Though it's chilly and rainy outside, we did manage to get to lunch at a nearby Austin Grill. All major stores are closed today, so no shopping. Baby Cianna and I are hanging out together in bed while mommy catches up on a bunch of work at her computer. We're all set with toys, books, wireless devices and the warmth of each other's company.

- mike lee - baltimore

Photographing in glamor style with my friend Dainah this afternoon.

- mike lee -

The next obvious targets for my phonecam fisheye lens are faces. The lens is about 1/2" away from the noses of these subjects. If anything, the 180 degree field of view is too wide for dramatic rendering of faces. See the work photographer Chip Simons who built a career around his signature photographic style of multicolored flash photos using a traditional full-frame Nikon fisheye lens. His site also has a section of photos made with the same Nikon Coopix fisheye lens I'm using.

- mike lee -

I had lunch today at the National Building Museum which gave me a chance to shoot another fisheye photo. While there, I discovered that the annual Festival of Origami Architecture is tomorrow from 10am - 4:30pm. Alas, I already made plans and once again can't go.

Origami architecture is the art of crafting pop-up sculptures out of a single piece of paper with only cuts and folds. The patterns are designed from scratch, and the most complex can take years of thinking. The last photo shows a greeting card that opens to reveal a dimensional model of the U.S. Capitol. This particular example is mass-produced by a laser cutter, but true origami artists cut their pieces by hand. You're not likely to make it to this festival, but you can download free PDF patterns from the Baud & Bui web site to try on your own.

And noting to myself: Symphony In Steel - Ironworkers and the Walt Disney Concert Hall is showing through August 22.

- mike lee - washington, dc

Union Station is one of the most ideal locations to show off the capabilities of a super-wide angle lenses. The first frame is a normal shot and the rest are of various interior and exterior views as seen through the fisheye lens. Notice my fingers holding the edge of the lens and my Sidekick wriststrap in some of the photos.

- mike lee -

I had the forehead-slapping realization last night to hold my Nikon FC-E8 0.21x fisheye converter lens over my phonecam module aperture. It's awkward to manage but works!

This lens is sold as an add-on to the Nikon Coolpix 900 series of digital cameras, and used for trick photos and to capture superwide source images for iPix and QuickTimeVR 360 degree panoramas. The $125 (street price) lens is a massive multi-element dome of glass that sees an amazing 180 degree field of view. As you can see in the first photo, the lens' rear element is an almost ideal size for manually positioning over the phonecam lens.

The last two frames are a self-portrait and forward shot made in the cramped seating of a commuter train. In the first fisheye shot, you can see the conductor in the view and passengers standing *directly* to my left. In the second, my fingers holding the edge of the lens are visible.

Other digicam manufacturers such as Olympus and third parties like Raynox make add-on lenses like this one in various focal lengths. If you shop around, you can find used or discontinued items for pretty cheap.

Needless to say, look for more fisheye shots in the coming days, and I'll probably start investigating other lenses to see how well they work with the Sidekick/Hiptop camera. This technique should also work with many other phonecams.

OK, my train has arrived in DC-- later.

- mike lee -

...at work. Oops, I hope baby didn't delete any e-mails! Now she's power-napping at lunch. - mike lee - washington, dc

...at U of B.

I got this photo from home today via e-mail. It appears mommy is teaching our little girl the evil act of banging on a pot lid with a ladle.

- mike lee -

We toted Baby Cianna to my mom's this morning, then to my brother and his wife's house for lunch (1st row), and then to my cousin's place (2nd row). Cianna loved all the socializing but had to catch up on her sleep in the car between stops.

- mike lee - logging over 100 miles in the car today across four counties in maryland