This page provides information on the tools and techniques I’ve used to create images for etherfarm, the oculus section, and images for other projects of mine. Some (not all) of the items mentioned on this page are linked to their respective (or comparable) product pages at Amazon. These links contribute a [very] small amount of your purchase to etherfarm without adding anything to your cost. If the information you find here helps you make a purchasing decision, please consider using the links on this page. Thanks!
Computer Equipment
The single most important piece of equipment in my imagemaking endeavors isn’t, in fact, my camera—it’s my computer setup. While most of the images I post to etherfarm are photographs, I do quite a bit of illustration and visualization. Currently, I’m using an Apple PowerMac G5, with two 2.0GHz processors running OS X. In 2002 I replaced my behemoth 21” CRT with an 18.1” LCD, a Samsung SyncMaster 181T, and now I use an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display. For the record, I preferred the Samsung, which had twice the contrast of the Apple.
The switch to LCD was made more for medical reasons than for space-saving reasons, but the latter is certainly welcome. If you’re considering moving to an LCD, you’ll be happy to know they’ve come a long way in just the last few years, and at this point I wouldn’t buy anything else. LCDs might not have the color gamut of CRTs, but they’re display much more accurate color between viewings, and regardless of whether you’re going to print or to the web with your images, that sort of consistency is, in my opinion, more important than accuracy in otherworldly ranges of the color spectrum.
I calibrate my screens using Gretag-Macbeth’s Eye One Display. Works well so far, though I plan to upgrade to a color profiler which allows me to do print profiles as well. Anyone have $1,000 I can use on permanent loan?
Other imaging-related equipment I use include my scanner (currently a Canon CanoScan N1240U) and my graphics tablet, a Wacom Intuos 6x8. I’ve had better scanners (I like Epson’s scanners quite a bit; I’ve had two), but moving to OS X had me looking for a new scanner, and I went with the Canon because it’s very small and bus-powered. I find the Wacom tablet absolutely indispensable for image editing. It takes quite a while to set it up the way I like it—there are settings for pressure sensitivity and you can map buttons to different features on a per-application basis—but once it’s set up, there really is no turning back. Unlike some people, I don’t find the Wacom very convenient as a mouse replacement, but that’s a matter of preference.
As of February, 2004, I also use a 1.33GHz 12” PowerBook G4 with 1.25GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. I opted for the combo drive model over the SuperDrive because I can burn DVDs much faster on my desktop G5. I bought the smallest PowerBook because of its portability. I had a 15” PowerBook G4 for several years and found myself reluctant to bring it on trips. The 12”, though lacking in some features (most importantly the gorgeous screen of the 15”), suits my needs perfectly. At client sites I hook it up to an external monitor, and I’m quite adept at application key commands (which allows me to hide palettes most of the time)
Photographic Equipment
This section describes all of the cameras used for images at etherfarm, and as such, presents a history of my photographic gear. I’ve owned several cameras throughout my lifetime. My first two were hand-me-downs from my dad: a manual Yashica and a Nikon 2020. The former is still in use by my sister, the latter got stolen out of my apartment when I lived in Chicago. In any case, the 2020 hooked me on Nikon equipment, and until very recently, every still camera I owned was a Nikon. Now, I own almost all Canon equipment. I’m of the firm belief, though, that if one buys quality equipment, brand name doesn’t matter.
Nikon 6006
This was my replacement for the stolen 2020. I bought it in a hurry on the day I left on a trip to India, and to this day I remember it as my favorite 35mm camera I ever used (other than the Nikon F3, which I covet dearly). Sure, it had slow autofocus and a very noisy lens motor, but I didn’t use autofocus very much. This camera had a fantastic interface—it had a button for just about every function, and not even a week into my India trip I had the button layout memorized. This allowed me to take pictures without having my eye leave the viewfinder, and I haven’t since had a camera that has allowed me to keep my attention on the photo rather than the camera. This camera is dearly missed; it was thrown into the ocean by some rowdy kids in a Canadian Provincial Park.
Nikon 35ti
Well before I went digital I wanted a camera I could take everywhere. I didn’t want a crappy point and shoot, though, I wanted a camera that would give me creative flexibility and optical precision without all the bulk of a full 35mm rig. Enter the 35ti. Besides being an absolutely beautiful camera, it’s got a razor-sharp 35mm lens and an absolutely ingenious analog interface. It can be used as a point-and shoot, but it’s real benefit is its semi-manual features: adjustable aperature, manual focus, long exposure ability, various flash modes, etc. It’s an excellent companion to a 35mm rig as well as a great camera to “just have with,” and there are plenty of photos in the galleries at etherf@rm that came from my 35ti. The real test, though, is how good it is at taking slides—believe me, it’s good. It’s tiny lens is significantly better than some larger 35mm lenses I’ve used on my 35mm SLRs. This is the only analog camera I still own.
Nikon N70
This was the insurance company’s replacement for the 6006. I took some great pictures with this camera and even bought a $800 lens for it, but I never liked this camera very much. The interface was needlessly dependent on the camera’s top LCD, so setting up shots was cumbersome and any sort of spontaneity that I depend on when taking pictures was more or less lost completely.
Nikon CoolPix 950
My dad gave the CP950 to me as a graduation present and while it wasn’t my first foray into digital photography, it was my most significant. One of the lenses I enjoyed most in my 35mm setups was a macro lens (a lens that allows one to take extremely detailed pictures of small objects or objects up close), and the macro capabilities of the 950 (and every Nikon digital camera since) are unparalleled. This camera changed my photographic life, and with it I went completely digital, selling off my 35mm equipment (and my beloved lenses) piecemeal to fund my digital habit.
Nikon CoolPix 990
I upgraded to this camera mostly for its increase in resolution, but its USB connectivity, its ability to use a remote shutter release, and improved focusing features quickly became indispensable. I dropped the camera a few months after its warranty went out, and I ponied up the $200 bucks it cost to fix it, mostly because it was a damn good camera even a year and some months after it came out. For a digital camera, that’s about as good a compliment as can be.
Canon PowerShot S330
I bought this camera for the same reasons I purchased the 35ti…I wanted a fairly sophisticated camera to have with me just about everywhere I go, and having one such camera is really something anyone serious about photography should consider. While the 990 (and my later camera, the 5700) are by no means huge, they’re not particularly pocket cameras, and the S330 really did just slip into my pocket. When I got back into flyfishing, I purchased a waterproof case for the S330, which has to be one of the coolest things I’ve done. I liked the S330 quite a bit, and while the resolution wasn’t as high as I would have liked, it made a great backup camera and a fantastic take-everywhere camera. It has since been replaced with another Digital Elph, the Canon PowerShot S400.
Nikon CoolPix 5700
The Coolpix 5700 was, in my opinion, the ultimate consumer digital camera, and slapping the “consumer” label on it is perhaps unjustified. This was the first digital camera I used for print design. Images from this camera were blown up to tabloid-sized prints, and were even used for a billboard, and the pictures scaled as well as some of my film images. I had a slew of accessories for the 5700, and with the 5700 I began my experiments in infrared photography. There are plenty of things I’ll miss about the 5700, not the least of which is the ability to carry in the palm of my hand a great camera with an excellent lens which provided a very wide focal length range (about 28mm-280mm, 400mm on the top end with the teleconverter I purchased). The whole package probably weighed less than 3 lbs; with my current DSLR setup, I don’t even have the 5700’s zoom flexibility, and I’m already toting around 10 lbs. One thing I won’t miss is this camera’s inability to take decent pictures in less than ideal lighting conditions, but this is a characteristic of all small digital cameras, not just the 5700.
Canon Elura40MC
I’m still experimenting with this videocamera. I’m not enough of a videographer to take the camera everywhere I go, though the Elura 40MC’s form factor is ideal—smaller in some ways than even the CoolPix 5700. I do plan on making mini-movies with this and iMovie someday; when that happens I’ll probably have more to say about the camera. Until then, it’s a fun toy to have and a great way to digitize the kinds of memories that don’t make sense with a photograph.
Canon PowerShot S400
The popular PowerShot S400 camera replaces the aforementioned S330, offering 4 megapixels (which basically means it takes pictures I can print at decent sizes) in a smaller package. It’s an excellent, albeit expensive, take-everywhere camera, and I don’t expect to upgrade this one for quite some time. I’m bummed I had to also repurchase the waterproof case, though the case for the S400 is much better than the one for the S330.
Canon EOS-10D Digital SLR
In July of 2003 I moved into the medium-big leagues by purchasing this camera. With the slew of lenses I purchased with the 10D, the package constituted one of the most expensive purchases I had made in my entire life, but I’m extremely glad I made the move to DSLR.
I certainly didn’t relish the weight of the kit, but the creative freedom provided by fully manual exposures, really only possible with this class of camera, won me over quickly. Suddenly, photography felt like photography again.
Canon EOS-1DmkII Digital SLR
Just before my December 2004 trip to India I moved up further—a Canon EOS-1D Mark II DSLR. It’s large, it’s heavy, and it’s by leaps and bounds the best camera I’ve ever used. And before you and your friends deluge me with email—yes, I’m fully aware that I don’t deserve a camera this good.
Why would someone consider a DSLR over a high-end consumer digital camera? For starters, with the exception of portability and expense, a DSLR excels in every possible dimension. The images are better and the pixels are more useable. The ability to shoot RAW images, interchangeable lenses, no shutter lag time, and a material object with enough mass to easily double as a blunt weapon in a pinch are also all good reasons.
After hearing this, you might then ask, “Why then would someone consider a small digital camera if a DSLR is so superior in so many ways?” There are many reasons. Firstly, if photography is just a hobby and you don’t have a lot of disposable income, a consumer digital camera is probably your only option. A decent starter DSLR setup will cost you upwards of $1200—more if you buy decent lenses. Also, you won’t want to take a 10lb camera setup everywhere, so you’ll end up with fewer pictures. That’s why I have both a DSLR and a Digital Elph.
Canon lenses & miscellaneous accessories
I own the following lenses, and I think they’re all neato-keen: 17-40mm/4L, 50mm/1.4, 100mm/2.8 macro, 70-200mm/4L. It’s a great setup for traveling, though I think I might re-purchase a 28-135mm/3.5-5.6 (I sold mine in December of 2003) for use as a general walkabout lens. I’d love a Canon 1Ds…if I sell enough prints on etherfarm, perhaps someday…
Other vital components to the kit: a Metz 54-MZ3 flash, a Lumiquest 80/20 Promax light diffuser, a Manfrotto Carbon Fiber 440 Tripod, a Manfrotto 3231 monopod, and for use when I travel, Manfrotto 3007 tripod legs with the 3007 extension and Manfrotto 484RC mini ballhead (I love that setup).
I keep the whole kielbasa in a Crumpler Bunion insert placed into a Crumpler Seedy Three messenger bag. The padded insert is actually for a smaller bag, but I purchased it intentionally to leave room for other items in the bag. I don’t like backpacks for photo gear: getting to the lenses and accessories takes too long. A messenger bag with a padded insert is the best solution I’ve come up with: it’s quick, easy to access, and doesn’t scream “steal me!”
Software
Like many photographers, my primary software for image manipulation is Adobe Photoshop CS and for online image preparation, Adobe ImageReady CS. I also use most of the rest of the Adobe CS studio, but they rarely come into play with my photography (though sometimes I’ll use Illustrator to create complex masks for a Photoshop document). Not all my images are photographic, though—I do a fair amount of graphic and web design work (though I’m trying to cut that to a minimum). By no means do I think Photoshop is the end-all-and-be-all of graphics apps. From time to time I’ll use Graphic Converter, a relatively inexpensive (and extremely handy) Photoshop “redux.” I’ve toyed with the idea of messing with MacGIMP, an open-source Photoshop equivalent, especially since keeping Photoshop relatively up-to-date can get quite expensive (I tend to upgrade to every other release to alleviate the expense). In the end, though, I’ve been using Photoshop since version 2.0 (circa 1994, I think)—well before it had layers and histories (in other words—if you messed up an image, it was messed up forever!), and switching that much experience over to a new interface might prove more trouble than it’s worth. I know Photoshop like the back of my hand—I’ve programmed plugins for Photoshop and taught classes on Photoshop—so switching at this point would be quite an ordeal. Maybe I’ll revisit the GIMP when its feature set and interface settle down a bit (it’s in constant development).
To catalog my images, I use the excellent iView Media Pro 2.0. This is pretty much the most comprehensive image cataloging software available for the Macintosh. My investment has served me well; there are days when I live in this program. Extensis sells something called Portfolio, which I used at a client site a long time ago, and its feature set seems pretty robust and industrial-strength (it allows for image serving), but I’m sticking with iView Media Pro. Apple’s iPhoto is great too (the wife loves it), especially for those with small collections. If you have a Mac and you’re running OS X and you’re on your first or second camera, I’d try iPhoto first and see if it suits your needs. Keep in mind, though, that the hardest part about creating a real photo library is assigning keywords and categories in your software, and few applications allow you to export this info, so if you switch applications, you may have to rebuild these assignments from scratch.
Putting It All Together
From time to time I get requests from visitors to etherfarm to give them tips on how to improve their photography. These requests range from the reasonable (“how do I improve the contrast in my images by using Photoshop?”) to the absurd (“I have the same camera you own—why don’t my pictures look as good as yours?”).
Helping the masses (or a small fraction of the masses, as the case may be) with photography is well beyond the scope of this site. I can tell you that you’ll learn a lot more by trial, error, practice, and perseverance than you will from writing me for help.
I wish I could recommend some good books on learning digital photography, but honestly I haven’t found any good ones yet. Most books deal with how to use Photoshop on a menu-by-menu basis, which I think is a poor approach. I’ll never understand the appeal of the Photoshop Wow books, for example, which teach you how to do to your images exactly what everyone else who bought the book does to their images.
The best advice I can offer is this: just take pictures. With digital cameras, your settings are automatically stored in your images’ EXIF headers, so look at images that don’t work technically and peek at the EXIF data to gain insight on what to fix the next time around. As for aesthetic improvements, find photographers on the web whose images you enjoy or whose techniques yield impressive results. Study the images you like, ask questions, and again—just take pictures.
Have some questions? Just ask. I won’t do any handholding for would-be code writers, but if you want or need equipment info or advice, or if you’d like to see information on this page that isn’t here yet, I’ll do my best to help.