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The best camera is the one you have with you...

I recently became the owner of a Samsung Galaxy S Android phone. The phone itself is great, Android is a cool if not geeky OS. First thing I did was check out the 5mp camera. I've read and seen photos taken with the iPhone 4 and was hoping that the Galaxy would also have a good camera. Not shockingly it was okay at best. Then I discovered an app called Vignette. This app can mimic various style such as a lomo or toy camera. So trying to mimic what is essentially crappy quality cameras turns out to be a good use for this mobile phone camera.

Since I have my phone with me all the time, I haven't thought twice about pulling it out if I think I can capture something some what interesting, and it's actually been fun trying to see what results I will get.

My phone will not replace my Canon 7D but I have received some positive feedback if not a lot of views on Flickr in regards to photos taken with my phone. Check out the slideshow below to see what kind of images can be pulled off with Vignette for Android.

Paris 1994 Photo Project

A small group of photographers got together to capture a choreographed dance routine. The idea is to have the thousands of images taken put together into a video montage. Of the 1125 photos I took this is a small selection of my favorites.

This was my first time shooting a person, not my usually subject matter and it was an interesting experience. I look forward to doing it again.

Dancer: Danielle Baskerville
Choreography: D.A.Hoskins 

Night at The Ex

Some random footage from the 2010 Canadian National Exhibition, a.k.a The Ex.

This is only the third or fourth time I've used the video recording function of the 7D, the second time using it at night. I must admit that it seems the 7D's video quality takes a hard hit at higher ISOs but this is still an area I need to play with and explore more.

In any case I hope to post another edit from a few months ago of footage I shot with my 7D, at night and of fast movement. Can't post yet as this footage was for a show open that has yet to air. I will say that footage was a lot more impressive then what I got from shooting at The Ex, so it more likely means that problems was with me and not the camera this time around!

Emmy Award winner, I didn't even know I was nominated...

 

This week the 31st Annual Sports Emmy Awards were held in New York. Big Studios, the shop I work at was nominated for three Emmys this year and walked away with one for work done for the MLB Network's MLB Tonight show package.

This was the first big job I helped with after my one year sabbatical in Australia - my first all-nighter in a while but it seems it was worth it.  This is Big Studios 4th Emmy win, so kudos to the team on a job well done.

 

The Gift, by Carl Erik Rinsch

An interesting mix of film making and advertising, reminds me a bit of the shorts put out by BMW a few years ago (in terms of quality/production value). This was interesting enough that I will forgive the Philips TV product placement (they did pay for this so it seems fair). This is now in the process of being turned into a feature film, shocking.

This is one of five shorts that are part of a campaign called Parallel Lines, you can view the other film over at www.cinema.philips.com.

Canon 7D Video Test #1 - Subway

I recently made the jump and purchased a Canon 7D, upgrading from my first DSLR, a Sony Alpha a100. It's a very impressive camera, amazingly fast, very quiet and impressively built.

At the moment I've only got one lens, a Canon 50mm 1.4. Seeing how I use my Minlota 50mm 1.7 on my a100 about 90% of the time I figured this would be a good choice. At least until I can get a Canon 16mm - 35mm 2.8.

This is a little edit I put together of some test footage I took one day while heading home from work. Just random footage, all hand held to just learn how the camera deals with video. It's actually been pretty busy at work so I haven't had much chance to use the 7D. I'd like to record some full HD video at 24fps.

For this clip, as I mentioned the footage was recorded at 1280x720 at 60fps. I then did a rough edit in After Effects where I also did a general levels adjust and quickly stabilized a couple of shots. I then worked my way down to a 30fps QuickTime with Photo-JPEG compression at 50% at 960x540 which is the clip I've uploaded to Flickr.

Testing out the Squarespace iPhone app...

I accedentaly wiped the apps off of my jailbroken iPod Touch the other day which I used as an excuse to finally update to OS 3.1.2. With that I had to update the apps I had dowloaded and decided to search the app store for any knew interesting apps.

That's when I came across the Squarespace app whoch is what I am using to create this post via my iPod Touch. Seems like a well designed app allowing me to manage my site, view usage stats as well update and create content. It's one of the few apps that makes me want an iPhone for the ability to be always connected. I could see myself posting a lot more often with this app but we'll have to wait and see if that's true.

That being said I still jailbroke my iPod Touch - can't go without the ability to tweak this thing beyond what Apple allows.

These Irish guys can still rock the house...

Attended my fourth U2 concert in Toronto last week and I must say it was a mighty fine show.  It combined al the best aspects from the Elevation and Vertigo show, evolved them and added that large scale spectacle from the Pop-Mart tour to give fans a really great experience, as U2 show always does.

I brought my trusty Sony Alpha a100 DSLR with me and made do with a Minolta 28mm f/2.8, the results of which you can see below.  You can see more on my Flickr page here.

U2 360 Toronto 1

U2 360 Toronto 4

U2 360 Toronto 3

 I also recorded a few video clips but for now I'll share a sample of Bono and The Edge doing an acoustic version of Stuck in a Moment.

 

The AGO Study

I finally got a chance to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario, which completed a redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in late 2008.  I didn't have my DSLR with me when I went but managed to get a couple of interesting photos with my small Canon point and shoot. So have a look, and feel free to visit my Flickr page and leave a comment or better yet make me a contact.

MTV's New Look

With the help of UK studio Universal Everything MTV is launching a new look across it's 64 international channels...

MTV International / Sweetheart from Universal Everything.

 

MTV International / Chocolate Gold Sunset from Universal Everything.

 

MTV International / Mad Drummer from Universal Everything.

For more info and a few more clips check out the posting on the Creative Review blog.