Marc Benton dot Com

Thanks Michael and Farrah

My childhood memories took a doube kick to the gut today with the loss of first Farrah Fawcett this morning followed by the afternoon announcement of Michael Jackson’s passing.  Both of these were icons of my past and for better or worse, helped form who I am today.

I think I first saw Farrah in a 1974 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man with her then husband Lee Majors.  Even in second grade I remember being jealous of Lee. A few years later she became an Angel which threw her into the spotlight and provided me with more opportunities to watch her.  When the famous poster came out I used to stare at it even though I was too young to know why.  She was a classic beauty.  Sure the poster accentuated certain charms that draws a young boys attention but there was much more in the image.  In the 70’s and over the next few decades she was the epitome of femininity. Her voice had a certain Marilyn Monroe quality (even up until her death), her hair was unbelievable, and her most stunning asset was her smile.  People say that models promote an image that little girls cannot live up to but she was different.  Without intending too Farrah made me appreciate a woman’s face, voice and personality instead of oogling at other parts.  Thanks Farrah for being such a classic beauty.

Very few on this earth will know exactly what sins Michael Jackson did or did not commit on this earth but I’m sure he’s answering for them now.  When I was in high school we all knew he was a little weird (remember his monkey?) but everyone was a fan.  He was the King of Pop afterall.  When the Thriller video was released in 1983 on MTV it was preceeded by more hype than any Spiderman or Batman movie sequel.  I remember being at a friends house where about 10 of us gathered around the tv to watch it.  Hearing any track from Thiller takes me back to high school.  No matter what you think of him I dare you to listen to Thriller without having any part of your body move to the rythym.  As a young kid that normally listened to Motley Crue, Ratt or other “hair bands”, Michael’s albums made me appreciate other types of music.  That lesson has stuck with me today and you’d know if you saw all the tracks on my iPod.  Thanks Michael for providing me the music to remember my early days.

Perseverance

This is a story of practice what you preach. Not long ago I wrote about a missed opportunity when I drove into DC to capture a lightning bolt during a storm and my frustration that followed.  I walked away from the experience knowing that a shot as rare as capturing lightning takes perseverance.

That lesson paid off for me.  On another bored evening I drove into DC to see what I could find.  The weather was overcast but dry, I wasn’t expecting any storms that evening.  While driving past Union Station Plaza I noticed the colored fountain with the Capitol building behind it.  Seemed like an opportunity for a nice shot so I parked and made my way to the park.  As soon as I parked the rain started coming down.  I grabbed my tripod and umbrella and trudged on.

I didn’t expect to stay long, just long enough to get a few shots of the fountain.  After about 10 minutes though I noticed the occasional lightning flashes in the sky.  The camera was then set to longer exposures and trained to an empty portion of the sky where the lightning was most prevalent.  After around forty 10 second exposures I was yet to capture one.  It seemed that everytime it flashed I was in between my exposures.  The rain had increased and was coming down in buckets.  Frustration set in again and I almost packed it up.  My stubborness refused to give in though so I stuck it out.

By then the storm had moved more east and I was now seeing the flashes over the Capitol.  The camera was turned and the after some experimenting decided to go with a 1/6th second exposure.  As lit up as the Capitol is, anything longer was just too much no matter what aperature I used.

My new tactic was to put the camera in continuous mode and hold down the shutter for 10-20 exposures at a time.  I took around 300 of these of course missing the decreasing flashes between shutters.  Here’s what they looked like:

Then…all of a sudden…the sky lit up and made it appear like mid-day.  I’m now glad I went with the quick exposure for this or would have missed this transition.

and there it was, my lightning shot…finally!

Its not the best shot ever (these are straight off the camera) and the Capitol is still blown out but I’m happy with it. I used a Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 wide angle lens for these.  Next time I’d like to use my Canon 28-135 to see if I get better results.

It takes time (this took about 45 minutes) and multiple attempts but that shot you really want will come to you with perseverance.

A Missed Opportunity, A Lesson Learned

Last night around 10:00 I decided to cool off by taking a drive with the windows down.  While going over the toll road I noticed a strong lightning storm off in the east which looked like it was directly over DC.  It was the type of lightning that a photographer dreams of with strong dramatic bolts, not just clouds that glow.  I decided to try and race into DC to see what kind of shot I could get with it.

It normally takes me around 20-30 minutes without traffic to get onto Constitution Avenue from Reston and I made good time.  Unfortunately I decided to try a shot from the Virginia side first from the USMC Memorial.  The storm was too far to the south to get a good shot of it and the memorials.  That wasted about 15 minutes.

I drove into DC and parked around 18th Street on Constitution, walked about 3 blocks east along the tidal basin and found a good spot to capture the ever decreasing lightning with the Washington Monument in the foreground.  Of course I didn’t have a tripod (never have it when I need it) so I found a lightpost to brace against.  It took me a few shots to get the settings I wanted and finally settled on a 1 second exposure at f/3.5.

So now I’m ready to capture the shot.  The whole time I’m driving, taking a USMC Memorial detour, parking, finding the right spot and getting my settings down the lighting is occurring.  AS SOON AS I’m ready to take my first shot….NOTHING!  Nothing for 30 minutes.  I took over 100 shots waiting and hoping for that brilliant stunning shot. Nothing.  Fate decided to tempt me, then tease me, then ultimately disappoint me.  When I finally decided to give in and head home I tried really hard not to look back.  It would have killed me to see another lightning bolt.

If I had succeeded I would have an image to brag about but that was not the case this outing.  The drive home found me discouraged and angry but confused about who or what to be angry with.  This morning finds me in better spirits and able to wrap it up as a learning experience.  I did realize that a little as a few months ago I would have just set the camera to P mode.  It would have taken me at least 10 minutes to figure out the right manual settings then, if I could have figured them out at all.  This trip it took me all of 1 minute, I think I had the settings I wanted after 4 tries.

The lesson I’m walking away with is one every photographer has heard at least once.  You will never capture that perfect image if you don’t press the button.  It may take a few attempts, ok maybe A LOT of attempts, but it will happen.  Next time I’ll know where to go and what to do.  There’s a possible thunderstorm tonight so who knows, maybe lighting will strike the same spot twice.

Here’s one of the images from last night.  The open space to the right of the monument was where the majority of the lightning was occurring when I got to DC.  By the way, I’ve got around 100 of these shots if you want one

Trailer Released for Second Skin, A Documentary on Virtual Worlds

NotchUp – Opportunity Knocks…but for who?

Today I was shared a blog post via Mixx from xrrg.com concerning the new service NotchUp.com.  Their service is confusingly simple.  You provide your resume to a pool that employers can search through.  Instead of paying a recruiter, the employer can pay you for interviewing with them if they feel you are a good match for their position and the price is right.  Interview costs are set per individual, ranging from $75 to $5000.

I recieved a beta invite to the service this weekend from a friend I haven’t had any contact with in quite some time.  At first I was happy that this person thought of me to send the invite, maybe he knew I was in the job market. Then puzzlement took over when I investigated the site and read who their targeted audience was.  Their homepage states:  “NotchUp is for you if:  – you’re happy at your job; – you’re good at what you do; and – you’re not looking for a new job.”  Well that doesn’t fit me so why did my friend invite me?

AHHH I SEE.  As you register you come to a part where you can import your LinkedIn profile.  This was a great addition as you don’t have to refill out the monotonous forms that every job board requires.  After that part of the registration it asks if you want to import your LinkedIn contacts so they can send invites to the service…AND OH BY THE WAY…you get 10% of any commissions earned by your referrals.  BINGO!  Thats how I received my invite.  There was nothing personal in sending it, just the easy reward of a possible commission by allowing a service to take a portion of my social graph and spamming it.

I would highly advise anyone, both prospects and employees, to stay away from this or similar services using this model. 

For the employee you are taking an immediate risk right from the start.  The service targets people that are happy with their current jobs and not looking to move.  Will you really pay $500 or more to interview someone that doesn’t want to change jobs? 

For the normal user, is that how you want your social network to be utilized?  Networks built on LinkedIn and others social sites are built with trust.  Services like NotchUp misuse that trust and should not be rewarded for their effort.  I hate to use the term pyramid scheme here but if the shoe fits…

What do you think?