Well, this sums up my recent experience with Apple’s Migration Assistant. I just received my new Snow Leopard, 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor Mac Pro. It came with 8 gig of RAM, and I immediately added four more 2 gig Kingston chips for a total of 16 gig. The memory was recognized after restarting, and there was a new message indicating all the memory was installed correctly. Sweet, Lightroom should love the extra speed and RAM. Upon setting the machine up, I decided to try … [Read more...]
Lighting On A Budget – Pt. 2
September 22, 2009 By 1 Comment
My 6-light CFL fixture worked well in the studio, but I wanted more light and the option to add a light modifier. I decided to move up to 3” PVC and install eight lamp sockets around the outside of the pipe. We're going to call this fixture a SPIDER, you'll see why in just a moment. Here is my original collection of parts. A 3” clean-out plug serves as a hub for the sockets. My original idea was to attach the clean out plug to a 3” bushing … [Read more...]
Lighting On A Budget (Pt. 1)
September 14, 2009 By 7 Comments
A few months ago, my boss told me that we are expanding my department (me) into the world of video production. I was given complete freedom in choosing the camera, computer, and lighting. Like any good photographer, I spent the entire budget on the camera and computer. Whoops! I initially thought that I could use 500W work lights with diffusers, but two problems arose. One- the color temperature of the work light bulbs is very warm and it changes with … [Read more...]
Mac Pro: Falling in Love with Apple all over again.
July 14, 2009 By 2 Comments
I have a brand spanking new MacPro- -2.66 Quad Core with 600 GB Hd & 6 GB 1066 RAM and a 24 in. Cinema Display with an Wacom Intous3 4 x 6 in. Pen Tablet. I was weak in the knees, and silly-giddy as I liberated this monster from its cardboard confines. It is truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Made more beautiful because its mine. In the last couple of years, I have cooled to Apple's hip reputation for quality and innovation. My Intel iMac's motherboard needed replacement … [Read more...]
Quick Guide: Connect Your Powerbook to Your TV
April 15, 2009 By 4 Comments
Life can be complicated. This past weekend my air conditioning AND my dvd player died. Within the span of 4 hours. Possible reasons: 1. Power Surge. Maybe. Things haven't been quite right since Hurricane Ike dropped by for a visit last September (2008). The phone line for my dsl needed replacement. However, the surge suppresor built into our electric box remains intact (the light would have turned red if something had happened electrically). 2. Retrograde Pluto transiting my … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: A Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 3)
March 18, 2009 By 6 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 3 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby...always Another improvement over my Lensbaby 2.0 is the lens cap - the 2.0 shipped with a nice, heavy solid metal lens cap that screwed in place... unfortunately, it was kind of slippery and difficult to get off sometimes. The Composer ships with a new squeeze-type lens cap (the style that lets your fingers get inside a lens hood, hmm, what a handy accessory that would be?). Easy on and easy off, but not so … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 2)
March 17, 2009 By 6 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 2 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby...again Remember our fun with the Sima? The Lensbaby Composer (and all the Lensbaby line, since they use interchangeable elements) is 50mm in focal length compared with the Sima's 100mm. That gets into the usable range for many landscape opportunities, and makes a decent average focal length for portraits and details. Need wider? They can do that... it's that system concept I love so much. Offered as … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: A Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 1)
March 16, 2009 By 8 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 1 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby! Soon after receiving my first 35mm camera, I found that photography was a little more difficult than it had first looked. Ok, it was a lot more difficult. After mastering the learning curve on how make a sharp, well-exposed photo, I saw some photography by David Hamilton and Robert Farber. I was back to square one. Suddenly, I wanted to shoot soft focus images. But, how to do it? Shortly after graduating … [Read more...]
iLaundered but Still iPod
December 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I pulled my workout pants with its myriad array of pockets out of the dryer and felt an all-too familiar lump in one of the tie-pockets. "*&^%" I thought, while pulling out my iPod Nano. There was not any visible damage. The only evidence that it went through the wash at all was the trapped moisture in the silicone case that was around it. The first thing I did was slip off the silicone case, hoping that it offered some protection. However, it was the type that left the jack … [Read more...]
Drawing on my Computer…
October 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment
One of the most amusing things I feel about my job is the lack of knowledge most people have of it. I often have people ask what I do for a living. If they know I office out of my home then I their fist vision of me is sitting around in my PJs watching opera with a diet coke in one hand and letting my nails dry on the other. I may or may not have a computer sitting next to me, but most likely not or else it would be in the way of those feet I am propping up. For some reason, it's … [Read more...]
The Computer, Slow Food and Stone
September 15, 2008 By 1 Comment
When Goethe suggests that the artist is a universal character, writer, painter, musician, philosopher and general good citizen, it's a pity he didn't have a Mac to organize his production. Garage Band keeps my music in order and progressing, emails and the Internet help me communicating and stay in touch, Photoshop helps experimentation with images and iMovie looks to give an introduction to the world of moving images. We have the orchestra at our fingertips‚Äînow what can … [Read more...]
