The Wheel at dusk
Our little green booth
Manchester Central Library
The Scarlet Thoroughbred
Flickr Meet
There's so little to say about Sunday's awesome Flickr Meet. Other than the Mike Franklin iPhone stole the show. Check out the photos from Flickr Meet VIII (or IX).
Back in the World
Six weeks ago (boy doesn't time fly) I was jetting off to warmer climates for a much needed vacation to California, and what a good holiday it was: San Francisco and San Diego in one package. Of course, I could simply encourage you to head over to Flickr and enjoy the photos, but alas that would be only part of the story. We had a truly awesome time visiting numerous places, and there's a few recommendations that I thought I'd share.
Restaurants
If you dislike Italian food you'll hate these recommedations. We ate at three fantastic Italian restaurants.
1. Prego (San Diego)
2. Trattoria Acqua (La Jolla, San Diego) - As recommended by Mike Franklin.
3. Bonarda (Burlingame)
All 3 get a massive thumbs-up from me.
Places to Visit
1. Apple Campus (Cupertino). One for the nerds, but if you're an Apple fan, it's the place to go - and the only place you can buy official Apple-branded merchandise.
2. Marin Headlands (San Francisco). For fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge (amid the mist) you can't beat it. The shot at the top of this post was taken there (10-20mm Sigma Lens recommended ;-) )
3. USS Midway (San Diego). Aircraft carriers are fascinating, and Midway was the ship that recovered Apollo missions from the drink and saw action in Desert Storm. It's now moored downtown in San Diego.
4. San Diego Zoo. Great for testing out a 70-300mm lens.
On top of all that, I met up with John from Loghound.com, bought myself a new iPod nano, and plenty more. It's good to be back, but it was a fantastic time away.
Flickr Meet - Tomorrow!
Tomorrow sees the eighth Manchester Flickr meet. I'll be there. You should be too.
Turbo!
Just a day at the office
RapidWeaver 3.6.2 is out. So of course, the first order of the day was a HDR wide-angle team photo :-)
Wider Angles on Everything
Away from it all......
As many of you are aware, I'm working full time at the moment on a few things that I, er, can't talk about right now. It's all so diverse (Cocoa, PHP, mySQL, CSS, xHTML, MOD_REWRITE and so much more - and it's all independent of each other for the most part) that I'm glad I was able to shoot this yesterday afternoon. More soon, I promise. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter and Tumblr.
Losing Focus on Manchester
Black and White. And now Wire Free
Zooomr needs some lovin'
Zooomr is just two people wanting to create something brilliant. But it's more than that. It's an entire community, and one that, once Mark III goes live, I'll be involving myself in. Mark III, whilst it works, is not coming back from the ether, however, until there's more funding and the all important servers to help ensure an app such as Zooomr Mk III can run just great.
Robert Scoble is calling for people to support Zooomr on his blog, and I'd urge you to spread the word. Zooomr Mark III was, and still is awesome. Let's hope it's not too long before we get to see it again.
Quite why Zooomr, unlike Photobucket, Flickr etc, has not had more funding, or been snatched up is frankly beyond me.Lots of companies claim to care about startups. Here’s a chance to help one.
(Read more on the Zooomr Blog and Technorati)
Another Sunset
HDR: The Lowry
This wasn't my creation, sadly (although 3 of my shots from last night were used for it) - Mike Franklin is the genius behind this, and generously allowed me to Flickr it. Thanks Mike.
Flickr-rs at The Quays
Last night saw the Mancunian Flickr-rs hit Salford Quays. A great evening of drinking and shooting ensued. Head over to Flickr for everyone's shots (two of mine shown here). And stay tuned for a RapidWeaver screencast later this week!
Manchester Flickr Meetup VI
After, like, a while of missing them, I finally made it to a Manchester Flickr Meetup.
And they're really good.
Yes, it was quite an occasion. The images below are copyright their respective owners and used with permission. Lunch at the great Night & Day Café, followed by us swamping the Thomas Chop House (we need to find a bigger venue for city-centre drinks!!).Then we wandered (the image above providing me some dubious segue to this, and yes they're my feet in the shot above!). Eventually, we hit Albert Square for the duel. Yes, a duel. Mark and Jon's grudgematch was settled by a photo-shoot-out. Now you may be asking 'How the HELL do you do one of those?'. Here's how:Especially when police officers, kicking, shootouts, alcohol, weird looks and surreptitious stalking of C-list TV stars are involved!
- Find a wide open public space - Manchester's Albert Square was ideal for this.
- Ideally, you need plenty of Flickr peers to psych you up - and a small crowd of normal, non-Flickring people to think WTF. The small crowd is optional, but highly recommended - the Flickr peers essential to a) judge the shootout and b) capture it all on camera.
- The two combatants stand back to back, with cameras ready to shoot. The crowd, or rather someone in it, then counts one to ten, and the combatants step forward on each count.
- Upon reaching their tenth step, the combatants turn around as fast as possible and photograph their opponent. The best shot wins. Especially if the opposition are photographed still bringing their camera up ;-) but the idea is, on the spur of the moment, to get as good a shot as possible.
It must be noted that this is the largest ever recorded turnout and all Saturday's turnout are in this shot (unlike the last one I attended), not through the joys of remotes, self-timers, or other technological marvels, but infact, the local polizei (crowd of onlookers for the shoot-out in the background below!)Juvenile behaviour broke out, with camera fighting ensuing.When one member of the fighters (Tom) was sent to the ground by a rogue cobble, we all laughed hard. But then a random person who walked nearby gave Tom a kick as he walked past. The shot below was from the immediate aftermath, and with a police van still in the square, not to mention cries, laughs and 'No Fairs!' from a 26-strong mob, the police thankfully caught up with the thug.After much deliberation, we headed off to Font Bar - possible location of an exhibition of our work sometime soon, for some drinks. During the planning for the meet, Flickr decided to christen the day itself '24 Hours of Flickr'. Everyone looking for a shot that summed up the day. After much deliberation, I dropped this one into the pool.We then proceeded to take about 4 hours to walk the mile to Castlefields, where the Flickr-azzi fired up their cameras for the Coronation Street stars drinking at the bar we ended up at. 8 hours after having set off on foot from the flat, I finally returned, rather shattered. Unsuprisingly, there's masses of photos for the meet - if you want to see the entire 359-photo combined pool for the event, check it out here on Flickr! (My Set) All-in, a top day.Thanks to all those who've allowed their photos to be blogged via Flickr.
The Bigger Picture
For the price, you really can't complain. You surrender all control over the images to the software, once you've ordered them, but it doesn't do all that bad a job. (See the end of the post for comparison images).
DoubleTake, on the other hand, is a pretty comprehensive app - it supports RAW files unlike the HP software (which I guess is to be expected) however I'd recommend working with 16-bit TIFFs as whilst it's certainly not unforgivably slow with the NEFs I dragged into it, it's obviously far faster to work with TIFFs (not to mention you'll have white balance etc sorted too!).
![[Blog Photo] Monolake](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/483688552_b0286ec384.jpg)
The ability to set a fish-eye setting to the image to get them to align is handy, as is the ability to set the focal length. The 'Align' does exactly what is says on the tin, 360º panoramas are possible, and whilst you can save as JPG, JPEG 2000, TIFF, PNG, PDF, you can also save the panorama as a QuickTime VR and a DoubleTake 'document' which allows you to save the panorama without losing the ability to come back and re-edit it at a future date. One feature I didn't get a a chance to test (as inkjet ink is still too pricey) is one added in the recent 2.1 update: Poster Printing - DoubleTake now can split your images into several pages for printing on A4, allowing you to re-construct the picture after using up copious amounts of ink (read more about the feature on the DoubleTake site)
All in all, DoubleTake is a neat app. Sure, for some people the free software will work for their needs. But if you're interested in having more manual control, and more export options, you really should head over to the developer's site and download a demo - I give it a definite thumbs-up. DoubleTake is €16.95 excluding VAT and requires Mac OS X 10.4. Download details for the Hewlett Packard software can be found here (under Step 3).
Samples:
- Comparison of panoramas created by DoubleTake and HP Photosmart Stitch (1.3MB PDF)
- QuickTime VR created by DoubleTake (2.20MB MOV)
- HP-created version on Flickr
- DoubleTake-created version on Flickr
Mah Mediah
![[Blog Photo] Mah Mediah](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/481670006_4e5aead317.jpg)
Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to get hold of some additional media for my D80 - with the D80 filling a 2Gb SD card in 160-odd shots compared to the Sony's 590-ish (that's at maximum resolution and file type) I'm stocking up a few extra cards. Along the way, I've had two faulty (albeit admittedly cheap) cards that weren't worth the hassle. So, where to look? There's Amazon, sure, but I've got another suggestion - Play.com. I chose to look for some SanDisk Extreme II cards - I know there's Extreme III out, but to be honest, the Extreme II I'm using at the moment is plenty fast. OK, the III's are only 3 or four quid more, but I set myself £30 for memory, and I intended to stick to it!! The short of it is this: £30 got me 2 x 2Gb Extreme II SD cards. Delivered free, and now awaiting use. If you're looking at CompactFlash for a Canon (you have my sympathies.. ;-) ) then I'd recommend you start here (SD cards can be found here) - there's some massive savings to be had!
Sunset over Manchester
After much trial, and plenty of error - a sunset to be proud of! This weekend sees a couple of things going on in Manchester - firstly the City vs United derby ("Am I bovvered?") and shortly after that, Flickr Meet VI is hitting a pub near you. We're gonna be chatting about plans to get an exhibition going of Mancunian Flickr-rs work, and it all kicks off shortly after the footy's final whistle (i.e. 3pm-ish). RSVP or otherwise at Upcoming.org is not essential, but it will give you the details and the opportunity to make sure we don't move on without you! The meet is also signalling the end of the submissions phase for the exhibition - the group pool closes on Monday, so if you've not submitted photos yet, you'd best get to it!
Finally, if there's any other Mancunian bloggers out there who would perhaps be able to help us get exhibition space that perhaps we've not thought of, or otherwise help us get this exhibition rolling, then either post on Flickr, or contact me directly via the contact form found here!
Some Photos to share
'Replacements' - I lost the sunglasses I got around the same time as the old Sony - and just when the sun hit last week. They have yet to be found. So replacements were obtained. Seems a trend of sunglasses and camera together!
'On The Tree' - I'm not a pink or flower loving person, to be honest, but the tree in my parents front garden was looking in need of some D80 attention.
'Two short' - ....of a straight flush. I shot this not realising there was a sequence until I fired up Aperture. 3 Petersfield players watch from the sidelines of their Hampshire Leagure Cup FInal. Their team failed to grab a last minute opportunity that would have handed them the Cup title.
Basking in the Sunshine
But I can't help but feel I'd have enjoyed it even more in Manchester! Today saw the last match of the Petersfield Rugby Club season, so I headed on down to the playing fields. Of course, having only the 18-70mm lens restricted my ability to shoot everything, but here's a shot from the day. Quite pleased with them, to be honest. But tomorrow sees another match, in which my brother's playing, so I can refine my shots then!
You say Goodbye......
One Final Push
A while back, I mentioned the whole JPG malarkey, but now submissions for the issue are closed, and there's a week left to register your votes! If you've not voted on the shot (left), please feel free to. It'd be awesome to see the shot featured in an issue.
Manchester: A Black and White Portrait
Hot Tip: Poster Prints for £6.99!
They should arrive by the middle of next week, so I'll let you know when they arrive!
JPGMag: Vote Now!
If you hadn't guessed, things are still rather hectic here, but I've got most of a screencast recorded, perhaps seeing a release on Thursday. Other than that, there's a few exciting ideas in the pipeline, and a bit news too. But I'll save all of those things for another time, along with the Nintendo Wii that's arrived in the Student's Union here!
Flickr Meetup: The Fourth
Photo Courtesy of Lynn Irving (Spiderpops)
I'm in the brown Bench top on the right of the kneeling row (2nd from front)
Yesterday saw the fourth Flickr Meetup here in Manchester. A truly awesome 26 people turned up (a marked improvement on the 7 and 1 people at the last two meets!). Check out the photos here. Hopefully we'll be a bigger group next time, and maybe venture further afield! Here's one of mine from the day:
AirShard #2 - Black and White
AirShard
Upcoming.org: Flickr Meet The Fourth, Manchester
Where: Tulip Fountain, St. Anne's Square, Manchester
When: 1pm (1300hrs), Sunday 11th March
What Next? At 1.15pm we will then go to Thomas's Chop House on Cross Street for a bevi and wait for stragglers until about 2pm or there abouts. After that, who knows. Check out the photos from the last one here....!
Date for your Diary
Here it is on Upcoming.org: 11th March 2007, 1pm in St. Annes Square. Discuss, and post photos here! See you there folks..... let's hope we spot a different celebrity this time! (Shot below taken at the October meetup).
Fog
Weird Localised Fog Today gave me an unusual shot of the Beetham Tower from the kitchen. I've just discovered that BBC Manchester has a blog. How I missed it before I'm not to sure, however thought I'd give them a plug.
Flickr Fallout & Popularity Contest 2.0?
The one thing this whole saga has hi-lighted to me is that people are completely abusing Flickr (and in ways that Flickr can really do nothing about). The whole social network of Flickr has reared its 'popularity contest' side, which is a terrible shame. In Northern Bytes #13, I mentioned a guy who has over 19,000 contacts on Flickr. Yes, you read that correctly. Nineteen thousand contacts. Read the whole fallout here.
This particular person seems to simply add as many people as a contact as possible to ensure maximum exposure for his own work. It's not even a subtle way of doing things. If people are adding me simply to garner themselves some more hits for their own ego-boost, then they have no place on any photo-sharing site. Flickr is about the photography, and I think people would do well to remember this. I've added people in the past who've never reciprocated. I've added them purely because I love their photography, and don't mind if they don't reciprocate. If I ever got to the stage where I couldn't add any new un-reciprocated I'd be a little pissed off. Thomas Hawk, who is not only CEO of Flickr rival Zooomr, but also perhaps one of my favourite photographers, offers these words:
Today I have 5,034 contacts on Flickr. The vast majority of these contacts are people that have added me because they want to follow my photography. I've always believed that the polite thing to do was to add them back as contacts so that I could also periodically go through their photos and fave, comment, etc. But now I am going to have to drop about 40% of my contacts whose work that I monitor. So if you notice that I drop you as a contact at Flickr don't take it personally. Blame Yahoo, they are the ones forcing me to do it. I enjoyed monitoring your work while I was allowed.
And before the Flickr brainswashed defenders say, c'mon, how can you really monitor that many people's photographs, I will tell you that I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours monitoring others photos on Flickr. I have personally favorited over 18,000 photographs from my contacts on Flickr because I love their work. And if they are checking out my stuff I should be able to check out theirs. Yes, the more contacts it gets the harder this is. But almost every day I take time to go through the most recent photos by my contacts and fave and comment on their pictures.
Thankfully the first part of that quote is now unnecessary as I'd imagine that most people add Thomas as a contact. As a footnote, I ought to say how much I admire Thomas Hawk's continued ability to comment on Flickr in a way that is the epitome of professionalism. As CEO of Zooomr, some people may think he should be simply relishing the opportunity for Zooomr to win customers through Yahoo!'s changes. Instead, he's continued to be level headed and up front with his views; Flickr has listened and changed; and has this quote about the changes:
That's why I'll enjoy his photography even more in future, and why his blog is staying in my RSS reader - even if I don't like Zooomr that much (FlickrExport is the killer part of my Flickr-based workflow).Thanks Stewart for listening to the community on this one. Flickr is a better place with reciprocation than without. And thanks for spending hours of your own time these past few days personally responding in the forums on all of these changes. It's this personal level of attention that means the most and it's also a big part of what makes flickr such a great place.
--
I'm not commenting on the Y!-id issue above as I'm not 'old-skool' - I use a Y! id for Flickr. It strikes me that protesting 'old-skool' members seem to think that their Flickr accounts are some kind of status symbol that they're not willing to give up. One thing I'd love to see, however, is the ability to link multiple Flickr accounts to one Y! id. Something useful for those who maybe use more than one Flickr account (I don't currently but know of at least 3 people who do). One More Thing: Check out this awesome shot!
Flickr-rs Invade!
Adam's, Danny's and Mike's. The question is, when are the Flickr staff going to allow us to favourite an entire set? I find myself favourite-ing too many of Mr Franklin's photos!
Thumbs Up to...
Thanks for the tip Stuart!!
Downtime
Messing in Aperture
This is a 5 year old JPEG, which had too much green (original here) so I thought I'd try out what I could do in Aperture.
dSLR Guide
dSLR Guide is well worth your time. Well written and full of useful tips. It's done in iWeb and hosted on .Mac, so get the kettle on as it's quite a graphic intense site (it's choking up even my own net connection which, as previously stated, is not slow), but other than that, it's a great site that I'm reading rather avidly. Thanks to the staffer who pointed it out to me.
Panoramas
So, here's a neat little link to some software. It's actually from HP (of all people), and whilst it's meant to ship as part of their drivers, if you want to create panoramas, I'd strongly urge you to ignore the 101MB download size (I kid you not) and install the stuff. Delete everything you don't want or need, but keep HP Photosmart Stitch. You can grab the software here - it can be found in 'Step 3 - Obtain Software'. If you want to see the latest one from my flat window, here it is. I'm really pleased with this one: 4 shots and you still can't really tell:
Snow / Mist / Beetham
As for having an obsession with that tower? Quoting someone I know recently 'We all do, Nik, we all do'. Glad I'm not the only one.