Slow Shutter Speed

If you have ever used any kind of camera when is sort of dark in the area, you may notice that everything is a bit blurry.  The flash can be used in some cases but usually it make the picture look really bad.  This is a result of a low shutter speed.  A camera works by exposing the image sensor (or film) to light.  If there is less light around, then the shutter needs to be open longer to let in more light.  You can change ISO values and aperture sizes but that is an explanation for a different day.  I want to focus on how you can use a slow shutter speed to create unique photos.  Most people will be familiar with the streaks of light that are actually cars like in this picture I took a while ago in San Francisco...

an 8 Second exposure in San Fran.

8 second may seem like a while and is plenty long enough for a photo like this.  However, I am always one to explore new techniques in photography so naturally I wanted to try some photos with much longer shutter speeds.  In some more advanced photos you may notice wispy clouds, unbelievably still water, or star movement.  This is the product of much longer exposures.  One evening I decided I would just go around town and experiment.  This was my result...

2 and a half minute shutter speed taken in Fremont

As you can see, the water is very smooth and the clouds blur because they were moving.  Hopefully you like these pictures and have a better understanding of how shutter speed works.

Rush - Caravan

Caravan/BU2B Single Album Cover

At the start of June, Canadian classic rock band Rush released two new songs on a single titled "Caravan."  The song is said to be on the album Clockwork Angles that is scheduled to be released in Spring 2011.  I heard this song on the radio today.  I know lots of songs by Rush and recognized the vocals as Geddy Lee's (the band's lead singer / bass player / keyboard player.)  At first, the change in feel between the verses and the chorus caught my attention.  After the second chorus, Geddy goes into a simply awesome bass solo that flows right into a great guitar solo by guitarist Alex Lifeson.  After I got home and listened to the song a few times I started to love it.  The B-side of this single contains the song "BU2B" standing for "brought up to believe." This cut isn't quite as good as "Caravan" but is still likable.  If any of you like rock, I would strongly suggest giving this track a listen.  I will be waiting anxiously for Clockwork Angles to come out in the spring and hope that it has equally great tracks.  Click here to listen to Caravan on Youtube.

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

A Thousand Suns

First of all, I am not a huge Linkin Park fan.  I have most of the studio albums and a remix album in my music library.  Knowing most of the song, I really only really like a few of the songs.  A friend gave me their new album A Thousand Suns a few days before it officially released.  I listened to a few of the songs and didn't think they were anything special.  In fact, I was surprised that it was actually Linkin Park because it really doesn't sound like them.  I really wasn't feeling it, so I listened to something else.  Later, I gave it another try, listening from start to finish with no stops.  The first few tracks really are nothing special.  Tracks 2 and 4 are under one minute long and are basically just random industrial sounds.  There are only a few songs that really stand out.  The album's hit single, The Catalyst, isn't really my cup of tea.  The song is pretty repetitive and has a pretty generic tone.  I do like some aspects of the song but its not great.  I would give the album a 5 out of 10.  The album is just too generic for me and has nothing to grab my attention.  It also doesn't sound anything like Linkin Park.  I wouldn't recommend buying it, but if you are so curious about it, I would listen to it from friends or on youtube.

High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR)

HDR Photo

A photography skill I have come to know and love is HDR.  This stands for High Dynamic Range.  A camera can only expose on part of a scene for one photo.  This translates into a subject of a photo being the proper color; not too light and not too dark.  Your background or certain parts of the subject could be shaded differently. To get rid of this unwanted contrast the photographer must take multiple pictures at different exposures.  This is called bracketing.  I made a good example to show the photos I used to make the picture shown above.

Bracketed photos used in HDR

To change the exposure on photos quickly, many photographers use something called "Exposure Bias" a.k.a. "EV."  0 EV is the normal exposer of what the camera would take a picture of if you just pressed the shutter button.  As you can see, there is a definite difference in the -2EV and the 2EV.  The first shot pretty much disregards the bridge and focuses on gathering dramatic colors in the sky.  -.7 EV and 0 EV gathers most of the main colors in the bridge while there is almost no color in the sky.  The last two shots help add brightness to dark, shadowed areas of the photo with complete disregard to any colors in the sky.  Once the photos are on your computer, you can merge them to create an HDR image.  My personal preference is to use Photomatix (which is also the most popular application for HDR) to merge my bracketed pictures, but any program is fine.  Happy shooting!

P.S. Many photographers use HDR for everything and end up getting a picture that looks very un-natural.  It is good to try and keep your photo fairly natural looking and not like a big mess of colors.

Hovercraft Racing

A few days ago, I was browsing one of my favorite blog sites, Jalopnik.com when I ran across this...

Hover Craft Racer 

http://jalopnik.com/5634810/hovercraft-racing-the-loudest-motorsport-you-didnt-know-about
This is something i never really thought about before!  To be honest, I kind of forgot about hovercrafts!  I love racing, so i just had to watch the video they had on the page.  Oh man does that look like some fun!  No other vehicle can transition from land to water that fast.  As soon as I saw this, I looked into where I could go and witness one of these action packed events.  Unfortunately, Hovercraft Races in the United States are very rare.  They are pretty much non-existent on the west coast.  This sport is very popular in England however and there are races all the time.
      With some more research, I was able to find that there are several different classes of hovercrafts.  Everything from "Formula 1" class which consisted of the fastest, most powerful hovercrafts to an "Entry Level" class with much smaller vehicles with less power.  This class is open to kinds over the age for 11 so some can start racing at a very young age!

Buddy Guy and B.B. King

Saturday:
After the car show my dad, mom, and friend JC went with me to a concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. It is a great venue because of the awesome views of Silicon Valley from 1,300 ft above sea level.  This isn't the first time I have been to this venue, but it is the first time I have seen Buddy Guy and B.B. King in concert!  I didn't really know their songs by name, but as you might know, I love all pretty much types of music.  For those who don't know, Buddy Guy and B.B. King are two of the most influential guitar players ever.  They helped pioneer the blues genre of music.  B.B. King is often referred to as "The King of Blues."  Buddy Guy opened the show and told many different stories to the crowd.  The show was almost half comedy, half amazing guitar riffs!  Towards the end, he walked around in the audience while soloing!  After his amazing performance, it was time for The King.  His band opened up with drums, keyboards, trumpets and a sax.  As they all played, some roadies helped B.B. to his chair on the center stage.  He is 84 years old so naturally he likes to just sit and play rather than jump around on stage.  He was also great on the guitar, but told way more stories compared to Buddy.  All and all, it was a great concert!

There was a strict no camera rule at this show but I still managed to get a few shots with a cellphone.

Buddy Guy soloing in the crowd.

B.B. King with his band.

Hot August Niles

Saturday:
Hot August Nights Niles is a local car show held in the historic town of Niles in Fremont.  Cars at the shows are all American.  Everything from 1930's Fords, 57' Chevys, muscle cars of the 70's and 80's, and modern street cars.  My dad and I usually pay a visit to the show every year, but this time we actually showed a car in the show.  The main street through downtown is shut down for a few blocks and all the cars park in the street.  We enjoy this show because it isn't too big and doesn't take all day to walk through like some other shows we go to.  Most of our friends that live in Fremont and like cars come to this show.  We get to talk to many people at the show because we see so many new and old friends.