I posted recently about “The Best Camera“, a project created by Chase Jarvis. It’s all about using your phone to take great pics, and that the best camera is the one that’s with you at any given time. Using a phone, it makes the shot more about you personal style and composition than the equipment used, which promotes true creativity. I have been participating, but haven’t posted any of the pics here, so I thought I would share a few.
The phone that I use for the project is an HTG G1 w/ Android, and as it was developed in part by Google, it is known as the “Google Phone”. I could go on for hours about it’s abilities, but I won’t, this is about the camera only. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera, which sports a mechanical auto-focus (wow), and will close focus for semi/faux-macro type shots. Considering it’s home inside a phone, that’s pretty impressive. The rest is up to me though; composition, etc…
Here are 3 shots I have taken with this phone. I hope you like them…
This first one is my favorite, and I took it yesterday. It’s a shot of my Canon 40D + Pentax Super Takumar 50/1.4. I stopped the aperture all the way down to about F/16 so that the blades could be the focal point. This might be my favorite picture ever with this phone, and there have been thousands since I bought it, so that is saying a lot. lol
This is a pic I took a while back of our dog, Roxy. I uploaded it to “The Best Camera”, and of all my phone shots, this seems to be the favorite among the members there (not in a competitive way). I won’t mention how many votes it has, but it does have over 310 views in the last week or two.
And lastly, why not post a recent shot of myself. I took this about an hour after getting a hair cut, which I wasn’t sure I liked at the time, and applied a filter to it. I like the way it came out, and it’s one of the few pictures of myself that I will share…
So, I came walking one of HEB Friday evening, and I saw the most crazy thing. The sky was black with an almost solid blanket of birds. Seriously, it was crazy. I wanted to take a quick video with my phone, but my hands were full with bags. Once I got them in the car, I managed a few clips and pics. Two downsides: First, it never got back to even CLOSE to what it was like when I walked out, which was nothing short of super creepy. Second, the vids are with my phone, and it was getting dark, so they suck. I REALLY need to invest in a Flip Video when I can!
I threw the clips together with a little music, and they were taken with my Android G1. The still pics are just a few quick snaps with the 40D and 85/1.8. I know they aren’t all that, but I thought I would share anyway, kind of on a “hey, this was cool” level, rather than sound photography… lol
I want to tell everyone about this project that Chase Jarvis has put together. First, let me say, I am a huge fan of Chase and his work. One thing that really sets him apart from the pack, is the effort he puts into the photography community. He has put countless hours into giving siminars, making behind the scene’s video’s for us to see how he does his magic, and biggest of all (in my humble opinion), he has worked VERY hard to inspire both amatuer AND professional photographers to get out there and shoot. That is the most important thing we can all do, because if we don’t, where will all the great images of the world around us come from? No one can see this planet the same way *you* do, so without your shooting/sharing, we are all missing out…
As part of his philosophy, and effort to inspire, he has created a LARGE community of photographers, dubbed The Best Camera. Chase has based this whole project around the concept, “The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You“. This is to say, what ever you have with you that will capture an image, is the best thing you can use, and you should make the best pictures you can with it. Stop focusing on the gear you wish you had, and use what’s right in front of you. Personally, I think this is an awesome concept, and really embodies the whole reason we (most of us) got into photography in the first place. Who cares what you shoot with, as long as the images tell the story you intended them too.
This community is based around an iPhone app, but is not limited to it. The app will let you shoot photo’s using the built in camera, edit them with multiple filters/options, then upload them to The Best Camera website for sharing. It will also let you upload to Twitter, Facebook, and email to any address you like, all at the same time as uploading to the site. There is even a community function built in, where you can view and vote for other people’s photos. The app is very, very thorough. Now, while the app is for the iPhone and iTouch, you can take the pics with any phone. For instance, I have an iTouch, which does not have a camera built in. How do I participate? I use my phone to take pics (a G1 w/ Android), email them to my ipod, edit (if needed) and upload. It’s well worth the tiny amount of extra effort.
I suggest that everyone go check out the website, the app, and all the possibilities!
Just a few shots from last night (and sunrise this morning) with this lens. Nothing big, as I am still getting used to this manual focus, but I liked them…
Pentax Asahi Super-Takumar 50/1.4 on my Canon 40D…
I would like to welcome myself to the “Old School All Manual” club. Yes, thank you, thank you…
We all know that the hardest method is usually the most fun method, and that goes for photography too! I have been wanting an old, fully manual lens for a while now, and I finally have it. I have worked my way into a 60’s Pentax Asahi Super-Takumar 50/1.4 with an EOS adapter. It mounts to my 40D just fine, and as is preferred, everything is completely manual (aperture, focus, exposure, etc). This is not only complex settings wise, but it is NOT easy to nail focus manually @ F/1.4. The focused area is so shallow wide open, it’s hit or miss and extremely hard to do, which makes it so much more fun. I. Am. In. Love…. So, on to the lens…
Pentax Asahi Super-Takumar 50/1.4 (pics taken w/ the 40D and 85/1.8)
And here are 2 quick shots with the new lens at my desk at work. The first is wide open @ F/1.4, and the second is stopped down a little to F/2.8 (if I remember correctly).
And just for fun, this is what it looks like mounted on the gripped 40D (taken w/ my phone). It’s so little!
*edit*
I couldn’t help but play with the lens some more. Here are two more, both wide open @ F/1.4. The desaturation was done on purpose (mainly on #2), kind of for a B&W w/ a splash of color feel. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with the performance wide open, especially for a lens made in the 60’s! Anyway, here ya go…
So, a good friend of mine let me borrow his hot lights this weekend. This was my first time using constant lights, as I am used to flash and natural ambient lighting. These proved to be both challenging, and a lot of fun. At something like 1000 watts between the 2 lights, they get extremely hot, so there is no safe/accessible way for soften them. A sheet would work, in theory, but I chose to work in a tight space for these, so there wasn’t any room to hang a sheet, and still give space so it wouldn’t burn. Because of this, these shots are with very harsh, unobstructed light. Considering my lack of experience with these lights, and the way I had to use them, *I* am happy with the results… These were lots of fun, and I can’t wait to use them again!
On to the pics. These are all with a single constant light camera back-right, and shot with a combo of the Canon 40D and Canon 85/1.8, manual settings……
(And yes, I realize that I have a horrible knack for catching my daughter in pics either right after she eats and has food on her mouth, or when she has been messing with her hair and made it all crazy! lol)
And here is a photo that I took the same night, but using on-camera flash rather than the hot lights. This was just a quick snap of my beautiful wife, which shows off the incredible Bokeh that this Canon 85/1.8 produces…
And, one last pic from Saturday night. My lovely wife, and our amazing daughter (our son was running around being a goofball… lol)…
I, of course, am all excited about the 40D, and as such, I am looking for any possible opportunity to use it. Well, there was a nice sunrise on the way to work this morning, so I decided to take a minute or so to try and capture it with the new body. I didn’t have long since I already left late for work, but I did what I could… Here it is…
So yes, I did it again, and made another trade. Last night I said bye-bye to my faithful 30D & Siggy lens, and picked up a Canon 40D. No money exchanged, straight trade, as usual. This morning when I left for work, I decided to bust it out of the Crumpler (7MDH) for a few minutes.
These were taken about 6:40′ish this morning, all with the new body. I am not all that happy with them, but I thought I’d post anyway since they are the first few shots with it.
Stats: Canon 40D (gripped) – Canon 85/1.8 – Varying Exp. Times – ISO 800 – Natural Morning Light
Here are two shots from tonight that I would like to share.
This was taken on the back-roads of Elgin TX, across a field. Canon 30D + 85/1.8 – 1/500 – F/2.8
And this is a shot of my daughter. Lighting was done with a small halloween toy. Also, I did a bit of strategic desaturation… This is rapidly becoming part of my PP’ing style (in select situations)…
Canon 30D w/ Siggy 24/1.8 – 1/50 – F2.2 – ‘natural’ light…
