Photography
With all due respect, this site has mostly become a JavaScript weblog, but within the last two years I’ve really started to dive into photography. I own a Nikon D40 and D300 and read sites like Ken Rockwell. If you haven’t noticed, my Flickr stream has almost reached five thousand photos. I’ve made it a regular habit to bring my camera everywhere I go. Yes, this includes work where I’ve been stopped on a few occasions by a security guard only to show them my badge that every photo I take is fairly legitimate.
Nevertheless, the point being is that I’ve been getting a bit more serious into photography which makes it slightly more complicated to maintain a JavaScript blog. I DO in fact maintain this blog on a daily basis. My delicious feed is updated quite regularly, my prototype submissions seem to come in when people feel like submitting them, and of course my site pulls in my own flickr photos tagged dustindiazcom, effectively showing off my personal favs. However for those of you following my blog because of its original purpose, I apologize, the posts have really come to a minimum. If you haven’t done so already, take a gander at my archives or listen to some old podcasts, or perhaps if you’re motivated sit down and feast your eyes on a classic screencast.
Back to the point
So yeah, I’ve been walking around the planet capturing life with a little black machine in the palm of my hands known as a camera. If you’ve been enjoying what you’ve been seeing on Flickr, please do leave a comment. I’m sure most of you have added me as a friend by now.
I’ve been reading
Like I said before, I’ve been reading pretty much everything on Rockwell as well a few books that have caught my attention like Taking your photography to the next level by George Barr and Designing a photograph by Bill Smith. Both books that go beyond the mechanics of a camera and talk about framing and composition more so than messing around with apertures, white balances, ISO’s, and megapixels. I leave the mechanics to Ken Rockwell since he’s one of the few nerds that actually goes into high ISO comparisons (which by the way, is pretty cool too) but also believes that your camera doesn’t matter (also true (but of course, my opinion as well)).
Depth of Field
Somehow I became a depth of field junky and everything I captured had to do with the fine details. Take for example, this photo:
You can see my favorite beer (Hefeweizen) just coming into focus, which demonstrates a shallow depth of field. As a novice I thought the only way to achieve this was to buy a new lens that stops down with a low number (which is what I did). As it turns out, there’s three ways you can affect depth of field as learned through this interactive depth of field tutorial. After knowing such knowledge I then grabbed one of my older lenses and started taking photographs that revealed close-up details like this maple leaf just by getting up close and zooming in close:
I was instantly hooked to this art-form known as “bokeh” disregarding good color or composition. I figured if it had good bokeh then it was instantly a good photograph.
Good color
Bokeh alone is not good enough, and getting good color is often difficult. To this day I still haven’t mastered the art of white balancing. I know only a little of the science behind it, but it’s hard to tell what’s going on inside my Nikon when I set it to auto mode vs. cloudy mode (which happens to make my photos look warmer (even when it’s not cloudy)). I’m also a sucker for saturated photos, but sadly enough, over-saturating your photos can make them look very amateurish. I know, I have a lot of bad over-saturated photos that I thought were cool.
Good Composition
This is where “your camera doesn’t matter” really comes into play. Composition is really either about capturing the moment or simply lining up angles. Simply centering is the natural instinct of every point-n-shooter. But I’ve found that throwing subjects to the side adds a nice dramatic effect to the composition. Take for instance this fire hydrant I shot near my usual parking spot at Google.
Centering the image would have boring, but throwing it slightly off-centered makes it feel dramatic. Who knows why, but don’t you feel it? It’s as if there was a disturbance in the force and you can see it visually.
Making the perfect photograph
To this day I don’t know what makes the perfect photograph. It is of course an art form just like paintings or music. Art is in the eye of the beholder. But try locking yourself in a small room and take five hundred pictures. Surely you’re going to come out with a picture that is better than one of the other ones.
Photography is like JavaScript
As if you didn’t know it was coming to this. But let me be the first to put it into words. Photography is like JavaScript, and JavaScript is like photography. They are both expressive and beautiful. They can be done bad or good. They are both load and go. Pick up a camera and start shooting or simply grab a code editor, write code, and load it into a browser. Both are fun to compose. Both can view things from several angles. Both can detailed and complicated. Both can be simple. They are both object-oriented.
Conclusion
There is no conclusion. I will keep taking photos, capturing life as I see it. This was more or less an excuse to blog about something since I haven’t done so in over a month. I hope you’ve found it entertaining in the meantime.
Sincerely,
Your Blogmaster
February 19th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Great shots, Dustin. Reminds me how neglected my Flickr stream has become, as my camera gathers dust under the stairs.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Good point about the hydrant :)
An obsession I would have if I could afford a camera would be light-graffiti, looks very cool if done properly. Found a pretty cool image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lichtfaktor/2261769930/sizes/o/
February 19th, 2008 at 4:20 am
The hydrant looks better off center because of the golden rule. ‘Hot’ spots usually occur when you divide the view into thirds and focus on one of the intersections.
That’s just a general rule tho. a lot of exciting compositions can have the subject bleeding off an edge, or anywhere infact. Whatever creates drama, if that’s what you’re going for.
There are definitely a lot of parallels with creative arts and javascript. JavaScript in particular from other languages because it is so dynamic and allows the author a lot of individualism.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:28 am
I’m actually quite surprised at how many web developers also have an interest in photography. Must be something about the combination of gadgets and art that captures us.
Thanks for the links, some good stuff there.
Jake.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Yeah, nothing as good as being outside, focussing and taking shots!
I could do this forever…
February 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Very nice photos.
Two books that I have enjoyed, and which you have probably seen, are “Learning to see Creatively” by Bryan Peterson and “Closeups in Nature” by John Shaw.
The best way to learn how to be a better photographer, and which you appear to be doing, is to just get out there and start taking pictures.
February 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Dustin, you ventured so far out into the wilderness away from your computer to take that exterior shot… all the way to the parking lot!
February 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Your camera does matter, in a sense, because most small sensor digital cameras can’t really do much in the way of bokeh if that’s what you’re after.
I want to second Berty’s recommendations of Bryan Peterson’s book (and add another of his, “understanding exposure”). Additionally, this weekend I discovered the podcasts from the editor of Lenswork Magazine (requisite viewing) and would recommend them as well. There’s a lot to digest there, but he’s got an awful lot of value to say.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
A shameless plug but consider taking a look at http://www.aminus3.com/ … it’s a photoblogging platform geared towards people like you who are keen on photography and take a lot of photos and have the ability to showcase a new image every day (or there abouts).
Hope you won’t consider this post spam as I have been visiting your blog for a while. Many of your design patterns have made their way into the Aminus3 Javascript library … even if we’ve switched over from YUI to JQuery.
Cheers.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
“Your camera doesn’t matter” is more or less an aggressive statement targeted at people who put their focus on their equipment rather than just taking good photos. Of course your camera matters, but it should never be the focus of your photography. I’m willing to put my money that a photo-journalist from the New York times will take better photos than mine shooting with a disposable Kodak camera. Photography is an art, just like JavaScript. It’s just like saying “Your JavaScript library doesn’t matter.” :)
February 19th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I didn’t think you were taking it literally, I was just saying that the statement goes overboard a bit, which you obviously know.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
So you’ve gotten a D300 - nice! I haven’t seen it yet, but have meant to check it out in one of the local stores. Although it’s well beyond my price range at the moment…
Good to hear about your hobby - I do this too, with a D50, and am trying to be a little more creative with my photos…rather than having head-on positioning and perfect lighting, I try to mix things up a bit. I also try to be mindful of where the bokeh effect could be useful. I do get some interesting photos as a result.
February 20th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Thanks for putting some of those photography concepts into simple terms. I am new to photography. I’ve taken a basic class as an elective (I’m a journalism student) and I love it, but I’m so impatient! I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:32 am
I also think photography is like development. They always say when you have a new hammer, everything looks like a nail, and that can be the same for design patterns and HDR photographs :)
February 21st, 2008 at 10:34 am
You should check out our site! You have great work!
February 21st, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Hey Dustin,
I’m new here. Just found your site today.
I used to be a photo fanatic! It was actually my job in the Air Force for a number of years. I worked with a group called “Combat Camera”. We worked with motion picture, video, and stills. Loved that job!
I don’t take as many pics anymore, but I know a good one when I spot it. For instance, the fire hydrant pic is truly superb!! That’s no bs either.
5k pics on flickr? Wow man! I’ll dig around through them later and try to leave a few comments on ones I really like.
Well, I’m glad I found your site. I like people that mix it up. I do need help with JavaScript, but hearing other info (and pics!) from you is great too.
:O)
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 am
I believe that sooner or later
we all become interested in photography, as a hobbie or even as second activity
Somehow I think that web design is complemented with high quality pictures
Now I try to always have a better camera to share pictures in my blog
February 25th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Dustin:
If you don’t mind I have a photography question for you:
I really enjoy your pictures and I noticed that they seem very “organic” (for lack of a better word). Whenever I go around with my camera (it’s a nikon p5000), I might as well be pointing a loaded pistol at people given the way they react. Is the secret to your success very understanding friends or do you have a way of being sneaky when it comes to taking pictures?
Thanks,
Levi
February 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Dustin, what lens(es) do you use with your camera? I want to add another lens to my bag, to diversify a little, and am looking at a few candidates. It would be good to hear what you are using - it helps to know what lenses are commonly used.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
@Levi: The more often you shoot around your friends, the more comfortable they become. Soon you become “the guy who always has a camera” and then they start to ignore you a bit more (in a good way). I’m generally not a fan of posed pictures since they don’t often capture real human emotion. I find it best when I just snap away at people working or doing their usual everyday things.
What it comes down to is, you just need to take *a lot* of photos. I end up throwing away at least 75% of my photos when I’m searching for a good one. Having a high fps also helps too since people’s emotions can change in fractions of a second.
@Grant: I own a solid core of lenses. For ultra-wides I have the Nikon 12-24mm f/4. For general purpose the Nikon 18-200mm VR is great. Especially nice for casual outdoor sports since it has a wide range. The Nikon 70-200m VR f/2.8 is for more professional shooting and wicked bokeh.
The prime Nikon 50mm f/1.8 is really my favorite lens though. It’s $100 and perfect for taking everywhere. It takes an excellent “half-body” shot and excellent for head shots. It’s also great for low lighting.
Lastly I have a sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 macro. I use that one to shoot all my toys since it allows me to get up real close.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Hi Dustin,
Thanks for having my picture on your account. Your
photographs are awesome..
Thanks,
Chandra.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Nice lens lineup Dustin. Seems pretty diverse. All I have right now are the 18-70 and the basic 70-300. They serve me well for the most part, but I am interested in a wide lens for panoramic shots. Have been eyeing the 12-24, but it is quite pricey. The Sigma 10-20 seems to be a reasonable alternative, and is about half the price.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Love the photography Dustin, really impressive work… on a par with all your JS stuff :-)
May 7th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Lovely Photos.