I'm All Over Photos
If there was a job where you got to go around the world taking photos and uploading to flickr, I would apply right away. If I had to be stranded on a desert island (with broadband internet) and I had to have only one Web 2.0 app,,, it would be flickr. Photography is one of my main passions, and two of my presentations will have a lot to do with communication with or using imagery. I've never tried to exactly figure out why it gels with me-- there is just a sense of magic of being in the world and finding a way to interpret it in imagery.
It was the very last class I took in college- a basic photography course that first hooked me, This was the "old" days, 35mm film darkroom, chemicals... I was mesmerized about the process of visualizing a scene in my mind, and then hoping, if I was lucky to have gotten it recorded by the simple act of letting light strike film. If I had taken that course earlier, I might have had it my major... and would likely be somewhere else in life (maybe a shoe salesperson, as my school path of studying Geology was not a direct path to where I am now).
But another reason is that I have found taking and editing photos is an avenue I can be creative; and I dont expect others to find the same avenue. I cannot draw if my life depended on it. Hand me a pencil and blank piece of paper, and you get stick figures and unintelligible squiggles. Put me in a freeform paint program and you get the same, maybe noisier. But starting with an image, and tweaking around in PhotoShop... that is my realm of creativity (or at least I think so).
I have not shot film for 8 years (just sold by old trusty Nikkormat on eBay). I had one of the first digital cameras- the first Apple QuickTake and many since then. But I am not a camera geek- while I have a digital SLR, my main camera is a little pocket sized Canon PowerShot. Point and shoot. I am more into composition than f-stops.
The explosion of web apps that leverage digital imagery has been, to me, one of the biggest entry ways for people into technology. I am convinced nearly everyone can resonate with the concept of personal photos, be that vacation pictures, shots of kids, key life moments, etc. With built in cameras on most laptops and cellphones, cameras are nearly always within reach.
I'll be coming to Learning 2.008 with two aspects of photography (besides just taking pictures). One is a recent interest in the creation and use of panoramic images. In June I was introduced and got a hold of a nifty device called a GigaPan, which is essentially a tripod mount for a camera with a robotic control used for taking a series of overlapping images that are then assembled by software into web-based images that can be basis for exploration.
Over this past few months I have been learning how to acquire images as I travel, with scenes taken near my home in Arizona, Colorado and in Australia. I'll bring the rig to demo how this is done, but am more interest in talking about how immersive imagery can be used to explore and learn about the world... via a web browser (or Google Earth).
My other photography oriented session I (hope to) plan is about helping people unleash their visual creativity by trying to tell stories with pictures only. I am madly coding some new web applications that I hope support this. I do need your help! I am soliciting images with certain "themes" to be uploaded to this conference ning... I am not going to say much on how they will be used, but if you are keen, Nancy and Sluggo may have a clue.
I do have other interests besides photography, but more on that later. I'm eager to hear your ideas on the way you use photos/images.
It was the very last class I took in college- a basic photography course that first hooked me, This was the "old" days, 35mm film darkroom, chemicals... I was mesmerized about the process of visualizing a scene in my mind, and then hoping, if I was lucky to have gotten it recorded by the simple act of letting light strike film. If I had taken that course earlier, I might have had it my major... and would likely be somewhere else in life (maybe a shoe salesperson, as my school path of studying Geology was not a direct path to where I am now).
But another reason is that I have found taking and editing photos is an avenue I can be creative; and I dont expect others to find the same avenue. I cannot draw if my life depended on it. Hand me a pencil and blank piece of paper, and you get stick figures and unintelligible squiggles. Put me in a freeform paint program and you get the same, maybe noisier. But starting with an image, and tweaking around in PhotoShop... that is my realm of creativity (or at least I think so).
I have not shot film for 8 years (just sold by old trusty Nikkormat on eBay). I had one of the first digital cameras- the first Apple QuickTake and many since then. But I am not a camera geek- while I have a digital SLR, my main camera is a little pocket sized Canon PowerShot. Point and shoot. I am more into composition than f-stops.
The explosion of web apps that leverage digital imagery has been, to me, one of the biggest entry ways for people into technology. I am convinced nearly everyone can resonate with the concept of personal photos, be that vacation pictures, shots of kids, key life moments, etc. With built in cameras on most laptops and cellphones, cameras are nearly always within reach.
I'll be coming to Learning 2.008 with two aspects of photography (besides just taking pictures). One is a recent interest in the creation and use of panoramic images. In June I was introduced and got a hold of a nifty device called a GigaPan, which is essentially a tripod mount for a camera with a robotic control used for taking a series of overlapping images that are then assembled by software into web-based images that can be basis for exploration.
Over this past few months I have been learning how to acquire images as I travel, with scenes taken near my home in Arizona, Colorado and in Australia. I'll bring the rig to demo how this is done, but am more interest in talking about how immersive imagery can be used to explore and learn about the world... via a web browser (or Google Earth).
My other photography oriented session I (hope to) plan is about helping people unleash their visual creativity by trying to tell stories with pictures only. I am madly coding some new web applications that I hope support this. I do need your help! I am soliciting images with certain "themes" to be uploaded to this conference ning... I am not going to say much on how they will be used, but if you are keen, Nancy and Sluggo may have a clue.
I do have other interests besides photography, but more on that later. I'm eager to hear your ideas on the way you use photos/images.
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3 Comments
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Comment by Chris Smith on September 7, 2008 at 10:59am -
I had heard that the Flickr group has rejected the free t-shirts which had on them
"We are a bunch of tossers"
UMMmmm .... oh no ... not more British humo(u)r ;-)
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Comment by Alan Levine on September 7, 2008 at 4:01am - That photo is from a series of experiments I call lightpainting. They are night shots of places of things with bright lights (holiday lights in this case) where the longer exposures allow me to move the camera to create effects. I am not quite as brave as the group on Flickr that does it by the camera toss aproach
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Comment by Chris Smith on September 7, 2008 at 2:30am
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The second pic above ... the one with the bright lines and vibrant colours ... reminds me of an area in Second Life called the "Tunnel of Light". It's the same image but in three dimensions, moving and with music ... and you can ride through it sitting in a giant teacup.
The ride terminates at an equally impressive disco full of eye-candy ... and not just the avatars.
Another location that comes to mind is "Inspire Space Park" ... which is also visually stimulating but designed to be more of a place for meditation rather than a funfair experience.
Links to both of these builds can be found on Int. Schs. Island in a display labelled "Not to be Missed" ... on the 2nd Floor of the Information Tower at http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/100/60/35
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