lighting

I replaced my office lights to get better video

Note: This blog post has an accompanying video: I replaced my office lights for better video quality.

Jeff holding overhead light in office

Earlier this year, I started recording more videos and doing live streams in my office. Originally I just used a webcam, a Logitech C920.

Jeff - Webcam C920 Before

This is a frame of video from that webcam. It's adequate, but not too flattering, and you can see there's a lot of contrast where one side of my face is bright and blown out, and the other side is 'muddy' or 'flat'.

The Year's Craziest Christmas Light Displays

Every year, it seems there are more and more extravagant displays of programmed Christmas lights. This year is the most impressive so far—so impressive, the tech side of me wants to do something along these lines, while the religious side of me balks at how much time/money was spent on these displays (even if they use LEDs... that's a lot of power, and a lot of cost/material for the bulbs and cords!).

Anyways, for your enjoyment, here are two of my favorite displays:

Little Drummer Boy

This neighborhood synchronized lights to different songs among 13 different houses. Lots of wireless controllers, I presume:

Click through to see more...

Pictures at a Concert in a Theater, Strobist-Style

This article will explain how I recently shot a youth concert at a small-to-mid-size theater, using principles learned from the Strobist website (if you are a photographer, and you haven't seen Strobist, check it out. Seriously.). Whenever you're shooting a concert, there are a plethora of problems that you'll have to overcome. I will show you what approaches I used to overcome diverse, and often poor, lighting, while maintaining the atmosphere at the concert.

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