Say Cheese

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that considering a purchase on and off for more than three years classifies it as a non-impulse buy. Earlier this year, I finally got fed up enough with my point and shoot camera to buy a DSLR. To be fair to my old camera, it is drop-proof, windproof, waterproof, and dustproof. However, it does not do well with indoor shots, low light, or focusing, so I gave in and bought a DSLR. Since the whole point of a DSLR is to be able to choose your own camera settings to take better pictures, I’ve been shooting in manual for the past few months. Am I doing it right?

I do actually know how to read the light meter, I promise.

The three main settings you control in manual mode are the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The aperture is the hole in the lens that allows you to vary how much light reaches the camera sensor. Aperture is measured in f-stops, written as f2.8 or f22 (sometimes f/2.8 and f/22). Confusingly enough, a small f-stop number means a large opening, which results in more light hitting the sensor. Conversely, a large aperture value means a narrow opening and less light. Depth of field is also controlled by the aperture; shallow depth of field is achieved with a small f-stop value and greater depth of field with a high f-stop.

Left: aperture = f/5.6

Right: aperture = f/36

Background on the left is blurred out while the right is kind of/mostly visible.

[Click pictures to enlarge.]

The shutter speed is how long the shutter is open. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second, and intuitively enough, longer shutter speeds mean more light while shorter shutter speeds mean less light. In situations with moving objects, the shutter speed becomes important, and determines how much or little blurriness there is in a photo.

Top: shutter speed = 1/640

Bottom: shutter speed = 1/15

The fountain and water in the bottom picture should look smoother than the top.

Lastly, ISO refers to the light sensitivity of the sensor. Back in ye olde days before digital cameras, you would have to buy film with different ISO values and when you needed to change ISO – if, for example, you moved from a brightly sunlit field to a dungeon – you would have to physically switch your film. I know, how slow, inefficient, and utterly barbaric. A higher ISO value means that the film/sensor is more sensitive to light, so you would tend to need a high ISO for dark or indoor scenes. A low ISO means that the film/sensor is less sensitive to light. So why wouldn’t you always want a high ISO if it’s more sensitive? The higher you go with the ISO, the grainier the picture because the film picks up more noise.

I don't have a set of pictures directly contrasting ISO, but the above picture was taken with an ISO of 1600 and shows the graininess you get at high ISO.  (For comparison, all other pictures here had an ISO of 100.)

The aperture, shutter speed, and ISO can all be varied to compensate for each other so that the correct amount of light reaches the sensor for a properly exposed photo. For example, if you’re shooting trees outdoors in sunlight, you would usually be using a low ISO, high f-stop, and moderate shutter speed. If you then decide to start taking photos of a fast-moving flying potato, you would decrease your shutter speed. To balance the loss of light reaching the sensor, you could either decrease your f-stop value, increase the ISO, or a combination of both.

That’s the ten minute guide to shooting in manual with a DSLR. Most of my pictures from here on out will be with my new camera (yes, I actually did things and have things to write about that aren’t the Revolution). I ended up buying the Canon Rebel t6 with just the kit lens [ES-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS – the ES-S means that the lens is compatible with the APS-C sensor, which is not a full frame sensor; 18-55 mm is the range of focal lengths (zoom); f/3.5-5.6 is the range of minimum f-stop values, which vary depending on the focal length; and IS stands for image stabilization, which helps to prevent blur at low shutter speeds]. So far I have not bought any other lenses, filters, or accessories, with the exception of a camera bag. I plan to keep it that way for awhile, but we’ll see how long that lasts.

#NERevs [May 2018]

Revenge of the Impact, May 5, 2018, at Montreal Impact, 4-2 L
This was . . . not good. After taking down the Impact 4-0 at Gillette (helped by a red card), they went down 4-0 away against a full-strength Impact team. The main problem was every single goal was basically scored the same way – ball over the top, clearly not offsides, beating the defenders. Wilfried Zahibo saved the scoreline with a pair of late goals.

May 12, 2018, vs. Toronto FC, 3-2 W
In another case of weird vibes, this game featured two very quick goals by Cristian Penilla (the first starting with a Scott Caldwell interception and the second off a bad pass from the Toronto goalkeeper, thank you high press) and another goal from Teal Bunbury. Up 3-0 at home, the Revolution then proceeded to score an own goal and give up a penalty kick, because this wouldn’t be a Revolution game otherwise. The own goal was a failed/misdirected clearance, caused by pressure from Toronto. It was bound to happen eventually. The penalty kick was awarded after what appears to be a Toronto player tripping over Chris Tierney in the box after Tierney gets the first touch to a loose ball.¹ Because that makes sense. But the penalty kick is awarded and Sebastian Giovinco puts it away. Then, as he runs back to the center circle with the ball, Zahibo swats at the ball solely to annoy Giovinco (yellow card worthy). Instead of playing it up to get Zahibo carded, Giovinco grabs Zahibo’s face. Red card. He then refuses to leave the field. Thankfully, five minutes of stoppage time later the Revolution escape with all three points.

#SaveTheCrew part 2, May 19, 2018, vs. Columbus Crew, 0-1 L
Generally even game that the Crew took the points from on a corner kick goal late in the game. For reasons, Brad Friedel deployed the Revolution in a 3-5-2 instead of the 4-1-4-1 they’d been playing. In theory, this allows the team to get farther up the field because there are always three center backs defending. In reality, the wide players in the midfield spent most of the game running back to help cover on defense, leaving less players than usual in the middle of the field. The Revolution struggled to hold possession in midfield and generate shots. The 3-5-2 wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen from them, but it’s best described as “not great.”

May 26, 2018, at Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 3-3 T
This game kicked off a stretch where the Revolution would be playing 6 games in 3 weeks. It was also the first time they would be facing Kei Kamara after trading him to the Whitecaps. Fortunately, in a reversal of Revolution players scoring hat tricks against the Revolution after being traded, Kamara missed at least three shots where he was basically facing Matt Turner and an empty net. Unfortunately, Cristian Techera scored a hat trick to bring the Whitecaps level. Own goal, Penilla, and Bunbury picked up the goals for the Revolution. They looked more comfortable with the 3-5-2 in this game, and managed to score, but I don’t think it’s their best formation.

May 30, 2018, vs. Atlanta United FC, 1-1 T
Missed this game live because I was out of town, but watched the full replay later. Atlanta opened the scoring in the twentieth minute, but apart from the goal, I thought the Revolution looked pretty good in the first half. The Atlanta goal was a classic “everybody loses their mark in the box and runs in circles.” The Revolution had some shots, but they got the tying goal off of a late penalty. Friedel opted for a 4-3-3 in this game, with the middle three in a triangle where the bottom point stayed in front of the center backs. I liked this as much as or better than the 4-1-4-1 when Caldwell, Zahibo, and Luis Caicedo are all playing. They kept possession much better in the midfield than the previous two games and didn’t lose too much on the attack since two of the midfielders usually played further up the field. The downside to this formation is that Diego Fagundez doesn’t play as centrally and doesn’t see as much of the ball.

Record for May: 1W-2L-2D
Overall record: 5W-4L-4D

¹I’ve watched the replay multiple times. I can’t see a foul. In later games, the Revolution would then be denied penalty kick appeals for getting kicked in the stomach and tripped in the box. After that, they’re awarded a pretty weak penalty in the Atlanta game. MLS refereeing, ladies and gentlemen.

Things that can be fixed with tape

As much as I like penguins, applesauce, and buying things on sale, I can’t stand tight pants, umbrellas, and replacing entire objects because one part is broken. I’m a grad student. I can’t afford to replace entire objects because one part is broken. I’m also an engineer. Finding alternative functions for things is what passes for fun around here. [See pot as hammer. I’m also currently using a peanut butter jar as a pencil holder and I regularly repurpose my mixing bowls as fruit bowls. I lived without chairs in my apartment for weeks; do I sound like the kind of person who has a decorative fruit bowl lying around?] All of this is to say: I’ve fixed more than one of my belongings with specialty tools tape. You say cheap; I say economical and creative thinking.

Aglets – Those plastic things at the ends of shoelaces are subject to being stepped on and dragged across concrete, which means they often break off and leave your poor, helpless shoelaces prone to fraying. Well, fear no longer. Save your shoelaces by wrapping the ends with . . . tape. Color coordinate if you want; I think lime green and purple go great together.

Watch bands – I’ve worn a watch since kindergarten. I still prefer keeping track of time on my watch rather than my phone. [Insert grumbling about kids these days, technology ruining civilization, get off my lawn, you hooligans.] I recently had to switch watch brands because my watch of choice stopped being produced. It was still available on Amazon, but was sold from existing stock. Because the band was made of resin, my guess is that it became more brittle as it aged, causing it to break more easily. My last watch of that brand lasted less than two years before breaking. While I looked for a suitable replacement (digital, with the date/day of the week and alarm, watch face smaller than the width of my wrist, band not too thin) I taped my old watch band together. This is only a temporary fix, but it works well enough on a time scale of days to weeks.

Blinds – The blinds in my apartment are composed of vertical plastic slats that open and close by twisting a rod. This causes the slats to undergo a fair amount of torque that results in them breaking at the top. I figured it was worth it to try and see if taping a slat back together would work, because it’s quick, easy, and doesn’t need to involve maintenance. So far so good . . .

Instruments – This one wasn’t me (for once). Warm ups before a middle school band concert. One of the baritone or tenor sax players can’t play a single note on his or her instrument. In middle school, you don’t just have spare bari/tenor saxes lying around. The band teacher manually covers some of the suspect holes to figure out which one isn’t sealing properly. When he finds the problem, there’s no time to fix it before the concert. He duct tapes over the hole.

Phone screens – One freezing cold Saturday in Ithaca, I was trying to get into Olin Hall (24/7 card access for 24/7 ChemE-ing). While getting my ID card out of my backpack, I accidentally knocked my phone out. It fell a couple feet and one corner of the screen shattered. To avoid getting splinters of glass in my fingers, I put (clear) tape over the broken part of the screen. No splinters, and the touchscreen still works under the tape.

Bonus uses for tape:

1) Making pep band folders. A Cornell pep band tradition is to use duct tape to make music folders. They last much longer than paper folders and are colorful. Mine is orange and has smiling food on it.

2) Labeling water bottles, thermoses, Tupperware, children, calculators, etc. My favorite scientific calculator has been labelled since my math team days. As for everything else I’ve labelled, if you’ve ever been to any sort of college potluck, you may be familiar with the sorts of emails that get sent after a college potluck.

Person 1: Hey guys! If anyone’s missing a blue serving spoon, I have it!

Person 2: Hey, did someone accidentally take my bowl? It’s green and has a snowman on the side.

Person 3: Hi everyone, I brought a red bag with a yellow container inside it to the potluck. I left with a purple scarf, a stuffed elephant, and a yoyo. . .