Archive for July, 2008
Apple Core
by Andy on Jul.17, 2008, under Geek, Rants
I’m dismayed about the lack of reports about the problems with the iPhone 3G launch. Granted, it seems that any anti-apple or anti-iPhone stories are banned from most of the main media outlets, but there are fundamental problems with how Apple and O2 have handled the iPhone 3G launch.
I am an existing, very happy iPhone customer, having bought one on the afternoon the original was launched last November. It is truly a fantastic device (calling it a ‘phone’ does not really do justice to it, but it is not really a ’smartphone’ either – despite being branded as one). When the 3G model was announced, I put my name down for further information, but was not too impressed with the features – I was waiting to see what O2 would offer existing customers.
The truth is that all existing customers of O2 get is the ability to end their 18 month tie-in to start a new 18-month contract. The cost of the phone is the same for new and upgrading customers.
Say goodbye to the Afternoon…
by Andy on Jul.16, 2008, under General
… especially if you’re a rock fan. One of the largest collections of music memorabilia is now available to view online, and with fancy zoomable features:
(Requires Silverlight Beta 2 installation)
Adventures in Aperture
by Andy on Jul.10, 2008, under Photography
I’ve been quite keen to understand more about how to be ‘arty’ with photography, and have been experimenting with depth of field.
From what I’ve learned so far, the easiest way to alter depth of field is to switch the camera to Aperture Priority (Av), which allows you to manually set the Aperture.
My EOS 450D with the 18-55mm kit lens allows me to set apertures between F3.5 and F22. To see what the effect is of the different apertures, I set up a simple shoot and altered the aperture to see the results.
My first SLR Camera
by Andy on Jul.06, 2008, under General
I’ve had my eyes on Digital SLR cameras for a number of years – inspired by some of the brilliant photographs of James and RuneT. I’ve wanted to get more creative with the kind of photographs I take, and learn a little more about the art of a good photograph.
When my Canon Powershot A75 bit the dust after five years of happy service, I decided to take the plunge into the arcane, and expensive world of SLR photography and purchased a Canon EOS 450D.
In many ways, digital photography has made SLR cameras much better value for money. No longer do you have to spend money on individual films and processing is instant, so there is no wait to see if the picture will come out as intended. I certainly would have been put off if I’d spent the money and waited the time for a film to be processed only for all the photographs to turn out blurred.
A DSLR allows you to be free to experiment. Whereas once I would have been tempted to play it safe and stick with an autofocus every time – I can now spend the time to compose a shot and experiment with different settings.
I’m still only at the very beginnings, and I’ve not ventured as far as completely manual operation of the aperture and shutter speeds – despite the camera being very intuitive, some of the advanced settings will take a read of the manual.
However, for the first time, I was able to construct a shot and control the depth of field to get the effect I was after. So I present to you, my (almost) first ever SLR photograph:
