After watching this video, I started wondering what Trent was up to.  With a quick visit to his Vimeo account I found out his videography has literally taken off using a Canon 5D attached to a R/C Helicopter.  He is now the R/C Heli Pilot and head of an operation called Copter Kids.  I am completely blown away with some of the work the copter kids have produced. There are some shots that would otherwise be impossible!
Here are a few of my favorite Copter Kids videos:

Copter Kids Aerial Reel

Through the Skids

BMW 1M – Walls – MPowered Performance

Downtown Reno Night and Lake Tahoe

This video literally made me cry…

Enjoy

The Kodak DC260

This is the Kodak Digital Science DC260, a 1.6 megapixel digital camera.  When announced (May 19, 1998), this camera was propped up as a professional digital alternative to conventional film cameras of the day. The comen tag for this camera was: “The fastest way to give your business a polished, professional look—and increase your productivity and profits”.

Its fun to look back at the “olden” days when the words “(1) megapixel” and “Unbelievable Image Quality” were used in the same sentence. I guess it was a different time. I even bet that people were lusting over this camera; a camera in this new digital class was like a new toy with massive potential. To put it in modern terms, todays digital SLR cameras are reaching up to 36 megapixels with ISO ratings that  make your camera see in the dark! But there is a new nerdy kid on the block called Lytro, and looks like this kid wants to change the way we take photos.

But, back to the DC260. When this camera was hitting the shelves in 1998 I think people wanted to know where this whole digital thing was going. The current competition of film and darkrooms was the industry standard for quality. In 98 the only alternative was only available if you wanted to blow $30,000. This could buy you a modified Nikon F3 from Kodak called the DCS-100 with a stunning 1.3 megapixels.  It even came with a convenient external storage unit connected via cable. At this time the only “affordable” digital option for photographers was a camera like the DC260 with its few pro features.

If I was in the market for a new camera back in 98 I would have probably lusted over a camera just like this with unhealthy fascination. Looking at this camera today, it seems like a well made toy; but when you look thru the menu of this camera it features many things that were not available without a bag full of gadgetry in the film world of that day. A few features that stand out to me are:

1. Intervalometer called “Time-Lapse” I can’t even think of one film camera outside of video cameras that could even do this past a maximum of 36 exposures. Here is a small time lapse I shot while I was writing this post: Time Lapse (This needed to be resized 1.6 megapixels is massive in the video world, think low HD in todays standards) Please Enjoy!

Photo Taken with DC260 with off camera flash

2. Flash Sync. This is a must have feature for any pro. I can’t even imagine a pro camera not having this today.

3. A digital LCD, this might not seem like a feature, especially in todays “chimping” culture. But believe me this was a new thing back in 1998 giving the photographer the ability to check, focus, and expose out in the field.  This was not even a feature on the 30,000 dollar DCS-100 and later models like the DCS-200 with internal memory. So this was huge! One year later this became a standard in pro digital photography with the new Nikon D1. But it was this prosumer toy and others like it that made this feature real.

Photo taken with Kodak DC260

4. Hundreds of exposures on one card with different ISO! Anyone that has ever used a film camera will agree that it is a pain to change the ISO on a film camera. Imagine you are shooting a wedding where the bride and groom are both moving form direct sunlight to indoors and back outside (this happened to me by the way), and the only two ways around this ISO headache are: Carry 2 or more cameras (Like people didn’t know who the photographer was before) or change the film.  This sounds easy enough, but if you only used 12 exposures on a roll of 24 you will need to rewind, replace, and shoot.  Then when you need to go back to the other exposure you will need to wind the film forward to exposure 13.  Believe me after shooting 30 rolls in a day it becomes near impossible remembering which rolls had free space.  This often led me to develop rolls with only 5 exposures, waisting tons of money (ISO 800 film 8-12 bucks + development 3 – 5 bucks total = one poor Travis).

The DC260 had a few other features that seem a little unnecessary.  For example, it had an audio recorder to allow the user to attach audio notes to photographs.  It also had an independent “Info” selection; which does nothing but show a Kodak copyright and firmware on the LCD. There is an overlay feature, but I can’t really understand what it’s trying to do.

Over all, this camera was originally listed for around $900 bucks in 98′ and I bought it for 3 bucks at a local university technology auction. With the few features it offers nothing compares to the experience of me being able to play with a neat peace of photographic history.

Please enjoy!

Day 3/365 – Lake Tahoe

Day 3 of 365 – Lake Tahoe
This photo was taken on the way home from work.  This day was unique because of the new snow and it being so late in the season. I loved the color the setting sun was casting across Lake Tahoe!  I had to stop and bag this photo.

Day 11/365 – Travis Wicks

Day 11 of 365 – Travis Wicks
This photo was a self portrait of myself.  I just had a haircut and wanted to show it off. This photo features a new lighting style I was determined to master and as this photo shows, I did. I felt this portrait represented who I am so well that I decided to make it my new standard face on all social networks.

Day 31/365 – The Road Home

Day 31 of 365 – Travis Wicks
This Photo was taken on my way home from a ski trip from Mt. Bachelor, Oregon. This was one awesome trip including beer in Bend and amazing ski conditions on the mountain. Needless to say we were all a little sad to be going home.

Day 35/365 – Lorena in Red

Day 35 of 365 – Travis Wicks
This is a photo of my lovely girlfriend and willing lab rat. In this photo she is testing my new strobe. This was very much like a fashion shoot and was received as such on Facebook.

Day 40/365 – Abduction

Day 40 of 365 – Abduction
This was my favorite of all photographs taken in the last 50 days. And as it works out the most challenging. This photo required two sets of triggers. One remote in my right hand to activate the camera, one receiver to fire the shutter on the camera, one to fire both strobes, one receiving and firing the overhead strobe and finally one to receive and fire the strobe behind the subject (myself) in midair. Amazing what you can do with this fancy Tech!
And  with a little post touch ups with Magic Bullet (a film industry top level product) voila! You have the photo you see here Dark, Cold, and Creepy!

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the last 50 days as much as I have!  I am looking forward to the remaining 315 photos…  Oh $#@%, still 315 days to go!   It seems more daunting when it’s written down!

Last night Lorena and I played host to two very awesome people: Joe & Brittany. We where smoking hooka and watching and enjoying each others conversation when for whatever reason we started talking about my studio downstairs. Before we knew it we where all downstairs shooting some pretty sick portraits.

Afterwords I got to thinking and realized this is exactly what I should start doing with all our guests.  So I decided I want to do something like Chase Jarvis Seattle 100 just on a smaller more personal level.  I will be calling it The Everett House and this new personal project will be starting… yesterday. I am really excited to start moving on this.

本日の浮遊 Photo From yowayowa camera

So I watched a video on youtube called “How to do Levitation Photography” the other day and I was a little inspired.  This video was inspired by an artist called yowayowa camera. I thought this was a brilliant concept for a daily photo blog, and some of the images are amazing! If you have a chance, you should definitely click over to her site.

I decided I wanted to  do my own version, but there was one problem I discovered right away.  In yowayowa camera’s images she is very graceful, almost giving you a sense of true weightlessness. Anyone who knows me knows I am a lot of things, but grace has never been a word used with my name in the same sentence.

Abduction By: Travis Wicks

Being inspired and stoked to try something new I decided to give this little levitation trick a twist.  Being a fan of the podcast Mysterious Universe I decided to abduct myself for my own 365 Photo Project. I called my levitation creation “Abducted” and featured it in my 365 Project. It was an awesome day project that needed very little post processing.  Honestly my copy of Photo Shop still has it’s metaphorical dust on the icon. This was mostly done in-camera with 2 strobes and a bunch of triggers.  You can even see the remote in my right hand.

I was excited to find such a fun genre in the world of photography, and now that I am aware of levitation photography I am seeing it in all kinds of places. One example is a photography magazine featuring user submitted photographs where I noticed at least two levitations sneaking in. I am looking forward to exploring this concept more.

Think of it, making anyone a pro in just one week!