photography

I've had a DVD from Prometheus Entertainment/History Channel sitting on my desk for a year and a half, and I had almost forgotten why I had it by the time I finally sat down to watch the DVD. The DVD is of the show "Angels & Demons Decoded," which aired on the History Channel on May 10, 2009.

While I was watching a part about Bernini's artwork, I noticed a photo of the 'West Ponente' direction marker in St. Peter's Square very similar to mine at 1:08:12 — this wasn't my photo, but was close enough a match to warrant further inspection.

Towards the end of the documentary, when the narrator was talking of the interaction between faith and science in the Church, I found my image at about 1:28:35:

Whoever did the matte on that image (a) had a lot of patience, and (b) is quite good at it! I don't think I've ever attempted to cut out such an intricate photo.

You can view the original photo on Flickr here: Eucharistic Adoration - Monstrance.

I'm glad I was finally able to sit down and watch the show. I also watched Angels & Demons (the actual movie) on Netflix, and thought it was a heck of a lot better (all around) than The Da Vinci Code. But it's still not a greatly historically-accurate film, in my opinion; like most Hollywood flicks, the director and producers played fast and loose with many theories and historical fact. But I don't let it ruffle my feathers :)

Since about a week after it's introduction, I've been shooting with the D90 as my primary camera, and it's been a great run. The D90 is almost the perfect photo-making machine for me. I was thinking of either upgrading to a D300s, or possibly a D700 (all my lenses would work with either FX or DX), but then came the D7000.

I was instantly thrilled with the specs, especially since the D7000 body is almost exactly the same dimensions as the D90 (meaning I wouldn't need to get used to a bunch of new button placements). So, after a little consultation with my bride, I bought the D7000 (it was in stock, momentarily, from Amazon.com).

Photo taken with my iPhone 4 while travelling down historic route 66.

Photo of the sky with sunlight peering through clouds, as seen in Shrewsbury, MO. This is actually almost exactly how the scene looked IRL, which is a high praise of the iPhone 4's camera and HDR abilities—it's not so pronounced as to take the natural beauty out of a photo, but enough to strengthen the contrast ratio a bit.

The iPhone 4 is a great video camera, professional audio recorder, photo camera, and mobile Internet access device. I'm glad to be an owner :)

I recently visited the Church of the Most Sacred Heart in Eureka, MO, and took many photos of the interior (view a full gallery of the pictures I took). The standout photos of the bunch were of the stained glass windows. Below are the three patronal saints of the Archdiocese of St. Louis (depicted on the left side of the Church, when sitting in the main body of the pews).

Click the image above for more details on the Flickr page. Self-portrait taken in the main room of my condo, with a neat little cross of Natalie's hanging on the wall behind us. Isn't she beautiful?

Watch it on YouTube (shot with my iPhone 4, using an external Lavaliere microphone)

Funny. Babies are pretty funny in general... but most especially when they stare at Archbishops! Read more about the Steubenville Conference, at which Archbishop Carlson celebrated the closing Mass for over 3,100 youth from both the Archdiocese of St. Louis and other midwestern dioceses!

This weekend and next I'll be live-blogging for the Office of Youth Ministry at Missouri State University, for the Steubenville St. Louis Mid-America youth conference. Check out the Live Blog here, and see photos from the first week of Steubenville on Flickr (I'll be updating all of these things as time goes on!).

(Above photo: Nikon D90 w/ 12-24mm f/4 lens).