Going out to shoot: checklist

Leave a reply

It’s come to this.
Drove 4/5 of the way to Toronto (from London) to see a concert only to realize I forgot my concert ticket at home. So hopefully this checklist will help in the future.

The idea is to run through this list the night before.
This list is for me. It caters to my shooting style, subject matter and equipment.

01. Concert ticket! (recently forgot it, that’s why it’s on top)
02. Ear plugs.
03. Snack / medication pouch topped up.
04. Camera batteries recharged after each and every shoot – no exceptions.
05. Flash(es) batteries recharged after each and every shoot – no exceptions.
06. Set ISO to 200.
07. Wipe clean all lens glass.
08. Make sure all lenses function properly.
09. Set aperture to wide open on all lenses.
10. Set shutter speed to 1/125
11. Set mode dial to Aperture Priority.
12. Check that the camera body and any/all lenses are set to autofocus.
13. Set white balance to AUTO.
14. Check setting of exposure compensation (set to “0”).
15. Reset the focus point to the center.
16. Set motor drive to single shot.
17. Empty all memory cards.
18. Pack lens pouches.
19. Do quick visual examination of the camera, lenses and camera bag to look for damage defects.
20. Reset additional gear like tripods, light stands, etc.

Thanks for info from Scott Bourne and photographr.info.

New Android phone

Leave a reply

Recently got a Nexus One which I gave my wife, and then got myself a HTC Desire.

Wow, what a difference compared to my 2 year old HTC Dream. The HTC Dream was running a CyangenMod 6 rom, so was optimized as much as possible. However once I got a hold of a Nexus one, I knew I couldn’t go back. And I must admit that the Nexus one is not what I expected. I expected a minimal change in both performance and feel. To me, comparing the Dream and Nexus One (or Desire) is night and day.

There were a couple of things that bothered me about the Dream. First was the fact that I often had to wait for the device to do what I asked it. Not cool. And when you’re in a crunch, and want to know your location, or need to access an email, etc even waiting a few seconds (or more sometimes) feels like an eternity. From the brief usage, I have a feeling that with the Nexus one (or Desire) will not disappoint. Every operation is snappy, even running the Sense UI (on my Desire).

The other issue I had with the Dream was that 3G connectivity was un-usable. Because of the 911 bug thing, even with the upgraded radio, I would still loose connectivity at random intervals. Also not cool. I was stuck on 2G if I wanted a continuous reliable data connection.

Nexus one and HTC Desire batteries

Leave a reply

Apparently the HTC Desire and Nexus one both use the same 1400 mah battery.

source

While on the topic of batteries,instructions on how to calibrate Nexus one (I assume same for Desire) batteries:

Hi *******, I understand your concern regarding battery life on your Nexus One device. The following steps should significantly extend the battery life on your phone. Please connect the phone to the charger with the phone powered on, and allow the phone to charge until the notification LED is green, indicating the device is fully charged. Disconnect the phone from the charger, and power it off. Reconnect the phone to the charger with the phone powered off, and allow the phone to charge until the notification LED is green. Disconnect the phone from the charger and power it on. Once the phone is powered completely on, power it off again and reconnect it to the charger until the notification LED is green. Disconnect the phone, power it on, and use it. You need to use this sequence only once. If the issue of battery life on our phone persists, I recommend you contact our HTC accessory department directly.

source

Gear to get for new home

Leave a reply

Office

One LCD screen for the laptop. (Look for sales)
One set of computer speakers for laptop. (Plenty of systems at CanadaComputers)
SSD HD for the desktop machine.
Desks. deeper – these desks? with filing cabinet

Home theater

Ceiling mount.
Cabinet for audio equipment. Thinking of a laundry/kitchen cabinet with 2 shelves. No doors?
One keyboard for the HTPC computer. Maybe a wireless one?

Server cabinet

1 TB drive for the UnRaid server machine.
Think about how to improve drive performance on the xenserver machine. Dual drives in RAID 0? SSD?

Workshop

Keyboard for the laptops in workshop, since their keyboards are broken.
Would also need a 2.5″ HD : Need to check on that one: The Acer machine has a HD, but could use a spare 2.5″ HD.
Chair for workshop table.

Garage

Air compressor. Canadian tire?

Home multi room audio system

Xantech 4 source, 4 zones kit from smart home – ORDERED
Speakers 3 pairs – AARTech Canada – Need to check attic, and see what brackets/boxes are installed in the ceiling. Will they take a 6.5″ speaker or only a 5.25″ speaker? : Checked ceiling. Box is huge. I went with the 6.5″ speaker. – ORDERED

Industrial music magazine : prep

Leave a reply

Talked with a friend about re-starting my old podcast, and he recommended I start an online magazine… Never ever thought of doing that, but I like his idea. We had a great chat, and got some good info. Posted with his permission:

Today
7:45pm
you around?
7:46pm
yup
how's the new digs?
7:47pm
No new digs yet. Still in Etobicoke. moving this friday. :):)
7:47pm
oh hehehe
7:48pm
I wanted to ask you where you buy your music from? Do you buy CDs or do you get it all online/downloads (mp3 or other format)
7:48pm
I buy from a number of different locations
7:48pm
I also get a TON of stuff for free from labels
cause they want me to play their stuff
thankfully, that's mostly digital these days... that's helped stem the flow of the boxes of albums in the closet hahaha
itunes is good sometimes
I also buy a lot of stuff from COP because they're really cheap for DJ's
and Artoffact/Storming the Base because they're local to toronto
7:51pm
Ok. What about finding what's new? Is there a definitive source of what albums have just been released in the scene?
7:51pm
yup
it's called ISN Radio :):)
7:52pm
haha haa.... But you don't cover all the subgenres.
7:53pm
nope
there's no good source though, unfortunately
we're down to a very small percentage of coverage from what we used to be 10 years ago
and the number of musicians has skyrocketed
I spend a huge portion of every week tracking down new stuff
7:54pm
gotcha...
I'm asking since I've decided to re-boot my old podcast once I move to londo.
And I'll need to get on the bandwagon and start the music collection again.
7:55pm
if you'd like my advice, you'd be better off doing a magazine
for one thing, no competition lol
like literally, none
secondly, it'd tie in well with your photography
7:56pm
Like Regen magazine?
7:56pm
yeah but they've lost their edge
7:57pm
true, true
hell, even if you were just to compile a list of every new album coming out, that would be huge
7:57pm
What do you mean by regen magazine 'lost their edge'?
7:57pm
as I said, the number of resources out there now has totally dwindled
oh
well, no one there really cares anymore
the editor left last year and didn't pass anything on to anyone
so that destroyed morale
Razorgrrl is barely tied to regen anymore... she has to cover the costs for the show herself
7:59pm
hmmm. I do value your advice. I never thought about doing a magazine, but the more I think about it... I am liking it.
And  like you said... start with just a comilation of new material being  released (I may ask for some help from you on that at first)
8:00pm
no problem there at all
the important thing is always starting slowly, managably
don't bite off more than you can chew
8:01pm
yup
8:01pm
there is no end of things that can be done
8:01pm
I agree
8:01pm
I've seen too many people with huge aspirations get burned out
8:01pm
That's good advice.
8:02pm
if you can start with a task, then find a way of automating it, then you'll be even more effective
I automate a lot of isnradio.com
otherwise, I'd never have time to even think about doing a lot of that stuff
8:04pm
Well you certanly have given me WAY more to think about then what I initially wanted to chat with you about (music sources)
lol
8:05pm
hahah
well if you compile recently released albums, you'll still need to know music sources
8:06pm
true
but I can look at automating that. Write some scraper scripts to look at a few sites and return anything in genres of interest.
anyway, start small.
8:07pm
yup
discogs.com is a great resource
8:08pm
it gets updated regulatly?
8:08pm
yeah
it's like a wikipedia of albums
all user submitted
8:08pm
I know of it. Only used a handful of times.
8:08pm
I use it every week
lots of tasty info
AND I believe there are already scrapers for it
8:09pm
brilliant!
8:09pm
very :):)

Shooting notes : photograhy night with Download

1 Reply

Last night I was at the Download show at Club Neutral. I came prepared to do some shooting of the band line up. Had my prime lenses, a flash, a clamp for the flash, some wireless flash triggers, and a bunch of batteries.

Before the bands came on I walked the venue, exploring where I could mount the flash (to trigger remotely), where I could bounce the flash from while on the camera, and generally deciding how I was going to shoot that night.

As it turns out I used very little of the ideas I had as I came into the venue. This is a re-cap of what I had learned last night. Photos can be seen in my gallery or blog.

Continue reading →