Halloween and Day of the Dead

 

   Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) has come and gone. Are you sad to see it go? Are you the type who stays up all night dressed in a ridiculous costume binge eating sweets watching Hollywood horrors? What is Halloween to you?

   For some it is a day for the kids. For others it is the one day you can be a kid again and get away with it. For others still, it is the Day of the Dead. I haven't really liked Halloween since that time in my childhood where I wanted to dress like nothing but Dracula for so many years in a row. I don't know why but I got out of the whole dressing up thing when I was pretty young.

   In addition to that, I never really understood Day of the Dead even though it is popular with Mexican culture. I am part Mexican and quite proud of that, but at the end of the day I can't really identify with that side of my heritage. I was, after all, raised by my very loving, and very white, mother. (Who ironically knows far more Spanish than I do go figure.) So Dia de los Muertos was completely lost on me. I didn't understand that it was any different from Halloween. I mean, people dressed up, skeletons are all over the place, the only difference I really saw is that it is slightly more colorful.

 
   This year I figured I would go downtown to see a Halloween costume contest. What I found, much to my delight however, were people setting up little booths and shrines of sorts for the Day of the Dead. Many of these were beautiful and very labor intensive for sure. I even stumbled upon these guys who were glad to talk to me about what was going on that day and took real pride in their work. I have no idea how much of it was set up prior, but I can tell you they were working on it for hours before and after I got there and the result was fantastic. They were kind enough to give me their Facebook page which you can check out here: AlamoBasementSA.

   I saw many different booths and each were highly decorated. I even saw one dedicated to Robin Williams which I thought was pretty cool. He was my favorite actor after all. (Go see his non-comedic movies. That really shows what kind of an actor he was.) Still, seeing all these really didn't grant me any more understanding as to what Day of the Dead really was, beautiful though they may have been.




   That is... until I discovered the most eye opening piece of art work I think I have ever personally seen. Tucked away behind a wall so you may very well have missed it was a piece that was so unassuming I almost passed it by. I am glad that I didn't. A simple dead sapling tree (or branch disguised to look like one) is all it was with ornaments hung from its bare twigs like a very sad rendition of a Christmas tree. Underneath it was a blanket with  figures drawn that were reminiscent of much of what I had seen already that night. I was about to leave because beside it was a 6 or 7 foot tall booth dedicated to John Lennon, when something in my head told me to take a closer look at the piece. Perhaps this "something" comes from seeing so much art over time. When you view a piece, you must always try to see it from different angles, distances, and with different lighting. But perhaps it wasn't that at all, and maybe, just maybe something else called to me, beckoning me to see what this was actually all about. So for whatever reason I walked up closer to see the ornaments. What I saw, or rather what I read, will be in my memories forever. The minute I read some of the notes that were pinned to this poor little twig of a tree I felt that, "Oh it's nothing I just have something in my eye," feeling. Come on guys, you know which one I am talking about. For on these ornaments were messages to passed loved ones. Some were vague, some were written by children, and some celebrated the deceased by explaining to whoever read it what their favorite food in life was.

   I couldn't believe the beauty and sadness in this little otherwise unremarkable work of art. I can't explain to you how surprising and moving this was for me. The words scrawled on these little strips of paper touched a part of my soul I didn't even know existed. None of them were very long, a few words at most, but the love and care put into those few words were powerful enough to humble this average observer. Of all things, that showed me what the Day of the Dead was all about. It's not about ghosts and goblins. It's not about candy and costumes. Rather, Day of the Dead is about honoring, respecting, and remembering those who have left us. It's a time of sadness, but also a time of happiness knowing that we have a day dedicated especially to their memory. It is the Day of the Dead, but it is also a day of the living. On this day we can be thankful we are here to feel the sadness we feel for the deceased. We feel it, not really because they are dead, but rather because they were alive, and we miss them.

   The Day of the Dead is a reminder to everyone that life is fragile and precious. Precious because sometimes you can turn a corner down a path you never expected to go, and find the beauty of the human condition scrawled on a strip of paper hung on a twig.

   As always, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you had a great Halloween. If you'd like to follow me on twitter so you can be updated when I post new blogs, please look me up @thealexscene.

Motorcycles and Stereotypes

   I just saw something on the interwebz of a guy who filmed himself and a group of fellow motorcycle riders doing stunts on the highway and then being chased by a cop. This officer was behind the group of riders when he saw them speeding and performing "stunts" on the open highway. In the end the officer was outnumbered and decided it was best for himself and for the general safety of the public to leave so as not to encourage them further. This video was uploaded anonymously and police are looking for the riders. I will put the video down below.



   I myself drive motorcycles and I enjoy doing so. It's great to be out on the open road with the wind rushing by and the road stretched out in front of you. When you drive a motorcycle your whole body is one with the machine leaning to turn, sensing vibrations, and listening to the engine's requests to shift. It is an experience matched by very few things.

 
   One thing that bothers me though is the stereotype "bikers" have. To some people the word "biker" has become synonymous with crime and recklessness. The only things people think about when they hear someone drives a bike is either biker gangs or reckless young riders who are all over the news because they drove their motorcycle straight into another car. I tell people I am a motorcycle driver and I almost feel the need to caveat that with, "but I am not like the guys you see swerving in and out of traffic at 100mph." It really shouldn't be like that, yet it is.

   Part of the reason it is like that is because of riders like in this video here. There is absolutely no reason to put yourself and any other driver at risk like this. If you feel the need to "stunt," I get that completely, but that kind of stuff should be done on a closed track. Instead you have videos like this one perpetuating the negative stereotype of young riders and people all over the internet cheering them on because the officer left. I am amazed at people's naivety.

   Look, driving a motorcycle can be a dangerous thing to do and we all accept that every time we sit in the saddle. To all my fellow riders, there is absolutely no need to make it any more so. Furthermore there is no reason to feel like you are above the law just because you are on a bike.

   The last thing I want to say is, if you are not a motorcycle rider, please do not allow people like this to shape your image of us. Most of us are not like this at all. Remember to look out for us while on the road and give us more space and attention than you would a car. Drive safe everyone.

Why Freedom of Speech is Bad

   I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and freedom of press. Both are so important for the general well being of our country and our own selves that I could write a book on the topic. If freedom of speech and press were not available to us you would not be reading this blog. Our life as we know it has been shaped by freedom of speech.

   In Hong Kong right now a movement is happening because of China wanting the ability to approve Hong Kong's candidates for their 2017 elections. Hong Kong was once sort of "borrowed" by Britain and returned as per agreement to China in 1997 with the promise that Hong Kong would be able to operate as they had been under British rule, but still be a part of China. This meant that they could have democratic elections and other freedoms that came with democracy. Now however China wants to "approve" who Hong Kong can "democratically" elect into office. Because of this a peaceful protest on a massive scale began and police handled it poorly. It's interesting that police reacted the way they did, throwing tear gas and pepper spraying protesters, because Hong Kong has peaceful protests quite often, it is nothing necessarily new for them.

   This is not something that is only happening in Hong Kong though. Here in the U.S. we face our own problems all the time with freedom of speech and other freedoms. Perhaps we aren't facing exactly the same issues Hong Kong is, but we face our own all the time. It's just a part of an imperfect race trying to perfectly govern an imperfect race.

   Now that brings me to why freedom of speech, and more importantly for this post, freedom of press is bad.

   Something has been really bugging me lately. As I browse the internet which I so often do, (I am a computer science major after all so that's my excuse for being on a computer way too much) I am bombarded with news articles about this or that. I love it, I don't watch television much so being able to get so much news at basically all times without having to watch TV or waiting for the next day's paper is a blessing. What I can't stand though is how much crap is also out there. More disgusting is how many people accept it without question.

   Everyday I see things linked to me through Facebook, e-mails, YouTube, etc. that is just complete fear mongering click bate.

Allow me to rant for a minute about some things I have observed.

  Many times the things linked to me, especially on Facebook, are articles that the person linking has not fully read through themselves. The person linking it will say something like, "What is our country coming to??" and the article will be about France or the lost city of Atlantis... (not 100% sure about Atlantis!) Most of the time I disregard these articles because I naturally have a distrust for any "no name" news sources that I stumble across via Facebook. However, every once in a while a title grabs my interest and I end up reading it with a high level of skepticism as any informed media consumer should treat all things read from any source. When I get through the page I am usually just mortified that any self respecting journalist could write such a horrific, fear mongering, biased, short sighted, unreliable, and borderline untruthful article on anything. Sometimes I feel like reading the tabloids would be a more credible source of information.

   What I am saying here is this; freedom of speech and media is ever so important. Without it we would not have a voice when we really needed it. However, it's becoming a little bit like the boy who cried wolf. Media above all else must be trusted to spread accurate and honest information. When we have to second guess the validity of anything said from any news source, media becomes toxic at best. When you begin to abuse media and freedom of speech for your own selfish gains, it's not really you who loses out. You are stealing something from a society and potentially the entire world.

   To those of you who believe everything you see on Facebook, please research more extensively before you draw a conclusion. Unfortunately we cannot take news coverage at face value. Some may argue, "Have we ever?" and to that I would answer, "No," but there has always been a moral responsibility for journalists to follow. More and more this is becoming swept under the rug for internet traffic and "Likes." Just be careful everyone, there is some bad stuff out there that some sources are trying very hard to make you aware of. But their voice is being squelched by the fear mongering sensational media screaming, "OBAMA DRINKS RADIOACTIVE SPORTS DRINKS EVERY NIGHT BEFORE BED!"

   Really guys, just read.

Personal Projects

   Hello everyone. This is blog post #50. In the grand scheme of things that's really a small amount. Some blogs have literally thousands of posts and thousands of readers. For me though, 50 posts is pretty exciting.

  I guess this will be more of a brainstorming post though. If you have any thoughts on any of this or suggestions please leave them in the comment section below.

   So here is where I am at with my thoughts. For one I don't really know what I want to do with this blog in the future. I have been thinking about a few things. I do want to get a website going for a photography portfolio. When I do that this blog will be moved to that site. This is something I have been chewing on for a while and I think I know what I am going to do. That being said, it won't be for a while still. When I finally do it though I will be sure to update everyone with the new blog url. 

   At the end of the day this blog is a personal project. I like having personal projects, stuff that keeps me working towards a goal. Personal projects keep my mind going and challenges me creatively or as a person in general. I think these projects are important for everyone even if they are not creative projects. They are things we do for ourselves, not to get paid or to do really anything with. Sometimes though, at least in the creative world, those personal projects can open up other doors you would have otherwise never seen before. But a personal project is just that, something personal and dear to yourself. 

   On the topic of personal projects, other than this blog I really haven't had one since my Japan trip. I really don't have the time for one. Personal projects take a lot of time and effort. You can end up spending a lifetime on a single personal project. That's just the nature of the beast. I don't like not having an ongoing personal project and so I have been milling around for things to do. 

   It's pretty embarrassing to admit that I don't have an actual portfolio to show for my work. My photos have been so far spread and differing because I like to try to be a well rounded photographer. True, my favorite type of photography is photo journalism and street photography, but I try to stray away from being stuck on any one type of photography. If you have ever read Miyamoto Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings" then you would understand why I feel that way. This is good except that I have no portfolio. So I think my next personal project will be something that fills up a portfolio and works towards my goal of moving this blog to it's own site.

   Anyways what I am trying to say here is, be looking for a new personal project from me soon. If you are into that sort of thing then check back here every once in a while. Aside from that, if you have any ideas or suggestions for the blog please let me know. I really would like to reach post 100 and beyond if I can. It's fun, you know?

Photo Basics: ISO

   I realize these are probably my least read posts of all, but I would like to continue with my "photo basics" posts in the event that someone does find them useful and just isn't speaking up. I have many readers on this blog who, for whatever reason, have never left a comment. Or if someone finds these posts in the future and it helps them then I think it is worth it. For those of you who find these useful, thank you for patiently waiting for another. I put a hold on these posts for a while when I was abroad and just didn't get back into doing them afterwards.


   Let's jump into it. ISO. What is it? Why is it? Who is it? How does it taste? And so on. Perhaps I can't answer all of those but maybe I can answer some of the questions you have about ISO.

   When film was the only medium to shoot on there was a rating on each different film roll called an ASA rating. Lower ASA film needed more light to be properly exposed and not be too dark. These low number film rolls were usually marketed on the box as "for sunny days," or whatever. The higher your ASA, the less light a particular roll of film needed from your scene. This meant the film was more sensitive to light and it also meant more "grain." This grain was little flecks of silver that would show up in the image. So as a general rule, lower ASA less grain good for bright days, higher ASA more grain but better for darker scenes.

   But how does that relate to digital photography? We no longer use film, so what do we need to know ASA ratings for? Well you still need to record the information your camera captures onto something. Back in the day this was film, but now film has been replaced by light sensitive digital sensors. Though it isn't film, we still need some way of knowing how sensitive to light that sensor is just like with film. How do we do that?

    ISO stands for International Standards Organization. To put it simply these people took ASA ratings, matched them up with different sensor sensitivities and gave the sensors ISO ratings. So in theory 100 ASA = 100 ISO. This isn't exactly true but as a very crude generalization, that's good enough. So in turn this also means that the lower the ISO, the more light the sensor needs, and the higher the ISO the less it needs. But unlike with film grain, we get something a little bit different in digital sensors called "noise" as we change our sensors sensitivity higher.

   This "digital noise" happens to all electronics as you push them further and further. For the sake of simplicity I won't explain that much in detail but if you'd like to know more (and you're a nerd like me) there are tons of sites explaining all the small details of how digital noise is introduced into electronics. Digital noise doesn't quite look like film grain though because digital noise shows up as random specs of color throughout the image, mostly in darker areas of the photo. Photographers can kind of bend reality to make it look close to film grain, but in the end grain is grain and noise is noise. At the end of the day just remember that higher ISOs have a lot of noise and unlike film grain, it doesn't look as nice.

Nikon D610 at 3200 ISO

   Some cameras handle this noise better than others. Older cameras or cheaper ones will have a

Nikon D5000 at 3200 ISO cheaper/older camera

whole lot of noise at, say, 1000 ISO, but a newer or more expensive camera may not have any at all. Many other factors play into how much noise comes in at higher ISOs like sensor size, megapixel count, in camera processing, lighting, sensor manufacturer and so on. But really don't bother yourself with all of that. Generally all cameras are fairly good in low light at this point but some are better than others. Technology has come a long way in terms of ISO. On the right I have two examples of differently priced cameras from two different eras but at the same ISO. It's hard to tell but the Nikon D5000 doesn't hold up in low light as well. You may need to enlarge them to see what I mean. I'm pretty impressed with the Nikon D5000 though. It still held up quite well proving that older technology shouldn't be completely scrapped just yet.

   Some other things to consider when choosing which ISO to use are color and detail. When you go up through the ISO ranges colors start to change a little. Not so much that red becomes blue, but what you thought was bright orange may not be so vibrant as you climb to higher ISOs. Again, the difference is subtle, but sometimes it makes all the difference. Detail also takes a hit at higher ISOs. If an image is cluttered with digital noise, hard edges become softer. In my opinion (as with anything on this blog) I think it is best to shoot at the lowest ISO possible for the amount of light available and the image I am trying to capture.

   If you have read my other photo basics posts then you will know that aperture and shutter speed go hand in hand when properly exposing an image. Now you must also think about ISO. In a future post I will put all three together and explain how each one effects the other.

   Here are some examples of what different ISO's do. Keep an eye on two things as you look through each image. One: the black box and shadow area to the right of the motorcycle helmet. Here is where you will see the digital noise the most. Two: the color of the chair. Watch as it changes ever so slightly as I climb the ISO ranges. No editing was done to these images. I merely took the RAW files straight from the camera and converted them to JPEG for this blog.

Nikon D610 100 ISO

Nikon D610 200 ISO

Nikon D610 400 ISO

Nikon D610 1600 ISO

Nikon D610 25600 ISO (looks like a dumb instagram filter)

   Anyways guys I hope this helped. If you have any questions, feedback, suggestions, or anything else, please leave a comment. I read them all.

Nikon D750; Am I Regretting the D610?

   I have recently bought the D610. A full frame 24.3mp camera that fixed a few issues people were having with the D600. It shoots 6 frames per second, great performance at high ISO, records 1080p video, is relatively small, the list goes on and on. In simple terms, it does everything I really need it to do while still being small enough to do the kind of candid photography I like to do. I don't really ever see myself going to a professional body simply because of the size alone.

   Then come the announcement of the D750 literally a month after I buy the D610. So what do I think? Should I have waited? First let's take a look at the specs. A full list can be found here but I will run down a few of the major specs that stood out to me.

This Nikon D750 will include:

• 24.3MP full frame CMOS sensor
• 6.5fps
• 1080p @ 60,50,30,25,24 fps
• A tilting LCD screen
• Built-in wifi
• Lower weight/thinner profile
• 1/4000 max shutter speed
• 51 point auto focus
• Powered aperture while recording video
• +more stuff

   This all comes at a price difference from the D610 of about $400. So am I crying myself to sleep every night that I bought the D610?... Absolutely not and here is my lengthy explanation why...

It's the same thing!(lengthy)

   If you know anything about the specs of the Nikon D610, this new D750 has very little differentiating the two systems. If anything this new body should have been the Nikon "D650" or something. It is not a full upgrade at all.

   No doubt this camera will be amazing, I would be foolish to say that it won't be,
but a full upgrade from the D610? Really the only reason I would ever grab the D750 over the 610 would be for the better auto focus (the D610's auto focus is infamously ridiculous but you learn to work with it) and the powered aperture in video mode. Even the lighter weight wouldn't be a factor for me as the D610's weight is comfortable. Oh and come on, that tilting screen? Even the D5000 had a better tilting screen because it could also rotate even though it was utterly useless on a tripod. The D750 screen tilts up...and down... The inner college girl in my brain is screaming, "#Gimmick #partytrick omg for realz Nikon?"

   So some of you may be saying, "But Alex! Built in wi-fi!" and I say, "No please keep that crap away." Yes, I do see the benefits to built in wi-fi. Yes I see how convenient it can be and how wonderfully glorified it is. But when I think about it, that's actually kind of dangerous for casual shooters and, say, a working journalist alike. Not too long ago I read a story about a guy who followed random young girls on instagram (or twitter) and just through their constant uploading of photos alone, he was able to track them down and identify them in a public place. Fortunately he was doing it to prove a point and not to harm them. Apply that same scenario to a journalist working in an area he/she may not be the safest in. Perhaps said journalist forgot to turn off the wifi function or something? Perhaps something like that sounds far fetched but if you are documenting a war torn area, do you really want the people with guns knowing where you are going so that you can spread the word of their crimes? I'd rather not take the chance.

   Again, these may be extreme examples, but to me it turns me off of wi-fi connected DSLRs. Besides, I really don't want to post unedited RAW files to the internet and I would rather be focused on shooting than uploading to instagram. 

   Anyways, my final thoughts on the D750 are as follows... It's really kind of the same thing as the D610. The only real improvement (on paper of course, I have never used one so take that for what you will) for me would be the improved auto focus. Some of the other things are just nice to haves. But is a better auto focus worth $400 to me? No... no not really.

(Edit: I would like to point out that a FULLY ARTICULATING TOUCH SCREEN is something that is terribly needed on ALL DSLRs, including professional systems. The lack of such a screen is just crazy...in my opinion.)

Why I Decided to Take a Photography Class

   My blog is called "Making a Scene" for a reason. I continuously encourage people to go out and "Make a Scene" for a reason. This blog was intended to be an avenue for my photography. It is something I enjoy doing and I believe I am at least slightly proficient at. When I snap an image, I believe I am making a scene. Of course I talk about other things too because I myself enjoy reading blogs that are diverse. Perhaps that is the wrong way to run a blog, but that's a topic for another discussion.
   On this blog I have posted some knowledge on photography basics aimed at teaching people how to use their camera. I have stopped for a bit because I went to Japan but I will be writing more of those posts in the future. Today I went to my second beginners photography class and so the question I would naturally ask someone is, "How can you teach the subject if you are taking the class?" So I will explain and for that we must go back to the 90's!

   This is not my first photography class. Middle school is where I became interested in photography. I had seen a film in the 90's about a young guy who documents his odd family using a 35mm film camera. What movie you ask? None other than the movie, "Pecker." For all it's absurdity, the movie really got me interested in photography, and more importantly, photo journalism. I didn't know what it was called at the time, but I knew I liked that he was making images about what happens around him in his life. I was not a rich kid though and when I went to look for a good starting camera, all I saw were 3 and 4 digit numbers. Digital photography was barely taking off in the early 2000s and film cameras were still in very high demand. This meant that film cameras (unlike today) were still relatively expensive, and digital cameras (being new technology) were even more out of my price range.
   So I did what I could with what I had. My mom had bought me a weird little Sony camera one Christmas and that is what I had I think all the way through high school. In fact I probably still have it somewhere. Other than that I never would have dreamed I could have picked up a real DSLR but the itch was always in the back of my mind. With that little camera, and later cell phones, I knew I was making pretty cool looking images, but I never really had any formal training.
   Fast forward a little bit to high school. Now is my one chance to actually get some formal training in photography. I sign up for my school's photo journalism class and I am excited and ready. But of course, this class was a let-down for a few reasons. Let me begin by saying that the photojournalism teacher was probably one of the sweetest ladies you would have ever met. She and I really got along. For whatever reason she could see more in my photography than even I could and she always encouraged me to do more.
   It is very unfortunate that I went to high school in somewhere like my hometown, at least in terms of photography though. In a town where art was rarely ever a high priority, schools allocated less and less funds to the creative classes. As such, my photography class had enough money only for basic point and shoots. A caveat: GEAR DOES NOT MAKE THE PHOTOGRAPHER. But what point and shoots do not allow you to do is learn. Point and shoots are great for snapshots or for learning things like composition, but for anyone seriously wishing to learn, a point and shoot cannot give you the control you need. So I was stuck reading theory from a text book and never being able to practice that theory.
   But that isn't the only reason this class was a let down. As I stated before, the town I grew up in did not have a very strong artistic culture. Not much art comes from there. There are great works of art which have come from my home town, but it is not really known to be a hub of artistic talent. Because of this, the general attitude towards creativity was muted at best and discouraged more often. Those of my peers who were taking the class were simply taking the class for an easy A. Trying to concentrate and be creative in an environment like that was incredibly difficult.
   With all that said, I learned next to nothing. A few nuggets of theory stuck in my brain but it would have been just the same had I not taken the class. It wasn't until after high school that I really started picking up photography. By this time DSLRs had dropped dramatically in price, especially used ones, and information was all over the internet. Plus I had my own job and could afford to buy what I needed to learn. As soon as I realized I could learn photography myself I was a glutton for information much as I am for any other topic I am interested in. (I read a lot.)
   This is where I explain why I am taking a beginner photography class even though I have already been paid for my photography. (Kind of backwards right?) The first reason is quite simple. Just like a native Chinese speaker taking a beginning Mandarin class, I simply wanted an easy A. But beyond that I don't think it is ever safe to say you are completely the best at anything you have learned. Think about it, if that were true, then innovation would be stuck at the invention of the wheel. But instead because someone learned how to make a wheel (perhaps from the inventor) that person then went on to learn more about it ultimately ending up in your Toyota Prius today. All because someone said, "Yeah, I know all about this wheel, but I want to learn more about it." There are always things you don't know and things you didn't know you didn't know. For that reason I am filling in the gaps in my knowledge in this class. Perhaps I will come away with no new knowledge, but how will I know if I never took a class? Even if this class improves my photography by only 1%, it was well worth it. My last reason for taking the class is structured assignments and breaking me out of my photography comfort zone. I will be forced to do things like studio work which I learned to loathe. But I am now looking forward to it just to get the rust out of those particular set of gears in my creativity.

   So to sum this all up, I am taking a photography class as a nice little refresher. This is not my major in school (bless the poor souls who are going for art degrees) my major is actually computer science. But it is something I plan to continue doing professionally or semi-professionally in the future along side my other career goals. Beyond that I just simply enjoy it. I enjoy writing my blog, I enjoy teaching about photography where I can, and I enjoy making a scene for you, my readers, about the things I see. This should be as much of an adventure for you as it is for me.