Frozen...

A busy week just passed. Busy in the sense of chasing around for your needs and never find a match. Not much to be with my camera (on a vacation from that remember?) and not much to be done with my Ayvarith project and voice recording, only roam, roam, roam...
I've been moving like a bee from one electronics shop to another looking for two things: A shower heater, and a PC terminal head. The former for my bathroom of course, 'cause I'm no Eskimo with the central boiler turned off, and the latter was for my sound trigger circuit, which arrived two weeks ago and never got the chance to work with it because I didn't have the head (they didn't send it along with it) to connect it to my flash. However, I went around that in some primitive way.

Wanted. Cut or a whole.
PC Terminal head (connected to a hotshoe).
Source (B&H)

Monday. Been moving from one store to another looking for a wire with such a head or just the head (better), but all of that went null, except that in one shop specialized in photography tools and lighting equipments had some adapters that I've been looking for in a long time; adapters to fit the small screw of my tripod into the larger hole size of my VR-head. They weren't cheap too! I didn't find though the device that I want, a shower heater. It's common outside, but not in here. I think it is the fantastic solution for the boiler's problem in many houses here, also, it saves energy.
The next day, Tuesday, I went even to the local Canon's (not Shannon, not Conan) store here looking for such a wire. Something I was trying to avoid to do from the beginning because I know the average of prices in such stores. However, the result was null, again. Not only that, but the guy there didn't even realize there is such a cable! Now, being desperate to try my new toy, I decided to do it the manual (unprofessional) way. Well, like I am professional already? All what I wanted to see is if this thing works or not!

At home now, with a sleeping time that got screwed up before my tired dead-body. I don't know even how I'm typing this! Anyway, woke up like 3 hours before midnight, and without a dinner or anything decided to raise up and do my experiment with the sound trigger without the head itself. I've decided to connect the wires from the circuit to the flash directly without a head, simply by plugging the wires into the port or the plug point of the flash unit. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of that setting...

PC terminal plug point at the bottom (2 concentric circles)

It was simply but delicate; the positive (red) wire goes inside the small circle, while the ground (black), with the help of a clip, attached to the outer circle. I was afraid that they would touch and make a short in the middle of my work, but all went fine. Once I connected the wires, the baby started to shoot randomly at my face turning me partially blind. I had to decrease the sensitivity at once!

SK2 or Sound trigger circuit, from Hiviz. Connection wire to the flash unit not assembled here.
Source (Hiviz)

Finding out that the circuit works indeed, does not mean my life will become easier now. The hardships just began in fact. In the darkness I was trying hard to find my way and to set the focus from the right angle and with the right zoom, and after each failing trial I had to collect the coins. Yes, coins. I didn't want to use water here because it is an old idea AND it would make a mess in the place. Coins were better for my situation here. However, after many trials and errors; ups and downs and fixing the power and the angle of the flash, I think I did something suitable (even though it got rejected from some stock sites for noise level, as it was shot in ISO400)...

Savings

Some friends suggested that I would clone some coins out to fill in the gap in the middle, as the slide of the coins from my hand was not smoothly done. It is a good idea but I think it might make a repetitive pattern, which I'm trying to avoid most of the time (exceptions: architectural or landscape, where it occurs naturally). Another thing was sort of annoying me here is the flare reflection from the edge of the jar as I was not using a diffuser (and the flash was set to 1/128). With the image above, such settings were modified by RAW editor and later on with some extra layers in Photoshop with dodge and burn techniques (and faux dynamic range increment). The problem is, if the flash was to be hitting on the front, the background (black paper) would turn bluish! It would be awesome if I can, instead of triggering a flash, use some normal light bulbs on light stands (desktop lamps or the like). I bet there is a way, but I'm never good with electronics! Just thinking about it now, seems all what I have to do is bring a desk lamp and instead of having to switch it on, I plug in this circuit as a switch. Well, this is the idea in my mind but seems it's not quite the right thing to do...
However, with this capability, new ideas are flowing in my mind. Damn, I just can't control thinking about it even after the "break" that I was planning for myself.

Finished reading one book already. The fastest read so far. It's the Freelance Photographer's Handbook, by Cliff and Nancy Hollenbeck.

I've wrote a review for it on Amazon, and generally I think the book is good, and tough as well. The authors want you to be professional, and that means no DIY stuff or anything like that. Well, I like such stuff!!! Anyway, it is quite the book for beginners and discusses many issues related to the freelance photographer in various aspects, even personal manners and attitude, up to laws and regulations. Maybe most of the talk would be in the circle of the American law, but nevertheless, it is useful to know about such steps and regulations in advance. Who knows; I might have my own business one day? Hmm...
Now the work is on reading the other portraits book which I got from Amazon as well, beside some other book lying at home on my bed waiting to be read!

Time ticks slowly now, and my mind is busy, while the work is piling up. Can I see that someone one day? I think I'm losing my connection with this world...

I need to write more poetry...

Nemo Audit...

Trying to pour all the jam of anger and despair about the stupidity of this life in some words. I call them, words of wisdom. For this, I've decided to make a document file into WDC, and there, I type all the foolish words in some sarcastic way, just to try to mock my life and have a laughter, at myself. The document will be edited and added to every time I think of something. Since it is about life, it has a bit of "adult" terms, let's say. Thus, I won't recommend reading it for someone under 18 years of age, even though I know, children of today cuss and swear more than I do in my leisure time. But oh well, just to be honest.
I'm trying to squeeze my brain even more to write something new, after all the turmoil at home itself. Sometimes, you do feel that you speak a completely different language that no one understands except of you alone. I think the frustration is on increase and hitting hard on chords of melancholy and daydreaming. Music don't stop. I don't allow it to stop. I want to just rock my world away. Maybe in my daydreams people do understand me a bit? Maybe.... I was almost gone into some accident today as I was driving because I was completely absent. I don't remember my thoughts though. It's dark, in bright daylight. Nemo audit, nemo videt, nemo considerat.

However, finally, my stuff are here! It took around 2 weeks of waiting (and lot of payments) to get these stuff here. I'm still in the process of trying those things, and my progress is slow so far. I want to do it slowly because writing a review for these things is important, for me at least. I'd say, I enjoy being honest!

Some stuff I've ordered (top to bottom): Adapter ring for Cokin filters 52mm, 

Canon backpack, Tamron 70-300mm macro lens, Velbon Panhead.

And beside these, there are the two 8x ND filters from Cokin, and a cap for one of my lenses (in place of the one I lost in Ireland for my 18-55mm). The test for the ND filter will require some work though. I have now 3 of 8x ND filters (each one of them reduces the light by -3EV, totaling then -9EV), and I want to test this in some moon photography, hence, I need some time to think how to do this thing. I do wish for a star trail photography but this needs to be in some isolated place, far far away. The Velbon panhead (or tripod head) is for my monopod mainly but seems I will try to use it on my tripod as well. The head has its topmost piece that attaches itself to the camera, detachable. In other words, it's a click-system, where you can attach the camera to this piece and lock it to the head and whenever you want to remove the camera for a handheld shot, you just need to click a button and there you go. Useful for an old tripod like mine I guess! Besides, they provided also something I was looking for in a long time now; a converting screw, which makes a small screw fit into a larger hole. This head, I believe, will solve much of my problems with tripods. Only thing left here is to try and make the monopod more stable when using its 3 small legs, somehow.

I'm trying also to do more test with the new Tamron macro tele-lens (70-300mm). It is decisive somewhat and I need to get used to the way it works and focuses on objects. Of course, tripods or monopods or anything to make this ting stable is a must here, also a flash. Could be useful to get nice image of the eyes of some sort. Lot of ideas for the time being but I'm not sure I will be able to do them all. However, once I got it, I went on shooting randomly, handheld, like a mobster. One of the shots, so far, was good but maybe not to the level I want it, generally because the image was dark.

My niece

This shot actually was taken while I was standing somehow far from my niece, a toddler, and took it without any flash at around f5.6, and at ISO800. Despite the settings, the image was sort of dark. It was quite a normal and regular shot so I tried to add life to it somehow by doing what you see here; a black and white image with a colored eye (with some effects on it a bit). I wonder though if the distance was closer than it was, would I get an interesting shot for the eye again? I'm not quite sure. The macro lens makes me feel I'm using a regular telephoto lens but with some extended range! I will have to read the specifications paper again there might be some tips I'm missing. There was also another trial to catch my "tartaloza"; my metallic turtle that I keep coins in. This time, and with a monopod again, it was sort of hard to stabilize. The longer the focal length is, the more sensitive your picture will be to any shake.

Tartaloza

I used here f32, which means a longer shutter speed (or time), in a dark room with a desk lamp concentrating the light on tartaloza. I've put the monopod around one meter away from the subject here as it is the optimum distance for doing a macro with this telephoto lens (as mentioned in the specifications paper and on the lens body itself generally). The main part of the face was sharp but the rest was gone under blurring effect like if I was using a larger aperture. I have to check the Hyperfocal distance principle again here.

I have to post this now and, get lost with my music. The only thing I can talk to right now...