I just finished creating a video featuring some photos I look at last year’s Tulsa Tough races. I wanted to put something together, kind of an advertisement, to let people know that I’ll be at the races this year and taking photos again.
I ended up using Animoto, and it was ridiculously easy. They integrate with Smugmug, so I was able to pull in all my photos already. I just had to choose what to show, arrange things, and write some text. Figuring out what I wanted to say was probably the hardest part. I wanted a kind of flashy theme, and energetic music, and I told it to show the photos quicker than normal to keep it upbeat. Then, I clicked the finish button and they sent everything off to some remote server to render and piece together!
The only other hard part was figuring out where to host the movie file. Animoto has built in hosting, which is nice, but I wanted a link that would play embedded within Facebook, so I uploaded to Youtube instead. They also support uploading back to Smugmug, but I find their player is kind of slow and bulky. Vimeo was another option, but uploading there takes forever and I’m still waiting in a queue for my movie to process.
This weekend I finished making the first panoramic camera and got a chance to shoot some film in it. Overall the results were less than desirable but I learned a lot from the process and I think I’m going to keep working on building more homemade cameras. The shot I was taking above appears in the left frame on the picture below.
10th Street & Boston Ave. (left) and Bartlet Square during Mayfest (right), 8 minute exposures read more »
If you’re reading this, I’ve switched to a new blog. Sorry to bother you. The new design should have more RSS options, so for example if you only want to subscribe to a specific category of posts that is possible now. The old blogger couldn’t do that.
Also that is a photo from a panoramic camera I’m making. I’m using the base template from Steven Monteau but since this is my first homemade camera it will only have 1 spool of film and be a lot more pieced together.
edit: Sorry for the RSS spam everybody. I switched feedburner and it though all the old posts were new.
Photos I took today are up at this website. I only managed to get out to the Cat 1 and 2 races though. If anyone wants to order prints use the coupon code “dirt” for a free 5×7 print (or $10 off your order if you want a larger print, coupon code is good for this week).
The more recent wedding shoots that I’ve been booking have included a set of engagement mini cards in the portrait package. They’re these cool little cards that are printed on both sides in full color and can say whatever information you might like. Since I’ve been working in more panoramic shots into sessions a lot of the times they look pretty cool in the half-business-card size.
Yesterday was the QuickTrip Air and Rocket Race Show, the first airshow Tulsa has had in quite some time. The event was put together by QuickTrip (obviously) and the Tulsa Air and Space Museum (& Planetarium).
Last weekend was the Route 66 Regatta, an annual rowing event put together by the Tulsa Rowing Club. It was pretty wet but I was still able to take some cool photos. For the future though I need to get a camera that is more weather sealed, the 100-400 pushpull lens I have probably got some water into it, which is unfortunate.
For more photos from the event click the picture to watch a slideshow.
This week I finished shooting an engagement session for a close friend Katie and her fiance James. We were able to take photos in downtown Tulsa near Cain’s ballroom and the Center of the Universe, Woodward Park, Central Library, and a few at The University of Tulsa’s McFarlin library. Katie wanted me to try and work in some panoramic shots to the set which turned out pretty cool. Click the photo to be taken to a slideshow with more photos.
