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Last week - and after getting a pretty good calendar but using iPhoto's print service last year - I found out that my printer's printhead needs some repairs (and it seemed that getting a new printer would probably be the best option, or probably even cheaper). However, I had a few photos I needed to be printed to be handled to my friends. So sure, as a Mac user, and lazy person, I decided to go with an option which would require the least amount of any actions of my side - the iPhoto print service.

Took about 4 days for my prints to arrive (which is fine, except that 3 days of that time photos were in transit, which is a loooong time here in Japan as everything usually arrives in 2 days AT MOST). But oh well, I could wait :)

However, once I opened the envelope, I was shocked! The colors were all off, skies were blown up, details were lost.. These were not the photos I took - the ones I got were automatically-balanced.

And it usually works for most people who shoot their stuff with crappy compacts (face right in the middle, skies blown up to hell, everything is average and boring). However, I was taking a different kind of picture. I was using external flash to make some "dramatic" feeling to my photo - skies underexposed and blue to the point of being dark-blue, and the person on the picture was lit with a cross-light of my external flash unit and the sun, making him pop-out.

Here's the original (click to see in full size):

And check out just what I got from iPhoto's photo service:

(iPhoto photo service: left; original, printed on my dying printer: right)

Now, everybody has different sense of what a good photo should look like, and iPhoto (FujiFilm) print service definitely works for, like, 99% or cases. Just don't ever think of getting your artistic/conceptual/anything-out-of-average photos printed. They'll "fix" the hell out of them and then some - to make them just an average stuff which comes out of any crappy point-and-shoot camera around.

Called Apple's support today and I'll be getting my refund. It is just a couple of bucks and won't change anything, but at least it'll make me happy to stick it to their asses, even though they don't really care ;) (oh.. they'll pay the postage, so cost to myself is zero)

Now I wonder which print services don't "fix" stuff for you…..

I'm really getting into photography lately, and finally got myself another accessory, which many people consider one of a must-have things - an external flash.

The one I got is Canon Speedlite 430EX II, and I have also got an Off-camera Shoe Cord (OC-3E) for situations when having flash mounted on top of the camera is not very good (think outside photos where you don't have any walls to bounce off, and still want to have some non-flat-looking images).

So that's how flash module looks mounted on the camera. The camera suddenly became pretty heavy :) But yeah, that's the price you have to pay.. Near the camera is the off-camera shoe cord.

Having knowing near nothing about flashes, how they work and how once is supposed to shoot with them, I found a very good article describing how speedlites actually work. You should definitely give it a try at this link.

And as it was said in one of flash training videos I have (one from Blue Crane studio - google it up) - I moved out to make my first set batteries go dead over some flash testing. I share some of my findings below. So even if you don't have an external flash, these images will probably help you in making decision of wether you should get one :)

External flashes are basically your portable suns, you can point them at target directly, you can make the light bounce of walls and ceilings, you can fight with very bright backgrounds and still take great photos with shallow depth of field, by using hi-speed sync, and much more! I go into bouncing and hi-speed think with this blog entry. So let have a look at sample photos, with some short comments where applicable.

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I am got pretty much into photography lately. Even though I got my DSRL (Canon 450D/Kiss X2) almost a year ago, it is just now that I finally started getting taste of "the real photography".

And a few days ago, I got myself one very little addition called Circular Polarizing filter:

Basically, this is the most recommended-to-get filter for beginner photographers. Basically, it works great in the following scenarios:

• when you need to get rid of reflections (or, "look-thru") a glass or water
• and when you want to take "clearer", richer shots of the skies and greens

Moon is really just a big chunk of cheese in the sky…

Well these are definitely not killers, but still.. :)

It's already been 3 weeks of cloudy weather/rain weather on weekends, so I didn't have a chance to actually go out and spend some time with camera! Doh!

Anyway… here are some pics.

I finally found some time to spend a couple of hours with my new Canon Kiss X2 camera this Sunday, taking pictures of just nature, learning how to handle the camera and what to expect by applying different shooting settings. I think I just might have found a new hobby :)

More on my .Mac page… ▷

My first SLR got delivered today!

I got myself a new Canon Kiss X2 (or 450D if you live in Europe). Well actually I had Kiss X2 already, but I handed the previous one to my father who wanted it so much (sure I got some money back, but it was partially a present, too).

So today, actually my second Kiss X2 got delivered. Though the first one was the standard one lense kit version (18-55mm), I decided to pay a little bit more money for the double lens kit version, so now I have 2 lenses - 18-55mm and 55-250mm in my posession :)

This thing screams! Well sure its my first SLR ever, and anything will probably scream comparing to my older Ixys 900IS compact. But I really like the build and the quality, and the controls, and features of my new camera.

And it is such a satisfaction to just hold it in my hands and make shots accompanied but the real shutter sound, now the pre-recorded one :)

I'm learning basics of semi-pro shooting (mostly learning videos), so hopefully sooner than later I'll be able to make some really nice shots (I suck at composition shots currently :)

So, back to the viewfinder!