Show Me Where Ya Noms At

I found this video on a friend’s Google Plus stream this morning and made me actually laugh out loud. This is the sort of video I imagine my friend Amy DiFrancesco and I would make if we had the time. I am just about this corny.

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The Most Amazing Time-lapse Video

This has got to be the most amazing time-lapse video I have ever seen. Not just because of the beautiful landscapes the camera is capturing but the way it is captured. Hats off to the guys at T-Recs.

Down below I’ll just guessing here on how the hell they did it. Meanwhile, take a look and share your theories in the comments. I’m thinking a little HDR magic is going on too.

So the sky shots must have been done on some sort of tower or a weather balloon with a stabilization and constellation tracking system. That’s pretty much the only thing that I can think of capable of making those shots so steady and so stunning.

The city shots have to have been done with a huge rolling crane on a track. Some of the shots are pretty basic but others change on both an X and Y plane. Tricky stuff! Especially in the middle of a city.

Finally, polarizing lenses to help make the sky dramatic and obviously a little HDR going on here. HDR = High Dynamic Range photography. They might be shooting with an awesome sensor in raw (Nikon D3X/S, Canon 5DMKII or maybe even a Red sensor) and composing a tone mapped image by post processing three exposures from a single shot. Alternately they could be shooting three or more shots right after the other and doing a standard tone map.

Either way, it’s the first time that I’ve seen HDR video look good and certainly the first time I’ve seen an HDR time-lapse video this awesome. I cannot wait to go through their other works.

Do you agree with me or am I way off base? Continue reading

The Seattle Public Library is a Beautiful Building

One of the things that stuck out during our trip to Seattle was the architecture. When I think of cities that have really awesome or unique architecture, in America, I think of places like Chicago, New York City, Washington DC and Charleston North Carolina.

I never think of Seattle and architecture in the same sentence. Well, at least, I didn’t.

What’s great about visiting a city where you have a friend is getting the not for tourists guide to a city. Whether it’s hitting up hole-in-the-wall diners or visiting the local library, there are all these little treasures you wouldn’t ordinarily get to see.

In this case, it’s the library. The Seattle Public Library is awesome. At the top you’re catching a glimpse of what it is like to look down from the highest point in the library, down to the ground floor stacks. I think we were 10 stories up when I took that photo. Being that high up got Sam and I both a little anxious. But the views were worth it. Continue reading

Kanye West’s Runaway Art Direction

Is it silly that I sat for thirty-five minutes glued to YouTube and my computer watching the latest, if not greatest, showcase of Kanye West‘s pleionosis? No.

Kanye’s new music video film shows off a handful of songs from his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy including the namesake Runaway and borrows heavily from the film styles of some of my all time favorite films. Continue reading

Resolutions and Revelations

I decided that one of my New Years resolutions…

Let’s stop there really quick. Yearly resolutions are about 90% total bull. I know that. I know that you are far more likely to be unsuccessful at a “resolution” if you put arbitrary timelines, start dates etc. But I digress…

I made a few including the following:

  • Post here more often.
  • Thinking positively.
  • Workout like I did when Max was my gym buddy.
  • Make more money doing what I want to do, not just making money to make it.
  • Take more photographs.

I realized tonight that I’ve put photography onto a back burner. I have stopped introducing myself as, “I’m Justin… yeah, I’m a photographer” and instead say, “I’m Justin… I help companies utilize social and new media systems and networks to reach customers, create transparency, build trust, gain respect and increase revenue.”

“I’m a photographer” isn’t nearly as big mouthful.

So in an effort to kill two birds with one stone, I will post here more often with a new photo every day. I promise it won’t turn into one of those annoying 365 photo blogs. Just a simple photo everyday of something that caught my eye. Whether the photo be from my nice camera or my iPhone camera (which is actually a pretty nice camera…)

I’d like to further challenge myself to taking each of the photos from the same place. Can I make 365 unique and interesting photos from my courtyard? How awesome would that be? If I miss a day, I miss a day. Giving up because one day I didn’t do what I wanted to do is insanity. It’s an excuse to give up. I will miss a day but, I will think positively, I won’t let it, let me down.

So, let this be the first one. The Image above is the night view from my courtyard. It is the view I see every night as I do the dishes. I’m totally ok with doing the dishes when that is what I get to see while I do it.