Taken last month, in the last throes of winter, in North Bethesda, MD.
Yearly Archives: 2007
Videos about photography
I thought I’d share a few of my favorite videos about photography with you. The first video is called “Miniature Earth”, and the photos used in it are really powerful.
This next video took two years to make. It’s called “Koya Moments”, and chronicles the changing weather, light and seasons over Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dove put out a video showing the transition that takes place in makeup and Photoshop to make a model look good. It’s pretty sad really, to see that beauty is not only skin-deep but also quite elusive.
I believe this time lapse video was done by a French director, who drove across America with a friend of his in a convertible.
This is a beautiful time lapse video of the 2006 Reno Balloon Race:
Here’s how a typical fashion photo shoot takes place. The subject of this shoot is Martin Scorsese.
Holger Eilhard, a fellow photographer, put together this great time lapse video of one of the Berlin gates. It’s a whole day, from dawn to dusk.
These are a couple of the “take a photo every day” projects:
This is a humorous look at the rise of a photographer. He’s a Nikon guy and I shoot Canon, but I won’t hold that against him… 🙂
Funny animal videos
This video of two otters holding hands has been viewed over 5,000,000 times on YouTube. I think that makes it a hit. 🙂
A dalmatian watching Disney’s “101 Dalmatians” howls along with the movie dogs. The poor thing thinks something bad has really happened.
A man in Japan has invented a deep fryer that houses a goldfish bowl underneath. Somehow, the temperature of the water is kept low enough for the fish to survive, and of course the oil stays on top of the water since its density is lower, creating a nice separation barrier. Fried bits of food fall toward the bottom from the top, and the fish get their food as well. What I’d like to know is how he cleans the water, and how the fish get their oxygen. What’s more, how in the world does he take out the dead or sick fish, or put new ones in there? In concept, this is interesting, but in practice, it seems like a pretty rough way to treat some poor dumb organisms.
This looks like a frat boy prank, and since I saved this video, I’ve seen lookalike videos popping up. If you look carefully, you’ll see the trainer enticing the dolphin to climb up on the man by holding a bit of food over his shoulder. What happens thereafter is anyone’s best guess. Are the dolphins trained to move like that, or does some reflex kick in that makes them hump like dogs? I don’t know. Apparently the man knew what he was getting into. It’s pretty sad, and after the cheap laugh wears off, you gotta wonder why the heck anyone would pay for something like that…
A donkey cart gets overloaded somewhere in a Far East country, and the poor animal is left stranded in the air. The people then rush to unload the cart and bring the donkey back to earth. Gee, we’ve only been using animals to pull carts for how long… maybe thousands of years… and we still haven’t learned how to properly stack the loads.
This is a compilation of thieving animal videos. Remember, it’s only funny until it happens to you.
Check out Bebo, the beatboxing bird:
Interesting sports
I played rugby in college for about two seasons. It was enough play time for me to break my nose and tear my right ACL, necessitating surgery… Would I play it again? Absolutely not. Rugby is a dangerous sport, and I think only certain people can play it — the ones built for it. I’m not one of them. Although I don’t even watch it anymore, I did enjoy this short clip of the NZ All Blacks vs. Tonga. They both engage in a little Maori Haka intimidation, and it’s fun to see.
Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick. One of the most awesome tennis plays I’ve ever seen:
This is an amazingly coreographed kung-fu fight scene. The two teammates are within inches of impaling each other with their lances. This sort of thing is very dangerous, so please don’t try it at home.
Top Gear got their hands on a Bugatti Veyron and maxed it out at its advertised limit of 252 mph (407 kmh). Very, very cool, and I think my eyes may have gotten a little misty toward the end. 🙂
Sepak Takraw is an Asian sport that’s best described as volleyball with your feet. Some amazing jumps take place here.
I believe the name of this Asian acrobatic team is Butterfly Lovers. Their name isn’t that impressive, but their act sure is! Watch it and be amazed at their skill.
Resolute
I really like this photo of mine. It’s so grainy you might think I took it with a cheap digicam, but I didn’t. I used my Exakta EXA Ia SLR, and I think I had 100 ISO film inside. Yet it is this excessive grain that I like here. It lends a wonderful atmosphere to the photo, and when you superimpose that silhouetted tree against the moody, slightly glowing sky, you get something wonderful. I identify with this photo more than I’d like to admit. In truth, I find a lot of myself in it.
This other photo doesn’t look good in a smaller size like this, so I encourage you to click through and view it in full size. There’s something wonderful about shedding light on darkness. It’s that moment of truth when you expose what’s been hidden… Here light barely touches the tops of the trees, but I know it’s going to come pouring down soon, filling the entire view. It’s hope, distilled.
Raoul Pop 