Why my thesis is bad for me and the environment (and why I haven't been updating the website)

Hello everyone!  It has been a very long time since I have checked in.  It was my hope to stay on a rigid blogging schedule, but I see now that this is not a good model for me.  Life, as all of you well know, is... messy.  Despite my best attempts to introduce structure to my life and my work, things have melted down into disarray.  Why?  To understand this, we must first review the first two laws of thermodynamics:

1st Law of Thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but instead moves between different states.

Classically, examples of energetic states include kinetic, chemical, and heat energy.  For our discussion however, it will be more useful to think of energy in terms of mental energy (the energy that exists as coherent thoughts), professional energy (the energy stored in finances), and emotional energy (energy stored as one's general feelings in life).  For instance, in order to advance one's financial standing, one must expend either mental energy, emotional energy, or both to produce professional energy.  In order to gain back mental and emotional energy, one must expend professional energy (money) in the form of time off of work, a tub of cookie dough, or fishing tackle. Now that you understand a bit more about the states of energy, we can proceed to the second law of thermodynamics


2nd Law of Thermodynamics: The entropy (disorder) of a system that is not in thermal equilibrium will always increase.

Understanding this law does not require that we alter our conception of any part of it.  It is already perfect and universally applicable.  Simply put, it means that a system will not become more orderly unless energy is applied to it.  Take laundry, for instance.  A pile of clothes on the floor will remain disorganized unless one where to expend energy folding them and putting them in drawers.  Professional energy could be applied, making one late to work, mental energy could be applied by forfeiting sleep, and emotional energy could be applied by not watching youtube videos.  A much smaller amount of energy would be required to pick choice articles of clothing out of the pile and then return them to the pile after they are worn, thus conserving energy.

There is a 3rd Law of Thermodynamics, which states that as the temperature (heat energy) of a system approaches zero, the entropy of the system approaches a constant value.  We will see how this applies later in the discussion

Back to why I haven't update the blog in a very very long time.  I am currently in my 3rd semester of my second master's degree.  I was a PhD student, but for personal lifestyle reasons, I have decided cut my project off at a master's level and wrap things up much sooner.  Much much sooner.  In order to attain my current degree, I must have successfully defended and submitted a thesis by March, 2014.  This past August, I felt the weight of that deadline hanging over me, falling at blistering speeds to eventually crush me if I didn't get moving quickly.  Taking photographs requires some expenditure of mental energy and emotional energy on my part, lets say... 5 units of mental energy and 5 units of emotional energy are needed for me to go take pictures.  I (the system) have only 100 units of energy that can be in various states at any one time. I enjoy taking photographs immensely, so I am gaining emotional energy.  We will say that I produce 30 units of emotional energy by taking photographs, thus I gain 25 units of emotional energy by taking photos (30 minus the 5 needed to initiate the reaction).  Well, if I have only spent 5 units of mental energy but am gaining 25 units of emotional energy.  According to the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, this is not possible in a closed system (which, for now, we will assume that I am).  Therefore 20 units of energy must be converted from some other state.  Seeing as how I make practically no money from photography, we can consider the amount of professional energy produced from taking photographs to be negligible AND it is taking away time from doing lab work and writing my thesis.  Therefore the missing 20 units of energy are subtracted from the pool of professional energy.  Given my deadline, you might now understand where the conflict comes from.  I have been banging my head against the computer and the lab bench for the past month in an effort to maintain a pool of professional energy, but at the expense of mental and emotional energy.

So how exactly am I going to meet this deadline and graduate?  When I wake up in the morning lets assume that all of the time that I have spent sleeping has converted all of my energy into 60 units of mental energy and 40 units of emotional energy.  To produce 1 unit of professional energy I must expend 2 units of mental energy and 1 unit of emotional energy.  This means that at the end of the work day I will have converted 60 units of mental energy and 30 units of emotional energy into just 30 units of professional energy and leaving 0 units of mental energy and 10 units of emotional energy, except that I am maintaining a long distance relationship from my fiance and trying to finish planning a wedding, which requires an additional 20 units of emotional energy.  Not only do I no longer have any mental or emotional energy to expend in catalyzing photography but now I am at -10 units of emotional energy.  Where does this remaining energy come from?... The answer is heat.  So long as this process continues, I will become colder and colder until I have reached absolute zero.  This is my thermal equilibrium and so long as I still have warmth, I will be in a constant battle against disorder (dirty dishes and laundry) which must be taken care of before photography can be initiated.

Up until now we have considered me to be a closed system, but this is an oversimplification.  I am an easily definable sub-system within increasingly large systems until we have included the entire universe.  But, I mostly interact with a larger system called "Earth".  Let us say that I must maintain an average of 30 units of professional energy per day in order to graduate by my deadline.  If there were a perfectly efficient transfer of energy from the mental state to the professional state, I could simply sleep, then work, then sleep, then work, and keep exchanging energy between those two states while the pool of emotional energy remained constant.  However the efficiency of transforming mental energy to professional energy is extremely low; somewhere on the order of 5 units of mental energy produce 1 unit of professional energy.  In order to maintain 30 units of professional energy produced per day, I would need to expend 150 units of mental energy per day. 

So where are the other 4 units of mental energy going?  They are leaving the sub-system (me) and interacting with the Earth in the form of heat energy.  While banging my head against the lab bench or keyboard or ripping my hair out I am giving off heat to the environment.  This, combined with increased CO2 emissions from hyperventilating, results in my unwilling but unavoidable contribution to human-induced global climate change.  I am forced then to conclude that working on my thesis is a natural disaster.

The answer, I believe, is to find a way to produce professional energy in a way that more efficiently utilizes mental energy and either replenishes or does not deplete emotional energy.  All that I can hope for is that I have enough energy stored as heat to make it through this degree.

Anyone hiring next spring?

MeFOTO Globetrotter tripod kit

It is time to talk about what I am using and why.  The curtain raises, revealing the first ever piece of gear reviewed by Odd Angle Photography to be…

The MeFOTO Globetrotter Travel Tripod Kit!

First of all, no photographer I have ever met has been COMPLETELY satisfied with a single tripod.  But I must say, the MeFOTO Globetrotter comes pretty close to perfect for me.  Though other tripods may be better suited for specific tasks, the Globetrotter is now my designated work horse.

The Globetrotter is the largest of the MeFOTO travel tripods.  Its smaller counterparts are the “Backpacker” and the “Road Trip”. Even as the “largest” of the series, the Globetrotter packs down to just 16 inches long and 4.5 inches at its widest diameter… that fits into the second largest compartment of my school backpack.  The Globetrotter accomplishes this by allowing the legs to fold 180 degrees and fold over the extended center column, protecting the ballhead.  Pretty slick.

Two versions and two color schemes are available for this model.  The aluminum version weighs 4.6 lbs and costs $209, while the carbon-fiber Globetrotter shaves 0.9 lbs off for the premium price of $369.  Frankly, $160 is not worth a 0.9 lb weight reduction to me, but if you are an ounce-pincher, $369 is still an excellent price when you consider that many other comparable tripods cost the same but don’t include a ball-head.

Despite its compact and lightweight nature, this is a seriously stable tripod and offers a recessed weight-stabilizing hook on the center column for added stability if needed (but I haven’t found a need to yet in up to 15mph winds).  Speaking of center columns, the Globetrotter’s center column and 4-segment tripod legs extend to a maximum height of 62.4 inches.  Standing at a towering 5’7” tall, I have not even needed to extend the last segment of the legs to comfortably use this tripod.  But, if I did, I would not find this to be an impedance in quickly setting up because the tripod legs are controlled with twist-locks.

One of the most innovative features of this tripod is its ability to easily convert to a monopod using no extra parts.  One of the tripod legs (the one with the foam handle) unscrews from its joint and is screwed into the center column to replace the stabilizing hook (which can be stored on the joint where the tripod leg was located).  Having two pieces of equipment in one slick design combined with its incredible packability really sends this thing off the charts in terms of efficiency and practicality.

The only area that this product falls short in is the ball head.  Though advertised as being able to support 26.4 lbs, I have found that at this weight there is some gentle sliding and shifting unless you “hulk-out” on the tension knobs and tighten them more than any mortal should be expected to.  Even still, it is a nice compact design that does pretty ok at managing heavy loads.  Regarding knobs, there are too many.  This ballhead would really have benefited from having a lever for the Arca-Swiss style mount, rather than a knob.  And then there are three other nobs to cover what I perceive to be 2 functions: (1) keep the panoramic head from rotating and (2) keep the ball stationary.  It is somewhat difficult to make a lot of adjustments while looking through the viewfinder of my camera because of all of the knobs that must be turned to loosen or tighten things on the ballhead.  And finally, why bother making a panoramic ballhead with only the one bubble level located on the mounting bracket?  I can’t imagine that it is an incredibly complicated process to add a bubble-level to the base of the ballhead so as to enable the user to pan and actually follow the horizon.  In my mind this was a pretty major oversight, but perhaps I am unique in that the ground is not always perfectly level when I want to shoot a panorama. I still manage to shoot panoramas, I just can’t use the panoramic feature of the ballhead to do it, which sort of defeats the purpose.  Instead I have to fumble with the nobs every time I move to a new frame.  Fortunately, ballheads can be replaced.  But doing so takes a big chunk out of the value of this kit.  I would have rather paid $350 for an aluminum tripod + better ballhead and have the tripod kit to end all tripod kits.

Despite what my previous paragraph (rant) may lead you to believe, when all is said and done, I am very happy with this tripod and would buy it all over again if given the option.  Good job MeFOTO (but give me a better ballhead next time).

Check out the MeFOTO website here... http://www.mefoto.com/products/globetrotter.aspx

Synthesis:

Crazy-efficient, yet solid, design, smooth-functioning mechanics, and priced to sell, but the ballhead leaves you wanting.

Pros:

Good weight

Incredibly compact

Solid Stability

Smooth movement

Cons:

No bubble level for the base (big con)

Too many knobs on ballhead (slightly irritating)

Legs are sticky on occasion (very small con)

Introduction to Lenses

Despite all of my traveling, I am due for a technical discussion and I refuse to miss a scheduled blog.  This week I would like to shed some light on exactly how lenses work (don’t worry I won’t use that pun more than once).

 Figure 1

A camera lens is actually a series of lens elements, or individual sets of glass lenses.  At its most basic, a lens is simply anything that bends light.  Water droplets, for instance, act as lenses and distort the light reflecting off of an object (Figure 1) and back to the front of your eye (also a lens) before reaching the photoreceptors at the back of your eye (an analog to film or a camera sensor).  Why do we need lenses to create sensible images?  Because when light reflects off of a surface it scatters in all directions and we need to refocus the scattered light into a crisp point so that the image is not blurred.

Imagine that we want to take a picture of the star in Figure 2.  On the far left we have a simple pinhole camera where we have put a piece of photographic film on the inside wall of a box and cut a hole on the opposite side to let light in. When light hits each of the individual blue, green, and red points on the star it will scatter and hit the film at all points between the similarly colored lines.  In other words, the reflected light from the blue point will hit the film at every spot between the two blue lines that extend to the film and so on for the other colors.  You can see how this might make a very blurry and incomprehensible image.  In the top center panel we have made our pinhole smaller, which has improved our image resolution by decreasing the number of angles of scattered light that reaches the film.  Unfortunately this also drastically reduces the amount of light that reaches the film, so we may have a very underexposed slightly blurry image as where before we had a very bright but extremely blurry image.  Let’s take this same concept to the absolute extreme:  on the far right panel we have found a way to make a hole that is exactly one photon (or light ray) wide.  In this scenario we will have perfect resolution in our image because there is only one angle at which light inters the pinhole for each unit of surface area on the object.  But our image will probably be completely black because such low light will not be enough to activate the film.  Enter the lens.  With the lens, the amount of light gathered is equivalent to the far left panel with the large pinhole, but produces an image with a resolution much closer to that of the far right panel.

  Figure 2

Website viewer: “Ok Patrick, that is all well and good but why exactly does a lens bend light in the first place?”

Patrick: “Light passes through different materials at different speeds”

Website Viewer: “I missed that day in high school physics”

Patrick: “Don’t worry, I’m super nerdy and wrote detailed notes that you can benefit from now that you care about the physics of light.”

Imagine that you have a birds-eye view of a marching band practicing on the football field after it has rained, but there is really poor drainage on part of it which makes it very muddy (Figure 3).  These band members are highly trained and will not break a perfect front facing line (all band members in a row will always face the exact same direction and remain shoulder to shoulder).  As they march, the left side of the marching band encounters the mud first and is slowed down.  As a result, the rows must rotate to remain in perfect front facing formation.  The end effect is that the marching band’s direction of travel was “bent” from its original angle of incidence to the new angle of refraction when it encountered the new material (the mud versus the dry ground).  If, however, the marching band approaches the mud head on such that every band member in a row arrives at the mud at the same time (Figure 3D,E, & F), there is no need for the rows to rotate.  The whole formation is slowed down equally, thus the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction are equal and there is no change in direction.  In this analogy the marching band members represent light waves, the dry ground represents air (the first material), and the mud represents a convex lens (new material) in which light travels at a slower speed.

  Figure 3

The further away from the center of the lens a light wave strikes, the more it will be bent.  This is why all of the light gathered by a convex lens will eventually converge at the focal point and then be reflected beyond that point (Figure 1D; the image of the star is upside down from the real object). The degree of curvature determines the angle of refraction, and thus also the focal length.  More curvature = more bend = shorter focal length.

 Figure 4

A camera lens is actually a series of lens elements, which is a series of individual lenses with varying shapes (Figure 4). The basic elements often include: a front element, one or more lens groups, the lens diaphragm, and a rear element (Figure 5).   

 

Figure 5

The number of lens elements in a camera lens can vary based on the number or amount of corrections that must be made so that image appears “correctly” on the camera sensor or film.  The Diaphragm (aperture) is used to adjust the amount of light that reaches the film or sensor and effects the depth of field (the amount of lateral space that is in focus at any one time).  Tune in next time for a continued discussion of aperture, depth of field, and blurriness.

Ciao

-Patrick

P.S. – for further reading on topics covered above, see the following links…

http://optics.synopsys.com/learn/kids/optics-kids-lenses.html

http://www.physicsinsights.org/parabola_focus.html

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Camera-Lens.html

Featured Artist: Faye Stinehart

My first featured artist will conform to my life’s own chronology.  My mother, Faye Stinehart, is not only the first human that I met in my life but was also the first artist that I ever knew.  She also happens to be my first art teacher, as she was my instructor in elementary school and my own private tutor at home.  But enough with the history, what is it that Faye does?

The more appropriate question is: what doesn’t Faye do?  Faye has the widest breadth of artistic techniques that I have ever seen of any other artist.  Painting with oils, acrylic, and water color, drawing, oil pastels, clay sculpting, etchings, t-shirt printing, carpentry and wood burning, digital and film photography, and, last that I checked, she was thinking of learning how to weld.  She also does all of her own matting and framing.  Sorry mom, I’m sure that I left a ton of things out, but I think those hit some of the major talents.  The point is that she can do A LOT of things and can do them well.

I believe that my favorite of all of her different techniques are her wood burnings.  Aside from being savvy in a wood cutting shop, she manages to create beautifully realistic renderings of people, animals, and landscapes with her excellent use of line and shading (I don’t even know how one “shades” in wood burning but she manages to do it).  This may also be her most called-upon skill.  She has done several commemorative wood burnings of family members and cherished pets.

 

Aside from wood burnings, Faye also produces excellent drawings, particularly of architecture and landscapes.  With a hand that has surgical precision and steadiness she is again able to achieve very realistic images.  She uses this particular talent as a substitute for graphic design when making t-shirt graphics.  That’s right, she makes and prints t-shirt designs unaided by computer software and rivals anyone’s level of detail and clarity.

What’s even better is that she does contract work.  So if you ever need any artistic talent for making gifts, décor, stage design, or just about anything else check out her website www.allphaseart.com or navigate to my “other artists” tab to find a link to her page.  Tell her I sent you.

Trip to Alabama

My fiance landed a job as a coach in Mobile, AL, so I am going to help drive her drive there from Missoula.  We are going to spend some time in Yellowstone, visit a friend in Cody, WY, stop off in Denver, CO, and go through the Ozark National Forest before arriving in Mobile.  We will be camping and hiking along the way and I will, of course, be snapping pictures.  You can follow our progress on the G.P.S. tab on the Odd Angle Photography Website.

Treed Dog

Treed Dog

Several weeks before this photo was taken, around the same time that I got my new canon 6D, I made a promise to myself: I would never again say "$*%&, I wish I had my camera!"  Ever since that day, no matter how ridiculous I may look, I always have my camera on me.  Having my camera on me doesn't do much good, however, if I am driving a car and focused on the road, so I walk, or bike if I am in a hurry, to most places within a few miles of my apartment or the University of Montana campus (where I currently work).  Walking is the best method because you have a lot of opportunities to notice things that can otherwise be easily missed.  As I mention in the "about me" section of this website, I am an assistant wrestling coach at Hellgate High School so I was walking from campus to the high school, meandering through the nice neighborhood that lay in-between them.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed this dog perched in a tree and immediately swung out my camera.  All the while, I thought to myself, "there is no way that that dog is going to stay there long enough for me to get a picture."  To my great fortune, the dog was fixated on the branch above it.  I approached the fenced-in yard tenderly, so as not to scare the dog from its perch.  It noticed me, and we gazed at each other for several seconds. Then, the dog returned its machine-like focus back to the branch.  It was then that I realized that the dog had trapped a squirrel, and they were now engaged in backyard Mexican stand-off with one another.  The dog refused to leave its perch; the squirrel refused to leave its branch; and I took as many photos from as many different angles as I could without trespassing.

As I decided to press on to the high school the dog and squirrel remained in deadlock.  For all I know they could still be there to this day, both refusing to yield.  I will have to go walk by that house again and check.  Being out of place or acting strangely is a matter of perspective.  Though somewhat unusual to me, this dog didn't seem to think that what it was doing was anything but necessary. I guess I feel the same way about toting around my camera, lenses, and tripod all the time: unusual to some but necessary for me.

-Patrick

Blog Schedule

Disclosure:  I am low on sleep.  I am announcing a blogging schedule... now.  Barring nuclear fallout, the zombie apocalypse, a Firefly marathon, or severe physical or mental incapacitation I plan on writing one scheduled article per week, most likely to be published on Mondays.  Here is the general format:


Week 1: Story time - I will tell you about the events surrounding some of the photos featured on my site.  You will get the scoop on how I ended up where I was when I took the photo, why I decided to take it, how badly I needed to use the restroom while I was waiting for the exposure to finish, and any other overly personal details that you may or may not have wanted to know about that photograph.  Curious about any of my photos?  Ask and I will be happy to explain.

Week 2: Featured artist - These articles will highlight other artists that I like and, sometimes, know personally.  These talented individuals may be photographers, painters, crafters, sculptors, or even bloggers (I think there is probably an art to this blogging thing). Are you an artist?  Do you want to be featured?  If so, introduce yourself!

Week 3: Technical discussion - I will discuss some of the technical aspects of photography to the best of my abilities.  Topics will span such subjects as the behavior of light, the mechanics of a camera, the chemistry of film, the settings required to achieve certain effects, and much more.  Do you have a specific question about technique?  If so, ask and even if I don't know the answer right away, I will do whatever it takes to figure it out.

Week 4: To wrap up the month, I will talk (type) about some of the camera gear that is out there and what I think of it.  Topics may be narrow or broad but will definitely land somewhere in the realm of camera gear and accessories, or lighting equipment.  If you haven't picked up on the pattern yet, this is where I ask if you have any suggestions for topics that you would like covered.  Don't be afraid to e-mail me, I promise that I am not mean, I don't bite, and I even REPLY to emails that are sent to me .



So that is it!  Not to say that I won't occasionally throw an unscheduled blog in here or there, but you can dependably check in once a week and see some new content.  But don't forget to look at photos too; this is a photography site, after all.

-Patrick

Prologue

 

Behold!  The inspiration for my color scheme!

It has been a busy week trying to pave the roads of my "e-infrastructure".  Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Google+ accounts have been made, domain names registered, and web pages created.

What set this all in motion was a stroke of luck.  Several weeks ago I approached a manager in the University of Montana bookstore with a request to sell some of my prints of the campus and nearby wildernesses.  I had entirely expected to be rejected on the spot but, to my surprise, he told me to bring in some photos to show him.  I spent the next week or so studying the prints for sale in the bookstore, noting the subject matter, printing material, and prices.  I also shot a few more photos specifically to cater to the genre of products that seem to sell well.  However, I paid just as much attention to the kinds of things that were NOT represented in the bookstore, such as certain photographic or processing techniques, subjects, or... odd angles.  So that is what I aim to do with photographs:  I want to show you something that you have seen before but from a different perspective.  "Odd Angle" is more than a name, it is a philosophy.

I think I will sign out for now; I have a lot more social networking to get to.  Be sure to check out Odd Angle photography on facebook, twitter, flickr, and all those other social networking tools, all of which can be found in one central location: www.oddanglephotography.com

ciao
-Patrick