Fuji x10, x100 comparison chart.

VIA Dan Carr Photo. A nice listing of the differences of the x10 versus the x100.

 

I think that serious professional photographers who want a travel friendly camera will much prefer the X100 over the X10.  Someone who shoots photos for a living will also appreciate the limitations of a fixed 24mm lens and know how to use this to their advantage whereas consumers who are used to point and shoots with a large zoom factor will look upon the fixed lens as a weakness.  There’s no getting around the high price of the X10 though for a camera that is essentially a point and shoot. Whilst they have included a few nice features, like manual zoom and 2/3″ sensor, it’s still going to go head to head with the Nikon P7100 which contains the same amount of controls for $100 less.  This certainly puts the X10 in the premium lineup so if you are budget conscious then I feel there are better options out there.

I have been thinking about a x100 for a bit now and it all seems to boil down to sensor size.

More Still Life studies

 

 

Couple of studies yesterday. More branches which I am enjoying looking at and a strawberry leaf. I really find all the moss and things growing on the branches fascinating. So yeah, I am the strange neighbor walking around his yard picking up sticks and looking at them for waaaaay to long.

 

Studio Fun

20110828-031213.jpg Just having some more fun with crap found in the backyard. But this shows my lighting set up.

That is a strawberry leaf on the table. I'll post that pic and another branch study later.

Very old painting of mine in back of the cutting table.

Painterly Encaustic Techniques

I have experimented with various encaustic recipes, some worked, some didn't. Now I stick with the traditional recipe of beeswax and damar crystals. Note that this *very different* from damar *varnish* which contains solvents. Damar varnish should not be used in encaustics as it is highly flammable and can give off toxic fumes when heated! I have also had good luck with a mixture of beeswax and a colorless synthetic hardening wax (lustre wax from www.fineartstore.com) in about a 12:1 ratio of beeswax:synthetic.

Making a note here.

Leaves Fall and Crows Flee

This morning I went out to gather my thoughts and what is all that crunching under my feet?

Really?

Summer is coming to a close and thought this would make a interesting image.  I really enjoy the textures.  Just printed it out 17x17 on Canvas and I could not be happier with it.

Speculations circle as to why the London riots have become so big, but the answer is quite obvious.

Most of the people who will be writing, speaking and pontificating about the disorder this weekend have absolutely no idea what it is like to grow up in a community where there are no jobs, no space to live or move, and the police are on the streets stopping-and-searching you as you come home from school. The people who do will be waking up this week in the sure and certain knowledge that after decades of being ignored and marginalised and harassed by the police, after months of not seeing any conceivable hope of a better future confiscated, they are finally on the news. In one NBC report, a young man in Tottenham was asked if rioting really achieved anything:

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?

Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night, a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

Eavesdropping from among the onlookers, I looked around. A dozen TV crews and newspaper reporters interviewing the young men everywhere.

There are communities all over the country that nobody paid attention to unless there had recently been a riot or a murdered child. Well, they're paying attention now.

Airbrushed make-up ads banned for ‘misleading’

Well, that is interesting. I have to say I am all for it.

Swinson said it was "shocking" that the ASA was not allowed to see the pre-production pictures of Roberts due to contractual agreements with the actor. "It shows just how ridiculous things have become when there is such fear over an unairbrushed photo that even the advertising regulator isn't permitted to see it," she added.

In the case of both the Roberts and Turlington ads the ASA said it was not provided with enough information to evaluate what impact the digital enhancements had on the final image.

"On the basis of the evidence we had received we could not conclude that the ad image accurately illustrated what effect the product could achieve, and that the image had not been exaggerated by digital post-production techniques," the ASA said.

"Pictures of flawless skin and super-slim bodies are all around, but they don't reflect reality," said Swinson. "Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don't need retouching to look great. This ban sends a powerful message to advertisers – let's get back to reality."

Beauty retouching is in a fairly unrealistic place, hopefully this will temper some of the crazier Art Directors out there.

Drag-and-drop on applet broken in Safari 5.1

So with the new Safari upgrade Apple broke Java on all browsers. This affects how the Danklife Client Area works as it breaks drag and drop functionality. If you run into this problem as well just hold down Command & Shift and you can drag the applet out of you browser window and then it will work.

I have just upgraded to Safari 5.1 and I notice that drag-and-drop from the Finder to my Java applet does not work anymore (as it is already the case with Firefox 4 and Google Chrome). Now Safari 5.1 acts as Google Chrome : instead of handling drag-and-drop, it displays the dropped file in a new window.

My applet worked fine before upgrading Safari. I have also tested on Safari 5.1 on the Windows platform : drag-and-drop works perfectly.

This is very annoying because, until now, Safari was the only browser on Mac OS X that allowed drag-and-drop on an applet (if I except Firefox 3.6 - which is not the last version of Mozilla browser - and maybe less known browser...). Does anybody know if there is a workaround ?

Unfortunately this is a known issue with Plugin2, which has become the default applet plug-in for all browsers on Snow Leopard and Lion as of yesterday. We have not found NPAPI to have sufficient facilities for us to replicate Java's external drag-and-drop services, and are looking for other technical avenues to pursue.

As a workaround, you can detach the applet from the web page by holding down Cmd-Shift and dragging. The detached applet should respond correctly any DnD operations.

So there you go. You will have a floating Java window that looks like it's own Application.

The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling

Via NYT:

The first graph shows the difference between budget projections and budget reality. In 2001, President George W. Bush inherited a surplus, with projections by the Congressional Budget Office for ever-increasing surpluses, assuming continuation of the good economy and President Bill Clinton’s policies. But every year starting in 2002, the budget fell into deficit. In January 2009, just before President Obama took office, the budget office projected a $1.2 trillion deficit for 2009 and deficits in subsequent years, based on continuing Mr. Bush’s policies and the effects of recession. Mr. Obama’s policies in 2009 and 2010, including the stimulus package, added to the deficits in those years but are largely temporary.

Thanks Nathan!

Onion Study

[gallery link="file" columns="1"]  

A red onion left over from the weekend BBQ grabbed my attention just now.  Two Dedo lights used.