Odds 'n Ends

Did you always want a dash-cam?

Fred, from the Haliburton Highlands Camera Club, put me on to this one. If you have an iPhone, you can have a dash-cam for the princely sum of $1.99. He pointed out that you can also buy a dedicated one at Costco for a couple of hundred dollars, but it doesn't do anything your iPhone can't!

The iPhone app is called "iSYMdvr" car recorder. You can find it in the apple App store.

Oh yeah, it also cost me an extra $15 for a suction cup mount for the iPhone. Good to have anyway, to turn it into a legal hands-free.

You can go through the options yourself. I have it set up to record 5-minute clips. Once it fills the space you've allocated (I can hold about 30 minutes worth) it writes over the oldest one. You can click the camera icon onscreen to take a still at any time (that's how I did the shot below). You can easily transfer any video to the camera roll in the iPhone and it even has a utility to turn the phone into a server if you're wi-fi connected and upload directly.

So if something happens enroute you have a video recording of it. It's a very neat application. By the way, it has built-in GPS capability so it can automatically record your speed, and you can set an alarm to go off when you exceed the speed limit. How cool is that! I don't really want it recording my speed (don't ask me why and I won't tell you) so I turned that off.

I uploaded a video for your viewing pleasure to YouTube. Just after taking the snapshot below, I drove through the standing water, but was driving really slowly to look at the water levels, then into my driveway.

For my photographer readers

Want to know your shutter count? I've addressed this topic before by suggesting you download and use PhotoME but in a recent thread on FaceBook, I learned that there is an incredibly detailed source of data within Photoshop itself (why am I not surprised?!).

• Open a RAW file in Photoshop (disclaimer: I'm using CC, I don't know if this exists in earlier versions but I'll bet it does)

• On the File menu, click on "File Info" (or use the shortcut ctrl-alt-shift-I if you have that many fingers!)

• Along the top of the resulting popup window there are a bunch of tabs. Select the "Advanced" tab. If it's not there, click the downward facing arrow on the right side of the tab navigator to find it.

• You'll see this window: select "Schema"

Here it is! In this example, my shutter count is 3102. 

I'm curious whether Canon and other cameras have all of this info. Last time it appeared as if this line is not in the EXIF information. Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog if you tried it. Ditto with other brands of cameras.

While you're in the File Info, look through the other tabs. You'll be amazed at the amount of information collected in the EXIF data with each image.

A few personal notes about life in the Highlands:

Will it never end? It's April 16th as I write this and I'm looking out at a blinding white vista, the ground covered with a fresh blanket of snow about 10cm deep. It's cold, too, around -5°C. It was the same temperature yesterday but it was windy and damp and the cold just seemed to bite right through you. Maybe in July we can finally look back and laugh.

Yesterday I drove into Haliburton to teach a workshop at Fleming College (OK, more ostentatious than it sounds: I was hired to teach a session to a Real Estate company and they rented a classroom at the college). Nice facility, by the way. When I got on the road, I was glad to have my all-wheel-drive Subaru, it was greasy and slushy as Hell. People were driving 40 and 50 kph on the highway if they didn't have 4WD.

Water levels in the lake are not high, but the melt a couple of days ago has had a huge effect on the low-lying ground just south of me. Helped along by runoff from the Inn parking lot, no doubt. Here's a snapshot taken with my dash-cam. This is right opposite my dock

That water is about 6" deep. It's running out of the woods on the right into the lake on the left. There's a seasonal cottage just to my right where I'm parked: every year I'm amazed it hasn't floated away or rotted out, it's under several feet of water. The plot of land to the South is for sale, any takers? 

The other thing is, the ground is really soft underneath due to the melt. So my car leaves deep ruts (as do my feet!) in my driveway. The Inn has wisely taped off their parking lot to prevent people from making an ugly mess by driving in. For the same reason, I'm not taking my ATV out to plow this snow, it'll make a real mess of the ground. Hopefully it'll melt soon.

Here's a fantastic product

I don't know why I waited so long to get these. It took falling on the ice and breaking my wrist to make me finally do it. My neighbour, Dorian, is the power-that-be behind Kador, the importer of this and other interesting products (Kate, if Dorian wants to think he's the MAN, let him!). Actually Dorian came over and gave me a set of these. I've permanently mounted them on an old pair of hiking boots that I can slip on whenever I go out.

These YAKTRAX™ give you absolutely PHENOMENAL traction on ice. They've saved my bacon a number of times! I know it's not the right time of year to think about these, but get some now before you forget. (they're no longer on the Kador website but you can email Dorian directly at this address). 

How's your wrist?

Thanks for asking! Not great. If you've not been keeping up, I broke it on January 16th, so 3 months ago today. I still can't close my hand completely and there's still some pain. I'd estimate the strength in that hand at about 30% of what it was before. I'm doing some physio (not as much as I should, I'll admit). But the big problem isn't the wrist, I hurt my shoulder at the same time but didn't realize it. Xrays and an ultrasound have determined that I did NOT tear my rotator cuff as I suspected, it's only bruised, but it's really painful especially at night and I can't raise my arm above my shoulder. Doc says "physio" but here's a Highlands problem: there's only ONE physiotherapist up here OHIP-registered (affiliated with the hospital) and there's a 140-patient backlog which means 2 months before I can get an appointment. If you know a physiotherapist who would like to live up in God's Country, it's a Hell of an opportunity!

The birds think it's spring

That's one of the joys of living up here. I managed to refill my bird feeders and it didn't take them long to figure it out. Yesterday, I added one to the species count when a mating pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers visited the Scotch Pine in front of my house:

I didn't get great shots of these guys. I haven't micro-calibrated the 120-400 mm lens to the D800 body yet, and I think I'm front-focusing a bit at this close distance. Male and Female yellow-bellied sapsuckers.

I really don't like Grackles. They're loud and raucous, they arrive in huge flocks and hog the feeders, scaring off all the other birds, and empty them in a day. But their iridescent head feathers are interesting.  This image was enhanced using Topaz Detail which is on sale at half price for the month of April. It does a fabulous job of enhancing images without injecting artifacts and noise. Use this link and enter 'aprdetail' at checkout to take advantage of the discount.

The ubiquitous Blue Jay. There are lots of these guys around. Although they're loud and aggressive too, I like them a lot more than Grackles because they don't arrive in huge flocks. Again, I used Topaz Detail on this shot. 

Here's a dark-eyed Junco. For some reason, I find it hard to get a sharp picture of these little guys, maybe it's the front-focusing thing again (actually, look how sharp the branch at the bottom under the bird is).  The only reason I put the picture here is so that I could say "Dark-eyed Junco". So there.

I'm no expert, but this seems to be a hoary redpoll. My book doesn't show that bright yellow spot on the lower part of the bill, though. NOTE: I've just been corrected! This is a American Tree Sparrow. Thanks, Jack! I guess I have to eat crow!

I also saw a pair of downy woodpeckers, some red-winged blackbirds, white-breasted nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, and I can hear robins chirruping in the trees. There are some mallards in that high water south of me. All in the space of an hour or so!

The Haliburton School of the Arts

This campus of Sir Sandford Fleming College is a rustic building surrounded by acres of forest, populated by dozens of outstanding sculptures. Worth a visit, and I'll go back in better weather for more pictures. I've been in the forest before but never in the building.

"Rustic" is the operative word. You can't see the open hemlock-beamed ceiling, but this is a typical classroom. This is part of the group of Realtors with whom I was doing a workshop on shooting better listing pictures. I brought my flash with me and this shot illustrated trying to compensate for excessive outside light using an off-camera flash (it's in the picture on purpose). There's motion blur because I dragged the shutter to illustrate blending the light sources. 

This metal sculpture is just outside the front of the school. Great detail when you get up close. I actually got an angle that I liked better that shows it in dynamic full gallop but I wasn't happy with the composition. 

This is the front door of the building. It's hard to see at this resolution, but there is a circular design inlaid in the wood (no, that's not a watermark!) and until I got it back to the computer, I never realized there were words carved into it as well. Look closely at the top. It says, "Within These Walls the Walls Within Disappear". Great motto!

PS: you know that "Thou Shalt Not..." image I put up last week? It took FIRST PLACE at the Richmond Hill Camera Club. Yahoo! Or maybe Google...

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Slowly back shooting again!

Another wrist update

There's still a ton of things I can't do one handed. Slowly I have more flexibility but the two things I can't do is twist my arm and to some extent, push. Pulling hurts less. That's partly because of a frozen shoulder that I must have injured at the same time without knowing it.

You don't think about things like putting on your seatbelt in the car (you have to push the thing in: but more disconcerting, you have to push the red button to release it! Can't do either). Fortunately I have a note from the doctor in case I get pulled over. As an aside, I've worn a seatbelt driving my car for at least 48 years (I remember a crash on February 13, 1966 where my seatbelt saved my life. Some dates stick in your mind). So I'm really uncomfortable without it.

Today my cousin Steve dropped in and helped me put the fitted sheet on my bed. You can't do that with a broken wrist! Don't get me started on shoelaces! I have been playing my keyboard a bit, some of the chords are tough but I think it's good to stretch a bit. 10 more days until the cast comes off. Oh, and thankfully, it's not that itchy!

Camera Club News

A couple of weeks ago I told you about an image I was entering in the Richmond Hill Camera Club "Geometric" competition. I was expecting a low score because I figured more than one of the judges wouldn't "get" it. Hmmm. I got a mediocre score from all three. I still think it's my best image of 2013 but that's just me. As I said, I've stopped making images for others, now I'm making them for me. At least important art images. I still shoot pictures of opportunity as you'll see in a minute.

But I'm incredibly impressed with the quality of images from RHCC. Take a minute to go to their webpage: the top of the page is a slideshow of pictures from the last competition (geometric, plus general pictorial images). Some phenomenal vision there.

The new Haliburton Highlands Camera Club (HHCC) is just getting rolling. I'll post a link to some images next week – they were out shooting the Pond Hockey Tournament the last two weekends. I shot a few images there myself:

I think this captures what it was like to be there. This is how hockey is supposed to be played, outdoors in the cold and the snow! 

Here's an action image painted with Topaz Simplify 

There were some really interesting people there, including Santa Claus relaxing after his December busy time! 

Also the "Bees Knees" hockey team. I took their pictures last year as well. Can't resist a pretty blonde! 

The D800 is an awesome camera!

Here's a couple of images I shot a couple of days ago. My friend Styles is running for public office and asked me to shoot a couple of images for him. Here's what I got:

A "serious candidate" image.  

Styles and his wife Niki 

My favourite shot. Styles has a real connection with his little Yorkie and let his hair down (figuratively speaking!) when he joined us in the photo session!
 

Some photo notes for these pictures. Lighting was primarily from an off-camera speedlight with a Gary Fong Diffuser , high at 45° camera left and a reflector low at the same angle camera right. There was also some window light from the left, and I dragged the shutter to incorporate the warm light from the lamp in the first shot. The radial filter in Lightroom helps a lot to isolate the subject.

The D800 resolution is so high that I had to spend some time getting rid of normally invisible blemishes and detail. And the 70-200 Nikkor lens helped too! The quality of these images reminds me of medium format Hasselblad days. I'm suitably impressed!

More to come!

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It's Bitchy when it's Itchy

Broken Wrist Update

One of my first D800 images. Shot in a 3-part mirror, flipped, LR distortion (angled mirrors),
framed with Perfect Effects 8, further processing in Topaz Simplify for your enjoyment!

My right arm is in a cast (they made me choose a colour. I picked raspberry!). My fingers are still quite swollen, I can't close my hand yet. But the good news is that the cast comes off February 18th.

Anyone who's worn a cast will tell you it's bitchy when it's itchy. I figured I'm tough, I can stand it. Oh yeah? It better get better soon. I woke up at 6am and was tempted to gnaw the damned arm off!

Last time I wrote about the terrific service at the Minden ER. The fracture clinic is at the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay and it too was a far cry from the big city body factories. They were competent and relatively responsive, but some big city stuff crept in. For instance $2.50/½ hour for parking. Walking a maze of endless corridors.

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This is NOT a photo. Well, except for the girl. I created the entire image in Photoshop using the new pattern fill tool, then added a texture with Paper Textures. Yes, I drew the trees, the water, the sunlit trail, the birds... More to come, this is fun. Especially when it's hard to hold a camera!

Camera Club

It's astounding. We have 45 paid-up members already and we're talking about capping the number of members! Apparently about a dozen people showed up to shoot the first weekend of the Pond Hockey in -25°C temperatures (I wasn't there. I wanted to be but the wrist injury was compounded by an ugly head cold). I'm starting to see some images from some very talented people, this is going to be great. We're still working on the logo, website, etc. Stay tuned!

D800 image and metadata

When I saw this Latte come out of the Tassimo machine, I had to grab a shot. Ugly ambient lighting didn't help. I did do some editing:  a towel on the counter in front was cloned out, I tweaked the colour balance, sharpened it with a hipass layer and I cropped a little, primarily off the left side. It's surprisingly sharp given that it was a 1/13" exposure handheld in portrait mode with a broken wrist, no less! Oh, and a touch of Noise Reduction: it was at ISO 6400!

I inadvertently deleted the NEF file while working on my workflow: I will be deleting a lot of unused RAW files to save storage space. But I wanted to verify the shutter actuation count on the new camera, so I loaded up my metadata editor to have a look. 608 clicks, just where Nikon said it would be.

You would be AMAZED at the copious amount of metadata your camera collects. I've addressed this topic before, but if you missed it, or you want to have a peek at this fascinating info, wander on over to my tech blog where I posted it. There's also a link there to where you can download the free metadata editor I use.

More to Come

I'm still quite limited in what I can do with one wing, but I'm going to try my damnedest to get out to the Pond Hockey tournament on the weekend. That D800 needs some exercise!

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Medical Musings

An Anniversary
10 years ago today, I had surgery for stage IV thyroid cancer. Every year I reflect on the fact that I'm still here and think what you want but don't say anything bad about universal health care. My surgery happened within 3 or 4 weeks of diagnosis, so did my second surgery and my radiation treatments, I've had CT scans, Ultrasounds, Xrays, PET scans, full body scans, MRI's. I take daily doses of Thyroxin, appointments every 6 months with oncologists at Princess Margaret Hospital. The only expense to me has been the dispensing fees from the pharmacist and the parking lot tickets at PMH.

I never thought I would still be here 10 years later. But I am, and I feel especially grateful on January 8th every year.

Country Living
Living in the sticks has definite advantages over city living, no doubt. i got to test one of them today.

Note to self: "don't walk out on an icy driveway to greet the fuel oil delivery in your leather slippers". you will fall down. Second note to self: "you can"t break your fall with your hand, so don't try". Typing this with one hand because my right one is in a temporary cast. Nicely broken wrist.

What's amazing to a city dweller was the hospital routine. First of all, I parked 10' from the emerg. door. When I went in, I asked if I could park there. They looked at me like I was dumb. "Like, yeah...". The triage nurse saw me 5 minutes later. It would have been faster except the last patient tried to walk out with the BP cuff still attached and she had to fix it. The doc saw me 5 minutes later. "Does it hurt here?" Those guys are all the same! 5 minutes later, Xray, 10 minutes later I walked out the door in a cast. Total time from start to finish: under half an hour. Take that, you city types.

PS they wouldn't let me have the really neat Xray pictures to post here. Booo.

It's amazing how much you take for granted. You try opening a can of soup with one hand. Hope I can hold a camera next week at the Pond Hockey Championships!

Some Pix
Since it's hard to type, I'll keep this short. Here are some pix.

My house after the big snowfall and before the big thaw. Now my driveway is an undulating sheet of ice!

Last week's DSLR class photo. Katherine & Tracy & Paul mugging for the camera.

Topaz Simplify is my new favourite plug-in. Get it here. (Buy the complete collection
or click "View Products" for single apps)

I've posted this image elsewhere and it's garnering considerable acclaim. Available as a large format print.

See you next week. Hopefully I'll be able to shoot new pictures.

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