Leigh :) Stark

Category: Photography

  • Waiting for Leigh to write about Nigel

    The blog entry is almost finished.

    The pictures are all done.

    All I need to do now is put it all together.

    But before I do, here's the glimpse of a master…

  • Fuji Astia FilmCard

    It seems that Fujifilm are doing something I actually didn’t anticipate.

    One of the things that makes the Fuji bodies so damn cool is the film emulation modes that the S3 and S5 have in them: that is, the camera can emulate some of Fuji’s most well-known films.

    This is a great idea for those of us that really do love using Velvia, Provia, Astia, and Neopan.

    But what about those of us who don’t have an S series body or who can’t afford one?

    Well, Fuji have an answer to that.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/random/images/2007/03-FujiToy-01.jpg[/img]

    Presenting Fujifilm FilmCards. I admit, I was a skeptic too when I heard the name. My immediate thought was “how the hell did Fuji manage to get the word “film” repeated right next to each other?” but that didn’t matter since no one seems to pay my thoughts much attention. Don’t worry, I tend not to either.

    As someone who edits an online photographic magazine, I’ve been given some free stuff to try out from time to time. As someone who reviews Nintendo DS games on his blog and then posts them on Gamespot for… oh, about five people to look at, I’ve taken on the notion that I like reviewing.

    So it wasn’t that much of a surprise that with both of those elements in play, I got a little parcel a month or so ago from Fujifilm containing a Compact Flash card with a letter asking me if I wouldn’t mind doing a review of this product, the Fujifilm FilmCard.

    My first thought (after the name issue) was… “wait… “film-card”… that can’t be what I think it is, can it?”

    And guess what? It is.

    It’s a card with the Fujifilm film-type printed over it and some design that imitates the art usually found on the Astia packaging, as well as a size count of 1gb.

    I had expected when I received this package that the card would be part of the generation of write-once media, a new form of storage that is theoretically better off as a long-term storage medium but has the negative quality of film in that you can only write each shot once to the card (so chimping and deleting is practically thrown out the window).

    And I was right. But imitating film’s “write-once”-edness isn’t just where this thing really does become digital film.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/03-Astia-Compared-1.jpg[/img]
    [i]If you love the reds and greens that Astia has always put out on the shots you’d get when you used it, it’s all here. The glowing sense that greens in the grass and trees would put out, as well as the sheer vibrancy that skin tones would have with it.[/i]

    Mind you, I’m still not entirely sure how this works so I’m going to do my best to describe it for you:

    The card, like all cards, has its own firmware in it.
    For these cards, the firmware talks to the cameras’ sensor and drive writing controllers to tell what algorithm and information is parsed over the image you have just shot that is in the process of being written to the card.

    It’s a lot to take in so I’ll try and give you a step-by-step breakdown of what is occuring using the Astia 100F as an example.

    Each FilmCard has in it a set of algorithms designed to reproduce the qualities of that film. For instance, Astia 100F will boost the yellows and reds a bit by way of a formula. Think of it as an imported curve that sits on the CF card and affects JPEG files written to it. This is a very cool idea, especially if your camera doesn’t support multiple curves or (even if it does) you can’t find an Astia curve for your camera (or the film of your choice).

    So, I decide to take a picture of a person in a park. If I shoot it with a regular CF card (run of the mill what-have-you), the camera just writes the data with whatever curve the camera had at the time (except with RAW which avoids the curve and uses stock colour from the profile).

    When I use the FilmCard, the camera (apparently) contacts the FilmCard first, if there’s a curve it tells it to disregard it, and then as it saves, it applies its own curve from the algorithm to the image that’s being saved.

    Now, here’s the catch in all of this: it seems just like it’s using a curve, albeit one that is guaranteed to respond just like its film-type.

    As such, it only makes a difference on the non-RAW media, or it did on my D70 and 5700 anyway.

    [url=https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/03-Astia-Compared-2-Large.jpg][img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/03-Astia-Compared-2-Small.jpg[/img][/url]
    [i]If you plan on using one of these cards — especially the Astia one — try not to use it at night. Astia is great for people among the environment but doesn’t give quite the rich tones that Velvia puts out. As such, a night-time industrial shot barely makes a dent. On the left is the regular shot and on the right is the identical shot with the Astia card. Click on it to get a larger version.[/i]

    So if you’re using one of these cards, best to use either JPEG only on a D70 (since RAW + Basic kind of wastes the curve on a Basic-level JPEG) or something like RAW + Fine on another camera, a mode where you’d have both the original RAW file AND a great JPEG to use with that curve applied.

    I’m actually understating it… it’s not just a curve. It does apply grain, but since the majority of testing I’ve done was based on ISO 100 film-types (and since the D70 only goes down to ISO 200), the grain doesn’t seem to make that much of an effect. I imagine it might if you blow your image up, but with this article being more of a “preview” of sorts, I haven’t tested every part of this medium as such and I can’t say if the grain forms a better look or if it modifies the presence of noise, as such.

    This is a preview, mind you, as Fuji are apparently set to announce this within weeks. I know I’m not the only one to receive a FilmCard and I’m sure someone out there will be like Ken Rockwell or the guys at DPReview and release a proper review / preview of this unit or ones like it within the next day or two like myself.

    So what is this and who is this for?

    Well, this is probably for the film people: people like myself who never really got over the wet mediums and who want something to make them feel they are shooting on something more true. There is chimping on this format, but you can’t delete anything. It’s like film and you’ve got to make sure each shot counts for something just like on film.
    Much like the keyboard that was released primarily for geeks and had no markings on it for letters, this is a format for photographers who don’t care that they can’t chimp.

    Because it’s a write-once card, however, it should be a lot less expensive to manufacturer so theoretically, it should be a less expensive memory card when it comes out as well as the great storage medium that write-once media is being touted as.

    I know that I’ll be buying a few when they come out. :)

  • A1: The Cars

    Look at how this flows… “A1: The Cars, The Cameras”… Mwa! Bellissimo! Or however it is you’re supposed to say that.

    Anyway…

    Rivals racing head to head.
    Nations from all over the world (well yeah, barring us finding another planet with nations, where else are we going to find nations).
    Only one winner.

    It’s about the cars, baby.

    [b]A1: The Cars[/b]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-01.jpg[/img]

    Seriously, why else would you even think to attend a car race without the cars. It’s that ever constant need for speed that drives us (huh, ain’t that ironic).

    The need to see people reaching speeds most of us only dream about, the thrill, the danger, the excitement, and… the style.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-02.jpg[/img]

    Oh yes… nothing says “style” like green and gold. Can you feel the sarcasm? No? I’ll try harder next time.

    The Kiwi’s seem better for the style. An all-black car… perfect for the all-blacks. Perhaps that sense of style is helping them to win as they’re running pretty well in the top 3, whereas our Aussie green & golds are hitting… what… twelfth and thirteenth… around that end… yup.

    With one car per competing nation and having the majority of that teams’ crew including driver coming from that nation, the A1 makes for some interesting multi-cultural racing.

    And as such, we’ve found something that the Kiwi’s can beat us in. It sure ain’t cricket.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-05.jpg[/img]

    The Irish, too, seem better for style. The green on their car is just extraordinary. It’s just… a brilliant green. There’s no other way to describe it. When it goes around the track, you just have to look at it. The picture really doesn’t do it justice.

    Someone was either a colour theorist to pick that green or drunk on some really good Irish whiskey… there’s just no other way someone could’ve come up with such a brilliant colour of green like that one. It just works.

    Which is a shame the same can’t be said for the Irish team and driver. They don’t.

    Sure, they did better than the Australian team in that race, but as far as season standings go…

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-04.jpg[/img]

    At least they’re not as bad as Pakistan, who on the qualifying day I was there decided to imitate an Alfa Romeo and stop working after a spin. I think he ended up going a bit faster once the track crew were pushing him.

    It’s hard to sit here and write about the cars going around on a track because you probably don’t care, and if you do, chances are you’ve probably already read a more professionally written commentary on a news site or from the [url=http://www.a1gp.com]A1 Grand Prix website[/url] itself so instead, I’m going to show you a few pictures of clouds I shot that day before I show you anything of real importance or fun from the A1 Grand Prix Qualifiying Day.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-06.jpg[/img]

    Mmm… clouds…

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-07.jpg[/img]

    Right, that looks like a long enough break from the lack of action-esque action to bring us to some place near some real action, whatever the hell that may be.

    Don’t worry. I didn’t understand that either. And don’t bother yourself with going back and reading it again. It’s just not a smart thing to do. You’ll give yourself a tumor. A talking tumor.

    So, let’s talk about action.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-03.jpg[/img]

    Well, to be honest, I don’t want to lie to you. There wasn’t a whole lot.

    I mean, come on… it’s a qualifying day. I was there for the qualifying day. There isn’t any [i]real[/i] racing done on a qualifying day, or at least not any competitive racing.

    I mean yeah, Canada landed himself in the kitty litter once as you can see in the picture above on Turn 2.

    Actually, Turn 2 & Turn 3 (which were connected since they’re more like a hairpin turn) seemed to be causing the most problems and cause for frustration for most of the drivers. Almost every one of them locked their brakes at T2-T3 at least once during the race.

    None more so, however, than Italy. The blue Italian car could be relied on for an image with smoke coming out from his tires as he locked his brakes.

    And at one point, he even managed to piss off the Swiss racer in doing so.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-08.jpg[/img]
    [i]There he is — Mr. Italian Blue — locking his breaks for the world to see…[/i]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-09.jpg[/img]
    [i]…that just isn’t a nice look for something so blue…[/i]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-10.jpg[/img]
    [i]…What’s this? Oh no! The Swiss team is right behind him and are going to get caught in the midst of the smoke from Mr. Italy’s brake lock-up!!![/i]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-11.jpg[/img]
    [i]Ohhh no! Would you look at what Mr. Italy did? He made Mr. Swiss take a dive into the kitty litter![/i]

    And that was pretty much all the action from the A1.

    Sure, there were men dressed up as kangaroos and merchandise and really, really overpriced crappy carnival rides, and if you read the next blog after this one (if you haven’t already), you’ll learn about the photographic presence at the A1… but other than that… it really is a crappy car racing event.

    There’s just not a whole lot to it.

    And I don’t have a problem with Eastern Creek even if it is poorly designed. Amenities need to be more numbered and in better locations with better service. The walking around the track needs to be designed better and not an almost-deathtrap, which is somewhat near what it actually is.

    It also needs better advertising. You want to get more people to come? Advertise it like the F1. Christ, I don’t even live in Melbourne and the advertising for the Formula 1 is more rigorous than the A1 which is in my hometown (technically).

    Or better yet, relocate the A1 [i]away[/i] from Eastern Creek and get it to be a city race done on roads, much like the Indycar in Queensland.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-13.jpg[/img]
    [i]At the end of the day, some of the teams were practicing their pit-times. The Canadian team did it a few times and whoa… they were fast. Around 7-8 seconds. And they looked good while doing it…[/i]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P2-12.jpg[/img]
    [i]…the Malaysian team, on the other hand, didn’t seem to know what they were doing at all. They pretty much looked like this for the whole 5 or 10 minutes I was watching teams practice, almost as if to say “We’re pitting! We are! It’ll happen! Does anyone know how?!”[/i]

    Interesting note to end on, mind you. I was paying attention to the car sponsoring all over the car bodies all day and something struck me as interesting for the tails / wings.

    Most cars don’t have a lot of sponsorship. That should be said from the star. However, many of them — even ones with a lot of sponsorship — have their country names written on the the wing. For instance, Italy says “Italy”, the Czech Republic says “Czech Republic”, Ireland says “Ireland”, Mexico has a brightly coloured “Mexico” written on it… hell, even England has a painting of the Union Jack on the back. All of this makes sense.

    Australia has “Fosters” written on the back and New Zealand has “Fisher & Paykel” on the back.

    Okay… so Aussies are alcoholics (that like crap beer) and the Kiwis are appliances.

    Well, I guess it’s good to clear things up once and for all.

  • A1: The Cameras

    There’s a bit of a flow to the way I’m going to word this blog so I’m putting it in two parts. The first of these parts is being posted first, which makes it posted second on the page (for that true feeling of irony I know you like so much). I want it to read like “A1: The Cars, The Cameras” since that flows out of the mouth better than the opposite.

    So, without any further rambling other than what will be the entirety of this blog in and of itself…

    [b]A1: The Cameras[/b]

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-01.jpg[/img]

    One of the things you find very common going to a car racing event is that yes, there are a lot of cars which have cost a lot of money, but there are also a lot of cameras which in their own right have cost a lot of money, too.

    Having been to the Formula 1 in Melbourne several times before, I’ve seen this to be the case. While the F1 in Melbourne has some very stupid rules in regards to lens types you can bring in (a 300mm restriction even if many P&S’s can technically get closer: go you!!!), you still find a lot of fans with their cameras trying to get around the rules and the fences to get a nice shot of the fast cars as well as loads of press inside the track lines and throughout the pits aiming to get that better shot they can sell.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-04.jpg[/img]

    They walk around carrying their cameras by their lenses with the monopods mounted to the collar on the lens because it’s just that much easier to walk around with the weight of the lens being the driving force for the rest of the camera.

    Makes sense, mind you. I do it too.

    Plus, it makes you look the part.

    And all of this is normal. It’s very normal to see photographers looking the part inside a track at a car race, just as its very normal to see loads of them and to have them using the very best in equipment to get that shot at the right speed in the right quality without any sense of compromise.

    This is where the A1 differed greatly photography wise from other car races.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-06.jpg[/img]

    You see, the A1 Grand Prix was held at Eastern Creek, which while a nice track, doesn’t have a lot of room for grandstand spectator seats. It really is made for the Aussie. You drive up to the track-side, get your gear out, and go walkabout with your gear strapped to you and no one bats an eye lid. There’s fencing all around the track, but not as much of it as you think and there’s certainly enough room to really shoot from most locations to get that good shot without being those extra few yards closer that having a media pass might warrant.

    And that’s a good thing because there were a lot of photographers with Nikons and Canons and P&S’s, oh my!

    But the photographers sitting in the track should look the part. It’s part and parcel with being a press photographer. It makes the event feel more whole in that it’s being covered by photographers who ARE photographers and who aren’t just posing to get ahead.

    Half of the photographers looked like the pro’s in the photos above, [url=http://chimp.dslrusers.com]chimping[/url] away to get that photo they know they’ve gotten…

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-07.jpg[/img]

    …while the other half looked like this guy above.

    I’m sorry, but shooting on a silver Pentax digital even if it has a long lens DOES NOT make you a professional. You certainly aren’t shooting with anything that will give you that professional edge and shooting with something silver makes you look like an idiot.

    And it sucks that I have to say this too, as I don’t like to be someone who sits up here and says that the camera should make a difference.

    But it does.

    And when you see ‘togs shooting with a Nikon D2h or D2x or Canon users with 1DsMk2’s or 30D’s and then you see a couple more with either a shiny silver Pentax or a shiny silver Canon, you know that there is something wrong with how this race is being covered.

    Black is professional, people. Silver is not. White / beige lenses are just as good as black ones. But silver is not accepted.

    Why? It looks so amateurish. You look like such a fool in using it.

    And the fact that it’s silver tells the rest of us on the outside of the track that you’re not a pro and that you’re just one of us but with a worse-off camera that somehow found a way in to get those extra few yards closer with a piece of crap that is your camera.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-05.jpg[/img]
    [i]This guy looked like he could’ve been good. He even did tricks. Here he is getting ready to run up a ramp with his gear for a nice jumping stunt…[/i]

    That said, I’m not much better. With my press credentials now, I forgot to get Sheepie & myself access in time for the A1. I’m currently working on getting one of our correspondents in England and another in Hong Kong access into each of the English and Chinese races, respectively, but based on the sort of “press feel” I got from the A1, there weren’t a whole lot there (there weren’t many people either) and the entire thing just made me wonder if anyone — press or otherwise — really gave a damn about the A1 Grand Prix.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-02.jpg[/img]

    I don’t however spend all my time at a Grand Prix watching the cars go round.

    Simply put: my attention span isn’t quite good enough and being young, I need something else to bide my time with while other crap is or isn’t going on.

    So, I took a few pictures of some random things like a cute girl whose back was turned on me (and whose boyfriend wasn’t around at the time) and then of Sheepie’s son Luke who was with us on his very first race.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-03.jpg[/img]

    And then when the final qualifying had started up, I came up with an interesting idea. I figured I was there and I should do it because how many chances do you get to try something that no one else at the race track is likely to try.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-08.jpg[/img]

    I started shooting in infrared.

    This wasn’t easy as I hadn’t brought either of the 24 or 50mm lenses that the 52mm IR filter fits onto, so I had to do [url=https://www.leighlo.com/spore/index.php?gallery=./Blind-Darkly]my old technique of holding the filter over the lens[/url] and hope that the car was in shot at the time I pressed the trigger.

    Straight out of the camera, it doesn’t look fantastic. Red shots of cars going by — hell, red shots of anything really — aren’t going to look like the most fantastic thing to ever take your eyes.

    However, once you’ve processed the images with one of your (my very own one!) presets for converting Infrared images to a silver-gelatin form of black & white in digital, you end up with images that make the A1 feel like it’s an old car race.

    [img]https://www.leighlo.com/uploads/random/2007/02-A1P1-09.jpg[/img]

    I’ll probably come with an IR filter again to a race next time to see what sort of shots I can come up with. Still, I bet I was the only one shooting like this out there in that entire weekend.