Less
More
Archive for the '50mm' Category
Just received the new Sigma 50mm F1.4 and due to heavy sunshine I couldn’t really in a fair way try it wide open - but even if the above shot is taken at F4 the bokeh is amazingly sweet.
I was thinking it would be bigger. a whopping 500g piece of glass could have been heavier. It’s pretty short and very fat somehow - gives a very cool impression - big opening that tell you I’M BRIGHT.
Alright, another shot at F2.5 and a shutter speed of 1/3200s. A friend holding a reflector to even out the light a bit. The widest I could go was F2 - so here goes another shot at F2.
(This one is not perfectly focused, it’s kind of hard at F2 - hard training lays ahead)
I will try hard the coming days to find other things to photograph and hopefully I’ll be back with some nice pics.
Linn is pretty active in some Chinese photo-forums and they have these missions that they give eachother. This time it’s about coffee and well, I became assistant! Nice. :D These are two of the resulting pictures, the rest can be seen over at Linns blog - put together in a very Chinese fashion with texts etc. We did that i Apple Pages.
Oh, and in a couple of days my USB sound card will arrive and I can do a screener with RD. I’m thinking about making a series. My problem so far has been that I can’t use my Hackintosh because no mic in. there is one but not supported. So a USB sound card will solve this and make everything much more fun.
AND one last thing. Jeff Sickel has begun the hard work with a Quicklook plugin for X3F files and all I can say is WOW! I had a chance to try it and it works better than I thought. Thanks Jeff. It will become public when Jeff is done. Update! Jeff is DONE! :D see http://www.rytterfalk.com/2008/01/22/apple-quicklook-x3f-plugin/
Continue reading ‘Fun with coffee..’
We had lots of fun and after looking thru the resulting bunch of images I found a couple that I’m willing to share. :) Some flower closeups are pictures taken by Linn, and I’m sure some more. Anyways. 27 Photos to look at. If you can’t get hold of Dry Ice and Liquid Nitrogen, this page might help a little. :D
PS. Thanks Thunderlance and Linn for making this possible.
Continue reading ‘Dry Ice and Liquid Nitrogen evening. Part 2′
Above flower and a 16MP crop. Both these shots are developed using Raw Developer 1.7 using X3F file. My friend Filip aka Thunderlance had the wonderful idea of bringing dry ice and liquid Nitrogen to my home. We had fun with it. Not very easy to just take picture of / with it.. but we did try. hehe. Will post more soon.
30s of my home - this was pretty late. F11 - can you see my sister Emmy? She came in the middle and… Oh, the strong yellowish tone comes from streetlight behind me. I’m thinking if i should go and swap the bulb to something cooler. :D
30mm - Tiramisu. It’s not perfectly stable - not sure what I was doing but It should have been sharper. For the next one I used a tripod.
50mm - Tiramisu - Linn is crazy about making, I’m about eating. Really nice! Wanna try?
my mother Painting colors with water
Emilia - my sisters kid - trying to make a rainbow for my car.
She was also trying to make me wet - and sort of lost it. :D
Definately trying to make me wet. I got a few drops on the lens.
My smallest brother Samual - in a small lake which is 77m at the deepest. (Hultasjön - if you wanna know) - nice, warm and clear water. You see the fish beneath you most of the time.
Who is this? mm.. Not sure why we went down to the railway this time but I had to snap a few. 120-300
Hultasjön again. This time it’s Elin trying to hold her breath - competing with my brothers. I think she managed 10s or so.
Not easy to catch something like this. But it WAS beautiful.
My brother Sven Ingvarsson is selling his car and needed some pictures for the advertisement. A Xantia Activa - a very cool car to ride. (not so much to look at but I tried my best). 70-200
Details with 70-200. It’s fun shooting like this with a zoom.
So much fun to do this type of photography. Should have done some more. Next time I’ll stay in someones trunk and do it from there. Anyone?
I just bought a screencast software named iShowU - very small and cool. Makes screen movies in real time in whatever file format you want. Cool! The Lightroom movie you see is made with it.
Software recommended: Sigma Photo Pro, Adobe camera raw 4.1 or Lightroom 1.1
I’m back with some pictures! First some here on the blog, and then if you click the picture you will be moved over to the big version (1000px). And the rest.
Camera: SD14. ISO100 - 1600.
Lenses used: Sigma 10-20, 12-24, 30, 50, 70, 70-200 and 120-300 EX DG.
Developed using Adobe Lightroom 1.1.
Ever since Sigma photographer Olga Vasilkova showed her amazing bubble work I wanted to explore the world of bubbles myself so last night me and Linn took a small, pretty square, glass flower vase and pulled the SD14 trigger. Lenses used was Sigma 50mm and 70mm EX. Click each image for bigger version.
This one should be viewed at 100%, I will later change link to original size. Remember that the vase used had pretty thick glass walls so it was really a very bad setup but result is still so nice. Pretty amazing what you can do with a little bit of water. :)
This was acually the very first image and there has been some cleanup done in the background. You can find a different version of the same photo over at Linn’s blogg.
This last photo was from another serie that I will show more from later and I’m again inspired by the work of Olga. The SD14 is such an amazing tool in the studio! Quality is amazing and prints are even more amazing. If you look carefully you see that red is blown-out but that’s just my tweaks fault. I just don’t have the energy to go back and make it nice again. hehe. There is a redish tint in the background, it IS part of the image. :)
[Bubble photo talk over at www.99.se and www.fotosidan.se ]
My little sister has some pets, they’re growing fast and soon their tails are gone. (or built in) so I had to take these images tonight, at least she wanted me to. So here goes. Small mini tiny frogs. Five close ups.
Camera Sigma SD14 - Lenses 50mm and 105mm Sigma Macros.
I underexposed by mistake (hard to use flash when something is this small) bounced to some paper that I asked Linn to hold and as I moved she had to move too. Not very easy. So these are much brighter than my originals. Lucky me I shoot RAW! :D
Continue reading ‘Very tiny frogs - Five Macros’
Linn as many other girls has this talent of making small things, Linn can spend hours on Google to find out best possible way of making the doe and shapes. All flowers you see here is made from homemade something that makes it eatable (some sweet stuff). They will be used for a cake or something (I turn 30 the 11th of May) and she’s now practicing her skills and wanted me to take some pictures for a Chinese wedding/birthday cake site.
Me myself and I are really impressed and I thought I could share these pictures from last night with you all. Images shot with Sigma SD14 + Sigma 50mm manually in evening sunlight (just before sunset) I used an A3 sheet as bottom and reflector. (just bent over the flower).
Oh, and EVERYONE wanting to come for my birthday are WHOLEHEARTEDLY welcome to do so! Anyone! I will treat home made ice cream cake and some chinese food (made by Linn). 11th of may 2007 at Malmers v 5 - 446 33 Älvängen. Sweden.
[EDIT] Movie is up!
[Edit 2008 | 1 | 23 - Now I look at these shots and I can clearly see that with todays software (both SPP 2.3 and RD 1.72) I could make better developments. So if you happen to download these are RAW - don’t be surprised if they look better! :D /Edit]
I went to Denmark yesterday invited by the Danish photographer Alroe to record my third “review” of the SD14. This time in his studio. It will take a couple of days to finish the movie but until then I want you to see some of the resulting images that came out and in full size and possibly soon as downloadable RAW files. (depends if you’re able to use a decent raw converter. ;)
I must say that I’m very happy and very satisfied with the result of our shoot. mr Alroe is using a Canon 5D with L lenses and that made this shoot a little more interesting. Now, we don’t want you to kill your eyes with pixel peeping so we didn’t take “exactly” the same shots, maybe next time. I’ve heard that Sigma SD14 images are too sharp and might hurt your eyes.
Last in this article you can read some more about my inital 5D feelings. I was using the latest firmware 1.01 for my SD14 and it’s a GREAT update. Colors of the LCD is now very nice and speed is also improved. It’s overall a better feeling doing photography with it. Many of these studio shots are shot at ISO200 BY MISTAKE! But, Bo also did on his 5D so for the sake of review it’s a good thing. But I’m sure result would be even more impressive using ISO100. Now over to some of my images.
One more thing. Lenses used was 30mm, 28mm, 70-200 and 50mm Sigma EX lenses. My ABSOLUTE favorite in the studio was the 28mm, it just nailed focus all the time and it’s very “correct”.
Continue reading ‘[img] SD14 in the Studio together with 5D..’
Link broken, take a look here for some of them: http://www.pbase.com/rytterfalk/minority
\
\
\
Camera: SD9 Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.4 @ F2\
\
Sigma SD9 - Nikon 50 1.4
Underprivileged..
Originally uploaded by rytterfalk.
Outside places where people with enough money strives you often find unfortunate children like these two. They often have a written note beside them telling their story, often a heartbreaking story about deceased parents and nowhere to go. Their only hope is to find some support from people passing by. It\’d5s a true tragedy and it\’d5s really hard to walk by. They’re not many, some organizations are working hard to get kids off the streets, often with local volunteers or from other countries.\
\
Feel free to comment, maybe you have ideas about what to do, how to help?\
\
I have no organization behind me but maybe I can do something more then just talk. (My Chinese is still not good enough I sometimes use a translator.) I want so much to give them some hope. Whatever reason, this IS no life for anybody.\
\
There are organizations that gives shelter to kids, if they at the same time becomes beggars for their protectors, owner. There is many stories about this, about parents that brakes their kids bones and the more terrible they look the more income they bring. I know very little about the truth about all this. I just see them and I know some of them and their stories are often reliable and about a born handicap. Rarely mind related.\
\
If you’re Chinese and read about this, please feel free to comment. Maybe you have a story to share?\
\
Shangri-la in northern Yunnan is originated from a novel, Lost Horizon written by the British writer James Hilton in 1933. It\’d5s described as a mystical, harmonious valley somewhere near the Himalaya. Often referred to as a paradise, and a place of peace, happiness and rest. An Utopia. \
\
Some ISO1600 shots from that
evening.
Sigma SD10 50MM EX
Copyright Carl Rytterfalk.
This utopia is about 12h with buss from Kunming. It isn\’d5t that far in reality but roads aren\’d5t super nice if I put it that way. Shangri-la is a beautiful place, mystical, harmonious plateau with a lot of drunken citizen every night. It\’d5s so bad that driving nighttime or late evening is seen as something you just don\’d5t do as a visitor. You let local people do that. They drink a lot! And I mean a lot. \
\
I have some friends, some local friends that I by mistake meet in Kunming. Those friends of course wanted to eat dinner to enhance and deeper our friendship. They brought some friends too and soon we ate great food and drank nice local rice wine. \
\
If a local guy wants to drink a cup with you you\’d5re supposed to drink with him. Not a zip, but the whole glass. Glasses aren\’d5t very big but when something has about 52% of alcohol inside then size really doesn\’d5t matter. If you don\’d5t they are all VERY confused about your friendship and you really do act like something the cat dragged in. \
\
Everybody wants to be your friend. Everybody wants YOU to be his friend. So drinking never ends. It\’d5s tough. Very tough.\
\
This is the first part of my Shangri-la story. I was there for 10 days, traveling around to many different places and bit by piece I\’d5ll make you understand more and more about this mystical place.\
\
Sigma 50mm EX
Tattooed Minority women
Copyright Carl Rytterfalk.
Cleaning my room to some Ono Lisa songs.. I don’t think my brother would bother, but he have this girl.. hmm.. How much should I do? And 20:00 tonight I am attending a English Corner that I just have to attend. So much to learn. (culture and such things)\
\
The Image to the right is from a trip I did some time ago to another place also called “shangri-la” they want it to be the real one. Mountains, ravines, majestic views and mountains with glacier tops. Most people in this part are Christians and belongs Lizu minority group.
To find this lady I had to walk far up in the mountains, and I had to pay her 50RMB to get the picture. She was not a Lizu and on the question why she had a tattoo she said, - I did it when I was young for fun. So much for walking all that way. Anyways. I’ll post some more from her later. She had some extraordinary hands. Working hard as she was/is.\
\
Back to cleaning.. I chose this picture, hey look at her face! She needs some cleaning too!\
\
This picture is taken at the biggest Zen temple in the world.
It’s supposted to represent the religious part in my article.
Sigma SD10, Shangrila June 2005
Originally uploaded by rytterfalk.
The other day I visited IDG.se and read an article about longhorn that recently been tested for the first time by IDG’s magazine PC World. ) and after the article people had participated in a free forum connected to the article in question. Reading that thread reminded me how different Chinese people often is to Swedish. \
\
Read article and comments - In swedish\
\
There is a hidden rule in Sweden and that is, - don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Don’t come here and. This is called \’d2jante lagen\’d3 or \’d2The law of Jante\’d3 I.e. if your neighbor buys a new car, the law of jente do not permit you to share his/her joy. (Not everybody follows it) Reading that thread made me very very tired, all the time people jumped on each other with rude comments to some ones misunderstanding or not so informative answer to some ones question. Some ones joke became another persons death. \
\
This might be very Swedish behavior. I’m not sure. Being a member on the Sigma forum at Dpreview.com (linked to Dpreviews Sigma forum) since it started in 2002 I must say I never or rarely accounted this behavior. Only by trolls that was easy to mark, very few.\
\
In China, where people very much act according to basic rules in Daoism; Bend to problems rather than start a fight. This is maybe why today politics are as successful as it is. To act like if you where a bamboo in the wind, if you try to stand when the wind blow you might brake. Or be as water in a flood, when a stone comes you flow around it. These are two very strong images that very much, according to my personal experience represent the Chinese personality. Some people have tried to be the standing bamboo and with the natural consequence
\f1 \’81\’42\
\
\f0 This doesn\’d5t mean that everybody is religious, not many are. But these rules are deep rooted into the society and everybody expects everybody to act accordingly. \
\
This would, in a thread mean that you instead of jumping on some ones not so smart comment you try to first tell how not so wrong he was but that you might have a better explanation. i.e. I work a lot with books. If I would write something negative about Chairman Mao I would have to write a lot about how good he was before coming with my \’d2real\’d3 comment. The same if you have a conversation. \
\
More of this later. Now I\’d5m sitting at a teahouse enjoying nice expensive Chinese tea while the rain is pouring down. It\’d5s so cozy to sit here now with my power book on my knee. Mmm (I\’d5m not paying btw)\
\
Sigma SD9 - Nikon 50 1.4
Cab driver..
Originally uploaded by rytterfalk.
08:30\
Went to police station to get a important \’d2I live\’d3 paper, found some bad-mannered police officers telling us that my apartment in fact didn\’d5t exist. (This part was really scary, where to live? Who am I? Meaning of life suddenly confusing) After twenty minutes another police said my home did indeed exist but that we went to the wrong station. \
\
09:50\
We went there and got everything we needed, headed for the one-hour-drive-far-away place. This is where the picture of the cab makes sense. (But with a lady driver, see the legs?)\
\
10:50\
The place was full of people. The day before I had a medical examination, sight, weigh and height. I was 10 cm taller then the meter. (Says something about normal height around here) I could see 2.0 on the sight scale. He wrote 1.5 saying it was my glasses fault. Indeed.\
\
The hall. A big room very much like in an airport where you check in your luggage. No numbers or normal queue, but huge flocking around the poor police officers desks. And as in normal driving, bigger goes first. I did have an advantage here. :) \
\
Ohh. Yeah right. My papers. That wasn\’d5t just one paper, it was; #1 the medical, #2 the living, #3 passport, #4 visa, #5 photos, #6 translation of my Swedish license, #7 translators ID, #8 #9 and some other forms that we had to fill in (it was in Chinese so I didn\’d5t care to understand) #10 #11 and some copies. \
\
11:20\
Suddenly everything stopped. All personnel in charge of the computers left their desks. Some wandered around, most left the hall. They said nothing and nobody asked. About 10 computers empty, about 100 people waiting gathered around empty desks waiting for something. Somebody. I heard one of the police officer saying to another \’d0 Maybe time for lunch? Lunch break normally means two hour of extra wait. \
\
Linn, my We\’d5go, my translator. Very eager to get going she asked around to find a reason. (She seamed to me to be the only one interested in knowing anything) She heard that Internet had been shutdown by unknown reason. Was it time to go home? We listen carefully to workers / police officers that where still around only to hear that they where going to have education in the afternoon so no desks open after 12:00. And nothing open until Monday for that matter.\
\
That would be my fifth time going to an office far-far-too-far away just because I needed a time for a written exam in front of a computer. \
\
11:45 \
We gave it all a smile feeling that we\’d5re not alone in this helpless situation (I\’d5m after all Christian). Suddenly one police officer took a seat (my guess by mistake) He turned to the others with a big grin. After 10 minutes all staff where back and soon our papers was behind on the correct side! Enormously happy we\’d5re soon out on the street again taking the bus back to the big city of Kunming, far far away.\
\
Coming up: Exam scheduled the 13th of July. It\’d5s 100 questions in English and must have 90 correct to pass. Traffic rules are similar to what we have in Sweden with the only difference that we usually follow regulations. (And we honk only when necessary)\
\
Blind making money..
Originally uploaded by rytterfalk.
Blind people has two things to do in a city like Kunming. And I’ve been told this is common reality for the rest of China. They are working as musicians or with some form of massage.
They are sometimes found sitting by the road on a small chair. You go there sit beside them and they rub your shoulder. Very nice and it cost about 2RMB.
Or they play an advance game and have there own studio where you go and get the whole body work. Often VERY professional. Normal cost is around 35RMB. The seeing is cheaper. Often not as good either.
As musicians they often look as the people on this photo from yesterday. They often come in group of three. When they walk away they form a line where the first one probably can see a little and he/she leads the others home. (or to KTV, I don’t really know)
Anyways. Click on this image to see a little more from yesterday.
\
Recent Comments