All articles from February, 2009
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Medium format scan
Wednesday, 25th February 2009 • Geek stuff, Photography • No comments
In the absence of ready cash to buy a new scanner, I’ve finally found a photo shop which is capable of decent, low cost medium format scanning. Photo Vision, in the Marktgasse in Bern, offer 16 bit TIFF files for Fr 3.50 each, scanned at a purported 4,880dpi to produce 80 megapixel files. This is an example of an uncorrected scan I’ve just collected. A tip, though: make sure that you specify that the automatic dust, colour and sharpening correction is OFF, otherwise the quality of the image at full resolution is noticeably compromised.
The photo itself is about ten yers old, taken of strangers on the northern bank of the Thames in London, opposite Battersea Power Station.
Customer disservice from Ryanair
Wednesday, 25th February 2009 • Internet • No comments
Abusive feedback from Ryanair in response to a blog post, which detailed a potential flaw in the online booking system, provokes a rapid increase in negative publicity for the airline.
Transformation takes time
Monday, 23rd February 2009 • Life, Photography, Video • No comments
Take ten minutes out of your day to watch and listen to this video, even if you’re not a photographer, film-maker or artist. I wish I could make film like this.
David Hobby at CERN
Sunday, 22nd February 2009 • Individual photographs, Photography • No comments
The “Strobist” himself, David Hobby, was in Geneva this week and held a seminar in one of the gloriously 70s-style lecture theatres at CERN.
Facebook: The Empire Steps Back
Friday, 20th February 2009 • Internet, Photography • No comments
At the beginning of February, community website Facebook took advantage of the ubiquitous ability to change, modify, add, or delete portions of Terms of Use at any time without further notice, to amend a clause relating to user content.
Free slideshow and photo talk in Bern
Thursday, 19th February 2009 • Photography • No comments
I will be speaking and showing a collection of photographs at the English Speaking Club in Bern on Thursday 12th March, from 9 p.m.
Winter vines
Wednesday, 18th February 2009 • Geek stuff, Photography • 2 comments
An exercise in depth of field with my new 50mm/f1.8 lens.
Snow in Spiez
Wednesday, 18th February 2009 • Video • No comments
At work, we needed to buy both a point-and-shoot video camera and a new stills camera, so, on my advice, we bought a new Nikon D90 which can fulfil both requirements.
Swiss Strobist: workshop number 1 for 2009
Thursday, 12th February 2009 • Photography • No comments
Planning has begun for the first Swiss Strobist workshop of 2009: please find out all about it, let us know when you’ll be able to make it, and sign up now.
On the Thames
Wednesday, 11th February 2009 • Individual photographs, Photography • No comments
Almost ten years ago – in November 1999, if memory serves – I was still living in England and I took part in a City and Guilds photography course. Before leaving the course (as I was teaching the tutor new techniques instead of learning anything), I made it through to a project towards the end of the first term. We were asked to take a set of photos for assessment. I decided that I would take a series of photos along the Thames, starting at Hampton Court Palace and Richmond Park, and working my way east to end up at the (then new and since re-branded) Millennium Dome near Greenwich at dusk. This is the first of a series of shots I’ll be posting from the series, of the Houses of Parliament photographed from the southern bank of the Thames. All of the pictures were shot on medium format film using a standard lens on a Bronica ETRSi.
AF Nikkor 50mm/f1.8
Monday, 9th February 2009 • Photography • 2 comments
Forgive me a moment of extreme geekiness. I am over-excited about a new (second-hand) lens I’ve bought today: the autofocus 50mm f1.8 Nikkor.
Permanent Tourist – new front page
Sunday, 8th February 2009 • Design, Geek stuff, Internet, Photography • 2 comments
It’s probably been two years in the making, but I have finally gotten around to transferring the idea in my head into Flash and WordPress to create a sparkly new front page for this website. The basic premise is that whereas I give out my Moo cards to promote my photography, I haven’t had a “punch them in the face” page to impress first time visitors to my website. That’s now been rectified and I have pulled a few of my more impressive photos out of the archives and integrated them into a 6×17 format slideshow. Check out the new front page of Permanent Tourist and let me know what you think!
Update: the front page fell by the wayside later in 2009, as I once more re-jigged the layout and structure.
Funky Kitchen Club
Sunday, 8th February 2009 • Documentary galleries, Work • No comments
Funky Kitchen Club is a Swiss television series, produced in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland by Mountain Multi Media in association with ProSieben Switzerland.
Swiss Strobist – new website and newsletter
Friday, 6th February 2009 • Photography • No comments
To plan Strobist days for 2009 and to re-invigorate interest in the subject and community, we’ve launched a new blog and email newsletter at . Pop over and check it out, join in and send me any information you have which we can use on the site, from tips and equipment to ideas for pictures and locations.
It’s been a little while since we were there, but it’s worth looking through the pool at Flickr to see a range of photos which we managed to take on the campus in Zürich on 21st September 2008. This is a good example of what we get up to on Strobist days, from serious (and seriously informative) sessions to madcap schemes for group photos :-)
CHOO CHOO band portraits
Wednesday, 4th February 2009 • Friends and Family, Music, Portraiture • No comments
CHOO CHOO is a Bern, Switzerland based band which draws its influences from 60s teenage beat, pop, soul and contemporary garage rock.