<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" version="2.0"><channel><title>monochrome</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/</link><description>Entries from monochrome.sutic.nu.</description><language>en-us</language><atom:link type="application/rss+xml" rel="self" href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/rss.xml"/><item><title>Happy Buddha</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/07/happy-buddha.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/07/happy-buddha.html</guid><pubDate>07 Sep 2010 00:33:55 +0200</pubDate><category>Kaiserstrasse 47-49/9, Vienna, Austria</category><georss:point>48.201487497500004 16.33996903888889</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 It is election time here in Sweden, so I think it is only appropriate to show an old unpublished photo of a happy Buddha standing in the middle between two opposing red and blue poles.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/07/happy-buddha.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/07/thumbnails/happy-buddha1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Buying a Camera</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/06/buying-a-camera.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/06/buying-a-camera.html</guid><pubDate>06 Sep 2010 15:40:59 +0200</pubDate><category>photography</category><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Since I take a lot of pictures, I'm often asked for advice by people looking to buy a camera. Here's the general advice that I give them.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 As with every equipment purchase, the item you settle on is the result of a number of trade-offs. You can therefore give up on getting the "perfect" camera. There will always be things that you won't be able to photograph, things that will be difficult to photograph and, hopefully, the vast bulk of things that are easy. The trick is to have the "bulk" overlap the things you are interested in photographing to as large an extent as is possible.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Instead of diving into the technology - you can do that elsewhere - what I hope to provide you with is a way to understand how to evaluate the technical features of a camera in terms of relevance for you.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 First, in my mind, is the price. Money spent on a camera is money not spent on going where the interesting things are. If you ruin yourself on a Leica or Hasselblad, you won't be able to go to interesting places and take interesting pictures.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 Second is the mobility. If you don't have the camera with you, you're not getting any photos. In general, people tend to overestimate their willingness to haul things around. It helps to think about a point-and-shoot as a big second cellphone, and a DSLR as a small backpack. Would you carry those things around everywhere you go?
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 Third comes the feature set, and here I can reassure you: &lt;b&gt;In a given size and price class, all cameras are pretty much the same.&lt;/b&gt; Therefore, we can start small and cheap, and then add features until our wallets or backs hurt.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 How to evaluate a feature then? Here's my method. I think about:
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 &lt;b&gt;The number of photos that were ruined&lt;/b&gt; because I didn't have the feature.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 &lt;b&gt;The amount of time I could have saved&lt;/b&gt; if my current camera had the feature.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Salespeople will try to make you think about what you &lt;b&gt;want&lt;/b&gt; to do, instead of what you &lt;b&gt;actually&lt;/b&gt; do. Have you ever been in a situation similar to this: The salesperson asks you "do you want to do any low-light photography?", and at the same time, shows you some incredible low-light shots. Perfect framing, perfect composition, perfect subject. You haven't shot a single low-light picture in your whole life, but immediately you think "oh man, I want to take pictures like that so bad I'm going to die if I don't", and go &lt;b&gt;"yes, sell me something that can do that!"&lt;/b&gt;. Once you've been asked about nature photography, sports, landscape and macro - all of which rack up the price - you walk out of the camera store thinking that putting a cool $40,000 on a camera and ten times that on lenses is not just a good idea, &lt;b&gt;it is vital to your survival&lt;/b&gt;. If you instead think about the number of shots you've missed due to poor low-light performance, you would have known that it is exceedingly rare and therefore not worth much money to you.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 On the other hand, if you really do a lot of low-light shots, then you'll remember every single shot that turned out bad because of the small sensor or slow lens you used. Plus, you'll know exactly what you need - faster lens or different camera - to fix it.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 To illustrate the second point, I'll use myself as an example. I used to have a Casio EX-Z850 point and shoot. It was great, but the lens was a 37mm equivalent and I just love wide-angle photos. At first I used Hugin, a panoramic stiching program, to &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2009/10/29/fake_it_ultra_wide.html"&gt;make wide-angle shots from a set of component images&lt;/a&gt;. The results were good, but every photo took about half an hour to an hour to process, and I never really knew if it would turn out well in the end. When the camera broke, I thought I'd take the plunge and get a DSLR. I knew I could get a Nikon D40 for about $400 on sale and a Sigma 10-20mm lens for about $600. Together, they'd cut the per-shot time from 45 minutes to, well, nothing. At the same time, $1000 was worth it in my mind, and the D40 small enough that I knew I'd be able to carry it around. So I went for it, and ended up really happy.
 &lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;
 The point here is that I knew exactly which feature I wanted: The ability to attach a 10mm lens. I knew what I was willing to pay, and I knew I was willing to lug around a D40.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 So to summarize: Unless you really, really know otherwise, assume that you'll do the same kind of photography you do now. Then focus on how the new camera will make that kind of work easier.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>After Rain Comes Sunset</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/after-rain-comes-sunset.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/after-rain-comes-sunset.html</guid><pubDate>05 Sep 2010 21:49:49 +0200</pubDate><category>Vattugatan 15, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.330199999722225 18.06331</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Sunset through rainy window. I tried to get closer, but due to the angle of the sun and the window I couldn't get the macro lens close enough, and the non-macro wouldn't focus near enough.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/after-rain-comes-sunset.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/after-rain-comes-sunset1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Långholmen Macro</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/langholmen-macro.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/langholmen-macro.html</guid><pubDate>05 Sep 2010 21:22:06 +0200</pubDate><category>Långholmen, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.32250976555556 18.026311397407408</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Playing around with a macro lens at L&amp;#xe5;ngholmen. L&amp;#xe5;ngholmen is an islet in the Stockholm archipelago, located about a kilometer west of the center of town, and at the edge of what we'd call "Stockholm City". It used to hold the central prison, but is now more known for a bath and as a concert venue. Since much of it is covered in forest it was a perfect location to try out macro shots. In particular, I wanted to see how macro panoramas worked out with the subjects seen here.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/langholmen-macro.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/langholmen-macro1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/langholmen-macro.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/langholmen-macro2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/langholmen-macro.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/langholmen-macro3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Ljusterö</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.html</guid><pubDate>05 Sep 2010 21:20:10 +0200</pubDate><category>Sillviken, Ljusterö, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.523626598214285 18.668159416626988</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Spent the weekend here helping J&amp;#xf6;rgen and Milka with computer problems and the floor of an extension to their house.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.4.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero4.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.5.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero5.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.6.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero6.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/ljustero.image.7.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/05/thumbnails/ljustero7.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Waterfront Facade</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/waterfront-facade.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/waterfront-facade.html</guid><pubDate>03 Sep 2010 11:54:56 +0200</pubDate><category>Central Station, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.32916378958333 18.05826187125</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 The ribbed facade of Stockholm Waterfront Building, during night.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/waterfront-facade.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/thumbnails/waterfront-facade1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/waterfront-facade.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/03/thumbnails/waterfront-facade2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Raynox DCR-250</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250.html</guid><pubDate>02 Sep 2010 19:36:28 +0200</pubDate><category>photography</category><category>macro</category><category>review</category><category>City Hall, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.32769034333334 18.055980398611112</georss:point><description>
	 
		
 &lt;p&gt;
 The &lt;a href="http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/dcr/dcr250/indexdcr250eg.htm"&gt;Raynox DCR-250&lt;/a&gt; is an 8-diopter conversion lens that attaches to the filter ring of your lens, enabling close-up macro photography. It is also tons of fun in a small package. After experimenting with the Panasonic TZ7/ZS3 in macro photography, I wanted something that gave a bit more control. The &lt;b&gt;AF tracking&lt;/b&gt; mode of the TZ7 did allow me to place focus anywhere in the frame, but the tracking was frequently erratic and would at times refuse to "lock on". Due to the lack of manual controls - especially manual focus - I found macro photography with the TZ7 to be fun, but messy. I also didn't quite like the idea of having to carry two cameras with me. The more I move around, the better the photos, and the more I carry, the less I move.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		When I looked at macro lenses for my Nikon D40, I told myself that I'd just have to live with the limitations of the TZ7. A Micro-Nikkor costs about $1000, and you &lt;b&gt;still&lt;/b&gt; don't get any closer than 0.28 meters! I didn't just want the reproduction ratio of a macro lens, I wanted the close-up focus distance of the TZ7 as well. Through much googling I found out that what I was looking for was a "close-up lens". Nikon used to sell those, but not any more. Then I stumbled into the DCR-250. 
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		The DCR-250 is really tons of fun in a small package. It brings the close focus distance down to about six centimeters in front of the front element on a Nikon 18-55mm, which although twice as far away as the TZ7's close focus distance is close enough. Put it on a Nikon 55-200mm (see below), and you get a reproduction ratio of 1:0.63. All of this for about $100 and in a package so small you can fit it in any camera bag that isn't utterly packed. (In particular, it is smaller than the TZ7 I'd otherwise have to carry.)
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-100crop.jpg" alt="
		100% crop of sample image taken with the DCR-250 on an 18-55mm lens @ 26mm
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		100% crop of sample image taken with the DCR-250 on an 18-55mm lens @ 26mm
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		What's not to like about it? Well, the universal adapter it comes with is made of flimsy plastic. One reviewer lamented that it had broken easily. I haven't broken mine yet, but maybe that's just a matter of time. I'll be getting a small plastic case for it, just to be on the safe side.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		I have some &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2010/09/01/verbena-bonariensis.html"&gt;example shots of a &lt;i&gt;verbena bonariensis&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on this blog, and below is some attempts at getting some &lt;a href="#panoramas"&gt;wide-angle macro shots by panoramic stiching&lt;/a&gt;.
		&lt;/p&gt;
 
		
		&lt;h3&gt;
 Table of Contents
 &lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 
		Magnification
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2 
		Vignetting
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3 Panoramas With Nodal Ninja&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4 Mathematics&lt;br/&gt;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;4.1 
 Lens Data
 &lt;br/&gt;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;4.2 
 Focus Distances
 &lt;br/&gt;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;&amp;#xa0;4.3 
 Reproduction Ratios
 &lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;h3&gt;1 
		Magnification
		&lt;/h3&gt;
		

		&lt;p&gt;How macro? Here are sample photos of the rear end of a Sigma 10-20mm lens, taken at the close focus distance. Since the DCR-250 magnifies more the longer the focal length of the lens it is attached to, I only used the Nikon 55-200mm for these comparisons.&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-55mm-without.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 55mm
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 55mm
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-55mm-with.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 55mm, DCR-250 attached
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 55mm, DCR-250 attached
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-200mm-without.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 200mm
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 200mm
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-200mm-with.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 200mm, DCR-250 attached
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 55-200mm @ 200mm, DCR-250 attached
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 auto;"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Lens&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Focal Length&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Original&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Magnified&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Factor&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;28mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;791px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1688px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;181px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1284px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;256px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;2060px&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
	
		
				
		&lt;h3&gt;2 
		Vignetting
		&lt;/h3&gt;
		
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		Due to the lens attaching to the front of the regular lens, and due to it being 49mm in diameter while the Nikon 18-55 is 52mm across, the DCR-250 completely blocks the view except for a central image circle at the lower focal lengths. Fortunately, once you go above 34mm the vignetting stops. This is therefore only an issue if you shoot panoramas and want to trade wide angle for magnification.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-vignette-18mm.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 18mm, infinity focus
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 18mm, infinity focus
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-vignette-28mm-inf.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 28mm, infinity focus
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 28mm, infinity focus
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-vignette-28mm-near.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 28mm, close focus
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 28mm, close focus
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-vignette-34mm-near.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 34mm, close focus
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 34mm, close focus
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-vignette-55mm.jpg" alt="
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 55mm, close focus
		"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;
		Nikon 18-55mm @ 55mm, close focus
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		As we can see, at 18mm we're looking out through the tube of the DCR-250 and everything outside the lens is blocked by the universal adapter. At 28mm vignetting is down to a little bit in the far corners where nothing interesting should happen anyway. Note that the corners aren't black - they're underexposed roughly three stops. If you set the lens to focus as close as possible, the Nikon 18-55 extends and we get more vignetting. At 34mm this disappears, and at 55mm the vignetting from the DCR-250 is lost in the vignetting from the 18-55mm.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;h3&gt;3 Panoramas With Nodal Ninja&lt;/h3&gt;
		
		
		&lt;p&gt;The settings are quite simple: The DCR-250 doesn't move the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrance_pupil"&gt;entrance pupil&lt;/a&gt;, so just decide on a focal length and lens, and use the usual settings. I use the Nikon 18-55mm at 28mm, so I used the settings for 24mm, slightly tweaked. Using the same parameters as the &lt;a href="http://nodalninja.com/support/camerasettings.html"&gt;"Camera and lens settings for Nodal Ninja tripod heads"&lt;/a&gt; webpage, my values are A&amp;#xa0;=&amp;#xa0;50mm, B&amp;#xa0;~=&amp;#xa0;94.5-95.0mm. I use the 15&amp;#xb0; rotation plate, which is just about perfect. The vertical field of view (since the camera is mounted at 90 degrees, that's along the long side of the sensor) is approximately 30&amp;#xb0;, and the horizontal is 20&amp;#xb0;. This gives a 5&amp;#xb0;, or 25% overlap. I've found it sufficient so far. Mounting the camera on a tripod is done thusly:&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-tripod.jpg" alt="Camera suspended above ground from tripod"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;Camera suspended above ground from tripod&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		The way the camera hangs in the photo above (with the shutter button below the lens when the lens is pointing at the horizon), I can rotate the camera all the way from straight down to straight up. Due to the bulk of the grip, though, I must swing it around so that the grip is above the camera if I want to get really close to the ground. The tripod is then aimed so that the region of interest is between the two tripod legs to the left and right of the camera.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250-above.jpg" alt="Field of view when shooting a panorama"/&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;Field of view when shooting a panorama&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
		
		&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		A couple of pointers when shooting panoramas this way:
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;ul&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		At this level of magnification, and these short distances, even a very slight movement of the camera matters a lot. Therefore, make sure the camera sits firmly attached to the Nodal Ninja, that the NN is attached to the tripod firmly, and that the tripod itself is stable. In particular, make sure the knobs are tight. This should perhaps go without saying, but I've shot a lot of panoramas, and I was surprised how much "slack" there was in the system when I tried to do the macro panorama.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Use the timed shutter release. Unless your tripod is super-steady (mine isn't, I bought it for mobility), you will move the camera ever so slightly when pressing the shutter button. Using a 2s timer avoids this.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Beware of wind if you are photographing something that sways. Even a slight wind can cause straws of grass to move all the way across the frame, making it impossible to assemble the panorama.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Beware of defocused areas. It is next to impossible to set the control points for stiching the panorama if all detail is lost in a blur. This is problematic when you want a bit of "filler" at the edges of the photo, and realize that you'll never be able to correctly position those parts of the panorama. On the other hand, the more blur, the less opportunity to find any misalignment flaws.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;/ul&gt;
		
		&lt;table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="top" width="180" style="padding-left: 10pt; padding-right: 10pt;"&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/thumbnails/raynox-dcr-2501.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td valign="top" style="padding-left: 10pt; padding-right: 10pt;"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first attempt at a panorama using the Raynox DCR-250, Nikon D40, Nikon 18-55mm VR II and Nodal Ninja 3. The field of view is roughly 76 degrees horizontal and 68 degrees vertical, which makes it approximately equivalent to a theoretical 12mm macro lens that is cropped horizontally. For comparison, at 28mm the Nikon 18-55mm covers a 52x36 degree field of view. The boredom of the subject is, for me at least, offset by the excitement of actually being able to create it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="top" width="180" style="padding-left: 10pt; padding-right: 10pt;"&gt;&lt;p style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/raynox-dcr-250.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/02/thumbnails/raynox-dcr-2502.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td valign="top" style="padding-left: 10pt; padding-right: 10pt;"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second attempt at a panorama. Same equipment as the first. This time the field of view was 64 by 42 degrees, approximately equivalent to a theoretical 18mm macro lens, and made from three separate exposures (left-center-right).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
		
		
		&lt;h3&gt;4 Mathematics&lt;/h3&gt;
 
 
			&lt;p&gt;While researching macro conversion lenses I came across this summary of the mathematics behind them. In the text, "CU" means "Close-Up lens", that is, macro conversion lens, and "FL" refers to the lens's Focal Length:&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;blockquote cite="http://www.angelfire.com/ca/erker/closeups.html"&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Diopters are the optical strength of the CU lens. Its focal length can be calculated by using FL = 1000/Diopters. This is also the distance that will now be in focus when the lens is focused at infinity. (A +2 diopter will bring a subject at 1/2 metre (500mm) away into focus.)
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 To estimate minimum focus distance convert the camera lens minimum distance to diopters and add it to the CU lens strength. So a +2 CU lens used with a lens that focuses to 1 metre will act (approximately) like a +3 CU lens and bring a subject at 1/3 metre into focus.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Another approach is to calculate magnification. Convert the diopter strength to millimeters focal length (CU FL = 1000/Diopters). Then divide the camera lens FL by the CU lens FL to get the magnification when the lens is focused at infinity. Thus a +2 CU is 500mm FL. If you use it on a 50mm lens you will get 1:10 life size. The same +2 on a 300mm lens will give you 0.6 of lifesize (1:1.66). 
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p style="text-align:right"&gt;
 &amp;#x2014; &lt;a href="http://www.angelfire.com/ca/erker/closeups.html"&gt;Greg Erker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
 
			&lt;p&gt;
			Below are my calculations for Nikon 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses with a Raynox DCR-250. I haven't verified them experimentally, and to be honest, I was so unsure of just what they &lt;b&gt;meant in terms of getting a good photo&lt;/b&gt; that they were more of a mathematical exercise than research. Ultimately I looked at photos taken with the DCR-250, decided that they sure looked good, and bought one based on that. I publish the numbers and tables here in the hope that someone will find them useful.
			&lt;/p&gt;
			
 &lt;h4&gt;4.1 
 Lens Data
 &lt;/h4&gt;
 
 
				&lt;p&gt;
				This is &lt;b&gt;without&lt;/b&gt; the conversion lens attached.
				&lt;/p&gt;
				
 &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 auto;"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Lens&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Near Focus Distance&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Strength&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;0.28 m&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;3.571 dptr&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1.1 m&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;0.909 dptr&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
 
 
 &lt;h4&gt;4.2 
 Focus Distances
 &lt;/h4&gt;
 
 
				&lt;p&gt;
				These are the near and far focus distances of the lenses with a DCR-250 attached. Since the math assumes that the lens is infinitely thin, the distance is not the distance from the front element, but rather from the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_point_(optics)#Nodal_points"&gt;nodal point&lt;/a&gt; of the lens.
				&lt;/p&gt;
				
 &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 auto;"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Lens&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Near&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Far&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Span&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;8.6 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;12.5 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;3.9 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;11.2 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;12.5 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1.3 cm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
 
 
 
 &lt;h4&gt;4.3 
 Reproduction Ratios
 &lt;/h4&gt;
 
				
				&lt;p&gt;
				Finally, the theoretical reproduction ratios. The focal length of the DCR-250 is 125mm (1000mm / 8 diopters).
				&lt;/p&gt;
				
 &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" style="margin: 0 auto;"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Lens&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Focal Length&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Ratio&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;18 mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1:6.94&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;28 mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1:4.46&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;34 mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1:3.68&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 18-55mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;55 mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1:2.27&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;200 mm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"&gt;1:0.63&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
 
 
 
 </description></item><item><title>Verbena Bonariensis</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/verbena-bonariensis.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/verbena-bonariensis.html</guid><pubDate>01 Sep 2010 22:40:21 +0200</pubDate><category>Stadshusbron, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.32807801972223 18.05655866861111</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Macro photos of Purpletop Vervain (&lt;i&gt;Verbena Bonariensis&lt;/i&gt;) at the city hall bridge in Stockholm. These were some of the first shots I did with my new &lt;a href="http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/dcr/dcr250/indexdcr250eg.htm"&gt;Raynox DCR-250&lt;/a&gt; conversion lens together with a &lt;a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Camera-Lenses/2166/AF-S-DX-VR-Zoom-NIKKOR-55-200mm-f%252F4-5.6G-IF-ED.html"&gt;Nikon 55-200mm&lt;/a&gt;. The DCR-250 is capable of much greater magnification: These photos were taken at 98mm and 68mm, and the magnification increases all the way to 200mm (and beyond, if you have such a lens). I'll do a proper writeup of this fun conversion lens, (hopefully) including the good-looking results of macro panorama photos, as soon as I understand more about how to use it properly. As with all macro lenses, you need to be a lot more careful with the technical aspects.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/verbena-bonariensis.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/thumbnails/verbena-bonariensis1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/verbena-bonariensis.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/09/01/thumbnails/verbena-bonariensis2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Leaving Jerusalem</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/leaving-jerusalem.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/leaving-jerusalem.html</guid><pubDate>30 Aug 2010 22:00:31 +0200</pubDate><category>Sakharov Gardens, Jerusalem, Israel</category><georss:point>31.7953060375 35.190067291111106</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 There was no time or place to stop as we drove out of Jerusalem, so I just held the camera out the right side window and let it go at continuous drive. Most of the photos were either angled wrong or had obstacles in them that obscured the view, but from three shots I managed to assemble the following picture.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/leaving-jerusalem.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/thumbnails/leaving-jerusalem1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Wide angle photos are &lt;b&gt;difficult&lt;/b&gt;. When looking out over a vista, the interesting region is very often just a thin string on the horizon. In this case I was lucky: We were driving on a road high up on a hillside. Still, the road takes up much more space in the photo than it did in my mind when I was there.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The spot where I took the three useable shots is a bit to the east of the Sakharov Gardens interchange, on the Sderot Ben Gurion highway. The gardens are named after &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov"&gt;Andrei Sakharov&lt;/a&gt; (1921 ? 1989), a Soviet nuclear physicist, who turned to human rights and peace activism in the 1950s. This made him a Soviet counterpart to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer"&gt;J. Robert Oppenheimer&lt;/a&gt;, who, after having created the first atomic bombs, turned to peace activism. After protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 he was sent into internal exile to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizhny_Novgorod"&gt;Nizhny Novgorod&lt;/a&gt;, a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city"&gt;closed city&lt;/a&gt;. Sakharov's opposition to the Soviet government made him a target for further harassment and his apartment was often raided by police. It wasn't until Gorbachev launched the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost"&gt;glasnost&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika"&gt;perestroika&lt;/a&gt; movements that he was even allowed back into Moscow. The following prizes are named in his honor:
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/sakharov.cfm"&gt;Andrei Sakharov Prize (APS)&lt;/a&gt; for &lt;q&gt;outstanding leadership and/or achievements of scientists in upholding human rights&lt;/q&gt;, awarded by the &lt;a href="http://www.aps.org/"&gt;American Physical Society&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?language=en&amp;amp;id=42"&gt;Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought&lt;/a&gt;, awarded by the European Parliament, &lt;q&gt;intended to honour exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression. Like Andrei Sakharov himself, all the winners of the prize have shown how much courage it takes to defend human rights and freedom of expression.&lt;/q&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov_Prize_For_Writer%27s_Civic_Courage"&gt;Andrei Sakharov Prize For Writer's Civic Courage&lt;/a&gt;, an annual prize established in 1990 by the association &lt;b&gt;Writers in Support of Perestroika&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Jerusalem Chords Bridge</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/jerusalem-chords-bridge.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/jerusalem-chords-bridge.html</guid><pubDate>30 Aug 2010 21:58:20 +0200</pubDate><category>Jerusalem Chords Bridge, Jerusalem, Israel</category><georss:point>31.787828300833336 35.201214551666666</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 The newest addition to the Jerusalem skyline, a cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge called the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Chords_Bridge"&gt;Jerusalem Chords Bridge&lt;/a&gt;. It was intended to mark the entrance to Jerusalem where the Sderot Ben Gurion highway reaches Ets Haim. As the Sderot Ben Gurion branches off Highway 1, the main highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the bridge is quite prominent. The other purpose of the bridge was to carry the light rail that is intended to begin operating in Jerusalem.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/jerusalem-chords-bridge.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/30/thumbnails/jerusalem-chords-bridge1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Full Moon at Granholmstoppen</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen.html</guid><pubDate>27 Aug 2010 13:04:30 +0200</pubDate><category>panorama</category><category>Granholmstoppen, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.40405607212963 17.900905609074073</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Way back in 2005 I made &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2007/03/14/panorama2.image.granholmstoppen.html"&gt;a panorama of photos from the top of Granholmstoppen&lt;/a&gt;. I think it turned out great, with one caveat: It was shot using a small &lt;a href="http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=DSC-U30&amp;amp;region_id=1"&gt;Cybershot DSC-U30&lt;/a&gt;, so the resolution that you see on the linked photo is more or less as large as it goes. I still think it is beautiful, but bigger is better in this case.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 I have, through repeated failures, come to the conclusion that I should never try to re-shoot a photo that turned out well. Re-shooting something that turned out bad, by all means; but never try to improve on good, because it'll never work. Yet, I keep trying, and this panorama is at the top of the list of photos that I'd like to re-shoot.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 So with a full moon coming up, I decided to ignore common sense, experience and astronomy, and make an attempt. A couple of things became obvious to me:
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;ol&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The panorama was shot on May 31, 2005, and due to the way the solar system works, the rising moon and the setting sun aren't quite synchronized in the same way August 24, 2010. The sun was too low to give the light I was looking for, and by the time the moon made it above the atmospheric haze at the horizon everything was black.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weather matters. A persistent cloud bank at the horizon made the wait for a full moon even longer. While anyone who has done any nature photography knows that the weather is basically a big lottery, I severely underestimated the time it would take the moon to climb above the clouds at the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I had misjudged the elevation of the sun required to provide the light I was looking for. With moonrise at 1935 and sunset at 2016, I should have 41 minutes of good light, right? Well, the sun was in the right spot at about 1900, and the moon reached the right spot at about 2045. That 41-minute window turned out to be negative one hour and 45 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ol&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Next year, Moon. Thanks to &lt;a href="http://earth.google.com/"&gt;Google Earth&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.stellarium.org/"&gt;Stellarium&lt;/a&gt;, I know exactly where you'll be - in particular on the days surrounding May 14, 2011. I'll be there around then, and if there's a Muslim graveyard there by then - well, the crescent &lt;b&gt;is&lt;/b&gt; a symbol of Islam, so I'm sure things'll be all right there.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/full-moon-at-granholmstoppen3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Husby Gård Flower Pot</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/husby-gard-flower-pot.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/husby-gard-flower-pot.html</guid><pubDate>27 Aug 2010 13:03:05 +0200</pubDate><category>Husby Gård, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.4069378375 17.91952943787037</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Pleasantly surprised by the macro abilities of the Panasonic DMC-TZ7, I tried out my technique on these flowers. 
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/husby-gard-flower-pot.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/husby-gard-flower-pot1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/husby-gard-flower-pot.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/husby-gard-flower-pot2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/husby-gard-flower-pot.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/husby-gard-flower-pot3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Return to Husby Centrum</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.html</guid><pubDate>27 Aug 2010 13:01:46 +0200</pubDate><category>Husby, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.40897881972222 17.925851583379632</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 A couple of days ago I had some &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2010/08/19/husby-centrum.html"&gt;problems trying to get photos of Husby Centrum&lt;/a&gt;, the place where I lived the first 27 years of my life. I was told that I needed a permit to take photos there, because it "made people nervous". The whole concept that I should not be able to show people where I lived most of my life is stupid beyond words; this time I was armed with more than a vague idea of what the law stated - I had read up on Stockholm City's website, checked Fotosidan for articles about public spaces and the laws surrounding them.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 All for nothing. Because I walked around completely unhindered and shot the following photos:
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.4.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum4.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.5.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum5.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.6.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/return-to-husby-centrum6.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;
 I think some comments in regards to &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2010/08/06/rosengard.html"&gt;Roseng&amp;#xe5;rd&lt;/a&gt; are appropriate. As I wrote in that entry, Husby isn't ranked as the best place in Stockholm. But what shocked me about Roseng&amp;#xe5;rd was just how run down that place was. I just want to point out that here in Husby, the grass is mowed and green, and that there isn't trash lying around everywhere. I also want to contrast &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2010/08/06/rosengard.image.fountain.html"&gt;the fountain in Roseng&amp;#xe5;rd&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/return-to-husby-centrum.image.fountain.html"&gt;this fountain in Husby&lt;/a&gt;. While both have been shampooed, the former was filled with concrete, while the latter is still filled with water.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 These things (grass and fountains and trash) may sound insignificant, but they really do make a lot of difference. One place looks civilized and living, the other abandoned and dead. If we accept that we are shaped in part by our environment, it is obvious which one makes a positive and which one makes a negative contribution.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Across Järvafältet</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.html</guid><pubDate>27 Aug 2010 13:00:05 +0200</pubDate><category>Järvafältet, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.39934682833333 17.919217443333334</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 Walking across J&amp;#xe4;rvaf&amp;#xe4;ltet from Rinkeby to Husby.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/across-jarvafaltet1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/across-jarvafaltet2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/across-jarvafaltet3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.image.4.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/across-jarvafaltet4.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/across-jarvafaltet.image.5.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/27/thumbnails/across-jarvafaltet5.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>The Small Forest</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.html</guid><pubDate>25 Aug 2010 01:29:30 +0200</pubDate><category>photo</category><category>tech</category><category>Järvafältet, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.407031231116214 17.911481380217527</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 The forest may seen quite uniform when viewed from six feet above ground, but close up and at ground level, there is an small wonderland. I found this spot just off the road when walking to Granholmstoppen. The first visit didn't go all that well - I got two shots, but was unprepared for the very short duration the sunlight stayed in the same place, so I missed some really good shots. I also hadn't figured out how to reliably use &lt;b&gt;AF tracking&lt;/b&gt; to place the focus where I wanted it. (More about that below.)
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		What I did get out of my first visit was knowledge about the spot, and also a fairly exact time for when to return: Sometime between 1810 and 1815, I could expect the light to be right. There was some uncertainty in the time as the path of the sun across the sky changes from day to day, and one also has to factor in things such as clouds that can change the light. But at least I knew approximately when the sun would shine in between the trees. As it were, "right light" lasted for about half a minute.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		All macro shots were taken with a Panasonic DMC-TZ7/ZS3. This is how I do the macro shots:
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;ol&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Select &lt;b&gt;Normal Picture&lt;/b&gt;.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Select &lt;b&gt;AF macro&lt;/b&gt;.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Select &lt;b&gt;AF tracking&lt;/b&gt;.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Select &lt;b&gt;2s Self Timer&lt;/b&gt;, because you're likely to move the camera by pressing the shutter button. This way, you have two seconds to get the framing right again. You can select ten seconds as well, but be aware that you may not &lt;b&gt;have&lt;/b&gt; ten seconds - I had about thirty in total, and I wanted to try a couple of compositions.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Select &lt;b&gt;Burst Mode&lt;/b&gt;, unless you are shooting at shutter speeds faster than 1/100th of a second. The image stabilizer doesn't work very well; unlike the standard situation, where camera rotation dominates, translation (moving the camera up/down and left/right) is a significant factor at these short distances. The stabilizer simply can't compensate for the change in camera position.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Get the camera close to the subject and compose the shot.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Once you've decided what the picture should look like, rotate the camera and lock the AF tracking on the part you want in focus.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Recompose and push the shutter button halfway. If the camera doesn't focus on the right part, try using another point for AF tracking, or move the camera further away from the subject. I've noticed that the TZ7 sometimes have problems focusing on off-center objects near the minimum distance.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;li&gt;
		&lt;p&gt;
		Press the shutter button all the way down. Fix any errors in composition caused by pressing the button (a slight move of the camera makes a big difference here) before the three-frame burst goes off.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		&lt;/li&gt;
		&lt;/ol&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		If everything worked well, you should now have between one and three great photos on your memory card.
		&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.3.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest3.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.4.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest4.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.5.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest5.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.6.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest7.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/the-small-forest.image.7.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/25/thumbnails/the-small-forest6.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 </description></item><item><title>Frösundatoppen</title><link>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/frosundatoppen.html</link><guid>http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/frosundatoppen.html</guid><pubDate>22 Aug 2010 23:47:42 +0200</pubDate><category>Frösundatoppen, Stockholm, Sweden</category><georss:point>59.36625480638889 18.024852275833332</georss:point><description>
 
 &lt;p&gt;
 At the north edge of Hagaparken is Fr&amp;#xf6;sundatoppen, an artificial hill that is a restoration of an old hill. At the beginning, this spot formed part of the Stockholm Ridge - a ridge that goes through Stockholm in a north-south direction and extends tens of kilometers in both directions. This ridge was used a source of building material throughout history. Its section near the center of Stockholm was eventually simply removed in the landscaping plan that created the modern Stockholm city layout. Not much is seen of it today, although you might notice it going from Norrmalm to &amp;#xd6;stermalm, crossing Malmskillnadsgatan at the top.
 &lt;/p&gt;
 
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		Fr&amp;#xf6;sundatoppen was used as a quarry until it had ceased to exist. But at the same time the city planners were busy levelling the Klara area, which is roughtly the area around Sergel's Torg and modern Stockholm's commercial center. This generated a lot of junk that had to be dumped somewhere, and Fr&amp;#xf6;sundatoppen was the perfect spot. So the hill rose again, was covered in soil, and is now covered in trees and grass.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		The purpose of this excursion wasn't to dig into the history of the city, but to test just how well I could bring my DSLR along when biking. Last time I biked through &lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/./2010/08/13/hagaparken-at-night.html"&gt;Hagaparken at night&lt;/a&gt;, I brought a compact camera and a flexible, pocketable tripod. This time, I was bringing a &lt;a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/ProductDetail.page?pid=25420"&gt;Nikon D40&lt;/a&gt;, three lenses&lt;sup&gt;[1]&lt;/sup&gt; and a &lt;a href="http://www.velbon.co.uk/newvelbon/pages/ultramaxil.html"&gt;Velbon Ultra Maxi L&lt;/a&gt; tripod. Having a shoulder bag when biking is right out, and I really can't put up with sling backpacks for any longer time. When I found the &lt;a href="http://www.kata-bags.com/product.asp?Version=photo&amp;amp;p_Id=432"&gt;Kata 3N1-20 backpack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;[2]&lt;/sup&gt; I knew I had found the right tool for the job. It can be worn as a sling, but it really shines as a backpack that has the side openings of a sling. The tripod is easily strapped to the back of it and held securely&lt;sup&gt;[3]&lt;/sup&gt;.
		&lt;/p&gt;
		
		&lt;p&gt;
		To summarize - it worked great. The key, I've found, when carrying as much as I am, is to make sure anything on the outside of the bag - like the tripod - is really strapped tightly to the bag. Otherwise it always ends up entering some kind of weird resonance as you run, slapping against the backpack or jumping out of its holder altogether. So the biking was very pleasant, and going from biking to shooting was easy.
		&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;div style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/frosundatoppen.image.1.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/thumbnails/frosundatoppen1.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:inline; width:172px;"&gt;&lt;span style="width:172px; height:172px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; text-align: center; vertical-align:middle; display:table-cell; display:inline-table; display:inline-block;"&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="172" width="172"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/frosundatoppen.image.2.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://monochrome.sutic.nu/2010/08/22/thumbnails/frosundatoppen2.jpg$thumbnail-suffix"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
 &lt;h1&gt;
 Footnotes
 &lt;/h1&gt;&lt;table&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nikon 18-55 and 55-200, Sigma 10-20.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;I just saw that Kata has created a "basic" version of the 3N1 series backpacks - the 123-Go series. While no doubt a good product, I can't help but notice that the 3N1 series has much more padding on the shoulder straps - something that feels good if you actually &lt;b&gt;fill&lt;/b&gt; the bag and &lt;b&gt;use it&lt;/b&gt; a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;[3]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is &lt;a href="http://www.kata-bags.com/product.asp?p_Id=505&amp;amp;Version=photo"&gt;a special tripod holder&lt;/a&gt; for this bag that can be purchased separately. I haven't tried it - I jury-rigged my own holder before Kata got one done, and I see no reason to switch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;</description></item></channel></rss>