On Deciding . . . Better 3.0

Sigma DP2 Soon?

I remain absolutely floored by the Nik Tonal Contrast filter. It actually takes much of the flatness of digital away, creating what looks to me like more film like local contrast.

I’ve been shooting pretty exclusively with the Nikon D300 and Tamron f2.8 midrange zoom combination. The DP1 sits on the shelf, waiting. As long as carrying the Nikon is no problem, I have no real reason to go to the less flexible DP1. I guess its waiting for a travel opportunity.

I’ve thought a bit about whether or not I would jump to the DP2 once it arrives. The DP1’s two great limitations are shot to shot speed and the f/4 lens. The DP2 promises to improve both with new electronics and a faster, slightly less wide lens.

Carl Rytterfalk has the first hands on field review of a preproduction model.

Initial DP2 review with full size shots.. | Carl Rytterfalk Fotografi: ” Faster operation! Now very useful in studio as shot to shot is much improved! “

His take is very encouraging. Great lens as expected. And that beautiful foveon tonality and color rendering.

Nik Tonal Contrast

Pile of Sticks, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

Thanks to Moose Peterson for finally revealing what his latest Nik secret filter is. It’s tonal contrast. Here’s his video on the technique. As he notes, it’s really very much like an HDR filter because it’s a local contrast booster. You’ll see in his video how easy it is to get carried away with this thing. However there’s something that he alludes to that I think is really valuable. He demonstrates how one can crank it up and apply multiple times. Well the overall effect is not believable at all. But it’s easy enough to selectively paint in some of this extra effect to create what Vincent Versace called a belivable improbability.

He’s been told the technique is cheating. I’m with Moose on this. I’m lazy to the core. I’m looking for the fastest way to convey what I see in these mundane suburban views.

One of the other features in this image is fill flash. I liked the accentuation of the shadow depth and plan to explore the effect a bit more.

James Vornov

James Vornov, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I needed a photo of myself for a professional event. I used window light from the right and an off camera SB-800 shooting into an umbrella off to the left. My daughter actually did the focus and capture, I cropped.

I like the style as a portrait actually. It’s not that far from my usual images, just much more naturalistic given that it’s a face, not a field or walkway

Beginner’s Mind

Golden Sands, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

Finally, I’ve picked up the Nikon again. It was cold. It was rainy. It was raw. But I’m going to be traveling to Europe next month and it will be my biggest opportunity for interesting image harvesting in a long time.

Its interesting how rapidly I can get back to where I left off. At least there was some light yesterday when I captured this image. With my current toolbox I can work around a lack of interesting illumination, its much better if I have something to work with to start.

I’m reading Geoff Colvin’s “Talent is Overrated” right now. It’s a great discussion of getting good at doing things by deliberate practice. Of course for me at 51, it comes too late. My kids should be reading it.

Whatever I’ve learned over the last two years is deeply ingrained at this point. According to the literature, if I work at this pace for another 15 years, I’ll be an expert. I’m developing vocabulary and technique slowly so that I don’t have to think so much about how to achieve a result, I can think more about whether the result was achieved.

Photography is like playing the piano in that its trivial to make an image or a sound with these instruments. Painting or playing cello has a longer learning period for producing anything.

I’ve started dabbling in making music over the last few months. It’s a scary feeling to be so adrift as complete novice. I don’t really intend to get very good, but its worthwhile exploring. I have a set of skills built over the years that helps in mastering completely new tasks that help, but the variety of choices that present themselves at every turn is truly bewildering.

Al Is Back

What a pleasant way to transition out of winter. Alwin Hawkins has started his weblog back up again:

code:theWebSocket;: Arisen from the ashes…: “”

(Via .)

It’s a nostalgic day. I’m reading David Allen’s new book, “Making It All Work”. I had settled into a comfortable routine of capturing information and processing it, but reading his Getting Things Done roadmap has me thinking about kicking it up a notch again.

I don’t have a laptop tool for tracking projects like I had for my last job. Now I work on a shorter cycle time and projects are generally managed for me. My role is more reactive these days.

So I started up Tinderbox for the first time in years, finding that I was at version 3.5 and Mark Bernstein had moved all the way up to 4.6. I’ve downloaded the new version and will decide whether to pony up for the upgrade.

Steps Toward Mastery

Self Portrait in Steel, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I’ve got shelves of books on time management, leadership, and, of course, decision making. In the last two years, working as more of “A Creative”, I’ve moved more toward reading about personal achievement. Biographies are good and I just finished “Snowball” which will probably be the the definitive contemporary biography of Warren Buffet.

I’m now reading “Effortless Mastery” by Kenny Werner. It’s aimed at jazz musicians, but takes an approach to creativity that resonates with me. I was reading it on a plane trip home yesterday and realized that since I was going to in meetings during daylight, I didn’t bring a camera. As I was walking through the airport I realized that the iPhone I was holding was a camera and went into a visually receptive mode. The reflections in the steel columns were visually interested and I captured a few images during the long walk toward the car.

Thanks to 10001 Noisy Cameras

My thanks to 1001 Noisy Cameras for again featuring my Flickr photography as part of their flickr member showcase They’re the best photo news aggregator that I know of and provide a nice hub for keeping up on the latest gear rumors and reviews.

I for one have too many good cameras for now. The Sigma DP1 really provides me with an almost effortless experience as long as I can slow myself down to its speed of capture. I had a nice groove last week in Cambridge and came home with a small number of images that fit together nicely.

Too Cold

OC Pipe, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I had a short trip to the Boston Area. I brought the Sigma DP1 along. It was too cold to comfortably take photographs, but the DP1 proves itself over and over to me as a great travel companion. A small package that produces unique, high quality images. I found myself falling into the rhythm of single shot composition quickly. Base ISO, auto focus and program, evaluative metering. Easy.

Back to 8 Second Intervals

Rocks in the Grass, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

January 1 and I’m back on the bike. With 26 degree F tempertures and gusty winds, it was an indoor training session.

Just a year ago, I wrote about my first experiments with 8 second intervals. There was a buzz about a publication from Australia showing that very short high intensity interval training was effective training both for improving fitness and weight loss.

What I liked about it was that it was a relatively easy way to get my work levels up to high levels rapidly on the bicycle trainer in a way that was hard work but seemed easier to achieve and maintain.

Interestingly on the bike today I didn’t get up into as high a heart rate zone today as I did a year ago. It felt like a mismatch between aerobic fitness and leg strength. The effort I was able to put at the pedals wasn’t enough of a demand to really push my heart rate up.

Unfortunately it may not be due to improved fitness but rather loss of power from being off the bike for a few months. I think this workout will be become a weekly staple for a while, so I’ll be looking for rapid improvement as I build back muscle strength specificity on the bike.

2008 Fitness Summary

Concrete Study, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I use Ascent to track my training recorded by the Garmin Forerunner 305 Since it organizes by weeks, months and years, when Jan 1 rolls around a new training year begins.

I actually bought the 305 in February 2007, so 2008 is the first full year I’ve recorded. I was just short of 200 hours in 2007, so I would have accumulated somewhere around 215 had I started Jan 1. I started 2008 wanting to average at least 5 hours a week, which would be around 250 hours. As it turns out, I did 242. Had October and November been more typical and consistent, I would have topped 250 pretty easily.

In 2009, a 10% bump seems to be an attainable goal, so I’ll shoot for 275 this year. I hope to put some of the lessons I learned this year to good use in attaining it.

What did I learn?
1. Consistency is the single most important factor for improvement. In December my fitness for running built nicely with 5 or 6 runs a week with most sessions under an hour. By using daily, moderate to easy runs as the base pattern, I avoided days or weeks off due to longer recovery or lack of motivation. The overall energy level was good.

2. Keep working at a given level until adapted. I have a tendency to push myself to the edge of my state of adaptation continuously. I think I need to consolidate gains by staying more consistent within a comfort zone.

3. My greatest weakness is muscular endurance. I’ve always had pretty good stamina, an ability to work at a level of intensity for a long time. But I’m not a gifted athlete. No matter how long I work at low levels, I don’t see large improvements. My workout schedule is limited by time.

I’m going to try to keep the slot on Sunday as my long session at lower intensity, but I’m going to push intensity to the upper aerobic level for the other weekday workouts. This month I’ve done that with running exclusively and am getting more comfortable with working for 20 to 30 minutes at about 80% of maximum. I’d like to be able to push for an hour at that level on the bike during training sessions.

This is the upper end of what Joe Friel calls Zone 2:

Joe Friel’s Blog: “Maximize 2-zone training time each week. For now, try to get about 40% of your training time each week in this zone. “

At this point, with a constant power output, my heart rate drifts up after about 20 or 30 minutes. I don’t have the aerobic fitness that I should at what for me is a higher level of effort than I usually awm working at. During the summer I’ll then see whether the longer rides are faster having spent as much time as possible around aerobic threshold.

4. I’m better off mixing up the training modalities. I lost out because I stopped the bike abruptly and started running. It took too long to build up running ability to maintain my overall fitness level. This year I’ll try to switch gradually to the bike through March, but run at least once a week through the summer. Then I’ll transition in fall to mostly running, but stay on the bike weekly.