October 22, 2005
Help Choose 2006 Calendar Photos
It's time to choose photos for a custom 2006 calendar and you can help! Once printed, these calendars are Christmas gifts for friends and family members.
I need to select 13 photos - one for a cover and one to accompany month. There are a few things that conspire to complicate the selection process:
Pop on over to my Flickr Photo stream and have a look-see at the photo collection, then come back and add your suggested photos as a comment here.
Click the photo or links at the right to visit my Flickr Photo collection.
[This tradition harkens back to when Beloit Corp distributed a very cool and much-coveted calendar for free to customers, employees and their families each year. Does anyone remember those?]
I need to select 13 photos - one for a cover and one to accompany month. There are a few things that conspire to complicate the selection process:
- The photos must be horizontal (landscape) oriented. Vertical (portrait) oriented photos don't work.
- I do not have photos from all seasons/months and, therefore, picking one to match a particular month (that wasn't used in LAST YEAR'S calendar is a problem.
- We want to "mix things up" and not repeat scenes or topics. For example: We want to avoid a collection featuring too much art, too few people, repeats of same site, too many static shots, and so on. (Unless, of course, someone thinks this should be an all-art calendar!)
Pop on over to my Flickr Photo stream and have a look-see at the photo collection, then come back and add your suggested photos as a comment here.
Click the photo or links at the right to visit my Flickr Photo collection.
[This tradition harkens back to when Beloit Corp distributed a very cool and much-coveted calendar for free to customers, employees and their families each year. Does anyone remember those?]
October 16, 2005
Eaton Chapel Vertical Panorama
Taken late in the day, just after the lights came on and just after sunset, this was my first attempt at a vertically photostitched panorama.
I laid on the ground, put the camera on a mini-tripod, tilted the head 90 degrees, oriented and checked the ball socket, set shutter at a 2 second delay, and started shooting at the top with auto-exposure. I carefully pivoted the camera, overlapped, refocused, and ended up with 4 frames. (I could have done the exposure manually, but the light was failing and there was no time for it.)
To control seam locations, and prevent the seams from falling on key areas of the photograph, you manually indicate overlap by picking two or more overlap areas/spots, and then let the photostitch software put it all together.
I laid on the ground, put the camera on a mini-tripod, tilted the head 90 degrees, oriented and checked the ball socket, set shutter at a 2 second delay, and started shooting at the top with auto-exposure. I carefully pivoted the camera, overlapped, refocused, and ended up with 4 frames. (I could have done the exposure manually, but the light was failing and there was no time for it.)
To control seam locations, and prevent the seams from falling on key areas of the photograph, you manually indicate overlap by picking two or more overlap areas/spots, and then let the photostitch software put it all together.
October 15, 2005
Saturday Photos
It turned out to be a good day for photos! I filled my card - 129 frames - and ended up with more than a few worth sharing.
In a way, it's like fishing only you don't really know it's a keeper until you get it home.
After attending a visitation this morning at 10, I wanted to stop in at the Fire Department's HQ for their annual open house. Glad I did... it was fun, interesting, and good subject matter. Bill Bartz was there acting as guide. (I still think of him as "Billy" because he was always John Bartz's little brother to me!)
I'd planned to bike out to Big Hill Park, but didn't feel like dealing with the wind while riding along Afton Road. I don't care if there is a bike path, it's just not enough fun. Maybe tomorrow.
This flag photo makes a nice background for the PC desktop. It's actually shot with one step of digital zoom yielding 4.3x effective zoom against 3x optical.
I hope the family fishing along the river can find the Flickr photos - I told them to look.
In a way, it's like fishing only you don't really know it's a keeper until you get it home.
After attending a visitation this morning at 10, I wanted to stop in at the Fire Department's HQ for their annual open house. Glad I did... it was fun, interesting, and good subject matter. Bill Bartz was there acting as guide. (I still think of him as "Billy" because he was always John Bartz's little brother to me!)
I'd planned to bike out to Big Hill Park, but didn't feel like dealing with the wind while riding along Afton Road. I don't care if there is a bike path, it's just not enough fun. Maybe tomorrow.
This flag photo makes a nice background for the PC desktop. It's actually shot with one step of digital zoom yielding 4.3x effective zoom against 3x optical.
I hope the family fishing along the river can find the Flickr photos - I told them to look.
October 08, 2005
WAPC Friday Afternoon Session
The range and forgiveness of digital cameras never ceases to amaze...
Through the control booth window, with available light, on 2 second shutter delay to prevent camera shake and you get this with a $200 camera.
Is that cool, or what?
Through the control booth window, with available light, on 2 second shutter delay to prevent camera shake and you get this with a $200 camera.
Is that cool, or what?
October 02, 2005
"Faster, better, cheaper..."
Nice... two weeks ago I called SBC about my DSL connection speeds. The tech support guy (in India!) referred me to Customer Service (in Appleton WI!) and they happily converted me to the latest promotional package - 1.5 meg/sec @ $14.99 a month for one year when you 'bundle' your SBC services!
Coolness! 4 times faster and $11 less a month! And that 1.25 meg tested throughput above is constant and not variable like a shared Charter Pipeline connection.
What happens at the end of the year? I call them about a month before it ends and ask for whatever the current promotion is. That's all.
Wait... there's more! Unlike Charter Cable, I still have a dialup connection should I need one.
Oh... yeah... the screen shot above? That's my SBC DSL connected PC tested on Charter's test page!
Coolness! 4 times faster and $11 less a month! And that 1.25 meg tested throughput above is constant and not variable like a shared Charter Pipeline connection.
What happens at the end of the year? I call them about a month before it ends and ask for whatever the current promotion is. That's all.
Wait... there's more! Unlike Charter Cable, I still have a dialup connection should I need one.
Oh... yeah... the screen shot above? That's my SBC DSL connected PC tested on Charter's test page!
Danger, Danger
Apparently these two were left on the lawn after a sign removal?
Wonder how long these have been there?
Time to contact the School District of Beloit risk management team...
