Hi! I'm Erik.

DIY DSLR Camera Sling Strap

Too much time, too little money

The strap that came with your camera is quite useful. Not only does it remind you of what brand you have (in case you forgot), but it is also able to help avoiding fatal damages to the camera. However, the strap often gets stuck or tangled up when you need to move the camera in position, which could kill the shot completely.

Now, wouldn't it be so much better if the strap could just stay in place, and the camera would just move along it instead? These do exist, but I decided to give it a try myself before shelling out some EUR 50 for such a simple thing.

Read on for a tutorial on how to make your own sling strap.

Icons using the HTML5 Canvas Element

Is it 2003 already?

With IE9, the HTML5 canvas element suddenly went mainstream. Since I have an educated audience that makes sure to keep their web browsers updated, I made some changes to the Shiny Icon Maker to take advantage of some features of the canvas. For example, PNG conversion can now be done client-side, which is faster and more accurate. Give it a try.

Vignetting with the Gimp

Defective by design

Dark corners in a photo are usually referred to as vignetting. Actually a lens defect, it does leave a lot of room for creativity. Portrait shots, for example, can benefit from some vignetting since the dark corners emphasize the subject in the middle. It also adds a nice vintage effect and often works well on black and white photos.

In Adobe Lightroom, there is built-in functionality for adding vignette. But what about Gimp? Turns out there are several ways to do it. Read on.

The Social Network

Where is the It-Was-Ok-Button?

Finally saw the Social Network yesterday. It has been called best movie of the year by some reviewers, so my expectations were high. While good, I was slightly disappointed. To me, Zuckerberg just didn't seem to be a very likeable guy.

It's funny actually - after seeing Fast and Furious, I felt like speeding, after the Social Network, I felt like coding. So this site now has the infamous "Like"-button - just click Comment/Share below.

Fake Raindrops Macro Photography

Bring your own rain

I became an instant fan of Bryan Peterson after reading his book "Understanding Exposure", which taught me a lot about being creative with a camera. Recently, I saw one of his videos online on shooting straws of grass with drops of water on them, and I just needed to give it a shot myself. Nice results without much effort, I have to say - you can shoot this in your backyard.

Free High Resolution Images

There is actually such a thing as a free lunch

I recently added a few images in full resolution to the download page. They are some of my favorite shots, and printed they look nice on the wall in my apartment. Feel free to download them and use them as you wish. More will be coming soon. Go to download page.

DIY Drop Handlebars to Bullhorns

Flopped and Chopped, Flipped and Clipped

I have an old bike with drop handlebars. Riding it is a lot of fun, but with the hands placed on the brake hoods - which I find is the most comfortable way to ride - I am unable to use the brakes efficiently. The pursuit handlebar, or bullhorn, looked both functional and cool so I decided to try to convert the handlebar into one. It proved quite easy; I removed the brakes, turned the handlebar around, cut the drops and reinstalled the brakes upside down. The result was very comfortable and feels a lot safer. After the mod, I did some googling and found this guide on Ride Fixed Gear which demonstrates the steps. Apparently, it's called "chop-and-flop" and it seems that I got it right. ;)

ASK 731SP 3G Smartpad Review

Tablet El-Cheapo

Recently, the market has been flooded by a number of cheap Android tablets - most of them rather iPad lookalikes than iPad killers. I recently picked this one up in Hong Kong, where it sells for around 1700 HKD, which roughly equals 160 EUR. A quite reasonable price, considering that it features a 7 inch capacitive multi touch screen. So is the Smartpad the gem in the pile of chinese plastic junk, or is it rather the other way around? Let's find out.

Hong Kong Trip 2011 Pics

Kung Fu Panda

I just came back from this year's trip to Asia, which took me to Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Check out the image gallery for more.

Getting Started with Star Trails

Paint the sky

I just recently started experimenting with star trails photography. The "classic" technique is to make one single exposure (say, for one hour), and as the earth rotates, the stars will paint beautiful trails on the sensor/film. Now, this may not work for everyone. A one hour exposure would require the surrounding to be pitch black. I live in the city, and along with that comes a lot of light pollution. So instead of doing it the real way, I had to resort to some cheating. The idea is quite simple: Have the camera take a series of pictures of the clear night sky, then merge them in the computer. Read on for more.