Author: Tom (Admin)
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Tone Mapping in the Namibian Desert
I’ve read a number of explanations of tone mapping, but I confess I still don’t understand what’s going on. I know it’s a way to manipulate a digital image so that what you see in the image better approximates what you remember having seen in real life – rather than the disappointing result you usually…
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Getting that “Wild West” feel – “down under” in Namibia
Just outside the vast “dune sea” of the Namib Naukluft Park is the last place you can get gas, before you venture into the coppery-red dunes of Sossusvlei, a dry but harsh landscape where only the most well-adapted creatures can survive. The place consists of the Solitaire Lodge, a small coffee shop and gas station,…
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AFN Commercial: Proud to Serve Again
Here’s another fun “commercial” from the Armed Forces Network, or AFN. In this video, former military are encouraged to take up a job teaching. While this is an admirable profession and I certainly would never suggest otherwise, whenever you’re trying to convince someone to do something, it’s good to portray that in as positive a…
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Video for a Good Cause
One of the things I’ve had the opportunity to do in Namibia is to make short videos highlighting important causes, or to show far-away donors where their money is going. A little more than half a year ago, my wife told me that she had been to an informal settlement (a “shantytown”, literally) where people…
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The Korean Air Force Releases Les Miserables Parody Video
Following a long tradition of military folks getting involved in musical YouTube shenanigans, the (South) Korean Air Force has released a hilarious parody of Les Miserables they call “Les Militaribles.” After only a week, the video has picked up an amazing 3 million views as it makes the rounds on Facebook. For Koreans to put…
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Namibian Nights: The Best Timelapse Ever
I’ve looked at a lot of timelapses, and after a certain number of them you just start to want to fast forward through them because they’re spectacular and all, but after awhile everything just sort of starts to look the same. This one, however, is different. Not only because I’ve tried to take photos in…
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Sunsets: Tonemapping vs Importing from RAW
I’ve been playing around with tonemapping software – Photomatix – which can both be used to create HDR photos from bracketed JPEGs, and an HDR photo from a single RAW file. These are some photos I took of the same sunset (varying zoom levels), and I tonemapped some and just did a regular RAW-to-PNG conversion…
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Joining the Lomography Bandwagon: Agfa Billy
A few years ago, I picked up a vintage camera in really good shape at a flea market in Europe. I think it cost like 30 bucks and I picked it from a tale with at least a dozen other vintage cameras. And it has sat on a shelf with one of those boxy old…
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Documentary: Child Labor in Afghanistan
I wish I could say I had made this documentary on child labor in Afghanistan. This is a story that needs to be told; the circumstances in Afghanistan have led many, many children to lose any real childhood whatsoever. The filmmakers, who work for an Afghan television station, would not have had to look hard…
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Afghanistan, Then and Now
The Denver Post has just posted a wonderful collection of photos of Afghanistan from the 1960s which paints a world that was remarkably different than it is today. Taken by William Podlich, a professor from Arizona State University who took a break to teach in Afghanistan, the photos serve as a reminder of an Afghanistan…
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Make an HDR Photo from a Single Exposure
Yesterday I talked about HDR photography, and how you can combine multiple exposure photos of the same scene with software to ensure all the different parts of the scene are exposed the right amount. What I didn’t mention is that you can also use the Photomatix software to create an HDR photo using “tonemapping” from…
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HDR Photography: First Attempts
I’m sure everyone else has heard of “high dynamic range” or HDR photography, but for me, it’s “The Latest Thing” I’ve discovered. You know how you sometimes come across this amazing scene with lights and darks and bright colors, and you snap a photo to preserve it exactly as you saw it, and then you…
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Armed Forces Network: and now, a word from our sponsors…
I’m not one to complain about the Armed Forces Network – AFN has been a part of my life since the early 1970s, when we were living in Germany and it would basically play during prime time until around midnight, when they would end with the national anthem before going off air. Now there are…
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How do tortoises “get it on”?
Ever wonder how turtles and tortoises “get it on”? You’d think they were cursed by anatomy, but yes, they do mate – there’s no “you lay the eggs and I’ll come along after and fertilize them.” Animal Planet’s probably all “been there, done that” but on a recent trip to Madagascar I heard the strangest…
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Meh. Who Needs Pixar?
Remember the technological wizardry, engineering know-how, and computing power it took to make Toy Story? Well, a couple of teens (and a whole bunch of their friends) decided to see if it was possible to make a “live action” version. And here it is! It seems they’re getting all sorts of positive press, both in…
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Free Jungle Sounds
Every now and then I come across some sounds that might be of use to other video hobbyists. These are pretty clean, high quality recordings taken with a Rode Videomic. Feel free to download the sounds and use them for whatever you want. Frogs Sound – the sound of African bullfrogs croaking. Recorded at Kempinski Mokuti…
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Exploring Madagascar’s Jungles at Night
If you ever find yourself in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in Madagascar, be sure and check out the “night walk”. You can hire a tour guide who will walk you down a quiet, dark road flanked by thick jungle, and alert you to various types of lemurs, reptiles, amphibians, and other creatures you’ll never see by…
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Elgato Video Capture Solves the FireWire-USB Dilemma
I’ve got stacks of 8mm and “Hi8” video recordings going all the way back to 1990 when I bought my first camcorder to capture all the adventures my young wife and I were about to undertake. Locked somewhere in those plastic cases holding spool after spool of magnetic tape were memories of a 23-year-old Army…
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One-Way Ticket to Mars: Now Accepting Applications
(Updated on Apr 23, 2013 – see bottom of post) The organization “Mars One” has just released its eligibility requirements to become an astronaut in their 2023 Mars mission. And the good news is, if you’re over 18 and reasonably intelligent, you probably qualify, and it’s going to be free! – wait, what??? Why was I…
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The Right Music for a Video. But Not Quite.
Sometimes finding exactly the right ‘feel’ music for a video is the most fun part of video editing, and other times I dread it. Because I already know that it’s going to be impossible to find music that won’t be too depressing, won’t be too happy, too distracting, irritating – in short, that won’t even…
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2013 “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” Competition Kicks off Today
In its 49th year, the venerated “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition is accepting entries from today (January 7) until February 25th. Competition will be stiff, with the number of entries expected to be near 50,000, but who knows? You can enter in one of 18 categories, including three for photographers under age 17. Even…
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Attenborough’s “Africa” Features Namibia – Prepare to be Amazed! (updated)
If you have access to BBC One (or live in the UK, where you can stream it from their website), you’ll want to check out the six-part series on Africa that began airing Wednesdays starting January 2nd. The first episode, somewhat broadly titled “Kalahari” features wildlife from Namibia, from tiny wasps and spiders to giraffes…
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Namibia’s “N/a’ankuse” Needs a Filmmaker
The N/a’an ku se charity lodge, wildlife-sanctuary-and-a-whole-bunch-of-other-stuff is looking for a filmmaker. It’s not a high-paying job, but it’s a good cause and a great opportunity to hang out in Namibia and take pictures of cool stuff. The organization occupies a large piece of land just east of Namibia’s capital Windhoek, where a number of…
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Destination Namibia: How do you Market a Country?
I remember talking to one of Namibia’s tourism officials shortly after they had returned from the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas, Mexico, and he was pretty excited about Namibia’s prospects in hosting the 2013 summit, knowing it would be the first time the event would be hosted in Africa. At the time, he…