CHEESE TALK...

I love cheese.  Heck-- I am a Wisconsinite.

While I am not necessarily a connoisseur, I do have a few cheeses that I heartily recommend that you give a taste. To me, these cheeses have superb flavor, and appeal to the broadest possible group. I would not hesitate to snap them up when you are at the store.

While some cheeses can be remarkably tasty, they sometimes have very limited appeal due to a variety of factors; scents, flavors, bacteriological effects, etc.  (think: Bries, Camemberts, Limburgers, Fontinas, Stiltons and Bleus). The short, unscientific list that I have here represent (IMO) populist "good cheese."


1. SARTORI, BELLA VITANO MERLOT
one of my friends joked that this cheese was "life changing."
It turns out that is not just hyperbole. A damn fine cheese with Merlot flavor.

2. KERRYGOLD IRISH "DUBLINER"
A firm, nutty, delicious cheese (very faintly parmesan-esque with a cheddar back note). This is also one of the cheapest on the list, and an all-purpose crowd-pleaser.

3. PRIMADONNA MATURA AGED GOUDASmooth, tasty aged gouda. 

4. COLLIER'S POWERFUL WELSH CHEDDAR

A great cheddar cheese (and despite the name not overpoweringly sharp IMO). Not incredibly pricey either for an imported cheddar.

5. WHITE CHEDDAR (SPECIALLY SELECTED AGED RESERVE)
I put a curveball on this list, but it definitely belongs here based on its taste and value. Believe it or not, this is an ALDI only cheese (ALDI/TRADER JOE'S) and is the absolute cheapest on the list, yet beats some far more expensive cheeses.

Goodbye Signor Vignelli...

Massimo Vignelli passed earlier on May 27. 2014, after a long illness.

Many of my students will know him from the movie "HELVETICA," where he was presented as the elder-statesman for the camp of modernist design voices in the film who were outspoken in their support of the helvetica font.

To me he was the guru of branding in communicative design, and a contemporary extension of the clean and efficient aesthetic expressions of guys like Rietveld and van der Rohe.

I remember (from the early days of computer-driven design) hearing the story of how Vignelli insisted that all designers start their work with a moleskin idea book—pencil and paper first—before even touching the computer. Whether that was apocryphal or canon doesn't matter. It represents a 'clarity of thinking and ideas' (as Vignelli expressed in some interviews) that resulted in a design solution that effectively and efficiently communicated.

RIP  Mr. Vignelli.

check out the Times article on  Mr. Vignelli's passing.

Equivalent Exposure Rule…

Have you ever marveled at an experienced photographer who can nail exposure pretty much right off the bat?

Well, they got that way by first learning (in fact memorizing) some of the exposure equivalencies, and then doing a buttload (years) of shooting and applying that knowledge in real world scenarios.

I once met an advertising photographer they teasingly called "Old Oneshot." Back in the days of film, they used to provide a polaroid of the shot to you while they processed the medium format transparencies. Old Oneshot prided himself on being able to nail a shot with one polaroid (although he did fire off a minimum of three bracketed shots after nailing the exposure to be honest).

A little basic knowledge can go a long way.  Knowing the fundamentals of exposure equivalencies can really help your technical game. While you may not memorize them (ala Zak Arias or Jared Polan–many of the pros who have attended photo school for four years memorize these), you will be more technically skilled.

Check out the full lesson (click on the image link).

Rainy Day Photography Idea: Water Drops

Upon viewing my attempt at this exercise, my twenty-something son mentioned it could quite easily be: paint, milk, or pig's blood (yech). Whatever you use, a great rainy-day activity is to set up a mini studio and shoot water drops (the cleanup of water is easier than those others). You'll actually get very 'in-tune' with your equipment doing this exercise. You'll have to figure out manual focus, exposure, and of course TIMING.

The world of digital makes for a much easier time doing all of this. I remember trying something like this in college (when we shot film) and developing 71 exposures of crappy shots, and 1 passable, yet blurry shot. The ability to make adjustments on the fly while viewing your shots on the LCD or tethered lightroom computer makes it much easier, but still a great learning experience.

I used a boom stand with a ziplock sandwich bag as my water drop source. A simple paperclip near a tiny hole in the bottom of the bag was my regulator. The bag was binder-clipped to the boom arm.

I used a glass dish (yeah… I know there was a pyrex logo on mine…but you could easily use one without the logo, or a plastic tray if you prefer). The reason I used glass was so I could slide colored paper underneath, and we only have pyrex bakeware in the kitchen. For an exercise its OK.

I also used an off-camera flash (580-style knockoff) and some colored paper folded in a "V" so it could stand up across from the flash. I used a small paper reflector near camera as well. The camera really needs to be steady--so a tripod is a must.

You'l also need to manually set everything–including focus. To focus, I used a piece of styrofoam on a skewer where the water was hitting, and then removed it after I set focus (auto will NOT work with this). My speed was set between 1/100 and 1/200 (sync speed for flash). Aperture was based on exposure, since dof was not a huge issue in such a small zone. 

I used a wireless trigger set between the flash and camera, but could easily have used a flash cable. For every successful shot I had, there were four or five crappy ones (but the odds are MUCH higher than with film). Try it and let me know your results!

HYPOCRISY? COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

I have dealt with increasing numbers of people who have mentioned dealing with "cognitive dissonance" in their lives in some way. Some may simply refer to this as "Hypocrisy," or hypocritical behavior—which I believe is sometimes too much of a simplification of things.

Here is a great article, in fairly simple language, that deals with the topic.
Check it out when you have time for a good read.

MACRO on the cheap… (wit' a couple o' TIPs).

I'd love to have a macro lens to play with (–anyone have one they'd like to give me?). I just don't have the cash at this point. If I  COULD make it pay for itself, I'd probably consider buying one. In the meantime, I'll try the time honored method of photographers-on-the-cheap everywhere, and use a decent set of aluminum macro tubes.

I bought the pair that I used in these photos for about 10 bucks. Back in school (80's), there were guys who did the old (turn the lens around) trick… and  a few who crafted reverse lens mountings using mailing tubes. These were always great for fiddling around with macro, but clearly not a solution that you'd want to use with paying accounts.

I'd highly encourage the tubes at their minimal 10$ price tag. For about 75 bucks, I could have purchased some with the proper EF lens contacts for my Canon. [but hey..who am I? Rockefeller?]

Just a few tips from my afternoon with the tubes.

Boy! Coins sure are dirty close up.
I wound up using a “nifty-fifty” lens on the end of the tubes.  You can see slight chromatic aberration on the coins and oatmeal when shot against a black glass surface. I played a bit with the aberration-correction in Adobe C.R.E., but can still see the slight fringe on the left and right.

You can also see that by the time I got to the dime I had opened the windows more in my living room, and used my hands to reflect light onto the dime (may also want to try a very small piece of paper).

The lens is very tight to the objects, so the light is sometimes tricky.
Because of the lighting, you may wind up setting your shutter for as long as a few seconds, so a TRIPOD and using the camera's shutter timer or a remote is probably good form on these.

You can also see in the quarter how really shallow your depth-of-field will be. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is just trailing out  on the E and the T, and you can see on the front end STATES is outside the plane. Your aperture is not "communicated" through the cheaper tubes. It will read "0" and revert to your fastest stop (on my equipment at least).

I learned from others' posts on using these simple tubes that you can use the aperture lock on your camera with the lens mounted as normal…then unscrew the lens while aperture lock is still depressed, then quickly attach the tubes to hold the aperture at its last setting.  I used f 8 as a starting point with this "locking" technique that will give you more depth of field (as in the dime), but require more light and potentially exposure time.

The mandarin orange wound up a bit dark, so I fiddled with aperture and exposure time to get the texture. Its a bit dark (which I don't mind terribly given the light "valley" in the skin crease behind it. 

The rolled oats had a bit of the aberration on the farthest oat against the black background glass. I noticed you get almost "bokeh" effect of reflective items on the glass if the exposure is too high, so this exposure is the combo of acceptable aperture and focus against the moderated speed (1/6 sec).

To recap: 

these macro tubes (photodiox) are fun to experiment with…but I don't think that anyone doing macro with a proper lens is going to bother with these (even the higher end ones that do communicate between  your camera and lens).  A macro lens is just easier and more expedient in more diverse use scenarios.

You'll also need to have a tripod! No way to hand hold on some of these.

A  decent understanding of aperture, shutter-speed, iso and focus (and the dexterity/ability to manual focus while adjusting your tripod for distance) is also a must. 

If you don't have a good window letting light in, you'll also want good constant light as well (I use a CREE 6500K LED work light I picked up on sale at the hardware store, and use it on other items as needed).  OVERALL, it's well worth the 10 bucks to experiment with though.

Photography Two-cents…

I am a “graphic designer who does photography…” and not a pure photographer by training.

I  teach photography regularly, and I have always told my students that, first and foremost, I am a graphic designer. During the time that I went through school (early 80's), a part of my training included some basic fine-arts photographic preparation (and the world of darkrooms and black and white film). I feel comfortable around the medium (Although I had to adjust to digital like many of the old salty-dog photographers out there).

At any rate, I always feel compelled to make this distinction because there is occasion for Designers and Photographers to sometimes view things differently. The vast majority of the time though, it is a very complementary relationship, with the added experience and expertise of  each party resulting in a solid visual product. The experienced photographer typically plays a pivotal part in helping an AD achieve a communication goal.

Occasionally, with a media-driven process, there can be differing viewpoints. This is when my design background comes out. My message (the brand, the idea, the concept) has to be king. If it means cropping that photo much tighter than the photographer would like—so be it.

I also appreciate great photographic equipment (while I myself cannot afford it). It's awesome to shoot on a pro's 5DmkIII with pro L lenses! It makes sense for the pros to have great equipment, but anyone who cannot make a return on the cost of investment is not really getting what its all about. An old friend in Arizona  repeated the well recited mantra to me: “ beginners worry about gear, pros worry about light (and money too).”

Too often I also feel that equipment can often become an excuse for students not mastering the fundamentals or understanding basic technique. I have had more than a few students claim their work was subpar because they didn't have “camera X ” or “gadget Y…” as well as a handful with D800's shooting entirely in AUTO.

Learn the camera you have! Master the exposure triangle and light, and figure out stops to light ratios. Take great shots and set up interesting composition and angles.

Once you've mastered the fundamentals (and if you have paying gigs), dropping 5K might make some sense.

The Bestest Way to Reheat a Pizza

I have been posting so much about pizza that I figured I better add another category label. At any rate, this is a really short post about (IMO) the best way to reheat leftover pizza.

First you gotta wrap up the leftovers. It doesn't matter if its foil or wrap, but you don't want the leftovers to get that hardboard quality from being stored in the box (or – god forbid – even open on a cardboard disc in the fridge acquiring the cumulative flavor funk of your fridge.

DO NOT use a microwave. I'll concede it is faster, but it leaves the pizza kinda limp, and as it cools the crust gets a sort of toughened quality (and eventually hard).

While I cannot say I invented it, I've been doing this since I was a teen with great results.
The method you have to try is using a frying pan, set to a medium low heat. Place the slices crust-side down, and place a lid (I have the tempered glass lid pans which is nice). Heat em until the cheese starts to melt on top and the top gets hot. The bottom crust will be crispy (and keep an eye on it-- you don't want to burn it). For my oven its abut 15 minutes (on electric burner set to 3.5 /9).

Studio Lights…

Quite a few friends and students have elevated their hobby interest in digital photography to a higher level. In simpler times, a 35mm SLR film camera, a few lenses, and an on-camera hot-shoe flash was what constituted a "pretty serious enthusiast."

Nowadays, I have the occasional student with full sensor pro-level DSLRs! These are NOT NECESSARILY practicing pros either! Some also have pretty intense studio setups, with Profoto or Einstein strobes.  Students with multiple SB 800s are also not uncommon.
(I'm still the kind of guy who uses some home-brew lighting —see the video link below on using Hardware LEDs… but I do use some inexpensive mono-lights/cheap soft-boxes as well).

It is great if you can afford it, but without the knowledge of how to properly utilize them (or experience with the nuances that come with years of using the equipment), the impact won't be as great as it could be.

One of the first things I did was look at shots that had lighting diagrams included. This lets you dissect/reverse-engineer a shots appearance. I've included a few links below to sights and blogs that can be really good resources.

 Strobox will allow you to search amongst a collection of photos, diagrams, write-ups, and videos for a desired lighting situation. It is also run from donations.

 Portrait Lighting.Net is a site that contains the shot and the lighting diagram that provides the desired result. The interface shows you options for the number of studio lights you want to use (1 to 4, natural), which contain links to the various  results.

Using a blog entry format, this site simply posts a shot with a brief lighting diagram beneath it. Any anecdotal or additional notes are attached to it.

LOCAL FRO-ZA (fer 'dem kidz over by 'dere)

I hit the polarizing topic of 'sliders' a while back. Frozen pizza is another one of those issues that hit close to the nerve.

I also think that frozen pizza (along with mac 'n' cheese and ramen) are another one of those "college experiences" that have a lifelong impact. When I was in school, most appliances were illegal in the Madison dorms. Friends with apartments had freezers and ovens, and those folks seemed to be the keepers of frozen pizza.

In Milwaukee, a few dorm rats had the small, boxy, portable pizza ovens that were easily hidden under loft beds or in closets (which made their rooms magnets among the "2 am" crowd).

I recall buying a brand from the local supermarket near campus that was 1.29 apiece (it was economy over taste in those days, and often filling a craving with junky stuff was enough to  satisfy the palette).

Flash forward 30 or more years, and I am STILL a fan of the frozen-za…just a bit more discriminating with which I buy.

Here's my current hit list:

Jimm's frozen pizza*
Jimm's is actually one of the more expensive brands out there, primarily because they do not get the leverage of big vendors (like Kraft or GFI). But it is a Racine-made pizza that has really pretty good flavor when prepared correctly. It is a thin crust offering, in a variety of toppings (I prefer plain freshmade sausage or sausage and mushroom). It is a thin crust variety (which I like in frozen) *And it is LOCAL! I'll concede that boosts it up in ranking in my opinion.

Dino's Classic Frozen*
Another relatively pricey pizza because they are the little guys (like Jimm's) and produce a limited amount of units, with limited shelf space and no umbrella brand leverage over retailers. A slotted or screened pan following the directions, and it is a tasty treat. It is a very thin, crackery crust (similar to other thin frozens) that doesn't hurt the pizza quality too much. Their handmade sausage is a fave. (and yes *LOCAL!)

Home Run Inn
A Chicago taverna brand that is really good. I'd advise baking it on a pan, or a slotted pan. I LOVE the brands that use the UNCURED pepperoni-- the flavor is so hard to get with the cured varieties, and their sausage is flavorful too. The crust has almost buttery texture, and when you prepare it right tastes decent for fro-za. They have national distribution, so it should be fairly easy to get.

Connie's Frozen
The cornmeal bottomed crust (with chemical leavening to give it a nicer texture). Its a bit more substantial than a thin crust, but not one of the self-risers… and the toppings on Connie's are wonderful. I know they changed the formulation slightly since I first started eating 'em, but Connie's still makes my list of frozens on its overall quality and flavor. Like the others, slotted or pan recommended for at least part of the cooking time.

World Table Sicilian
This last one is for those who like a thin crust with a bit of spiciness to it. I am not the biggest fan of Walmart as a business, but on occasion I will invade their frozen pizza aisle for this one alone. It is the perfect summer compliment to a good cold brew (or root beer), and has toppings like: pepperoncini, capocollo,  sliced sausage, hard salami, and a five cheese blend.






HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• EMIL's PIZZA (somewhat similar in crust style to Jimm's and Dino's). It probably is my #2 or 3, but wanted to list a variety of crust types Annie's Natural (really close to my top 5)
• Amy's Organic
• Gino's East frozen pie (cook carefully or break teeth)

ADDENDUM:

 Thanks to Laron Taylor-Lai Lida for reminding me to add EMIL's (Watertown) to the list. A really good sausage and mushroom frozen if you haven't had the pleasure yet.