Archive for April 2009
More Messing Around with the Lensbaby and a New Bag
Buses Waiting for Students by David Chu on Zooomr
Boy that was a long title. Today I brought the Lensbaby to school and took some shots. I also got a new camera bag today. It’s a Lowepro Flipside 300 from Bill (Mausgabe on Flickr). He also gave me my first and only (until now) camera bag 9 months ago… the Fastpack 100.
This new one can hold 3 extra lenses plus one on the camera, a flash (small flashes like the SB-600) and a place for extra accessories and small books like the manual. Oh, it also accommodates a tripod. I could probably squeeze another two lenses in there depending on the size.
It has no top compartment like my Fastpack 100. Instead, there is a zipper pocket type thing on the side that is smaller but has a similar layout. Also, SD cards are in that zipper pocket thing instead of the camera area. I like the flash slot. I don’t need to carry the flash’s case anymore. Can’t really use it until I get my SB-600 back though.
Flipside 300 by David Chu on Zooomr
Flipside 300 Front by David Chu on Zooomr
Flipside 300 Back by David Chu on Zooomr
Lensbaby
I Can Ride My Bike With One Handlebar, One Handlebar by David Chu on Zooomr
Today I got a package. I thought it was the new camera bag. Nope. It was a smaller package. From Japan. I thought for a second and then I realized it was from Fried Toast on Flickr. I opened the box, excited to find out what he sent me (although later I noticed the label on the side of the package saying what it contained).
The first thing I saw was the “Bend it baby!” text on top of the Lensbaby’s box. I took that out and then under that I saw a whole bunch of Kit Kats in weird flavors… including salt. I laughed, because he actually sent them. I asked him a couple of weeks ago if he could send me the Salt flavored Kit Kats as a joke. A few months ago, he got his Lensbaby Composer and I asked if I could borrow his Lensbaby 2.0. I was definitely not expecting this lens, though.
After using the lens for a while, it became a lot easier to focus, although still quite difficult. Especially for farther subjects. Around sunset, I went into the forest and took a couple of pictures. It’s a very fun lens to play with and it’s quite fast (f/2… :-)) Earlier shots from today are at the bottom of the post.
Oh Lensbaby by David Chu on Zooomr
Salt Flavored Kit Kats by David Chu on Zooomr
Branches Before Sunset by David Chu on Zooomr
The Tree Between the Other Two Trees by David Chu on Zooomr
Possum in the Forest by David Chu on Zooomr
A Monday Afternoon of Shooting
James Meliota BMX by David Chu on Zooomr
Today was a great day. Other than the fact that I didn’t get to do one of the two lab reports started that is due Wednesday. Tomorrow will be fun.. all work no fun :-). After school I had an orthodontist appointment to get my braces fixed (a part fell off). Once I got home, I called my friend Christian and told him to meet me at the Metro Pulse. Once I finished that call, I called Sam. He was practicing parallel parking for his test tomorrow (good luck!). He said he would come at 4PM. It was about 3:20. So I told him that I’ll be there waiting at 4 and then went on my way to the bus stop. That takes about ten minutes.
While walking to the bus stop, I saw two buses go by. My bus finally came at 4. Sam was already there when I got there and Christian was waiting for quite a while. Anyway, after that we went to go to fotoshops only to discover that it is closed on Mondays. I forgot. So we went into CVS to buy some film. Once we got some film, I loaded the F100 with it and let Christian use it for a while. We walked around as usual. The shot above is my favorite from the day. We saw him riding around and asked him if we could take some pictures. He told me what he was going to do and where he was going to land and I got into position low to the ground. It took about two tries but I got the above shot. The first time I had the camera pointed too low and cut off his whole body, haha.
Jacob’s Chucks by David Chu on Zooomr
Christian Lulz by David Chu on Zooomr
I must print this for Christian. Print it big. And then frame it.
Waiting for the Ferry by David Chu on Zooomr
I meant to take a picture of the dog that is in the bottom right corner (doubt you could see it) but I ended up with this instead. Woo!
Custom House Stairs by David Chu on Zooomr
I like shooting this building. It’s quite fun to shoot, especially with the 10-20mm.
Shooting Skate Spots by David Chu on Zooomr
Sam’s Shoot and Run by David Chu on Zooomr
Hahaha, check out his face. I was taking a picture when he ran by, jumped, pointed his camera in my general direction and took a picture. I took a picture as well. Bigger so you can see his AWESOME facial expression: http://static.zooomr.com/images/7345254_578e4c9891_b.jpg
Checking the Kicks by David Chu on Zooomr
I saw Christian lean on the sign with another person between him and the sign. I took a few shots, waited for Sam to finish talking to the guy and then we went on our way.
New Shoes
Converse Chuck Taylor by David Chu on Zooomr
’cause my old shoes were torn up and needed replacing.
Cascade Falls and the Saco Heath
Rock Shards at Cascade Falls by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: This is one of my favorite photos from this meet up. What surprised me is the small amount of processing I had to do. It was just a tiny contrast tweak.
Today, I went to a flickr meet in Saco. Hint of Plum, Catherine, from Flickr took me there. (Thanks!) She came a bit earlier than I expected so I was still partly packing. Anyway, when we got to the meeting point (just outside of Cascade Falls), we had to wait for a couple of people. Once everyone was here, we started on our way through the trail to the waterfall. We shot there for a while and then we left and went to the Saco Heath by car. The heath was a longer walk, mostly on boardwalks. I accidentally stepped into the water once or twice.
We all eventually got separated (well, mostly. Some stayed in pairs). I was with Chris Stern. Right around the looping point, I asked Chris if I could use his Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro. It was an amazing lens. My shot to keeper ratio with that lens was far greater than with the Sigma 10-20mm. Because it was so bright out, I couldn’t get a good exposure for the whole frame with the 10-20mm. The 105mm made it a lot easier because I didn’t need an somewhat even exposure across 109 degrees.
Flickr Meet Up Flag by David Chu on Zooomr
Waiting by the Cars by David Chu on Zooomr
Mutated Branch by David Chu on Zooomr
Kevin at Cascade Falls by David Chu on Zooomr
Breaking the Rules at the Saco Heath by David Chu on Zooomr
Boardwalk Turn by David Chu on Zooomr
Red and Green Boardwalk by David Chu on Zooomr
Saco Heath by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: My foot dipped into the water shortly after this.
Fungus Problem by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: 105mm Macro. It seems to be a but soft (could be front focusing) at f/2.8 but I wasn’t expecting miracles wide open.
Chris Shooting by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: 105mm Macro. Chris wanted a couple of portraits of him so I took some pictures with his 105mm. More photos below.
Chris Close Up by David Chu on Zooomr
Chris Stern by David Chu on Zooomr
Budding by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: 105mm Macro. I had to manually focus this shot because the AF wouldn’t lock.
Lost in the Heath by David Chu on Zooomr
Above: There were two trails and we didn’t know which way the others went. So we had to call one of the people ahead.
