clickykbd's picks - issue 27 (and more)

Hover over a thumbnail to see the author attribution, click to follow to the original image on that member's flickr stream.








The community on flickr has seen a lot of activity and a lot of new members the past few weeks. Quite a few of which are included in this posting of a selection from the photo pool.

There has also been a fair bit of renewed interest in exploring designable/programmable illumination sources as subjects for camera tossing with examples coming from members such as mtnrockdhh, j neuberger, and jon62690, each using different tools. I think I was partly to blame for the recent interest due to finally trying the technique myself. My results included below. But my credit for inspiration clearly falls on some early experimentalists in the community such as shane english, EastOfNorth, mappamundi, and El Ray (to name only a few). My own short-lived foray into this technique resulted in these two photographs:



The set-up for these looked like this:



Geometric animations were build using proce55ing. I say short-lived because my little Kodak fell off a chair shortly after and died a very anticlimactic death. *sniff* Quite unfortunate because I don't think I even broached the boundary of "testing/trial" with the technique. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet with a new digital P&S for this soon. Several other regular members experienced equipment loss about the same time too and the Camera Death Stories thread has seen more activity than I like.

Also note, the previously mentioned call for submissions for the group icon is still ongoing, there has been quite a bit of great responses so far in the forums. Here's a few that have been shared:




One of these days soon I'll revise the Camera Toss Mini-HOWTO to include developments in the last couple years. But for now, it's a great resource for those of you confused as to how all this works. The simplicity is part of the charm, give it a shot!

iPhone + Rolling Shutter Distortion

iPhone distort, originally uploaded by mathowie.

In case anyone was wondering, it does appear that the iPhone suffers from the same flaws (or advantages depending on your perspective) as the rest of the camera-phones that exhibit rolling shutter distortions via their shutterless CMOS technology.

This example is actually really neat in that the camera was not moving at all. Instead the rapid rotation of the propeller was captured in different orientations as the "scan" of the sensor proceeded over time. Thanks mathowie for the great example of the effect.

Disclaimer: By posting this here I am not recommending ANYONE throw their iPhone. Considering the cost of the device, that is just absurd! Plus they look really slick and hard to catch. ;-)

Cool Concept: Magic Lanterns

I've had magic lanterns (invented in the 1600s) on my links page of my personal site for a while now. But the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin is hosting an event on the subject. I'll be there. Here's the excerpt of the email notification:

Jack Judson brings alive the world of the magic lantern, a form of animated optical projection used to educate and delight audiences for centuries, in his talk “Magic Lanterns: Father of the Motion Picture and Grandfather of Television” on Tuesday, July 17, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center.

Judson, owner of the Magic Lantern Castle in San Antonio, discusses the history of magic lanterns, which date back to the 1600s, and how they contributed to the development of cinema. He’ll project slides using his own restored magic lantern to illustrate his talk.

Seating is free, but limited.

Call for Submissions: Icon Design!

Hey readers and aspiring graphic designers!

Starting some changes to the community that will hopefully help it remain vital and active. One of which is finally retiring the original group icon, those little b&w dudes throwing the other dude in the air. As much as I like it, it doesn't read too well as a tiny icon.



It's actually hilarious that I've never changed it, considering the amazing graphical fodder that community produces every single day with camera tossing. But it's time.

So...

Call for submissions for the new flickr community icon!

Rules...

It cannot actually be a camera toss, nor a photograph. It should be a piece graphic artwork that symbolizes the ideas/patterns/spirit behind camera tossing. Reasons for this limitation is I don't want it to become a "best of" camera tossing photography contest. This place isn't about individual achievement via contests, it's about community and shared inspiration.

You can design it at whatever size is easiest, but keep in mind flickr will always present the final form as a 48x48 pixel square (even smaller in some contexts).

Submissions: If you are a flickr member, pop over to the thread in the community and share it inline. If you are not a flickr member, I'll accept designs via the email address listed for press inquiries on the blog sidebar. Sorry for not just typing it, hate spam.

Selection process. Very informal, no voting, but I hope the community will be able to come to a consensus. If there is more than one clear winner then I'll find a way to utilize both in the various camera tossing literature.

Deadline: non-deterministic. I.E. we'll keep accepting entries until someone submits something we absolutely love. Although I would hope to conclude it within the month, August 1st soft deadline.

Prizes, satisfaction!...and attribution/links in the group description and on this blog. Check out my page-rank if you don't think that's a cool prize! Additionally, I'm considering trying to find some other ways to thank the creator of the final icon. Perhaps a pro flickr account if they want one, a print or two? We'll come up with something fun.

Eligibility, anyone!

Happy Designing!