Latest Posts

• Book of the Week: Understanding Exposure

  I read Understanding Exposure 3rd Edition by Byran Peterson on a recommendation from a friend who was getting into photography. The 3rd edition was revised to include the advances in digital photography. This book is for people who want to stop using the automatic setting on their cameras and want to explore creatively. The Photography Triangle: ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture To take a properly exposed photo, you need to understand the photography triangle. Photography is about capturing light and each of the 3 points in the triangle affect how light is captured. ISO determines how sensitive the sensor is. A higher ISO number means the sensor is more sensitive, but can also be noisier. The aperture determines how big the hole that lets in light is. A big hole lets in more light and makes lets things be in focus. A smaller hole makes more things in focus, but lets in less light. The shutter speed determines how long the sensor is exposed to light. The faster the shutter speed, the less light. A faster shutter speed let’s you freeze motion while a longer shutter speed lets you capture and blur flow. If you change one setting, you need to adjust the others to make sure you still have a properly exposed photo. How you make these trades offs depends on what you are trying to achieve creatively. One of the most common things I get asked is how I make the background blurry. I purchase a lens that has a low f-stop, which means it can open the aperture very wide. This makes a small part of the image in focus while the rest is blurred. Another common question is how do I make a photo of water look like it is flowing. This requires a slower shutter speed. One you lower the shutter speed, you need to decrease the ISO to make the sensor less sensitive. You can also make the aperture hole smaller to let in less light. If that still doesn’t cut it, you can put a neutral density filter in front, which will cut the amount of light that passes through the lens. Lastly, it is not the camera you have, but how you use it.

• Book of the Week: The Complete Japanese Joinery

  The final book of my weeklong woodworking book binge is The Complete Japanese Joinery. I picked up this book after watching a video on intricate joins of sashimono woodworking. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8vJ11cXLs4&w;=560&h;=315] The book diagrams how the joints are made without the use of nails. After reading about hand tools it was interesting to get a different perspective on how to work wood. The most noticeable difference is the saws. I doubt I would use any of the techniques since a dovetail works mighty fine by itself. Purchase The Complete Japanese Joinery on Amazon.com or check it out from your local library.

• Book of the Week: Hand Tools

  Continuing on my woodworking binge, the next book is Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings. If you’re doing traditional woodworking without power tools, then you need to know how to use the various hand tools that exist. It is amazing how many forms wood and steel can take. Some of the sections of the book on rulers, sandpaper and the screwdriver were unnecessary filler. The illustrations were nice, but you’re probably better off watching youtube videos and getting really specific books on workbenches and hand planes. Purchase Hand Tools from Amazon.com or check it out from your local library.

• Book of the Week: The Woodwright's Guide

  The Woodwright’s Guide is another book by Roy Underhilll. More of the same, going from tree to furniture, but is organized by the people who do each task. Since this is a newer book, one should probably prefer to read this one over The Woodwright’s Companion. The people are the

• Book of the Week: The Woodwright's Companion

  Roy Underhill has a PBS show called The Woodwright’s Shop that shows traditional woodworking techniques. The Woodwright’s Companion is a book he wrote. Woodworking Woodworking appeals to the inner creationist in me. It’s about taking a tree and turning it into a piece of functional furniture. Using your hands without electricity to do that is pretty amazing. It is more than thinking of wood as a building material, but rather bringing out the beauty of the wood in your piece. One has to really pay attention to the wood to know how to work it. It expands and contracts with the weather. I’m used to working with cold, unfeeling machines, but wood is alive or at least it used to be. The book is not a how-to for woodworking, but more about telling a story and sharing some history.

• Book of the Week: Luxury Fever

  Luxury Fever was mentioned by one of the books I read. I’m guessing it was from a book on happiness. I found the book too long for what it was. Too many examples, took a long time to get to the point. People spend money on stupid shit. America would be a better societal-wise if we had a progressive consumption tax to keep people from spending money on stupid shit. That’s good to know for policymakers, but what the hell can I do about it? Usually I read books where by the end of it, I learn about ways to improve my life. I’m people, so I spend money on stupid shit too, no matter how rational I may think I am. I know eating that piece of cake isn’t good for me, but it tastes damn good. I’m not going to write about why spending money on luxury goods is bad and why a progressive consumption tax is the solution. You can read the book for that. Income Inequality [caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”602”] Share of pre-tax household income received by the top 1 percent, top 0.1 percent and top 0.01 percent, between 1917 and 2005 (wikipedia)[/caption] People complain about income inequality now, but it was worst when J. D. Rockefeller was alive. Yet despite increasing income inequality, a larger percentage of luxury cars are being sold. It could be that the 1% are buying multiple cars and the poor people are buying cars they can’t afford. Percentage of Luxury Cars Sold | Year
  —|—
  7 % | 1986
  12 % | 1996
  17 % | 2014
  It’s All Relative

• Book of the Week: All My Friends Are Still Dead

  This is the sequel to All my friends are dead. I found the first book on one coworker’s desk and the the sequel on another coworker’s desk. I’m going to keep a look out in case a third one comes out.

• Book of the Week: All My Friends Are Dead

  All My Friends Are Dead is a funny book in a way that the statements are sad, but true. It reminds me a children’s book that you would read to a kid.

• Book of the Week: The Design of Everyday Things

  The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman started out as The Psychology of Everyday Things, which was published in 1988. For comparison, IDEO, a famous design firm known for advocating design thinking was founded in 1991. This book was very influential when it was published, but after new developments in human-centered design and designing thinking, the material and examples in the book began to look a little stale. I’m reading the 2013 revision of the book that also incorporates topics written about by Don in other books that he’s published. He was also more cognizant to choose examples that wouldn’t get dated as quickly. This book reminds me of something that would be assigned reading to a class. Something you read, digest and talk about. If you want to take a class on the book, Udacity has a course called “Intro to the Design of Everyday Things” taught by Don Norman himself. Why Should I Care About Design?

• Book of the Week: Juggling for the Complete Klutz

  Juggling for the Complete Klutz was mention in one of the previous books I’ve read. I can’t juggle, so I wanted to read it. Still can’t juggle, because I haven’t practiced yet. Purchase Juggling for the Complete Klutz on Amazon.com or check it out from your local library.

• Book of the Week: Understanding Comics

  After reading How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by the creator of Dilbert, I wanted to learn more about what goes into making comics. I picked up Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud to learn more. The book is a comic about understanding comics. It starts off with defining that comics are sequential art. Then it goes into the spectrum of comics and where they fit in the symbolism, realism, and iconic abstraction triangle. The middle of book goes over how space and time work. The end of the book goes over the six steps that artists go through in the creation process. When you read a comic, you feel certain things without knowing why. After reading this book, I have more of an appreciation of how the comic artist craft those experiences. Time to draw some comics on OpenSmut.

• Book of the Week: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

  How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was written by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. This book is about Scott’s life and contains advice on how to be successful at life. Since cartoon writers are good are reducing things to their core, there isn’t much fluff in the book. This book sums up a lot of the things I’ve read about happiness and success. Goals are for Losers Having a system is better than having goals. A system is something you live and practice. A goal is some you either achieve or you don’t. By employing a system, you should be constantly heading in the right direction. The Success Formula