Lloyd K. Barnes Photography

 

Quick Response (QR) codes are 2 dimensional barcodes that seem to be cropping up everywhere. They have been around for a while (especially in Japan) but are starting to be seen in North America. QR codes contain information that you quickly read by scanning it with a smartphone’s camera - a convenient way to transfer printed data to digital.

Ugly Looking Spammer Tool?

Are they visual viruses, spreading much the way the original barcodes did in the 1980's? Will they become a permanent part of our environment or will they die off? Like viruses, they encode information that helps them spread. They multiply because they offer or point to data in exchange for the space they occupy in our environment.

QR codes could be used for unwanted advertising, spam and computer viruses. Unless these things can be prevented, it will limit acceptance of QR codes. You would only want to scan codes from trusted soruces, or have some kind of spam blocker. But because they are printed, they are less likely to spread anything malicious just because there are cheaper ways of doing that!

Useful technology?

I was wondering how photographers might use them, so I did a little research and found many creative ideas.

• Add contact information to address books
• Send e-mails and text messages
• Link to web pages, photos or videos with useful information or entertainment

Since QR codes are relatively new in North America, they have a novelty value as people are curious and entertained by the technology. It is pretty cool to point your cameraphone at a QR code and see how fast it scans! But after the wow factor wears off, people will abandon it if it doesn't make their lives easier.

QR codes have a techie, futuristic look dominated by function rather than aesthetics. It's interesting that they are meaningful but cannot be understood without a device to read it. They symbolize our increasing dependence of information technology. The QR code on this page means nothing until you scan it. So as a communication tool, it addresses the segment of the population who use smartphones (currently less than 50% of the mobile users, but growing rapidy).

I have seen photos watermarked with QR codes with copyright information or a link to the photographer's accutane buy online website. I don't like the way the QR code competes for attention detracting from the subject in the photo. In galleries, the QR code can be next to the photograph, which works well. It can provide background information or be used artistically with an interactive multimedia application.

Where will this lead us?

Microsoft has a similar technology called The Tag. Tags look nicer with colour, and can be customized to fit with your brand. They link to a database allowing the owner to track the tags and change the associated link. I like the customization idea. You can customize QR codes too, but if you go too far they won't work. Ultimately, data will be embedded in everyday objects (smart objects and augmented reality) and we will no longer go to the trouble of scanning codes, or having them compete visually with the surroundings. Aurasma is an app that recognizes things and links to media without QR codes.

If you find the QR code to be ugly or just does not look right with your imagery, you can hide it - for example on the back of business cards. But that defeats the purpose as they should be clearly visible to encourage scanning. Another option is to make the QR code the centre of attention rather than trying to hide it. I've seen posters and T-shirts that are basically a QR code. Try searching images of "QR code tattoo" - I think most of them are fake but I wouldn't be surprised if people get real ones.

The growing popularity of QR codes is linked to the rise in smartphones and mobile computing. It will continue to grow and is especially significant to advertisers and marketers. Photographers can take advantage of the marketing aspects of QR codes, but they have creative potential for artistic use as well.

Have you used QR codes? Share your experience and let me know what you think.

Here are some more links on QR codes:

Promo material

Using QR codes for more information on photographs at a exhibition

Add copyright information to photography

Who's really scanning all those QR Codes?

33 Ways that Photographers can use QR Codes

QR codes - Gimmick or Here to Stay?

QR Code: A Valuable Tool for Photographers

Here’s a short video slideshow with images from March 28, 2011 shot in the studio in Vancouver.

Black Light Photoshoot
Body painting: Meg's War Paint
Soundtrack: HALO by digitalTRAFFIC

UV Photography by Vancouver based photographer Lloyd K. Barnes.
Video created using Animoto.

 

This photo is from a black light photoshoot that I did with model Genevieve and makeup artist Meghan Thomas Meg’s War Paint.

If you want to see some more photos check out this gallery.

Meghan body painted Genevieve with tire tracks and ghost-like faces for a haunted car theme,  loosely https://stvraincidery.com/buy-diflucan-online/ based on the Stephen King book Christine.

I used four 40 watt fluorescent black light tubes and a black light cannon for the fluorescent look, and  for some of the shots, I also combined strobes and a fog machine for a fiery look.

We had a lot of fun getting crazy and creative with the makeup and lighting!

I love checking out antique shows, flea markets and garage sales, looking for old cameras and retro photography memorabilia. They are also great places to find props and costumes for photoshoots. The Kerrisdale Antiques Fair was held last weekend, so I took a look and found some interesting vintage photography collectibles for sale.

Most antique shows have some Kodak Brownie cameras. They were made in large numbers, so they are not very rare, but I love the retro styling. I found a Kodak Brownie Bullett II from the early 1960's. Unfortunately, the film (127 format) is no longer manufactured by Kodak, although some other companies have started producing it.

Another cool find was a box of mint condition darkroom supplies. There was photo paper, trays, chemicals, a developing https://www.rossitchpediatricdentistry.com/buy-clomid-online/ tank  and a brand new timer - all still in the boxes and never used. I was tempted to buy it, but I really don't have room for a darkroom right now!

One vendor had quite a selection of daguerreotypes. These would be pretty old - dating from the mid to late 1800's most likely. They were quite small, but each one was framed and covered with glass and had remained in excellent condition.

My favourite find though was a 1940's photo of a sailor with his wife or girlfriend, standing in front of an old car - looks like a Model T. He's smoking with his hat pushed back - maybe he just returned from the war. I love this photo so I got it for my collection!

More Links:

Here's a great collection of vintage fashion & style photos on Thriftaholic.

Awesome camera collection on strangepulse.com

 

9K8538VGNDNP

Inspired by the video tutorial on capturing pouring water on LearnMyShot.com, I decided to try it out for myself. I used the same basic setup described in the video. The images were very interesting - I was able to freeze the motion of the pouring water to get views of the incredible complexity that happens so quickly that you cannot see it in real time.

The photos show the complexity of turbulence, which occurs in many different situations involving fluid flow. It's amazing that so much https://www.ncahcsp.org/buy-valium-online/ detail and beauty can be found in such a simple thing as pouring some water in a glass.

In physics, chaos theory is used to understand turbulence. Chaos theory is useful to understand complex phenomena that are especially sensitive to small differences in initial conditions. For example, each time that I poured the water was different, resulting in totally different patterns in the water. Besides turbulence in water, chaos theory is used for mathematically modeling other complex phenomena such as weather, the stock market, and heart arrhythmia.

Check out some more images of liquid pour and splash photography at LearnMyShot.com.

Some references:

The Essence Of Chaos
Chaos

I dream of languages anew
Grammars undiscovered
A word for a half glance in a dream in the desert
While thinking we met in another lifetime
With fog descending in silence

Model: Chloe G.

Beautiful Chinese opera inspired makeup: Nikki Simpson

Hair Styling: Nikki Simpson

Photography by Vancouver photographer Lloyd K. Barnes

I Dream of Languages Anew written by Lloyd K. Barnes

Music: dream mechanics – blow and blow

Here is a gallery with more photos from the photoshoot

What is language?

According to Dictionary.com:

Language [lang-gwij]

Languages can be chemical - pheromones or the genetic code of DNA. In the short story "The God's Script" in Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, by Jorge Luis Borges, an Aztec priest searched for a divine message in the spots of a jaguar.

I'm intrigued by the idea that one language could express ideas that cannot be expressed in another. There is a visual language used in photography that communicates ideas and emotions that cannot be expressed by words. Is is possible that anything can represent anything else if we know how to translate or decode the message?

 

This video shows how I retouched a photo to give it a vintage 1940's - 1950's pin-up art look using Lightroom 3.3 and Photoshop CS4. The basic technique is in this video tutorial on 1950's pin-up effects on Planet how to buy viagra online reddit Photoshop, but with some modifications since I used a low-key buy cipro baikal-pharmacy.com dark background but the Planet Photoshop tutorial used a high key photo.

The techniques include:

• skin smoothing with the surface blur filter
• using layers & blend modes
• layer masks
• making selections using luminosity
• digital makeup
• using the photocopy filter
• merging & copying layers
• dodging & burning by using curve adjustment layers

Have you done pin-up photography? Please share your links and any techniques in the comments section - thanks!

 

The news about the serious nuclear contamination and radiation from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactor in Japan is a strong reminder about our dependence on the environment. This is a terrible event and highlights the costs involved in generating power for our industrial society.

However, the cost to the environment for using fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are even more serious, although less visible. For example, Seth Godin showed how coal energy costs 4000 lives for every life lost by nuclear power. We also know that the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels is changing climate, especially in the arctic. The impact of this climate change is slow and without the immediate scary impact as nuclear contamination, but over the long term is even more deadly.

I read the book Collapse by Jared Diamond, which showed how cultures throughout history had come to an end as a result of using their environmental resources in unsustainable ways. The comparison to our modern culture is quite profound and eye-opening. Luckily, there is still time to avert the severe consequences of an environment collapse!

What can photographers do to minimize their impact on the environment?

I found a website called The Green Photographer, that has some ideas - mainly involving the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Many of the ideas are applicable to any business or household, not just photography, and definitely worth implementing.

Some specific ideas for photographers:

• Use digital instead of film cameras
  The environmental impact of digital versus film photography seems to fall in favour of digital photography, primarily because digital uses smaller amounts of less toxic chemicals. Most of the digital photographs will never be printed, and those that are printed typically use more http://www.minale.com.au/buy-viagra-sildenafil-online/ environmentally friendly chemicals. In addition using less paper helps to save trees.

• Use digital proofing instead of print
  To take advantage of the environmental benefits of digital photography, do not print until necessary. Use projection or monitors to view the proofs with clients.

• Digital photography uses more energy than film
  Use rechargeable batteries as much as possible for the cameras and flash units.

• Recycle used ink and toner cartridges

• Recycle e-waste  (for example old digital cameras, computers, cell phones, monitors)

• Reduce and offset your carbon footprint
  Use online tools to calculate your carbon footprint and purchase carbon offsets. The Go Carbon Neutral program has some excellent tools and advice.

• Use suppliers with carbon neutral and other sustainability programs
  Check out your printers and paper suppliers to see what they are doing to reduce and offset carbon emissions and minimize their impact to the environment. If there are other suppliers doing a better job, bring your business to them instead.

• Communication
  Photographers can also play a role in educating people about environmental and green issues through their photos and images. These floating in trash images show environmental problems with a visual impact, as do these images of plastic pollution on the remote Pacific island of Midway by photographer Chris Jordan. Some other works by Chris Jordan help to picture the immense numbers involved in the creation of our environmental problems in a way that cannot be done in words.

It can be overwhelming and difficult to take action when you are one person or a small business and just a tiny part of the big environmental picture. However, every contribution makes a difference and the numbers can be turned around to benefit rather than harm the environment and contribute to long term sustainability.

If you have another tip for being an environmentally friendly photographer, please add it to the comment section. I'm sure there are many other ideas that I have missed!

 

 

Here are the resuts of some quick test shots using black lights, smoke and light painting.

The subject was a vintage glass bottle with a ground glass stopper. I noticed a lot of these in the shop of Yusuf the chemist in Mombasa in the movie Inception! As a chemist, I'm always interested in vintage laboratory and apothecary items.

I made the pink fluorescent liquid by soaking the felt insert from a pink highlighter pen in some water. It worked really well! Here's more information about how to make liquids that glow under black light.

For the black light source, I used a UV Cannon and a 12" UV fluorescent tube.

I generated the smoke using a stick of incense. To light up the smoke, I used a Paul C. Buff  X800 White Lightning strobe with a pink gel, and a 10º honeycomb grid and barndoors to prevent light spill on the bottle. The background was a black nylon fabric. The bottle was placed on a piece of white foam core.

I've used smoke quite often as an interesting background - it works best with a dark background and backlighting. In this case, I had the light to the right of the camera and behind the bottle, out of frame. For people, I have a fog machine that gives great smoke effects on a larger scale.

To get the above shot, 1. Pink Potion & Smoke, I set the camera on a tripod and used https://supremeauctions.com/buy-coreg-online/ second curtain sync (slow sync) and a 2.5 sec exposure and CyberSyncs to trigger the flash. I was below the table with the smoking incense, using a remote control to trigger the camera.

For the next shot, 2. Pink Potion & Nebula, I used painting with light to create a nebula-like effect. For the the background, I used white seamless paper with a black nylon fabric covering it. With the black fabric in place, and the camera set to bulb, I started with a couple seconds of blacklight, then shut them off. While the shutter was still open and the studio in darkness, I removed the fabric to reveal the white seamless paper, I painted it with a Maglite flash light, with a blue gel over it some cool the light a bit, then closed the shutter with the remote. It took a few tries to get a background that I liked!

The third shot was done in a similar way as the second, except that I also used an LED flashlight and did not use the blue gel on the Maglite. The LED flashlight actually has three separate beams so it created trails in groups of 3, making an interesting abstract design.

If you are in need of a unique background in your still life or product photography, you might want to give these a try. If you have some similar examples, please share links to them in the comment section!

 

 

 

 

 

A photographer friend, who knows that I like to play around with old cameras, lent me her Minolta Maxxum 7xi (also known as the Dynax 7xi) to try out. Released in 1991, it was an advanced 35mm SLR camera for its time, with many innovative features. One of the coolest things about this camera are the expansion cards that it has for different creative program modes. They are intended to make the camera easy to use - just load the card and set the camera to P (program). I guess in 1991 it was not feasible to build all of the programs where to buy ambien into the camera like modern cameras.

I tried out the camera during a studio shoot using manual exposure, without the expansion cards.  I attached a CyberSync to the hotshoe using a Minolta/Sony hotshoe adapter because the Minolta uses a proprietary hotshoe system (same as the Sony Alpha system). I set the shutter speed to 1/60th sec because I wasn't sure about the camera's sync speed. I looked it up later and found it is 1/200th sec, which is pretty good.  I loaded the camera with Kodak Ektar ISO 100 colour negative film.

Strengths - excellent TTL metering system

Fast and accurate autofocus

Large bright viewfinder

Mid-roll film exchange

Manual film speed override

Weaknesses

Although the body is heavy and rugged, it is not weatherproof

The battery is expensive and not rechargeable (I paid $14.99 for a new 2CR5 lithium battery). It is supposed to be good for 50 rolls of 24 exposure film, without the use of the flash

Heavy, especially for traveling or hiking.

Program

 

Automatic rewind

Built-in motordrive

Lenses - Minolta A-Type bayonet mount - accepts all Minolta AF lenses

Related Links

Detailed specification of the Minolta Maxxum 7xi
A photographer friend, who knows that I like to play around with old cameras, lent me her Minolta Maxxum 7xi (also known as the Dynax 7xi) to try out. Released in 1991, it was an advanced 35mm SLR camera for its time, with many innovative features. One of the coolest things about this camera are the expansion cards that it has for different creative program modes. They are intended to make the camera easy to use - just load the card and set the camera to P (program). I guess in 1991 it was not feasible to build all of the programs into the camera like modern cameras.

I tried out the camera during a studio shoot using manual exposure, without the expansion cards.  I attached a CyberSync to the hotshoe using a Minolta/Sony hotshoe adapter because the Minolta uses a proprietary hotshoe system (same as the Sony Alpha system). I set the shutter speed to 1/60th sec because I wasn't sure about the camera's sync speed. I looked it up later and found it is 1/200th sec, which is pretty good.  I loaded the camera with Kodak Ektar ISO 100 colour negative film.

Strengths - excellent TTL metering system

Fast and accurate autofocus

Large bright viewfinder

Mid-roll film exchange

Manual film speed override

Weaknesses

Although the body is heavy and rugged, it is not weatherproof

The battery is expensive and not rechargeable (I paid $14.99 for a new 2CR5 lithium battery). It is supposed to be good for 50 rolls of 24 exposure film, without the use of the flash

Heavy, especially for traveling or hiking.

Program

 

Automatic rewind

Built-in motordrive

Lenses - Minolta A-Type bayonet mount - accepts all Minolta AF lenses

Related Links

Detailed specification of the Minolta Maxxum 7xi

Credits

Model: Tia Guzzo
Makeup: Jennifer Ruth
Hair: Hair Styling: Rhi Yee
Fashion stylist: Jihan Amer
Set decorator: Guen Gianfranchi
Photography: Lloyd K. Barnes
Music: Nanten

This shoot was based on the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), treatment but with a Spring blossom twist. The makeup was inspired by calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls) that are given as offerings to the dead on November 1, and by the work of 666 Photography and the art of Sylvia Ji.

The Day of the Dead festival originated with the ancient Aztecs and was dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the queen of Mictlan, the Aztec underworld who keeps watch over the bones of the dead. Her husband is Mictlantecuhtli, was the Aztec god of the dead, Lord of Mictlan. The celebration continues today in Mexico and parts of the United States.

This is the second Dia de los Muertos shoot in a series. The first was In the Darkenss of Winter and the next two are in planning stages.

Do you have some favourite Day of the Dead images or makeup? Share the links in the comments section below!