opening up your ability to share

Windows Live, or the latest beta update, available for down now by clicking here, is Microsoft's attempt to catch up into the web 2.0 social networking- , photosharing- and blogging- -verse. Yahoo's Flickr and Googles, Picasa and blogger already have done this for some time. the software comes with four tools, the Window Live Messenger, a rebadging of the tried and true instant message system, Windows Live Email, which is Hotmail on steroids that give you a workable way to also access multiple pop mail services, next comes the nice looking Window Live Photo Gallery, which is a stripped down version of the tools in Vista, with nice web publishing/upload features, and finally Window Live Writer, a nice and simple tool to edit blog posts in a WISYWIG way.

I'm not convinced Photo Live Gallery is a patch on picasa, but it is simple and free. If uploading photos to your web presence is frustrating, give it a try. the only downside is it does the thumbnail versions of your photo on the fly and this can be slow

Live writer works nicely with blogger, much better than the word macro I downloaded for blogger I uploaded some time ago. The nicest feature is writers ability to find the format template of your blog by uploading a temp post (which it also them deletes. The only downside is it doesn't do blogger's labels, something I have been routinely.

More purple

PhotoFriday :: Purple

for PhotoFriday's topic purple

A bee out enjoying the spring sunshine and the lavender blossom

More Lunacy

More Lunacy, originally uploaded by imageo.

You don't have to just print your digital photos, in this age of google there are dozens of site like Dumpr, I used their rubiks cude tool, that offer nifty little applets and widgets to do fun things with your photos online.

Sunrise Sunset

if your the sort of photographer than wants to precisely plan your trips and photo opportunities a little in advance, why not try out one of the new FD flikrtoys, called Sunset, it gives you a table of the local sunrise and sunset times along with phase of the moon anywhere in the world for the next month.

The hour before sunset, and particularly the hour after sunrise, are called the golden hours. As well are the warmer tone in the light, it will generally be less harsh (more defuse and thus flattering) and so there will be a better balance between highlights and shadows. A notable exception is the strong silhouette that can be achieved aiming straight at the subdued sun.

STOP PRESS :: Inkjet ink cost $4,000/litre

Today I came across a very interesting article on the Choice Magazine online website. The truth is out there. Inkjet printer ink could be costing you up to $4000 a litre. It is not uncommon to have paid more in ink within a year of purchasing a new inkjet, some of the newer "dirt" cheap models my cost more to replace the ink than the printer cost to start with.

So what can you do about it?

1. Make use of the best on-line deals (eg Print@kodak, SnapFish, even Bigpond) or photo kiosks (I use the instore PrinTED Kiosk in Ted's Camera stores, and have gotten consistantly good results, also try Harvey Norman and Kmart, or the kiosks in most chemists these days). If you shop around a bit and get a decent number of photo printed at a time you will find this the cheapest way to get prints, but be careful you may get what you pay for.
2. Run the risk, and don't replace the ink when the printer driver tells you too, in other words don't rely on the printer driver's software to tell you when the ink is low. I find I can usually get another 20-25 A4 sized prints, or equivalent, after the driver pops up te message to change the ink.
3. Go high risk, use refill or generic brands, well if you read your printer documentation you will find that using non genuine inks will probably void your guarantee. So far I have resisted the urge to do so, but lots of people do and I haven't heard any hard luck stories yet. I've had a quick look around the net but I'm not sure I want to just trust the claims of refill suppliers. With the price of the printer falling below the price of the replacement ink cartrdidges just how much is that warranty worth anyway?
   
   Here is a good inkjet troubleshooting guide from Tech Republic.

I've removed the links to the choice website as these articles no longer exist. Apr 2012

shadows

Accessing Flickr on low bandwidth

Flickr is often cited as the great example of Web 2.0 social networking and interactivity, but whilst it can be free to use it comes at a price. The price is the bandwidth, that used for displaying photos, large graphic/pixel output is consumed. Uploading photos can be equally frustrating. If you live in the low bandwidth world (especially those using dial up modems and overstretch home networks, as your kids download from YouTube) you might find flickr frustrating slow to use, or maybe it will be straight out unusable. I have a Next-G wireless broadband modem, which is heavily advertised by Telstra as a modern day technology wonder, and whilst good around the city it can be painful using flickr out in the sticks

There are some ways and tools to easy such stress

1. Upload via email, you can get your own unique email address to email your photos to flickr and they will get posted into your photo stream, and optional additional address can be used to both post your photo on flickr and then post the email text and photo to you blog. You find the setting under your account, personal information, email (This can take a bit of setting up, and testing so do the set up on a higher broadband access)
   
2. Use the ability to change the layout of your photostream so that you just use the small images only or small images and sets. This significantly reduces the amount of image related pixels to be downloaded before it is displayed.
3. 
   Set up a favorites link directly to the your photos page, this will avoid flickrs front door (main page) and all the ads etc. it contains
4. 
   If you are using your own computer, tick the keep me signed in box, at sign in time. This avoids the log in page next time you log in. BE WARNED you should never use this, remember me, feature at a public computer (eg at school or a library, or a cyber cafe) and the next users will be able to access your account, and possibly do naughty things
   
   Flickr obviously recognizers that mobile phone access suffers greatly because of band width and screen size so they have a separate portal for mobile access. However there is nothing stopping you using that from a low bandwidth connected computer. OK the photos are small and menu options are very limited but it does work well and most importantly FAST.

Photo friday :: Insignificant

For photofriday insignificant

Once upon a time a few insignificant marks on the sand could be read and understood, perhaps it marked the return of a plentiful food supply, marking of breeding teritory or just a pleasant day for a stroll. Unfortunately such knowledge maybe impossible to relearn, even with a telephoto lens.

last of the winter light

An attempt to capture the delicacy of late afternoon winter light (and shadows, to give stronger composition)

More wallpapers

You are free to download these wallpapers for private use, just click on any image above. That takes you to my wallpaper area on flickr, use the All Sizes option to see a larger image, and use Set Wallpaper option in your browser on the displayed image or download it to your computer. If the image size is not correct for your screen, you can use the Stretch option, which will enlarge or shrink the wallpaper to fit.

lunar eclipse :: as it happens

Maybe this a bad ideas, beacuse it is a very cloudy start, but i'll try it anyway. I'll be updated this post as the eclipse happens. But remember the most recent pictures will be at the top, so read the sequence from bottom right and backwards up to top right.

PS I was a bit stressed trying to do this and keep watching for breaks in the clouds, but I think it worked out in the end.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Last night was not promising for good eclipse photography tonight, whilst it was beautofull all day it clouded over at sunset. GOOD for a sunset photo, but the moon was hidden and hazy. Setting my camera to all automatic was definitely BAD, even after i switched to MF (manual focus, to stop the lens processing backwards and forwards unable to make up its mind how tho focus, the light metter obviously got fooled by the strong contrast and the bright light flared out. The best I got at 8:35PM was still UGLY (I have better shoots of the detail on the moon, the haziness here is probably atmospheric moisture). I found switched back to manual and low ISO (200 is as low as I can get) with the fstop at f8 and 1/250, and a tripod! I'm expecting to have to change the length to maybe 5 minutes plus during totality

The MrEclipse web site, mentioned in the pre-quel post, scroll two posts down, is still the best reference with hints on photographing the lunar elcipse I have found. Its Table 3, an exposure guide may be very useful for those judging how to change manual settings during the eclipse

Unfinished

for photo friday :: Unfinished

It is one of my homebrews, strawbery blonde, and I am actually finishing it as I post this.

Pre-quel :: lunar eclipse, techniques & hints

MrEclipse.com has a good summary of techniques and hints for lunar eclipse photography, along with some excellent examples. The eclipse takes a while and a big advantage of having a digital camera is you will have plenty of time to review your photos and perhaps make some adjustments, or why not get out tonight and try a few of the techniques discussed in the link above.

Even if you don't plan to photograph it, it is an event your should make an effort to get outside and watch.

Photo Opportunity, lunar eclipse

Want to know what an eclipse of the moon has to do with chickens nibblies and Christopher Columbus? Listen to the latest science show podcast, and find out why it will turn red. In any event the full eclipse, visible across eastern Australia, should be a photographers delight, The eclipse will last from 5:52pm to 11:22pm Eastern Australian Standard Time, 28th August 2007. With the most interesting red phase at 8:37pm. I hope to get a decent 15 minute apart sequence, so I'm hoping it won't be cloudy. (Remember the tripod)

Ten to 8 Tuesday night till about 9:20pm will be the best time to view the lunar eclipse from the east coast of Australia.

There is a fact sheet about the lunar eclipse on the Astronomical Society of Australia wesite

Massive photomosaic panoramas

I am still continuing to push the limits of just how many photos I can stich together. The top photo is just from 8 photos, but the botom photo is a composite of 20 photos. It would seem that autostitch is only limited by available memory, but large images stitching does take time, still the detail is worth it.

lyrebird walk

lyrebird walk, originally uploaded by imageo.

Multiphoto panoramas can be constructed for close subjects. In fact the modified perspective view they give can be charming. This is the photo of a straight section of creek passing under the log I am standing on, to take the photo, yet in the image the creek cuts a sweeping curve. The main difficulties in close up panorama sticking relates to parallax problems (see the broken stump on the left hand side of this image, the image merge has had trouble because adjacent photos can see behind it)

late winter forest floor

a glimpse of sunshine

the dunny

the dunny, originally uploaded by imageo.

Eat your heart out kenny

Recycled for PhotoFriday's topic primative

a momentary redness

PhotoProject :: Doh!

Web-sites that let you upload and have fun with your photos are great, but few and far between. There should be more! I get a technews from the melbourne age (via email) one of the links was called make fun of yourself, which covers a few fun places to enhance your portrait photos. I liked the simpsonize yourself site, but I'm not sure very much actual face recognition software was used in my portrait. If you are keen, there is also a virtual makeover. Both are just a cleverly different way to advertise but still they are fun!

Photo Friday :: Wet

The short life of a foam bubble on wet sand


This is a series of photos "spliced" together with autostitch. They record a bubble from surf foam and froth being blown along the beach. I have used the stitching of images to capture birds in flight but it works particularly well with this bubble as it slips and slides in the wind.

For PhotoFriday's topic Wet

The tea tree flowering myth

There was a myth when I was a boy growing up in beaumaris (just south of melbourne) that the snapper would start biting as sson as the tea tree started to flower. All the boats boobing around out on the bay suggested to me it may just be a truthful bit of folk lore. This weekend I saw the first tea tree bloom of this year and the beach was packed with fisherman. The myth must work for the salmon running as well.

Getting up close

Macro photography was for a long time a very specialised field, but most digital cameras will let you get within 20-30cm and still be in focus. Often these "up close" photos will bring out a strange composition and view that grabs everyones interest. Often you will have a button (or menu selection) that looks like a tulip (or some kind of flower) to set your digital camera into macro mode. In anycase it is probably worth having a look in your camera manual under the topic macro photography