I finally got to take my new 5D for a spin!
A friend of my wife, who works for Boeing, graciously invited me to go with him to the Boeing Employee viewing area for the first flight of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. What an exciting opportunity to photograph this airplane from an amazing vantage point (from Paine Field's taxiway Alpha!)
For the past 6 months or so, I've been essentially working two jobs, my regular, full-time Software Engineer position, and also supporting the growing customer base for my wife and my software consulting business, JLB Web Consulting, which has been adding 10-30 hours a week on top of that. Fortunately, I get to do both jobs from home!
So, as a little reward to myself for working those hours, I bought myself a Canon 5D mk II DSLR body. I've been using a Canon 30D for a number of years now, but have been extremely curious about the 1080P video capabilities of the 5D (which has been proven as a primary camera filming a number of feature films and TV shows). So I dropped the hammer and bought one. I've also been various curious how shooting with a full-frame sensor is.
A few weekends ago my son and I went to the Snohomish Trail Council's annual Klondike Derby, which is a winter camporee event where the scout patrols get to take part in various "gold rush"-themed events, and capping the day off with the actual race, which is a wheeled/skiid sled that the scouts themselves power around the course. This year, Troop 572 came in second place! It was a good time, despite the 18 degree temps, which Cohen and I endured with smiles on our faces in a 2 season tent:
Facebook has notoriously contrained customization, which is a good thing, however, there are a few ways to exploit some personalization in the way your profile page looks, without going the direction of Myspace.
A few weeks ago an artist posted one of the first adaptations of this customization below, with various other styles showing up.
This is my second take on it, using a photo I took on January 1.
My friend Tim and I thought we'd take a stab at photographing the sunrise from Kerry Park on New Years morning, since it was forecast to be clear. Despite having stayed up til 1am for NYE, we decided to go for it since we both had open mornings. We met at a park and ride and headed off to the viewpoint.
Clear skies, while beautiful, especially in the winter in Seattle, having some clouds is always nice, especially for a sunrise to reflect upon. There were a few low clouds over the Cascades to the east, but not enough.
... you're waiting for the bus and you see a Boeing 767 flying overhead and notice that it's a Hawaiian Airlines airplane. But wait, this is not its normal approach, this is the GLASR flight path to KSEA (usually westbound, eastern seaboard, upper midwest flights)
The Photoswap (PS) developers seem to be pretty content with their app, no doubt they have thousands of users and the app does what it says it does. However, I noted in a previous post the numerous shortcomings and my wishlist of improvements for a Photoswap "v2".
Over at Gizmodo, they are having a photoshop contest that involves placing the "dominos pizza guy" from the Windows 7/Dominos cross promotion campaign in various historical moments.
Here is the original image:
Here are my contributions:
Alright, I tried. I really tried. I made it a point to not become one of "those guys" on Photoswap and send endless inane photos of hairy legs or my TV in a darkened room. I would go on walks at lunch taking photos of interesting things to swap. But for my efforts I am rewarded with hairy legs and photos of floors and sheets.
One of the fun features of the iPhone is the built-in camera. Like with all smartphones and cell phones, the camera is essentially a secondary device with limited functionality. The features are usually limited to "digital" zoom and maybe some brightness adjustment. The iPhone's amazing array of apps has extended the functionality of the camera phone idea but there are still some issues that I would like to see resolved.
