Listening to the Voices in my Head

Busy and tired

Managed to get to Sculptures By The Sea at Cottesloe beach for some sunset photos.  I got one in particular that probably pissed people off standing behind me, but it was so worth it.

 

Funny thing happened though. A little boy, about 3 maybe 4 years old… if I had taken this shot below a few seconds earlier I would have gotten a photo of him wizzing on the  placard in front of it. Oh well, when you gotta go you gotta go. His parents took out a bottle of water and some wetwipes and cleaned it up.  Kudos to them.

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The next day, we took Keito, our 16 yr old moggie to the vet for a dental cleaning.  There is a lot of inherent problems with putting a 16 yr old cat under anaesthesia, but he had no problem.  I was told to just offer him some water to see if he would drink and if he didn’t throw up, to give him food. 

Really? He RAN into the kitchen and YOWLED and demanded to be fed. I gave him a little bit, and he yodelled for more. I gave him the rest of the cat, and he pretty much polished the bowl clean.  After that, I was a MEAN HUMAN, and made him resort to the kibble in his dish.

Today, I had appointment with Dr H.  Change up on medication.  No more Ativan, as the seizures seem to be under control. Going to be taking Lyrica for nerve pain.  Hoping for the best. My mother swears by it.

Just feel incredibly tired today, but it has been non-stop running around, or tension. Don’t really want to take a nap, because then I wouldn’t sleep well at night.  Conundrum!

So, I will just slog through the day as awake as I can be, and go to bed early, Purring Godlings permitting.

Back in the day I didn't have a RAW processor

Nor did I know how to use it, I shot all my photos as high res JPGs.  Now, everyone knows that now there are raw editors, and I alos know how to use them now, but what to do with the old JPGs?  Are they to be relegated to the "Meh" category?

Enter Topaz Labs to the rescue with Topaz JPEG to RAW AI.  Now this doesn't just convert the image to a DNG, but carefully, with what AI they use, convert it into a RAW editable image.  I chose one image, applied the same edits, with the exception of lens corrections which is not available in JPG editing.

Here is the jpg, edited with camera raw.

 

Here’s the same one, but pre-processed with Topaz JPEG to RAW AI:

 

The difference in the full sized images are amazing.   Now, I have a lot more work to get done, going through older images, that I liked, but just could not get them edited the way they should be.

Quick fix for everyone with Win10 explorer not showing Camera Raw thumbnails

I present to you!

Fast Picture Viewer Codecs

For the HUGE currently on sale sum of $9.99 for a single user license, you can once again be able to view your camera raw files in Win10 Windows Explorer, and in programs that rely on Window Explorer to select and view CR2, ORF, NEF  etc etc etc… 

I had purchased Fast Picture Viewer and the codec pack years ago to use on my computer years ago to be able to view Camera Raw files because Adobe Bridge CS6 was glacially slow in showing the images. 

Lunar Eclipse - From Beginning to end Dec 10 2011

Lunar Eclipse - Dec 10 2011, a set on Flickr.

Each one is about a 5 minute increments (+/- 1 minute). Some photos, the sunlit part of the moon was 'center stage' and in the rest, the "blood moon" was. There are a few that aren't as sharp and clear, due to thin high clouds. Overall, a great photo session! Enjoy!

Updating can be sort of painless.. sometimes

Just updated Firefox to the latest non-beta version. Once again, tried and true addons were disabled. A quick download/install of Mr Tech Toolkit fixed that.

Getting ready to head to the Perth Zoo this afternoon for a few hours. As much as early in the day is better (and cooler) we really don't want to have to fight gaggles of screaming kids, especially in the nocturnal house. Some critters are shy enough without having ill behaving kids being allowed by their parent(s) to pound on the glass, or scream E above High C just for giggles. I don't mind or mean excited kids. Excited kids aren't 'ill behaved'.

Busy weekend so far

There is a cyclone (aka hurricane) heading our way. Should mostly just get wind and rain. Not much to worry about 'local flooding' as we are high on a hill area. Today was last day of intermediate DSLR classes. I brushed up on my film to digital lingo and how tos, and Aikidomayland was amazed at how far he has progressed.

Went pillaging afterward. Dayam, the price of fresh veggies is really climbing. Goiing to try to talk Wing into getting part of the back yard renovated and set up for a built up garden.

Something laster on kind of shocked and pissed me off. Shocked me to see that another adult was just as backstabbingly bitchy to Wing as the old shrew crew was to Meegan and me. Said persons antics left me wanting to dump bucket of cold water over said persons head. Oh, if you hadn't noticed, I'm deliberately avoiding gender. It's called 'plausible deniablity'. If this blog post makes you squirm, then you are the one I am referring too, so suck it up !

I have been remiss

With Aikidomayland's on vacation, and DSLR instructions (with me tagging along for moral support mostly) I haven't been posting often. I have been taking some fantastic photos myself, but haven't really had the sit down time to sift through them. Here are a few. I have been hanging out near my little potted lime tree, habituating the birds to my being out there. I guess it's working. Soggy Wattlebird in four parts

Part 1: diving right in!

Part 2: Coming up for air.

Part 3: Shake some off

Part 4: Settle feathers so it can fly.

I have been trying to get photos of this itty bitty honey eater, about the size (for my use friends) of a Hummingbird. I am hoping they will come around during the morning when I have enough light to use a high shutter speed, but as it stands now, they keep coming around late afternoon, early evening.

EDIT: This is the best photo I have been able to get of this small honeyeater (not sure what variety) Compare it to the brute in the photos above, and you can understand why getting a clear shot of this little thing needs brighter light, faster shutter speeds.

Canon EOS 550D vs the 60D

The Good: the 60D does have more bells and whistles, but when it comes to photo quality, there is Zero difference. (the lighting did change, as the sun was ducking behind clouds). Each was just as sharp and clear, I ran the same process on both images. I haven't labeled which is which, but I will reply in a private message. So, take a stab at which one it is, and why you think so, and I will let you know if you're right.   The 60 has many more ISO settings which can come handy (ISO 100 too low, but 200 too high? Try 160!) and a nifty flip out screen (like my Lumix Fz50) which is really handy for video recording, and taking portraits, and many of the settings are in a small lighted window next to the shutter. I loved the artificial horizon, as I have a weak left leg, and can lean to the left without realising it. And the 5.7 fps can almost guarantee you get the shot you want.  Also, the 60 has up to 1/8000 of a second shutter speed for perfectly freeze framed image.

 

 

The Bad: You can't change the White Balance on the fly, as can be needed with the sun playing peek a boo, or if you decide to take a photo under trees, unless you have the flip screen out. This might not be considered too terrible, but the display doesn't switch off when you bring the camera to your eye to the viewfinder as it does with the 550D.

 

550D has a photosensor which shuts the display off when you use the viewfinder   It's also heavier, which some think is bonus, but if you try to add telephoto lens and are going to be out for the long haul, it begins to feel like an anchor. The buttons to select settings feel kind of mushy, no tactile feeling, so you have to watch to make sure your settings have changed. This can annoying if you are trying to make quick adjustments. Also, they moved the power and setting wheel to the OTHER side of the camera, and where it used to be is where you lighted settings window is.

The Neutral: It has in camera RAW processing. Maybe I am too 'old school' but I would prefer to do that on a large screen, not let the camera do it automatically. It also has "Creative Filters". Again, this is a non-issue with me, as I would said filtering on desktop with large monitor and software so I could undo it if I didn't like it.

 

So yes, it has extra widgets, and gadgets but if you want to upgrade and have the 550D, don't.. go straight to the 7D.

Red-capped Parrot

Spotted this lovely in my back yard, right above my clothesline. His mate was just out of sight, but I could hear her. Both of them were enjoying a late afternoon snack of sweet nectar from the Geraldton Wax blossoms.

Found in south-western Australia the Red-capped Parrot has a longer slimmer beak to enable it to get into gumnuts.

*collapses in heap of nerves*

I submitted the last CanonEOS Photo5 Brief #5 Open Brief//Inspired By Sound.

I had originally thought of photographing someone playing a musical instrument, or maybe even photos of just musical instruments, but then I realised that wasn't the point of of the brief.

A photograph that I was inspired by sound to take.

Whispering Waves in the Pylons.



Inspired by the sound of waves lapping soothingly against the hulls of moored boats, and of the wind whistling through the ropes and hardware, almost lulling me into a doze. I watched and listened for about 10 minutes, enjoying the rise and fall of the boats while listening to the water gently lapping on them. Then it was a matter of getting the right angle on the pylons for a feeling of depth.