The problem with any addiction is that you loose touch with the important things in life, such as life itself.

With the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, people joined by the masses, which made it easy to get in touch with long lost friends and exes. The problem is that exes are mostly exes for several reasons and long lost friends are long lost because something most probably didn't work.

Another funny thing about Facebook (and most other technologies in fact) is how dependant we get on it. For example, there is a party on Friday, nobody bothers to get the messages to their friends other than creating an event on Facebook. How did we do it in the good old days? We had some sort of way of being at the same place at the same time? No cellphones, no events on Facebook?

All this brings me to another point...

Are we really more social using social networks?

I had around 90 friends on my Facebook and only communicated with about 4. In real life (the not behind the computer world), I chat with a lot more people, and I cannot say that Facebook enlarged my social circles. Most of the people I had as friends on Facebook I knew before I had Facebook and the others I met in real life.

Then there is the 'POKE'. It has become a way of saying "Hi, I'm still here and thinking of you" without saying that? Very social, don't you think?

Do we really want to fit in so badly that we need 1000 friends on Facebook. Does 1000 friends make you feel loved, important, popular (even though you actually only have contact with about 10 of those 1000 "friends"?)

So, I have decided to go old school. Not sure how it works anymore, but it shouldn't be too difficult
(I hope).

Goodbye Facebook, thanks for everything and nothing.

To all off you that knows me, either you have my mobile number or email address. YOU CAN STILL CONTACT ME!

PS. I found a really cool social network which I think all of you should join!
http://getafirstlife.com/

the 2 people stumbling across my blog every now and then would have noticed i haven't update my blog in ages.

here is an update...

i've been really busy at work and as the end of the year approach things are starting to ease a bit.
but that does not mean i have much time yet.

plans for the new year:
new site done! emaart.net
more cool and hopefully useful info on the blog
more photos!
more travels

on the more travels and photos... i'm planning to go away for a long time, still don't know where and when exactly. i'm back

until my next update, have a nice day(s)

comments on this blog is deactivated until further notice.

dear spammers, fuck off and die

my mini photo exhibition is up and running

again the code chips and myself decided to redo my website

for now a pre-production concept can be found here

(edit 25-04-2007: project update - ETA: whenever)

recently i had a dream...
i wanted to do live concert photography, rock bands to be more specific.

even more recently i lived that dream! this is photography on an new level!

don't be fooled, it is difficult, but rewarding on a personal level.
everyone will be in your way, the light is not great, at all.
the band members never stand still (which is supposed to happen) and it can get really noisy!

as with everything, there are a few ground rules and standard equipment. i will go into more detail on this in this blog entry.


the rules

from my little experience, these are my own version of the rules:

1. DO NOT PISS OF THE FANS OF THE BAND!!! always remember that the fans also paid to be there, and it is the fans that make or break the band, not the photographer! pick a spot and stay there, never go around bumping everyone just for that great shot.

2. do not use a flash, especially if you want to take 300 photo's.
the flash is going to irritate the band and the fans. and the most important, you are going to lose the feel of the show if you use the flash. the concert lighting is what adds to it.

3. if you are lucky enough to know the band members, they will sometimes let you on and behind the stage, but this comes with GREAT responsibility. take your photo's and get off. never stay longer than necessary. stay out of the band way and to not get in the way of the band and their fans

4. if you get the idea that the band, the bouncer or the fans is getting pissed of at you and you camera, put away the camera and enjoy the show

5. enjoy the show. you'll take much better pictures if you do, especially if you get a feel for the band and the music.


equipment

this is the fun part, toys!

i currently use a canon 400d with a canon 50mm f1.8 lens.

the camera is the expensive piece of equipment, you won't get to far with a point and shoot, and the girls won't dig you that much.

the 50mm f1.8 lens is a really cheap piece of glass, it might be one of the cheapest, but it does wonders.

with my 400d set at ISO800, shutter at 1/80 and the lens at f1.8 i get decent exposures even in grim light.

a small camera bag is all you'll need. you basically only want a padded bag to protect your camera after you took your pictures.

secret weapon: earplugs! yes, earplugs at a rock show. you'll look like a dork, but at least you'll still have most of your hearing by the end of the night and a big part of your life.


more on the how...

know your camera, you don't want to miss great shots while you're searching for that one function in a maze of menus.

the first step is to get a great spot in front of the stage.
the easiest way in a small venue is to pick and take your spot before the band plays, even before the crowd is there. about 10 minutes before the band plays is a good time.

if you have spot metering on your camera, use it.
also set your AF manually and use something like AI servo, this will help with focusing on a moving band member.

wait for special moments. there are always moments when the band members goes into a special trance, even they get swept away by their own music and that is what you want to capture.

try and see if you can pick up the pattern of the lights. the stage lights almost always move in a pattern. this helps to get the most out of the lights for 'n good exposure.

and again, enjoy yourself.


done?

well, for now that is all i can think off.

how to get started with J2ME

1. get the netbeans IDE
2. get the netbeans mobility pack
(both can be found here)
3. google! get all the info and tutorials you may need and more, especially if you've never coded in java before. coding MIDlets is NOT the easiest way to learn java.

the netbeans IDE + netbeans mobility pack makes basic MIDlet programming really easy with a visual flowchart type design tool.
this enables the programmer to program the basic workings behind a MIDlet by "drawing" a flowchart.
a nifty little tool called the screen designer also simplifies the layouts of your screen elements and a virtual mobile phone also enables you to test your application on your pc.

the netbeans mobility pack ships with a few great examples which is ready to build and deploy, a great way to get your feet wet.

to upload (deploy) the MIDlet to a phone is a bit more complicated, it is not a case of just copying it to the phone.
but, there are two ways of getting around it.
you can upload the files to a host which is enabled to host JAD and JAR files for download by a mobile phone.
or you can search the web for a way to upload the files via bluetooth, which is usually very technical or a pain, but it is the cheaper way of doing it.

another thing to get is, spec sheets for your phone. it helps a lot if you know what your phone is capable of doing, ESPECIALLY if you want to play and experiment with the fun stuff.

my first attempt at MIDlets:
http://www.hostj2me.com/downloads/387/1107/Solved.jad
(this url must be accessed from a java enabled mobile phone)

no, i am not talking about a mobile coffee shop

i am talking about J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition).
basically, java for small devices, like a mobile phone or pda.
the result is called a MIDlet (a MIDlet is a Java program for embedded devices).

(java on mobile phones is not new, it has been with us for a few years now, but it is mainly used for games)

why is J2ME/MIDlets so cool?
most new mobile phones, if not almost all, are java enabled and one MIDlet will run on all of them.
imagine all the possibilities of a software application on a mobile phone.

banking is a good example. J2ME comes with pretty good security features, and makes sending of data real time, easy. you can can log into your account from basically anywhere and do all your banking with a decent frontend, something that is user friendly.

what about an application for medical people on ambulances? by opening the application and typing in your ID number, they can access a database with all the relevant information about you.

a working example is MXit. an instant messaging application for mobile phones, which is taking the world by storm. currently about 8000 people are joining the MXit network a day.

mobile phones are already such a huge part of our lives. we always have our mobile phones with us, it is the perfect platform for growth and a relatively untapped market.

with the features J2ME brings the possibilities are endless.