Flash Camp!
The original plan was to camp out at Goblin Valley State Park (awesome) and shoot among the amazing formations found thereabouts. However, last minute model issues led us to reschedule something closer. It was awesome. We had 8 or 9 photographers all learning about off/on camera lighting with speedlights. Scott is a great teacher and fun was had by all.
I traveled light this trip, without most of my lighting gear, so I didn’t have much to work with. So I just assisted and kept my eyes open.
We did do some painting with lights though, and its always exciting to see the results of the raw creativity that happens when a bunch of photographers get together and start throwing things against the wall.
Here are a few images we did paying with flashlights and long exposures.
Lightroom Tuesday!
Its another Lightroom
Tuesday! Huzzah!
Each week I gather the best of the Lightroom-o-sphere
into one place for your edification, perusal and gain.
Lets get started, shall we...
- Lightroomsecrets.com points us to some Lightroom 3 resources...
- Not to be out foxed, Adobe wanted to chime in with some resources as well.
- Want to export some of those great photos for use on your iPad here is a nice tutorial on creating photo albums from Lightroom 3
- I might have mentioned this before, but PresetPond.com is a new preset repository.
- My sister had a near death experience with her Lightroom Catalogs (drive died) and she realized that her backup strategy was far from perfect. I recommend a Drobo or other such RAID device, a NAS for network backup and Backblaze for offsite cloud storage. Here is an article from X-Equals that details a bit on cloud storage.
- Still on the fence regarding Lightroom3. Here are a few reviews: BrightHub, DPReview
- The Luminous Landscape has posted their Guide to Lightroom 3 Video tutorials. I’ve enjoyed their past videos, so this one should be no less useful.
- Eight steps to crafting images in Lightroom from DPS.
- Timothy Armes has updated his LR/Enfuse plugin to version 4.
- LightroomKillerTips.com has some interesting “Worth a Clicks” here...
- PresetHeaven offers a new preset for your edification.
- A newbies look at what Lightrom can do for you.
- Staying on Newbie Aisle, here is a look at Importing Presets
That is it. I’m heading down to Goblin Valley State Park today to spend a day with Scott Jarvie and a few of his students doing some flashy things. Stay tuned for some awesomeness.
PS. When not backpacking, here is how I roll (taken up a canyon somewhere near Paris, Idaho).
Little Bighorn!
I’m a huge fan of history. And my reading list generally demonstrates this, with lots of historical analysis and biographies. Since I grew up in Canada, I found that my knowledge of US history was a bit less developed than I would have liked it to be. So I embarked on a decade long reading list to rectify this and I’ve learned much.
One of the great events in that history was the Battle of the Little Bighorn (or the Battle of the Greasy Grass if you talk to the victors). This one event demonstrates much of our national character (both good and bad) and is one you must understand to get the settling of the west. I’ve read quite a few books covering Custer, Sheridan, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, and so I wanted to share that with my boys.
We did the ranger battlefield talk and then took the Bighorn College bus tour of the extended battlesite as well, and the latter was really well done, illustrating in a way the former just couldn’t do as we moved along the ridge tops over looking the valley below. One could almost see the myriad of teepees down below as the guide recounted the days events over 130 years go.
Here are a few pictures...
Oh, and its always good to
throw in a tether ball tournament. Hat tip to Napoleon!
Devils Tower
The monument is an imposing feature as you approach. I guess being a solitary, five thousand foot monolith of igneous rock will do that for you, and there is little doubt as to why it became our nation’s first National Monument. Just awesome.
The Native American story of its formation is quite interesting:
“American Indian legends tell of six Lakota Sioux girls who were picking flowers when they were chased by bears. Feeling sorry for them, the Great Spirit raised the ground beneath the girls. The bears tried to climb the rock, but fell off, leaving their scratch marks on the sides.”
Our campground was right at the base of the tower, so we got some great pictures as some clouds rolled in.
The next morning we hiked around the formation, scrambled on the rocks at its base and just enjoyed its splendor. The boys were suitably impressed.
A few pictures from our day’s activities are in order...
Tomorrow we head for the
Custer Battlefield site in southeastern Montana.
PS. My younger two boys bought US Deputy Marshal
badges. Strangely, my oldest declined to buy one as
well. I guess the 14 year old girls wouldn’t be
impressed by his deputization, although he is denying
it.
The Gentlemen with Mustaches
Road Trip!
Many years ago, I read somewhere an account written by an historian who remembered going out with his family to interesting sites from American history and camping in a VW van for extended periods of time. They were there to absorb everything to do with the important events found there - from research to hiking to just living amidst these places sharpened his senses and awareness of what it is to be an American.
I resolved a few years ago to do likewise (or at least within the confines of my hectic schedule). We generally head out without anything more than a rough plan, download some audiobooks on the subject and pack the VW van. Last year we hit southern Colorado (Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes NM and a variety of places in between - blogged here...) and had an absolute ball. The boys still talk about it and I fully expect them to in 40 years. That of course, is my goal.
This year it was the Black Hills - literally an island of trees in a sea of grass.
I’d read several books on the settling of the west in the past two years, so we headed for this area rich in history and conflict. The Black Hills were a sacred place for the Native Americans who lived on the plains - and for obvious reasons. We found a place rich in natural beauty. The rugged rolling hills, the pine trees and above all the rock formations made for an amazing experience. It was here in the 1860s that General George Custer (yeah, that guy) lead an expedition formally identifying the place as a gold mecca, and opening it to increased mining, settlement and conflict with the Sioux.
The Black Hills also house several peculiar American sites: Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. We visited both. I was a bit curious as to how i’d respond. The conservationist in me considered the carving up of a perfectly beautiful mountain as a bit much. However, it is a very Amercian thing, what with our ideas of subjugating the land for our own purposes. I recognize the issues with that, but still, it was pretty darn impressive and both monuments house some pretty high ideals in their competing natures. The kids loved both, but I think Rushmore was a bit more impressive due to the spectacular grounds at the monument and the fact that it was more complete. Crazy Horse’s grounds were a bit less impressive, but the scope of this in 50 years may dwarf the former. All three boys resolved to return when they have kids to see how its going.
Then we headed north to Deadwood, SD. Yes, I’d watched the HBO series (or at least part of it until the raciness got to me) and I love me a good western historical town with museums, old buildings and the like.
Complete disappointment. Apparently its just a crappy gambling town now with casinos littering the historic mainstreet and completely spoiling it. I was hoping for more of a Tombstone thing, but got Vegas with plastic spurs. Now I realize that in some sense one could argue this was historically accurate for the Deadwood of frontier times, but meh. It sucked. We couldn’t even find a good restaurant to eat in. The only one we even considered had a snotty hostess so we left. I’m not going to overpay for crappy foodservice burgers an do so obviously as an annoyance to some teenager.
So we left after less than 30 minutes.
Destination: The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. More tomorrow...
Here are a few pictures...
PS. Book for this segment of the roadtrip: Terrible Glory. A wonderful book
on Custer and his shenanigans in the region.
PSS. If you see my boys wearing the same clothes on
multiple days, I’m trying 
Apologies to my dear wife.
David & Heidi
Dance Friday!
Lightroom Tuesday!
Its another Lightroom
Tuesday! Huzzah!
Each week I gather the best of the Lightroom-o-sphere
into one place for your edification, perusal and gain.
Lets get started, shall we...
- A detailed analysis of JPG export quality from Jeffrey Friedl
- George Jardine has a new LR 3 workflow tutorial online.
- LIghtroomKillerTips.com has a few “Worth A Click” items, uh, worth the click.
- Victoria Bampton notified me that her “Adobe Lightroom 3 - The Missing FAQ” book is now available.
- David Marx is leading a weeklong Lightroom 3 workshop at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula, MT.
- Matt Klowskowski takes a look at Exposure vs. Brightness.
- NAPP has a great Lightroom 3 Learning Center online...
- X-Equals looks at Lens Correction & Alteration workflow in LR3.
- Lightroomsecrets.com has a look at some LR3 resources...
- TheLightroomLab.com looks at importing files into Lightroom...
- X-Equals looks at offsite storage options for photographers...
- Foto-Biz looks at the promised speed improvements in LR3
Thats it for this week. Have a great Tuesday!
Little Scouter!
Have a great weekend!
Biking!
Lightroom Tuesday!
Its another Lightroom
Tuesday! Huzzah!
Each week I gather the best of the Lightroom-o-sphere
into one place for your edification, perusal and gain.
Lets get started, shall we...
- Slideshow pro now using HTML5 instead of Flash. Nice for all those iPads out there.
- Timothy Armes has announced FTP Publisher announced
- X-Equals details the new Lens Correction features in Lightroom 3. They also have a nice “Link Party” post which has a bunch of photo/biz/lighroom/photoshop related stuff all together.
- Lightroomsecrets.com details some Lightroom 3 resources for us. How nice!
- TheLightroomLab.com looks at the catalog and importing options.
- I’m not a big fan of Blurb for customer books, but they are nice for family and friends. Here is a video on going from Lightroom to Blurb.
- Gene McCullah looks at Virtual Copies. Not to be outdone by X-Equals with multiple useful posts, he also looks at organizing your images.
- LightroomKillerTips.com looks at HDR photography They also have a great set of export presets for presenting your images on your iPad.
- Lynda.com, a recommended online training source, has a few new tours/tutorials on Lightroom 3
- Wired got around to reviewing Lightroom 3 recently.
- Foto-Biz looks at what computer/CPU is best for photo work.
- The making of a Lightroom Preset. Photographer Michael Sweeney breaks it down for you.
- DPS looks at Embracing Brightness.
- TheLightroomLab.com looks at LR3 setup and catalog creation. And upgrading to LR3. Its a two for one deal!
- Learn to convert to Black & White with Julianne Kost.
- Terry White looks at running
Lightroom on your iPad
Thats it for today. The sun is shining, the world cup is beckoning and I got work to do.
So have a great Tuesday. Keep pressing that shutter, it’ll come unstuck.
Tip Monday - Disk Permissions
Here is how to do it the harder way.
Happily, there are a few good system maintenance apps out there (at least the Mac, my platform of choice) that makes this step a bit easier.
Personally, I use MainMenu - it does a host of
system maintenance steps for you. Keeping your
computer running smoothly is a big help to the
working photographer. It makes all the rest of the
steps easier because you’re not fighting your tools.
So as part of your computer wellness routine, consider
a tool such as this that does the important things in
an easy to access way. You’re photos will thank
you.
Happy Independance Day!
So I hope you’re having a great weekend. I hope it isn’t raining where you are like it is here. Fizzling our fuses and dampening, only slightly, our festive mood. You know something is crazy when you have chili indoors on the 4th instead of a BBQ.
Anyhow, here are a few words worth remembering today:
The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for
introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1Georgia: Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall George Walton
Column 2North Carolina: William Hooper Joseph Hewes John Penn South Carolina: Edward Rutledge Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton
Column 3Massachusetts:John Hancock Maryland:Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia:George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton
Column 4Pennsylvania: Robert Morris Benjamin Rush Benjamin Franklin John Morton George Clymer James Smith George Taylor James Wilson George Ross Delaware: Caesar Rodney George Read Thomas McKean
Column 5New York: William Floyd Philip Livingston Francis Lewis Lewis Morris New Jersey: Richard Stockton John Witherspoon Francis Hopkinson John Hart Abraham Clark
Column 6New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William Whipple Massachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William Ellery Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton
Happy Canada Day!
A few interesting things about Canada Day from Wikipedia:
On June 20, 1868,
Governor General
the Viscount Monck issued a royal proclamation
asking for Canadians to
"celebrate the anniversary of the
confederation."[7]
However, the holiday was
not established statutorily until 1879, when it was
designated as Dominion
Day, in
reference to the designation of the country as a
Dominion
in the British North
America Act. The holiday was initially not dominant in
the national calendar; up to the early 20th century,
Canadians thought themselves to be primarily British,
being thus less interested in celebrating distinctly
Canadian forms of patriotism. No official celebrations
were therefore held until 1917 — the golden
anniversary of Confederation — and then none again
for a further decade.[8]
Essentially British, eh? Alot changed from then to now,
I can assure you.
And luckily, its still hasn’t turned to summer yet here
in Seattle and I can wear my Toque as a commemoration.
Grrr.
PS. The Maple Leaf above illustrates the various
tartans for each province/territory. Yes, we still have
territories up north. I guess that is in case something
were to go nutty, so we could disown them.