Tribute to Abraham Lincoln

Tribute to Abraham Lincoln  – the Greatest U.S. President. Background music is Piano Nocturne #14 “Aqua” by Conrad Askland.

It was a very moving experience to work on this video. In the past month I have been creating some videos about historical characters and actual historical figures. This was one of my favorites, to be able to spend time alone (virtually at least) with the great Abraham Lincoln. I am always moved by his quote that encourages us to follow “the better angels of our nature.” To me it is a similar hopeful thought akin to the early U.S. settlers who dreamed of “a city upon a hill.” We fall short. We always do. But we can strive and we can be encouraged to be the better side of who we are as individuals, as a nation and as a global community.

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Ona, Norway Photos – Back to my Roots

On my tour with the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai, one of our destinations is the Oslo Spektrum arean in Oslo, Norway. The end of August 2017 was able to spend a week with my cousin to trace our ancestry back to my great grandparents on the island of Ona, Norway. It was our “back to our roots” tour.

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My Photos at 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Here are some of my photos from the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. For my show reviews and thoughts go to:
http://conradaskland.com/blog/edinburgh-fringe-2017-shows-thoughts/

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an annual theater destination with hundreds of different shows to attend from stand up comics, musical theater to the absurd and serious theater genres. This year was the 70th annual Fringe and it was awesome!

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Skagit County, WA farmland photos

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Photos of farmlands in Skagit County, WA on Easter evening 2016 after a light rainfall. This area is known for it’s tulip fields where tourists visit in the spring every year to tour the local farms. It’s a breathtaking area to drive and take in the local sights. We affectionately call this area “God’s country.”

This is my first venture into nature photography. I look forward to improving my skills. The process of taking these photos is an adventure in itself and very fulfilling.

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Lens Comparison Canon 5D Mark II

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUW4jivwqWM&NR

Here’s a video I made for a lens comparison on the Canon 5D Mark II using Final Cut Express, MPEG Streamclip and ProTools 9. Footage is automatic settings with tripod at 25 (23.98) frames per second. Lenses in the comparison are:

  • Canon 24-105mm f/4L
  • Canon 50mm f/1.4
  • Canon 15mm Fisheye f/2.8
  • Tamron 20mm f/1.8

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iMovie and YouTube Video Upload Quality

I keep making the same mistake by uploading iMovie videos with the automated “Upload to YouTube” option. The videos uploaded this way look absolutely horrible. I just did a vacation video with a Canon 5D Mark II and Canon lenses at 24fps with great video quality – but the upload looks worse than my old $300 Casio camera.

So convert the iMovie videos first onto your hard drive then upload through your YouTube account. I mean it’s just a boring vacation video but $4,000 of Canon gear should look better than a $300 Casio right?

Canon 5D Mark II and iMovie 09

I just love my Canon 5D Mark II camera that I bought a few months ago. But there are issues with the footage being jerky when using IMovie 09. I haven’t quite had the time to jump into using Final Cut yet, so until then you can use a free program called MPEG Streamclip to fix the video stuttering.

There’s a great article here that will explain exactly what do to:
http://thedigitalstory.com/2009/04/managing_canon_5d_ma.html

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