it's the mirror not the shutter that moves the camera (mirror has a ton more mass than the shutter) if the shutter moves your camera then you need a better tripod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_lock-up
also not really that relevant for these but if you are taking long exposures in the dark you may have a manually operated shutter to block the eyepiece... cameras without a shutter you can use an eyepeice cap to cover it also... this prevents any light leaking in from the eyepiece back into the camera when doing very low light/long exposure stuff
Another SELEM for the books. Boy this one seemed to go fast. Thank goodness for the Newton show and staying until Monday morning since at least that made me feel like I was there for the right length of time. Thanks as always to Adam for the vision to have created this event and the insanity of keeping it going. I'm always honored and a bit humbled to have somehow managed to become viewed as an important component. Must be the food since I still don't know as much about lasers as some of you have forgotten. Thank you for all the kind words. It's truly not the work some people think it is and it's pretty easy when you've done it for a living for so many years.
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I spent a lot more time in the auditorium this year than in years past, thanks in part to the efforts of Dkumpula, Saltyrobot, Swami, Mike Dunn and Tom Salt (and of course the Pink Floyd finale by DZ and CountFunkula). Tom's skill with a very simple set up was truly one of the most impressive things I recall ever seeing at a LEM. Sometimes the old ways probably were best. But, one of the key things I am discovering is that sitting and watching an abstract show is becoming more enjoyable to me than watching beams. Maybe I'm maturing. The Club is cool and all but, I can set that up at watch beams any day of the week. Abstract shows, I have to slowly buy. (or even more slowly, figure out how to make)
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Yes Hank, we did play some of the shows created by laserists in Europe on, I believe, Friday evening for a bit. I picked some randomly in alphabetical order and got real lucky that they were mostly worth watching and looked good on the setup in there. I need to spend some time really deciphering the shows to see what may be mixed beams and graphics and, multi scanner shows and maybe we can run some more complex things next year the way the artist intended. Some may be found on the Pangolin Cloud if you search for them.
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I didn't get to spend as much time in the cafeteria as I would have liked but, what little I did see was enough to know that the spirit of experimentation is still very much alive and well in the world of Lightspace, Goldenstar and Kvant boxes. I have a work area at home now so, maybe I'll have some projects to show off next year. Speaking of next year.... get your calendar out. August 7-12 will be the dates that the magic happens in Newton again. I think Frank said it best...
"every time I set off on the drive to Newton I ask myself why I do this to myself every year, then I spend a week with some of the greatest people on the planet and I remember why... I fucking love you guys!"
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Oh, and thank you for all the kind comments about the quality of the sound in the auditorium. The QSC's weren't cheap but, I think we've got a perfect solution for audio in the auditorium for years to come. I still can't get over how much clear, clean volume and the amount of bass that comes out of those tiny cabinets.
Last edited by Bradfo69; 08-16-2017 at 13:28.
PM Sent...
There has not been enough coffee grown this year to get me through this week...what an awesome experience yet again! It is a privilege to be a part of such an amazing group and to see so much talent in so many different forms all in one place. Big thanks to everyone else who hauled a ton of gear in to make things happen, and everyone involved with planning/setup/teardown; I don't think I'll top the amount of stuff I had in the Element for a good while! I could get used to that food too...
I don't think I can pick a favorite part of the week since there was so much new and cool stuff all around - the projects set up in the cafeteria continue to amaze me, playing around on the setup in the gym and trading ideas/inspiration was a blast, and the content showcased in the auditorium was nothing short of incredible (and what a sendoff on Saturday night!). Hopefully I'll get to hang with some of you guys before next year, and if any of you end up near DC, Ethan and I are always down to chill!
Oh man... I was so wiped out after SELEM this year that I didn't finish unloading the trailer until Thursday night! When I got home Monday I went straight to bed, and then I had to pull a couple 12-hr shifts at work Tuesday and Wednesday. (Lots of problems at the plant just in time for my return to work - yay... NOT!)
Sure was an amazing event though. Big thanks to everyone who made the trip! We had several new faces this year, which was really cool. We also had more lasers than ever before, including an amazing 30 watt Kvant in Club-SELEM! (Albeit only for 1 night though.) Best of all, we didn't get any noise complaints this year. So we're definitely getting better at being good neighbors.
I am continually amazed at the diverse group of talent that you can find at SELEM. Gear-heads... Software techs... Electronics geeks... Artists... Musicians... Chefs... Pilots... The list goes on and on! And all of them are pure gold. Seriously, you guys are some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of hanging out with. Can't wait for next year!
But for now, I'm going to go to bed early tonight and try to finally catch up on my sleep...
Adam
I agree, Rick. I shut my stuff down as well. In fact, when the cop uttered that famous line ("Someone's going to jail unless you play another laser show"), the *only* projector running in Club-SELEM was the 30 watt Kvant. And yet it lit the room up like daylight.
So yeah, if we have anything in that power class set up next year, I'll make sure it gets mounted on the highest truss. But Anthony really wanted to see it down low, and honestly we didn't have an easy way to rig it up high anyway. (Not without a lot of work lowering one of the big trusses.)
Hopefully next year we will have some extra people show up for load-in so we can spend more time tweaking the layout in the club. I hope to have some extra power with me by then, and possibly a new mounting system as well.
Adam