December 2011: elf's Canon 50D Journal

• Rear Focus Tutorial (I learned something new about my camera— in AI Focus mode, the rear AF-ON button can be used to lock focus on the subject before recomposing; pressing it again will release the lock and the camera will track the subject when it begins moving.)
• Product Lighting Tutorial(a detailed tutorial showing the lighting setup for shooting an iMac)
• Blur Magazine(a free PDF magazine about photography; note: some nudity)

Each tripan takes about 5-8 hours of Photoshop work (depending on the complexity of the background). Three photos are overlayed, the overlapping portions are erased and the background is blended to look seamless.

From Passing Fancy

I was experimenting with her "stepping out of the picture".

Night is generally my time for walking... The glare and hurry of broad noon are not adapted to idle pursuits like mine; a glimpse of passing faces caught by the light of a street-lamp or a shop window is often better for my purpose than their full revelation in the daylight; and, if I must add the truth, night is kinder in this respect than day.
—"The Old Curiosity Shop"

I noticed that since Moffat took over the Dr. Who franchise, the Christmas specials have been titled after classic books from the English Canon— A Christmas Carol and The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe. So We were discussing what next year's special might be named and what classic would make for a good title. Based on title alone, Dicken's "The Old Curiosity Shop" has potential. Since I had never hearf of it, I started reading it and noted how the opening agreed with my photographic philosophy. I thought that "Dr. Who and Mr. Smith" based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic would make both a great episode title and be inspiration for a great Christmas special.

It was noted that Moffat is possibly emulating Philip Hinchcliffe a former producer of Dr. Who in whose era the episodes were inspired by classic English horror films.

• The Pure White Background Done Right (step by step tutorial showing studio lighting for subjects shot with a white background)
• Sharpening De-Mystified (covers the settings for sharpening different subjects)