Labor Day 2012

In this Labor Day pictorial essay, I believe I felt most like image #5 in my daily work before retirement.

http://todayspictures.slate.com/20120831/

New use for mini-copters

This National Geographic assignment was just called to my attention. They are being used on the Serengeti to enable new views of lions and other wildlife there. There are a series of posts at the linked page that detail the photographer's assignment and the ways he has chosen to get around obstacles to achieve the best photos possible. It is worth a read.

Comments are welcomed.

Today's Google logo has paid 90th birthday tribute to artist Art Clokey and his creation, Gumby In this tribute page, you can see Clokey's first clay film, done on his parent's table tennis table. It does not star Gumby, but it is a fun, early animation in modeled clay.

A maze within a maze within a photograph

Wow. If you have the time, read this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/15/korea.photography?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Every revelation of a facet of life in N Korea strikes sparks of fear in my heart that one day others will not only wish to emulate that country's leaders, but successfully DO SO. Yow.

As a citizen of the world, there is not much other than instant annihilation that is quite so repugnant to me.

I'd love to see the book, though, in order to see the sheer, steely face of maximum repression...and still be safely a half world away.

How to (possibly) get your lost camera back

I followed this Washington Post Technology tip's advice today. I created a textual image of the default camera image size that told how to get the camera back to me by various ways AND I included a small image of my face, in case I might be in the room with the finder when they discovered my missing camera. That last is something the article failed to mention. I also made the filename of the file one that included what it was for and my name. I pasted the photo image in the default sub-folder of the card where my images live AND in the root of the card in case I forgot and removed the special image from the sub-folder when I remove the photos.

But, this only works if you create and store the suggested image RIGHT NOW to your camera's memory card. And, while you're at it, also store the image to the extra cards you keep in your camera bag. Someone finding THEM might return the bag to you if they see your request.

Comments welcomed.

May your eyes take in and your mind comprehend

National Geographic <== That organization's magazine's name rings through the centuries (now) as a bastion for the perfect photograph of distant places, scenes, animals, people, insects. Belches of fire from earthly openings below the crust; rushing, raging rivers; along with quiet moments of peaceful tranquility are all shown in its pages. This annual contest seems to distill the best of the best for passive viewers to take in and gasp at pangs of feelings evoked about what we see.

Enjoy!

Comments welcomed.

Mars scapes

Wow. An old friend who is an astronomer and science fiction fan sent this link. If you have any interest in Mars, visit

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/martian_landscapes.html

for some awesome pictures of our neighbor!

Please look at them. Comments welcomed.

A Memory

I am an unabashed fan of photography. If you have time, PLEASE look at this one:
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/parks/large_pages/13.shtml
which comes from this wonderful spread from a photographer of note:
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/parks/mainframeset1end.shtml

That photo was titled "A Memory, 1993". I could hardly take my eyes off of it when I saw it. It is to me the most striking image of the small collection.

And there seem to be more thumbnails than large photos. I am not sure why that is so.

[Originally gleaned from NPR Radio Pictures blog]

Comments welcomed.

Amazing software for my Canon S3 camera

I stumbled onto this software site tonight. I have a hard time explaining how wonderful this software add-in sounds to me. There are a number of things that I've been wanting to do and was disappointed that my camera couldn't do that now are possible through this software!

If you want to read about it, the main page is here.
I found out about it through a kind of roundabout means. I read the MAKE: blog. It is a blog for folks who enjoy making things. The post I read on that blog is interesting enough. It is about making an automated robotic device that allows you to create panoramic views with your digital camera at the push of a button. The post is here.
While I was reading it, it linked to the actual construction instructions here.
And on that first page of the 13 steps to make the robotic controller, the CHDK program was mentioned. I did not know before that moment that anyone was mucking about, adding software TO the already existing instruction set inside my Canon camera. I wouldn't have thought of it, though that is the domain of a lot of the MAKE: projects: "hacking" or changing either hardware or software of modern devices to make them do things they couldn't before or extending the possibilities of the device far beyond the manufacturer's thinking. CHDK makes use of the microprocessor that controls the camera (every digital camera contains a microprocessor) to act as a programmable computer that provides the extra capabilities.
This software does that with a vengeance! Here's a partial list of things possible through using CHDK, divided into six categories:

a. Enhanced ways of recording images - you can capture still pictures in RAW format (as well as JPEG), and for video images you can have increased recording time and length (1 hour or 2 GB), and a greatly increased range of compression options.

b. Additional data displays on the LCD screen - histogram, battery life indicator, depth of field, and many more.

c. Additional photographic settings that are not available on the camera by itself - longer exposure times (up to 65 seconds), faster shutter speeds (1/25,000 sec, and faster in some cases), automatic bracketing of exposure, etc.

d. The ability for the camera to run programs ('scripts', written in a micro-version of the BASIC language) stored on the memory card - these programs allow you to set the camera to perform a sequence of operations under the control of the program. For example, a camera can be programmed to take multiple pictures for focus bracketing, or take a picture when it detects that something in the field of view moves or changes brightness.

e. The ability to take a picture, or start a program on the memory card, by sending a signal into the USB port - you can use the USB cable to take a picture remotely.

f. The ability to do a number of other more useful (and fun) things, such as act as a mini file browser for the memory card, let you play games on the LCD screen, etc.

And (just think about it), the possible things that the software can do for the camera and user may GROW in number, because, now that the genie is out of the bottle, there are a host of folks out there, poking and prodding away in multiplicities of experiments, trying to create new features no one else has thought of. I'm boggled...and excited...and anticipating my camera getting much more use.

Power of the photograph: LOOK3 exhibit

LOOK3 YourSpace Online - Images by Festival of the Photograph

Looking through this kaleidoscope of slices of life in this world causes me to reflect on how both music and images can affect mood and outlook at the same time. Take a while to see what's here. Or go to the Web page of the slide show and look at it full screen! Look and reflect and rejoice and grovel in pain at what happens and can be seen in this world! All I can say in response to this overwhelming cavalcade is, "PEACE!"

Comments welcome.

Panoramic digital image camera accessory you can build for $10

This page entry looks like something almost anyone can build to aid in making panoramic images stitched together from individual camera images.

There is a distortion that happens when you simply put a camera on a tripod and snap away to create a panorama. This accessory prevents that distortion before it happens by making the rotation happen around the appropriate area of your camera's lens.

Tilting at windmills

Living in a small town on the coastal plains of Texas in a rural county, there are more things here than meet the eyes and happenstance of the average city dweller. One of my ham buddies here, Fred, has a small spread out in the country. He recently told me about his almost finished plans to erect the aged windmill tower he'd purchased. At first I thought the plans were for the tower to hold antennas for his ham activities. But, Fred said he had also purchased a similarly aged mill to go on top of the tower and was in the middle of refurbishing the gears inside the mill and cleaning up the housing. He used his machining tools to remake pieces needed to get the blades back in shape to spin again.

Fred disappeared from the ham scene for a while in late summer, working on this and many other parallel projects. So, I was surprised when I received a call yesterday, telling me I only had twenty minutes to get over there to his house (about ten minutes away from mine) in order to take photos of the final rigging and raising of the windmill.

I grabbed my camera and an extra set of recharged batteries to dash out the door. The job turned out to be much longer than either of us had anticipated, but that is the way of all projects, I fear. I got there while he was still getting the several gallons of diesel fuel needed to power the combination front-end loader/backhoe that would be one of the mainstays of the project.

I had asked if I could photograph the project as a means of documenting it. I'd always been curious about windmills and had never been present at taking one down, putting it up, or even been close to the mechanisms that surmount the towers that, well, tower over Texas ranches and farms, doing their work in a way that never failed to lull me to sleep as a kid. That sound of creaking pumping of water, the taste of water out of a tin cup usually placed on a wire hook at the bottom with a faucet ready to supply water fresh from the well...those memories came flooding back.

Almost three hours later and over 150 photos later, he put the finishing touches on parking all the vehicles and closing down the project as I wended my way home. What an afternoon! I surely will never forget that event. And I got to play Sancho Panza, besides!