Mie Ahmt Photography

Stupid Stupid Battery

 

This is how the battery in a MacBook Pro is supposed to look....

(PS dont ask me why I felt like taking these pictures at ISO 2500)

And this is how the battery in my MacBook Pro looks...

 

Apparently (and according to the Mac Guy I talked to on the phone) this is perfectly normal for my generation of MacBook Pro Batteries (Mine is from April 2006)...it is a chemical reaction that happens when the battery is about to die completely...

I haven't noticed any battery problems other than a few days ago when the trackpad stopped working. Turns out that the trackpad stopped working because the battery was pushing on it from underneath... Doh!

I don't know how much longer to rely on this computer... The keyboard is not working, the cd-drive isn't woking and now it doesn't even have a battery... I wonder how many times I will forget about the battery - cut the power off on accident - before I get so mad that I throw it out the window...

I love my Mac and I really don't want to buy a new one.But I really think it would be cool if a +$4000 laptop would last me more than 2 years...

In Edit Mode

I am in the process of having a new logo designed - redo my website and all that good stuff. That means I am editing a bunch of pictures to put up once I am done deciding what I want to do. My current website mieahmtphotography.com is good - I like it - but I would like it to do a bit more... I am with Livebooks at the moment  and considering if I want to upgrade or totally change to another provider. I like that Livebooks is so easy to use - it looks good - and it works! I know lots of people who use Livebooks  - and there is really nothing wrong with it - other than the price.
If you read this and have any suggestions for me I will be happy to hear them.

Meanwhile here are some of my recent edits from Afghanistan.

Yabadaba-Doooo!!!

Excuse me for letting my inner geek out. Finally skype for Iphone is here - and it is fabulous!
 
I have made my first international call with the new skype app that you can download for free in the app store. This is the greatest nerd experience i have had in a long time... There is a review of the application here - I am IN LOVE! Even the chat works very well... Suddenly my useless AT&T device turns out to be super useful for me in Denmark! Yay for Skype I heart you so much!

Tiltshifting

So... I did not get that tilshift lens I wanted for Christmas... No problem!!!
This awesome website called tilshiftmaker creates awesome tilshift-look-alike images for you. It is so easy and the pictures come out great! Now - don't get me wrong... The tilshift lens is still on the list of things I wish I owned!
   I feel a little bit like it is cheating... But who cares??? It looks so cute!

Shooting in a SandBox!

When I bought my beloved Canon Mark III this summer - one of my main reasons for buying exactly THAT camera was the 'dust-proof' seal! I knew I was going back to Afghanistan to take pictures - and that dust proof would be the way to go...
Now, I do understand that dust proof is ONLY when the lens is actually attached to the camera and stays that way (And yes! I do have the super-duper 'dust-proof' lenses with the rubber seal (I believe they are called the L-series)).
I try very hard to not change my lenses outside here - and I clean my sensor all the time... And with all the time - I mean daily! I have the sensor scope (that I must admit I have learned to love) - and I am so so so careful... and yet - This is what I have to deal with.
This day started out with a clean sensor... after about 2 hours of shooting and no lens change... This is the result:

(obviously the white rings are NOT the dust spots... that just shows where the dust-spots where before I removed them in LightRoom.)

I have 200 pictures due for a client on Tuesday... I am a mean dust removing machine...

I like...

Scott Rouse from The Lightroom Lab made this nice little list of great gifts for photographers for under $100... It is a great list - my favorite is definitely #7: Animoto All-Access Pass - $30.

I hadn't heard of Animoto before - but after checking it out myself I am impressed! It's a website that turn your photos into cool dynamic movies. This is my first try

This little 30 sec movie was free - but there are options to buy a full length movie for $3 - or the $30 (a year) full access pass. I like! They also have options for commercial use that's $249 a year... Pretty Cool!

If you want to try it out - You should use this referral code prlkvcew - that'd be really cool too :)

All I want for Christmas part 1

All I want for Christmas is a tilt shift lens like this one from Canon. At the moment my favorite lens is my 50mm 1.4! But I have a feeling the tilt shift could be a pretty good competitor!

I have posted a video by Keith Louti before, now he has made a new one. These videos make me chuckle!

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Nerd Talk

At the moment I am in Denmark - the Motherland... Whenever I come to Denmark everything I own gets an upgrade! It seems like the easiest place to do it (super super super fast internet) and then there is the fact that my nerd brother Jonas is the most updated and informed person when it comes to upgrades of nerdy things.. So whenever I get to Copenhagen my computer, my Iphone, and my brain gets the latest upgrade.

This time I have been very impressed with the new Adium upgrade.

Adium is an open-source instant messaging application (works only on Mac as far as I know). It puts all your Messenger accounts in the same application (Yahoo, google, msn etc) and now it integrates Facebook chat and lots more. Adium is free and I LOVE it!