Thursday 22 July 2004: While driving a moving van across Arizona, besides thinking about blowing up trucks, I'm also thinking about PHOTOGRAPHY, something a little more realistic. Just recently I've seen images by Japanese photographer Tokihiro Sato, totally amazing stuff. Taken in VERY low light with long shutter openings — he makes magic with little mirrors and/or flashlights.

Und zo — I need a camera that allows me more control over the shutter. The Sony DSC-V1 allows exposures up to 30 seconds but no longer — I'll need something that can be indefinite, or at least up to five minutes. For that, I'll probably have to see about getting a high-end 35mm SLR with a digital back (more on that below) because I'd also want to do very high-resolution stuff. But being able to afford that equipment will depend on selling some pictures, once we're in Bisbee. Money money money...

More immediately, more realistically, I'd like to have an underwater digital camera. Sony has a digital underwater for around $250, so we might be able to squeeze that out. I think that's the DSC-U60, something like that. And then I have to get in the water...

I read accounts of the Magic Camera — the fellow who dropped his expensive Nikon digital into the water, dried it out thoroughly, started using it, and found that the electronics had changed and all the images came out with very strange and appealing glows and streaks and splotches and transformations. So I'll see about getting some CHEAP digital camera from WalMart -- I think they have some for $20 or $30 — drop it in the water, dry it out, see what happens.

I also want to do some stuff in micro-photography and macro-photography and pinhead pinhole photography. The closest I can come to that last digitally would be to use that little spy-eye TV camera, which unfortunately I can't realistically deploy until we get a nice digital camcorder with NTSC input — and that will unfortunately be expensive. So it'll have to wait a bit.

But for micro-photography, Edmund Scientific has a fairly cheap micro­scope with a USB link, so one can feed images of itsy-bitsy tiny things directly into the computer. And for macro-photography, well I think the DSC-V1 focuses pretty close, so that will probably work. I'll probably need to get a better lighting setup in order to work with that. NOT an insurmountable problem, not even too expensive. Just a couple of tensor lamps and a mirror...

I look forward to a lot of photography in Old Bisbee itself, in early morning and late afternoon and evening, early night. And then in the wildscape around town, both day and night.

Ah, pinhole-type photography, I wanna do that because of the sensation of depth that technology affords. Too bad I got rid of my old fisheye lens when I gave up chemical photography. I'll have to see if an inexpensive fisheye is available to hookup via adaptors to Maureen's camera. Yeah, too bad I gave up my old long telephoto lens too — that'll be expensive to replace.

Besides taking more pictures, I of course have lots of old pictures to process. Lots of videos to capture stills from. And then there's the various images I've been downloading that I can process and change and MAKE MINE.

I haven't forgotten about doing 10-second movies — and it's just occured to me that some such video thang could be constructed by pulling frames from the old home movies and, in essence, animating them. Especially if I process the frames with art, heavy edges, to make them more cartoon-like. For that matter, I could do vignettes with the frames done with other art processing: glowing edges, enamel, yeah, whatever.

Hmmm, since I wanna MAKE such short video vignettes, I'll need to see if there's any books or online material on designing and creating short advertisements. And for processing, check the video editors I have, see what image processing capabilities they have. I can also use PhotoMorph to do some processing. Like, take old home movies with Marsha and have her spinning around, then do a closeup on her face and morph it thru images of her over years, with soundtrack and/or subtitles saying, "Hi Marsha, how's it going? Don't you look natural?"

I am not like a camera. I am a camera.

Domingo 10 April 2005: _{(San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico)}
Time to bitch about my camera. Longtime readers of these journals will recall that a year ago, whilst we were RVing around the US southwest, my beloved Sony DSC-V1 supercamera was mortally damaged, blown over on its tripod by a strong desert wind. Upon our return I sent it to Sony and they returned it, the munged motorized lens assembly replaced.

But in recent months I can't get clear pictures in normal light when the lens is zoomed out; it doesn't focus correctly, no matter how I diddle with the controls. Interestingly, that focus problem doesn't seem as severe when it's set to infrared mode, but that's possible only in dim light. So in daylight, the DSC-V1 can only be well-used for wide-angle or normal aspect shots. Bummer. And I can't send it back to Sony for further repairs until we return stateside. Further bummer.

Viernes (Friday) 13 May 2005: _{(Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico)}
I've been able to bypass the DSC-V1 zoom-focus problem by using aperture-preference exposures when zooming. Go with F8 and just about everything is in focus. This works OK if there's enough light, which isn't always. It's time to consider a more useful tool than the DSC-V1, saving that for a backup.

So what do I want and need? My recent readings indicate that prices of low-end DSLRs (digital single-lens reflex cameras) has intersected those of high-end PNSs (point-and-shoot cameras) and are now under US$1000. I read that DSLRs have larger CCDs and thus less grain and more sensitivity, being able to shoot in VERY low light. And they operate VERY fast, without the grim PNS delay that often loses pictures.

TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) — there are trade-offs. DSLRs are bigger, bulkier, heavier, and noisier. A good PNS like the DSC-V1 is still optimal for stealthy shooting, and for always having a camera in a pocket, ready to whip out and use. But for any quality photo work, a DSLR is required.

One feature-bug-problem of any digital camera, as opposed to a film camera, is that the camera IS the film. The CCD is built in; and newer, higher-resolution and -sensitivity CCDs will always be developed; so any digital camera is obsolete the moment it is purchased.

Beside the cost of the DSLR camera body (which will be outgrown in a short time), a lens system must be purchased. Ouch. I'd probably be happy (for a while, anyway) with an extreme wide-angle, a wide-range zoom, and a long telephoto. All that's needed is money.

Sabado (Saturday) 6 August 2005: _{(Powell, Idaho, USA)}
Before we left on this Northern Exposure II trip, we spent sunny scorching afternoons splashing about in our cousins' swim-pool. And I thought, I want an underwater camera. I mean, I *really* want an underwater camera. And we want to spend enough time in and under water to justify it.

So I'll also need a snorkel and mask. Fins? I don't know if any will fit my size 18 feet. And we'll need to travel to locales with warm water. So maybe, after we return from the Arctic Ocean and pass the winter holidays in the Sierra Nevadas, we'll head for Baja California, the Sea of Cortez and its surrounding shores. That's the next dream. Probably cheaper that getting a new DSLR, eh?

The moving photon writes, and having writ, vanishes.

Viernes (Friday) 9 December 2005: _{(Volcano, California, USA)}
I am undergoing a photography crisis. I have run short of images to capture and devices with which to capture them. On the Northern Exposure II trip, our two 5-megapixel cameras became useless — one stopped working, the other has lens splotches. The only camera that really works now is the old Sony DSC-P20 which takes (at best) 1.2 megapixel photos. I now use it almost exclusively for ultra-high-contrast shots — black-and-white only, no grey tones or colors. The results are dramatic, but require rather strong light. And we live in a dark forest with only spotty sunlight. And I've already photographed almost everything in the house. But I feel *urges* to photograph yet more.

New cameras are not on our event horizon, for financial reasons. I will not belabor you with the stuff I've found myself shooting. I have tried to go with the flow, to adopt the discipline of using what is available, looking at everything with fresh eyes, to make the ordinary interesting. That game can only be played to a certain limit, at least with *my* neurons. Pretty soon we'll have to go somewhere else. Will I remain sane until then? Should I? Who cares? Whatever...

So, today's wet-dreams include new cameras, new locales, new ideas. Or new people. And new weather. Early winter in the Sierra Nevadas is boring. Dark forest monoculture is boring. New suburban buildings and viewscapes and surroundings are boring. Some artists make good livings, exploring and exploiting boredom. Oh look, another picture of subtle shadings. Yawn. Expletives deleted.

OK, it's not really so bleak. There are various camera projects I could work on. And there's plenty of photoshopping image proc­essing to be done. But those don't substitute for actually snapping a shutter. Capturing images is exciting. Keyboarding is tedious. Oh look, some more tedium. Yawn. More expletives deleted.

Every story takes a picture, don't it?

Martes (Tuesday) 27 December 2005: _{(Volcano, California, USA)}
Last night I assembled a simple photo apparatus: a sawed-off ruler with a clamp-on magnifying lens at one end and a camera clamp towards the other. Aim the camera through that lens and I have a rough simulation of a Holga etc toy camera, with its asymmetrical plastic lens and light leaks and focus problems. I can adjust the lens for all sorts of distor­tions and vignetting. I shot around the house, at the Copperopolis lunch­room, etc. Close-ups look best; I'll practice and learn about distance shots. I'll have to try it around town, if I ever get back to town.

A few days ago I tried modding an old Logitech WebCam, hoping to pull out the IR filter to allow for wider-spectrum image captures. But I couldn't get the lens off without probable damage. Bother. The basic disassembly allows for a stretched focus, for ultra-macro imaging. But it's pretty fuzzy, being around 352x480 resolution. Another possibility: remove that lens and replace it with a pinhole. But will the sensor respond to such minimal light? Also, try performing similar surgery on my cheap 480x640 Vivitar ViviCam 3350. Maybe next time we're in Sacratomato, stop at HSC and look for cheap webcams to dissect.

Also a few days ago, I won a new Sony DSC-V1 on eBay, just US$173 total, less than 1/2 of current retail and 1/4 of the original price. So now I'm back in action. Combined with the Sony DSC-P20 mounted in the Holga-esque rig mentioned above, and with the splotchy Sony DSC-P10 mounted with IR filters, I can keep on making a range of more-or-less viewable images. But we still want DSLRs. Our wet-dreams remain moist.

The modern pantheist not only sees the god in everything,
he takes photographs of it.   —D.H. Lawrence

Wednesday 4 December 2006: _{(Volcano, California, USA)}
The typical SLR or TLR is a modular system, consisting of a camera body, a variety of lenses, and various attachments (gadgets) for body and lens. Those gadgets can be applied to control image quality and distortion. A large variety of such gadgets are available for most modular photo systems, in a wide price range.

Such options are generally unavailable or very limited for PNS (point-n-shoot) cameras, film or digital. Photo gadgets usually require threaded lens or body mounts, and these are sadly lacking, especially on cheaper cameras. But ya get what ya pay for, eh?

Once digitized, any image can be fotoshopped to any desired extent. Still, when trying to be artistic with a camera, we may desire certain types of in- or near-camera distortion and manipulation. Following are some ideas for achieving artsyfartsy creative effects with cheap digital PNS'ers. NOTE: some of the these techniques require at least an LCD screen on the camera, so that the effects may be previewed and controlled.

PNS Creativity

• Hold or fix something in front of the camera lens: a spectacle or magnifying lens, a filter or some colored translucent plastic, some imperfectly transparent glass or plastic, a screen or prism, etc
• As above, hold something before the camera lens, at some angle
• Hold a mirror in front of the camera lens, also at some angle
  
• There's always the fun of shooting off a shiny globe like a large mirrored Xmas tree ornament, or any other reflective surface
  
  (For the above, you may wish to use screws, clamps, rulers etc to build a system to mount items in front of the lens)



• Attempt extreme over- and under-exposures, with or without experimental lighting systems; with many cameras you can point at something, hold the shutter halfway to take an exposure reading, then point at your subject and snap the shutter
• Hold the camera nonchalantly, pointing and snapping almost at random, or at least without composing or previewing the shot
• Drop the camera and maybe the shutter will snap when it hits



• Move the camera as you snap the shutter, inducing artistic blur
• Especially at very slow shutter speeds, move a screen or something in front of the lens as you shoot
• Shoot through flames or smoke or fog
• Smear something inert (like vaseline jelly) on the camera lens or (preferably) on a piece of glass held in front of the lens; you can also write or draw or paint on the glass, leaving the center clear for a framing effect
• Shine a light beam (angled) at the camera lens



• Attach camera to long pole or rope; set the self-timer, deploy the camera, hope for the best
• Set camera to 'macro' and shoot distant objects, especially (still or moving) lights or reflections
• Shoot at TV, movie, computer screens; at windows, skylights, mirrors; try different angles
• Shoot through an ends-cut-off bottle or polished can or other tube
• Experiment with all possible camera settings; take notes



• Take the Magic Camera approach: immerse digital camera in water, dry thoroughly, and see what happens; you may want to limit this practice to cheap cameras
• As above, but immerse in different (non-corrosive) liquids

All the artistic words have changed their meaning in California. Book means magazine, music means jazz, act means behaving, picture means a snapshot. They haven't even a place to keep books.   —Stella Benson