Guacamole

How to Open Wine Without a Corkscrew

2009-11-08T15:37:00.001-08:00

Sent to you by Andrea via Google Reader:

How to Open Wine Without a Corkscrew

via Guacamole by Evaristo on 11/8/09

Sent to you by Évaro via Google Reader:

How to Open Wine Without a Corkscrew

This how-to video is very helpful, but in proper society, one never opens a bottle of red wine with any shoe less formal than a wingtip.

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How to Open Wine Without a Corkscrew

2009-11-08T10:18:00.001-08:00

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How to Open Wine Without a Corkscrew

via BREAK.com - on 11/3/09

This how-to video is very helpful, but in proper society, one never opens a bottle of red wine with any shoe less formal than a wingtip.

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Don’t Worry, They’re Only Canadians

2009-11-05T07:20:00.001-08:00

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Don’t Worry, They’re Only Canadians

via Top Cultured by Dutch Mechanic on 11/3/09

It's normal to be afraid of something you don't understand. For example, math, Tyler Perry, or whether or not girls actually fart are all quite scary things. However, I'm sure with a little research you'll find that whatever was scaring you is really just Canadians with flashlights…

source: unknown

Also, if you're living in the U.S. you may be wondering who those neighbors to the North are, with all their free health insurance and milk in bags… well, you're in luck, there's a sign for that:

source: swapmeetdave.com

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Invisible Rope 2

2009-10-31T11:07:00.001-07:00

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Invisible Rope 2

via YouTube on 10/15/09

Invisible Rope 2 The Original, I know ive seen a lot of people posting it on other websites. I am in the video. Its OG. :P Song: Mungo Jerry- Summertime

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I fucking love this stick!!!

2009-10-31T10:30:00.001-07:00

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http://i.imgur.com/EMKdt.jpg

via imgur.com on 10/29/09

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chuck & beans

2009-10-31T08:18:00.001-07:00

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chuck & beans

via Shoebox by Dick on 10/9/09

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I Swear I'm Not Making This Up

2009-10-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

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I Swear I'm Not Making This Up

via Complications Ensue: The Crafty TV and Screenwriting Blog on 10/13/09

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Excerpts from a Diary

2009-10-29T12:34:00.001-07:00

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An email forward from my sister: ******* Excerpts from a

by Jenna on 10/28/09

An email forward from my sister:

*******
Excerpts from a Dog's Diary ....
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary ....

Day 983 of my captivity ...

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies'. I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move... My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.. For now ...

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BIG EYES

2009-10-20T09:57:00.001-07:00

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BIG EYES

via Optometría by on 10/18/09

http://www.rssmeme.com/story/13865485/big-eyes Shared one time. Tagged eyes (126) .

Author: seerw
Posted on: 2009-10-14 23:46:48

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Taser Backfire: Man Gets Zapped By Police, Uses His New Found Powers To Run ...

2009-09-21T20:02:00.001-07:00

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Taser Backfire: Man Gets Zapped By Police, Uses His New Found Powers To Run Away

via Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome on 9/21/09

This is a video of some crazy bastard talking nonsense to the police and eventually getting tasered. But, unlike most poor suckers who get zapped, this character uses his new electric power to yell a magical chant, get up, and run for freedom. It works too! Feel free to skip to 2:45 if you just want to see the getaway, but I watched the whole thing because people who ramble nonsense make me feel better about myself. Like anonymously flaming you guys in the comments, but not AS good. Youtube Thanks to Jay and Quark, who have both been tased while reciting the alphabet backwards as part of field sobriety tests AND PASSED. Hardcore!

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Making a Beautiful Pair of Fantasy Eyes

2009-09-01T15:18:00.001-07:00

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Making a Beautiful Pair of Fantasy Eyes

via Optometría by Johnson Koh on 8/30/09

http://www.rssmeme.com/story/13038352/making-a-beautiful-pair-of-fantasy-eyes Shared one time. Tagged abstract (14) digital (332) eyes (58) fairy (2) fantasy (195) Photoshop (1290) .

I think some of you may have seen the artworks on Fantasy Eyes theme on deviantART, Behance or other design portals. There is also a huge collection of Eyes Fan Club here. Today we shall explore the basics on how we can create such effects in Photoshop.

Image sources from FanPop

Preview of Final Image

We will need a pair of eyes for this tutorial. I have found a beautiful pair from Maria Gao here. Download the image and open up in Photoshop.

Let us start off with glowing the eyes. Make selections around the 2 black eyes with the Elliptical Marquee tool. Go to Select > Modify > Feather. Set the Radius to 20px.

Press Ctrl+C (to copy) and Ctrl+V (to paste). You will get a new layer with just the selected area. Rename this new layer as "Eyes Glow". Set the Blend Mode of this layer to Screen. Then duplicate the "Eyes Glow" layer for another 3 times and you will get something similar to mine below.

Create a Curves Adjustment Layer. Go to the Green and Blue channels and set the curves to the ones below.

Create a Levels Adjustment Layer and set the values to 20, 0.84, 255.

Create a new layer and name it as "Face Color". Set the foreground color to #45ADCA. Using the Soft Rounded Brush with size 200px, paint the face below both eyes. Set the Blend Mode of this layer to Soft Light when you are done.

Open up the Brush panel and key in the settings as shown below.

Create a new layer and name it as "Glitter". Using the Brush tool with size 3px and color #FFFFFF, brush around the bluish area to add the glittering effect. Right-click on the "Glitter" layer and go to Blending Options. Choose Outer Glow with its default settings.

Repeat the earlier step for the border around the big pair of eyes.

This step is really random. You can start designing how you want to add some patterns to the face. For mine, I downloaded the Swirl Curls from CreateSk8. Place the floral patterns around the eyes area.

Merge all the pattern together in a single area. Go to Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation. Make the Lightness to -100. This will turn the pattern in to black. Set the Blend Mode of this layer to Soft Light. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 2px.

Create an Exposure Adjustment Layer and key in the settings below.

Create a Levels Adjustment Layer and set the values to 15, 1, 255.

And there you have it! This is a pretty simple one and I am sure you will do it better than mine with some more tries. Thanks for reading.

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35 Examples Of Stunning Macro Photography

2009-06-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

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35 Examples Of Stunning Macro Photography

via Smashing Magazine by Moin Anjum on 6/26/09

Macro photography is also known as close-up photography. Compared to other types of photography, macro photography is quite difficult, because of the nifty equipment, lightning and other techniques involved. However, in the end it comes down to what kind of pictures you want to take and what level of precision you are striving for.

In this inspirational showcase, we've collected some beautiful macro pictures, as well as some useful macro photography tutorials – for people at all levels of experience.

You may also be interested in the following related posts:

25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots

Stunning Macro Photography

Mr. Attitude
by Cyrus K

Homies on Da Hood
by Marshall Alsup

Deflated
by MuffinMummy

Flower in a Drop
by Szabolcs Vass

Winter Blues
By Ursula I Abresch.

Cold Miner
by LordV

Zeitautomatik

Treble Chef

Butterfly
by GOLDENORFE

Ant
by Alliec2007

Recently at the fairytale forest
by Gecko_gr

Farewell, Old Friends
by MuffinMummy

Spider
by IRAWAN YUWONO

Curved
by Kristoffer Jonsson

Summer Refreshment
by Frankieleon

Years of Lessons
by Frankieleon

Ripples of Colour
by Alex Bates

Stapelia leendertziae flower
by Martin Heigan

Multi-Color Bungee
by Frankieleon

Drips
by Alex Bates

Hover
by Alliec

Rose
by 5348 Franco

Spider with Egg Case
by Jimmy hoffman

Red Eye Tree Frog
by Juza

Hover Fly
by LordV

Pseudo Scorpion
by LordV

Gear
by LordV

Beauty of Rust
by Frankieleon

Grass Drops
by ViaMoi

Banded Demoiselle
by Alliec2007

Fred Eye
by Snack Happy

Dew Drop
by Alliec2007

Mother Ship
by Frankieleon

Getting Stuck In
by Alliec2007

Macro Photography Tutorials And DIY Tips And Tricks

Macro Photography for Beginners, Part 1, Part 2
This series of macro photography tutorials is a must for anyone starting a career in macro photography. These tutorials contain almost everything, including detailed explanations of macro photography, lighting, focusing and much more.

Picture by DodogoeSLR

How to Shoot Super Macro Photos
A superb article on macro photography. It gives you a basic explanation of macro photography, as well as equipment, set-up, depth of field, flash and examples of what can be achieved and how.

Picture by fensterbme

Macro Photography Tutorial For Taking Bug Pictures
In-depth tutorial on how to take bug pictures. It covers camera equipment, close-ups, reversing the lens, lighting, flash, tripods and much more. Very educational for anyone interested in taking macro pictures of small insects and bugs.

Picture by dincordero

Extreme Macro Photography on a Budget
If you want to achieve extraordinary results, macro photography requires both good technique and good equipment. Lenses, lights, cameras and tripods cost thousands of dollars. Here is a useful DIY (do it yourself) tutorial on building a nice macro lens from a Pringles can.

Picture by leafy

How to Take Close-Up Pictures of Small Things
This is an amazing resource for beginners. It covers basic things, such as what kind of camera and lens you need, and then gets into exposure, lighting, focus, combinations and much more.

Picture by Clicks 1000

How To Take Macro Photography: Close Up, 030
Another article to bookmark if you're just learning macro photography. A lot of information, over four pages in fact, which will surely come in handy.

Depth of Field Calculator
A really useful online tool that lets you calculate Depth of Field (DOF) before taking pictures. It can be used for almost any camera and lets you adjust for focal length (mm), f-stop, the subject's distance and more.

How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio
This tutorial is nothing short of fantastic. It shows you how to build a small lightbox in which you take pictures of small objects, flowers or anything you can think of. It won't cost you much: all you'll need is a cardboard box, cutting utensils and some paper.

Mini Macro Studio for Less than $0.02
Another useful tutorial on building a mini-macro studio out of everyday objects in no time. The set-up is very simple and requires only a sheet of paper, folded and taped. It is very easy to make and produces nice results.

Macro Photography Tips for Point-and-Shoot Digital Cameras
Can't afford all that heavy equipment? Then look at this tutorial. It provides all the basic tips and tricks on taking good macro photos with your point-and-shoot digital camera.

(al)

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50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills

2009-06-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

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50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills

via Smashing Magazine by Smashing Editorial on 6/28/09

Effective writing skills are to a writer what petrol is to a car. Like the petrol and car relationship, without solid skills writers cannot move ahead. These skills don't come overnight, and they require patience and determination. You have to work smart and hard to acquire them. Only with experience, you can enter the realm of effective, always-in-demand writers.

Of course, effective writing requires a good command of the language in which you write or want to write. Once you have that command, you need to learn some tips and tricks so that you can have an edge over others in this hard-to-succeed world of writers. There are some gifted writers, granted. But gifted writers also need to polish their skills frequently in order to stay ahead of competition and earn their livelihood.

We collected over 50 useful and practical tools and resources that will help you to improve your writing skills. You will find copywriting blogs, dictionaries, references, teaching classes, articles, tools as well as related articles from other blogs. Something is missing? Please let us know in the comments to this post!

1. Grammar, Punctuation & Co.

Ultimate Style: The Rules Of Writing
The web's ultimate guide to grammar provides a database of topics and an easy-to-search A-Z list of common questions (via)

Use English Punctuation Correctly
A quick and useful crash course in English punctuation.

HyperGrammar
An extensive electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa's Writing Centre.

Grammar Girl
Mignon Fogarty's quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules.

Better Writing Skills
This site contains 26 short articles with writing tips about ampersands, punctuation, character spacing, apostrophes, semicolons and commas, difference between i.e. and e.g. etc.

The Guide to Grammar and Writing
An older, yet very useful site that will help you to improve your writing on word & sentence level, paragraph level and also essay & research paper level.

Writer's Block
A compact resource with over 20 articles that cover abbreviations, capitalization, numbers, punctuation, word usage and writing styles.

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
This site contains some useful articles that explain common grammar mistakes, basic punctuation, basic sentence concepts etc. Worth visiting and reading. The Learning Centre contains similar articles, but with more examples.

Jack Lynch's Guide to Grammar and Style
These notes are a miscellany of grammatical rules and explanations, comments on style, and suggestions on usage put by Jack Lynch, an Associate Professor in the English department of the Newark campus of Rutgers University, for his classes.

English Style Guide
This guide is based on the style book which is given to all journalists at The Economist. The site contains various hints on how to use metaphors, punctuation, figures, hyphens etc. Brief and precise.

Technical Writing
An extensive guidance on grammar and style for technical writing.

40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation
"Purdue University maintains an online writing lab and I spent some time digging through it. Originally the goal was to grab some good tips that would help me out at work and on this site, but there is simply too much not to share."

2. Common mistakes and problems

Common Errors in English
A collection of common errors in English, with detailed explanations and descriptions of each error.

AskOxford: Better Writing
A very useful reference for classic errors and helpful hints with a terrible site navigation.

Dr. Grammar's Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common grammar questions related to English grammar, with examples and additional explanations.

English Grammar FAQ
A list of common English language problems and how to solve them. This list was compiled through an extensive archive of postings to alt.usage.english by John Lawler, Linguistics, U. Michigan, Ann Arbor.

3. General Writing Skills

Writer's Digest
Writer's Digest offers information on writing better and getting published. The site also includes community forums, blogs and huge lists of resources for writers (via)

Infoplease: General Writing Skills
Various articles that aim to teach students how to write better.

The Elements of Style
A freely available online version of the book "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk, Jr., the classic reference book.

Poynter Writing Tools
A blog dedicated to writers and journalists. Poynter also provides Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List, a collection of podcasts related to writing.

learning lab / writing skills
This site offers over 20 .pdf-documents with main rules and common mistakes related to summarising, paraphrasing, referencing, sentences, paragraphs, linking words and business writing. Handy.

Using English
UsingEnglish.com provides a large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools & resources for students, teachers, learners and academics. Browse our grammar glossary and references of irregular verbs, phrasal verbs and idioms, ESL forums, articles, teacher handouts and printables, and find useful links and information on English. Topics cover the spectrum of ESL, EFL, ESOL, and EAP subject areas.

Online Writing Courses
Free courses are a great way to improve your writing skills. The courses shown here focus on several types of creative writing, including poetry, essay writing and fiction writing.

4. Practical Guides To Better Writing Skills

Copywriting 101: An Introduction to Copywriting
This tutorial is designed to get you up and running with the basics of writing great copy in ten easy lessons. Afterwards, you'll get recommendations for professional copywriting training, plus links to tutorials on SEO copywriting and writing killer headlines.

A Guide to Writing Well
"This guide was mainly distilled from On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Other sources are listed in the bibliography. My memory being stubborn and lazy, I compiled this so I could easily refresh myself on writing well. I hope it will also be helpful to others."

Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
The ultimate cheat sheet with various Web copy resources that copywriters can use to lean the best writing tips and ideas. More copywriting cheat sheets.

Headlines and Trigger Words

Common mistakes and errors

Writing tips from experts

Practical tips

5. Copywriting Blogs

CopyBlogger
Now that blogging has become the smartest strategy for growing an authoritative web site, it's your copywriting skills that will set you apart and help you succeed. And this is where Copyblogger comes into play. Brian Clark's popular blog covers useful copywriting tips, guidelines and ideas.

Write to Done
Leo Babuta's blog about the craft and the art of writing. The blog covers many topics: journalism, blog writing, freelance writing, fiction, non-fiction, getting a book deal, the business of writing, the habit of writing. Updated twice weekly.

Problogger
Darren Rowse's blog helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs – among other things, Darren also has hundreds of useful articles related to copy writing.

Men with Pens
A regularly updated blog with useful tips for writers, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

Time to Write
Jurgen Wolff's tips, ideas, inspirations for writers and would-be writers and other creative people.

Daily Writing Posts
"Whether you are an attorney, manager, student or blogger, writing skills are essential for your success. Considering the rise of the information age, they are even more important, as people are surrounded by e-mails, wikis, social networks and so on.

"It can be difficult to hone one's writing skills within this fast paced environment. Daily Writing Tips is a blog where you will find simple yet effective tips to improve your writing."

CopyWriting
"Copywriting website is jam-packed with useful information, articles, resources and services geared to show you how to write mouth-watering, profit-generating copy. Copy that changes minds and dramatically boosts your results. So come right in… you're going to like what you see! It has copywriting courses, tools, articles and much more."

Dumb Little Man: Writing
Jay White provides a handful of tips that may increase your productivity and improve your skills. You'll find many tips and ideas for better writing in his archive category "Writing".

The Copywriter Underground
A copywriting blog by the freelance writer Tom Chandler.

Lifehack: Writing
This collection of resources includes links to 30 posts on Lifehack that may help you to improve your writing skills.

6. Tools

OneLook Dictionary Search
More than 13,5 million words in more than 1024 online dictionaries are indexed by the OneLook search engine. You can find, define, and translate words all at one site.

Definr
A fast, suggest-as-you-type dictionary which you can add to your Firefox search box or use in bookmarklet form (see this post) (via Lifehacker).

Visuwords
Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.

Merriam Webster: Visual Dictionary
The Visual Dictionary Online is an interactive dictionary with an innovative approach. From the image to the word and its definition, the Visual Dictionary Online is an all-in-one reference. Search the themes to quickly locate words, or find the meaning of a word by viewing the image it represents. What's more, the Visual Dictionary Online helps you learn English in a visual and accessible way.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary
OneLook's reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.

Online Spell Checker
Free online spell checker that provides you with quick and accurate results for texts in 28 languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese etc.). An alternative tool: Spelljax.

GNU Aspell
GNU Aspell is a Free and Open Source spell checker designed to eventually replace Ispell. It can either be used as a library or as an independent spell checker. Its main feature is that it does a superior job of suggesting possible replacements for a misspelled word than just about any other spell checker out there for the English language.

WordWeb
A one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Features of the free version include definitions and synonyms, proper nouns, 150 000 root words and 120 000 synonym sets.

write rhymes
As you write, hold the alt key and click on a word to find a rhyme for it.

Verbix
This English conjugator will help you to determine how to use verbs in the proper tense.

Wordcounter
Wordcounter ranks the most frequently used words in any given body of text. Use this to see what words you overuse or maybe just to find some keywords from a document. Text Statistics Generator is an alternative tool: it gives you a quick analysis of number of word occurrences.

Advanced Text Analyzer (requires registration)
This free tool analyzes texts, calculating the number of words, lexical density, words per sentence, character per word and the readability of the text as well as word analysis, phrase analysis and graded analysis. Useful! Alternative tool.

Graviax Grammar Checker
Grammar rules (XML files containing regular expressions) and grammar checker. Currently only for the English language, although it could be extended. Unit tests are built into the rules. Might form the basis of a grammar checker for OpenOffice.

txt2tags
Txt2tags is a document generator. It reads a text file with minimal markup as **bold** and //italic// and converts it to the formats HTML, LaTeX, MediaWiki, Google Code Wiki, DokuWiki, Plain text and more.

Markdown
Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML). Requires Perl 5.6.0 or later.

7. Further Resources

50 Useful Open Source Resources For Writers and Writing Majors
And if you're a writing major, why not take advantage of all the opportunities to get great free and open source resources that can help you to write, edit and organize your work? Here's a list of fifty open source tools that you can use to make your writing even better.

English Forums
If you have a question related to English Grammar, join these forums to get advice from others who know the language better or can provide you with some related information.

The Ultimate Writing Productivity Resource
A round-up of applications, services, resources, tools, posts and communities for writers and bloggers who want to improve their writing skills.

100 Useful Web Tools for Writers
100 useful Web tools that will help you with your career, your sanity and your creativity whenever your write. More useful round-ups.

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montt en dosis diarias - 2009-06-26

2009-06-26T09:23:00.001-07:00

Sent to you by Évaro via Google Reader:

montt en dosis diarias - 2009-06-26

via alberto montt en dosis diarias by noreply@blogger.com (montt) on 6/25/09

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If your pictures aren't good enough, you are using a telephoto!!

2009-06-24T21:03:00.001-07:00

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If your pictures aren't good enough, you are using a telephoto!!

via Jeff Ascough's Blog by jeff ascough on 6/19/09

The famous Robert Capa quotation "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough" is so apt when it comes to people photography, and yet wedding photographers seem to have a fascination with long telephoto lenses.

One of the most used lenses for wedding photography is the big 70-200 f2.8. Personally, I've never seen why so many photographers have a fascination for using this lens, and I am continually puzzled as to its popularity. It's big, heavy, and (in the Canon flavour) bright white. If you ever want to be noticed at a wedding, get the 'Great White' out and see how people react!!

The first time that I was made aware of how this lens can effect people, was at a celebrity wedding which I covered some six years ago. My clients and their guests were used to intrusion from photographers as part of their daily lives, and yet I had no problem shooting in close with 28mm and 50mm lenses on a couple of Leica rangefinders. Moving in and around the guests, I was able to take pictures without getting a second glance from them. However, at the reception I had to get the 70-200 out to cover the speeches, and from that moment on everyone noticed me. It was really bizarre. It was like I'd lit a torch and was holding it above my head. After the wedding I wondered if it was me or the lens that had caused this reaction, or was it simply the lens forcing me to behave differently?

At first I thought it was the lens, as it is large and obtrusive and immediately shouts 'PHOTOGRAPHER!' to everyone. In hindsight I think it had more to do with the focal length. I'll hold my hands up now and confess that I'm simply not a fan of long telephoto lenses for weddings. I do like them for landscapes, when I want to compress the perspective, but not for taking photographs of people. When using a telephoto I often feel detached from what is happening in front of me. I also feel far more conspicuous. I'll try to explain.

As human beings, our faces are one of the most important things for communication. We are often more comfortable around people when we can see their faces. It gives us a sense of how we are feeling, and non-verbal communication is easier. As a people photographer, I believe that working closer to a subject is more comfortable for them. They can see my face, get a sense for how I'm feeling, and get used to me being there. They can then carry on with what they are doing knowing that I'm just part of the environment.

From a creative point of view, working closer allows me to see and hear things, and study body language. This helps me to anticipate what is going to happen, and I can get better images as a result. I usually find myself close enough to be able to interact and talk to someone without raising my voice, but far enough away so as not to invade their personal space.

However, there are two things which are very important to remember. As I mentioned in a previous post I don't take lots of pictures, so my clients never feel as though their every move is being scrutinised by my camera. This can be at best uncomfortable, and at worst down right irritating! The second thing is that whenever they look at me, the chances are there won't be a camera pointing back at them. They can see my face rather than the business end of a 50mm lens. I have lost count of the amount of compliments that I have had from clients who just hadn't noticed I was there. Being unobtrusive is largely about behaviour, rather than dressing in black and trying to blend into the shadows.

What people do find uncomfortable, is the idea that they are being 'spied on'. Standing away from a group of people at a drinks reception, and pointing a large telephoto at them is far more suspicious in terms of behaviour, than being in and around them taking pictures. Guests can't see the photographer's face, and non-verbal communication is missing. This can lead to a degree of discomfort and a change in behaviour patterns, which I believe leads to poorer pictures. During the odd occasion that I have found myself in a situation like this (such as the celebrity wedding), I have felt really intrusive and convinced that people were noticing me.

One of my biggest photographic influences was the late, great street photographer Garry Winogrand. He would walk the streets with a 28mm wide angle lens and just take pictures. To see him work is quite remarkable. He shot very quickly. Just a camera up to his eye, a shutter press, and a smile. That was it. Even though he would often stand right in front of complete strangers, most didn't pay him any attention. Now imagine how all of those people would have reacted if he was shooting with a huge white telephoto lens, pointing it at them from a long way away. I would wager that he would never have got a quarter of his images, as people would have been naturally suspicious. The images would have certainly lacked the intimacy that he achieved.

Here is some rare footage (with German narration) of the great man in action.

Another influence of mine, Eugene Richards, is best known for working with a 21mm wide angle lens. He often shot very close to his subjects, and his images are arguably some of the most thought provoking of any modern day photojournalist. In the first part of this interview posted on You Tube, Eugene talks about his wide angle use. What is really interesting is how he feels about himself and why he chooses to work close to his subjects.

The other major issue I've had with telephoto lenses has always been one of perspective. A telephoto forces the photographer to constantly peer through it, as it is impossible to judge what the lens will see. The picture taking process is now determined by what the lens sees, rather than what the photographer sees. Our vision doesn't work with the same perspective as a telephoto, so we can't relate to how that lens will view a subject until we look through it. Compression of the perspective is one major problem with background elements appearing larger than they do with normal human vision.

If you use standard or slightly wider lenses, the field of view of the lens is quite similar to human vision and this makes a difference. With experience it becomes second nature to see pictures without having to put a camera to your eye. The photographer is now in control of the picture.

There is always an exception to every rule though, and in the case of the 70-200, my friend Joe Buissink is one of the world's best exponents of this lens. Some of the images he has taken are simply amazing. He manages to retain the storytelling aspects of wedding photography, but uses the longer perspective to heighten emotion and mood within the photograph. He often works closer than I do, and involves himself much more in the actual wedding, so obviously the lens isn't a hindrance to him - in fact it is an asset. I first came across his work when we were both involved in the 'Masters of Wedding Photography' documentary back in 2004. However, photographers like Joe are few and far between in this industry, and many photographers with this lens are happy to shoot aimless, tightly cropped head and shoulders images of people at the wedding. Often there isn't any storytelling within the image, with no sense of environment or space.

Just to tie up these last two posts. A couple of years ago, a delegate came up to me after one of my seminars and said, "Wow, there is more to being a wedding photographer than just taking pictures." You know what? He is dead right ;-)

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Cat "Army" Guards Treasures

2009-06-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Sent to you by Andrea via Google Reader:

Cat "Army" Guards Treasures

via National Geographic News on 6/11/09

Fighting off, and feeding on, rodents that would gnaw away at masterpieces, dozens of "working" cats patrol the labyrinthine storerooms of Russia's Hermitage museum. Video.

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Addiction

2009-06-14T21:46:00.001-07:00

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Addiction

via xkcd.com on 6/14/09

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www.zenaholloway.com

2009-06-14T18:28:00.001-07:00

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www.zenaholloway.com

via INSPIRIONARY - Graphics to inspire you by z. on 6/14/09

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Dino Break Ups: The Story Of My Life

2009-06-14T08:55:00.001-07:00

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Dino Break Ups: The Story Of My Life

via Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome on 6/11/09

If you've ever wanted to get to know me better, watch this video -- it's the story of my life. And, if you can't tell, I don't perform well in relationships. But don't let that stop you. Ladies? Youtube Thanks to helliebee and Megan, who just realized they don't want to date me after all.

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Why Most Published Research Findings Are False

2009-06-05T17:41:00.001-07:00

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Why Most Published Research Findings Are False

via www.plosmedicine.org on 6/5/09

There is increasing concern that most current published research findings are false. The probability that a research claim is true may depend on study power and bias, the number of other studies on the same question, and, importantly, the ratio of true to no relationships among the relationships probed in each scientific field.

DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124

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Lavadora canina

2009-06-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

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Lavadora canina

via Kirai - Un geek en Japón by Héctor García on 6/5/09

Lee de Tokyo Times ha encontrado una lavadora para perros y ha podido incluso sacar una foto de la máquina en marcha con un perro dentro. El lavado cuesta 1000 yenes (6 euros y pico) por perro.

Otras anotaciones sobre perros

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king biking

2009-06-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

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king biking

via [daily dose of imagery] on 6/2/09

This is actually a frame from a video clip I shot on King street using the Canon 5D Mark II and the wide zoom Sigma 12-24 Lens. This was shot before Canon released the Video Manual Exposure firmware. The wide lens make things look more dangerous (at least I'd like to think so!) as you can see in the video posted below. (If you can't see the video check the direct vimeo page for it here)

Biking with 5D Mark II from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.

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Troll Slayer

2009-05-31T21:21:00.001-07:00

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Troll Slayer

via xkcd.com on 5/31/09

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Pfft, I Can Do That: Wicked Ninja Moves

2009-05-31T20:01:00.001-07:00

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Pfft, I Can Do That: Wicked Ninja Moves

via Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome on 5/28/09

This is a video of some guy named Damien Walters pulling off all sorts of real-life ninja/superhero moves. It is the perfect blend of amazing gynmastics and homoeroticism. Dude kind of reminds me of Wolverine, but without the adamaluminum (was that sacrilegious?) claws. He does all kinds of ridiculously ridiculous things, but I particularly liked the car trick at 0:45. You see that? Suck it, Bo Duke! Youtube Thanks to Harry, who can do all those moves times ten. Blindfolded. With Yoda on his back.