A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

Cameras

Back behind the lens: Time to start snapping away again

It’s time to start getting back into photography with more than a phone.

It’s time to get back into photography.

And, no, I’m not talking about taking more photos with my iPhone. I mean get back into it for real — with my DSLR camera and multiple lenses and trips with the idea of taking photos.

For most of my life, I’ve been into photography. I started with a newspaper when I was in middle school and I’ve always enjoyed taking photos. I went in the direction of journalism as it allowed me to mix and match writing and photography.

But in the past year or so, I’ve let it go. Take, for example, the photo blogging challenge I run. For the bulk of the past several months, I have used photos taken with my phone. Though I am totally addicted to things like Instagram, I totally have ignored my camera, outside of if I needed it for something like work etc.

Finding different things to shoot makes it easier to keep with it.

Part of the problem is ease of use, without a doubt. The phone is always with me. It’s easy to grab it and snap a shot. Carrying a regular camera can be cumbersome at times and get to the point where it’s annoying to have. But… if I am using it more often, maybe it won’t be as cumbersome.

I have a pretty good messenger-style back for my camera, but at times, I just don’t want to carry it around. I have ideas to see if I can do other things with it, so we’ll see.

One good thing is recently getting a new lens (a 28-75 2.8, so a nice walk around lens) and having something different to use. This will allow me to do more without having to change lenses so often, or so I hope.

Still, I need to come up with some sort of a plan – for carrying the camera around, for where to go and for what to do. I’ve recently been thinking about this while my camera was at Canon getting repaired.

My plan:

  • To find a new, comfortable backpack bag where I can carry my equipment as well as other needed things (health etc.) for day trips. I’ve found one that has two side pouches for water bottles, which is outstanding.
  • Plan in two or three days per month where my goal is to go out and take some photos.
  • Rent a different lens or two (such as a Lensbaby) to try and get into different things.
  • Use some different things (lenses, attachments etc.) I’ve gotten over the year to see if that helps.
  • Get back into Flickr, post photos, interact and, hopefully, get inspired.

I know a lot of people put transfer their photos and put them on Instagram. I’ve done that once or twice in the past, but I think I’d rather keep my images there as ones taken with the phone. That might change from time to time, but for now it’s good as is.

Sometimes, one needs a personal challenge to think outside the box for cool photos.

Unfortunately, I don’t live in an area where photographers are rampant. Therefore, it’s rare to find people interested in, say, a photo walk. Depending on the weekend of Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk, I may actually try and run one in my area to see if there are some locals who enjoy shooting. I have loved attending other walks, but I always travel for them … so we shall see how that works out.

It also helps if I am going places where photography will be something I can concentrate on. Let’s be honest, I’m pretty worn out with my area for photos. I’ve taken things over and over. And though I can always find something new when out and about, it’s tough to plan a photo day, per say. So I have a few places I want to try and go this summer/fall, as time and cash flow allow.

Possible weekend/long weekend trips include:

  • Maine (specifically Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park)
  • Montreal
  • The beach (as I try and do each year)
  • New York City (which I try and do at least once a year)

If I can pull these places off, maybe I can get back into it.

One thing I am hoping to really get me going is to start thinking deeper about the one challenge I am in, and maybe even look at one of the older challenges I was involved in. But I did notice that challenges are hard for me because I sometimes rush them and don’t think about them until the last minute. I need to actually think more about each of these and see what happens.

Long exposure/night shots are something that could help me get back into it, too.

Finally, I think I’d like to try and learn some techniques or ideas. These may come from books or photo blogs or whatever else. But I need to start thinking outside the box some to make sure I am not doing the same things over and over. One example of this is to learn lighting a bit more and maybe learn about off-camera flash and things like that. This will likely require the purchase of a new flash, but I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, anyway.

So it’s time to start snapping away. I always love seeing what I can do with a camera and beyond and I’ve taken too much time away from it. I’m not saying I’ll shy away from the iPhone camera – far from it as I like apps such as Instragram etc., rather I’m saying I want to add something back into my life in hopes I can have the same enjoyment with it.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: Baseball Hall ages through Hipstamatic

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown is a storied institution.

The Babe is all over the Hall of Fame. (Film: BlacKeys Supergrain; lens: Helga Viking)

Being local to the Hall — and covering it as part of the baseball beat for several years at the local daily — I’ve been through, in and around the Hall for much of my life. I’ve seen it change through the years, expanding and growing. I’ve watched Induction Ceremonies, saw players visiting and had a chance to get to know many people who help make it run.

I’ve researched in the library, too, which is one of the most wonderful tools available to those who are working on things in regard to baseball history.

And each year, I try to visit the Hall a few times.

Part of that is being a member. Though I haven’t been the past few years, I recently re-upped because they offered me an excellent deal and one I could afford. Being a member gets me admission throughout the year, whenever I feel like going.

That’s pretty sweet.

What that does is makes it possible for me to go check out new exhibits and then leave, if I want. It usually doesn’t turn out that way, though.

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to visit the Hall, with this little idea in mind. I wanted to take many photos throughout the Hall, using Hipstamatic.

For those who don’t know, Hipstamatic is a really cool photo app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod. It gives you the ability to switch films and lenses to get old and crazy film looks. If you use flash, there are many flashes to choose from, too. Basically, it gives you some “old’school” looking images.

I’m a fan, usually, of this app. The last few updates have been frustrating as it seems to crash in odd times, sometimes losing photos (it happened to me while doing the Hall shots). Basically, each shot needs time to “develop” and if something happens in that amount of time, you lose the photos.

Still, the idea was to see the Hall through the eyes of Hipstamatic, using as many films and lenses as I could to get a different look at things. Those of you who follow the blog may remember I did the same thing this past July when I did a post about shooting pro wrestling with Hipstamatic.

Balls from 1863. (Film: DC; lens: James M).

I figured I’d zip through the hall, snapping photos and getting out of there within about an hour.

By now, I should know better.

I spent about two hours and change in the Hall, looking over things I had seen many times before. There weren’t many people there, so I had time to look, snap shots and enjoy the afternoon. I pretty much zapped my iPhone battery with the amount of shots I took. But, it’s all good.

And I got some cool Hipstamatic shots.

I think the one cool thing is being able to check some of those shots and get that old feel — almost like it really captures the history of baseball.

The Hall is a magical place to visit, no matter what you use for a camera. But if you visit, try it through the eyes of Hipstamatic — it really gives awesome results.

More of the images from that day are below.

Old catcher’s equipment. (Film: Ina’s 1969; lens: Lucas AB2)

 

Abner Doubleday. (Film: Alfred Infared; Lens: Roboto Glitter)

 

There’s no crying in baseball! (Film: Sugar; lens: Salvador 84)

The Phytin’ Phils. (Film: W40; lens: Foxy)

Some of the Phillies best. (Film: Pistil; lens: Melodie)

Pete Rose’s hat. (Film: BlacKeys B&W; lens: GSQUAD)

Eddie Gaedel’s uniform. (Film: Alfred Infared; lens: Melodie)

John Fogerty’s guitar for “Centerfield.” (Film: Dylan; lens: Lucas AB2)

The Babe and Teddy Ballgame in the Plaque Gallery. (Film: Alfred Infared; lens: Wonder).

The original class. (Film: BlacKeys Supergrain)

 

Jackie Robinson. (Film: RTV; lens: Tejas)

One of my favorite Hall of Famers. (Film: Sugar; lens: Kaimal Mark II)

Another of my favorite Hall of Famers. (Film: W40; lens: Melodie)

The infamous Barry Bonds ball. (Film: D-Type Plate; lens: Americana)

Hammering Hank. (Film: Cano Cafenol; lens: Buckhorst H1)

The Mick. (Film: D-Type Plate; lens: Watts)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: Finding waterfalls

The waterfalls at this area were quite nice after a good rain.

I’m willing to bet that most photographers have their favorite things to photograph.

Maybe it’s people. Or nature. Or landscapes. Or architecture. Or sports. Or countless other things. Parents focus on their kids. Journalists focus on the news. Amateur photographers go with their interests.

A second set of the falls.

I’m a sports guy. I love doing action photography and often had to pull double-duty when I worked at the newspaper, writing and taking photos. It’s my hope one day, I’ll be able to do some freelance photography again (though I need a better “sports” lens. One day).

But I have other things that I like to shoot, too.

I love kids photography because you never know what you’ll get. It’s a bonus that several close friends have kids who are some of the most photogenic kids you’ll ever meet. It makes it easy.

I’m a covered bridge nut, too. But with so few in new York, sometimes it can become repetitive.

Then there are waterfalls. Boy do I love waterfalls. Big, small, whatever. It’s helped me work on different types of techniques. But I hadn’t seen many waterfalls lately. And, well, this summer has been so dry, many are dried up.

A few weeks ago, a new geocache published not far from me. I’m not one to race out to be first to find anymore, but this one was close. And it was a nice day. So, I went for it.

The cache brought me to a wonderful area that I had known about, but never visited. It’s a set of waterfalls and the cache was close to it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much water flowing. Even worse, I didn’t find the cache. I still snapped photos that day, just without the tripod, so I wasn’t able to get the silk look of the small amount of water flowing.

The lower set of falls via the pinhole lens.

It rained that night and part of the next morning. Then the sun came out. That evening, I went back. But, I didn’t bring the camera. I just wanted to find this cache and explore a little. I found the cache and looked around a bit and knew that next time we got a good rain storm, I was coming back.

That happened this past week.

One day and night it unleashed. So, the next day, I headed back. I found a better way into this gorge and got exploring and set up for a few shots. With tripod — and other “lenses” in hand, I headed down in and spent about an hour there, checking things out and snapping photos. I think there might be a few more falls below where I was, but I couldn’t find anything that looked like a safe way down. And, being I was solo, I figured taking a big risk probably wasn’t too bright.

This time, I came prepared with things though.

Obviously, I had the tripod and a remote release, looking for the longer exposures. But I also carried my pinhole cap and the Diana lens. I wanted to see what kind of results I could get out of each of those.

Of course, the exposures for the pinhole needed to be much longer, which was kind of cool.

Water flowing peacefully.

I did learn a few things this day — like the need for a neutral density filter. Using that will essentially knock the sun out of the equation and allow me to go with some longer exposures if needed. I don’t know what it would have done this day as it was pretty much cloudy out and I got decent exposures. Still, I found a cheaper set of filters, one of which is the ND. I’m going to grab those to see what I think about them. I don’t want to pay upward of 70 bucks or higher for an ND filter if I ended up not digging it, so I figure investing in one with a price more my style will give me a bit to see what I like.

Waterfalls really are fun to capture. It’s my hope I can continue to find them. I’m planning a trip to the Ithaca area this Sunday in hopes of finding a few good ones — after all Ithaca is Gorges. Alas, this summer drought has taken a lot of the water away. So I’m hoping the trip isn’t in vain. We’re likely doing a round of disc golf and we’ll find a few geocaches, so it’ll be worth it in that regard. But I’d really like a few waterfalls, too.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: The Archives III

With a lack of ideas right now for Foto Friday, I thought it would be a good time to do another Archive post.

For those new to the blog, the Archives is where I go through my Flickr and click on random pages for random photos. I then post them here.

I think the reason I enjoy this feature is it makes me look at some of my old photos. That works for me two ways — it let’s me look back to see what I’ve done and it also makes me see different things I can work on to improve. Sometimes, it will also give me some inspiration moving forward.

So, without further delay… here’s the Archives III, all from my Flickr stream.

Page 37

When do you think they are open?

When are you open?

Page 49

Gid working in the sap house at night.

Making syrup.

Page 84

I hope to get back down to Avalon this fall to be able to do some photos, geocaching and relaxing. Even if just for a long weekend.

Avalon.

Page 107

Last year’s Vibram Open. I’m not hitting it up this year, unfortunately. Hope it goes well!

Reflections on the course.

Page 132

I was at GeoWoodstock in 2011. I wanted to go in 2012, but couldn’t pull it off.

Podcasting…

Page 172

Manhattan — taken from Jersey City.

At night.

Page 207

Oh, Ireland, how I miss you so…

Howth Abbey.

Page 240

Waterfalls in Ithaca.

Ithaca is gorges!

Page 261

The National Soccer Hall of Fame was once in our area, but it was closing at the time I took this photo.

The Soccer Hall ball.

Page 294

Geno’s Steaks at night.

The Ace of Steaks.

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HooHaa Holga Challenge: And that’s a wrap!

When I originally thought up the HooHaa Holga Challenge, it was with the idea that I could find a couple of people who took photos with a Holga and have fun showing off their town.

What I didn’t expect is what I got.

Another of the rejects.

Through Twitter, five others jumped into this challenge. And with that, we had a wonderful variety of photographers from all over the United States and the world. Three women, three men. The USA. England. Switzerland. Kuwait.

What a view!

I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a traveler. Maybe not one who has traveled a ton, but one who would love to travel more. There are many others who have been more places than I, but I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of stuff in the States, and I’ve been to different places in Canada and traveled to Ireland.

In my lifetime, I hope to visit more places. Some of those places include the ones we saw in this challenge. The photographers who brought you these wonderful pieces showed life from around the world.

Reject 3.

In my own country, Mike made Waco, Texas look like a great spot to visit. And Jeff’s take on Seattle made me almost want to move there!

As we got out of the country, Becky’s view on Totnes, England made me want to see some of this town as it seems like there would be some great places to explore. Shaima gave a nice feel to Geneva, Switzerland. And despite the reality that I will likely never be in the Middle East, Nada’s piece on Kuwait City reenforced my belief that the Middle East would be one heck of a great place to travel for photography reasons.

Photography — and writing, for that matter — are ways for people to share their lives, culture and things around them. Without this challenge, I would have never seen many of the items that others featured.

That’s what I learned about others. I learned some things about me and photography as well.

I do still enjoy film. I will never go back to film fully because I love the advantages that digital gives you. I also like that I can take a couple of memory cards and not worry about the money of buying rolls of film and getting them developed.

Another of the rejected photos.

For example, this challenge was two rolls of film. The film cost me, give or take, about 10 bucks. The developing, including shipping, cost me about $15. That’s $25.

Depending on the brand I choose, I could get about 32 gigs worth of memory cards for my digital camera for that same price. And those are reusable.

Film is great. I do love it. But financially, it’s not the best way to go for me. I like to shoot a lot of photos. Are all perfect? No. And they are easily sent packing with digital. But 5-6 screw-ups on a 24-exposure roll of film is quite costly.

I will continue to use the Holga. I’ll just likely pick and choose a little. I like how it works and such, but I want to make sure that when I do use it, it’s for things I want to see with the Holga feel or on film.

Film is special. That’s how I treat it, too. It’s not my everyday medium for various reasons, but one of those reasons is because it’s a special thing and I love to have that feeling when the film arrives. By happening too much, that feeling would shrink. As would my wallet!

To go back and check out all the Holga Challenge pieces, click on the links below!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!