TDEPost Blog

Ahhh the joy of copyright infringment

2011-07-24T05:07:11Z

I've just had my first dose of dealing with DMCA takedowns and dealing with mis-use of images I own the copyright too, and I can say, it is actually a very fascinating experience. When you remove yourself from getting emotional about the fact that somebody is using your hard work for their own gain, and look at it from a entirely analytical viewpoint, the concept of copyright infringement is really quite fascinating. In the past, when photos were taken on film, and the MASTER as it were resided in one place and one place only and any subsequent copies were obviously 'copies' things were simpler, also, it was almost impossible to have a copy every be as close in quality as an image printed from the master. However, now with all cameras pretty much Digital, and the MASTER image being able to live in literally countless locations, what really is the MASTER image, if two people have a copy of that file, how does one really argue who owns the image.

Putting the emotional cap back on, as a photographer, I have an investment in every photo I take, some more than others, there are photos I have taken, that honestly I couldn't give two hoots about if somebody wanted to use, then there are others, that I feel are so close to what I feel for me is perfection, the concept of somebody else using that image for their own gain makes me ill. And then there are photos, that I personally don't care for any more, for a variety of reasons, images that are archived on a hard drive in the cupboard in a locked Pelican case, and if I have my way, will never see the light of day every again, however, that is what I want, that they are never viewed again, by me or others. To see those images used just makes me angry. Luckily, and I can say this for the first time, with corporate America being so proactive in terms of removing digital media from websites when they are used illegally, the actual process of reporting an illegal use is surprisingly easy. Letting my temper settle, takes a little longer.

Rant off.

Assorted

2011-06-17T14:40:32Z

I havnt posted any images for a little while, it's not that I havnt been shooting, I just have been a little, shall we say, preocupied. But here are a few images that really pop in my mind.

This is the from my first roll of 120 Film in a Yashica TLR. Taken at about 6 am on Chapel Street on a public holiday, there were literally no cars on the street, which allowed me to stand in the middle and shoot almost an entire roll. I still think I need to do some more work on the scanning side of things, but the exposure is pretty spot on, not bad considering the light meter is broken in the camera, and I had to use a Lightmeter App on my iPhone.

This image was actually taken by a friend using my Leica M8, on a road just outside of Woomera, he had me standing staring off into the distance, hoping that the very occassional car wouldnt just decide to come at the wrong time. The web image doesnt really do it justice, I have had this printed on a giant canvas and it looks amazing hanging up on the wall.

This one was snapped on the fly in a cab in Shanghai (crazy driver was weaving in and out of traffic so much we were convinced we were going to die). The lights are actually oncoming traffic. I really like this one, because I didnt have time to focus or set the exposure, I just guessed and it came out amazingly well, capturing the oncoming headlights that were lighting the passenger as they rushed towards us.

Final Day in Chile

2011-05-04T19:59:32Z

The Port of Antafagasta

Fishing boats next too the Port

The lovely Rafaela at a kids soccor camp

One of the 'stars' pf the camp

A far more serious player :)

The poorer districts of Antafagasta

And the view from my hotel room

A brief moment of downtime to do some emails

I look so serious in all my photos these days ?

Antafagasta

2011-04-30T02:05:42Z

The Atacama Desert, really does look like Mars

A short break between shots

Mist burning off in the morning sun

Jason Wingrove playing around with my Leica M8

The cameraman doesnt like having his picture taken, how weird

Unlike the georgeous Rafaela

The colours of Antofagasta

The requisite sunset shot

Quick post on Quick Release

2011-03-25T23:33:35Z

Just a short one, one of the things that I dont see a lot of discussion about on DSLR forums etc. is the small little device called the quick release. It seems that most people are happy to use whatever Quick Release plate their Camera Support Rig comes with, and to be honest so was I, for a while.

The most common mount I have seen people use is the Manfrotto 357 Sliding Plate Adapter.

This is the most common QR plate by a long way, as far as I can tell it is standard on ProAim gear, RedRock, CPM Film Tools to name a few. Now, I have a lot of these plates and I do mean A LOT, and I can honestly say they are just about the worst QR plate in the history of QR plates (for DSLR anyway), lets discuss the main negatives,

1.The length of the plate: Pop one of those on a DSLR, it either sticks out under the lens or back out the end of the camera, now try and hold it up to your face, you have a giant plate sticking into your chin. You can do what I did, cut them in half and then they fit OK under a DSLR but it is by no means a sollution.

2. The side locking mechanism or screw: OK, who designed this, put it on any tripod head big enough to handle a DSLR rig and you are in for a world of hurt. The plastic bit has to rotate clear 360 degrees to allow you to lock the plate in place, but it will innevitably get fouled on any tripod head that is wider than the base plate, which is pretty much any decent tripod head in existance. I have tried everything cutting the plastic tab off, then it is hard to tighten enough to hold the camera, increase the height of the plate off the tripod head to add clearance, but then it becomes unstable. It's just plain annoying.

So, I had been thinking I wanted to change QR plates for a while, but I knew I only wanted to do it once, because apart from the significant investment, it would also mean I would have to mount the new plates on my rig (which have custom mounts so I would have to tap new holes). So I just left it for a while, then during the Phillip Bloom DSLR sessions held in Australia, I noticed that Phillip was using a plate that seemed to be nice and large (read stable) made a good sound when they clipped on and off (meaning it was a solid unit) and as far a I could tell he had the plates on a variety of heads, and he was taking cameras on and off with ease. So in the break I had a chat to him about it, and apparently he has been meaning to do an article on these for a while but hasnt had the time. He was pretty happy with them, which was good enough for me. So off I went and ordered one to see if it was going to work for my rigs. The model is a Manfrotto 394 , it not only allows you to put the plates on pretty much any head without the release lever getting blocked or stuck, but the size of the plate means it wil take a camera with a decent amount of weight. They have two levelling bubbles to complement the one you probably have on yoru tripod and the additionale plates themselves are quite cheap, so once you have bought a base for every tripod head you own etc. you can add devices to the tripod for just the cost of a plate. So now that I have replaced all the plates I can clip my camera into my cage rig, and mount the cage on my tripod, or pull the camera out and pop it straight onto the tripod without the cage (for when I want to use a fisheye or wideangle that that cage doesnt support etc) all in a second. I have also added plates to the supports mounts on our tele lenses, and am in the process of adjusting my cage to have the shoulder support clip on and off of the cage with the same QR plate so that I can go shoulder mount just as easy. But that is for another post, once I get the new Cineroid LCD mounted.

The Love of a Leica

2011-03-11T23:47:25Z

So an interesting thing happened. After not shooting stills for the longest of time, I suddenly found myself with a heck of a lot of stills photography equipment by way of the ever increasing use of DSLR cameras to record HD video. I suddenly had a camera bag with two bodies, half a dozen lenses of various focal lengths and all the bits and bobs needed to shoot glorious HD video with the depth of field I had always wanted but never been able to get with standard video cameras. And what do you know, I started taking stills again, a few at first, then more and more.

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.8, 1/360

And then whilst reading Phillip Blooms site I read a post about a new camera he had saved up for, the Leica M9. This was a fascinating read, why would somebody, who has his pick of DSLR camera bodies drop close to $10,000 for a camera that is for all practical purposes totally manual, in Phillips words 'exceedingly difficult to use, frame and focus' and then spend thousands more on lenses that ha can't use with his Canon or Nikon rigs? The answer was simple, the 'Leica Look', that almost impossible to describe look that Leica cameras and glass give you. Now I had just gotten back from shooting (video) the World Cup and I had decided that even though I loves my DSLR, it was rather big and bulky and there were many situations where a smaller camera would have been helpful, somewhere in-between a point and shoot and a 'real' camera. So I bought a used Leica D-Lux 3, I figured it would be a great small camera to carry when I didn't want to bring my DSLR camera, but at the same time it wouldn't break the bank. Well it arrived and I have to say right out of the gate I was amazingly surprised, the D-Lux 3 is not the newest camera by any mean feat, the D-Lux 4 was already shipping when I got it, but the quality and sharpness of the images I got was much better than I expected from such a small sensor and lens.

D-Lux 3, 50mm f3.2 1/80

And I have to say, my own personal hatred of stickers on ever flat surface of a camera announcing it has 'MEGA SUPER HD SEE INTO THE FUTURE' features meant that, the smooth, clean, un-marred surfaces of the Lecia was also a tick in the right box. However, very quickly I found that I wanted more, I had gotten used to interchangeable lenses on the DSLR, and the speed of the little Leica's lens was nothing to write home about. So I started reading up on this mythical Leica M9. Being a complete novice to Rangefinder photography, I was only passingly aware of the concept of Street Photography, shooting from the hip and photographers such as Cartier Bresson.

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.0, 1/1000

But the more I read the more amazed I was by the constant message, the so called 'limitations' of a rangefinder most users looked on as a benefit, the lenses that were available for the M series cameras were without a doubt some of the finest ever made, quite often you will hear of lenses that were built in the 70's that rival and often outperform the latest L series of Canon or Nikon. The other comment that sealed the deal for me, was a comment made by a photographer, that after shooting stills for years for a living, shooting with a M9 was like a breath of fresh air, he actually 'enjoyed' taking stills again. The reality was I was not going to be able to afford a M9 ( even if I could source one, as the wait time in Australia is still amazingly long) so I looked at the older M8, a camera some say is flawed because of it's smaller sensor, but also many people swear by. I also considered the X1, but it still seemed only a small step up from the D-Lux.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f5.6, 1/90

After reading everything I could get my hands on about the M8, I decided that I agreed, the flaws of the camera were for the most part, technical decisions on the part of Leica that I tended to agree with. For example, the M8 has practically no IR filtering to speak of, the IR filter that exists in pretty much all cameras results in a slight softening of the image, Leica decided to make a camera that could shoot as sharp an image as they could, to do their amazingly sharp lenses justice, with the negative aspect of, in certain situations certain polyester fabrics that should would take on a purple hue. I agree with Leica here, I would much prefer additional sharpness in my image rather than limit my camera for those who choose to wear polyester (I much prefer natural fabrics myself ;) now I can't speak for the Leica tech but in my gut I feel that this may have also been a subtle stab at people who wear polyester fabric on a regular occasion, but I can't be sure ;)

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.1, 1/60

So off I was on the search for an M8 that I could actually afford. Realizing I had to start small, I resigned myself to not buying any Leica glass straight away, so in advance of my Leica purchase I bought a 50mm Voigtlander on eBay that was going for quite cheap as it was a screw mount, not the newer M mount bayonet. Then it was just a matter of finding a M8 body to mate it to. It's funny, for such a 'flawed' camera, the M8 really has held it's value, far better than an equivalent priced Canon or Nikon released at the same time, bad for me though, as time after time, I missed out on auctions because the price just went up and up and up. Then, a piece of good luck, the daughter of a prominent Australian painter (he has a hotel named after him) was selling an M8 and a 50mm Summicron in a rush, next thing you know, I was the proud owner of an empty bank account and a camera that scared me and a lens that I hadn't budgeted for. A fellow photographer commented when he heard I had bought a Leica 'that's a camera that owns you, you don't own it'. How true that statement was. I am not ashamed to admit, my first few attempts at shooting were amazingly flawed, I take great pleasure in telling people that in the first week I actually took several pictures with the lens cap on, one of the 'benefits' of not looking through the lens when you shoot.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35 mm f5.6, 1/2000

For weeks, I would be excited when I got one or two shots that were actually what I wanted, exposed correctly, in focus and framed the way I had intended. But even then, those rare few photos had a look, a something that even now I can't describe without sounding like I am a pretentious twat describing a good bottle of wine, with words like smooth, creamy, luscious and velvety! However shot by shot I got a little better, I started to 'get' rangefinder focusing, I stopped noticing the framing guides for the different lenses and started thinking about the shot and using the extra space around the guides to help me adjust my framing.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f2.8, 1/750

The other interesting thing is, other people started to notice, I would take the M8 everywhere (partly out of guilt that I had spent so much on the blasted thing, I had better bloody use it) , and when I started popping up even basic happy snaps from parties or weekend catch up with friends, people would notice and ask me, how did I get my photos to look so good, and I had to be honest and tell them, in this particular case it was not the photographer it was the camera, it was just 'better'.And then I realized, for the better part of 6 months, I have not shot a single piece of DSLR video that wasn't for work, all my personal time has been spent shooting stills, my poor Nikon has barely seen the light of day to shoot stills either, it has been Leica time, every time. But my skills as a photographer have increased in leaps and bounds, more so than any other time I can remember. And the flow on effect is also noticeable, my 'paid work' of shooting video with DSLR's I feel has also benefited, my shot selection and framing and use of depth of field and composition has shown a change, for the better in my opinion.

The saying 'it's not the camera, its the photographer' is still true, but when it comes to Leica's well, lets just say its both!

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.8, 1/500

Aradale Lunatic Asylum

2011-03-07T10:38:23Z

L1102797 a photo by TDE Post on Flickr.

This is one photo from a series taken at the now closed Aradale Lunatic Asylum in Ararat, west of Melbourne. Taken with a Leica M8 and a Voigtlander Noktor. What was interesting about this shot, is I wasn't even able to frame or focus it, I guessed focus, stuck the camera through a broken window and fired off a single frame of the Boiler Room. I didn't even look at the shot after I had taken it, it was only later that day back home that I saw it and realised I had a shot.

I am alive, barely!

2011-01-16T04:32:03Z

So it has been quite a while since I have posted, but for the best of reasons. I have been non stop filming, which will keep the tax man at bay for another year (I hope). I have also had the chance to not only bed down my existing rig but to also add a few more parts as well.

Last post I had just received my RedRock Follow Focus (well it arrived on my desk the day after I left for OS) so I had to wait until I got back to pop it on my rig. This thing is a brute, the build quality is amazing. My only slight complaint is, because I am a little weird, I like to have my follow focus on the right hand side of my rig, not the left, this means that I need the reverse gear attachment for the Redrock to have the lens focus the right way around. Only problem is, the super solid and stable Redrock follow focus, becomes a little chintzy when you add the reverse gear, it seems like it was designed by the ProAim people not the RedRock people, when you add it to the Follow Focus, the feel is not as solid or direct. The reality is it works, and works well, but I have to be honest a few times I have seriously thought about taking it off and learning to focus in reverse. But all in all it was money well spent, the quick rail release on the unit also makes taking the Follow Focus off a very easy affair, not like the ProAim.

The other big addition is for the shoots I had booked, there was to be a lot of interviews, and I do mean a LOT. So I decided that even though the BeachTek had worked during the World Cup, the fact that I could not really monitor audio and also I could only record one channel of clean un-AGC'd audio meant that I would have to record dual system audio. So I ordered a Zoom H4n (pretty much the only recorder every DSLR shooter seems to be using). The shoot called for the talent to be mic'd with a radio mic all day and for the occasional situation where a second person would also be mic'd up at the same time, so we brought along two Sennheiser radio mic's (this turned out to be a very lucky decision, but more on that in a minute).

Luckily the shoulder mount part of my CPM rig has the belly plate that most CPM Rigs use for actually mounting the camera to the rails, since I use a custom made camera mount to attach the 7D to the rails, I have popped the CPM belly plate on the shoulder mount, this is a perfect place for two radio mic receivers to sit, I then mounted the Zoom on the threaded plate of the RedRock shoulder mount, this not only helped balance the camera on my shoulder (as the entire shoot was going to be shot handheld, not a single tripod shot) but it also meant the Zoom was right next to my cheek, making it VERY easy to look and make sure it was rolling, levels were good etc. I also added a small set of in ear headphones with a retractable cable, which kept them out of the way when I was shooting B-Roll but ready at a moments notice when I was to shoot an IV. The plan was to use a piece of software called DualEyes to sync the takes when I got back for post, DualEyes is the baby brother of PluralEyes, basically it is a very simple interface that allows you to select a series of native Canon video tracks and the corresponding WAV files from the Zoom, and it will either make a separate WAV file that matches the video, or produce a new video file with the sync'd audio replacing the on camera audio. I did some testing and found with a clear reference track it was spot on, as we would be shooting in some very noisy environments, I decided to help out the onboard mic of the 7D which pretty much records EVERY sound in a 2 mile radius, so I attached a small Rode shotgun mic to the CPM rig. Only important thing I found was I had to be VERY diligent to remember to turn the Rode mic on when recording the interviews else there is no reference track for DualEyes and then you have to sync the shots manually, lucky I only forgot once or twice.

The other thing that we did different this time around was I had a second body, a little 550D which I pretty much always had set to 720P 60 FPS, this means that I could pop the main camera off my shoulder and swap for the 550D when I needed to move quickly or get a different style shot, I almost always had the 10.5mm fisheye on the 550D, and it means I was able to get a wider range of footage than I normally would with the one body.

So the first two shoots went fine, the Zoom worked perfectly, and so we came home for Xmas to have a week off before the last of the shoots. Apart from the clips where I had accidentally not turned on the reference mic, DualEyes did a pretty good job on, I did find however it is a bit like when my wife asks me to do chores around the house, if she gives me one or two I am on it, and they get done, if however she just reels off a whole load of chores, I tend to zone out and nothing gets done, the same with DualEyes, if you just throw all your interview from a day and all the audio tracks, it tends to get confused and isn't to successful with syncing, but if you segment it a little it is spot on 99% of the time, I found using the folders function on the Zoom really helped, for each new setup I selected a new Folder I was then able to select only the audio that goes with a particular interview setup and then DualEyes was bang on.

And this is where things go pear shaped, due to my little brush with death by losing a radio mic, I decided I never wanted to get caught out again, and that I would bring a hard wired mic as a safety, so I patched in a small lectrosonics lapel that we have but it just wasn't working with the Zoom, that was until I turned on Phantom Power, then it worked great, awesome I think, pack the gear and we fly out to another open cut mine, this time in 40+ celcius degree weather. Well we landed, setup our first interview, I rolled the Zoom and we were off, after a couple of takes I look at the Zoom and it dead, no battery, hmmmmm, I could have sworn I looked and the batteries were fresh, oh well, lucky I always carry a few spares, so I swap AA's and we go again, after about 10 minutes of interview I look and once again the Zoom is almost out of battery. I start to get worried, especially after I swap the batteries out again and find that if the Zoom loses power whilst recording the file it is recording gets corrupted and is unusable. It was hot where we were shooting VERY hot, over 40+ degrees celcius and usually in direct sunlight. On more than one occasion I got the overheat warning on the 7D and the 550D, so I just assumed that the Zoom was also overheating and that was what was causing the batteries to die so quickly. So that was my life for the next two days, we would shoot in 7 minute chunks, with me buttoning off the Zoom after each and every take to guarantee I didnt lose any audio. We made it through, with approximately 60 AA batteries dead and me terrified that I had lost that GOLDEN take! It wasn't until I got home and started Googling how to recover corrupted Zoom audio tracks that I stumbled on the answer, remember how I had tested out the hard wired mic as a safety and had to turn on Phantom, well it seems the Zoom can only supply Phantom power off battery for VERY short periods (this should REALLY be in the manual, and on a giant sticker on the box and a warning in the menu when you turn Phantom on and you are on battery) I wasn't able to recover the corrupted takes but I was able to get my Zoom to last more than 10 minutes on battery. So the moral to the story is, Don't USE PHANTOM POWER ON A ZOOM! So that's it, the CPM rig with the DVTech pole allowed me to shoot for close two three weeks straight handheld with no problems (or a broken back).

Adobe Connect Session Screen Record - Top 5 Tricks on Video

2010-11-23T10:18:05Z

Adobe Connect Session - Top 5 Tips and Tricks

2010-11-18T02:21:42Z

OK So my last Connect for the year, Top 5 Tips and Tricks for Video

As always, the sessions start at 12:00 (Australia) and gor fo ran hour

The sessions are free but you do have to register HERE

Hope to see you there.