Last Week Monday to Wednesday was my Matric Finals ART Practical Examination for 2009.
I had chosen to do photography instead of Fine Art Mediums as it was introduced this year into the syllabus (Very Lucky - For Me)

Click Here to Download Rationale

[I'm only posting my final pieces now because other schools only did their exam this week]

The theme for this year's exam was: Reveal and Conceal
You could do either or both.

I chose to do three sub-categories and incorporated both Reveal AND Conceal in each category. (Everyone else did one piece - due to the fact that Fine Arts is much more time consuming)

My three sub-categories were:
Reveal / Conceal Identity, Reveal / Conceal Sexuality, Reveal / Conceal Personality

Identity

Sexuality

Personality

Reveal / Conceal Personality is about a man.
A man who's found a new trend and has introduced it to new people.
People start following this man's trend.
His trend dies, people mock him because he's still with his trend.

This is commonly seen among teenagers and teenage schoolkids. A very good example of this "trend" would be the EMO scene - although not completely dead, but mocked.

Rationale / Artist's Statement[s]

Click Here to Download Rationale

I asked some friends at school to model for my art Project: Stereotypes of Crawford (my school)

Jokes again?

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Yesterday, Rondricoh and Ana came down from Johannesburg for a visit, they're leaving to China on Monday and we wished them a happy and safe trip.

I'm very confused at the moment, I need to sign up for a University and choose my degree.

I'm currently sticking to the BSc: ComSci side of things, it's quite safe, for me, at least. I was contemplating the other day that I actually really like justice and crime, and was thinking about Internet Policing, and to my great dismay, I realized that policing requires Law.

I hate Law. I'm not a fan of Law. I WON'T study LAW.


Any suggestions guys?
I know no one reads this blog, but it's worth a try.... Isn't it?

Thanks in Advance

This is very interesting!
But it's in Japanese :[

http://www.sony.jp/dslr/products/tech-lab/index.html

Java Demystified
Author: Jim Keogh
Publisher: McGraw Hill Osborne
Price Paid: US$25

I’m an avid programmer (at high school level) – As I’m aiming to become a computer programmer.

I recently purchased this book because my previous Java book – Java 2 a beginners guide by Herbert Schildt, also an Osborne published book, was a bit complicated an used quite difficult language. I bought that book way back in 2004, and I couldn’t get through the 1st chapter.

I then started Java programming in 2007, and learned that the “System.out.println()” commant was a printLN not a printIN! I got stuck with that for 3 years!

But looking at the book now, it just seems long strung and very tedious to read. This book however is much more concise, even when I’ve already done most of the basics of Java programming. I enjoy the way Keogh words his stuff! And it’s just so easy to finish a chapter within an hour.

I must say this book is for beginners (from the early chapters) to advanced programmers. It’s an ideal gift too for those who are willing to start programming! It includes very logical ways to look at things and simple examples.

I really enjoyed reading this book and could well recommend it to you! Photographers who spend their aftertime programming.

If I were to give it an overall rating, it’d be 4½ out of 5!

I spent my day today making the CD Spindle Ringflash I wanted to AGES ago.
This is the tutorial I used: StumbleUpon: RingFlash DIY

At first I used tin foil for the ring backing, but this spread the light unevenly and wasn't very effective. So I ripped out the foil and replaced it with paper!

And voila! It's perfect... Not as bright as foil, but quite good.
The effects are astounding, considering that it's free.

There's virtually no shadows on my dad's face from his glasses when compared to no ring, direct flash. It really softens the edges and creates a dreamy effect.

This is great for close-ups of nearly anything! Portraits especially.

PET SOCIETY on FACEBOOK
I never knew that I'd get so addicted to this game! It's so awesome! almost like peaceful WarCraft if you ask me! If you don't have me on Facebook, be sure to add me soon! As well as my photography fan page!
It's bloody awesome.

One Small Step for DeviantART, Huge leap for community
I recently renewed my dA subscription, saw the new features and were desperate to try them out. I did and I'm really happy! The new Critique ability is awesome, and I'm addicted to that too! (Trying to promote myself and the community, you see)
The exchange rates (Dollar to Rand) isn't too bad at the moment, so I got quite a good (normal) price for my sub.
I should've gotten a print one though, coz it comes with free 3months! (forgot about that!)

Google AdWords
I recently signed up to the Google Advertising drive. It seems promising, but not very cost-effective! Considering google has so many hits, I could reconsider the previous statement though.
If you guys are by any chance searching the net for keywords that are similar to the ones I would use for my deviantART profile, please do NOT click on my Ad, as I HAVE to pay for them! (the clicks), so if you do! just remember that you're costing me unwanted waste!

Last Words
I wanna make a softbox, I contacted my neighbor (aspiring carpenter) and we might get it off the ground tomorrow! Keep your eyes Peeled!

xx
Love,
A.

Well, I was quite skeptical about this lens at first, especially after reading the MTF graphs.
They stated that this lens was softer at all apertures (that were comparable) than my beloved Tank Beast Tokina 28-70/2.8

When I received it, I was in utter frustration as I had thought the seller didn't include the lens hood which he said he would. After looking around the box, I found it rapped in paper! (Lol)

It was a well cared for lens, I would not be surprised if he said it was new! No marks, scratches, signs of use Whatsoever!

When I attached it to my a200 with vertical grip, it looked very strange (very small). I wasn't used to small zooms anymore, and anything that wasn't bigger than 72mm (filter diameter) looked strange. But I got over it after I started using it. (I don't think I'll use my Tokina again, other than for portraits).

So I heard this lens performs really well on FF, lets see on APS-C.

These tests were performed on a tripod, SSS-off, Autometer, Apeture Priority and 0EV compensation
Sony DSLR-a200

Minolta 3.5


Tokina 3.5







Minolta 5


Tokina 5







Minolta 6.3


Tokina 6.3







Minolta 8


Tokina 8







Minolta 16


Tokina 16



What is evident is that the Minolta outperforms Tokina from f3.5 to about f5.6, the image for f5 seems to be a bit blurred, will check up on that.

The Tokina then takes over from f6.3 onwards.
Minolta shows steady maintaining of quality up to f8.

This is evident that Minolta is a better lens wide-open, while Tokina owns afterwards.
If only it were vice-versa, I'd resell the Minolta.

(these were both set at 28mm, it may be a weak spot for Tokina)

The brokeh from the Minolta is MUCH better than the Tokina, something that I've always liked about Minolta lenses.


Hope this has helped you decide, if you EVER come across these 2 (quite unlikely nowadays).
Enjoy.
A.

Check this shizz out

http://devzone.mxit.com/

R100 000 (about $10000) for the best design, building the client from scratch!

I watched a movie on my parents' Taiwanese (please, not Chinese) channel - MacTV, sponsored by the government for fellow compatriots!

Anyway, It depicted children in junior school who all come from different backgrounds.
The main actor's parents were lunch/take away owners and were quite lean. including himself.
They were friendly and didn't really care about the kid's schoolwork - therefore he didn't excel and came last for every test. They called him "Small Fat"

Then there was the kid who came 1st in the grade, he comes from quite a wealthy family with his father doing business in Mainland China. He stays with his mom and she is addicted to Mahjong. She doesn't care much about him and only gives him money.

Then the last boy I'll mention, who is quite an entrepreneur, is wacky and loves adventure comes from a family where his mother has passed away. His father is still in a state of great depression and cannot find a job since the company liquidated. He is middle aged and companies do not like hiring people like him.

In the end, a tragic story but not so tragic ending, he resorts to stealing.
He steals his son's classmates' parents' purses, cellphones jewellery etc. It was a shame because throughout the whole movie, his son prayed and cried that his father told him: "No matter how poor one is, they should not take others' belongings". He had made his own money to buy health lunch at school.

In the end he confessed and broke down. This was a very emotional climax and he told everyone how he was struggling and wishing it would just end - attempting to suicide.
But one of the parents said that his electronics company is short of someone like him. He was the father of the to be supermodel Jolin Lin

It made me realize that we're living a good life. An excellent life. And we should treasure our DSLRs and other things too, because in life, there's nothing more important that happiness and success. One cannot fathom another's failures so let's pray and wish these guys well.

Hope that they make it through their difficult times.

And so I sent my beloved Sony DSLR a200 in for repairs.

I asked the lady whether she'll call me if I had to pay, and she refused and said that it's under warranty! woohoo! So hopefully in about 2 weeks time, I'll have my camera back all refurbished! I hope they polish out the scratches on the screen caused by the protector.

I also found out today that I had received (quite a while ago) DeviantDollars that I earned from my prints.
I can use these to buy other people's prints or buy my own. Or even DeviantART product. (Ahh...)
R210 = US$23

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM MY deviantART - until further notice!

I've been shooting a lot with my a100 now and I even used the Vacuum cleaner to clean the sensor! xP (I know that it's something Gods of all kinds forbid) but hey.

I'll show you guys some pictures when I have taken some more.

Enjoy your weekends kids.
xx

My Tokina Lens seemed to become loose and whenever I zoomed, because it is an internal focusing lens, it would scratch inside the barrel of the housing. A screw must've gotten loose or something.

So therefore,
I started my mission.

This is a product shot of my Tokina
This lens is very solidly built and I have been using it for just more than a year, I've been quite satisfied with it as the quality and sharpness is exceptional especially after f4.5. This lens is designed for wide-aperture but at f4 and lower, this lens is quite disappointing. It's very soft even at the center. Rendering it nearly unusable.

Despite it's shortcomings, it has been a faithful lens, especially to my Sony a100. Definitely a very good (nearly excellent) replacement with my kit. It suffers on the wide end (on APS-C sensors) and doesn't offer much on the longer end. I recently discovered the the alignment seems to be different from Minolta's alignment standards, as the 28mm is not as wide as my Minolta 28-105/3.5-4.5's 28mm. So thus I shall say that it does have a slight advantage on the longer end.
The sharpness is weakest at around about 60mm, But it's not noticeable. There is hardly any barrel distortion on the APS-C sensor since this is a FF lens.


Recently, due to the problem, I was quite annoyed with the lens. I had bought a plastic petal screw on lens hood for it and I had to physically BREAK my Hoya UV filter as it got stuck to the hood. I found that the UV filter's thickness was nearly 3mm! I tried to smash it with a hammer and it didn't want to smash! So i just pryed the metal apart, and stuck the glass into the front of the hood's cavity (it had a small ridge just big enough for the glass!).

Here we go with the disassemble.
I took the photos AFTER I had disassembled it, so These pictures are actually Assembly photos.

The mount and rear optic


After I removed the mount and rear optic as well as the mount alignment collar


The Mount and rear optic inside rear lens cap


The mount alignment collar with all the screws so far


After the mount standoff is removed


Standoff 'Washers'


Removing the Screw AF gear


View of everything


I had found the screw and replaced it into the right place.
Now the lens works as if I had just got it!

:]

I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed disassembling and reassembling my lens!

Love,
A

So I've been away for a while from blogs or all sorts, I haven't even updated my DeviantART journal in ages.

I don't really find the time or feel unmotivated to blog, I think it's a GREAT concept, but my laziness seems like a better one.

Anyway, loads of things have changed since I previously blogged. Good things and Bad. Very bad things. haha.

Well on the bright side,
I got a new DSLR and a flash unit
and then another flash unit, a light stand, an umbrella, a few new lenses, vertical grip blah blah blah
Cool stuff to be seen here making use of fun stuff here



We went on our school trip to Sun City it was real fun! a GREAT experience! Check photos here


I was lucky to photograph and sit in a few Aston Martins
We also had a fashion show (photos won't be up until further notice)

but the worst news ever!
We went on sports tour to Pretoria and my beloved a200 broke. It refuses to switch on now... (will not go into the details of what happened) and this happened on the first day that we arrived, so I did not get ANY photos of sports =.=

*sigh*
I'm stuck using my a100 again, it's not a bad camera, Just slow. Slowww.

Anyway,
Check out my flickr or deviantart for any new stuff
if you don't have me on FB yet, Now's the time to add!



Later kids,
A.