Meets The Weird » photography

You Can Own the World’s Smallest Digital Camera

John D — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:35:08 +0000

Thanks to the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog the worlds smallest digital camera can be yours for $100 US. Measuring 1 1/8″ x 1″ x 1 1/16″ the 2 megapixel camera stores it’s not so tiny photos and videos on a MicroSD card ranging in size up to 32Gb.

While Hammacher Schlemmer doesn’t provide any sample images taken by the diminutive snapper, you can probably safely assume from its size and price tag that its image quality falls somewhere in the toy digi-cam range. Especially with the proliferation of high quality cell phone cameras, this probably won’t be the next big thing in collecting evidence of ghosts, UFOs, or cryptids, but it’s small size may be a boon to investigators looking to sneak a camera in where it isn’t wanted. In that case the best camera is truly the one in your hand. Even if you aren’t looking to blow the lid off a global conspiracy, The World’s Smallest Camera certainly is an interesting conversation piece and would make an excellent gift (especially for the shutterbug that has everything).

The World’s Smallest Camera [via Gizmodo]

Canadian Gov’t Silent On UFO Sighting Off Newfoundland

John D — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:51:24 +0000

photo courtesy of Darlene Stewart

Residents of the rural community of Harbour Mille in Newfoundland were shocked when they saw strange objects streaking up from the ocean Monday night. Darlene Stewart spotted the mysterious object while out taking photographs of the sunset. Shaken by the sighting, she called her neighbor Emmy Pardy and her husband. All told, the trio witnessed three of the objects flying up from the sea. Pictures taken by Mrs. Stewart show a long possibly cylindrically shaped object trailed by smoke or fire (which doesn’t rule out a missile launch). The witnesses reported that the objects made no noise as the flew across the sky. The incident was investigated by the local police who “confirmed that it was something”, but refuse to elaborate further on the incident, instead referring further questions to the Department of National Defense. Officials from the DND have refused to comment on the incident leaving the quiet community wondering what it is they saw.

DND, RCMP mum on UFO mystery [via Chris Holly's Paranormal World]

UFO Spotted In Picture Taken From A Jetliner

John D — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:43 +0000

The picture below was taken by Flickr user Magic_lamp while on a RyanAir fight from Portugal to the UK this May. He says, that despite being very cliche for this type of photo, he did not notice the dark spot in the upper left of the image along the curvature of the earth when he took the photograph.

At first glance, it appears to be a speck of something stuck to the window of the plane, but as you look closer it become apparent that what ever was there was not stuck to the plane. When you blow up the object things begin to get interesting…

As you can see, the object does not appear to be any sort of known aircraft or balloon. At this level of magnification we can begin to see that the object appears to be three dimensional. When you look at the cloud tops and the engine cowling, it appears that the object was being lit by the same light source as the engine and clouds. This becomes clearer as we further enlarge and inhance the image. This time to 1700% of the original size (this was done with SmillaEnlarger at the default setting).

Here we can see from the shadows on the object that it appears to have convex sides and that the side of the object facing away from the viewer may be curved or have curved corners. Additionally, we can see that the 4 blue dots along the dark side of the object that were visible at the lower magnification appear to be part of some sort of circular structures stretching the width of the object. Unfortunately with only one photograph we have no clue which direction (if any) the object is traveling in, but if we assume the object is traveling away from the camera, the dark section we are seeing may be the external portions of a propulsion system. This could provide a plausible explanation for the darker coloration which could either be the result of exhaust from the system, or the propulsion system being recessed into the craft to reduce the thermal or infrared signature of the craft (like was done on the Stealth Fighter).

What we are seeing in this picture is anybodies guess, but baring a well executed hoax, it appears to be some sort of UFO. Whether its origin is terrestrial or extraterrestrial, while I cannot personally vouch for the photographer and I am not an expert at image analysis, this appears to be a photo of something that is currently unknown to the general public and I want to thank Magic_lamp for sharing it with us. Please feel free to share what you think this object is in the comments and for those of you that are interested, the largest size copy of the photo is available here for your perusal.

ufo by Magic_lamp on Flickr

How to take a great UFO photo

John D — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:20:45 +0000

We’ve all seen them. I’ve even seen entire TV shows based around them. I am talking about blurry, grainy or otherwise unintelligible “UFO” photos. Now I know most UFO photos are taken by amateurs who may not even notice the UFO in their shot until after the fact, but I have seen my fair share of pictures taken by “UFO hunters” that look like they were taken by a blind chimpanzee jacked up on crystal meth. Even though UFO sightings are unexpected events, there are a few things you can do that can be the difference between a blurry shot and once that is tack sharp.

(These are just some examples I found with Google to illustrate the differences between a blurry and a sharp UFO photo – the second shot is almost certainly a hoax)

1. Hold The Camera Properly – The way that you hold the camera has an enormous impact on the quality of the pictures you take. Your right hand should firmly hold the camera so your index finger floats softly above the shutter release with the other three fingers wrapped around the front of the camera and your thumb gripping the back. (While you should hold the camera firmly, you do not want to grip it so hard that you shake the camera.) Your left hand should support the weight of the camera by either being positioned under the body of the camera or under/around the lens depending on the type of camera you have. Once you have a good grip on your camera, tuck your elbows into your sides and bring the camera up to your face so you are looking through the view-finder. If your camera does not have a view finder, bring it as close to your face as possible. The closer to your body, the more stable you will be. The more stable your are, the better your shots will be.

2. Stabilize Yourself – Aside from holding your camera properly, stabilizing yourself is the next thing you should do to help improve your shots. In a perfect world, you would have a tripod and your extraterrestrial subject would hover in front of it while you shoot away to your hearts content. Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in and you have to make due with what it around you. Since you will most likely be zooming in on your subject, even the smallest shakes can affect the quality of your image. To help reduce these shakes, lean up against something sturdy. Anything that is not prone to moving will due, a lamp post, the side of a building, a large tree, etc. In a pinch a car or even leaning back to back against a friend (as long as they can stand still) can help. The key reduce any unnecessary movement of the camera so you can take the clearest picture possible.

3. Use automatic mode – If you are using a digital camera, it is probably best to set the camera to automatic unless you are very good and very fast at picking your exposure settings. Today’s cameras are pretty good about picking settings that will give you the best shot possible, allowing you to concentrate on taking the picture (which in the case of a UFO sighting is probably best, considering how exciting it is liable to be). This is not to say that there is anything wrong with using manual or any other mode for taking a picture of a UFO (in fact in some conditions you will get a better shot by picking your own settings), I just think with the limited time of most UFO sightings is best spent taking steady, clear shots.

4. Turn Off Digital Zoom – You should have done this when you first got your camera, but if you didn’t know any better, it’s okay. Do it now. Digital zoom is not zoom at all, the camera is just using its built in processor to blow up the center of the picture you are taking (usually very poorly). The end result of digital zoom is usually blurry, grainy pictures that you can’t really do anything to enhance. Even if your camera has very little zoom, you are much better off trying to enlarge the image on your computer later. There are some very good computer programs for enlarging digital images (onOne’s Genuine Fractals Photoshop/Elements plugin comes to mind and from what I have heard is worth every penny), but even the enlargement features built in to your image editor are generally better than any in-camera enlargement (plus you keep your original file intact).

5. Practice – I know, you can’t just go out and shoot UFO’s, but you can go out and take pictures of planes (not near the airport though – people are a little jumpy nowadays), birds, cars, etc. to get used to taking pictures of fast moving objects. I personally recommend birds, because their flight patterns are somewhat erratic and they can be challenging to shoot. The more you practice the better your shots will be and the more second nature pulling out your camera and taking a good shot will become.

Now go out there and get some amazing UFO pictures. Just don’t forget to send them to your friends here at Where the Wired Meets The Weird.

Resources:
How to Hold a Digital Camera @ The Digital Photography School Blog