April 24, 2007

Lantern Bearing

Lantern Bearing

• HTML gallery
  
• Interactive slideshow (flash)
  

In the eleven years I've worked at SBC, I've never witnessed a Lantern Bearing but have always been fascinated with the concept. From a photography standpoint, I've always had a weakness for low-light shots involving flames or other interesting lighting (Williamsburg Blacksmith - Paris, France - Canal du Briare, France). Lantern Bearing didn't disappoint in this regard...

Low-light photography is challenging enough. It gets even more challenging, though, when need to assemble six-shot, 360-degree panoramas involving people. Fortunately, the juniors here were wonderfully willing to oblige and patiently put up with my odd request to stand very still while I walk in a circle pressing a button on the end of cord. :)

Links to 48 images from last night can be found in the drop-down box above. I think the slideshow works especially well for this. Click on the images below to see two 360-degree panoramas from last night. You will need Quicktime to view these (Mac users are set already and Windows users who have installed iTunes should already have what they need as well).

For those not familiar with VR Panoramas, just hold down your mouse button on the image once it appears and drag around. Be sure to look up and down as well.

Enjoy!
- Aaron

January 6, 2007

A startling place to see my work...

In 2004, I did a lot of photography for the Democratic Party of Virginia related to the election. One of the highlights for me was being the state party's photographer at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Among the 12,000 photos I took that week were a few of Vice Presidential candidate and Senator John Edwards, in particular this one, this one, and this one.

A few weeks after returning from Boston, I again photographed Sen. Edwards for the party at one of his stops in Roanoke, Va.

The configuration wasn't as conducive for getting good shots that day, but I had an opportunity to meet Senator Edwards backstage after the rally. I came prepared with a set of 13"x19" prints of the three photos I mentioned above in hopes that I might give him copies and get a personal set autographed as a keepsake.

His staff gathered around me in the hallway looking at those and other shots I had from Boston and I had a nice chance to talk with his personal campaign photographer. One of Senator Edwards' aids held onto his copies of the prints for him and I took home the copies he had personalized for me ("To Aaron - Sen. John Edwards") in silver ink.

I always wondered whether the prints I had given him ever made it to his home or office through all of the chaos of a national campaign. The other night, though, I got a call from my parents that answered the question in a most unexpected way.

Mom and Dad are fans of CBS Sunday Morning stemming back to the Charles Kuralt days and they record it on their Tivo since they are usually too busy during the live broadcast to watch it. They called me on the phone to say that they had just seen my photos on national TV. They were matted, framed and hanging on Sen. Edwards' walls in his home and were clearly visible in the CBS interview. In fact, the cameraman used one of them as the focal point for a dissolving transition.

Needless to say, I am both pleased and flattered to have confirmation that the twins of the autographed photos I matted and framed for my walls are also hanging on his. :)

The full interview can be viewed online here at the CBS website. I also have the specific excerpt here (Mac users need the free Flip4Mac Quicktime plug-in).

October 22, 2006

New VR Panos and Related News

Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software dropped me a note just a bit ago saying that he'd just finished making the first Universal Binary of his PangeaVR plug-in. I've been eagerly awaiting this since I've not been able to use it effectively on my Intel-based MacBook Pro.

PangeaVR is a panoramic VR viewer for QTVR files, but it utilizes OpenGL and the GPU in your graphics hardware to make the movement liquid-smooth compared to the native performance of QuickTime Player. Like I said, it's free and it's a quick and painless install for both PowerPC or Intel-based Macs, so go download it here.

The timing is also good because I've just completed two new VRs recently:

View with QuickTime or Fullscreen PangeaVR

I took this in our yard yesterday to capture the fall colors. Be sure to look straight up through the canopy in front of my favorite, five-trunked tree.

View with QuickTime or Fullscreen PangeaVR

This was the tent for Sweet Briar's huge celebration gala during this year's Homecoming weekend. A gallery of photos I took during the weekend festivities can be found here.

More VR's to come...

February 1, 2006

Photo Slideshow: Inauguration of Gov. Tim Kaine

I don't usually mix the photos between halfpress and my other blog, Documenting Democracy, but I've been experimenting with a fantastic new flash-based slideshow tool and decided to use my most recent set of photos from DocDem for the initial test.

First off, those of you with Flash plug-ins installed will notice that the random image box in the top right of the screen (next to the banner) is far more complex now (those without will see no difference). It replaces the original Python application I wrote last year to place a random photo from my galleries on the page with each reload and provide a pop-up tooltip caption and photo specifications. I've replicated all of that functionality with this new tool while adding automated dissolves. You can manually control the show, too, by fiddling with the various buttons along the bottom. Clicking on any of the images will take you to the appropriate normal gallery while just hovering over it with the mouse will give you the caption.

I want to begin offering all of my photos with my traditional HTML galleries and, possibly, these new slideshows. To kick off the process (and to give me a vehicle for experimentation), I've put together my three galleries from the inauguration of Gov. Tim Kaine in a slideshow.

Open the Slideshow (three galleries)

I've created a legend for the buttons in the bottom of the slideshow window. It will play sequentially through all three galleries. You can skip to another gallery by hitting the gallery icon on the left and move around through the photos with the +/- buttons and the individual photo numbers. Previews of the other photos will appear if you hover over the numbers.

You can read all the background stories on these photos and reach the regular galleries by visiting Documenting Democracy, specificially the articles for Friday, the Ceremony, and the Richmond Ball.

I'll be doing a lot more with the slideshow application in the coming days and will post more geeky, behind-the-scenes technical information once I have time to write it. :) In the meantime, enjoy the photos!

- Aaron

January 14, 2006

Inauguration in Williamsburg

Just a quick note (before I collapse in bed) that I've posted my first batch of photos from my trip to cover Tim Kaine's inauguration for the Democratic Party of Virginia. You can find them at my other blog, Documenting Democracy.

Enjoy!
- Aaron

December 31, 2005

Equipment Update & Informal Reviews

Life has been pretty busy and I've not been doing as much creative photography of late... at least nothing worth sharing on the blog. I'd intended to reverse that trend during the last 10 days or so of vacation over the holidays. Such is life. I've certainly not been bored and the holiday has been a pleasant and relaxing one for the most part. I've got a few days left. :)

I did, however, realize I was more than a bit behind with updating my Equipment, Software & Tools List where I try to keep a running inventory of my bits of gear. I'll write about a few of the items and my experiences here for anyone interested.

Click the "continue" link for the full barrage discussing backpacks, bags, a boom, DIY stands and cases and some words about high speed wireless networking the open source way... :)

Continue reading "Equipment Update & Informal Reviews"

August 22, 2005

Canon Announces EOS 5D and "fills the gap"

The rumors have been swirling for quite some time and they appear to have been mostly correct.

Canon officially announced the EOS 5D today to fill the approximately $5500 gap between their 20D and the 1DS Mark II. The 20D is an incredibly capable camera that lacks only a few of the highest end features, but the price difference in the existing models has really separated the high end pros from the "prosumers" and other professionals not wanting to drop over $7,000 on a single camera body.

The 5D comes in around $3300 retail (over twice the cost of a 20D) but picks up the key features people have wanted: it's full frame, has a true spot meter and a larger LCD screen (2.5" vs. 1.8"). This means no more 1.6x crop factor and EF-S lenses, but it also means your lenses better be of the highest quality or you're going to be suffering from more cases of chromatic abberation, softness and distortion. Frankly, I'd take those risks for a full frame SLR, but I'm most definitely not in the ~$3000 price range right now for an SLR (especially having only bought the 20D four months ago). :)

Full details of the new camera can be seen here at DP Review.

Canon also announced the EOS-1D Mark II N (not the successor to the highest S model), two new lenses (24-105mm F4.0L and 70-300 F4.0 IS), the Speedlite 430EX and four new point-and-shoot digital cameras.

I'd say these are all additions to the existing line-up rather than replacements for any existing model (except for the 1D Mark II N replacing the former 1D Mark II). The new 5D definitely represents a nice middle point in the product line between 20D and the highest end 1Ds Mark II, so I'm eager to hear the first hands-on reviews. Arguably, the 1D Mark II N is the true middle point from an overall feature and form-factor standpoint, but the 12 megapixels of the 5D vs the 8 megapixels of the N will make that a hot topic for debate.

I imagine the forums today are going to be insane and mostly intolerable. :)