Garden Intruder
I went out to my garden this afternoon to water my cayenne pepper plants and, by accident, noticed this stealthy intruder having his way with my crop. I didn't notice him immediately, but when he moved, I was a bit stunned. I finished watering the plant and went inside to get my camera. I knew he wasn't going far. I got my 50mm lens and my 12mm extension tube, along with my 20x30 piece of black foamcore board that I use for tabletop studio backgrounds and went back outside. We had a mild breeze this afternoon, so getting this photo wasn't easy. I set the camera at f/22 and ISO 200 so I could have enough depth of field to get the entire image sharp, and my resulting shutter speeds on this set were 1/40". I made about 20 images and only two of them were acceptably sharp. I didn't take the tripod out like I would normally recommend, because I just didn't have the time to do it properly today before I went to work. If you have ever tried to setup a tripod for a natural environment macro photo, you know how much time and patience that takes. The light in this photo is natural sunlight. I shot this photo in RAW format and modified the white balance slightly to give it a slightly warmer cast.
After some research, I have learned that this creature is called a Tobacco Hornworm. This particular member must fancy spicy food :)
Thugs in Sports
Michael Vick in a game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte on December 4, 2005 - Photo by John M. Setzler, Jr.
I'm so sick of hearing about Michael Vick and the dog fighting scandal. It wasn't that long ago that his little brother got thrown out of school at Virginia Tech for being a thug. I guess it runs in the family. It's not just the Vick family though... there are a lot more and it runs a lot deeper than a few people. Michael Vick is gonna go to jail for his role in illegal dog fighting. He pled guilty to several charges on Friday. I'm not sure what all the charges are, but there was talk that he didn't plead guilty to some elements of this case, so I don't know what's gonna happen there.
I listen to too much talk radio and I have heard this story from many sides. The common element I keep hearing is that Vick should pay the price for the crime. What seems to be up in the air at this point is whether or not he should be able to play football again after he serves his time. The NFL has suspended Vick, but there aren't any details out yet on the terms of that suspension.
Professional and Collegiate sports are revenue machines. They don't care much about the athletes as long as the dollars keep rolling in. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of the best athletes aren't the smartest people in the world. They don't graduate high school at the top of their class and then they are invited to go to prestigious universities on a free ride to help generate revenue for the sports program. They stay there for a while and the best of the best get drafted into the pros... another cash cow.
I think it's time for professional sports to step up to the plate and clean up their own act. The NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB should implement policies that automatically eject a player from any future eligibility in the league when certain events occur. If an athlete is convicted of ANY charge greater than a traffic violation, they should be permanently suspended from the league. If these guys want a piece of the spotlight, they should keep their noses clean. Too many of the great athletes in the country today just aren't capable of that. Multi-million dollar incomes don't make a person any smarter than they were when they were broke. If dollars equaled good sense, Michael Vick (and the rest of the thugs in professional sports) would be on par with Albert Einstein.
Michael Vick getting sacked by the Carolina Panthers secondary in Charlotte on December 4, 2005 - Photo by John M. Setzler, Jr.
I think professional sports is just as guilty as Michael Vick by the simple fact that they don't have enough measures in place to discourage behavior unbecoming of professional sports. There are too many second, third, and fourth chances given to athletes who are habitual thugs. The money train that rolls down these tracks is just unstoppable.
Just when you thought…
There are certain things that have been around so long that no one ever really considers opportunities for improvement. During recent years, the standard ball-point and other ink pens that we use on a daily basis have started a transformation to ergonomically correct formats that have included wider and softer grips. In more recent history, I have started seeing the PenAgain by Pacific Writing Instruments line of ink pens on the shelves at our favorite shopping places.
I am one of the nerds who never really learned to hold a pen or pencil correctly. My grip on a writing utensil includes my right thumb and every other finger on my hand except the pinkie. It's an odd habit that my parents even heckled me about. I had to make a stop by my local office supply store this afternoon to pick up a few things, and I saw this pen again, so I decided to buy one. Knowing that my unorthodox grip on a pen or pencil would make using this pen difficult, I decided I would give it a try anyway.
When I got home with my goods, I cut open the package and tried to write with this pen. This pen forces me to hold it correctly. The shape and size of the pen won't let me hold it my way. When I started to write with it, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. I think I might be able to make the adjustment and actually use this new design :)
In the future, I would love to see a model of this pen with the finger loop closed so it could possibly be attached to a neck lanyard...
Bumgarner signs for $2m
The wait is over... Madison Bumgarner finally signed with the San Francisco Giants just hours before the deadline for a reported $2 million. According to THIS Baseball America article by Jim Callis, Bumgarner got the equivalent of the the 2006 slot recommendation, which is $200k above this year's slot.
Congrats Madison :)
24 Hours for Bumgarner
A week ago, I made THIS POST regarding the signing status of Madison Bumgarner with the San Francisco Giants. I'm actually surprised that he hasn't signed yet. He has less than 24 hours to get it done, or he's off to college instead of professional baseball. Madison isn't the only draftee that San Francisco is having trouble signing, but he's their top pick of the 2007 draft. I still think he's going to sign. I guess his agent has probably told him to hold out until the deadline in hopes that he'll get more than San Francisco is offering him. Unfortunately, I believe that won't happen. I think his agent is hurting him right now more than helping, but that's just my opinion. I'm already seeing 2007 draftees playing ball in the minor leagues. I just wish that Madison was one of them.
I guess the definitive stories on this matter will surface in the news tomorrow...
A Mosaic of Sorts
I saw some recently gallery work where a local photographer had taken multiple prints (very large prints) of a portrait and torn them into various sized shapes. The pieces were then reassembled in a shadowbox frame with multiple layers at various depths within the frame. I decided to play around with the idea using a digital photograph. This was my first attempt at the idea, but I think it has some merit if I can play around with it some more to achieve the effect a little better. I'm no Photoshop expert, and I don't know the procedure for creating a torn edge effect on my cutouts. If I can sort that part out, I can probably create a better example of this idea. This digital rendition can't begin to touch the actual piece I saw, but the idea is intact. Has anyone ever tried this or something like it?
A Painful Trip
Patient Care in Radiography: $56.00
Introduction to Radiologic Sciences and Patient Care: $58.00
Merrill's Pocket Guide to Radiography: $29.25
Medical Terminology: A Programmed Systems Approach: $90.75
The Radiography Procedure and Competency Manual: $37.25
Textbook of Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy: $146.00
Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy Workbook and Lab Manual: $74.00
This list ends the REQUIRED texts for my classes. I'm not sure if these books are good for multiple semesters, but I'm sure that some of them are. The Grand Total with tax on the required texts is:
$525.64
Additional items that I purchased while in the bookstore:
Mechanical Pencil: $3.50
Extra Lead for Mechanical Pencil: $2.00
Extra Erasers for Mechanical Pencil: $1.25
Four Sharpie Highlighter Pens: $4.00
Bantam Medical Dictionary: $7.50
Academic Year Day Planner: $4.50
1" 3-ring zipper Binder: $16.25
Three wirebound notebooks: $10.50
Accessories Total:
$52.97
Grand Total spent at the bookstore today: $578.61
In past classes, with a few exceptions, I have been able to sell my books back to the bookstore at the end of the semester for up to 50% of what I paid for them new. These books, however, will remain in my library for reference. I also kept my Anatomy & Physiology book ($168.00) from the two semesters of that class I had last year.
Thank God for Pell Grants!
Madison Bumgarner: Will he do it?
Madison Bumgarner still hasn't signed with the Giants yet. I'm not sure what's going on, but I have been following every news bit that my Google Alerts can provide on the topic. He's not gonna get the money he wants, so I guess he's holding out for the last minute. Madison turned 18 this week also. He's gonna get about $1.8 million in the deal, minus whatever his agent gets. I bet he's kicking himself right now for even having an agent in this deal. From what I have seen so far in this story, his agent hasn't gotten him anything that he couldn't have gotten on his own. There are also still various spewings about Madison threatening to go off to a junior college rather than signing. I'm sure this threat may be some sort of attempt to get more than he's gonna get, because it's certainly a poor idea. When you get a 10th overall in the first round, you can't walk away from it with hopes of improving your chances in two years. The top players in this year's draft are all getting less than in past drafts. If Madison wants to play baseball, he'll sign. I don't think he's really interested in going to college and letting some coach burn his arm up before he's eligible to re-enter the draft in two years. If he really wants to go to college, why isn't he talking about going to the University of North Carolina, where he already has a deal in place? UNC has been to the college world series for the last two years in a row. If he's in it for the love of the game rather than money, UNC would be the choice. Since he's talking about a junior college rather than a 4-year school, it's obvious that he's interested in playing major league baseball. Two years isn't as long to wait as three. August 15th is the deadline. He'll sign with the Giants before then and he'll take what they give him. I don't think he's capable of making the mistake of not signing.
All in all, it's been fun watching a local kid get this opportunity :)
Traveling Card Project: Getting Started
A few days ago, I mentioned my "Traveling Compact Flash Card" project here in the blog. I have been rounding up volunteers for this project, and we're about ready to get started. As of this posting, I have volunteers from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Iceland, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States. I think this is a decent turnout for the short amount of time I have been working on it.
The first stop on this journey will be Okinawa, Japan. Our volunteer in Okinawa will only be there until September 7, so that location will be taken care of first. I also hope to collect more countries to participate while the project is in motion...
Angel Trumpet and Other Flowers
I'm not much of a flower photographer and never really have been. I only seem to photograph flowers when there is something that really intrigues me about them. This flower is called an Angel Trumpet, and it was in the process of opening. The flower looks nothing like this when it is completely open, but I was simply intrigued by the lines in this scene. This is also another experiment with extension tubes rather than a 1:1 macro lens. This photograph was made with my Canon 20D using a 12mm extension tube on a 50mm lens at f/1.4. The depth of field using that combination is extremely shallow. At first glances, one might think this image used a soft focus filter, but it's not the case. That's just an effect of the wide aperture and the extension tube. I cropped this image to a square to eliminate the empty space on the right and left, but the image is full frame from top to bottom. This is a rather large bloom. The actual size of this bloom is approximately 3" across.
This photo of a lily is also another example using the 50mm f/1.4 lens with the 12mm extension tube. I got the same soft glow effect here. I like the effect, but I probably need to try some different experiments at smaller apertures to mimic the results of the average 100mm macro lenses. I also need to find out how close to 1:1 I can get with a stack of extension tubes. My set includes 12mm, 20mm, and 36mm tubes that can be stacked. I haven't done much experimentation with stacking them yet. The 12mm tube has allowed me to achieve my goals so far.
I love orchids. This photo was shot in a tabletop studio environment and lit with two flash units, one bouncing off the ceiling above and another lower powered strobe bouncing in from the left side to light the stem.
There are a lot of people in my Camera Club who spend a lot of time photographing flowers. I think this is primarily why I don't do it as much. Maybe I have just seen so many of them that I have a hard time finding the inspiration to shoot them myself :)