24in48
no comments (closed), posted on february 18, 2005, tags: photos
I'm participating in the second round of the 24in48 project. It started today at midnight at it goes until 11:59PM Saturday night. During these 48 hours, 24 participants take and upload photos from their camera phones. What you get is a "group moblog event, sharing the lives of 24 people over 48 hours in New York City."
You can view the moblog at 24in48.org and you can see my pictures at 24in48.org/people/garrett/. Feel free to follow my life for two days!
The Gates
2 comments (closed), posted on february 14, 2005, tags: photos
Today Shawn, Katia and I went to Central Park and took tons of photos of The Gates art installation. Aside from the fact that the A/C/E trains are still completely screwed (so it took us about forever to get there on a crowded train we had to wait a very long time for), it was a great day. Nice blue sky and thousands of orange gates.
You can see my photos of The Gates on Flickr. You should check out Shawn's photos on Flickr as well. Oh, and if that isn't enough for you, I recently created a Flickr group called Central Park, which is now chock full of great Gates photos as well as other nice photos of the park. Photos everywhere!
iPod Socks
5 comments (closed), posted on december 22, 2004, tags: photos
I recently bought some iPod socks and passed them around to my friends. I've got the gray sock on my iPod, Katia has the pink on her mini, and then I gave the blue one to Shawn, the orange to Ellie and the green to Steve. I also sent a box of socks to Mathew.
While a bit pricey (a box is $30 US), the iPod socks really are fun and colourful and work quite well as cases for the iPod. Click the image above to see some of them in action (I'll add photos of everyone's socks as soon as they're available).
Photo Explosion!
2 comments (closed), posted on october 31, 2004, tags: photos
Right, so I've put up an additional 496 photos in the last 24 hours. Including—wait for it—the photos I took in London and Dublin! That's right, 365 shots from my first trip to Europe are now available online.
Of course, the bad thing about putting all these other pictures online after those taken in Italy is the fact that they look cruddy since the Canon S30 is no match for the greatness of the new D70. But, that aside, there are all sorts of new photos for you to look at in addition to those taken in London and Dublin, including some taken at the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park and some fun Light Experiments.
Check out the photos page for a full list of sets. Note that most of the new stuff I added actually appears below the Italy sets. I'm trying to keep it accurate somewhat to when I took them all.
Photos From Italy
5 comments (closed), posted on october 27, 2004, tags: photos
The hard part of taking nearly 500 photos isn't narrowing them down to the 315 or so that you really like, it's giving those 315 titles and, if possible, descriptions. It took a great deal of time. It took far less time to hook into the Flickr API and update my photos section to get the sets from Flickr and display thumbnails and details.
I'll be uploading all my future photos to Flickr. It's great, and it so much easier to use than making my own photosets. Not to mention that it allows for comments and for more people to see my photos.
And so, all 315 photos are now available for your viewing pleasure. I've grouped them by city. Since the photos page shows newest to oldest, you might want to start with the last set (Taormina) and work backwards to the newest (Cefalu) if you want to see them in the order they were taken. Feel free to leave comments at Flickr or general comments here.
Also: There seems to be an issue with RSS/Atom feeds not getting updated. I've fixed it temporarily, I'll get to the bottom of the issue tomorrow.
More on Finding a New Camera
17 comments (closed), posted on june 17, 2004, tags: photos
Lots of feedback to my request for help finding a new digital camera. After many days of doing research and reading your feedback, I've decided to wait on buying a new camera. The reason is simple—nothing I've found in the $500 US range is good enough to warrant buying a new camera right now. Frankly, I think I've already decided which camera I want: The Canon Digital Rebel. So why wait?
It's still $850 US and I can't justify that right now. So I'll wait a little bit, a few months, and see if the price drops some. If not, I'll weigh my options then. Once again, thanks for all the help everyone.
Help Me Find a New Camera
21 comments (closed), posted on june 15, 2004, tags: photos
I need some help. I've been thinking for a long time now about upgrading my digital camera, but I need some advice from any of you who can provide it.
I currently have a Canon Powershot S30, and it's a great little camera. The problem is, I'm starting to take more and more pictures and the 3.2 megapixels aren't what they used to be, especially now that 5 megapixel cameras are about the same price as my 3.2 was a few years ago.
When I bought the S30, I was looking for a digital camera that would take great automatic photos and allow me to use manual modes (shutter speed, aperture, focus) as well as be able to fit in my pocket so I could take it with me everywhere. I got the former but not the latter. The S30 is just slightly too big and heavy for a pocket, so I end up bringing it around with me in a bag. Since I'm used to this, the camera being small is no longer a requirement for me. The next camera I buy can be any size, since I'll most likely always have a bag with me anyway.
The S30 takes great pictures, but only in certain conditions. Anything further than a hundred feet away starts to lose its sharpness pretty quickly (as you'll see with my London/Dublin photos soon), and the resolution of the images could be bigger. I would also like a bigger aperture range, since the S30 is limited to 2.8 to 4.9. It only has an optical zoom of 3x, which adds to the distance problem described above.
I'm looking for a 5 megapixel camera for around $500 US. I don't really want to spend more than that. If I did, I would just go all out and buy a digital SLR. But I don't think my taking pictures equates to more than an enjoyable hobby, and for that I cannot justify more than about $500. I've been reading a lot of reviews recently, and I think I've narrowed it down to three cameras. Surprisingly, the one I'm looking at most is a Sony. I never thought that would happen, but here we are. I'm considering the following:
- Sony DSC-F717
- Pros: Manual focus ring on the barrel, great image quality, low noise, night framing options. Can attach 58mm lenses and filters without adapter!
- Cons: Sony product, memory sticks. Size and shape (not necessarily all bad, though).
- Canon Powershot G5
- Pros: Canon product, good image quality, can attach filters / lenses (with optional bayonet adapter, 58mm).
- Cons: Chromatic aberrations, noise, partially obstructed viewfinder.
- Nikon Coolpix 5700
- Pros: Great image quality, quick response mode, low noise, great macro quality.
- Cons: Complicated controls, slow start-up, poor auto-focus. Called fucking 'Coolpix'.
The Sony's body is definitely large and bulky, but I actually sort of like the swivel idea, and I'm really interested in the lens ring. Being able to focus or zoom with a ring is far better, so that gives the Sony an edge. Combine that with the photo quality and the fact that memory sticks are now much larger and cheaper and it might be a good pick. It's a bit more expensive than the others, but it seems to be winning me over.
There is one thing about the Nikon that I like, and that's what I've seen of its macro image quality (this photo in particular). I haven't been able to find any real macro images from the Sony, and the samples I've found from the Canon are about the same quality as my S30 takes (not so great). I really like macro photography, so this is really the only thing keeping the Nikon in the running.
Do any of you have any of these cameras? Or another 5MP camera? Opinions, thoughts, suggestions?
Update (06/17/2004 10:42 AM): I've made a decision, and that's to not make a decision right now. See More on Finding a New Camera for details.
Guinness Waterfall Wallpaper
3 comments (closed), posted on may 24, 2004, tags: photos
One of many photographs still to be gone through, organized and posted to this site, I present to you for your wallpapering pleasure: the Guinness Storehouse waterfall. Get it in your size and try it on today.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
2 comments (closed), posted on april 30, 2004, tags: photos
Absolutely gorgeous day—tons of light and bright, clear, blue sky. I took a lot of photos, and this is a collection of some of the better ones. We'll definitely have to go back in late May when the cherry trees have fully blossomed.
Enjoy the photos while I'm away. I return on May 8.
McCarren Park
4 comments (closed), posted on april 27, 2004, tags: photos
It was cloudy the day we went, two Sundays ago, and the photos show it. None the less, people were out and about, riding bikes and playing baseball. Click the photo for more.
New Things
6 comments (closed), posted on march 19, 2004, tags: photos
Katia's iPod mini arrived yesterday. It was shipped in Shanghai, China on Wednesday and arrived at my office in New York, USA at 10:30AM on Thursday. That's the fastest shipment I have ever received in my life. Granted, time-zone differences were on its side (China's 13 hours ahead), but it still got here much faster than I expected.
Because a few people asked me to take a picture of the new iPod mini, I figured I should also take some pictures of two other new things that I've not mentioned—a 15-inch PowerBook and our gigantic sectional couch.
The search for the couch was long and difficult. I really wanted an L because it would fit better in the living-room and open it up more than a standard couch, since the room is a bit longer than it is wide and I didn't want it to feel as though the room faced one way. The L does exactly what its meant to in this case, and makes the room feel much more full. Also worth mentioning is that it's a ton of sitting space. Both Katia and I can lie down on the couch and there's still room for at least one person to sit comfortably. Now if we only had people over more often.
And the PowerBook... well, first of all: yes, this means I've purchased four Apple computers in the span of just over a year. I'm aware of how ridiculous that is. For those who don't remember, it started with an iBook, then a 12-inch PowerBook (both of which I sold), and ended with my Dual G5 and Cinema Display. Well, ended until a few weeks ago at least, when I bought the new PowerBook.
For the past few months Katia had been using my G5 because she needed the screen space to do some freelance work and she couldn't use the small 12-inch screen of her VAIO sub-notebook. After a while, though, it got so that I would never be able to use my computer because she was always using it, so I told her we either needed to get a bigger laptop or she would have to start sharing. Luckily for me, she went with the former and I promptly bought a 15-inch PowerBook.
I should also mention, related to the couch search, was the search for a rug for the living-room. Let me just say that people who manufacture rugs are making a shit-load of cash. I have never in my life paid so much money for something so simple and, really, useless. Yuck.
Tribeca in the Sun
3 comments (closed), posted on february 24, 2004, tags: photos
Yesterday was the perfect day to take pictures. The sky was crystal clear and deep blue, the sun was out and it wasn't too cold. I only wish I had gone out earlier in the day, because my light only lasted about an hour.
For those who are curious, Tribeca comes from the Triangle Below Canal.
Trains and More
5 comments (closed), posted on february 20, 2004, tags: photos
On the way to New Jersey tonight for a dentists appointment. Click the image to view them all.
The dentist said that every molar has something wrong with it. That's what happens when you don't have dental insurance and/or don't go to the dentist for at least 4 years. Every damned molar. Ridiculous. And it's not like I don't brush—believe you me, I brush. I just have stupid weak enamel and now all of my teeth are shit and have to be fixed.
I have four appointments the next four weeks, and then I need to schedule the extraction of my other three wisdom teeth. I'm not going to be able to chew from here until 2007. At least when it's done I'll have pretty teeth. Well, the molars at least*. They'll be pretty.
* It should be noted that my front teeth are pretty, thankyouverymuch.
Cats in Different Places
1 comment (closed), posted on february 19, 2004, tags: photos
A collection of photos from the past year. Felix and Oscar (pictured above) in different places around our apartment. Click the image to view them all.