The Author – Bart Busschots
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Apr
18
I’m playing catch-up again this week with another double post – I’m not doing too well the last while to keep these on schedule. Anyhow, as usual for a double post, I’ve chosen two photos that share a theme – last Autumn in this case.
The first shot is taken along one of my favorite sections of the Royal Canal, between Deey and Pike Bridges on the stretch from Leixlip to Maynooth. This is one of the sections where the towpath hasn’t been surfaced, even with gravel, and where the canal is lined with trees. It’s a really lovely stretch of nature for walking or cycling along.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +0.3ev.
The second shot was taken on the grounds of St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth as Autumn was just starting.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/200 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/11
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +0.7ev.
Apr
10
Reflections on Apple’s New iPhone Developer Agreement
Filed Under Computers & Tech, Software Development | 3 Comments
Apple have added in a few lines of extra language to their Developer Agreement for the latest version of their iPhone SDK. You can read the exact wording changes on Daring Fireball, but the effect of the language is that you have to use Apple’s XCode development environment to compile all your code. This has had the effect of killing some unsupported means of making iPhone apps, most notably MonoTouch and Adobe’s about-to-be-released iPhone Flash bundler in CS5. My initial reaction was very negative (ask my Twitter followers), but that was purely an emotional response because Apple didn’t give us any reason for this change. Because Apple didn’t explain themselves, we were left to come up with our own explanations, and the first few that came to my mind were none too positive. Ultimately, I greatly dislike Objective C, so I was pissed off at the alternatives getting the chop. But, slowly, a different story is emerging. I still haven’t heard anything official from Apple, but I think I understand what’s going on, and it changes my opinions significantly.
Apr
4
I’ve taken shots of quite a few special trains recently, but somehow I still prefer this one, even if it is of just a plain ordinary commuter train. I really love this spot because it allows for a big sweeping composition which I really like. It helps give a nice sense of depth, and strangely also speed. I also really like the warm evening light which this shot was taken in.
The processing here is quite complicated. The first step was to take the original RAW image and tonemap it with Photomatix Pro. Secondly the RAW image was loaded into Aperture and tweaked to correct the exposure a little and to boost the colour a bit. This second version of the image was then exported to Photoshop Elements and the Topaz Adjust filter was applied to produce an alternative tonemapped version. The version from Topaz did a better job on the train and the trees in the background while the version from Photomatix was better for all the rest. This final image was generated by using Layer masks in Pixelmator to blend the two versions of the image into a third version with the best elements from each of the two other versions. This third blended version was then taken back into Aperture, given a few minor tweaks and then sent to the Dodge & Burn plugin in Aperture to do a few minor localised teaks.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/400 sec
- Focal Length: 26mm
- Focal Ratio: f/4
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: see above.
Apr
4
I’ve lost count of the amount of Twitter clients I’ve tried, and none are perfect. There may well be a client out there that does everything I need exactly how I want it to, but I’ve yet to find it. In recent times I’ve settled on Syrinx because it ticks most of the boxes, but it’s not perfect. I haven’t been actively search for a new client, but I’ve still been keeping my ears open. Hence, when Tim Verpoorten talked about Itsy on a recent episode of the Mac Review Cast I decided to give it a go.
Apr
2
Bad Friday
Filed Under Polemics & Politics | Leave a Comment
I may have stumbled in to Catholicism as an accident of birth, but I’ve since picked myself up, dusted myself off, and decided that I want nothing to do with such a profoundly corrupt and power-hungry organisation. Nothing about the RCC gels with the person I am. I believe there is nothing more dangerous than blind faith, while the RCC literally preaches it as a virtue. I believe each person should be free to explore their own spirituality, while the RCC believes it and it’s priests are there to tell the people how to interpret the bible, because ordinary people are too dumb to do it themselves.
Mar
28
Due to a few busy weekends in a row I’ve gotten very behind again, so I have a triple post this weekend to get caught up. As usual when I do a multi-week Photo of the Week, I’ve picked a theme that relates the photos to each other. In this case, they were all taken during the abnormally long and harsh cold spell at the start of January this year (you can see all my best shots in a Set on my Flickr stream).
The first shot I’ve chosen is of the College Cemetery in St. Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM). This cemetery is almost like a secret garden, hidden away behind some lovely old trees near the back of the grounds. It’s always a wonderfully peaceful place, especially in the snow. Fr. Nicolas Callan is buried here. He was a great scientists who worked in SPCM and is most famous for having invented the induction coil.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/60 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +0.7ev.
The second shot I’ve chosen was taken on a ground of Carton Estate just outside Maynooth village. I’d been cycling along the Royal Canal where the sun was beaming down and it was just a truly beautiful clear day. Then, the moment I left the canal and entered into Carton estate it was like I’d beamed to another world. There was this thin later of dense mist hovering just above the ground. Above that layer it was still a beautiful day, though clouds were starting to roll in. The layer of mist gave the whole place an ethereal feel. I’d honestly never seen anything like it. To be honest none of my shots did the scene justice, but I still really like this one.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/60 sec
- Focal Length: 19mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +1.0ev
- Processing: This shot was generated by first applying the Topaz Adjust 4 filter to effectively tonemap the image, and then tweaking the result a little in Photoshop Elements 8 to selectively brighten just the snow.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve also chosen one of my train shots as one of my favorites. This shot was taken as the day was ending and the sun was getting very low in the sky. It shows an Irish Rail InterCity services making it’s way from Dublin to Sligo as it approaches Jackson’s Bridge just beyond Maynooth. From Jackson’s bridge you get a view of both the railway and the Royal Canal which runs next to the track for most of the way between Dublin and Mullingar.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/3.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: This shot was generated by tonemapping the original RAW file with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the results a little using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin.
Mar
7
My last few Photo of the Week picks have been nature macros, so I thought I’d change things up a bit this week and go for some local history. I just love the boathouse in Carton Estate, it’s such a cool little building in such a great setting. I’ve taken many shots of it, but this is one of my very favorites because of the dramatic backdrop nature kindly provided. For a start the trees in the background are at their autumn best, but as well as that the light was great and there sky was very dramatic.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/125 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/11
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Processing: This shot was generated by tonemapping the original RAW file with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the results a little using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin.
Feb
28
Photo of the Week 106 – Peacock Butterfly
Filed Under Photography | 2 Comments
Since the butterfly season will be starting up again soon I’ve been having a look back at my butterfly shots from previous years to see what gaps there are in my collection to help me plan my priorities for this year. In the process I also picked a shot for this week’s Photo of the Week, one from last year that I’m immensely fond of.
This shot is of the Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io), the most colorful and spectacular species we have in Ireland. I got quite a few shots of this species throughout the year, and in previous years (including Photo of the Week 32), but I particularly like this one because of where the butterfly chose to land. To get a nice out of focus background you do need there to be a bit of a distance between your subject and the background, and you need the background to be fairly even. In this case the butterfly landed on a very tall and beautiful special of Daisy called Black0eyed Susan. Because the Black-eyed Susans are tall, the leaves of the other plants in the garden were a long way below, hence the lovely soft green bokeh. The lovely yellow flowers themselves also add a lot to the shot, and the red of the butterfly contrasts nicely with both the green and the yellow really making it stand out.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
Feb
27
With all the madness of upgrading to SnowLeopard and my failed upgrade to Aperture 3 I’m now one day away from being three weeks behind on my Photos of the Week posts. To catch up I’m going to post a double post today, and a single one tomorrow. As always with multiple posts, I’m going to pick a theme, and this time I’ve chosen macros of Irish wild flower. Both these flowers are small and delicate, so you may miss their subtle beauty unless you take the time to look closely.
The first shot is of one of my very favorite flowers, Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum). It’s a wild variety of Geranium, and there’s lovely detail in it’s small pink flowers. It’s very common in Ireland, but it’s hard to get it with and uncluttered background as it usually grows in crowded hedgerows. I’ve taken many other shots of these little beauties, but I really like the clean bokeh in this one.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/400 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/5.6
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
The second shot I’ve chosen is of an absolutely tiny flower I found growing on some waste-ground near Leixlip Louisa Bridge railway station. These little guys are Eyebrights (Euphrasia officinalis agg.), and there are many different varieties in Ireland. Each of the different markings have subtly different coloured markings, and petals that are of slightly different shapes. These little guys are so small and so short that I literally had to lie flat on my stomach with the camera touching the ground to get this shot.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1600 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/5.6
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
Feb
21
My Aperture 3 Disaster
Filed Under Photography, Computers & Tech | 7 Comments
When Apple announced Aperture 3 I was excited. The more I read about it on their site, and the more video demos I watched, the more I fell in love. The feature-list has everything I really wanted, and more besides. For me the really big deal was a power local adjustments feature, as well as Faces and Places. They also fixed some of my quibbles with Aperture 2. On paper this app was perfect for me. In reality however, it turns out not to be ready for the main-stream yet. The design is spot-on, but the implementation feels like a poor beta. As I write this I’ve down-graded back to Aperture 2.