Quintessence – 5am

Music

It’s been a hell of a long time since I have really loved a CD until this last week. I picked up a CD by a Finnish new jazz group called Quintessence called 5am and from the first listen, the dreamy sounds and lyrics have had me hooked since. I experienced a similar reaction to the first and only album by Nuspirit Helsinki which I played most of late 2002 – early 2003. What is in the water in Helsinki that produces such beautiful and original sounds?

The Truth About Digital Cameras

Photography

The New York Times has an article about a segment on digital cameras that was done for a television programme. The main point is that passers by were not able to tell the difference between the photos printed at different megapixel resolutions.

On the show, we did a test. We blew up a photograph to 16 x 24 inches at a professional photo lab. One print had 13-megapixel resolution; one had 8; the third had 5. Same exact photo, down-rezzed twice, all three printed at the same poster size. I wanted to hang them all on a wall in Times Square and challenge passersby to see if they could tell the difference.

In the comments section, differing opinions on the value of the experiment. One issue that I think about is what it would have been like to have shot the photos from cameras rather than using the same photo.

New cameras

Photography

So it seems that Canon has announced some new cameras today including replacements for the A range. Currently, I am shooting with an S70 but the specs announced for the new A630 and A640 may make me upgrade to those beauties. The main problem I have found with the A series is that grip that sticks out on the left side of the camera. I like to keep my S70 in my pocket for all of the imprompu photo opportunities and the grip makes the bulge in my trousers (yeah yeah) stick out a little bit too much. But the features….

10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever

Photography

The Gadgets Page has some great tips on ensuring that your digital photos don’t disappear or get lost.

One tip they note is to rename your photos to keep track of what they mean. I recommend the Flexible Renamer as it uses powerful operators and makes renaming large quantities of photos a snap so I can add the date from the exif information and add other information like location, keywords and titles to the filename. Sure the filenames are long but it’s much easier than manually assigning keywords in Picasa.

How to Shoot Impromptu Street Portraits

Photography, Travel

From Photojojo comes this handy and funny tutorial on shotting impromptu street portraits.

This weekend, spend some time outdoors, explore a new neighborhood, hone your portrait-taking skills, make strangers smile, and walk away with some amazing photographs.

Sound good? Then we’ve got the perfect photo project for you!

Armed with a camera and a few simple tools, you too can conquer the art of the impromptu street portrait. Find out how in this simple tutorial by our friend Youngna.

An example of one shoot can be found here.


Originally found at CNET