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Friday, April 24, 2009


Foto Friday: Sandset


I so totally did not forget to post a foto this week; that was your imagination.


Sunset at Mai Poina Oe Iau Beach, Maui, Nov, 2008Sunset at Mai Poina Oe Iau Beach, Maui
Nov, 2008


That defocus in the clouds is your imagination, too.

I love the colors reflected in the sand. I keep trying to repeat that, and failing. It looks good to my eye, but the camera doesn't capture it.

This sunset is the same as this one.

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Saturday, April 18, 2009


Our Sophisticated European Brethren


The fellows at David's Medienkritik don't post very often these days, more's the pity, so I only drop in every once in a while. That's why I'm over a month late in noticing this: Obama-Fingers! Yes, delicious frozen fried chicken fingers, "mit Curry Dip". Complete with American flag and the Golden Gate Bridge looming mysteriously in the background.

It would be unfair to expect the Germans to be aware of our every cultural taboo (hell, I don't know them all). But tough: raaacists!

More cheerful is this ad for a Russian ice cream. Looks like they hired a Japanese artist, what with the shiny happy anime character. Babelfish says that the ad copy translates to "in all on the mouths dark in the white to go out of mind give". I think they're calling him a coconut. Remember that, Obama.

Took me a heck of a long time to get Babelfish to cough up a translation making even that much sense. Turns out those things that look like lower-case m's are actually lower-case t's. Them Russians is sneaky.

I'll try to have a better translation for you later in the week.

UPDATE: I have it on good authority that the translation reads:

"Everyone says: Dark in the white gives (and here the translation breaks down somewhat) coolness."

Of course, there's also the possibility that it says:

"Everyone says: Dark in the white is one crazy giver, man! So get your hands out now!"

Friday, April 17, 2009


Foto Friday: Williams Tower

Williams Tower, Houston, TX, Jan, 2009Williams Tower
Houston, TX
Jan, 2009


Again, not the best picture in the world, but it's different -- not a boring old spectacular sunset or rainbow.

We went down to the Williams Tower on a weekend, when the parking's free. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea, and it was too crowded for good pictures. (That's a great skyscraper site in the link, by the way.) I wanted to get some black and white shots of the Tower and the Waterwall opposite it. But nothing doing.

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Friday, April 10, 2009


Foto Friday: Wide Angle


Choices, choices. Do I give you a crummy photo with my new lens? Or a good photo with my old lens? Or a good photo with my new lens, though those are kind of scarce?

This is what I mean by "crummy":

Sunset on Haleakala, looking East
Mar. 2009


It's crummy because there isn't anything spectacular in it. But my eye kept wandering back to it, so in it goes.

This is actually more ESE, to be terribly pedantic. To the right of center you can sort of see Mauna Kea, on the Big Island, wreathed by pinkish clouds (click for a larger image). On the far right there's a dark swelling which is Mauna Loa.

I got a new 17mm lens! I bought it for bagging rainbows, but most of the rainbows I've managed to capture with it so far have been distinctly unimpressive. The other day I did get a fantastic, glowing, full rainbow, but I haven't got the film developed yet.

I had 15 days to evaluate the lens, so I ran out and blasted away in random directions using cheapo film, shooting whatever was there, to make sure there weren't any hidden flaws. Then I took the film to one hour photo developers, so I could have it back quickly. (Usually I send it to Kansas.) This means that the five rolls of film I shot did not result in top-notch photos.

Super-wide field is a whole new world. You have to be more careful about metering, since the lens will capture large areas of the sky, which may be very differently lit than the center. You can see that in the upper corners of this image, where the sky overhead becomes much darker than the central subject. I don't think it would be a good lens to use with slide film, except in the middle of a bright day.

You also have to be careful around vertical structures, because they lean if they're not (vertically) centered in the lens (I've found this with the 28mm too, to a lesser extent). It can get tricky if your composition requires them to be off center.

The exposure business had me a little disappointed with the lens, since I shoot a lot of sunsets. The actual sunset is a smallish bright space surrounded by darkness. This is not helped by the fact that it's only an f/4 lens, so you have to have lots of light or a slow shutter speed or fast film.

But it does a pretty good job on those cloud formations. That part is going to be awesome.

By the way, when I say the lens is "new", I mean it's new to me; it was made in 1982. I have waited four months for one of these babies to come on the market (the right market, i.e. not eBay). So I am very jazzed about it.

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Friday, April 03, 2009


Foto Friday: Mirror, Mirror


This was just some random couple who wandered in front of me. They threw something into the pond for their dog to fetch, and destroyed the perfect mirrored surface. So I shot them! (With the camera.) I figure if they're going to get in the way, they may as well improve the picture. I also have a picture of them cuddling. That'll learn 'em.

Sunset, Waipuilani Beach Park, Maui, Nov. 2008Sunset, Waipuilani Beach Park
Maui, Nov. 2008


I've tried to redo this shot with a better sunset. But it requires low tide and low wind. Everytime I go out there it's blowing a gale.

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Wednesday, April 01, 2009


Around the World in 80 Telescopes



Here's a fun thing : a live, 24-hour webcast from 80 observatories around the world. Starts in Hawaii at 5am Eastern (2am Pacific, 09:00 UT) on April 3 (11pm HST on April 2).

There's a schedule at the bottom of the page. It jumps around a lot geographically, not going strictly east to west. There are also two Antarctic telescopes involved. Keewwwl.

I only heard about this yesterday, or I would've posted earlier to give my vast readership more notice.

Wish I'd thought of that title.