My Scope (CIH) Theater Room

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by RayEdwards

This is my favorite HT on these forums...Well, my favorite anywhere for that matter.

Well played, sir!



EDIT: Brian, what camera do you use for your screen shots. I cannot keep my 6.0 mega-pixel Kodak camera still enough to take a great photo.

Have you adjusted your aperture settings. I guess I'm asking "How do you take such great photos, mang?"

Thanks Ray--

I use a Canon 1D mark III DSLR with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS lens on a Gitzo tripod with an Arca-Swiss Ballhead (photography is one of my other hobbies). An off-camera timer-remote is also very useful for shooting in low lighting to minimize camera shake. I usually leave the lens stopped down and use an ISO of 400-800. I shoot in RAW and do the post-processing in Apple's Aperture.

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Brain,

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Bravo!

Bowers & Wilkens are my absolute favorite speaker manufacturer, and I think your home theater room is the best I've seen on the site. Would you please add photos of your whole room to this thread? You have other pictures in the gallery, but they deserve to all be displayed in this thread.

Keep up the great work!

Thank you very much!

I will add a couple of additional shots to the lead post.

Originally Posted by FendersRule

I was thinking, since he has so much cabinet space (most of it looks unused), to remove the center section, and put the center speaker stand in there...would look better IMO.

Serious stuff the OP has..I like it. I would just tend to stare at the center speaker off and on.

Actually, the Salamander stand is full of my components-- it has 8 spaces filled with: BD Player, PS3, Power Conditioner, Lexicon MC12, Classé CDP-300, DirecTV PVR, LD player, Bryston amp.

I can't put the speaker on the stand as it is too tall and would obscure the bottom of the screen.

See my previous post about building a false wall and placing the center behind the screen though...

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Where do you store your media? We want pictures of that too. That is one sweet setup.

I keep most of it in the cabinets next to the fireplace:



There is also a cabinet underneath the display cabinet to the right of the screen area that I use to store DVD's (see the right of this image):

[RayEdwards]

Originally Posted by Brain Sturgeon

Thanks Ray--

I use a Canon 1D mark III DSLR with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS lens on a Gitzo tripod with an Arca-Swiss Ballhead (photography is one of my other hobbies). An off-camera timer-remote is also very useful for shooting in low lighting to minimize camera shake. I usually leave the lens stopped down and use an ISO of 400-800. I shoot in RAW and do the post-processing in Apple's Aperture.

Umm, yeah...What you said

Seriously, thanks for the info...I think I'll just start by obtaining a tripod and go from there. I'm not into photography at all. I have a Kodak Z612 6.1mp camera.

I should be able to get some decent shots by using the tripod and timer on the camera.

I'll let you know.

Ray

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by Brain Sturgeon

I usually leave the lens stopped down and use an ISO of 400-800. I shoot in RAW and do the post-processing in Apple's Aperture.

I forgot about shooting in RAW, does that really make that much of a diffrence?

I have a Fuji FinePix S9100 and I know my photos should come out much better then what they have.

[hitechiowa]

just out of curiosity brain, how much did all that run ya? it had to have been a pretty penny for sure? I also agree with the others your HT is def top 5 on here if not number 1 that I have seen, great work man it gives me something to shoot for when I get out of college!

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by RayEdwards

I should be able to get some decent shots by using the tripod and timer on the camera.

I'll let you know.

Ray

Good luck-- make sure to turn your flash off.

Originally Posted by HAMP

I forgot about shooting in RAW, does that really make that much of a diffrence?

I have a Fuji FinePix S9100 and I know my photos should come out much better then what they have.

RAW is nice because of the adjustments you can make to exposure, white balance, color levels, hue, saturation, etc... after you take the shot. JPEG makes those adjustments for you in-camera, which can sometimes produce not so great results. RAW files are much bigger, of course, but with how cheap flash media has gotten nowadays, it's definitely worth it.

Here's an example of what you can do in post processing with a RAW image-- these are shots of my entryway-- the first is straight out of the camera, no processing applied. In the second, I adjusted exposure and color levels, and corrected the white balance:



These were shot with available light, 24mm, f/4, 1/3 sec exposure.

Originally Posted by hitechiowa

just out of curiosity brain, how much did all that run ya? it had to have been a pretty penny for sure? I also agree with the others your HT is def top 5 on here if not number 1 that I have seen, great work man it gives me something to shoot for when I get out of college!

Thanks-- check your PM's.

[BIGMERF]

wow, im blown away right now

[HAMP]

Mr. Sturgeon YOU are the man. Thank you so much for that example!!!

I spent a pretty penny on that camera and Knew my shots should come out much better then what I have been getting.

I do have Photoshop CS3 and will have no issue's with making adjustments. Of course it will take a little practice.

This makes me feel good again about getting the camera now.

Once again!!!!

YOU are the man!!!!!

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by HAMP

Mr. Sturgeon YOU are the man. Thank you so much for that example!!!

I spent a pretty penny on that camera and Knew my shots should come out much better then what I have been getting.

I do have Photoshop CS3 and will have no issue's with making adjustments. Of course it will take a little practice.

This makes me feel good again about getting the camera now.

Once again!!!!

YOU are the man!!!!!

Thanks-- glad I could help. In addition to Photoshop, you might want to check out Adobe's Lightroom or, if you have a Mac, Apple's Aperture. Photoshop is great and obviously has incredible photo editing features, but it is not built as a RAW editor, as Lightroom and Aperture are. Most photographers use Photoshop as a supplemental editor to their RAW editor.

Good luck!

[HAMP]

Actually I do have LightRoom 1.1
I really will have to play with that program to get use to it and a better understanding of it.

I see that it gives abit of info on the taken photo about the camera settings.

Thank you so much for leading me in the right direction!!!!

and I thought the DSLR would be just as simple as a point and shoot, just with a few more settings. 'WAS I EVER WRONG'

[Kenshiro]

This set-up definately belongs in a magazine.. well done!

[Beta Man]

I know I've mentioned this before, but the architecural details in your home are great. The high ceilings and moldings are great, and now I see you have a nice marble tile entry-way (with the wife's obvious touches in place for the holidays )

Every nook and cranny I see, it gets better and better.


And if you have children, then I commend you even more for being able to keep everything in order!

[prerich]

Teach me......

[mnfish]

But then again you pay that much for the equipment you maybe want to show it off? It's that or you just want people to get the experience without them knowing what it looks like or how much you paid for it. Most people don't have a clue about this stuff anyway? So maybe it would be cool to see it hidden? It's cool looking now, though!!

[jhoffs_cb7]

just amazing

[Brain Sturgeon]

Once again, thanks to all for the very kind comments...

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I know I've mentioned this before, but the architecural details in your home are great. The high ceilings and moldings are great, and now I see you have a nice marble tile entry-way (with the wife's obvious touches in place for the holidays )

Every nook and cranny I see, it gets better and better.

And if you have children, then I commend you even more for being able to keep everything in order!

Thanks Beta-- As well as being a good friend, our builder and his finish carpenter are real sticklers for detail. We do have kids-- three, in fact. Believe me, it's a struggle to keep their mess contained to certain areas of the house.

Kudos to you as well, as your home rehab appears to be coming along very nicely.

Originally Posted by mnfish

But then again you pay that much for the equipment you maybe want to show it off? It's that or you just want people to get the experience without them knowing what it looks like or how much you paid for it. Most people don't have a clue about this stuff anyway? So maybe it would be cool to see it hidden? It's cool looking now, though!!

Honestly, I'm not one who is too particularly focused on the cost of the project. Good gear can be very expensive, but there is great equipment to be had along the entire price spectrum. I do prefer to keep things simple, unobtrusive, and clean so that you can focus on the image and sound. If/When I do a true dedicated theater build from the bare walls to finished product, there will be absolutely nothing visible equipment wise, except for the screen.

[RayEdwards]

Brain,

I did take some photos and updated my gallery w/the new shots. Nothing compared to yours, but a major improvement.

Thanks mang!

Ray

[seigneur_rayden]

Brain!!! Your HT has always been my #1 favorite. It is the best on this forum. Just so clean, clean, clean. Your pics have been my desktop for many months since I first saw them.
Keep it up. May you find the time, money and life to continue on the upgrade road.

[Got2LoveGadgets]

I have got to stop looking at your photos I dont think I will ever have a home cinema that good

[Dave_6]

As Ive said in your gallery comments, just an amazing setup! It really is one of the nicest Ive seen on here and on AVS!

Have you watched The Dark Knight Blu-ray yet? If so, how did you handle the IMAX scenes with your scope setup?