The End of the Decade

001_6400, originally uploaded by infrar3d.

The panorama I took at last year's record-setting graduation was used for the cover the 2010 President's Report, which I guess is the higher education version of an annual report. I just got my copy today. It's nicely printed, by Hederman Brothers I think, and Mike gave it a classy design.

This was made with three images, stitched together in Adobe Photoshop CS4. Probably two would have been enough, but I gave them a lot of overlap. If these had been shot in NEF/RAW I might have been able to pull something out of those blown highlights in the floor, but we always shoot JPG at these events for the fast turn around. Here's a link to the image itself.

The technical details/affiliate links: Nikon D700, Tokina AF 17mm f/3.5 (I use the original, non AT-X version, and I don't think Tokina sells either version currently), Slik U212D tripod, and a Yongnuo RS-N1 wired shutter release (which Amazon doesn't carry).

Film vs Digital

Fuji GA645 Pro, originally uploaded by infrar3d.

In 2005 I switched from film to digital. Not completely by choice, Hurricane Katrina washed all my beautiful cameras and darkroom equipment into the the Gulf of Mexico. I didn't have time then to indulge in my hobbies, and wouldn't really for another 4 or 5 years, so I decided to simplify and go completely digital.

Then, in early 2010 a friend gave me a grocery sack full of expired film, bulk 35mm and some various rolls of 120. Since then I've started learning how to let the two sides of photography co-exist.

I decided I wanted a cheap camera to go with my free film, so I scoured ebay and ended up with a Minolta Hi-Matic AF2. I'd never really bothered with 80's-90's era point and shoots before then but now I have several, which culminated in my Fuji GA645 Pro, pictured above loaded with a fresh roll of Ilford HP5 Plus. I've wanted one of these for years. When it got to this point i realized I needed to let ebay cool off for a while, or start selling things.

This isn't my first Fuji camera, once upon a time I also owned a G690BL. I'm guessing that's a lot of Fuji medium format cameras for one person.