I feel like I’m a wedding bee right now. We are at peak wedding season and I hardly feel like I have the time to update our blog. Many of my brides have been telling me that they check this site often and a couple of you even told me you’re almost addicted to the blog! That gives me pressure to post good stuff. We just had a wedding at the Salish Lodge today and we have another wedding coming up next Saturday so I don’t have time to relax, but we are working on all your weddings!
I do want to report on a new toy I got! About a month ago I posted about getting an Ipod Nano so I could use it with the Nike Plus kit to motivate me to stay in shape. Well I totally fell in love with the thing and it has been motivating me to run! The first time I ran I couldn’t even run 1 mile before I felt sick. Now I’m running back to back 2+ mile runs and the great thing is I feel so much more energy.
The right side of this blog (if you scroll down) even shows my three most recent runs. It keeps track of my fastest mile, furthest run and a bunch of other stats. It really is terrific and I can’t recommend it enough. The cool thing is Apple just came out with the 3rd Generation Ipod Nano. For $150 and $200 dollars you can get an Ipod Nano with 4 gig and 8 gig memory respectively. The shape of the new Ipod Nano isn’t quite as sexy or easy to hold as generation 2, but it has a new killer video feature.
You can watch movies, podcasts and pretty much anything else on this tiny device. I wanted to test out whether I could get wedding videos on there and sure enough I can. I got the 1 hour video below of Angela and Kris’ wedding on my Ipod and it looks AWESOME. The crisp and clear resolution makes viewing video on such a tiny 2 inch screen almost enjoyable. It’s definitely a must have for brides with wedding videos. By the way I sold the old Ipod Nano through Craigslist for $85 and I got it for $100 so I dont feel too bad.
Well I better get back to work! Or sleep….
By the way, if you get the RED Ipod nano a small percentage of the profits go to help fight AIDS in Africa… I think it looks good too.
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I don’t know why but a lot of newly married couples gain 10 or 15 or 20 lbs of weight during their first two years of marriage. The bad news for them is every year the weight keeps going up. This doesn’t just apply to women, but also to men. I don’t want to talk about all the various reasons for this weight gain, but if you are not in this group, bless you.
AskMen.com was asked why women change after marriage and it pertained to weight gain. It might be slightly offensive to some so don’t click the link if you don’t want to read what they say, but the weight gain applies to both men and women after marriage.
Ludwig Borne put it best when he said, “A sweetheart is milk, a bride is butter and a wife is cheese.”
Now before everyone sends hate mail and death threats, let me add that my theory applies to both genders. To a woman a boyfriend is like wine, a groom is like cocktails and a husband is like flat beer.
I’m sorry to say Rebekah and I’ve also gained about 15-20 lbs in our 2 years of marriage. We joined a health club last year when we started to notice our weight going up and our health level going down, but with our different schedules it was difficult to go together and honestly, we weren’t motivated.
We quit the gym membership because it was a waste. We’ve been trying to control our diet a little more and taking walks together. As for me, I need a little more of a high impact workout to feel like I’ve really worked out. When I saw the new Nike + Ipod Nano workout program I got very interested. Basically, a little sensor chip goes into your Nike shoes and another part fits into your Apple Ipod Nano. They sync with each other and calculate your progress as your take your run/walk in real time. It is very well integrated and using ITunes and Nike.com software, it graphs your workout for you. Pretty amazing stuff and for a guy like me, it can get addictive and serve as real motivation. I just did my first run and it was so sad because I realized how out of shape I was right now. I didnt even do a full mile and I felt like throwing up after wards.
Anyway, this is also a great tool for those who are planning to get married. You can use it to get in shape so you look perfect on your wedding day!
If you don’t have an Ipod Nano, you need to buy one. I would recommend getting a reconditioned model from Apple. A 2 gig model currently costs $99 versus $149 new.
You also need the sport kit that includes the sensors and some running shoes. If you just bought some new running shoes that aren’t Nike, you can still use the kit with a work around. Here’s to staying healthy before and after marriage!
PS After I do a few more runs, I’m going to add a widget on the right side of my blog that keeps track of my runs. You’ll see what I’m talking about in a few days…
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After photographing an engagement session yesterday, I was going home and decided to stop by Seattle’s Pike Place Market to take a couple of shots with my new lens. This picture above was shot with a Sigma 12-24mm lens at 24mm | F/16 for 15 seconds. I think the lens is pretty sharp. The 12mm side is extremely wide and interesting to shoot at. I need to get used to shooting it at that angle. I wish the white SUV wasnt parked where it’s at on the left, but I didn’t feel like moving it.
I wasn’t happy with how I framed the color shot above at 12mm so I cropped about 1/3 of the sky out of the picture. It gives you an idea of how wide 12 mm looks though!
The day came for me to make a decision on whether I wanted to spend the $600 + dollars to own the coolest phone in the world. Back in February, I was very hot for it, but I just couldn’t see myself spending so much money for this toy right now. Actually, it’s not a toy. It would be an awesome business solution because of Google Maps, the WIFI internet, picture and video capabilities, etc. Still, I just spent some money on a new camera lens so I had to stop myself from spending more. When 6 PM rolled around and the launch of the new IPhone started I kept saying to Rebekah, “IPHONE” “IPHONE” “IPHONE” I must have looked sad, because she told me to go get it. We even drove by a ATT store, knowing it wouldn’t be available. I might still get it, but I want to see it in person and play with it before forking over a chunk of change.
This one wedding photographer named Becker was camping out for his IPhone and I kept visiting his site to see what the situation was. I love this picture of him.
EDIT: 6/30/07
I just went to Alderwood Mall with my wife for some shopping and of course I went to the Apple Store to play with the IPhone. The screen is stunning. Pictures look so good on the 3.5 inch screen. Google maps works really well and overall it seems pretty cool. I wasn’t as happy with the speed of the internet surfing though. I wasnt sure if it was because so many people were using the wifi coming from Apple Store or what, but I was getting irritated with the surf speed. Anyway, after playing with it for about 30 minutes I decided I’m going to wait. I have no IPhone envy.
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As I slowly (quickly) make my way from being in my early 30’s to now getting closer to mid 30’s, I am realizing the future is now. What was once viewed (by me) as the future and seemed so far away is the here and now.
Microsoft has unveiled something that will seem more like what I envisioned seeing in the future when I was 18 years old. The technology is amazing and I see how it will impact how we do things on a daily basis through the use of this technology. It is called Microsoft Surface and this is what they say it does under their FACT SHEET:
Surface is the first commercially available surface computing platform from Microsoft Corporation. It turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. In essence, it’s a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.
Images courtesy of Microsoft Surface website media kit
Microsoft Surface will break down the traditional barriers between people and technology, providing effortless interaction with digital content. Similar to the way ATMs changed how people got money from the bank, Microsoft is changing the way people will interact with all kinds of everyday content, including photos, music, a virtual concierge and games. Common, everyday tasks become entertaining, enjoyable and engaging, alone or face-to-face with family, friends or co-workers.
The paragraph above is where I think this technology is key. For a vast majority of us, using a keyboard and mouse is second nature, but people like my parents or those unfamiliar with computer technology have a hard time getting used to using something as simple as a mouse. Of course, people can learn it with some practice, but it isn’t very natural. What I am noticing with the Surface technology is natural human movement. In order to move the picture (as illustrated above) you simply move the picture on the table. If you want to rotate it, you make that gesture with your hands. If you want to enlarge it, you hold the picture and stretch it.
I can see how this technology will improve with time and be implemented into so many other areas of our life so quickly that it won’t even seem that special after a couple of years.
Imagine wedding photographers who will quickly go through wedding proofs or wedding album designs using the Surface technology. It’s exciting to think about all the different ways this technology will change our lives.
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My first SLR camera was a Canon Elan which I purchased in 1993 when I took my first photography class. It was a super nice camera that I bought for around $500 if I remember correctly. Of course, I couldn’t afford high quality lenses at the time or the cost of developing lots and lots of film so I didn’t get to experiment and learn all the features. I usually took the pictures in P (program mode) and it seemed to do fine. I sold it a couple of years ago for around $120 at a camera shop. They were only going to pay me $60 for it, but I asked for more in the form of store credit and they obliged.
My next major camera purchase was a digital point and shoot for around $500 again. It was a Kodak DC280 which offered 2 megapixel resolution and at the time came highly recommended. I bought it in 1999 and I still own it today, but it feels like a brick toy now.
I’ve purchased other point and shoot cameras through the years that were okay, but not too memorable. My favorite point and shoot digital camera before I jumped into digital SLR cameras was the Olympus C8080 Wide Zoom. It offered some amazing image quality for a point and shoot and I learned to be creative with that camera.
After being so happy with the Olympus C8080 it was natural for me to want to stay with Olympus in the dSLR world. I guess I should have done my research first. I tried the Olympus E-1 and E-500 dSLR cameras and they were fine for everyday shooting, but they were not the best for weddings. Slow auto focus and bad high iso performance were two of the problems. I didn’t figure that out until I spent $800 for one lens and $2300 for another lens. When I tried to resell the Olympus gear at Glazer’s camera in Seattle, they didn’t even want it. No offer at all! I took a pretty good beating and sold it all to some Olympus fans on a Olympus forum I found. I lost so much money with the Olympus gear that I told myself I would buy the best next time.
After much research into what wedding photographers use for cameras, I realized Nikon and Canon were the only choices. In the end, I chose the Canon 5D as my main camera. It is a full frame dSLR camera and I love it. I haven’t once regretted paying around $3000 for this camera. We also own a Canon 30D which is okay, but I let my Rebekah use that.
I’ve said all that to get to the reason I am writing this post. I haven’t owned a point and shoot digital camera since selling the Olympus C8080 and I really wanted a small point and shoot camera so I can take snap shots where ever I went. It is not cool taking your $3000 camera and $1500 lens with you all over the place for casual pictures. I looked at the usual p/s cameras that are in the market place. There are a ton out there with megapixel resolutions rivaling dSLR cameras. The problem with most of these from all manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, etc is they take lousy high iso natural light pictures. The one exception I found was the point and shoot line from Fuji. The Fuji F20, F30 and F31fd are awesome little cameras that have the perfect resolution (6.3 megapixels) and perform remarkably well for being what they are. They don’t rival or even come close to my Canon 5D for high iso pictures, but they do allow you to take natural light pictures that would print fine at 4×6. It is also really great to be able to take the camera where ever we go and not worry about losing the equipment that puts food on our table.
The picture above was taken with the Fuji F20 in night time scenic mode. I set it on a flat surface, set it to 2 sec delay shutter and the camera took the picture. I adjusted the curve slightly in photoshop, but if you want to see what the original high resolution picture looked like CLICK HERE. If you use the picture somewhere please be sure to credit the picture to me and my $150 dollar point and shoot Fuji F20.
Picture of a painting inside Vivace Coffeshop in Seattle. This picture was taken hand held at ISO 2000, f/2.8 using natural light. If you look at the full resolution image, there are definitely a lot of smearing noise artifacts, but I’m sure any other p/s camera from any other manufacturer wouldnt be able to stand up to the high iso images from my little Fuji.
Another high iso image of my wife enjoying Vivace coffee.
Another iso2000 image of Vivace coffee. You can definitely see the noise in this one.
Here are some pictures I took of the Fuji F20 using my Canon 5D at 1600iso.
Some other things I really like about the Fuji F20 are it’s movie mode, build quality and small size. The movie mode is important to me and it provides 640×480 resolution at 30 frames per second until the memory card fills up. Speaking of memory cards, that would be Fuji’s only negative. It uses xD cards and it sucks. I have found it to be slower than CF or SD cards and slightly more expensive. The new Fuji F40fd uses SD cards, but the F40 is a 8 megapixel camera compared to the F20, 30 and 31fd’s 6 megapixels. I returned the F40fd because for more money than the F20 it offered worse high iso images. If natural light shooting is not too important to you, the F40 is a very nice point and shoot camera offering 8 megapixels and a nice lcd screen.
By the way, I purchased the camera through B & H Photo/Video. They’ve always been good.
Copyright Todd H Kim Photography | Living Life Media
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I hope to get an iphone in the near future if it’s all it’s hyped up to be and I’ve never owned an ipod or a Zune before, but if someone gave me a free one I wouldn’t mind.
John Chow, an internet entrepreneur who’s blog is acclaimed to help anyone make money on the internet, has decided to give away his very own Microsoft Zune which he won at some dinner. As much as I’d like him to send an iphone my way instead, a Zune will do.
To enter, just do what I did. Send him some link love. By the way, I’ve seen many brides try to use an ipod to orchestrate the music for their wedding processional/reception and although some have been successful, some have failed. I recommend more practice with the ipod or hiring a DJ.
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I just purchased a Joby Gorillapod! I first saw this amazing flexible tripod at a camera store and thought, “What a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that!”
Image courtesy: Joby.com
As a photographer/videographer I can see so many uses for the Joby Gorillapod. When doing videos, sometimes you want to keep the video camera in a location that has a good vantage point, but a traditional tripod won’t do. Using the flexible legs of the Joby Gorillapod to steady the camera and keep it level will do wonders! It’s obvious how terrific the Gorillapod could be for photographers, but I thought it could also be used to hold an off camera flash so I purchased the flash clip (adapter) as well. After I try it out, I’ll put up another post. Joby’s website is currently offering free ground shipping and with this promotion code: “GorillapodLOVE” You can receive an extra 15% discount through 2007!
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Image Courtesy: Garyfong.com
Gary Fong, inventer of the Lightsphere for camera flash diffusion just released his new invention called the Gary Fong Whaletail. You can read about it and watch a little video on Gary Fong’s blog. He’s joking around that it looks like a toilet bowl aka Fong John. I didn’t use the Lightsphere much, but I know plenty of wedding photographers who do. Gary Fong is a master of marketing. I could learn a few things from him. He owns a home in Seattle, Cali and BC…
Somehow, I’ve gotten myself all excited about the new Apple IPHONE. I’ve always enjoyed Smartphones. My original, purchased in early 2001, was the Kyocera QCP 6035 through Verizon. The phone alone cost $500 when it first came out, but I enjoyed that big brick. When I came back to the US from overseas a few years ago, I purchased the tiny little Audiovox SMT5600 through Cingular. I haven’t been that happy with Cingular, but the phone has been decent. I’ve thrown it a few times (protected in its sleeve of course) and it keeps on working! One time, I threw it about 30 yards on hard concrete at Home Depot and I thought the phone was going to be dead, but lucky me it was still working. My biggest complaint with the Audiovox would be the screen is way too small. Amazingly, it plays all my media files through the Windows Mobile OS. The IPhone promises to be revolutionary in many ways and I can’t wait to get my hands on one. Of course, I will tell my wife it will be used for our wedding business =)
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