Moving!!

Howday!! I'm moving to a new blog!

Please follow me at JohnCudal.net to keep in touch and read about tips, behind the scenes, and what other crazy i can put on there :)

Foolprame does Video too?

Yep, It's been a while, but I have done videos for the fun of it... I'm still figuring out how far I'd like to take it but I suppose that it is good advantage to have over my competition.

I'm literally one of the very first owners of the D90 in southern california. So technically I've had access to HDSLR's  alot longer than most people. I have no excuse in NOT trying it out.

Please View this on as big as screen as you can. (pc or mac hooked up to HDTV if possible)
carwash from john lawrence on Vimeo.

*this was something I put together in less than 15 minutes and edited in an hour.  Do let me know what you think.

There were no stills as it was a self project. I used the Nikon D90 with 50mm 1.8 AF, on a cheap tripod.  Manual Override techniques were used to achieve control over exposure. (there is no manual exposure control on the d90, so you just have to override the automatic settings.) The clips were edited in Pinnacle and music was added in the same software.

What happens when?? tips for safe shooting.

Not becoming a victim

So you've got thousands of dollars worth of gear in your bag and you've a shoot in a shifty place.

what now??

There are numerous ways of shooting safer.

Depending on what you prefer, as usual. (hopefully you've learned so far that doing what works for you is the best way ever.)

I, myself, like to shoot in numbers. I will rarely ever shoot by myself. Not only is it more fun to shoot with a group but there's always safety in numbers.

I, myself, try not to look like a victim. In a sense, I try not to look lost. I get to a location early and learn the layout of your surroundings. Scout it out first. That way you won't have to ask around for directions.

Watch your back. There's no substitute for situational awareness. As a photographer, you should know your surroundings. Lest you want a football to fly into your family jewels as you peer into the viewfinder.

Don't make yourself a target. Don't look vulnerable. There's a knife in my pocket(sometimes), it's visible next to the guy without one- I'm a harder target.

Conceal your equipment. Use camera bags that don't look like camera bags.

Insure your equipment. For the cost of a movie date per month, you can ensure your gear. In case you something does happen, you won't be inclined to resist. Reduce your worrying.

Marking your images...

I don't see alot of people watermarking images nowadays. I didn't use to, but I do now.

You never know what someone's gonna do with your photos. Don't submit your photos to someplace where you know where they're gonna have a large number of viewers with some sort of obvious representation.

If your work is displayed next two different photographers' photos and their is printed largely name is on both the work- but your's is on their on a small scale= do you think people will bother to check if it's yours?

Watermark your work. It's about your self worth.

If they really gotta have it, have them purchase the file or the print. For web use- make sure it's obvious that it's yours.

watermarks should be clean and should be placed where they would attract some attention.

Changing my photography. Primes only.

Why primes?


Primes, for the most part will be sharper than any zoom lens out there.

They allow for a wider aperture than most zooms.

But they don't zoom!

At this point, I've done some events, several portrait sessions, and product sessions- and I've come out with great results for the most part.

I like walking back and forth and around the scene. It allows me to fully delve into my creative aspect by focusing on what I can get in frame.

Every prime I've got gets an equal amount of use, except for the 85mm. Since I've added it to my bag, it hasn't been left at home.

the 1.4 aperture and the 85mm focal range is a great choice for almost everything. the only thing I wished it could do was macros.

In this particular photo, I used the 105mm macro. Not the widest aperture, but it's an insanely sharp lens.

It should be remembered that just because primes are at a fixed focal range, it doesn't mean we can't capture wide shots with telephotos. This was with the 85mm, but I shot wide and showed more of the background.


This was with the 35mm. It's a wider lens, but still allowed for a thin depth of field.

Point is. Don't discount prime lenses. They're super sharp and can be pretty versatile when in the right mindset.

UPDATESS!!!(Mac Mini 2010 review included!!)

Sorry Readers!

I've been super busy catching up on my backlog as well as starting some new projects here and there.

Also, the Foolprame is now equipped with a mac! HOORAY!

The necessity to have to reformat my hard drives kept me from switching over for a while, but I found that I don't have to thanks to some fantastic mac friendly software that will allow me to use NTFS format drives.

this saves me alot of time in reacquainting myself with the new system,

but...onto the actual unit.

I already had a good monitor so I picked up a 2010 mac mini. (not the largest investment,)in case I don't this operating system.

The mini had been out for a while and for a few years, the only system they had that had not been revamped.
This year they introduced the Mac Mini 2010- faster, smaller, and more efficient.

My mini came with 2.4ghz of blah and 4gb of blah upgradeable to 8gb of blah blah blah...

so far so good. it's quick with Lightroom, quick with photoshop and is wonderful at multitasking.

The addition of wireless accessories allows me to save USB ports for useful gadgets like my card readers, hard drives, monitor calibrator, and printer.

The mac wireless keyboard- super tiny. I'm used to having a full sized keyboard with a right side number pad. But I'm getting used to it pretty quickly.

The magic mouse (this thing really sold me to Apple.) It makes things soooo simple. No middle click- but I don't miss it.



Final Verdict(s):

Mac Mini-
Pros-
- Artistic Design
- great fit for small workspaces
- efficient- easy ram upgrade (it's as easy as changing a card on your camera)
- Mac OSX runs super smooth.
- Fewer viruses on Apple's side.
- hdmi port

Cons-
- the least expensive computer Apple offers, yet is still expensive.
- ships with a hdmi to mini display adapter. I think we should be able to get a choice.
- requires extra programs to use NTFS formatted hard drives.'

Thanks for reading!

Loving it... rain in california

So what happens when you take a photographer, bury him in photos to edit, put him in college classes, and then you throw in some rain....

wet photos... lol.

Now Back inside:

Enjoying a cold Raging Bull (espresso+red bull from My Coffee Studio in Cerritos)