about cahoonah
cahoonah.com has been on my mind for quite some time. First there was the name, which actually has no meaning at all, despite that I like how it sounds. Looking it up on the net revealed, that hawaiian priests are called kahuna. Some of you might know the old cahoonah circle server on hotline... well that was also me. Now it is the name of my site and I consider it to stand for all that I like.
about this place
I had to take a close look on typo3 at work and liked it. A good friend of mine - Alex from mobileread.com - offered me some webspace with a Typo3 on it. Not quite sure what to do with it, I set up a blog, and another blog and a project page and some things more. Not content with all of it, I switched to a photoblog and thanks to Michiel Roos and his photoblog plugin, it went reality. After half a year of working with Typo3 and my blog, I still had clitches that I couldn't fix. Too complex, too much server stuff to take into consideration... I spent more time fixing my template, than actually go out and take pictures. Finally I came across Pixelpost - half way back to basic HTML editign, but therefore not such a blown up beast as Typo3.. in short: it fits alle my needs. As soon, as the days get shorter again, I will probably set up a regulare blog, for my other projects... you'll see.
about equipment
Equipment seems to be essential part of todays digital photography. German writer and poet Goethe created the word "velociferisch". Even when he was living about 250 years ago, he noticed that mankind tends to do everything faster and faster, better and better, more efficient and much more closer to the devil of beeing reluctant.
Today you can go out and buy a new camera with the latest features and better resolution every couple of weeks; but will this new piece of hightech let you take better pictures? Probably. But we already came a long way. Think of all those great photographers from the past 50 years. They had cameras that few of us might even get to work nowadays and they did much better pictures than most of us will do. So what!
For myself, I found that it is more important to really go out and take pictures, instead getting caught up in this tech-race, buying the latest 12mpx model and heavy lenses. My focus is more on the picture side and the fun of it and that's what it should all be about, right?
Although I still try to not get cought in this techrace I constantly upgraded my equipment over the last 3 years. This is due to my engagement with photography which became some sort of means to leave all this daily stuff behind and take a look on the beatyful things in life.
You learn that a certain degree of technical equipment gives you a benefit, or better results in the end. I switched to the all new D90 in Dezember 08. This was a good descision, as I can now crop the image more - giving me more freedom compositionwise without loosing too much resolution.
So here's what I got:
Canon S50 + underwater body
Nikon D50 (now my backup on rugged tours where I don't dare to take the D90)
Nikon D90
Sigma 18-50mm 1:3-5.6 DC D
Tamron 17-35 SP AF Di LD (IF) 1:2,8-4
Nikon AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-200 mm 1:3,5-5,6G IF-ED
Nikon AF-S 70-300 1:45-5.6 G
Sigma 135-400mm F4,5-5,6 DG Apo (will sell this soon)
Manfrotto tripod with 3D head
Slingshot AW 300 (third in a row, as they use to fall appart after one year. Lowepro always changed it on warranty basis, which is great!)
couple of Cokins ND and gradient filters.
about me
name: Falk,
living: Offenbeach (am Meer), Germany
Considering my surrounding as jungle. There will be very much to explore and very much to discover.
It's a jungle out there...