Category: Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
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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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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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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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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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Madagascar on 12.12.12 part II: the Snake
For my second installment in the “One Day on Earth” project, in which filmmakers around the world are invited to contribute footage which may be used in a feature-length film, I was also in Madagascar’s Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Technically, we were in the “Réserve Spéciale d’Analamazaotra,” and we were watching an indri (the largest kind…
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Madagascar on 12.12.12 part I: the Lemurs
If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I have been pretty excited about 12.12.12. Why? Because that’s the day the third “One Day on Earth” film is to be recorded in every country around the world. The first film, recorded on 10.10.10, was in my Christmas stocking this year (you can order yours…
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In Namibia, the best light for photos is within 10 minutes of sunrise
Driving through the Namibian desert just outside the coastal town of Swakopmund at about 0545 can give you a real visual treat. It would have been more spectacular with a bit more of the fog/mist the area is known for, but within 10 or 15 minutes of sunrise (before or after) you can get some…
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One-Day Cactus Flower
I’ve heard rumors that many cacti bloom for only one day, but thought this was odd because I have cacti in my garden that will continue to bloom day after day (they open when the sun hits them and close in late afternoon). Below is an example (among succulents and daisies) of a cactus that…
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Archived historical films: Holland Carries On (post WWII)
One of the coolest things I have come across on the internet lately is the Prelinger Collection at archive.org (thanks to my daughter for pointing it out). On this site, you can browse hundreds of thousands of video, imagery and sound files that have been preserved – many for historical reasons – and all in the…
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My Last Days: Meet Christopher Aiff
No words – just watch:
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What are YOUR plans for 12.12.12.?
On 12.12.12, filmmakers all over the world will be collecting footage for One Day on Earth, the third volume in a three-year project to capture a single day on earth, as experienced all over this amazing planet. Wouldn’t you like to join us? Where will YOU be on 12.12.12? It doesn’t have to be an…
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One Day on Earth: The 11/11/11 Trailer is Here!
“One Day on Earth” is a fascinating project to collate footage from every country in the world into a single full-length film. In its first iteration, filmmakers worldwide were asked to submit footage taken on October 10, 2010 – or 10.10.10 – which was turned into a film that premiered on Earth Day 2012 (and…
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Be a MySpace “early adopter”! The redesigned one.
MySpace is reinventing itself (again) and I’ve been waiting by my email inbox all weekend for an invite. I’m just not sure if that invitation is coming from Tom, or from Justin. Since having been purchased in 2011, and having received significant investment from Justin Timberlake, a redesign of the ailing site has been in…
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Town of Ghosts
Awhile back, I posted about photographing ghost towns – specifically Kolmanskop, Namibia. When we looked at photographing the town, we thought about whether it might look better in black and white – but that morning, the warm light made everything so orange, with the sand filling most of the buildings, we thought color made things…
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World’s Largest Stick Insect Hatches
Here’s a video you’ve probably seen before. It’s one of the world’s rarest insects, hatching from an impossibly small egg. The eggs are offspring of a breeding pair found under a bush growing on a rock that juts up out of the ocean in the middle of nowhere. They were thought to be extinct for…
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Weavers in our Garden
In my opinion, there are few natural things as amazing to see as the nest of a weaver. In Namibia, there are the giant communal weaver nests, and there are the individual pair nests (built by two different species. The individual nests are built by bright yellow birds with a black eye patch). Both of…
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A cardboard bicycle?? Yeah, but is it lighter than carbon fiber?
There’s a story making the rounds about a guy who has invented a bicycle nearly entirely made of cardboard. In short, they told him it couldn’t be done, and he went and proved them wrong – the best kind of story. Apparently they think it can be marketed for 20 bucks, which will make a…
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Lions and Impalas
At Goas watering hole, around the center of the driveable part of Etosha National Park, we stumbled upon a pride of lions – it must have been seven. But the really strange thing was the impalas and the way they behaved in the presence of the lions. Rather than just leave and go to a…
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Accidental Photos
Sometimes you can get a cool photo when your camera fails. Standing under a streetlight in Katutura, a small child was begging to have his photo taken, yet for unknown reasons the flash wouldn’t fire. The result is below. I wish I could claim it was on purpose!
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Victoria Falls at Dusk
Awhile back we visited Victoria Falls, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. They’re not the biggest falls in the world, but at a mile wide and 110 meters deep, they are up there. I thought the footage went wonderfully with Philip Glass’s “Anthem” from Powaqqatsi. Thankfully, YouTube allowed it, albeit with ads.
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YouTube/Google up the ante in the privacy wars
So you’re sick of Facebook gradually nudging you towards completely doing away with all pretense of a private life? YouTube/Google have made the latest move in the online privacy wars. You remember when you started signing in to YouTube with your gmail username and password? And then the whole Google+ / circles thing happened. Now…
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Just Like Riding a Bike
Sometimes it’s easy to take things for granted. Â Like learning how to ride a bike. Â Among other things, we teach sports at the Resource Center, an after-school program for kids under age 14, at the Jakob Marengo School in Katutura, the poor and predominantly black township in the northern edge of Windhoek, Namibia. Usually we…
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US Army in Afghanistan Parodies “Call Me Maybe”
Here’s the latest effort by troops deployed overseas to blow off a little steam and connect with friends and family back home. Some may feel it’s inappropriate – but you have to come up with things like this to stay sane sometimes. This is their description: A cover of “Call Me Maybe” performed by US…