Warrior…

Blah. I guess after posting using an external text editor and then pasting it here didn't come out well last time. So, I'm back to typing the blog directly in the page and let's hope no fuss this time!
I've been trying to keep myself busy to some extent here, despite the tiresome body. The weather is getting warmer (some rains and winds though) and insects are showing more frequently than before (and THAT is not a good sign!). On the other hand, I also got a new toy, which I will try to talk about along with its usage in capturing one of the photos last week. But before heading there, let's talk about some News maybe?

Relapse

I think I've stated in my previous post that I'm going to participate (or actually did participate already that time) in Trierenberg's Circuit (or Austria's International Photocontest), and I'm going to list some of the images that I've uploaded for the contest at the end of this post.
On another note, I'm back to YouPic; A social media website for photographers (supposedly) which I've been part of for a short period of time 2 or 3 years ago but deleted my account then. Now, after quitting Instagram for almost a year (will be a year in July) and being chased by Flickr with deletion of more than 1000 images as per their new policy, I felt now the need to get some new outlet. Thus, I've turned back to YouPic.

I'm not sure what was the reason back then for deleting my own account, but I think I was focusing on simplifying my life (and still) and I didn't want to waste so much time moving like a bee from one website to another, and thus I've deleted this account along with my account on 500px back then. Now, 500px might be a destination again but not for the time being really.
Things with YouPic were smooth in the beginning. I've used to upload from two to three images per day, but then suddenly things started to get nasty out of no where, and I have to wait for 11-12 hours after each upload. Yes, half a day! This is, of course, to push people to get the Premium (paid) account, but I'm taking it slow. I'm not ready to pay for such websites yet. I think beside the time period limitation (which is way too exaggerated I think) - I do think that they also control the publicity of the photos you upload to the website; Meaning, if you are a Premium member, then yourr photos are more easily exposed and propagated through the platform, while in case you are not (like me) then you have to rely on luck big time. On the other hand, it also has ventures to see other people's photography and styles, which I will be amusing myself with when bored I guess or when I really need some aspiration to continue with my camera. Let's hope this trend lasts a while with me though.

Retinital Warrior

Well, for a starter, I made this term up myself. There is no such thing as "retinital" in the dictionary. Anyway as the month of February went by, I didn't get the chance to do any shot reflecting on Retinitis Pigmentosa. However, I was still on the trail and had some ideas at the back of my head despite being in March already and after the failure of my very first idea. Like my first idea (no need to explain it here really), this new idea involves working with the blind-cane as well.

Retinital Warrior
Sigma 12-24mm @12mm, f/4.5, 250^-1s, ISO100.

I have to admit though that I procrastinated so much with this project, and eventually I've done it in a sleepless night in the middle of the week, waiting to go to work in the morning! Anyway, back to the technical details here.

As you can see above, the lens used here is not a typical portraiture lens, but more like a landscape lens, the same Sigma that I've talked about some weeks ago in doing a one-camera-one-lens challenge with myself, around my workplace. I'm trying to get it into action further here. The thing is, I was forced to use such a lens because of the size of the room I was working in and the limited space. I had some struggles with the angle and the focal length actually but then decided not to waste any time and just do some cleaning later on in Photoshop when required. Focusing on the perspective, you can tell that various body parts are not exactly in the correct proportions, but I think this adds to the drama as well, and it's fine with me.

Oval diffuser for speedlites from Impact.

Since it was a dramatic shot, I've pulled my eagerness back a little for using multiple speedlites here and used only one, on the lane of low-key, so to say. After some struggle with the location of the speedlite, I've placed it on a small bedside table with an oval diffuser (which by now became one of my favorite light modifiers!). Beside using one light, I've kept the power low; Lower than I usually do with my selfies. This is to keep the dark aspect or atmosphere (otherwise, in some sense, the image might point to the concept of power rather than exhaustion). I soaked myself, literally, to give the impression of exhaustion (in fact I was at that time but without the sweat!) and the water spraying bottle which I got specifically to do this shot didn't work quite well. I needed to soak myself heavily, so I did... under the shower. I was really afraid of catching cold after finishing this.
The rest of the job is the usual cleaning and straightening a bit, but the major edit here was to pull out the colors and make the image closer in looks to B&W, while it's not. I've used the Vibrance adjustment layer here which pulled the colors' saturation in the scene perfectly but in the same time kept the vibrant red tone of the cane obvious; Which is perfect! There were also some minor dodge processes for the central part of the image or so.
Now, would I do this again using a conventional portraiture lens (like 50mm, which is equivalent to 80mm on APS-C sensor)? Most probably, I won't think about it even. I like the distortion here with some parts being exaggerated, and I think it ads more emphasis on the hand holding the cane, and my facial expression, while leaving other parts relatively smaller. Some people liked it already, but unfortunately, this image was done AFTER uploading the photos to Trierenberg's contest. Oh well, I might upload it for other (minor) contests if I get the mood to, or simply just wait for next year's contest. This said, I'm not over with RP ideas yet, and I might as well revisit the failed attempt later on.

Wirelessly

It has been a habit in the family here, with every Friday gathering, to play UNO (a card game in case the reader does not know it). With few weeks, I had this idea sparking in my head for taking a photo, a long exposure to be precise, for the game from above. That, of course, would be done without a drone. For some reason, actually, I don't look nicely on drone photography despite the beautiful images and beautiful perspective that is shown from above (bird's eye view as dubbed sometimes). Not sure why though... because it is easy? Limited? Anyhow, I did spend some long time thinking about how would I do this shot.

Case Air

Part of the solution came in as I was watching some YouTube videos and realized that such thing as "wireless tethering" do exist indeed! I really didn't know about it till that moment. All that time I was thinking that such a process would be done using a cable. But here we go! I was so lucky to find this in a local store here in Kuwait (AAB-World stores) which even had a delivery service (took a while to be delivered because the payment was not in cash but by Visa), and the price is not too different from other stores outside. Just connect this to the tethering port in your camera and download the corresponding app to your mobile phone and you are ready to go! They provide various cables to fit various camera models. It took me a short time to get used to it and to surf the app thoroughly, even though I can get stuck sometimes and a bit sluggish (a lag in the image update on the app) but that's not a big deal, when I can view things on my mobile regardless of the camera position and its angle! The Case Air solution works on Wi-Fi signal, so you would need to connect your mobile phone to it via Wi-Fi option (i.e. no internet while connecting it to the camera but that's not a big deal for me). That also means, I suppose, it works fine under the sun, because Wi-Fi signals are radio signals and not infrared (like when I control speedlites by that) and the sun does not issue any problems with that.

Case Air overview,
with a glimpse on its app.

Clamp mount similar
to the one I have.

As I've stated, this was one part of the solution. Yet, I have to come out with a solution that enables me to raise the camera high above while the card players would be situated underneath it. One of the solutions I've thought of, and the easiest (sort of) is to use a clamp with mounting thread (which I've used before to shoot from above). The problem with this solution is, though, that the fixtures in the ceiling are not quite in proper places related to the ground where the group game would take place, usually. Under these circumstances, I had to think of something. I really tried to improvise something but all roads lead me to one solution: Old School → High tripod and a lateral arm. For this purpose, I had to use one of the old tripods I had (which I stopped using because of its shaky status). I was really afraid that it would flip over specially with the lateral arm being extended at full with the hinge of contact between the arm and the tripod being close to the edge of the arm. Gracefully, things went smoothly, without a shake. To help on achieving the long exposure, I had to use my Kenko's ND filter (super ND, 10-stops), which I had no problem attaching while is up high. And since the camera is up high, the Case Air tethering tool helped me fixing the angle and the perspective of the camera to centralize the carpet's design as much as possible. One problem was there though: The tripod's legs show up in the scene, and I had to work on that later in the post-processing phase.

A Circle of UNO
Voigtländer 20mm, f/9, ~17m, ISO100.

Now, in doing this shot, A Circle of UNO, I did discover some disadvantages for Case Air, but I was able to go around them (with some mathematics!) but life would have been much easier if such problems didn't exist in the first place. Here are some problems I've noticed:

• Case Air app does not simulate the exposure properly (if any in fact) like it is the case on LiveView. This was obvious when I attached the Big Stopper filter and raised the ISO to max to estimate the time required for the long exposure (as I usually do), but once the filter is on, then that's it. No simulation and no histogram estimation possible even on high ISO. Because of this, I had to calculate the exposure from images shot in Av mode, and even with that the final image, A Circle of UNO, was a bit dark and I had to add 1 stop or more in RAW editing.
• When switched to "Bulb" mode, the Case Air app switches off the view (or LiveView) on the app and you would not be able to check the scene as on LiveView on camera. Thus, everything must be done prior to putting the ND filter and before switching the app to "Bulb" mode (of course Bulb mode must be switched on the camera as well).
• After capturing an image, in whatever mode I'm on, I can't review the image on the app but I have to do so on the camera itself. I think there is a way to control the camera in such a way that I can view the images saved in the card inside the camera (by displaying what the LCD is viewing as if the HDMI cable is connected to an external monitor, but wirelessly this time). With my case here, the camera being up high would not allow me to check every image after capture.

Other than these (major) points, this product worked well for me in this occasion. The rest was post-processing job of fixing the exposure and the contrast, while emphasizing some aspects of the image (like the UNO card at the center), and then removing the tripod legs (at the bottom of the image). Too bad though, I wanted my nephew, sitting on the top frame of the photo, to show more, but it seems he adjusted his pose before shooting and hence barely his knees show up in the frame.
This tethering tools have some promising stuff that I need to test as well, mainly the "focus stack" mode, which I'm not sure what it does really, but I think it works (or MUST work) with a lens of AF system. Something to try in the near future, I hope.

Finale

As promised in the beginning, here are "some" of the photos that I've uploaded for participation in Trierenberg's contest, and of course they are minimized in size to fit in here.

 

Now, if there is one thing I'm regretting really is the inability to write some poetry, which started maybe about the beginning of this year. Despite being in abundance, but emotions don't come easily into words. Writer's block I'm guessing? Typical. Same thing happens with me in photography. Meanwhile, I do keep writing some thoughts and save them on Writing.com, as I might reflect on those later on.
Away from all that, there are some ideas related to RP cooking at the back of my head but I'm just waiting for the opportunity to start with them. I've started a fasting cycle already here, for the month of Rajab, and I'm not sure when I will stop; I guess when I'm totally exhausted? We'll see. In fact, at some level, fasting somehow do push me to do some more sometimes despite exhaustion, but the lengthy naps are a must here. Good thing is, even with afternoon naps, I'm able to get some sleep at night (though sometimes late a bit). I think exhaustion works to my advantage here. For the many worries and anxiety issues have kept me sleepless AND exhausted already.
Many things are happening at work, and everyone is talking about moving to the new location which is further away from home (more struggle with the traffic than what it is already), but I'm keeping myself silent and all to myself. Here I am, trying to put my mind off with games and photography and not sure what will happen next. They say I should not worry about what's coming and focus on the moment and live each day to its own; Yet, I really don't know how people are supposed to do this. It never worked for me. I have to get my skin (and mood) prepared for summer here, and I must think of my next travel. Apparently, the only way to capture panoramas for me now is to travel, since nothing seems worth it here. Supposing I can shoot anything I like…

The Rant…

This is a quick wrap as I'm having a break from working on a new set of panoramas, in what is supposed to be my first commissioned work!
I got the job via a friend, but I will tell more after the whole thing has worked out. It is an interesting place and I'm already having the typical technical problems which accompany panorama-making usually. The work is needed by next Sunday, thus I'm trying to invest every second of my time, and every available space in the memory of my PC! As I'm writing these words the job is not over yet (that is the photo shoot) and probably more to come.

Architectural Anatomy

Meanwhile, I've been trying to dig more into previous panoramas, specifically those from Oman and Malta.One of the interesting projections I've "discovered" so far can be seen in Architectural Anatomy. A friend wondered why I didn't put the huge circle (originally an arc) down; the reason behind this is, when I formed this projection (planet projection), the view seemed to be like a head (and some did indeed comment that it looks like ET!), and hence the name. To imply this vision, I had to keep it that way as can be seen here.

Backbone

Also, there are the panoramas taken from Sultan Qabus Grand Mosque still awaiting for their turn of projections (even though I did extract most of these). One style that was favored by a number of people was Backbone, which for me does somewhat give a sense of Gothic architecture (despite the purely Islamic nature of the architecture in normal format). I guess maybe that's why it was liked by many westerns? Who knows! It was done in 3D as well (and it was liked mostly in 3D anaglyph format). In this specific vertical panorama, I've decided to go with the typical spherical projection instead of the Mercator which I've been using lately for vertical panoramas specifically. For some reason not so clear yet for me, it seemed that having an elongated vertical panorama with this one adds more strength (and probably this is what increased the Gothic effect).

L-Orizzont

My timing is a mess lately because of many preparations with the group (and I really hate it when this happens) - always jobs done to the last minute. Surprisingly, some of my accepted panoramas (in sorting) for some contests, was later discarded (but I'm uploading it anyway), namely L-Orizzont and some others. My experience tells me that some judges are way too much of a burden for no right reason. Same judges did already exclude some of my most renowned panoramas, like Easnacha, which is not displayed in Trierenberg's Luxurious Coffee Table Book Edition (which is printed in a limited number of 500 worldwide). For this reason, I'm giving a deaf ear to these comments and judging, and to some limit, I'm uploading what I see appropriate.

Easnacha

This coincides with my e-mail to Bruce Barnbaum, an author or 2 great books about the art of photography (and currently in the process of reading the second). It was great to have him reply to my e-mail. I asked him about his ideas about Panoramas, and Photography contests. Somewhat, it didn't differ much from my view (excluding the panorama part). Here's his reply directly from my email:

TJ,

I agree with you about panoramas: it seems that most people are doing them today simply because the CAN do them. I've seen virtually none that excite me.

Photography contests are utterly useless: It's much like asking, "Who is better, Rembrandt or van Gogh." The question, itself, is stupid.

Thank you for your nice comments about my book!

Bruce Barnbaum

I tried to let him judge some of my work with panoramas despite his disinterest in them, but he apologized about it for his busy schedule. No wonder. I do consider this man one of the cores of arts! Not only at the point of contests do I agree with him, but also in other stuff mentioned in his books (like he does not do much portraits and does prefer abstracts and landscapes). I'm greatly happy that he did answer my e-mail, and also having something in common with him somehow. Ironically, after sending this e-mail, I continued reading his book and I did read exactly what he expressed in his e-mail about photography contests.

I'm emphasizing this point because I do feel like I'm doing a job for others with one exception: it's not commissioned, but quite the opposite. I'm paying for these contests. Why? I know it's all about the reputation in the field and that makes a way for other relationships and revenues, but looking at the limit of the stress and the efforts done to get a single acceptable image (by the members of the group or myself), makes me feel that it is just unworthy and far from "art." We are, literally, spending hundreds of dinars every year just for such contests. Things are worse my way, since not much of them does understand or have some support to the art of panorama. They say you should do (or photograph) what you like most because it makes you indulge easily and get creative - and this is what I'm trying to do with my panoramas; yet, those who are supposedly to be the art-patrons, do not understand or simply neglect this art. That's it... ranting over.

Triq tas-Sema (road of heaven)
طريق السماء