Some time ago I made a blog entry talking about a neat publication called JPG which only printed photos submitted and voted on by its users. Unfortunately, it looks like they have hit on hard times:

“Today is a particularly sad day for all of us at JPG and 8020 Media. We’ve spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we’ve reached the end of the line.”

You can grab the back issues and whatever else over at JPG before the ship sinks completely on Monday.

(On taking interesting photos) “In the end it’s really not about exotic travel but about seeing the exotic that is all around us. In the past few years virtually all of my images have been captured, literally, between meetings.”  Source

Also: “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”  Source

The sea of black, the beaming heat on their faces
Their figure emerges from the wasteage
Eyes transfixed with a piercing gaze
One hand clutching a sword raised to the sky
They wonder how, they wonder why
The sky turns white it all becomes clear
They felt lifted from their fears
They shed tears in the light
After 6 dark years
Young bold soldiers, the fire burns
Cracks and smoulders
5 years older and wiser
The fires are burning on fire, never tire
Slave warriors in the forests and on higher
We sing, hear the strings rising
The wars over, the bells ring
Memories fading, soldiers slaying

Words by Mike Skinner
Photo by Jon Van Dalen

If you have one of the newer FX or full frame format cameras, you might be thinking that you have to upgrade your DX size lenses in order to get the full resolution of the FX sensor.  Not neccesarily true.  I shot the following three photos with FX mode enabled on my D700, using the DX Tokina 12-24 lens.

DX Tokina 12-24 Lens, 12 mm

DX Tokina 12-24 Lens, 18 mm

DX Tokina 12-24 Lens, 24 mm

All three of these photos were made at 12.1 MP, FX mode.  Normally, FX cameras have a mode that senses when you are using a DX lens, and crops the sensor to about 5 megapixels, in the center of the FX sensor, which replicates the DX size and prevent the vignette you see in the first photo above.  I disabled this and shot as if the lens was FX compatible.

Since DX lenses still meter, autofocus, zoom and generally work perfectly on the D700, there is really only one drawback which is that you can accidentally produce an image like the first one that is zoomed out far enough to capture the edges of the camera hardware.  But if you are willing to frame your shot with some care, you still have a “true” FX 18-24mm lens (anything under 18mm vignettes) that works at the full resolution of the FX sensor.  To me, this is worth living with rather than upgrading to the expensive (and admittedly awesome) Nikon 14-24.  I’d rather shoot this way at 12mp than use “DX mode” and get 5.

Here are some other shots I took recently with the DX lens using this technique while we were checking out the construction of our new house here in northern Virginia. (that’s me below with my lovely wife Teresa)