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MACRO!

Okay, Round 4 in the Camera Saga.

This time I'm testing, and hopefully loving the Canon S2IS which comes with 12x Zoom and a SuperMacro that allows for 1cm Macro shots.

The major issue with today's testing was trying to keep the lens from touching the snow flake I was trying to photograph. I'm a much happier camper.

The complaints so far:

• severely crappy lens cap
• ISO only goes to 400, not 1600 like the Fuji. Which means low light and natural light shots are going to be more challenging again.
• Heavier than the Fuji & Kodak
• Flash doesn't pop up automatically. Though I don't use the flash, so I should be happy I don't have to constantly be turning it off.
• It's silver... I know that is a petty complaint, but facts is facts, black matches my wardrobe better.
• Super Macro doesn't work in the "Snow" setting... but hey, there's a snow setting!!
• oh, and it has a stupid flip out display. Which means another thing to fuss with, and because it flips out, it's not designed to do as well when viewed from different angles when it's not flipped out.

(Hey, I'm a critic by profession, you didn't expect a balanced list did you?)

The bouncy bits so far:

• It does macro
• It does macro
• It does macro
• It does macro
• It has image stabilization... which means my shaky hands shouldn't impact my shots so much
  

  About 1/2 an hour of play and I'm pretty happy with it.

Giving Thanks.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends, readers, and lurkers.

More than any Thanksgiving in the past, I am thankful today.  One year ago today, my father had a heart attack. He was stuck on an isolated island for 3 days before the weather allowed him to get to the hospital.  Less than 6 months later he had a stroke as a result of the heart attack. 

We were very lucky that dad survived and is doing well back on his island.  Other people and families have not been so lucky.

In honour of Thanksgiving I invite you to consider making donation to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or your local equivalent.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and/or Thursday)!

Testing The Latest Camera

Have I told you the saga of the cameras?

Gerry showed up one day and placed a brand new Kodak Z740 on the desk in front of me. "You needed a new camera", he said with a grin.

I was overjoyed! Our friends Ron & Melvin arrived from Ottawa that day.  I took photos of them, of Gerry, of the streetcar we took to dinner, of the lady grilling corn in Little India... who turned and scowled at me because I was shining a bright green light like a laser beam into her eyes.

"Hmmmm... damn, how do you turn that off?" I thought. So I started playing with the camera. I searched the manual. I searched the internet. I called the store where Gerry bought the camera. I called Kodak. All to no avail. There is no way to the turn that bl**ping light off.

Back the camera went to the store.

It's replacement, a used Nikon 5700, was a great deal at Henry's Outlet store! High quality lens. Decent response time but I could compromise that for the price. Infinitely programmable through a challenging user interface but I could compromise ease of use for the price. Macro wasn't great but I could compromise for the price. I get to sing the song "I got a Nikon camera, I like to take photographs, oh mama, don't take my kodachrome away..."

Lots to learn... lots... so much in fact it was hard to do more than just point and shoot. So much to learn that I was frustrated every time I picked up the camera. I read the manual cover to cover, twice. I posted questions on flickr.com. I tried to like it. I tried to learn enough to use it. I tried not to be depressed every time I picked it up. I failed. No more singing.

Back it went.

To be replaced with a Fuji s5200 which I can honestly say fit my needs perfectly. Okay so it's too big for my pocket... it's smaller than the Nikon.  Bigger than the Kodak but better and more control.  Less control and less quality than the Nikon but faster and smaller . A bit more expensive yet again, but the response time and usability got me over that right quick. The lens column is protected by a tube, so the lens doesn't have to contract every time you turn the camera off, the mechanisms are protected, and the lens cap will stay on even if the camera is on.

I couldn't wait to get it home to figure out how to get to the "1cm telemacro" capabilities... HEY! Wait a second... the internet specs said this thing had a "Telemacro of 1cm" in addition to the 10cm macro, but I can't find it in the manual or figure out how to turn it on - what the hell?!??!?!? 

C. Little --- Photo courtesy of LexnGer

Imagine, the internet lied.  10cm is the best this will do.

Sigh. But it does great in low light... even in a movie theatre... shhhhh I was just testing the camera.

Okay... what next?

Painting Moose Island

Gallery 78 in Fredericton New Brunswick is having a showing of Glenn Hall's exhibit Painting Moose Island from November 25th - December 24th. 

For those of you who don't know, Moose Island is officially Mather's Island and affectionately known as "The Island".  It is my father's home. 

This summer, Glenn spent a lot of time painting on the island in preparation for this show.  Some of you may have seen my photos from last winter of ice and snow, Glenn's paintings really capture the lush and magical quality of the island in the summer.

If you get a chance, take a look at Glenn's paintings online at Gallery 78. 

I like to call the 3rd one from the top "Hey Look! That's My Bedroom Window". Glenn seemed to think it should be named "Jim Clark's Cabin."  Artist's perogative I guess.

Little Blue Pill, Baby I Love You

Ever had one of those weeks.months.years where you seem to get knocked off your feet every time things seem to be going well? It's been one of those weeks.months.years for me.

Little Blue Pill --- Photo courtesy of LexnGer.

The culprit this time? Some bug that Ger brought home from the office. He's been knocked out by it since last Tuesday and taking shots of cough medicine like it's tequila.

I was confident I was safe, since I started popping echinacea as soon as he got the sniffles. But no such luck.

However, I've found these wonderful little blue pills - Life Brand Extra Strength Nightime Cold Relief. Sure, they are the colour of smurfs... but they work! They haven't even made me drowsy. I still feel like crap but not as bad as I know I could. So, back to work! Only 200 more restaurants to call.

It Has Started.

It Has Started. --- Photo courtesy of LexnGer.

Yesterday we got snow. Real, stick around for a while, accumulation.

It's gone now, but it was beautiful while it lasted.

50 Paces

I am creating an art installation / floating gallery / Xmas present for my father by taking photos of interesting places and things every 50 paces from my home.

By inviting friends, family and strangers to participate via Flickr.com I hope to have a fascinating set of photos for the installation.

You can participate, by submitting your own photos to the 50 Paces Project.  Just step out your door, walk 50 paces, and take a photo of something cool and interesting that you see. Walk another 50 paces,and do it again.  Repeat all the way to 2000 paces from your door. 

I've set up a Flickr.com group to collect the photos, 50 Paces Project.  If you aren't already a Flickr.com member, you can join easily if you have a Yahoo ID... and almost as easily if you don't (by creating a Yahoo ID which is free and requires no maintenance.)

The Installation

In early January, I will collect and print the photos submitted to this group, laminate them and they will be hung on trees embedded in the river ice every 50 Paces. Photos will be hung on the corresponding tree - i.e. the "50 paces" photos will be on the tree 50 paces onto the river. The "1000 paces" photos will be on the tree mid-river at 1000 paces.

What is a pace?

a pace is a normal sized step for an adult. Generally just short of 1 metre or 3 feet. Based on my pace, a normal city block is between 50-100 paces. 

For older photos you want to submit you can use Google's local feature to map the distance and 1km=1000 paces

Tagging

Please tag the photos with the distance from your home in multiple of 50 paces so they can be hung on the appropriate tree. Eg. 50paces, 200paces, etc.

Printing

by submitting a photo to the 50 Paces Project you are giving me approval to print your photo for use in this schemey project of mine. Thanks!

Warning

People might look at you funny if you are walking down the street counting to yourself.   My advice? Start twitching a little and they'll give you a wide berth!

Back Story

Last winter I lived my father's island life waiting for the ice to form on the river so I could cross to shore. [See Watching the ice form... a month spent on an island - off-line, off-grid, off-shore.]

Part of this process included testing the ice to make sure it was safe to cross. The rule is that every 50 paces, you stop and chop a hole in the ice to test its thickness. Where the ice is safe to cross, you marking the path path by putting trees in the holes you've chopped in the ice. These trees become a road to and from the island until the ice is unsafe to cross again.

If you are reading this, I hope you'll consider joining in... even if it's just to watch the installation grow.

Link: Flickr: 50 Paces Project.

Technorati Tags: 50 Paces Project

Leaf Blower

Leaf Blower --- Photo courtesy of LexnGer.

Oh boy, I love these things... especially when they run all day, every day.

Let Us Not Forget.

.

In Honour of Lieutenant-General Samuel Finley Clark aka Uncle Fin.

Photo courtesy of Bostich.

Bastard Squirrels

Squirrel
Originally uploaded by LexnGer.

Have we told you the stories of the squirrels?

We live on the 3rd floor in an old Victorian with a deck. When we moved in we built planter boxes and gleefully planted them full of food. Swiss chard, lettuces, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, herbs, even a watermelon.

Each evening we would play in our makeshift garden waiting in eager anticipation of the harvest of each of our growing delicacies. We would say to each other "oooh, won't that be nice fresh picked for tomorrow's dinner!"

And the very next day when we went to harvest our tasties... they would be lying, half-chewed, on the deck with little squirrely toothmarks and paw-prints identifying the culprits.

This happened with every single thing in the garden except the hot chiles we planted.

So the following year, we only planted hot chiles. So the bastard squirrels sent their hot food loving cousins over to clean us out of chiles.

So we tried flowers the next year, but they dig them up... We hate 'em!

Now in the colder months, they regularly break into our house stealing food, and leaving little treats.

Like other people's cookies hidden in our underwear drawer.

How they open the underwear drawer is beyond me... but they seem to have some sort of psychic power to gain entry into the oddest places.

Ask Gerry about the squirrel who ate our chocolate cake sometime... it's especially "funny" when he's had a couple of beers and acts it out.

Dad keeps sending me squirrel recipes.