Ecaustic project from yesterday

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So here is what I was playing with yesterday.  I should have tested with some more blacks in the wood areas, but this was a nice learning experience.

 

Big Thanks to the wife for dragging my butt into the studio.

Pocket Wizard update

A number of enhancements have been made to the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5’s HyperSync feature. These changes can improve the performance of HyperSync and make it easier to configure. This new method adjusts HyperSync timing in two separate places – on the transmitter and on the receiving ControlTL radio. The transmitting or on-camera MiniTT1 or FlexTT5 automatically adjusts HyperSync to compensate for changes made to shutter speed. Photographers can further refine HyperSync via the PocketWizard Utility.

New Pocket Wizard update 6.0for the MiniTT1 and FLexTT5

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.