Zoe, zoe, zoe...

...yeah, so I'm still trying to work out how best to use Zoe...you can do this sort of thing...(it's an automatic process, but from the looks of things they only stay on the server for 700 days)...I really wish you could upload the excellent slideshow (there may yet be a way I haven't discovered), but when I had a look at the files on my storage card this morning --over the weekend-- I took 5.1Gb of Zoe "pictures"...this is just *way* too much to use for routine purposes, finding space for all the Canon shots is bad enough, no way I can cope with that sort of volume of files...!  So I'm going to have to prune very carefully and Flickr I think...

There was also a rumour of a load more dropbox space for getting this telephone, so I'll have to look into that also...humph... :S

Update - Ah, what I am after is actually called a Zoe "Video Highlight", I'll have a play and get back to you... ;)

HTC One HDR Mode

(With HDR above, without HDR below)

Okay, so I've played around with the HDR mode on the HTC One a bit now (and eaten a nice Zizzi Pizza), and to be honest?  It isn't HDR as one would expect, it does indeed spend a bit longer taking the pictures and the results are *slightly* more colourful, but they don't look a huge amount different to me...slightly more vibrant colours, and almost all over/under exposed areas are filled in with more detail (admittedly), true blacks are certainly *slightly* blacker, but I'm sometimes hard pushed to remember which was which when I'm flicking through the images (true for the pizza shot (bar this illustration), but the combined exposure on the landscape below image basically saved it) for a well lit, semi-macro shot the exchange you are going to be most worried about is potential for fixed detail traded for very slightly worse focus/some blurring (making it hard to pick between them - as both have their own flaws) -

(above is with HDR on, below is HDR off)-

Landscape - Without HDR it's more moody, and truer to "reality", but the extra detail more than makes up for that (it's *clearly* a subjective thing though)...I think I'm going to put it on as my default shooting mode (as the final images are a bit richer - without looking silly) and see how I get on with the focus (as it could all fall to bits when I'm shooting something that moves around - unlike pizza and buildings)... ;)

Overall HDR mode seems (at this stage) to be slightly superior to "normal" shooting (imho), bracketing HDR and Normal each time seems a bit...well...*silly* though (or maybe that's just me)... ;)

Trying to spot Saturn last night...

...as apparently it's very easy to spot right now with the naked eye...got a nice picture of the moon (which shows off how good my zoom lens is, quite incredible really)...but it was just too overcast to see anything much else, in fact, at 11pm I did a quick scan of the entire sky and counted exactly one visible star...might give it another go tonight if it's less cloudy... ;)
Update (@16:00hrs) - looking good so far! ;)

Cine Slideshow...

Filmed this off the back of the Canon 600D using Flyingpops' point and shoot, it's a quick sweep using preview through the (several thousand) shots I've taken over the last 9 days, sort of like a roving time-lapse I guess, extraordinary to see the bursts of shots turn into little snippets of film before your very eyes and see all that time condensed into the blink of the camera's eye... ;)

New Camera! My Canon 600D!

*Just* in case you haven't noticed (a) the sudden explosion in the number of photographs I have been taking lately and (b) the sudden (albeit subjective) increase in quality thereof, the reason is fairly simple - a very welcome new toy (thanks to everyone who chipped in)...! ;)

It is a Canon EOS 600D with a nice Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 IF Macro lens (the lens that came with it *had* zoom (technically) but for all it did to the final picture it may as well not have done)...at the moment, every time I pick it up I seem to find another cool thing it does, but notable super cool things are the *huge* flip out screen (Sony handycam style), remote control (and remotely operated flash unit), *staggering* quality HD video recording, toddler-proof high speed focus and shooting (which works very nicely in very low light without flash), quickly movable auto-focus center priority, 500-odd shot battery life between charges, creative auto mode (that takes all the hassle out of arty selective blur), post shot on camera picture editing with cropping facility/tilt shift mode and various other filter/fish-eye emulators, 10x zoom-within-zoom for super accurate manual focus, three different autofocus modes (normal, normal with automatic face detection and super-fast)...

It used to be that I go out for a nice day out somewhere and come home with 150 shots to look through, now it's more like 600 shots (and I can begin my post-shoot processing in the car on the way home as the screen is so fantastic)! Amazingly all my "safe" shots with the flash I'm just able to throw away as low light shooting is so crisp and artifact-free, and in bright light not a *hint* on vignetting or purple fringing...One thing I *am* missing from my trusty Fuji S9600 (which literally fell into pieces in envy and stopped working the minute the Canon came through the front door) is super-macro mode (I can feel a dedicated Macro lens lurking somewhere in my not-so-distant future)... ;)

Denbies Raptor Show

While the actual word that came out of his mouth was "Owls!" (well done Animal book/drill), that -look- *definitely* said "Woah...Just hold on one minute while we get this straight...these things are actually *REAL*?"...

Brilliant capture by Flyingpops... ;)

No time for posting...

...today, too busy...but to celebrate yesterday's bit of news I have done some sorting out and updated my favourite pictures (set) on Flickr (if you fancy a look)... ;)

Flickr and Getty Images

Well, well, well...a "customer" is interested in licencing my photograph of Jar Jar the goldfish which they spotted on Flickr (apparently), so Getty Images have emailed me an invitation to join their books and submit my image for final review (which I have done), wonder if my little photography hobby will turn into an unexpected money spinner?

Watch this space...! ;)

Holiday Pics Uploaded...!

...okay, a few pics from the holiday are up on Flickr (if you absolutely can't wait), obviously I'll be writing about them in some detail over the next few days if you are the patient sort... ;)

Automatic Tourist Remover!

Wow, this has the potential to save a *lot* of time if you are hunting for that perfect shot (and can't be bothered to wait behind the lens until the view is clear), simply take a selection of shots (using roughly the same angle) and this free web app will work out which bits of the picture have moved (i.e. the annoying tourists) and crop them out using chunks from the other shots you took! Awesome!

Check out the automatic tourist remover...

The Canterbury Tales Experience - Review

Back to last Saturday morning now, after our hearty breakfast we headed back into Canterbury proper, had a complete nightmare trying to park the car (eventually settling for a very tight spot right outside the city walls)...it was raining, it was windy, the whole place was *still* packed with foreign students, but this time all decked out in various eye-straining colours of cagoule...we followed the tiny map on the back of our 50% off voucher (you get one when you pay to get into the Cathedral) being battered by the wind -

- and, huddling (when necessary) underneath our umbrella, joined the back of the small queue, which (despite being hearteningly diminutive) didn't move for half an hour)...

Being stood next to this sign, after a while, began to make one wonder if (perhaps) a half-hour queue in an on/off torrential downpour to experience the "smells of Medieval England" might not actually have been the wisest of decisions...Anyway, we persisted (heaven only knows how long one would have to wait on a pleasant day in high tourist season), and were finally granted admittance to the extremely cramped entrance room -

- where some colourful characters were waiting to welcome you, we coughed up our entrance fee, handed our commentary batons and were warned that the first room was going to be extremely dark, then bumbled collectively (with a group of about fifteen people) into the darkness ahead -

- and they certainly weren't kidding, it was pitch black apart from the (pretend) embers of a fire (until the "sun" rose through the "window") and the door sprang open inviting us into the next area -

- which, I was slightly saddened to discover, had a strong aroma of urine (this, disappointingly, being the only evidence of the aforementioned "Medieval smells" (that I noticed anyway), and I can manage to recreate that experience (in modern times) by getting in the lift up to the library in Redhill town centre, thank-you-very-much)-

- they explained their clever (and highly realistic) smell away by introducing ladies emptying their bed pans from above with a loud splashing noise...nice...anyway, I don't wish to ruin the experience or the story (as on the whole it was rather enjoyable) so just a couple more pictures (very hard to shoot in there as firing the flash was frowned upon and it was extremely dark), the stories are animated by a combination of lighting changes, very simple animatronics -



- and the odd automatic door, before (all too quickly) we found ourselves walking out into the traditional brightly lit exit gift shop -

- where 30 different versions of the book were on sale, oh and a huge amount of touristy tat (just for good measure)...I suppose the whole thing took us about half an hour in all (so we actually queued for about the same amount of time as we were in there), the language they used was modern English but with a medieval twist (they do have a special version for young kids, just so they don't get too confused or upset by all the sexual references - there are rather a lot) and actually, it's well worth the visit (but do try and get hold of a voucher, as it seems quite expensive for the amount of time you are in there otherwise)...the good thing is that off the back of this experience I am now tempted to attempt the book (Flyingpops had been forced to study it at school, so I felt a bit left out in that regard), if you want a summing up - consider it an excellent 'introduction' to the text, as when I picked up the book I realised it was going to be another Robinson Crusoe first edition-type read - i.e. enjoyable, but rather challenging...

Fink's Links #54

So as another (rather exceptional) week gets folded up and placed neatly into it's drawer, we wonder - can there possibly still be any good things left on the internets we haven't already seen 10 times? Urm...actually yes!

So here we go, to start with - check if you would be vaporised in a nuclear attack on the major target where you work (or live near) with this handy nuke simulator...pick the location, pick the size of the bomb and hit "Nuke it!"...(just so you know, with the biggest new Chinese bomb on offer, at work I would survive a strike on Central London (but could then have a problem getting home), but would die in radioactive flames from a strike on Gatwick Airport if I were at home at the time)...ho hum... :S

Check out these great experimental gaming t-shirts, I knew all but one of them...the Dom and Cole (etc.) one I had to look up (but rolled my eyes at myself when I realised which game it was)... ;)

Be amazed at the price of 3 eggs in Zimbabwe (obligatory reversed pinkie finger positioned at the side of the mouth)... [pic]

We were driving to broken hill from Wilcannia when we drove into a severe dust storm"... [video]

Heart shaped pizza, not exactly as advertised...just imagine if that had been your romantic plan for (a pizza lovers) Valentines day dinner? Ulp... :( [comparison shots]

Steampunk is starting to influence the mainstream! Check out Samsung's new point and shoot camera... [pics]

Mankind's greatest invention to date (add a bacon griddle and internet access and all science can then comfortably halt - mission complete)... ;) [pic]

Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the green-plastic-death-crocodile that brings total obliteration...now someone please use it to club to death the idiot who attached it to that poor dog! ;) [video]

A geeks tour of Shenzen in China... [pics]

Some incredible shot of venice from the air... [pics]

Urban exploration of Forest Haven - "notorious for its poor conditions and abuse of patients. It was shut down in 1991 by a federal court." [pics]

...and last but not least, a fairly impressive forklift fail and an excellent slogan fail...!

Previous weeks worth of links can be found over this way...!

Good Weekend all!!

Photographers Protest at Scotland Yard

Wow, there was a protest outside Scotland Yard this morning (started at 11am) regarding photographer's rights (or increasing lack of them), specifically to noisily object to the horrifying new legislation (coming into force today) that states that taking a picture of "a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" of a member of Her Majesties Forces can result in the evil perpetrator spending the next ten years in prison (courtesy of the Counter Terrorism Act of 2008)...

From what I have heard the protest was going to take the form of lots of members of the NUJ (and friends) going along and taking as many pictures as possible of as many police officers (yes, police officers count as Her Majesties Forces) as possible (which is quite amusing), but the underlying message here is a serious one - as we already know some tiny minority elements of said "forces" are happy to curtail photographers (legitimate and "in the public interest") activities by loosely interpreting section 44 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 into a justification to stop individuals taking pictures in public locations, or worse demand they delete shots they have already exposed (an abuse of power and quite wrong)...this development is only going to make things worse, now there are hefty prison sentences involved it moves things to a completely different and rather more serious level...

It all seems far too Orwellian for my liking...I just wish I had heard about this before it happened, perhaps I could have helped to spread the word (I mean, I was never going to take a day off work to actually go along, but I would have liked to have helped out a little bit)...

Anyway, their Twitter feed is here (a good few hundred did make it over there to bathe the place in light)...

Update - some official coverage is starting to appear...

Update update (oh dear) - "The Home Office added that anyone accused under the act could defend themselves by proving they had "a reasonable excuse" for taking the picture...

Update update update (Well done Chairman of the Met) - "As things stand, there is a real risk of photographers being hampered in carrying out their legitimate work and of police officers facing opprobrium for carrying out what they genuinely, if mistakenly, believe are duties imposed on them by the law".

Views of the London Underground

DIY Party Bouncer!

Had a bit of a play on the weekend when we went to help Flyingpops' friend Emily celebrate her birthday (she took over the whole of the Skimmington Castle pub in Reigate for the night)...it being a party I decided to try and mock up a party bouncer, and it kind of worked! All I did was borrow a card from Flyingpops (happened to be a Radley one, but any card will work as long as it's completely white on the back)...and hold it at a 45 degree angle in front of the flash (making sure there was a nice white ceiling above me) so as little as possible of the flash fell directly on the target, the subject then being lit by what bounces off the roof...and (when I was holding the card just right) it really did work!

- you can see where some of the flash managed to creep over the top of the card here (I was holding it a little too low), but with a bit of cropping that one is a miracle compared to how it would have looked if the flash had fired straight on the subjects -

- this one was an example where it didn't really work (too much of the flash crept round the side on the left), but overall I'm extremely pleased, the shots look great, and no-one had to put up with being blinded by the flash going off - just need to figure out a way to keep the card in just the right place now (maybe some blu tac), as hand holding it was a bit of a fiddle (as you can see)...!

Police abuse anti-terror laws to detain innocent photographers

This is starting to get really rather annoying, more stories of photographers being criminalised by police who are blatantly abusing anti-terror legislation, even going so far as to lock some photographers up (although not for terribly long, admittedly)...! 

I've only had one brush with the authorities personally, which was when I was through customs and approaching my gate at Gatwick airport, I took a very quick snap of the doorway and ramp to the plane (on a small point and shoot) and then got surrounded by officials demanding that I actually delete the picture from my camera...not really having a leg to stand on (as they could detain me or stop me getting on my flight), I yielded and wiped the shot (but not all the others I had taken in the airport ;) and was allowed to proceed, but hearing the Association of Chief Police Officers saying "Police officers may not prevent someone from taking a photograph in public unless they suspect criminal or terrorist intent. Their powers are strictly regulated by law and once an image has been recorded, the police have no power to delete or confiscate it without a court order"...

This makes me a little angry, as they obviously used their position to bully me into doing something even a police officer has no right to do without lawyers locking horns before a wigged gentleman...

However, it looks like we are (while not actually having a list of defined rights at the moment) at least starting to be able to guess where the invisible line is drawn...and about time too...

Now if someone could just tell all the police officers what their own Chiefs think about the matter we can all get on with our enjoyable, harmless hobby (or full-time job as the case may be)...

Easy Tilt Shift Photography

Wow, check out tiltshiftmaker.com, it basically lets you convert any picture (with very little effort) into a tilt shift image (i.e. makes it look like it is actually a shot of a tiny scale model, rather than a real scene) - there is one caveat though - you need to view the pictures large for it to *really* work, so click the below and take a look (if you hit the "all sizes" icon above the image you can view larger versions), the original pictures are linked to from Flickr if you want to compare them with the tilt shift conversions -


- a bit of fun, anyway...there are, of course, some much better examples on their flickr stream (if you like this sort of thing)...looks like good targets are shots with a large depth of field...

Have a go! ;)

Cameraphone photography

Can't tell you how impressed I am with the tiny camera on the N73, it's reached the stage where I don't feel like I have to lug the Fuji all over the place - although the image quality is unquestionably hugely superior - for general purposes (i.e. the daily grind) the N73 does *okay*, which does mean I can get away with a slightly easier to carry rucksack...

...it's good with deep colours, even in fairly low light, but actually I think it lends itself especially well to black and white shots (with the slightly grainy results from it's Carl Zeiss optics)-



- I would have said that there was no chance of it ever replacing the S9600, but actually...in some situations...it kind of has... ;)

A stroll around Dorking (in pictures)