Welcome to 2011
Welcome, and Happy new year! (or “Happy Arbitrary Moment in Time” for those who celebrate other calendars)
Well it wasn’t the most productive of years for me coming off 2010 if you look at the business side of things, but as a dad, a whole different story of trials and tribulations.
As the little ones grow and gain a bit more self sufficiency I can slowly drift back towards photography. Don’t get me wrong.. I’m not complaining, especially since if it weren’t for my children I wouldn’t have even discovered photography.
I got into the world of photography later than I would have liked in hindsight. My parent’s never really were much into photography, we had a family camera, some boxy Kodak thing, the equivalent of today’s point and shoot, only with less function and quality… They did try to offer photography to me as an option, but their offering of choice was a Kodak Disc 4000. I guess it could be compared to a camera phone in some ways.. It was small and easy to use, but the film was tiny and brand limited, so it didn’t appeal to my interests in making things work differently, it merely had a power switch and a shutter button.
Canon EOS Rebel 300d vs Canon 40d
So here’s to 2011, and my Christmas purchase from e-bay on Christmas morning (literally hunched over my iPod Christmas morning much to my wife’s dismay) to replace the over used and suffering 300d, it’s got a big brother now! Additionally, thanks to the generosity of friends and family, I’ve got a 35mm Film Camera and a Medium Format 6×6 film camera to play with, expanding the range of both skill and product available.
Moving forward into 2011 I’m hoping to broaden my work with people, probably offering some great deals on portraiture, as well as further connecting with groups such as Toronto’s newest Roller Derby Team “The Chrome Molly’s” and interacting with other artists in the area for collaborative works. Let’s see what else the year will bring.. and make the most of whatever comes our way!
As one final note, I’m hoping to clean up the look of the site over the next little bit.. I’m just searching for a theme/look that fits my wants a bit more than the current one, so stop by now and then or keep track at http://www.twitter.com/@darkelflx
Cheers,
Sean
BASIC introduction to camera sensors
Sensors and Bunnies!
This is a BASIC intro to give people an idea about how the size of the little electronic thingy in their camera effects how they take pictures. A sensor, is the digital equivalent to a bit of chemical film in a film camera. it receives light from the lens and converts it into an image (OK, so there’s a LOT of software and hardware between sensor and image, but we’re gonna keep that in a black box because it doesn’t matter right now.) The lens on a camera collects light, and shines it into the camera. The same lens, will shine the same amount of light in the same way regardless of what camera its attached to.
So we have an image from a lens shining into your camera. Now take a moment, and think about a lens, what should be the first thing you notice? Glass, cost ITS ROUND!!! Your pictures on the other hand, are not… Your pictures are made up of only a portion of the round image of light that the lens shines into the camera.
Think now, about a rectangle placed inside of a circle. You can change that rectangle to all sorts of sizes and orientations, and as long as you stay inside the circle, you still get a pretty picture, but what picture you get changes based on what part of the circular image the rectangle covers.
Full frame (35mm equiv): This is a sensor the size of an old piece of 35mm film, combined with the lenses intended, it’s rectangle fills the circle to the edges, maximizing usable image space in the circle.
Crop factor: on many dSLRs you see what is called a crop factor. These represent sensors (and films) smaller than a full frame of 35mm film. (APS-C for instance, which is the Canon Rebel sensor size, is the same as the old Kodak Discman film size) These, when used with a full frame lens, “crop” the image as compared to the full frame camera, and result in using a narrower portion of the full image projected in the camera.
The above examples apply to dSLR cameras, and I start with these because that’s where we get our focal length math from. All our standardized lens measurements (50mm, 100mm, 24-70mm etc.) are based on the 35mm film size. When we get into point and shoot cameras, cell phones and others, we start using customized lenses for those cameras, and customized sensors to match. These take full advantage of the circle rectangle fit, but are (usually) necessarily smaller than even the smallest dSLR sensors to fit in the tiny camera bodies.
There will be more articles to follow on this topic, this is a version of a similar lesson I gave on Flickr.
Coming Soon, Miniatures!
Windsor Gaming Resource
This just in Now being announced, with more info to follow in the coming days, A joint venture between Windsor Gaming Resource (@WindsorGaming) and Eastern Front Studios, and Hugin & Munin, with participation from Yours Truly, Dark Elf Productions, on site to capture the event in action and the incredible miniature paint jobs surely to be shown off. This event is for amateurs, pros and folks who are just interested in taking a look.
On October 16th, 2010, Our First Official Miniature Painting event. @
Hugin and Munin
Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1C5, Canada
Tel: (519) 974-7898
More details as events unfold and the full advertising package is released.
NAPP
