The Daily Conundrum

The thing about having a blog is that, on a daily basis, I have to think of something creative to talk about. Or at least something mildly interesting. Funny works, too. And I have to come up with an image to accompany the post because, as I have said a million times, image-less posts are just not as interesting. In my opinion.

I am usually able to find a shot of my own to use. Or I just go to Flickr and use someone else’s. (That’s not stealing, by the way. Most pictures in Flickr have a BLOG THIS option for that specific reason. In case you were wondering.)

Weirdest Discovery: This week I stumbled across a blog post that in itself isn’t weird, it is what the author innocently exposed that still has me marveling at the strangeness of humanity. After you read through her post, look at the 8th comment. If you don’t look at the 8th comment, you totally won’t get the strangeness I am referring to.

Interesting Pictures (someone else’s): I forget how I stumbled across this lady’s blog. Maybe through the Shutter Sisters blog, which I have to give Shannon credit for pointing out to me.

Cool Video: This really isn’t a video. It’s a slide show I did a while back featuring my dogs, Meg and C. Some of you have seen it before. Sorry, but I really like it.

Wanna know what’s coolest about it? At the end of the slide show, I mentioned that both of my dogs came to us through American Brittany Rescue (ABR). Soon afterward, I noticed other rescue groups posting slide shows and/or videos of dogs available for adoption. Like this one, which is very well done, from someone at the National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network (NBRAN). That’s not a rival group; ABR and NBRAN work together frequently, especially on transports.

Most-Helpful Writing Tips: I could share some tips of my own or just take the easy way out and point you to sites like this one.

Subtle (and not-so-subtle) Humor: Or point you to sites like this, which Hubby introduced me to, that regularly features offbeat news (weird, strange, crazy and odd stories) and photos.

Useful Tools: I could be really boring, too, and point you to sites like this one, which for some strange reason I don’t have bookmarked even though I refer to it frequently. Or this one, which could be really useful in deciding where to go for your next vacation.

Interesting Links: I could just fill my blog with lots of different links (like I did here).

Cliffhanger: Or I could be really mysterious and say something like…

Have you noticed a theme with frog pics lately? Wanna know why I keep posting pictures of my stupid frog tchotchkes? Do you think there is an actual reason? Stay tuned to find out…

Or… I could do all of the above to save myself from having to make such an important decision so early in the morning.

P.S. – In case you missed the previous frog pics, the first was at the very bottom of this post, the second was posted yesterday, and the third is at the top of this post. I might post a fourth, I haven’t decided yet.

P.P.S. – I did have to go to that unbookmarked site again to find out how to spell “tchotchkes.” In case you were wondering.

Show Your Photos Like a Pro

Not all of the blog reading I’ve done lately is useless. I am actually learning. Broadening my mind. Stretching my horizons.

I’ve been using Photoshop for years. But only for really basic stuff like resizing or cropping images, creating simple .gifs for my Web site. But the more I see what people can do with Photoshop (and the crazy mistakes even purported professionals make), the more I want to learn how to use it.

So I’ve been searching the Internet for tips and how-tos. Why buy a book when there’s so much free knowledge available?

The problem is, a lot of the tipsters assume I know what they consider to be basic stuff like applying a layer mask. Until recently, I didn’t even know what a layer mask was. I won’t bore you with the particulars. You’ll just have to trust me when I say Photoshop veterans who might read this post would smack their forehead and say, “Oh my God! What an IDIOT!” (Trying to use Photoshop without layer masks is like trying paint a large room with a very small artist’s brush. You might get the room painted. Eventually. After long hours of labor. But the end result will look like crap.)

Don’t know what a layer mask is? Save yourself some pain and enlighten yourself now. Photoshop Tips is just one of the helpful blogs I found.

The PhotoshopTalent.com blog is good, but a bit advanced for me at this stage. I keep it bookmarked because there’s some good stuff there I’ll be able to use one day.

The digital Photography School (dPS) blog is my favorite by far. It features posts from myriad professionals (photographers and graphic artists from what I’ve gathered so far). You can pick and choose the tips you want to try and master. Or choose stuff you don’t necessarily want to master, but that will help increase your familiarity with the software. The one I tried this morning shows how to frame and name your photos, like I did with the frog you see above.

I just picked an easily accessible image to play with. The image itself isn’t the focus here, it’s the effect. Click on frame and name your photos to see for yourself.

I learned how to frame today. It might come in handy at some point. It might not. What’s more important are the little tricks I learned while doing it that I can apply to other stuff. (NOTE: the frame is more impressive-looking at full size. Click on the frog to see what I mean.)

Know of any other great photography/Photoshop blogs? Please be a pal and share…

Proper Equipment = Enhanced Experience

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned my Gorillapod, which is an actual piece of camera-related equipment I use. Today, I have to mention another handy piece of “equipment” I own, a Canon Digital Rebel XT Magic Lantern Guide (MLG). (The same publisher produces camera-specific guides for a variety of different camera manufacturers and models.)

What this book is: a very detailed owner’s manual.

What this book is NOT: a how-to photography book that explains stuff like making teeth look whiter, sunsets clearer, yourself magically thinner, etc.

It is an in-depth owner’s manual. It is basically the same manual you get for FREE with your camera, except this is the expanded version.

In my opinion, Canon actually does a pretty good job with its manual. Especially considering the manual’s size. It does explain the technicalities of using your camera. What it doesn’t do is explain what those technicalities mean to you.

For example, let’s say you want to know about the camera’s dioptric adjustment. In layman’s terms, that means you want to know how to adjust the focus of the viewfinder. If you wear glasses, what the camera thinks is in focus and what YOU think is in focus could be two different things.

If you are relying on the manual alone, the info is there. It just isn’t nearly as clear. If you experience blurriness in your viewfinder, I’d guess your first thought would be to look under “viewfinder” in the manual’s index. “Viewfinder” is in there, but it refers to a nomenclature page FULL of viewfinder information except, of course, dioptric adjustment.

The MLG’s index lists “viewfinder” AND goes even further to reference viewfinder adjustment. On the very first page I turn to, there’s a sub-head for Viewfinder Adjustment. The very first sentence under that subhead says the camera “…features a built-in diopter (a supplementary lens that allows for sharper viewing. The diopter will help you get a sharp view of the focusing screen so you can be sure you are getting the correct sharpness as you shoot.”

Quick and easy, right?

In Canon’s instruction manual, I had to page through 24 pages of the “Getting Started” section before I found what I needed. It explained the basics of dioptric adjustment like “turn the knob to the left or right until the AF points in the viewfinder look sharp.” Still not clear? The manual recommends purchasing a Diopter Adjustment Lens (wonder how much that would cost!).

Canon’s manual is missing a very important bit of emphasis. The MLG says, “You should not look at the subject that the camera is focused on, but at the actual points on the viewfinder screen.”

That’s just one example. And it is appropriate, too. You see, I thought I was having camera issues. My images never seemed to be focused on what I thought I’d focused on. Turns out, my diopter just needed adjusting.

Now all my stuff should be focused properly. I hope. Of course, proper focus is a bit subjective.

In this example, the top half of the frog is in focus while his knees and feet are blurry. That’s what I wanted. Had I not adjusted my diopter, his knees would have been in focus and the rest of him would’ve been blurry. Which would just look, um, dumb.

For all my not-into-photography fans, sorry! My next post will be more fun. I promise…

Awesome Hubby’s a Gadget Guy

Did I ever tell you how awesome my husband is? I’m sure I did. I tell people that all the time. But just in case I forgot…

Hubby is AWESOME.

I could regale you with the many reasons why I think he’s so awesome, but I don’t like to gloat. Much. So I’ll just share this one.

On days like today when I am either busy or just lacking in the inspiration department, he comes through with interesting stuff for me to post. Not because I asked him either. Just because he loves me and he likes to share some of the fun, tasteful stuff he digs up.

Like this goofy little tidbit. It’s a tad long, but very entertaining. So be sure to watch the whole thing.


Eepybird’s Sticky Note Experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.


Now that I’ve reminded you how awesome my Hubby is, I’ll share one of his secrets with you. I could type REALLY SMALL and he might not be able to read what I’m about to say. Or I could just spit it out. I’ll opt for the latter route.

Are you ready?

Hubby is addicted to gadgets. He’s got gadgets that do all sorts of strange things. Maybe one day I’ll take a picture of some of the more interesting things he finds. I admit, quite a few actually are useful tools. Others, not so much.

But every now and then he comes through with a cool one. Like this thing he got me for Christmas last year. I think it was last year. Anyway, the thing I am talking about is a Gorillapod (pictured below).

The Gorillapod, manufactured by Joby, is a handy little flexible tripod. You can use it just like a regular, albeit small, tripod. But the absolute best use for it is when you are out and about, but don’t have a safe, level place to sit your tripod. You can hang it on a tree. Or maybe a fencepost. Perhaps you need to fasten your camera to the steering wheel of your car. Or you could sit it on a rock as pictured in the photo below (which I borrowed from the Joby Web site but think I’ll be okay ’cause this is FREE advertising).

You probably won’t need it often. But if you’re anything like me, when you do need it, you REALLY need it. I used it several times in Alaska, as a matter of fact. And I’ll probably get lots of use out of my mid-range Gorillapod on my upcoming photo excursion to Maine.

Gorillapods come in three sizes (different colors, too), to hold:

Compact digital cameras (holds up to 9.7 ounces) – MSRP $21.95

SLR cameras with lightweight lens (holds up to 1.75 pounds) – MSRP $39.95

SLR-Zoom cameras with heavier lens (holds up to 6.6 pounds) – MSRP $49.95

I have the mid-range one for SLR cameras. It holds my camera ok (Canon Digital Rebel XT) with the lighter, kit lens. But what I really need (want?) is the big cahuna. The SLR-ZOOM Gorillapod. But it costs $50 bucks. That’s the MSRP, anyway.

Which one do you want and/or need? Perhaps you have one already? Any other cool camera gadget you want to tell me about?

Uploading ’til My Heart’s Content

I did it. I took the plunge and forked over the cash for a Flickr Pro account. Actually, it was credit. But it wasn’t much ($24.99/year).

Now I can upload whatever I want, whenever I want. Free account holders are limited to a 100 mb transfer per month and only three sets. That is nowhere near enough transfer bytes. And who can categorize all their stuff into three simple sets?

I really do have lots of pictures floating around. And I take more every day.

On a regular basis, Hubby thanks the powers that be that he was able to convince me to go digital. We’d be so poor by now…

I Have Decided to Share…

…some images. I have TONS of pictures floating around on this computer network of mine. And I keep taking more. After all, the more photos you shoot, the better you become, right? I just need to learn to DELETE some of them.

Anyway, I have decided to be generous and share my images with the world. Not just via this Blog or through my photo sharing sites, but on my Web site.

I figure folks might appreciate some different wallpaper images. Or images for their own Web site or Blog. Whatever. We all know I’ll never become a professional photographer. So why not just share?

The first shot you see on this post is my favorite. I darkened it with Photoshop a bit. (You gotta love the BOKEH!)

I really like this one, too.

That’s one of the benefits of having an 8 megapixel camera. The photos are huge. So you can zoom in on a specific segment of a photo, crop it, and you have a separate, very cool image. You can do the same thing with photos shot at lower megapixels, the final image will just be smaller.

Here’s another example…

That’s a neat, colorful, textury shot. It’s just a small piece of this photo…

If you’d like some FREE WALLPAPER or just want to see the rest of my wallpaper images, just follow one of the links I conveniently place in the first half of this sentence.

Let me know what you think! And be sure to tell your friends. About this Blog and about the aforementioned FREE WALLPAPER.

By the way, HAPPY FALL!!! It’s my favorite time of year. The colors fascinate me. Can you tell?