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Monday, November 29, 2010

The Future of Photography - Plenoptic Lens Technology and More

Ever get tired of out of focus photos where the nose of the subject is clearer than the eyes or a portrait where the shoulder is sharper than the face? Imagine no more out of focus photos. You can decide which part of the photo you want to focus at. Sounds like science fiction right? Few of us know that the technology already exists. It's just 3 months ago when my friend send me a link discussing the Plenoptic Lens Tecnology from Adobe, yes the maker of Lightroom and Creative Suite you can't only just post process the exposure, white balance, noise, etc. but also the focus. Yup this is not a joke it's real and it's here. 

Here's a demo of how the thing works.



*Video courtsey of Laptop Magazine.

Here's a diagram of how the thing works:



"With traditional or current generation cameras, a ray of light enters the lens and gets recorded on a specific spot, as illustrated above."
*Photo courtsey of Laptop Magazine.


"Plenoptic lens adds magic to it, the same light ray passes through several lenses before making it to the sensor, so it’s getting recorded from several different perspectives."
*Photo courtsey of Laptop Magazine


The actual size of  plenoptic lens - consist of tiny lenses. Light data passes through the plenoptic lens before it reaches the sensor (refer to diagram above).
*Photo courtsey of Laptop Magazine

Now the question is what camera can do this kind of mind boggling technology? A Plenoptic lens and sensor - that is the obvious answer but how does it actually works? A pre calculated aperture settings from minimum up to the maximum F stops giving you different depth of fields. We all know that raw is amazing in  storing detailed color data but storing DOF on a file is just too much for me to handle (for a few seconds) then I realized it's possible. If only there is a sensor and lens that can capture multiple layers of DOF settings in one file then post determine where to focus after shooting the photo.

The Raytrix is a camera company from Denmark that answers all these mind boggling questions. Their so called 4D cameras are now out in the market. I will not get into details about the camera models 'cause I'm not in the position to do so. I'm still new to this technology and still figuring out how they manage to pull this thing off. 


"Raytrix-R5 4D lightfield-camera"
Photo courtesy of www.raytrix.de

Raytrix Technology

Refocus Demo - You can see here a sample on how you can post adjust the focus of your photo.

Multiview Demo - Here you can see how the camera angle change from point A to point B on your photo. The change is not that drastic but still it's quite amazing how this things work.

*All links courtesy of www.raytrix.de

The new technology we are facing will definitely change our views in how we practice photography. Before it's OK to shoot (if time does't permit) over/under exposed photos as long as it's raw so you can post adjust it afterwards in Lightroom or Aperture. Now you can also adjust the view and the focus. There is nothing left for the photographer to do but to press the shutter release or there is more to the technology than just making our lives easy. It seems to be promising and definitely ahead of our time. This will make photography process even faster where every one will just point and shoot literally. Does this take the fun out of photography? It's just too darn easy. The answer lies to the end user of this technology. Let's give it a few years then we'll see how it goes.

It seems like this technology is only targeted on high-end medium format digital cameras like Hasselblad, Phase One, Contax, Raytrix, etc. I’m wondering if it will make its way to our APS-C cropped and 35mm full-frame sensors. Let’s wait and see.
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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Danbo's Misadventures - Episode 1 (Pilot)

This is the first episode of Danbo's Misadventures. I hope you'll like it. If you do so leave a comment so I will continue doing the series. Thank you and happy viewing!!!

*All photos was shot with Nikon D700 and Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro VR.


Another boring day at school.

Danbo: Why is this queue taking so long? Oh wait! Is that...


Danbo: ... Miyanokouji Mizuho (宮小路 瑞穂) my dream girl!!!


Danbo: Should I talk to her? This is my only chance. She'll be transferring to another school next semester. Here goes nothing!


Danbo: Hi There! Maybe you haven't notice me we take bio together. I'm Danboard you can call me Danbo for short. Not that I'm short... short for my name (what am I saying) Um ah...

Miyanokouji: Huh?


When you think everything is turning out great... tragedy strikes.

Big Dan: Hey Babe is this twerp bugging you?

Miyanokouji: Not really.

Big Dan: Beat it twerp!!!

Danbo: Sob :-(


Rejection is always hard to take but it's also rejection that keeps us stronger. Will Danbo ever get over this tragedy?


Kitty: Why are you crying Danbo?

Danbo: Oh It's you Kitty. I'm not crying.

Kitty: It's that girl Miyanokouji right?

Danbo: How did you know? I never told anyone.

Kitty: C'mon Danbo you're so obvious and besides you're my best friend how can I miss that one.

Danbo: Well I guess there's no hiding secrets from you. I'm just sad that I haven't even had the chance to talk to my dream girl. Maybe I did... sort of but that Big Dan Arrrrg!

Kitty: Silly you. Dream girls only exist on dreams. Don't worry you'll find one that is real and truly cares for you. You just have to look harder. You'll never know she might be standing in front of you.


Danbo: Good thing I have you Kitty. 

Kitty: Yes you do. ;-)

Danbo: Umm. Is it OK if I walk you home?

Kitty: Thought you'll never ask. :-)

END

Dedicated to Jenny Gironella and Baby Kae my two Kitties in life!!!
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Carnival of Chaos

Group of talented Hardcore, Death Metal, Trash Metal and Metalcore Pinoy bands in Singapore performed in one spectacular event. Joining them is local death metal band Fall of Mirra and Ian Tayao front-man of WilaBaliw and Queso (former Cheese)promoting their new album with album signing. Too bad I missed few bands 'cause me and my buddy Jay were stranded at Little India (whammy!) but it still was a blast!!!

It looks tempting when i first saw a concert photograph with bright lights and crisp colors so I one day decided to do my own concert photography. This is my first attempt My Flickr Photostream. It was harder than I though. I was using a Nikon D90 (APS-C cropped sensor) and a Nikon 55-200mm VR DX lens before (R.I.P. but they both served me well) and need to crank up everything knowing the 55-200mm has a floating aperture of F4-5.6 I don't really know what the results might be. Thanks for the NIN good lighting budget I manage to get the job done or what others might say a "first-timers luck". With luck, anticipation and the right gear you don't have to worry about anything aside from the bouncers chasing you because photography is not allowed on the concert/gig or show so to avoid this hassle you should follow regulations or at lease be discreet about it (very hard if you attached a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens on your Nikon D3). Happy shooting!!!

All photos was shot in Raw format with Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm F4G VR and Nikon 50mm f1.4G without the use of flash. Post-processed in Lightroom - adjusted exposure and white balance.

* To view complete album visit My Deviantart - Concert Photograpy.



"Five Minutes of Fame (with Ian Tayao)"


"Voice of Pariah""


"Pariah Beat Machine"


"The Shredder"


"T.T.T. Psycho-tech"


"Just Riff It"


"Gadgets"


"Don't Fret"


"Lace-less"

* To view complete album visit My Deviantart - Concert Photograpy.
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Sunday, November 7, 2010

FHM Model Girl Next Door - Joy Caralde

Joy Caralde - FHM's Girl Next Door Model of June 2007. She came to Singapore for vacation and I'm one of the lucky guys to shoot her photos. Photo shoot was organized by Paul Reodique from MASP - a Singapore based Filipino with a real passion for photography. Here are some of my photos from the shoot.

All photos was shot with Nikon D700, Nikon 105mm f2.8G Micro VR, Nikon 50mm f1.4G and Nikon SB-900 Speedlight (for fill lights). Location - Fort Canning Park Singapore.

*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Fashion Photography







*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Fashion Photography
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Friday, November 5, 2010

HATEBREED Live in Singapore!!!

HATEBREED concert in Singapore is a blast!!! Seen familiar faces from different places following Hatebreed's Southeast Asian Tour. That is hardcore life. Their next stop Philippines. Get ready to be blown away!!!

Hatebreed is a hardcore/metal band from US associated with bands like Agnostic Front, Madball, Biohazard, Earth Crisis, Downset, Vision of Disorder, Strife and many more. They cater a different audience but sometimes death metal fans also go to their gig/concerts because of the same intensity and brutality but message and principles they're sending is different. Mostly Hardcore songs inspire people to crush oppression, push through hardships in life, fight for what's right and destroy any kind tyranny. The songs are mostly distinguished by choruses shouted out loud by a group of people demonstrating UNITY. That is what hardcore is all about!!! HARDCORE LIVES!!!

*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Concert Photography













*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Concert Photography
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