Fall Class Schedule

I'm settling in here at Henderson State after the first week of settling has settled. I thought I'd post my class schedule, just because of how proud of it I am. My dad takes great pride in arranging a KILLER schedule, with comfortable lunches and balanced daily schedules. thanks Dad!

I would do it myself, but he gets so much joy out of it, he can have it!

I never go to class before 9am.
I'm out by 2:45pm.
I have three classes every day.
I love it.

(you can click that to make it readable)

Micro Economics
Sociology
Honors Psychology
Civilization to 1660
Non-Western Music Culture
State & Local Government

Fantastic! I'm not much of a bookworm by any standards, but I can definitely live with a schedule like this. -Cameron

OSX 10.6: Snow Leopard

Apple released a new operating system Friday, titled Snow Leopard. I'm not sure what the significance of the name is, but I have an idea.

Old Testament Style:
Before Snow Leopard was Leopard
Before Leopard was Tiger
Before Tiger was Panther

From Panther to Tiger and Tiger to Leopard were major changes. However, from Leopard to Snow Leopard was very minor. This may be why the name is so similar. The improvements definitely happened "under the hood" instead of on the screen.

One thing is definitely noticeable. My MacBook is running very snappy. Everything snaps. I love it. I can sit down and launch Safari, Mail and iCal and have them instantly. Before, it would take a good 5-6secs to startup. The improvements might not be noticeable on the screen, but the performance under the hood is definitely not invisible.

Snow Leopard runs at $29 for a single copy, or $49 for five. Since the improvements are not flashy dramatic features, some people may not be rushing out to upgrade. However, if you have a lot of macs nearby the family pack is definitely a huge deal considering you're bringing five computers up-to-date for less than $10 each.

YouTube YoYo: Badger Commercials

After an exciting busy past few days, I have successfully stockpiled material for this blog. Sadly the keyword is stockpiled, and it'll have to wait just one more day.

In the mean time, enjoy this ridiculousness.

video compliments of my father. thanks Dad!

Canon Faceoff: T1i - 50D - 5D

Looking at the market, I see three main Canon contenders right now. I'm not trying to forget Nikon with their D700 and D3 monsters, but I'm a Canon shooter with a bag full of Canon glass, so today will be Canon-specific.

These cameras have a lot to talk about, but to keep this relatively manageable lets look at the key features of the three bodies.

Canon T1i - $725

Canon 50D - $1130

Canon 5D - $2700

ISO Range:
For the non-photographing readers (those that are still here) the term "ISO" is referring to the camera's "sensitivity" to light. For instance, a car uses 4-5 gears to keep the RPM's in a happy 2000 range. A camera uses 4-5 ISO "gears" to keep the exposure at a happy amount.

Canon T1i - 100-3200
Canon 50D - 100-3200
Canon 5D - 100-6400

The 5D gets the extra 6400, but without lining up the three bodies for a test I'm not sure how trustworthy these ranges are. For instance, my Canon XTi doesn't look too great past ISO800, but my friend Mike's Nikon looks just as good at ISO6400. It's hard to tell.

---------------

Full Frame
Another small side note is that the 5D is a "full-frame" camera which means it utilizes the full capacity of the lens. Both the T1i and the 50D use a 1.6x crop on the lens. This can be nice though, because it makes a 200mm really a "320mm".

---------------

Frames-Per-Second
Everything is not a straight "price=better" formula. The 5D is packed with features that only come with the double price-tag jump from the 50D, but lacks a fast Burst FPS. Some sports shooters are holding on to their 50D's for this speed.

Canon T1i - 3.4fps
Canon 50D - 6.3fps
Canon 5D - 3.9fps

---------------

Megapixels
My XTi gets 10.1 megapixels, which is pretty dang big. However, the more megapixels, obviously the higher quality the image, the larger it can get, and the more crop room you've got.

Canon T1i - 15.1mp
Canon 50D - 15.1mp
Canon 5D - 21.1mp

---------------

Video
Finally, two of these DSLR's are capable of shooting video. This is one reason I keep my SD750 point-and-shoot in my back pocket. Whether I have my iPhone 3G or my XTi, I have no way of recording video. Just in case, I always keep the SD750 around for video. I use it much more than I expected to, and it would be nice to have that feature inside my DSLR to eliminate an item.

Canon T1i - 720-30fps 1080-20fps
Canon 50D - _____________
Canon 5D - 1080-30fps

---------------

Looking at specs like that should help clear up the choices. Any images you see from me after December 1, 2009 will not be shot with a Canon XTi. What they WILL be shot with is still out for debate.

For full reviews on these cameras please visit:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1.HTM?view=Canon_reviews

Shooting with One Light

I'm not much of an ambient photographer. I like to use light to shape and control my images. Typically, I like to use a simple, one-flash setup, with the light off-camera fired wirelessly. However, in some instances times are too quick to be messing with a light stand and wireless lighting.

For instance, I was shooting a wedding the other day, and was getting some images of the girls getting ready. They were in a large open room with a low ceiling and ambient light streaming through the windows. I COULD have gone with the ambient available light, but I chose to light the photos with my one flash, from the camera.

Typically, on-camera flash looks about like this:

Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily good. On-camera flash's job is to let you get a picture, even if it has to be a bit gross. If I could have used my light-on-a-stand wireless method the images could have looked more like a studio shot:

But I needed a compromise. Something that was quick, repeatable, changeable and QUICK. Things were happening in different parts of the room, with different angles, different ceiling heights, different window placement, it was tricky. I needed to be on my toes to pull a great looking once-in-a-lifetime image of the Bride and her gals getting ready.

Here's the solution I chose.

It was able to perform pretty dang well if you ask me. Here's one photo just as an example. To emphasize the point a bit I'd like to note that this is not Photoshopped.

It is not post-processed at all. This image is straight out of the camera, and while that doesn't mean it's ready to print, it is impressive to get this kind of result from this fast of a run-and-gun method.

One more quick note. That "studio shot" example above wasn't a studio shot. It was with this method, about 10ft to the left in the same room.