Wassup 2008

Oct 30, 2008 by Dan Taylor    6 Comments    Posted under: Video

Ok, really quick one here, but I think this is pure genius.  Whether you’re standing in the Red Line or the Blue Line next Tuesday matters not to me.  The important thing is that you vote.

With that said, Brian sent this over to me a few days ago, and I just have to comment on 60frame’s brilliant film.  To understand this, you’ve got to be old enough to remember the circa 2000 Anheuser-Busch Budweiser commercial featuring the Wassup crew:

Fast forward 8 years:

Like I said, it could be a McCain ad, or an Obama ad.  It matters not, but the brilliance of reaching back 8 years to re-create a popular ad, and wrap it around a message of WTF happened, is simply brilliant.

MTV/Viacom support ‘No to Prop 8’

Oct 25, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: News

MTV Networks/Viacom joined the growing number of businesses that have stood to be counted in the war against California Proposition 8.  The company has officially joined the Equality Business Advisory Council to show their opposition to Prop 8.  California Proposition 8 stands to eliminate the fundamental right of same-sex couples to legally marry in the State of California, by amending the State Constitution.

“On November 4th, Californians have the unique opportunity to go to the polls and stand up for what makes this a great country and a free society inclusivity, freedom and respect for all. Proposition 8 is antithetical to those principles and a vote for ignorance, hatred and inequality,” said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks. “MTV Networks and the Equality Business Advisory Council urge all Californian voters to send the right message and uphold the rights of same-sex couples in California, by voting ‘NO’ on Prop 8 on Election Day.”

MTV’s certainly not in this alone, with other prominent businesses and firms including PG&E, Levi Strauss & Co., Google, Sweet, the Morgan Hotel Group, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, California Black Chamber of Commerce, San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, Valley Industry and Commerce Association, and the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce have thrown their support behind the Council.

“We are thrilled to welcome MTV Networks/Viacom as one of a growing number of national and California businesses leaders that have become part the NO on Prop 8′s Equality Business Advisory Council,” said Geoff Kors, NO on Prop 8 Executive Committee Member.

For more info about Prop 8, and a full list of committed ‘NO’ voters, visit www.noonprop8.com.

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6 tips to shooting better fall photos

Oct 18, 2008 by Dan Taylor    15 Comments    Posted under: Photography

Autumn is truly one of my most favorite times of the year.  Especially for photography.  Mother nature puts on her best display, and exchanges her normally green canvas for a vibrant red, orange, and yellow display.  Applying visual and color theory to this new palette reveals that red, orange and yellow are advancing colors.  This means that if you look at a variety of colors all from the same distance, reds, oranges, and yellows will appear to be closer to you.  Hence the reason autumnal photos tend to pop right out of the screen while viewing them.  Taking advantage of this visual phenomenon, fall foliage provides us with an opportunity to produce some truly striking images.  Let’s look at 6 ways to make your fall photos even better.

Les Feuilles magiques by darkpatator

1. Shutter Speed

Leaves are a part of nature, which means they’ve a natural tendency to be in motion.  We’ll get to framing a picture perfect still in a moment, but let’s look at leaves in motion first.  Playing with the shutter speed on your camera is a great way to capture ‘in action’ shots.  For leaves in motion, you’ll need to crank that speed up to at least 1/500.  This is a particularly useful and effective technique while shooting a subject that is behind or blocked by the falling leaves.  While there is the alternate option, setting a slow shutter speed to emphasize the motion and movement, I’ve found that this only works well when your background is relatively plain and subject free.

2. Put a filter on it

If you’ve not yet started playing around with filters, Autumn is a great time to start.  Warming filters will add a slight warm glow to your image and add a shade of orange to the leaves.  A circular polarizing filter will cut the glare from any mid-day foliage you might be snapping.  It will also improve the visual range of all colors, and can be particularly handy when using levels and saturation in Photoshop.  A polarizer will also kill any glare bouncing back from water you may have in the foreground (think reflections).  The Autumnal workhorse filter is a B+W 491 Enhancing filter.  An enhancer will really push those red, orange, and yellow tonal ranges and improve your fall foliage shots 10 fold.

Leaf in grass by Jeff Kubina

3. Get down baby

While out on a leaf peep you’re bound to get a number of great shots of tree lines, groups of trees, leaves in motion, leaves on the ground, leaves on the rocks etc.  Most of these shots your took with a tripod, standing, or taking a knee.  But how about taking a stomach?  A what?  Right.  One of the most interesting ways I’ve found to shoot foliage is to get right down to it.  Literally.  By changing your perspective and associated lens angles, you’re right in the thick of the action: on the ground.  Try shooting a solitary leaf or groups while lying on the ground with them.  Conversely, lying on your back and shooting straight up into a red, orange, and yellow canopy can produce excellent results.  Just be sure to meter off the leaves and not the sky to avoid overexposure and poor white balance.

Stages by Clearly Ambiguous

4. Paint with Mother Natures’ brushes

Mama Nature may put on one heckuva display, but that doesn’t mean that you always have to settle for her arrangement of the canvas.  Luckily, she’s left us countless swatches of colors to make our own arrangements with.  Try collecting a variety of leaves and different shades and colors and lay them out in an arrangement of your choosing.  Play with light and exposure along with different angles.  Raising a leaf up to the sun and shooting through it can produce some stunning leave structure images.  When arranging different leave and colors, keep your background in mind as well.  The green of grass is too similar to the original color of the leaves, so think about something in a neutral color with naturally occurring patterns.  Stones for example make a great setting.

Water Droplets on Leaf by Jason Means

5. Give that man a drink

Leaves and water can be one of the best combinations for outstanding pictures.  If you’ve got access to a body of water surrounded by trees, chances are you’ve already got 3 or 4 outstanding pictures on your hands.  Play with different locations around the bottom of water, but also keep in mind your position in relation to the sun.  Shooting into the sun can be tricky, so be sure to use a bayonet and meter not once, but twice before opening the shutter.  If the sun is at your back, be sure to check your entire frame and make sure there aren’t any distracting shadows in the foreground (i.e., make sure YOU’RE not the distracting shadow).

In addition to photographing landscapes with great reflective colors, don’t overlook the leaf already in the water.  For some reason, I find bright colored leaves floating on water to be a form of zen meditation, and are always great images in my mind.  Capturing the solitude and sense of peace can be quite a challenging task, but the benefits are well worth it.  On the opposite site of the coin, shooting a leaf on water with a few ripples surrounding it can add a feeling of motion.

Another trick I use is watering leaves down.  Carry a common household plant mister with you when out on a shoot, and give those reds, oranges, and yellows a spritz.  Water is a natural magnifier, and when combined with some close up shots, a splash of H2O can lead to some highly creative results.

Autumn Cycle by moriza

6. Leaves and the City

Shooting fall foliage isn’t just an ideal setting for those living somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.  In the concrete jungles that I’ve called home, most were decorated in a variety of non-ceremonial shades of grey.  Cast against this drab background, Autumnal reds, oranges, and yellows can stand out even more than next to a green field and blue sky.  When shooting in urban environments don’t just simply head to the local park, but take advantage of this unique setting.  Freeze some leaves in motion blowing across a busy intersection.  Look for leaves floating in small puddles on the street, and try to capture interesting reflections in the water.  Fall colors that have been caught in a rainstorm and find themselves stuck to unexpected objects can also provide some great shots.

Autumn is one of the best times to get out there and get shooting.  By applying some of these tips, your fall photographs are going to make the leap from snapshot to artistic work.  Enjoy and keep shooting!

Midori ads a ghoulish glow to your Halloween

Oct 11, 2008 by Dan Taylor    16 Comments    Posted under: News

It’s that time of the year again.  The evening air takes on a crispness to it.  The days begin to grow shorter, and leaves begin the annual cycle of changing color, and dropping to the ground.  Autumn.  Autumn also means one of my most favorite holidays: Halloween!

From candy to costumes, parties to pranks, Halloween has become the second largest commercial holiday in the US.  While Halloween used to be relegated simply to the kids and candy collection, more and more Adults are planning  in-home Halloween festivities weeks before the actual event.

Midori Melon Liquer has recently teamed up with Lorena Bendinska, party planner for Hollywood’s elite, and owner of The Silver Spoon, an LA event company, to bring us some helpful tips for planning this years Halloween bash.

“Food and beverages are crucial to throwing a killer party, so be sure to put them at the top of your list,” says Lorena. “You can get creative and keep costs down by adding a festive flair to simple finger foods.” For example, cut pigs in a blanket in half and add a touch of ketchup to the ends to create a creepy toe nail effect.

For beverages Lorena says to “stick to colorful liqueurs or juices to brighten up the room. Use black licorice as a festive garnish or an unexpected, but delicious drink stirrer.” And when the clock strikes twelve, awaken spirits with a touch of Midori, the melon flavored liqueur by Suntory. Its bright color will light up the bar and add a festive green glow to a midnight toast.

As for decor, Lorena says, “Remember to keep the theme consistent throughout all elements of the party. Light the bathroom with scented pumpkin candles and drape all mirrors with faux spider webs.”

Halloween specialties from Midori:

MIDORI’s Witch’s Cauldron Punch

• 1 750ml bottle of MIDORI Melon Liqueur
• 63 oz. Orange Juice
• 12 oz.  SKYY(R) Vodka
• 32 oz.  Club Soda

Mix all ingredients into a punch bowl or cauldron. Stir and serve with a spoon or ladle. Serves 15- 20

MIDORI Phantom

• 1 oz. MIDORI Melon Liqueur
• 1 oz. Pernod
• 1/2 oz. Water
• 1 egg white

Pour 1 oz. MIDORI into the bottom of a champagne flute. Shake the Pernod and water, and pour on top of the MIDORI layer. Add the foam of one egg white. Use a dash of MIDORI to create green foam.

My question is, do I really have to wait until Halloween to try these?  Surely a good host would want to do a test run ‘just to make sure’.  If I can still type in the morning, I’ll give you my opinions on both.  Enjoy!

ThinkGeek – win a $250 gift certificate

Oct 10, 2008 by Dan Taylor    6 Comments    Posted under: Technology

A real quick one here that I just wanted to point out to my follow geeks readers:

Win $250 of ThinkGeek Stuff AND Your Very Own Zombie Horde to Protect it!
Win a Zombie Horde and a $250 TG Gift Cert!

Unless you’re one of those crazy minimalists, everybody likes free stuff. So we’ve decided to give two lucky winners $250 worth of ThinkGeek STUFF just because we like you. Not only are we giving out free stuff (in the form of two $250 Gift Certificates) but we’ll also provide you with your very own 5-member Zombie Horde to protect it. How do you enter to win such a fabulous prize? Simple. Just follow us on Twitter or post on our Facebook Wall and you’re entered. Easy Peasy. On Friday 10/10/08 at 11:59pm Eastern time, we’ll choose one random winner each from our Twitter Followers and our Facebook Wall to win a $250 ThinkGeek Gift Certificate and 5 Plush Zombies.

So get your Web 2.0 on, kids and follow us on Twitter or post on our Facebook Wall. Want to do both? OK, congrats – you’ve just doubled your chances of winning. Killer.

Twitter Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/thinkgeek

Facebook Post on our Wall on Facebook:
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages…6399067073

If you’re not already familiar with ThinkGeek.com, feel free to purchase and and all of my christmas presents there.

Sorry I got this so late, but just heard about it today.  Go fire up your twitter and facebook accounts and give a shout out to the thinking geeks by midnight tonight

Google: now with beer goggles

Oct 8, 2008 by Dan Taylor    3 Comments    Posted under: Technology

C’mon…we’ve all been there.  I know, it’s tough to admit, but we’ve all done a bit of drunk dialing somewhere around 3am, because you REEEEAAALLLY want to talk to him/her right now, and just because you’re awake and blitzt, they’d be more than happy to take your call right now.  Right?  Right.

Well, our good friends from Mountain View recently released a feature for everyone’s favorite email program.  Yes that’s right – Google is not giving you the option to add beer goggles to your google.
The Gmail labs released a feature a few days back that will (hopefully) stop you from sending the “Hey…you know…I REALLY like you.  I think you’re an absolute goddess, and I simply can’t live without you” 3am alcohol inspired bravery email.

The mechanism is simple enough: once you’ve enabled the ‘Please stop me from making an ass of myself’ feature in the gmail ‘settings’ tab, Google’s going to ask you to solve 5 simple (while sober) mathematical equations.  By default, this feature will only be active on late nights during weekends and Friday night.  Of course, if you’re a raging alcoholic, or plan on getting plastered at Wednesday’s lunch meeting, you can modify the active times under the ‘settings->general’ tab.

Clearly, this new feature coming out of the Google labs is more for fun than a serious feature, but one that could clearly save a lot of ‘esplainin’.  Now, if Google can bundle this feature in combo with a breathalyzer in the soon to hit the streets Android phone, they just might have a shot at cracking the mighty iPhone.

Thanks Google…this Bud’s for you!

Read the official Gmail Blog post here.

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ATMs to spit out Amazon.com gift cards

Oct 8, 2008 by Dan Taylor    8 Comments    Posted under: News, Technology

Hey kids!  It’s just about that time of the year to start thinking about….wait for it…..wait for it…..yes, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas.  Now, if you’re like my mother, Christmas is pretty much as all year thing, as I believe she starts her holiday shopping sometime around mid-june/early july.  Only a few years back did I eventually figure out why I was getting shorts and sunscreen at Christmas.  Granted, if I grew up in Southern California, this might have been appropriate, but upstate New York?

Our lovely friends over at Amazon.com have struck a deal with Better ATM Services and will be distributing Amazon.com gift cards in the US via ATM machines using ATM’s patented technology.  Better ATM Services will be distributing the cards via subcontractors Automated Cash Management Systems and APTUS Financial.

If a handy dandy Amazon.com gift card wasn’t enough, the two ISO’s will also be spitting out a complimentary $25 restaurant.com card to sweeten the deal.  Dallas Texas based Columbus Data Services will be providing the transaction processing services for the whole shebang.  Personally, an Amazon.com card that I can pick up at a 7-11 on the way home after work in that great moment of “Oh crap, I need a stocking stuffer…what do I do now?” is pretty darn sweet as it is.  Kicking in a free dinner is certainly better than a sharp stick in the eye.

“Tough economic times mean consumers will increasingly demand more value,” said Better ATM Services chief executive Todd Nuttall. “Gift cards with coupons and incentives distributed through ATMs provide just that.”

While amazon.com shoppers can certainly buy gift cards on the site itself, we all know that during the holiday season, a physical object in hand always garners more thanks than a printout of a $25 credit.  The cards coming out of said ATMs will be immediately valid and can be used the minute you arrive home (or near a wireless connection).

In wide ranging market of prepaid cards, the Boston based TowerGroup estimated that approximately $80 billion was spent on gift cards in 2006.  With Wall Street and Banks dropping like flies, it should be a VERY interesting holiday shopping season.  Who knows.  Perhaps amazon.com has hit this one right on the head with offering convenience and value tied to a site 99% of the world is familiar with and offers 99% of everything anyone could ever want.

…and I can just hear it now. “Put your hands in the air, and gimme your amazon.com gift cards.”

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