sailing boat rounding an iceberg.
Qaqortoq from the top of the hill.
The Ocean Princes and the Saga Ruby (a ship I worked on last year) anchored off Qaqortoq.
A helicopter flying past the Ocean Princess.
The same helicopter.
A test shot for a juggling clip. I stood on the edge of this ridge, and tried not to fall off the cliff.
A pond on the top of the hill.
The Saga Ruby.
As for me being the most interesting man in the world... I doubt it. But here's the thing: if you're not TRYING to be the most interesting man in the world, at every opportunity, you're dong life wrong.