The Aeropress photo stream



My best friend, Art, gave this for my birthday!  I've been using it ever since!  Follow the link to the flickr photo set.  Directions on how I used it are on each photo as well.

This was a shot without a flash. Dark, isn't it?

This is a shot of the same spot with the flash pointing straight on.

Same shot. Flash pointing towards the ceiling.

Last shot. Flash still pointing at the ceiling but now with the CD case bounce card.


Frankly, I kinda like the last shot. What do you think?

It's not the best of photos, but it will do for now. This was given to me by Albert Yan a couple of years back.

It's an early Zenobia C I. It is a 6x4 folding camera. It was made around 1952. And Albert is going to kill me for not using it as much as he expects me to. (Sowwee!!!)

But today I took it out from it's plastic wrapping (See?! I still took great care of it!). From the time I got this I had promised myself to have the lenses cleaned. I still haven't done that. But it doesn't look like the glass was any cloudier than before.

And yes, it still works. And yes there's still film inside it.

I took it out for two reasons. One is that I got envious of Gen's newly acquired Yashica TLR. That's when I decided that maybe we could hook up and shoot stuff. Oh yeah that would be super!

Secondly, I decided to try out my new flash. I was talking to Elwin earlier and he suggested using those CD envelopes from CD-R King. I tried it out and... I think I just made myself a better bounce card. Haha! If you're going to try this, get two CD envelopes, remove the plastic, use the soft white material and slap them onto your flash with a rubber band from the side of the flash.

I finally got to go to Photoworld today.  Despite my aching legs (must remember to stretch before jogging next time), I was able to go visit all the shops.  Actually, I almost missed one side.  I was looking for a circular polarizer for my camera but the cokin polas were unavailable.  So the next thing I considered was a new flash.

My old Sunpak Auto thyristor had already given up on me, so I decided to might as well get a new strobe unit.  The Olympus flash guns were... expensive. And out of stock as well.  So I decided to follow a friend's advice (many thanks to Jay Camus!) and hunted for a Sunpak flash.

My search came up empty.  So I decided to sit down for a while on one of the benches.  (My feet were already killing me by then.  Mental note: when shopping, do not wear heels.)  I was wondering where the shop owners from Hidalgo were.  For some reason, those shops were missing in action.  Then I realize that I hadn't visited the area that was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.  I got up.  Went forward.  And found myself staring at a Sunpak auto 383s at Avenue Photo Shop.  The original price tag was at 6807.  I got it for 6200.  Not bad. :D  I'm happy now!

Now all I have to do is learn how to use this thing.

I've been remiss in my updates on what's been happening with my photo seminar.  Day 02 we learned about composition, what makes a good photograph, framing and to avoid shooting a cow eating grass.

Day 03 was about lighting. Gosh!  There was really so much to learn about flash photography and strobes.  I need to get several books from Fully Booked soon.

Tomorrow is Day 04 where we get to learn how to use Photoshop for the basic retouching.

Finally, at the end of Day 03, I ended up buying a set of WarmCards at Jo Avila's studio. Until Oct 31, the price is pegged at 2,800 pesos.  Using it (specially the gray card) did make a difference on the color of my photos.

Hmm. I should get a Spyder during PhotoWorld Manila. :D

As I said previously, I have a problem with white balances. I don't have any background on videography and I don't want to adjust this during post-processing. Besides, I don't have the cash to buy one of those gadgets that calibrate the monitor. My solution: Buy a set of WarmCards.



Henry's Camera Shop in Quiapo sells this set. I'm hoping to buy this sometime next month.

Well, either that, or the ExpoDisc:


I can also use the ExpoCap:


In the meantime, I'll have to use the "Pringles Lid" way of setting the white balance.


Ximina's Photography [Lessons - Lighting]

The best I have found is the Pringles lid method. It works on the same principle as a $100 Expodisc. The only downside is that we've got to eat those chips. You can also use the stuffing in the can to attract potential subjects. Works well on: Ducks, birds, squirrels, kids. Doesn't seem to work well on: Hot chicks.

UPDATE # 1: DARN IT! The Pringles lids here are now transparent instead of translucent. I'll have to look for another cheap option...

UPDATE # 2:  I just found out that a single layer of a cone coffee filter also works well, and might be even better than the Pringles lid.

Pringles Lids are a rip off! More test results...: Digital Photography Review

I did another set of tests today, and all I can say is that those of you who are buying Pringles for the lids are getting ripped off! There is a much cheaper contender...

Test conditions: Subject: IT8.7/2- 1993 standard chart; histograms below are a crop of the lightest rectangle in the grayscale row. This should yield equal RGB values if CWB is perfect, I believe.(someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

Lighting: Sunlight at around 60 degrees through light hazy clouds. Although I set the CWB immediately before each shot, it is possible that the color of the sunlight shifted in the time it takes to set CWB and shoot the target (about 15 seconds).

Test media:
1) Single layer of coffee filter (cone type); stuck the lens inside the cone
2) double layer of coffee filter (cone type); stuck the lens inside the cone
3) Closed-cell foam from a lens filter box; held in place by thin glass
4) a piece of white plastic from a plastic bottle of some sort
5) Pringles lid
6) Paper plate
7) Expodisc

The big surprise is the single coffee filter- it looks even a bit better than the ExpoDisc. Of course, that wasn't what I found the last time I did this test, so it could be a fortuitous change in cloud cover...nonetheless, pretty impressive. The real test is under unvarying blue skys, repeated over several days. My test to date show the ExpoDisc to be most consistent, but the coffee filter is a BIT cheaper.

Art and I met up at Gateway Mall today and set off by jeep to the R. Hidalgo Street Inauguration and Sale. Well, minus the inauguration actually. It was postponed since (a) there was no electricity due to the storm and (b) the storm aftermath itself.

The street was quite a sight to see! I was showing him where the rest of the stuff can be found, like the lights when I suddenly stopped and looked around. Where IS Avenue Photo anyway?! OH! There it is! The street was so clean and free of the sidewalk vendors which previous took over the area that I hardly recognized the shop right in front of me! Finally I see the shops which I sometimes tend to overlook!

Having looked around a bit to see if there was anyone there I knew, we headed off to Mayer Photo to get the camera I've been obsessing about for the past few weeks.



So there it is folks! My very own Olympus E-500 two-lens kit! Aside from this I ended up buying a couple more items: a 1 GB 150x Ridata CF card (Although the kit also came with a 1GB CF card, I decided to buy another since you can never have too many of these!), two Sunpak 58mm UV filters, and a Lowepro Nova 1 AW all-weather shoulder bag. I bought the bag at Henry's Camera & Photo Supply. Everything else was at Mayer Photo. Art also (finally!) bought a 1GB CF card for his own DSLR.


And of course, my first shot right after I fully charged my battery:



Now, all I have to do is learn how to use this thing...

Some time ago on The Geekette Speaketh I had talked about geotracking photographs with Sony's GPS Device.
Sony GPS Device GPS-CS1

Now, here's the deal with this US$149.99 device: "The GPS-CS1 is compatible with Cyber-shot DSC-S500, S600, S45, W30, W50, W70, W100, H2, H5, T30 and Sony α (alpha) DSLR-A100." Yes. This isn't one you could use with just any camera, deliberately dashing the hopes of you Canonites out there of being able to tell everyone where in the world Carmen went this time.

For that moment, you'll have to settle with taking the shot and writing down your coordinates. Recently though, a new gadget has emerged that theoretically you can use with any camera that has a flash hotshoe.

The Jelbert Geo Tagger


This gadget looks a bit bulky. According to their website: "The Jelbert GeoTagger is a compact device, smaller than most
flash guns, that uniquely connects to the camera flash shoe and follows the direction of the camera lens. Once fitted, it will record the precise location AND direction of every photograph you take when outside." Hmmm. Quite interesting. It stores all the GPS data onto the built-in SD Flash memory card. Later on you can merge this data with you photographs using a third party software like RoboGEO.

Oh! Get this --- it's not just for the digital camera users! This also works on film based cameras provided that it has a time and date stamping facility. Cross referencing will have to be done manually with the printed photos, of course.

The tagger has a mount for a Garmin Geko 301 GPS receiver. You need this for the tagger to work. Oof! Three items?! Wow, that's indeed a lot of stuff to buy just to be able to geotrack your images. So, how much will the GeoTagger cost? £149. That's excluding the Garmin Geko 301 and the RoboGeo software.

Hmm. Maybe I should just borrow Art's GPS unit...

On the afternoon of Friday, April 28, 2006, I trudged off into the Makati heat towards Electroworld Park Square 1 to finally get my laptop. So far I've had no regrets. Heck! Why should I? It's a dual core machine after all!

The Acer Travelmate 3282WXMi is a beauty to hold and behold! The brushed magnesium alloy finish gives a nice business look feel to this powerful laptop. This is a Centrino Duo laptop. According to Art Ilano (Editor-In-Chief, PC Magazine Philippines), Acer was the first to release Intel Core Duo laptops in the Philippines. Though note that they're not the first manufacturer in the world to do so. Let's take a look at the hardware specs first.

• Intel Core Duo processor 1.66GHz (667 MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache)
• 14.1" WXGA wide TFT LCD
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (256mb on-board with up to 256mb HyperMemory)
• 80GB 5400rpm SATA HDD
• DVD-Super Multi double layer (Support DVD+R Double Layer / DVD+-RW)
• 512mb DDR2 (support dual-channel) expandable to 2GB
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Despite having two 32-bit cores on the processor, it is not a 64-bit machine. (But how I wish it were!) Apparently, Intel had turned off the 64-bit instructions on these processors. Make sure that there's enough airflow going underneath the unit since this thing runs really hot. I might have to buy a coolpad for this.

It doesn't come with recovery CDs. Instead, it has a hidden partition that contains the recovery information for your laptop. The first thing you should do when you get a new gadget is to read the manual. Yes, I'm one of the few geeks in the world who even bothers to read the manual. After you load MS Windows XP Home for the first time, do create the recovery CDs for your laptop. It will help save your sanity if ever you accidentally remove the hidden partition. So, on to the usage.

If you're using MS Windows XP Service Pack 2, don't be surprised if you find it acting strange. Microsoft knows about this. Seems like you have to install a hotfix and tweak the registry just to be able to correct the situation. The hotfix isn't downloadable though. (What the ---?!) You have to call their Support Desk to get the hotfix. Of course, if you want a much easier life, do get yourself a copy of Ubuntu linux! They have SMP auto-enabled on them so you can be sure you're taking advantage of the dual-core goodness of the laptop! :D

The screen is nice and clear. I have to admit, once you go wide you can't imagine how you ever put up with that old square screen. So much screen real estate! The Acer GridVista software allows you to divide your screen into two to four grids. You can assign an application to take up a particular grid and just let it stay there. Neat! That's really going to be helpful for me in the long run.

The keyboard has a slightly curved shape which makes typing for me much easier. Heck, somehow the shape allows me to type faster and hit the correct keys more often. Ergonomics, you just gotta love it!

I was able to install Ubuntu Dapper Beta right after I got the laptop. I have yet to go through the hardware test for this model and submit to the Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team. But so far all is working well! As usual, Ubuntu runs faster than MS Windows XP. Haha!

One thing though, if you're a sound-junkie, you might not like the speakers on this unit. It has this hollow metallic sound to it.

Well, that's it for now. I'll blog more about this new toy if anything else comes to mind. :)