So after reading “Depth of Field in a Nutshell,” a blog post written to help beginner photographers understand DOF, i couldn’t help but think that it seemed too… over-cooked. Here’s the actual in-a-nutshell (or fortune cookie or Tweet) version:

DOF is the zone in which objects are in focus.
For bigger DOF, use a bigger f/number.
For smaller DOF, use a smaller f/number.

Honestly. You don’t need to know anything else about apertures or focal lengths or ratios or any of that to adjust the depth of field in your photos.¹ Now go shoot!

1. This assumes you know how to use your camera. Try Av mode if you’re not sure. And yes, i know that the aperture will affect the amount of light entering the camera, but the other post didn’t mention that at all, so i’m ignoring it for simplicity’s sake.

This will be my next camera.

Canon just annouced the EOS Rebel T2i, which sounds perfect to me as i’m primarily interested in the video capabilities — everything else DSLRs do will be an upgrade from my current point-and-shoot. It has the video features of the 7D and essentially the same sensor, but is half the price. $800 is a point for me where it becomes less about when can i afford it, than when is it available — especially compared to it’s bigger siblings that run in the several thousand dollars range. I would get one today, but will gladly read reviews and inspect sample footage for the next few weeks until its release. DPReview has a solid introduction of the T2i.

I’ve really grown bored and feel limited with my SD790. It’s a great camera and it’s great at what it does, but it doesn’t always do what i want. Plus i still don’t have a proper video camera. Not that HDSLRs are “proper” video cameras, but i need something that can create quality. On the other hand, i’d rather not spend a grand or more on just a video camera — i shoot photos a lot more than i do video. And i am sworn off of tape-based cameras. I think that HD video-capable DSLRs fit into that niche perfectly for me. And there’s already many film production-style accessories being produced for these cameras, so even if they’re not the next big thing, we can use them like they are.

I guess this means i’ll be starting a Canon EF lens collection…

[Checkout my previous post about DSLRs.]

Haven’t gone up to see the cherry blossoms this year, but these are a few of my favorite photos from my trip last year.

Metro.

So many people.

The Sunglasses Trick.

Do You.

This almost lousy snap of the menu board at the McDonald’s restaurant in the international terminal at LAX has attracted the most traffic of all my photos Flickr.

It recently broke 1500 views, which is many more than most of my photos, but just a fraction of truly brilliant photos on Flickr. And over 80% of that traffic comes from Google. My photo is the first result when searching for “airport mcdonalds menu”. It’s a little bittersweet that my most popular photos get views because their titles have good search keywords, not because they are great photos.

List of top all time photo views from my statistics page on Flickr

Edit: Flickr’s Blog This feature is nearly useless, at least as it is. Maybe i don’t have it set up right, or maybe it doesn’t work with WordPress’ Visual editor, but i had to completely reedit this post in WordPress.

Unfortunately, creativity will be stressed without the freedom and control of a PowerShot.

It mysteriously stopped working two days ago, and tonight’s exploratory surgery revealed no problems or signs of trauma other than a very dusty interior.

I may research into possible causes and fixes; but i might just start looking for a new camera. Unfortunately, i probably won’t be able to afford one any time soon. So much for my perfect record this year—only three weeks in, and i’ve already missed a day taking a picture. I’ll have to figure out some way to get shooting again as soon as possible.

Update: check out the demo gallery [via].

Vermont SportsCar has videos from three different angles of Travis Pastrana’s Vermont SportsCar Subaru crash at the Colorado Cog Rally, Round 7 of the 2005 Rally America National Championship [via]. Amazing crash, and amazing videos. I’m jealous of that dude. He’s only 22 and he gets to do that.

See also the stills of the crash by photographer Morgan Seagal, who can be seen running from the tumbling car in the video.