Hello, Again.

I have not posted in a while, and I've decided to take a more reasonable tack for this blog.

Here's my flickr too

In China

I'm currently on a 4 month exchange program in central China, Xi'an to be precise. Because of this, and the more customizable nature of "blowspot" over flickr (which I greatly prefer) that I'll routinely be putting up some of the more interesting photos here along with tech specs and other tidbits about photography in china. I also hope that while I'm here I don't have: my camera/gear confiscated, broken, 'relieved from my possession' or anything else by the authorities. But I have a feeling that such things are very unlikely to occur.

First Post - After a Long Fucking Time

I haven't been using this at all for a very long time. More then a year to be exact. But this is because I realized that blogs can be awfully un-fun. If you want to see some newer stuff (I use 'you' in the sense that I'm aware I'm probably talking to myself) you can visit my flickr @ http://flickr.com/trevstanhope

*this flickr URL is a correction of 'First Post - Introduction Bitches' which used the pre-generated flickr URL*

Banjo and Papasan Warm

Image Type: jpeg (The JPEG image format)
Width: 3888 pixels
Height: 2592 pixels
Camera Brand: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Lens Aperture: Canon 28mm-135mm f/3.5-5.6 Standard
Date Taken: 2007:12:14 00:16:10
Exposure Time: 1/12 sec.
Aperture Value: 3.62 EV (f/3.5)
ISO Speed Rating: 1600
Flash Fired: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
Metering Mode: Pattern
Exposure Program: Normal program
Focal Length: 28.0 mm
Post Processing: None

This picture, although similar to the Papasan and Banjo Sketch, is a different shot taken without the flash, which causes it to have a warm look instead of the bleached look of the pre-processed Papasan and Banjo Sketch.

GNU Image Manipulator Program

My image editor of choice is The Gimp. This is because it is free, made for Linux and very intuitive and efficient.

*A screen shot of The Gimp UI running on my computer*

I would recommend it to everyone. The $600 difference in price doesn't make a difference in the quality of the program.

Paint Bucket Curve Comparison

Image Type: jpeg (The JPEG image format)
Width: 3888 pixels
Height: 2592 pixels
Camera Brand: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Lens Aperture: Canon 28mm-135mm f/3.5-5.6 Standard
Date Taken: 2007:12:31 14:40:21
Exposure Time: 1/499 sec.
Aperture Value: 7.00 EV (f/11.3)
ISO Speed Rating: 1600
Flash Fired: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
Metering Mode: Pattern
Exposure Program: Normal program
Focal Length: 135.0 mm
Post Processing: None

This image has been adjusted so that it's exposure line matched the exposure curve (Image's curve shown below). This creates a very odd contrasting effect, with exaggerated colors. It also almost doubles the file size. I'm not sure exactly why this happens (the file size increase and the contrast) but it is a cool effect, although impractical.

Lukoil Gas Station

Image Type: jpeg (The JPEG image format)
Width: 3888 pixels
Height: 2592 pixels
Camera Brand: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Lens Aperture: Canon 28mm-135mm f/3.5-5.6 Standard
Date Taken: 2007:12:26 18:08:11
Exposure Time: 1/124 sec.
Aperture Value: 5.00 EV (f/5.7)
ISO Speed Rating: 1600
Flash Fired: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
Metering Mode: Pattern
Exposure Program: Normal program
Focal Length: 127.0 mm
Post Processing: None