kyber

Walk in the field

kyber — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:58:10 +0000

Amazing Human Body

kyber — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:52:36 +0000

We saw a performance by Traces at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry last night. An acrobatic dance show described on their site thus:

TRACES combines high-level circus skills with an electric urban street energy. With disciplines as varied as Chinese poles, basketball, skateboards, classical piano, dance, comedy and illustration, these five acrobats move quickly from one skill to the next, interpreting each in surprising and innovative ways.

Mortal

kyber — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:40:41 +0000

A few Fridays ago, I was sat in the coffee bar at Stafford railway station waiting for a train to London. A rarity these days as I am mostly working in Swansea and normally work from home on Fridays. My work phone rang but I failed to retrieve it from the depths of the correct pocket in time. A short while later I got the voice mail beep and was able to listen to a message from a friend telling me to call him back urgently. Worrying. I only spoke to my friend every few months or so and we tried to get together at least once a year.

We used to have cats

kyber — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:13:26 +0000

I am not a cat person, by a long margin. We did not have any when I was a kid and what I did see of them in other people’s homes did nothing for me. I have long regarded them as parasites. I like dogs. We had dogs when I was a kid.

Photography and digital editing

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:57:34 +0000

There seems to be a large number of photographers who object to the use of Photoshop and the like to adjust photographic images. There are clubs where such practices are banned for competition submission. Given that RAW images require a little post-processing to be usable (and not everyone is happy for this post processing to be carried out by the the computer in their cameras against broad-brush preference settings for vibrancy, sharpness, etc.) this is problematic for many.

I would argue that photographs have always been subject to manipulation, it is just easier to do it these days. Even the way a photograph is taken in the first place has a huge impact of course. There is no such thing in my view as a “real” or a “pure” photograph.

Echo from the past: Butterley Engineering 1985

kyber — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:20:29 +0000

A lifetime ago, I worked for a heavy engineering design and manufacturing company in Ripley in Derbyshire. Sadly the site was run down last year with business transferred elsewhere within and without the holding company. The manufacturing site has some historical relevance though and the aditnow.co.uk website and forum has been tracking the demolition works.A friend pointed out to me a recent posting of a copy of a 1985 company magazine featuring news about improvements to the site and a photograph of me and my boss at the time sat at a CAD workstation. Fortunately I am seen only in profile, which does not look much different from how I am now.

Shooting portraits

kyber — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:02:49 +0000

On a group on Facebook, a beginner posted links to some nice vivid family photos and asked how he could do the same. I posted the reply below. His own camera is a Nikon D90 with a 50mm f1.8 prime lens.

Next meeting, 21st Jan @8, theme: ethical trading

kyber — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:18:57 +0000

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US AT THE PUB TO CHAT ABOUT GREEN ISSUES, ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OR WHATEVER TAKES YOUR FANCY ……

NEWPORT GREEN DRINKS MEETS EACH MONTH

COME ALONG TO OUR NEXT MEETING AT ‘THE BRIDGE INN’, LOWER BAR, NEWPORT TF10 7JB ON THURSDAY 21^ST JANUARY 2010 at 8PM – for the theme ‘The minefield of ethical trading’ led by Bob Unwin.

Raw v. Jpeg again

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:16 +0000

Revisiting the raw v. jpeg debate, a key difference is that the raw file is what the sensor captured without any processing (other than some compression, if selected) being applied whereas a jpeg (or TIFF) is what the camera itself post-processed from the sensor data in accordance with various camera processing settings. The preview on the camera shows you the embedded jpeg preview in the raw file if you are reviewing a raw shot, and that includes application of the picture control camera settings. If you are reviewing a jpeg shot, you look at that of course.

Having nude photographs taken

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:16:08 +0000

(Taken from a reply I posted on a facebook group discussion)

In most (but not all) countries, image rights automatically rest with the photographer, exclusively, unless there is a specific contractual exception to this (including employment contracts, where the employer typically takes the rights).