For our next ART 163 assignment, we were assigned to capture a place in 20 pictures or so. This is a sort of hard thing to really grasp, since we, as humans, create a context of the room in our memory, where we are aware of what is around the room we are in after a cursory examination, even if we can't see it at the time. For Example, I know that there is a backpack sitting under the table I am sitting at, and that there is another table right behind me.
But with a photograph, you can't know what is outside the frame. IT is hard to get an overarching sense of what the room/place is like from one, two dimensional frame. There could be a table behind the frame, yes, or there could be an 8 foot tall tentacled 3rd grade teacher. You just don't know. The purpose of this assignment was to try to capture that feeling of the room inside of a rectangle.
These next 4 pictures are the shots that I feel are the best, most representative:
So I chose the Manufacturing Lab here in Valpo. Lots of little bits and greebles.
These two shots: The one above is just sort of an overall shot, machines and such. The one one the right is one of the collection hoppers for metal shavings coming off of the Lathe. This is very representative, as it is the messy aftereffects of creating parts. You will always have stuff left over, to be recycled or discarded.
I found this amusing. It definitely looks like a face to me. This is the end of an End Mill.
This is very representative of any place with large, powerful machines. There were warning stickers everywhere, and for good reason. I probably shouldn't have been in there when I was, but its fine.
All right, now these next... 18 or so are all here for archival and display purposes, so I won't say much about them:
Lots of caution stickers and lots of pipes.
Also it is ridiculously hard to get all of these pictures to work well together...
Good lord, pictures are WAY too hard to organize in this Blog system. Its annoying.
Anyways, I have been filming for the ASME TED skit for quite a while today. Lots of fairly unprofessional people, but its for fun, so that's fine. Still not quite the quality that I would want, in terms of acting, locations, lighting, and the ability for me to cut together scenes from different angles, but it is fine. My attempt to make a video last year was fairly pitiful, yet it still got some pretty good reviews from the Engineering department, and I hope that this one comes off better.
So now I need to pack all of my stuff up and walk back to my appartment from the engineering building, where I have been hanging out since about noon. Good lord I'm exhausted.
So I'm out.
Kevin
TV: The Newsroom
Movie: TED Skit
Music: "Shrines" by "Purity Ring"
Game: Skyrim, Dragonborn
Food: I have has a cupcake and 2 slices of Pizza today. No wonder I can't gain weight, I don't eat anything...
Wow, it has been SO long since I updated this blog. I don't even know where to start with updates. Lets see where my last post left off...
Ok, so after the Coldplay concert I finished up my last couple weeks or so of my internship and went back home for a week to get my drivers license renewed, and I brought my D7000 back with me with all of my lenses. I really do need to get back home to Colorado more often, I really do miss it quite a bit. The landscape if just stellar, so much more interesting than this flat stuff they call land here in Indiana. Even after 3 1/2 years here I still am slightly off-put by the lack of mountains.
Anyways, while I was back home in Fort Collins, the big city arts/music festival was going on, New West Fest, and there were numerous local bands playing at something like 8 different stages across the downtown area.
This band was quite good, and they had a good gimmick going on with the zombie makeup. Pretty good stuff.
The next day we went hiking up Horsetooth Rock. A few mile hike with a pretty nice view of Long Peak at the top.
Also Chipmunk.
A couple days later my brother, my friend, and I went backpacking up the Poudre Canyon. We hiked up about 2 miles with our packs and set up a nice little base camp from which to explore around from.
My brothers SOG tomahawk was getting a bit beat up after spending a couple hours throwing it into a very old very dead tree. Really fun, though, and I was able to nail down 2 and 3 rotations. It lent a nice sense of power sending this heavy piece of metal flying through the air and hearing the "thunk" as it embedded into the tree. Later we decided to go out on a hike, and literally less than 1/4 of a mile out from our camp we go around some trees and Bam! Moose! And not a little one, a very large Bull Moose. It is unfortunate that I only had my 50mm lens with me, or else I would have gotten some better shots of this majestic beauty.
Later that night we discovered a really awesome effect with an overpowered laser pointer and the fire.
Here are a couple nice result shots.
We tried some long exposure stuff later, but they didn't really turn out from me.
That was basically the end of the camping trip, and we didn't really do much more before heading back to Valparaiso for school.
Intermission:
Not chronological with the telling of this grand yarn, because GoPro just released this, but it is just awesome:
Be sure to watch it in 1080p if you can! Just stellar.
Anyways, School started and I got back into my Engineering classes. It is senior year, and it is a bit harder in ways, as the subject matter is a lot more confusing, but I have less homework.
I am taking:
Machine Design
AutomaticControls
Advanced Materials
And Senior Design.
Now, for senior Design I actually am in the greatest project group. We have to develop and build a remote controlled submarine for taking pictures underwater at a depth of up to 100 feet. I'll give more details in some future posts (hopefully).
Anyways, I got a job with my Universities marketing department as a photographer/ photo editor. It is basically one of my dream jobs! I get paid to go to all of the university sporting events and other happenings, as well as I get to use the large nice photo studio down in the basement. Yay 3 point studio lighting!
As "stellar" as our football team is, it is still really fun to go to their games and get nice shots like the two above. These were with my D7000 with my 80-200mm AF. I am getting so much better at timing and framing, and just photography in general. Yeah, I would go out and take some random pictures this summer, but that isn't the same as getting actual experience at an actual event. I'll probably post some more of my better pictures here, too, but I have to get them off the work computer still.
More event pics. I really should get those pictures off the work drive, as I have quite a few all right pictures that I really would like to have up here.
So as a result of all this, I bought my bosses D600. Full Frame beauty! I can definitely tell a huge difference in the Dynamic range and noise performance when compared to my Crop-Sensor APS-C D7000. I am So glad that I made the jump to Full Frame. The camera's performance in general, also, is also in general higher than the D7000.
Here are the specs on Amazon: Nikon D600
And compare them to the: Nikon D7000
The only thing that is slightly obnoxious about the D600 is that it seems to gather more dust on the sensor than my D7000, so I have to be more careful about changing lenses. There might be some issue with a slight gap in the shutter, it is something that has been seen in some models, and it might affect mine too. I'm not sure what to do about it, but I can deal with it in the mean time. The image quality is just so stellar that it makes up for it.
This is the only picture that I currently have on my home desktop that I took with my D600, so it;ll have to do for now. I spent a couple hours messing with this on Lightroom 4.2 and Photoshop. Also, it is fortunate that lightroom 4.2 supports the D600, even though Photoshop currently doesn't support the .NEF files out of it.
Anyways, Picture.
So I am seriously considering getting a Nikon D7000 to replace my D3100. For what I want to do, the D3100 just isn't quite cutting it. Yes, it is a fantastic camera, don't get me wrong, but it is a bit... small, for me.
What I love about the D7000 is:
Full Magnesium body (like the professional bodies)
Closer to professional quality, as well
Dual command dials
Top LCD screen
100% viewfinder coverage (as opposed to 95% for the D3100)
16.2 MegaPixels (up from 14.2, so still a good range, not too much electronic noise)
Remote-control compatible (which my D3100 is not, and I have a remote already)
Has an Auto-Focus motor built in which means that I can use most if not ALL of Nikon's current-gen lenses (as opposed to the D3100, which can just use the AF-S category of lenses)
Much more robust shooting options
Much better high ISO performance (And shooting in a dark pool need this a lot)
HD video capability, like the D3100, but with a much better AF system
and last but not least
6 Frame per Second burst shooting, up from the 3 that the D3100 has. This one will be best for catching the start off the block and catching the apex of someone doing butterfly.
So that is a pretty good list of reasons of why to get it. Also if I get it I might be able to go and shoot some weddings with My roomate next year, since his partner is leaving to go to school in California. But that is just a big maybe right now.
So that is what has been on my mind for the past couple weeks. And if I am excited enough about something for that long, it means that I am pretty darn serious about it.
Lately I have found that I love photography and everything that goes along with it SO much more than engineering stuff. I just love the creativity and vision that goes along with getting a good frame, getting that perfect shot. The whole process, from picking the Shutter speed to the Aperture, and even in post production. I have spent a ton of time just learning Photoshop lately, and if I had been using basically any of my engineering programs, I wouldn't have been having nearly as much fun. In fact, I would have probably been frustrated out of my mind.
I have been finding lately, from building Lego when I am home on break, to all this photography stuff, to even drawing on pencil, that I am way more creative than technical. Whenever I talk to my friend Geoff on skype, we always brainstorm new stories and characters and locations, all fantasy and sci-fi and who knows what. And we are good at it. People that I have explained our ideas to have said that they would either play that game or watch that show or go to that movie. I like how that feels.
But I have chosen engineering, and I am going to stick with it until I graduate, and then see where life takes me from there. I like it well enough, and I like how I get paid quite a bit (my internship this summer is a 30% pay increase from last summer). This job is what will let me get a D7000.
So this summer will basically be work, and shooting pictures when I get off work. Sounds pretty good.
Two days ago I started a twitter account. So far I like it WAY more than either facebook or google+. Though I really like google+, twitter is just a bit simpler. I like that.
Feel free to follow me @KevinFedde
Anyways, I'll leave you with what is one of my favorite pictures that I have taken:
Note: No post-processing whatsoever went into this shot. This is straight from the camera.
Preow
Kevin
TV: Top Gear
Music: The National
Movie: All I Can
Game: Minecraft
Food: Almonds
So I went and got a new pair of shoes today. Nice dress shoes for my interview on Thursday. Probably the most expensive pair of shoes that I will own.
Well, because of that, there was also a "buy one get one half off" sale going on at Shoe Carnival, so I figured I would buy myself another pair, as well, since the original pair (dress shoes) were already discounted heavily.
So, what kind of shoes did you get, you might ask?
Well...
I just tried them on kind of as a joke, but then they turned out to be really comfortable, and with the 1/2 off thing they turned out to be pretty cheap too. Win win. Plus hipster shoes.
A few days ago it was really foggy outside, so I took my camera outside with my brother's laser pointer and we messed around a bit. This was actually a really fast exposure with a low ISO, even (around 400 or so). Turned out pretty good.
Ok, now some engineering stuff.
Today in mechatronics lab we did some protoboard stuff, using NAND and NOT gates and such. It is kind of tough to visualize sometimes what we are doing on paper, and this really helped with it.
Here's a picture of one of our setups:
Lots of colors, but if I looked close enough (and had the chart that told us what was in each ship) I could tell you what that circuit did.
This next one is just a counter. It counts to 7 in binary with lights then resets. Pretty cool:
All of this is just skimming the surface of what you can do with circuits. Hell, my computer that I'm typing this on is millions of times more complex than that was, and I had trouble with it.
It just goes to show that there is so much more that I can learn.
I completed my collection of the CD's by "The National" today. Lots more music to listen to! Woo hoo! Also cheap because they are pretty old (2001-2004 or so).
That's pretty much it for tonight. I finished a lot of my homework today, so I'm proud of myself for that.
Later,
Kevin
TV: Archer
Movie: nada
Music: The National
Game: Rayman Origins
Food: Smartfood Popcorn!
Sorry that I haven't really posted anything lately. I have been incredibly busy with lots of homework and practices and swim meets and practices and such. Probably well understood by the few people who read this.
The most noteworthy event is that my girlfriend has bought both of us tickets to a Coldplay Concert! And if you read my prior post you probably know my views on that specific band.
So now I'll actually post something relating to the name of the blog! Something about engineering! I just made an appointment for my first real interview with an engineering company here in Valpo. They look like a smaller local company, but it looks pretty cool, and I'm excited for the interview on Thursday.
I have been enjoying learning about microprocessors in my mechatronics class, and if you are viewing this on a phone then you are using a microprocessor. It changed the world probably more than anything else in its time. Without the microprocessor, our devices would be much larger, much slower, and much dumber. Basically like it was in the 80's. But the advent of the microprocessor allowed us to basically make almost anything "smart." Now, for five to fifteen dollars per controller, you can have large amounts of data manipulation and control for cheap. It's amazing!
And that's my thoughts for today.
Picture!
Kevin
TV: Top Gear
Movie: nada
Music: The National
Game: Skyrim
Food: Cookies!
Well, a new semester has started, and that means getting used to all the new classrooms that I have to go to, and remembering all of the stuff that I have learned in the bast 2 1/2 years that all applies to the classes that I am taking now. Engineering is like that.
That, though, is one of the things that I love about it. It has a real sense of coherency throughout the field, because everything is interconnected. Mechanisms builds on Mechanics, which builds on Dynamics, which builds on Statics, which builds off of Physics, which builds off of Calculus, which builds off of Algebra, which builds off of Mathematics. Its like I'm climbing a mountain of knowledge, and I'm actually getting pretty close to the top now.
All of my classes this semester seem pretty interesting. Heat Transfer, which I'm sure will be the hardest, is necessary for basically anything in Mechanical Engineering, from engines to power generation. Everything is basically the movement of heat and energy.
I have an assignment for my Mechanisms class to go out somewhere on campus and to find an example of a mechanism. Looking around has really opened my eyes to how much engineering there is around me. I was aware of it, of course, but it made me look even more into the little things. Someone designed the little pneumatic door stop thing on all doors, they probably put many many hours into its design and development and testing and finally production, and now we all never think about it at all. Its just a given on many doors. And I think that's something that Engineers want. For their products to improve peoples lives. I will never meet the person who designed almost all of the things that I use every day, but I owe so much to these people.
That's why I want to be an Engineer. I want to create things that I might not be thanked for, but that I know will help people.
Kevin
TV: Family Guy
Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Music: Thirteen Senses
Game: Skyrim
Food: Cereal
These two shots: The one above is just sort of an overall shot, machines and such. The one one the right is one of the collection hoppers for metal shavings coming off of the Lathe. This is very representative, as it is the messy aftereffects of creating parts. You will always have stuff left over, to be recycled or discarded.
Anyways, I have been filming for the ASME TED skit for quite a while today. Lots of fairly unprofessional people, but its for fun, so that's fine. Still not quite the quality that I would want, in terms of acting, locations, lighting, and the ability for me to cut together scenes from different angles, but it is fine. My attempt to make a video last year was fairly pitiful, yet it still got some pretty good reviews from the Engineering department, and I hope that this one comes off better.
