Friday, February 26, 2010

Video in the blog!

While culling and processing the photos from Dany and Leslie's Wedding I realized something. At some parts of the shoot, it almost looks like a stop-motion movie if you flip through them fast enough.

While I don't employ the "Spray-and-Pray" method of shooting, I do take several shots of one setting with different looks. What's "Spray-and-Pray" you ask? In the world of Photography, it's usually a derogatory term used to describe a method some use in which you take an obscene amount of continuous photos hoping (praying) one will turn out nicely, as opposed to carefully framing each shot for light, posing, exposure and so on. However this method is usually the best method in the sports world where waiting on one perfect shot is not practical.


Back to my story- Flipping quickly through these photos gives the effect of semi-fluid motion not unlike old Gumby episodes.
This is the first time I've tried making a slide show of a photo shoot, and I kinda like it. The video program I used degraded the image quality pretty harshly, but I think it still looks OK.

The video is encoded in HD, so if you have a fast connection and a decent computer, select the "720p" option at the bottom of the video. It's about 8-and-a-half minutes, so check it out. If you're reading this on Facebook, click THIS LINK and check the blog. And as usual, leave me some blog-lovin' comments at the bottom of the post.


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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Simpler is better...

I had the opportunity to go to the park today. I can't remember the last time I went to the park just to go. It has mostly been to meet some friends for a game of baseball or something. Today, I went just to go.

The weather in Houston this week has been crraazyy!
Two days ago it was snowing, and now it's a sunny, 65˚F (18˚C). That's some wild, crazy stuff.
I've also been jonsin' to take my dog walking on the trails of Meyer Park for a while. Looks like this park is a great place to do photo shoots too. I'll be jotting this down in the 'places to shoot' book.

But something struck me as interesting. In the midst of this economic turbulence that society is facing, people still like to do the simple things in life.

We have myriads of technological advances and gadgets to "make our life easier", scores of social networking portals to make friends and keep up with current trends, PDA's, Blackberries, iPhones, iPods and pretty soon iPads that keep us connected and entertained.

With all of these 'conveniences', people still love to just disconnect and go to the park to walk around, kick a ball, or stare at the pond. I see families laughing and smiling with their toddlers and children, jogging with their canine companions, riding bikes and feeding the ducks. And people look happy.

Forget about the iPhone or Blackberry in your pocket and just focus on the amazing weather. Get some exercise and take in the scenery. No matter your worries, it'll be sure to cheer you up.

While I write about being disconnected from the iPhone, I had to take this pic of my dog near the pond. I didn't have my 5D with me so don't hate on the quality :oP



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