Moonlight (2016)

There is probably a dozen reasons to see a movie.  But this is a first for me--I would like to hear your take on it.

Barry Jenkins' Moonlight tells the age-old story of growing up and finding one's place in this world.  If you are some kid living in a Manhattan high-rise that bears your family name, your struggle could be setting up a lemonade stand in that posh apartment building.  But's that's another story for another time.  If you are Chiron aka Little or Black, the protagonist of Moonlight, it could be a myriad of things like being black growing up sexually unsure in a single mother household in a drug, poverty, and violence infested environment.

Chiron's life is a series of disappointments.  His mom is a crack addict who ends up in rehab.  His only father figure Juan whose tenderness and generosity are as genuine as he is a crack supplier, his mom's crack supplier no less.  His first romantic sexual encounter is his only friend Kevin who also betrays him for the acceptance of a group of bullies.  All these people love Chiron.  But love simply is not enough.  Chiron ends up trapping in the street, with seeming success, just like his childhood father figure.

Trevante Rhodes who plays the adult Chiron delivers the most awkward, in the best sense of the word, and the sexually palpable scene when Chiron confesses to Kevin that he is the only man that ever touches him.  The film ends with a shot pulling in from behind Little, the little Chiron, in the beach then Little looking into the camera.  Chiron is no longer the frail kid that he was, he is a bona fide trapper that can easily bench press ten times his body weight and kills a grown man with his bare hand but deep down he is still that same awkward child who yearns to connect, to love and to be loved.  Aren't we all?

Arrival (2016)

Arrival (2016).  Or how to read ink squirt from giant alien octopus.  This borefest is about time and how time doesn't have a beginning or an end, that is, provided that you know how to communicate in squirt ink.  Louise, played by Amy Adams, is a linguist enlisted by the US army to communicate with the aliens.  Together with some guy called Ian, played by Jeremy Renner, the two keep going in and out of the giant spacecraft parked or floated somewhere above Montana.  Often times a boring movie is just a boring movie.  Arrival fails to deliver any intellectual rigor in the sci-fi genre nor jolts us with any action if only to wake us up every now and then.  The cinematography is a constant drab and looks horribly underexposed.  Amy Adams' performance is not understated, just underwhelming.  With the help of a $2 freshly brewed small coffee I manage to stay awake the entire time if only in a fugue state which is not too different from what Louise experiences in the movie.

Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II

I was thinking about getting one on eBay.  The older version of course.  So naturally I tried to play with one when I got the chance at the Exp Plus Photo 2016.

I shoot regularly with my 70-200 but this 300mm is on another level.  I am glad I tried it.  I don't think I can shoot an event with this lens.  Not the entire event anyway.  The 70-200 is versatile enough but this 300mm is quite specialized I imagine.  It won't be too feasible to carry around this 300mm on location for 3 hours or longer, unless you have an assistant.  For any extended shooting, I think a monopod is a must just so your arms and back can thank you later.

I certainly appreciate the 70-200, more so than ever.

Custom Brackets

When you want to buy something photographic and yet don't have $2,799.95 for the latest Nikkor AF-S 70-200 f/2.8E FL, you can buy something like a lens hood, a sync cable, a filter or some flash bracket.

I am a fan of Custom Brackets.

My first one is the CB Mini-RC.  The camera screw is the "D" type kind while the flash screw is not.  So you do need a coin to tighten your flash up.  I like this bracket.  It looks cool even if it doesn't do anything at all.  I am a fan of accessorizing your camera.  The biggest fault is of course there is no anti-twist built-in.  I understand you can buy an anti-twist plate AT separately for $15 only.  I don't know how effective it is.  So while I am shooting with this flash bracket, I have to adjust the camera screw to re-orient the bracket and the flash.  It keeps you on your toe and busy making you work harder, look more professional, more on edge.

The latest Mini-RC comes with some improvements.  The flash screw is now D type as well, so you can leave home without any quarters or coins, just bring your hundreds.  The most important improvement is anti-twist.  This is the number one improvement that I need, the rest is just icing on the cake.  Now it comes with what Custom Brackets call "camera anti-twist post," two of them.  They can be positioned and tightened by a 1/8" Allen wrench provided.  So you may want to carry a 1/8" Allen wrench when you are out and about with the bracket.  During my field test, for about 3 hours, shooting in the jungle in extreme heat and cold, both horizontal and vertical, the bracket never twists and I don't have to tighten the screws with the Allen wrench.  I think this is a big improvement.  The new one is also about 1cm wider than the old one, which I think is a good thing.

Custom Brackets CB Junior
This is a more elaborate bracket than the Mini-RC.  It flips and extends.  This is an old version which doesn't even allow you to add any anti-twisting plate, nor does it come with any D type screw at all.  If you don't have a coin or a quarter, you are screwed.  Either your bracket or your camera may fall off your hand.  I guarantee the bracket will twist like crazy even if you only shoot horizontal.  Another drawback of this bracket is it's difficult to pack and carry.  This thing is sticking out every where.  It's just hard to put it inside a bag.  The Mini-RC totally wins in pack and carry as it's basically flat, small and weighs nothing.

Event Photographer Experience

My experience as a "photographer" or "event photographer."  My fourth time doing the same event different venue though.

Nikon D810, though it has 36MP but when I convert the NEFs I usually downsize them to 4000 pixels on the long side make them 12MP just like the D700 files!  I need the mega pixels just in case--the truth is that "just in case" never happened.

Nikkor 20-35 f/2.8, this lens was iffy when it is cold or very cold.  It failed me on two occasions.  The aperture blades got stuck and pictures overexposed.  Now that I know, I can always just shoot at f/2.8 circumstances allow.  The Nikkor 16-35 f/4 is reliable but since f/4 is not as bright it's really not so great when you are taking pictures in a dark venue like most dinner parties I am in.

Sunpak 120J with sync cable to the camera PC socket and battery pack.  I have it set at the "red" automatic to take the guess work out of it.  My setting is 1/60 and f/8 which should give me ample depth of field and fast enough shutter speed to avoid blurry pictures (given the relatively short flash duration, wide angle coverage, and not so close-up shots).  The battery pack is great when you want to have fast recycle time and long lasting battery life.  It's a bit of a hassle to shoulder carry the pack that I have to put up with.

Custom Bracket Junior (old version).  Like most other good brackets, it's is very good except one thing; it twists on the body.  This one doesn't come with a D-ring so I have to use a quarter to tighten screw to the tripod mount.  And that night I just didn't have a quarter with me.  When I asked the wait staff they didn't have one either.  They probably didn't trust me with a quarter.  So one lent me a Swiss army kind of knife with a very small blade, I was afraid I would break the blade so I handled it with extreme care.  Thank you man!  The bracket not only just twisted but came very loose in the middle of the shoot.  You certainly don't want to drop your flash or even worse your camera.  The sync cable and the power cable can be unwieldy and sometimes you pick up the camera and forget about the battery pack which may just end up dropping on the floor.

AF-S.  Normally AF-S is set for focus priority by default.  Though I use AF-C most of the time when I am shooting cycling or any other sports.  I switched to AF-S so I can recompose and lock focus.  In some instances, the camera had trouble locking focus because the subject was too dark or lacked contrast.  So I changed the AF-S to release priority so the shutter would fire even focus is not locked.  (This would give me trouble later on.)  I don't want my subject to wait or I look like an idiot when the shutter doesn't fire--the focus even not locked should be good enough or actually spot on even it's not locked, I hope.

Half way through the shoot, video time.  Initially I planned to shoot with my iPhone but then I don't need too many equipment hanging around my shoulder or my neck.  So I used my D810 for video as well.  And that's trouble.  In the middle of the video shoot, I decided that I wanted to change the lens AF to M so I can manually focus.  What a brilliant idea.  After video, I switched the camera settings from B back to A or whatever I thought shooting stills should be.  And I thought I had everything under control.  And of course I didn't.  In the middle of eating, drinking and people asked me to take pictures, I totally forgot about switching the lens back to AF.  So for the rest of the evening I was shooting with no focusing, not AF not manual just no focusing.  The last manual focus distance was left at some 20 feet away.  But "lucky" me most, actually all of the shots were wide angle, 7 to 10 feet away (at the same time, if not, I guess I would have noticed it already), and I was shooting at f/8.  The f/8 saved me plus before the video I had most of my shots already.  So the out of focus shots weren't that plenty and weren't obvious enough.  Still it's a mistake that I shouldn't have made.

If I used the Nikkor 16-35 f/4, it wouldn't happen as there is no need to switch to manual focus, you can simply grab the focusing ring to focus manually (* this is not entirely true, I want to manual focus in video not letting the lens to find focus so for the Nikkor 16-35 I still might have switched the lens to fully manual when shooting video).

If I left AF-S in focus priority, the default, it wouldn't happen as I wouldn't be able to fire the shutter if the focus can't be locked.  Alas, I changed it to AF-S release priority so shutter fire even when focus is not locked.

Lesson learned.  Always double and triple check your settings.

Dragon girl (drachenmadchen) Full Martial Arts School Documentary

PC, virus, anti-virus

I proclaim I enjoy living dangerously devoid of any anti virus program.  The truth is even I don't make mistakes clicking and installing crap, somebody else will.   And sometimes I do have the honor to take care of this nasty business.  Nobody would admit he makes any mistakes and in the end it's all a mystery.  How it happened nobody knows.

When it comes to PC, there is Windows defense, firewall and a whole boat load of third party software that are supposed to protect you from yourself and all the nasties from others.  In general I have a deep mistrust of those software, it's like you have the potential of actually installing some crap claiming to protect you from other crap.  I really don't know what or who to trust.  I am just happy whatever security measures that come with Windows and have them turned on.

But in the end, some how, someone is going to install, to click Ok despite repeated warnings because he just needs to play that game.

Then the whole wireless network comes crashing down.

Auto Glass Claim Experience

I use Gekko as my auto insurance.  I am just too lazy to find out what's out there from others.  I don't need all the hassles just so I can save perhaps a few dollars or a few thousand dollars.  I am too lazy to do that.

Even Gekko lists a 1-800 number for glass claim but when I called it just directs me to download the mobile app.  From there you just do your claim on your mobile.  I don't think you can even do it on their website.  If you are inept with apps, mobile phone or in general techno averse, good luck with that.  I don't think you can even file a glass claim over the phone.  It seems to me Gekko even does away the call center at least for glass claims.  I remember I used to call them.

The world just keeps moving on.

Cinema Mount Mark II audio cable extension

I asked support about the audio cable extension.

Specifically, I asked does it serve the purpose of the RODE SC7 or SC4 cable.  Their answer is an unequivocal yes.  I can use the supplied cable for that.
So I bought the RODE VideoMicro without buying the TRS to TRRS cable.
And you know what it does NOT work.  Apparently the male of the cable is TRRS but the female is not a TRS to TRRS receptacle.  Or that's just a faulty cable or they don't know what they are talking about.  A disappointment for sure.  I was hoping to use the iPhone and the Rode VideoMicro to shoot something tomorrow now I just can't even the eBay seller promptly shipped the order so I can receive it on time.  Alas, I'd have to shoot the Rode with my D810 for still and video now.

PS:  Now I suspect the audio extension cable is really just an extension for TRRS to TRRS only.  Why?  Because the mount is kind of blocked it needs a rather slim jack without the bulk so as to plug the jack in, if the TRRS is any bigger it won't be able to properly plugged in.

UPDATE:
9/15/2016
I ordered the RODE SC7 TRS to TRRS patch cable.  And it works with the iPhone with or without the extension cable supplied with the Cinema Mount Mark II audio extension cable.  Like I expected you really need to use the extension cable as the opening is kind of small and even if you don't run the SC7 through the hold you can't mount the iPhone flat on the mount as like I said it's more like an enclosure and there is just no front room to accommodate the budge of the SC7 plug.  So again, the provided audio extension cable is just like what its name says it is an extension cable of TRRS to TRRS.  If you were to plug in a TRS it simply won't work even you can plug in everything.

After using the setup for a few weeks.  My initial assessment still holds true.  It's quite tiring to mount the iPhone.  It's difficult to access the mic/headphone jack, lightning jack, the volume control because it's more of an enclosure.  It's troublesome when one recorded a clip and wants to listen the audio using a headphone, you simply have to remove the iPhone from the mount to unplug and plug back the jack.  The tripod mount hole is on the wrong side, it should really be underneath the lens.

All in all, even without using the Beastgrip Pro, I think it's a better design, I would like the option of tightening the grip like the cinema mount mark ii and a lower price.  I guess I can keep dreaming.

Cinema Mount Mark II, a first look

The thing with iPhone photography and videography is it is different things to different people.  Filmmaker, Sean Baker did it because of budget constraint and yet you can do it for a myriad of reasons, like you got nothing better to do with your life.

I have to say the CMM2 is pretty well built.  My point of reference is Nikon, Canon and Hasselblad kind of cameras and also the mini ball head sold on eBay shipped directly from China.  The CMM2 is definitely not as well built as the aforementioned cameras but it's head and shoulder above the almost disposable mini ball head.

That being said is the CMM2 well designed?  Well it depends.  I like certain aspects of it and I think some are just inherent to what it is, a cage, a grip, an add-on.

Part of the appeals to shoot with an iPhone is it's supposed to be convenient.  Not so much when you add a cage even the CMM2 is not gigantic.

Is it easy to mount the phone into that thing?  Not really.  I definitely need to fiddle with the vertical mount as the thing is screw-on tight with springs for tension, not just spring grab mount the phone.  Plus the clamps or jaws are on the right side not so centered.  I am a bit bothered by it.  The fact that it's screw tight gives you more confident to how unmovable and secure the phone is when mounted.  But at the same time the moves aren't exactly buttery smooth when you need to adjust the mount vertically and horizontally.  The horizontal movement is mostly for aligning the phone camera to the hole of the mounting plate.

There is a cutout on the right side of the cage to let you pass the mic cable, but it's not like fully open access.  I have the iPhone SE and it's not too easy to attach the lightning cable should you want to sit the phone flushed to the right of the cage while attaching the phone to portable power,  I mean you don't really want to anyway.  The phone is just easier to operate if it doesn't sit flushed to the right of the cage.  Because I can't and I shouldn't flush-right mount the phone to the cage, then it's quite iffy and fiddly to mount the phone correctly so it's easy to access and the lens is dead on center to the opening of the lens opening of the mounting plate.

The cold shoe is not exactly easy to mount, A quarter would be a bit too big or even a nickel to turn the screw down.  Maybe a dime would be ideal (yes, just confirmed).

The cage comes with a wide angle/macro lens attachment.  It mounts on a 37mm mounting plate which can be adjusted horizontally and vertically freely to line up with the phone's lens.  And hence the curse of too much freedom.  If you are anal about a perfect alignment you may be a bit concerned as you can only eye ball the alignment.  For the most part it works and works well enough.  The mounting plate has some play to it but then again it is not bad enough to worry about.  I mean even a Nikon mount and a mounted Nikkor can have some play to it, at least some.  If the attachment is mounted off center the image suffers that I am pretty sure as I witnessed some myself: it's off center to be bad when you watch the video but not off center to render total blackout or visible vignette to notice right away.

Even I keep referring it as a cage but it's actually quite an enclosure.  Access to the phone is sufficient but not like an cage you almost have open access to the phone mounted inside.  You can't remove the lens side of the enclosure at all meaning you can't use the grip with your own lens attachments.

The filter holder works and the blue and gray graduated filters are nice additions to the setup.  If you shoot open sky landscape it helps to bring the sky closer to the exposure of the earth or the foreground.

The mic extension is not a TRS to TRRS cord.  It's really just an extension ... I think.  It looks and feels like a quality cord.

Maybe, just maybe, the Beastgrip Pro is actually a bit better if you absolutely don't consider the price.

Cinema Mount Mark II and Beastgrip Pro

I don't know why or the etymology of "Mark II" in general.  Since when "Mark II" means version 2 or something?  The first time I saw this usage was from Canon's first most popular full frame  EOS 5D, its subsequent versions are all called Mark something.  And I take it it means version.  Nikon has its own somewhat confusing naming scheme, for its flagship models like Nikon D3 or Nikon D4, their minor upgrade or refinement naming is by appending the letter "s" at the end.  So the model looks like plural but it is not.  Any major upgrade actually merits a jump in the number, like the latest Nikon D5 is the successor of the Nikon D4.

What the heck am I talking about?

I have never used the Cinema Mount or the Beastgrip Pro.  But I am somewhat fascinated by them, enough to open this post that is and enough to place an order on the former.  It is almost an impulse buy, or not, considering I have been eyeing them for a long long time.  The actual buy is I think always impulsive.

I am quite sure Beastgrip Pro is a "better" product in the sense that it got a cooler website, better PR ... but there is always a but, the pricing is just a bit off for my taste and wallet.  I actually saw the Cinema Mount in the wild some time ago and its owner seemed quite happy with it.  Currently the Beastgrip Pro is asking for close to $170 for the cage and a wide angle lens while the Cinema Mount Mark II is fetching for less than $90 with a wide angle lens, a filter holder and 2 graduated ND filters which I am a sucker of I think, and some other goodies like an mic extension cord (I think it's more than just an extension, it probably allows regular mic jack to be plugged to the headphone jack of an iPhone but I can't be sure) and lens mount unscrew thingy ... YouTube reviews on the Cinema Mount Mark II are almost non-existent except for 3 or actually 2 because one is just a duplicate of another.  You know one thing always leads to another.  The holy grail of lens adapter for iPhone is the Moondog lab anamorphic lens adapter which sells for $175.  Then you need to have some software to actually edit the footage like Final Cut Pro X which costs like $300 ...

The friendly web page with user friendly spelling just seals the deal for me.


UPDATE:
8/21/2017
A couple of weeks, I read from Beastgrip's website, they successfully barred Cinema Mount from selling in the US.  I can confirm that I can find them on Amazon but it says not available.  So Beastgrip is pulling in its weight enforcing its patent.

Nikon D700 and D810

Again if you look for scientific analysis this is not the place.  The below is a matter of opinion from an amateur shooter.

AF-C is important to me, I want fast accurate focus tracking.  On paper the D810 seems or actually states that it is using the same AF as the D4, which I assume is superb.  I don't own a D4 or D4s, but being a flagship or the last flagship camera, I can just assume it's superb, right?

My experience with the D810 is that, the AF is accurate but AF tracking is not so hot.  In comparison, the D700 seems track better at least when I am using the D9 or dynamic 9 points at shutter priority.  I tried the Group Focus in D810 and it isn't that hot either.  The D700 files just look sharper, cleaner and more in focus in most of the time than the D810.  It's not that I don't have any good files from the D810 but there is something about the D700 that I like.  The files are smaller, the processing time is shorter, images look sharper from NEF to JPEG ...

Again further shooting is needed to re judge the camera.

I got the D700 in early 2015 and the D810 in early 2016.  The same AF-S 70-200 VR is mounted.

iPhone videography . . .

I found it quite strange and unusual that I could not find anywhere a comparison between the Cinema Mount and the Beastgrip Pro mount for mobile phones.  I just couldn't find any comparison between the two.

The moondog labs seem to be the only company that manufactures an anamorphic lens or adapter for the iPhone.  Yet I couldn't find a review or in depth review of the quality of the lens.  Most would say it's a good lens but how about corner sharpness, close focusing, color fringing and the like?  There seems to be quite a number of versions now, mainly for different models of iPhones, for different cases, or grips.  Or the 37mm thread version which should fit most of the 37mm mounting plate out there.  However it defeats its somewhat universal mounting purpose when one actually has to buy a 37mm mounting plate for the BeastGrip Pro mount.  That's a bit strange to me.  Again I could not find any review on that.  Or why it couldn't use the generic lens mounting plate that comes with the BeastGrip Pro other than my obvious guess, it doesn't fit or fit as well as the specially made mounting plate for the Moondog Labs anamorphic lens adapter.

On top of that, I also wonder how does a 37mm thread anamorphic lens align?  For the clip on or lock on version I can understand.  It's so machined that the horizontal is aligned properly.  But if you were to screw on an adapter chances are you do have to fine tune the horizontal alignment separate from the screw mount.

I just wish Moondog Labs would do a better job explaining all these.  They do a pretty decent job explaining the de-squeezing part though.

I personally own an Optex 1.33 anamorphic adapter.  It's impossible to focus in most cases and the edges are all fuzzy.  For the most part if you are into arty stuff or don't care about sharpness, it could be perfectly fine.



 

Untitled

Sign of being a failure

You taking the same intro course over and over again.  As you simply couldn't finish what you started.  It's like a bad dream or an infinite loop you can't wake up from or get out.  You need a hard reset but you are hesitant to do it.

If you don't make the choice, somebody will make it for you.  It probably doesn't make any difference.  Or it probably does.  But in the end everybody dies so it doesn't really matter.

Untitled

There is some advantage of being such a failure.

You don't get to wake up in the middle of the night thinking that you are such a fraud.  That never happened to me.

AF and MF

Minolta may not be the first manufacturer that does auto focus but that's the company I remember them of in the late 80s.

As an amateur I shot color negative and had them developed in 3R, or 3x2" prints.  For the longest time, that's how I judged my pictures.

You asked your subjects to remain still before you pressed the shutter release button.  Rarely, if at all, did I shoot any moving subjects because you and your subjects should remain stationary when taking pictures, that's just a given.  Auto focus was not even germane to what or how I shot.  A focusing screen with split, micro prism, and the ground glass is all I need.  The choice is just whether is a horizontal or a 45 degree split.  Actually it wasn't much of a choice.  My first Ricoh came with a 45 degree split while Nikon came with a horizontal split focusing screen.

My first auto focus camera was the Nikon F5, a camera imported from the future, as proclaimed by their marketing folks.  F5 was supposed to have the latest and greatest AF, at least that's what I was led to believe.  But through out almost its entire life I never put it to the test; I was using my old manual focus lenses and years later when I shot with my first AF lens, the 24-85 f/2.8~4, it was never ever for any action photographs anyway.

In short, I have never shot any action using a manual focus lens.

I am sure it can be done.  Maybe just not by me?

I guess what I am trying to write is for the sake of "money saving" does it make sense to buy a MF lens to shoot action?

I have been using my 80-200 f/2.8 and beginning last year the 70-200 f/2.8 VR for the majority of my action shots.  I almost use AF-C and 9 points exclusively.

My longest lens is the MF 300mm f/4.5 which I used a handful of times and maybe once on the velodrome.  I like the color rendition.  I did have one shot that I quite like, not the kind of fast action shot.  But definitely not stationary, it's in focus and has the emotion pull of the moment.  The 300mm on a DX sensor seems longish but on a FX sensor well not that long.  It's subjective but if I am going to get a tele photo lens, it's going to be at least 400mm.

Ethics in Photojournalism

http://web.mit.edu/drb/Public/PhotoThesis/

Last year, I was at Red Hook.  There was an accident.  A rider crashed.  I took a few pictures of it.  A bystander said "Come on man!" to express his disapproval, I guess.

There were designated volunteers and EMS on scene for incidents like that.

6 Days of Kissena, Day 3 Ladies' Day

iMovie and File Format

I use iMovie because predictably it's "free" if you own or have access to a Mac.  Arguably it's an easier to use video editing software and relatively stable.  I used a bunch of Linux video editing software and they just crashed and burnt every few minutes.

Here is the biggest discovery ever for me.

I notice iMovie actually lags when editing, that's it stutters as I try to edit the footage or video clips.  That prompted me to try out Final Cut Pro X and the problem went away, seemingly.  After my FCPX expired after the one-month trial period, I was hard pressed to pay $300 to own a working copy.  I mean if you make money out of it, it seems like a bargain.  I am going to spare my thoughts on this.

After some Google searches, I think I found out why the stuttering.  I think it has to do with the source file format.

In FCPX, I edit the MOV files directly from my Nikon D7000, as I can de-squeeze my anamorphic footage in FCPX without changing the file format first.  I don't remember if I ever used HandBrake to un-squeeze and then edit in FCPX and if so did it show any lagging at all.

iMovie doesn't allow me to un-squeeze the footage while editing.  So I used HandBrake to un-squeeze the footage to 2.35:1 and along the way I think I compressed the file quite a lot.  And I think hence the difficulty of iMovie when editing.  I am assuming iMovie has trouble editing "highly" ompressed mp4 files.  The file was changed to mpeg4 in mp4.

I now de-squeeze files in H.264 (default mpeg4) in mp4 and retain a higher bit rate at 8000kb/s (default is 1000).  When I edit them in  iMovie, it doesn't lag anymore.

A word of caution:  I really don't know for sure, just want to share my experience.  When it becomes technical stuff which video editing is, I just test it out to see what works or works better without spending tons of money or time reading up.

Also, I use a Nikon hack to increase the recording bit rate at I think 65mbps in 1080p at 24fps.  I am sure along the way when I use HandBrake to de-squeeze a lot of data are lost.  Still when editing the stutter goes away.

Flash Sync, Again

The thing with flash sync is you know about it and sometimes you just have to ignore it.

I was shooting the velodrome again this past Sunday and I would just like to shoot some back light fill flash using my Nikkor 16-35 f/4 to mix things up a bit.

exif tells me the above were shot at f/9, 1/500 and f/8, 1/640.  I probably used 1/8 of the power of the Sunpak 120J.  The max sync of the D700 is at 1/250s but since the ambient was so bright  there were no noticeable black half frame to speak of.  The riders were riding fast and close, 1/640 can barely stop the action.  The subject was about 10 feet away so the motion blur was not too obvious unless viewed at 100%.  Maybe I have to shoot at 1/800 of a second?  I routinely shoot at 1/1000 of a second just so I am sure I got clean shots.

Flash Sync

Just when I thought I have it down like long time ago, I got confused again, none other than from Nikon USA, or in this case Dave Black or the editor or both of them. http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/article/huceaq1c/using-auto-fp-high-speed-sync-to-illuminate-fast-sports-action.html

My understanding (mind you, I always got things wrong) is Auto FP doesn't stop fast action.  Auto FP provides pulses of light continuously for the duration of the shutter staying open.  Essentially FP sync is like sunlight or continuous lighting.

Apparently Dave Black's article kind of implies or states that FP high speed sync stops action or has to do with shooting actions.  I know it says illuminate fast sports action.  FP high speed, in my mind, has to do with using a bigger aperture, the fact that it uses a high speed is just incidental and not an end as to stop action.  Because it can't.  Of course, Dave Black proves otherwise or so it seems.

So once again, I am confused.

Since I am pretty much a desktop photographer, I can't be or won't be testing what I read.

Here is another article on the topic, the guy is apparently a genius.

http://www.scantips.com/lights/flashbasics2b.html

The Mermaid (2016)

I am surprised and delighted that The Mermaid is played in theaters in New York City.  I have been a Chow's fan since I discovered his brand of comedy many years ago.  Back then as there was only video tape and I wasn't especially well off or well connected so I only saw his works haphazardly.  On the occasions I saw his movies or some snippets or episodes of his TV series, I thoroughly enjoyed them.  Chow always plays this beloved underdog who despite or because of his non sensical non sequitur acts and his utter disregard to the absurd and seemingly insurmountable reality, always overcomes.

 Then one day Chow appeared on the cover of the Sunday New York Times magazine.  If I remember correctly it was a fashion issue.  He was doing a mid air split or something next to a lamp post, a silly pose, I think.  That should be around the time of Shaolin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle, two of my favorites that kind of established him somewhat in the consciousness of Hollywood.  More importantly and reassuringly, Chow proves that he can make great dramatic comedy with Hong Kong production in his rear view mirror with much of his comedic integrity intact though I can see that Chow is shedding most of his witty nonsensical Cantonese dialogues that define and catapult his career early on, in favor of more action and better production which translate better in cinema worldwide.

The Mermaid or Mei Ren Yu (2016) is a Chow's film without Chow in front of the camera.  Things certainly won't be the same without Chow being front and center on everything.  With Mei, Chow has crossed the line of being stupendously silly to being incoherently stupid.  It used to be that the audience does the laughing, may that be something Chow or his crew says or does while he and his crew appear totally oblivious to the plight and absurdity of their situation.  Mei is just the opposite, often times, the comedy is heavy-handed and the only persons laughing are the self-aware actors themselves, it feels so forced.   I can see Chow tries to add production value so as to appear Hollywood or something (there is indeed a 3D version) but both the production and special effects just fall flat.  Nobody goes to see a Chow's movie for its special effects or production value so what if they are sub-par compared to Hollywood's?  It wouldn't matter one iota if the comedy holds up.  Alas, this isn't the case.

Perhaps the opening scene in which a group of tourists visit a museum best encapsulates the entire movie as envisioned by the director and experienced by me--the tourists, surrogate for the audience, visit a so-called museum only to discover that the exhibits are mere props and scams so the unscrupulous curator can turn a dime on the gullible and the unsuspected.  Chow's tourists laugh and jeer at the exhibits with gusto as while me in the real audience find the material hardly amusing.

I heard the movie is doing well in China and in Asia in general.  So what do I know?

Bellman CX-25P

I haven't mastered this gadget, maybe I never will.  It's just a fun contraption to make some strong coffee.  I've seen video on YouTube somewhat detailing what's the correct way to brew coffee out of this thingy but so far I am not able to replicate the result.  Perhaps it's my desire to do it my own way or my pure death instinct or my disability to follow any instructions.  The end result is the same.  The coffee doesn't come out right, too dark too bitter, too much sputtering.  For everyday coffee consumption I still use the no frill IKEA espresso pot which turns out to be very quick, very reliable despite the fact that the lid kind of falling apart from day one.  The milk frothing wand on the Bellman is a newer design with two nozzles but I could never get the milk frothed right.  On the other hand, again my IKEA battery frothing wand works pretty well as long as you got yourself a straight one.  I have another one that's ever slightly bended and it simply doesn't work all that well at all.

Regarding after sales, this Bellman is manufactured in Taiwan, I guess based on some old Italian make some time ago.  It's distributed by some Ng company in America.  I once wrote to them about the little pressure gauge and they never bother to write me back.  So I say lousy or questionable after sales service.

Cleaning is a bit involved with the Bellman as there are simply more parts to dissemble.  And because of the gauge, the handle, the top, the frothing wand, all the protruding parts, it's a bit hard to put on any dish rack to let it hang or sit dry, plus even if you were to flip the body upside down you won't be able to drip the water down because the design of the top opening.  But this doesn't bother me too much as I never ever bother to thoroughly clean the contraption, I just rinse it and all its parts with warm water.  Sometimes I don't get why people tend to clean everything with detergent, I mean is it oily or greasy?  No.  Any oil is coffee oil so I wouldn't bother to scrub or clean it with detergent at all.

Time to revisit YouTube again.

Ruby on Rails

Problem installing Rails.  Well what else is new?  Right?

Thankfully, there is no new problem under the sun.  At least not the kind of problems I encounter, definitely not the cutting edge type.

This website saves me.

http://www.ericluwj.com/2015/10/29/installing-ruby-on-rails-on-osx.html

gem install nokogiri -- --with-xml2-include=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk/usr/include/libxml2 --use-system-libraries

The El Capitan section is what resolves my issue:- Rails is not installing because some libxml2 issues.  My problem solving skill is pretty much cook book recipe approach.  I don't know why it works but it works.

Carnegie

The Return of the Bomber Jacket

Sometimes, things just happen.  Like the "return" of the bomber jacket.  I think this can count as the most ubiquitous item of this season.  (The jacket has never ever left us, it's just that it has become a fad by the fashionistas since I don't know when).

You can't go out without seeing a bomber jacket these days.  People tend to wear it oversized instead of fitted.

This is more of a bomber parka than a jacket.

I discovered the bomber jacket when I was in college.  I remember seeing plenty of them in Canal Jeans in downtown Manhattan.  The jacket is always reasonably priced in the mid $40s.  Not many people can afford the fur lined Gucci slippers to be on trend but a $45 jacket, you bet.

NYFW F/W 2016

When it's freezing cold, it's New York Fashion Week.

Macports, ImageMagick, GIMP

None of them is working.  So I am screwed.  The problem or my problem is I don't know half of what I am doing so it's extremely hard to fix any problems should they arise and arise they always do.  I have a feeling that because of the Xcodes update, something is broken.  It's going to be tough to fix them, at least for me.

In case there are some wizards out there, please let me know.

UPDATE:
I first discovered this problem when I tried to use Imagemagick to run watermark on my pictures.  Alas, it didn't work, so I thought it was the PATH variable.  And I guess it was.  Then I found out GIMP wasn't working.  Then I thought maybe it's the macports that wasn't working.

Finally, it was the macports.  And once I fixed the macports, everything works again, so far.  I don't know why but it's true the PATH was screwed up.

Anyway, once I put back the PATH both ImageMagick and GIMP start working again.

export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH

UPDATE:
I probably changed the ~/.bash_profile inadvertently.  So I need to add and save this line back to the file so it sticks.

back to business.

Big Camera

I should have written it last year.  Or maybe I have already?  Last year was actually worse with stronger wind and all.

When I am shooting in the cold, finger numbing, frost biting cold, close to 0 F cold.  I want to have a big freaking camera with big freaking controls.

Last year I thought I was going to lose my fingers when I was out shooting in the cold for hours.

Today I put on two layers of gloves.  And I wish my D700 was bigger.  I can barely feel my shutter release button.

Today I had a change of shooting MO, instead of going for my 80-200 or 70-200, I opted for the 16-35, went wide and wild.  It definitely is different.  I want to travel light so I brought the SB-600 instead of the relatively massive Sunpak 120J and power pack.  Of course everything is a trade-off.  With the powerpack, the Sunpak can shoot fast without any major lag in recycle time especially all I need is 1/8 of the power.  Not so with the SB-600.  The battery powered SB-600 can't quite keep up with the continuous shooting.  To be fair I don't think the Sunpak can either if it's powered by AA batteries.  I am glad I brought my Nikkor 16-35 f/4 instead of the 20-35 f/2.8 as the aperture blades of the latter would most likely to stick given the Antarctica like temperature.

Highlight of the Day

I got off work a bit later than usual.

When I got on the subway platform, I think I saw Alexa Chung in her golden slip-ons walking in my direction.  I don't know how I think I know it's her.  But I am pretty sure it was her.  I don't get to see fancy slip-ons like that every day.  The loafers practically light up the whole dreary subway platform and the subway car.  It was a week or so after the blizzard and the streets are pretty slushy but her shoes look practically new unmolested by the black snow, urban gravy or the likes.

I was too much of a chicken or got too much misplaced pride or too much self control to say Hello.

Then the other day I bumped into the quite possibly the most prodigious rock climber ever, Ashima Shirashi.  She was very petite and quite easily disappeared in the car.  I tried to look at her fingers and feet to see if they are extraordinary in any way.  I guess they aren't or they are.  I am no expert.  She was accompanied by her dad.  I read her profile on the New York Times quite some time ago and then now "all of a sudden" she is every where.  The New Yorker did a profile on her just a month or so ago.

Airdrop and random thoughts

This is really a random update.

After some incremental updates on both the MBP OS X and iPhone iOS.  I think I am on their latest.  I find the once iffy Airdrop works remarkably well now.  It simply drops and receives.  And I am happy to report that.

My iPhone5s is always out of space.  I hate to do housekeeping like that.  I think my next iPhone will have the biggest capacity available, currently at 64GB.  I will probably use it as for phoneography to realize my childhood dream of shooting moving images.  Probably want to get a beast grip and the moondog anamorphic adapter.  The Optex anamorphic adapter is too dreamy (read fuzzy and soft and out of focus) for some application.  Maybe comes March or early April.  I don't need another DSLR, do I?

Blizzard2016 New York City

Flash Bracket

I own a CB mini flash bracket, the original edition.  It's reasonable good.  It's handy and works pretty much flawlessly.  I wish it comes with some anti-twisting mechanism but it is like an add-on which is as expensive as it's rare for a tiny piece of aluminum.  I believe they have a newer version that has some integrated anti twist built-in.

I have some success mounting my biggie Sunpak 120J on it.  Though the mini ball head that I bought with it isn't liking the stress and weight that much and it's losing its grip ...

I think for the quality of the light, a top mounted flash should be better but I am just happy the flash is mounted on the side.  The bracket only allows flash mounted on the right of the camera with lens pointing out to subject; plus I use a motor drive for the D700 so mounting on the right is really the only right way.  But I think there is a time when mounting on the left makes a little bit more sense photographically speaking, that's when the subject is moving from right to left.




Well maybe it doesn't make a huge difference if the scene is not too dark.  Sunpak 120J hot wired synced with D700.  No it didn't fire the camera at all.

Deer Park Trip 2016

Shot at 1080p with the Optex 1.33X anamorphic adapter.  De-squeezed using HandBrakeCLI, Edited using iMovie.

The camera is the Nikon D7000 and the lens is the Nikkor 28mm f/2 AIS.  I attached the Optex to the Nikkor via a 52-58 step up ring.  The Nikkor has a 52mm filter thread while the Optex has a 58mm.  The 28mm seems to be the "sharpest" when used with the Optex.  Sharp is a relative term here.  I don't think I will ever get a sharp image from the Optex.  The minimum focusing distance is life at least 10 feet away.  The Optex does not come with any front filter thread so to attach a diopter is not a straight forward thing.

If you think sharpness is grossly overrated and value a wider format then Optex anamorphic maybe just for you.

Video Mystery

Every few years or so I will circle back and try to understand video.  Then I give up.

I still use my D7000 for video capture.  It can shoot at 1080p at 24fps or 720p at 30fps.  Now your experience maybe different from mine.  If I were to shoot static scenes then I guess it doesn't make any difference.  But if I were to shoot cycling on the velodrome, I find the footage has too much shudder or stutter.  The stutter is subtle and has nothing to do the playing machine or software being not optimized or being inferior to play video full HD.  I think the shudder has to do with the capture the way it's recorded in the D7000.  I think at 1080p and 24fps the shudder is pretty insufferable for action shots.  At 720p and 30fps, it seems like it's better, the motion is a bit smoother.

I set shutter at 1/50s for 24fps and 1/60s for 30fps.

Again this whole write up is not scientific or anything.

I think about bit rate and I read the D7000 captures at 20mbps and I guess it's not very good if you want to grade your video in post or when the scene is dark or when you are shooting moving subjects, that's the frame is quite different from each other.

Lucky me, D7000 can be hacked to increase the bit rate to some ~64mbps,  I proceeded to downgrade the firmware to 1.03 and patch it from the Nikon hackers.  The thing is I don't know what I lose by downgrading the firmware--probably lost the lens data from jpeg correction and I don't know what I gain on my video--other than the file would be bigger and I can't even play back the high bit rate video on the camera.

So I am able to shoot at 1080p at 24fps and at higher bit rate like 64mbps.

I am able to play the footage on my MBP but I don't think I see any noticeable improvement on how smooth the action become, like when a cyclist goes by.  Perhaps there is some but I really can't tell for sure.

When the video is shot with the the Optex 1.33 anamorphic adapter, then I use Handbrake to de-squeeze it so it can play at 2554 x 1080.  Then I notice when after the desqueeze the bit rate goes to 1 or 2 mbps no matter what my footage bit rate was.  I read somewhat about it but I could not fully understand it, well that's expected.  I think if the scenes or frames have a lot of changes then the bit rate would rise to capture the changes otherwise there is really no need to increase the bit rate.  Again I don't see any significant degrading in the video in particular motion scenes.

Now the raw footage is desqueezed then I proceed to use iMovie to whip up some project and use share to create a new high quality video like with titles and sound track.

And surprise, even with the above 1 or 2 mbps footage the final video can have a bit rate more than that.  So I am perplexed.  I thought you can't have what you don't have to begin with.  If the footage is only 1.2mbps how could the final video has a bit rate in the 10.

D7000 file.MOV at 1080p 24fps 64mbps -->Handbrake --> file.mp4 1080p 24fps 1.5mbps   ---> iMovie file.mp4 1080p 24fps 10mbps

What I want is just smooth action video.  Why so hard with D7000?

Again video is a major mystery to me.