March 2nd, 2015

Project 52, part 2

I’ve now finished 9 weeks of my Project 52, and I’m still going strong! I’m having more fun with this than with the Project 365 I did in the past. I’m actually excited to take my weekly photo, though this will probably change as I run out of ideas. Hopefully that won’t happen for a while 🙂

I also added a Project 52 category, and I’m posting weekly on my Flickr and Tumblr if you want to follow along. Now for a recap of weeks 5-9!

#5 – Black and White: Knives Chau
I don’t take many black and white photos, so I forced myself to for week 5. This is me dressed as Knives Chau (Scott Pilgrim movie version)! I used a white wall, a speedlight through a white flash umbrella, and wireless triggers to remotely trigger the camera and flash.

2015_05

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10 · Posted in Photography, Project 52
February 25th, 2015

A quick guide to DSLR settings

When it comes to using a DSLR, I always recommend giving the manual settings a try. After all, if you control your settings, then you also control how your photo turns out. Auto mode may try its best, but it can’t read your mind!

photo_guide_10

As someone who had to go through the same learning curve, I know that it can be confusing and take a while to get used to. However, like anything else, the more you use it, the easier it’ll get. The pay-off is worth it! Trust me!

And fear not! For I am here to help. Well um… I hope this helps at least 🙂 I call this a “quick” guide because I skip over many technical details. Rather than going into why it works, I’ll go into how you can think about it. Let’s get started!

Thinking in terms of light

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Light is extremely important in photography. You can think of the three major manual settings in terms of how much light you are letting in.

Shutter speed

  • Is how long the shutter is open, and it’s measured in seconds. Shorter time = Faster shutter.
    Example: 1/400 second (1/400th of a second) is faster than 1/100 second.
  • It’s often compared to a water faucet. If you leave the faucet on longer, more water comes out, right? This is the same as the shutter. The longer it’s open, the more light comes in.
  • Slow shutter: longer time, more light, but higher chance of blurring your photo.
  • Fast shutter: shorter time, less light, but better for getting clear shots.

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14 · Posted in Photography, Photography, Tips / Recommends
February 14th, 2015

Game recommends – Cooperative or not

Last year I posted some co-op video game recommends for Valentine’s Day. Like I wrote before, every couple has their thing that they like to do together, and for my husband and I, it’s playing video games!

The games I chose last time had single player options, but I felt that their strength was in the multiplayer option. This time, I’m recommending co-op games that are great as both single and multiplayer games. So whether you’re playing by yourself or with someone else, all that matters is that you’re having fun, right? 🙂

Portal 2 Portal 2 (PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3)

Sypnosis: You wake up as Chell, the protagonist from the first Portal, and find that the Aperture Science complex is falling apart and looks like it’s about to be destroyed. While trying to escape with Wheatley, they accidentally wake up GLaDOS, who separates the two and makes you go through new test chambers again. In the multiplayer, you go through additional test chambers as the two testing robots, Atlas and P-body.

My thoughts: Portal 2 continues the greatness of Portal 1, especially the cleverness of the puzzles and the witty humor. The single and multiplayer modes are different though. In terms of story, the multiplayer actually takes place afterwards. I recommend that both players go through the single player first. Not only is it a great game, but it introduces all of the elements that multiplayer uses. If there are any Portal newbies, going through the single player will also help you “think with portals” for the multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer means two Portal guns, and with 4 portals… oh man, the craziness you can do. It introduces new ideas that aren’t possible with a single Portal gun and really makes you work together to solve all of the puzzles. The trailer for the co-op actually shows several examples of this. We loved it, and the multiplayer mode is one of our top co-op games.

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10 · Posted in Gaming, Gaming, Tips / Recommends
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