CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-23 23:37:14 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

Some folks here said they would be interested in more quadcopter posts, so here is one. :) I put together a little build guide for the first quad I built from scratch, which is based on the ADS 400-Q frame. Enjoy. :) #quadcopter   #aerial   #multirotor  

2013-05-21 01:38:42 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 10 +1s)

6 Things to Love About The New Google+ Photos

There are a lot of features to discover in the new Google+!  Here are some of my favorite updates to Photos you might not have found yet.

1. Highlights view. The new photos landing page is called Highlights and it's your photo timeline -- showing you not only your best photos, but the best photos your friends have shared with you.

2. Trash view. Now when you delete photos, they go to the trash for 60 days. When you visit your trash, you can choose to restore photos (for those "oops" moments) or delete them permanently.

3. Photos search. When you do a search from the photos page, we'll search all your uploaded photos. It's pretty smart too -- we've brought all the awesomeness of Google search to your photo collection.

4. New organize mode. We have... more »

2013-05-21 00:21:30 (2 comments, 8 reshares, 37 +1s)

My what big teeth you have!

2013-05-20 05:22:20 (6 comments, 6 reshares, 51 +1s)

It's hard for me to believe that I was in the water 50% of the time only 3 years ago. Here's a picture I took of a tiger shark in the Bahamas. I used a 100mm lens, which explains the difference in perspective as compared to typical shark pictures. I love sharks at higher focal lengths; they don't have the skinny, distorted look that they have when they are shot super wide-angle.

2013-05-20 02:05:45 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 27 +1s)

Google+ is looking great, these days! Congrats, team.

2013-05-20 02:06:13 (13 comments, 12 reshares, 57 +1s)

When I posted my +Lytro / +GigaPan Systems LLC setup shots last week, Aaron Logan said it reminded him of an old Letterman thing called "Is This Anything?" I decided to step things up. Quadcopter with Lytro light field camera! Is This Anything?? heheheheh #quadcopter #aerial #lightfield

2013-05-15 21:03:13 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 29 +1s)

Thomas & Trey's SF Photowalk -- San Francisco, California

Here is the first of two group shots from +Thomas Hawk and +Trey Ratcliff's photowalk last night in San Francisco.

This was the largest photowalk I've ever been to and it was an absolute blast! If the walks keep getting bigger I'm going to have to bring a fisheye for these group shots... ;)

It was great to see everyone last night.

Let the tagging begin!

#GlassPhotoWalk

2013-05-13 18:41:00 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 13 +1s)

Beautiful underwater pictures: Ocean Views 2013 contest winners.

2013-05-13 17:33:47 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 5 +1s)

Whoah. Continuous raw video recording on Canon 5D III. Congrats, Magic Lantern team!

2013-05-02 18:59:01 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Hello, everyone. Lytro has launched its international light field photography contest. If you vote for your favorite picture(s), you have a chance to win a Lytro camera. If you have a camera and submit your favorite pictures, you may win cash. Head over and check it out: http://contest.lytro.com

2013-05-02 07:53:44 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 35 +1s)

This was taken with the Sony RX1, a full-frame, 24-megapixel compact camera with a beautiful 35mm f/2.0 Zeiss lens. This is straight from the camera with my standard Lightroom import settings (+25 Clarity, +15 Vibrance). 

Compare this to the Instagram shot I posted earlier tonight (http://instagram.com/p/Yy57w-D_VM/). 

Differences: super clean, no filter, shallower depth of field, better white balance (but perhaps, too cool), greater dynamic range (shadow detail! how novel!)… but posted hours later, once I returned home and imported pictures from the SD card. Also, no GPS nor location tag.

2013-04-15 05:53:12 (25 comments, 184 reshares, 252 +1s)

Want to learn how to control exposure (in photography), manually? Canon Canada created a great new SLR simulator for beginners.

2013-04-03 04:53:21 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 44 +1s)

Buttery RX1. Love this camera, and the company. Not bad for ISO 4000, eh? ;)

2013-03-25 16:37:52 (5 comments, 5 reshares, 19 +1s)

Timelapse video of the Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis taken during the evenings of March 18 and 19, 2013. Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 14mm f/2.8L USM II lens. Shutter speeds from 5s to 15s at ISOs between 2500 and 6400. Music courtesy mobygratis.com. Special thanks to +Mike Knott for his company, and to +Ronn Murray, +Casey Thompson and +Marketa Stanczykova Murray for their incredible, local hospitality! #aurora   #northernlights   #stars   #nightphotography   #nightscapes   #alaska   #timelapse  

2013-04-07 21:59:09 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 45 +1s)

Photographer +Ronn Murray photographs the northern lights in Fairbanks, Alaska.

2013-03-21 11:02:10 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

+Mike Knott and I stopped In a parking lot at Farmers Loop Rd and Steese Hwy in Fairbanks, Alaska, because we were fascinated by how all oncoming lights cast an upward beam during snowfall. Being native Californians, neither of us had seen this before. Can someone explain this phenomenon to us non-snow people?

2013-03-20 20:50:42 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

The +Lytro Wallaby

I brought my Lytro to +Australia earlier this month, and one encounter I had with it was a little wallaby! This guy walked right up to us and was super cute. To see the scene re-focus, click on the image and it will change! :)

To view the awesomeness of the Lytro in-action, you can either click on the link below to go to the website, or install the Chrome plugin to view it directly in +Google+: http://nicolesy.me/lytroforgplus

#seeaustralia  

2013-03-20 20:48:52 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 35 +1s)

One of the last frames from one of the timelapse sequences I shot last night.

2013-03-20 12:59:32 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 46 +1s)

Group self photo while out shooting the aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska: Eric Cheng, Casey Thompson, Marketa Stanczykova Murray, Ronn Murray, Mike Knott. Ronn had the brilliant idea of using snow as a diffuser for my little flashlight.

2013-03-17 05:15:52 (1 comments, 18 reshares, 36 +1s)

I was going through some old footage tonight due to a request by +Alex Mustard and dug up this clip of him and Laz Ruda being buzzed by a large tiger shark. I miss sharks! It's been awhile since I've been on a proper shark dive (amazing how life changes so quickly).

2013-03-12 05:54:16 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

My #sxsw talk is tomorrow, Tue, at 12:30pm in room 18ABCD. SXSW says level is “Beginner,” so don’t be afraid. :)

2013-03-11 00:59:40 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

I’m speaking tomorrow at #sxsw #Photocamp  at 11am, 1:15, and 3:30 about @Lytro and underwater photography (but not underwater Lytro ;). Come hang out with us! http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5480265622/eorg

2013-03-10 22:57:30 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

With +Peter Tsai at #lytrosxsw #sxsw

2013-03-10 16:08:51 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

It's weird that I can't be tagged as +echeng here on Google+, even thought I have that as my profile URL.

2013-03-08 07:24:07 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Animated GIF-master +Dunken K Bliths just updated my cover photo to match the new size / aspect ratio here on Google+. If you're interested in getting an animated cover photo of your own, get in touch with Dunken!

2013-03-04 05:49:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Check out Alex Kirkbride's stunning portfolio of images from the USA on Wetpixel's Full Frame.

http://wetpixel.com/full_frame/alex-kirkbride-portfolio

2013-03-01 05:55:22 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 31 +1s)

+Nicole S. Young, a +Lytro camera, and a Wallaby walk into a bar...

If there is one thing that I find most charming about +Australia, it is how seemingly friendly it's indigenous animals are. This little wallaby was more than cooperative with letting is get our lenses nice and close to it.

Today is another day of exploring the beauty of Tasmania. Good times.

#SeeAustralia

2013-02-03 09:24:24 (7 comments, 8 reshares, 33 +1s)

This is an interesting one.

2013-02-01 19:41:50 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Interested in 3D imaging and light field? Wade Roush's new article talks about light field in the context the history of stereo photography.

2013-01-30 07:23:23 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 30 +1s)

A great 2.5-day trip to Death Valley in January of 2013. Timelapse shot with Canon 5D Mark III and 24-70/2.8L II and TS-E 17mm lenses. Music courtesy mobigratis.com.

2013-01-26 08:20:22 (12 comments, 2 reshares, 67 +1s)

Dan Kozyndan Kitchens at Badwater, Death Valley; at -282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the place with the lowest elevation in North America. This long channel of geometric salt crystal formations is a white scar across the center of Death Valley. The salt crystals are quite sharp, and laying down like this must be done with care!

2013-01-15 20:23:51 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Hello, photographers. A friend is in a strange situation, and I wanted to see if there is any precedent he can cite to clearly settle the issue. My friend is not a professional photographer and has never sold a picture in his live. He was up on another friend's roof deck taking pictures with SLRs. In the building rules, it says that commercial photography on the roof deck will result in a charge of $500. Because they were using large cameras, the building is trying to claim that their picture-taking activities were commercial; the building is trying to get $500 from the tenant.

There is no reasonable argument that might suggest that my friend has ever made a single dollar from his photography activities. How should he handle this?

2013-01-11 22:29:46 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 37 +1s)

Aerial view of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley

2013-01-06 02:55:00 (7 comments, 5 reshares, 21 +1s)

Hello, photographers (and friends). I just wrote up a long post about how I store and backup my pictures and video. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and here's what has been working, for me. How do you store and backup your pictures?

http://echeng.com/journal/2013/01/06/file-storage-and-backup-for-photographers/

2013-01-02 23:03:35 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

Howard Hall (http://howardhall.com) took me up for a flight in his ultralight experimental trike over Anza Borrego Desert on December 29, 2012. We flew across the desert to the Salton Sea and back. I love ultralights; his flies as slowly as 60 MPH, and a view of terrain from above is always enlightening. #aerial   #ultralight   #ultralightaircraft   #trike  

2013-01-02 23:02:33 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Every year, Wetpixel hosts a thread for peoples favorite images of the preceding year. The key here is favorite, not necessarily best! This has always resulted in a stunning array of images. The thread is open now on the Wetpixel forum. Fell free to comment, post or share your favorites.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48936

2012-12-30 23:19:39 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 24 +1s)

I went flying with Howard Hall yesterday in his ultralight experimental trike over Anza Borrego desert. I've been to Anza Borrego a few times, but being up over it (between 30 and 1800 ft) gave me a whole new perspective. We flew across the desert to the Salton Sea, and back.

2012-12-29 04:04:42 (4 comments, 7 reshares, 53 +1s)

Sunset at Solana Beach, California, December 28, 2012

2012-12-26 00:19:16 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 32 +1s)

I am glad that winter came around so that I could add a snowy aspen scene to front yard triptych... Happy Holidaze to all!

2012-12-23 21:44:24 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 26 +1s)

Screaming turtle screams, "Happy Holidays 2012!"

2012-12-20 08:47:37 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 38 +1s)

(click to the fourth picture to see this fish in full flash!) The endemic Triton Bay flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus nursalim). The males are extremely colorful and have filaments on their fins that they "flash" while zooming around, protecting their harems and interacting with other males. They were 60-90 feet down at a site called Flasher Beach in a huge field of what looked to be Fungia sp. corals. Triton Bay, Indonesia. There's also a shot of a filamented flasher wrasse, which stood out in the field of P. nursalis.

All pictures shot with Canon 5D Mark III and 100mm/2.8L USM macro lens (mark I). Canon 5D3 auto-focus rocks. I always have it set to the back button so the camera doesn't hunt when I don't want it to.

#underwater   #uwphoto   #wetpixel   #indonesia   #scubadiving   #underwaterphotography   #fish  

2012-12-19 09:18:25 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Deal alert! Lytro is having its first-ever discount on Lytro cameras. Save $50 on any Lytro camera on Amazon when you use the promocode 50SECRET at checkout. Deal ends at 12noon PST Wed., Dec. 19. http://lyt.ro/on_Amzn (disclaimer: I work at Lytro)

2012-12-18 00:56:10 (2 comments, 15 reshares, 20 +1s)

Photographer +Trey Ratcliff and I spent some time at Flora Grubb Gardens taking pictures with Lytro cameras and playing around with Perspective Shift and Living Filters.

2012-12-13 18:26:33 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 28 +1s)

Large black corals dominate Tim Rock (named after the photographer) in Triton Bay, Indonesia. Sometimes, the right thing to do is to turn down your strobes. This is really what the scene felt like, and to blast strobes into the scene would have really changed the feel. Also, the water is quite milky, which makes long-range, wide-angle shooting challenging (still easy for close-up work, however, if you know how to place and aim strobes).

2012-12-12 20:02:48 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Let's rename this "Wetpixel Underwater Photography" so we can draw in underwater and photography enthusiasts.

2012-12-12 17:46:18 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 31 +1s)

The first time I went to Ambon, I watched a large population of dwarf (pygmy) cuttlefishes (Sepia bandensis) mate for days. They weren't there when we went back this year, but I did see 6 cuttlefishes mating at Flasher Beach in Triton Bay, Indonesia. When you see two cuttlefishes together, don't charge in and take pictures. Just sit back and watch. Eventually, they will go about their business again. In this case, the female hunted and scouted egg locations by "tapping" corals to see if anything was inside, and the male postured and fought for mating rights (amazing to see). The males become aggressively striped and "spiky" when they see another male, and eventually, the one male grabs the other and flips the other away. Per the sparring rituals of other species, neither of them appear to actually get hurt, but one clearly wins.

I love seeing the entire process, from... more »

2012-12-12 07:25:11 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 28 +1s)

A tiny inshore hairy shrimp (Neostylodactylus litoralis) sits on the arm of a hydroid. These pictures show the same shrimp with feeding arms extended and retracted. I love little bizarre critters like this. At this size, they are incredibly difficult to photograph. This one was shot at around 3:1 (100mm macro lens at closest focus, plus +10 wet diopter).

2012-12-10 19:47:52 (9 comments, 6 reshares, 19 +1s)

Here's a short medley of underwater video clips shot and edited during the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia Expedition 2012 from Ambon to Kaimana (Triton Bay, Bird's Head Peninsula), including Banda and Momon.

Footage shot using two cameras:

1. Canon 5D Mark III in Nauticam underwater housing with Magic Filter and manual white balance; XIT 404 tripod mount and telescoping tripod legs (when stabilized)

2. GoPro HERO2 in Dive Housing and Backscatter Flip-Up Color Correction Filter for GoPro

2012-12-10 04:41:13 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

Hello, all! Wetpixel has a Google+ community now. :) https://plus.google.com/communities/113235527486298121188

2012-11-20 21:47:37 (5 comments, 10 reshares, 26 +1s)

If you have 3 minutes, put on a pair of headphones and watch this beautiful timelapse production by Keith Loutit.