Dublin is grand!

I was lucky enough to be able and take some time away traveling and this time we went to Dublin, Ireland. We spent four days walking around the "town", visiting tourist and some less touristy attractions. Had a taste of Guinness (actually I hat to taste and re-taste it quite a couple of times).

We also went for a "Free walking tour", which was great and so was our guide Rob.

I must say I like the "town" A LOT!
The weather we had was surprisingly nice and the people were extremely nice to us.
I definitely would recommend to visit it.

Here are some photos I took during the visit:

Geocoding photos

A couple of posts ago I mentioned I was awaiting an GPS bluetooth gizmo. Well (to the dissapointment of my wifie) it arived. I spent a couple of evenings coding or should I better say recoding two peaces of software (python s60) progs to work as I want them to work and now I have a nicelly working GPS data reader and uploader from Symbian S60 phone with Python and a storage card (the data taken can come up to a couple of MB in size) and an external GPS bluetooth receiver.

• The file is saved with a datetime timestamp, and is internally of NMEA 0183 format.

• After you transfer the file to your computer (either in NMEA or GPX format - I use my uploader script for the second), you can use a peace of software called gpicsync. You could ofcorse use any other software that does the same job, but I am verry satisfied with gpicsync. It also works on Linux, Win, and OS X.
  

• The program asks you to enter the path to the coordinates file (NMEA or GPX formated) and to the directory where the pictures (JPEG format) are kept.

• You can also do some additional tweaking like the UTC time offset, but other than that you are set to go - so click "Synchronise!" and the coordinates are read from the GPS files and the coordinates are writen to the EXIF info in the JPEG files.
• All you have to do now is to upload your pics to a web service that can make use of the coordinates embedded in the images, Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, etc. or you can view the locations in Google Earth application or another app that can read KML files.
  

Here is the web album of some geocoded pics.

And the map of the photo locations.

Depth of Field calculator for your mobile (s60)

I had some time on my hands and tried to spend it usefully (learning Python while actually doing something useful). So I wrote Depth of Field calculator that runs on Python enabled Symbian phones.
Ok so the usefulness part is so so, it is only useful if you are interested in photography and actually try to calculate the DoF instead of just going for it. While most of the time I just go for it, there are times when I can't really tell by the picture on the screen how much of it is actually sharp and where does the blur begin.

Here is what the result looks like on the phone screen:



The files are available here.

And if you want additional information on Depth of Field and formulas used in my prog look here.

If you like it - drop me a note - leave a post on the blog. If you want more/new/different features - please don't hesitate to ask - I'm sure there is more to it than just what I did.

PS: the code is my first try of actually doing some Symbian stuff in Python so please keep the comments objective ;)

Ownuser E-510 battery grip

A couple of weeks ago I ordered an ownuser battery grip for my Oly E-510 camera. It helps vertical shooting a lot and is a verry firm grip. Built well (not the cheap plastic you would expect really).

The it has two buttons on the grip (for left/right handed) and it can pack two batteries (two BLM-1) or 12AA type batteries with a special battery holder.
The only problem is that it actually powers the camera through the mini USB connector on the back side so it is a bit clumsy, but otherwise works perfectly.

It takes a bit getting used to if you use a lot of manual mode like I do and have to turn the knobs all the time ;)

I'd rate it worth the money for an E-510 user (since olympus does not produce any official grips for E-510/E-520 models).

I have also ordered an GPS bluetooth module from E-bay, when that one comes in we'll dig into geocoding of pictures.

Vacation in Hungary

A couple of weeks ago around May 1st we went (by car) to Hungary specifically to Budapest and later to Siofok by lake Balaton. The trip was great. We really enjoyed the city, great architecture, monumental buildings, friendly people (most of all our CouchSurfing hostess there). I would recomend it to anyone who favors architecture and beautiful sites ;)

Also Balaton lake is very nice, and did I mention before the people were very, very nice? I can't seem to stress that enough ;)

I am attaching a slideshow of the Budapest



and Balaton pictures:




I hope you enjoy them but there is no supplement for the real thing.

The Zoo photo session

Regardless to the fact weather zoo's are OK or not, some days ago a couple of friends and I went to the Ljubljana Zoo, to practice our photography skills. I noticed I need a lot more time to take better pictures and observe the animals in their behavior than I actually managed to do this time. And after the shooting was done I also finally decided that the work flow in post processing needed serious changes and more of a structured approach. With pictures overloading the disks and me not being tidy enough to label them appropriately it's becoming a pain in the (a word that rhymes with bass).

Here are some of the pictures taken in a slide show - click for larger pics.

The tripod monopod or something completely different

I keep reading and investigating what one needs to get better photos, and considering the limited lighting when you are on the go (not shooting in conditions that you set up yourself), some kind of stabilization is obligatory.

Tripod:

Since there is quite an array of tripods available I guess you could get your hands on one of those, but, since I just mentioned taking pictures on the go I would like to find one that can suit all the following needs:

• compact (eg. less than 50cm when fully folded)
• can be extended from smallest about 20cm up to max of 140-170 cm)
• is rigid enough not to shake when lenses are fully extended and longer exposures are necessary and so that it does not tilt by itself
• as lightweight as possible (below 2kg)
• the head should be able to rotate and tilt
  
• price (the cheaper the better)

By now I have found exactly 0 of those ;) They might be light, but they were not sturdy or could not handle the 1+ kg of weight that dSLR's+lenses weigh.

Hey if someone has a sudgestion for a tripod that matches approximately the above specification, leave a comment please.

Monopod:

Another topic are monopods. However, they don't seem to be as popular here in Slovenia, at least the couple of stores I walked into did not have a single one.
Again monopods would probably be even better alternatives for shooting on the go, since they tend to be even lighter, a bit less appropriate for really long exposure since they are not as stable as tripods are, but much easier to set up when you are walking around.
So if you know of a model that folds up nicely and can support a weight of a dSLR (cca 2kg) please leave a comment.

Bean bags (and other animals of the kind):

Small tripods, minimal portable gear seems to be fine in certain conditions, when you have somewhere to put them, but in general tripod or monopod is a must. I have read a book by a wildlife photograph Andy Rouse, where he mentiones that a Bean bag is the ultimate support to have when traveling or being driven around, since it offers support in places where you would not usually be able to even set up a tripod, monopod or similar. A bean bag is generaly a small sack of beans,rice or similar that gives you support on uneven ground and you don't have to fill them at home, you can just buy the beans on any market/store at your destination.

So what to go for in the end... whatever suits your needs... I still need a new support option, since my last tripod is too wabbly to use for serious work (except if I would intentionally want blurry photos).

Have a blast!

New backpack for SLR photo + laptop

Heyya,

I am thinking of buying a new backpack. Not that I don't have a couple already and not that they did not cost enough, but they are both mostly biking/hiking related and don't really serve well for storing a SLR camera and enable you to use it. So I would now need one that would suite carrying both the SLR camera + couple of lenses and a laptop of up to 17" in size.

I have picked out two models that I like (and are in the price range I consider high but might get approved by the higher power). The Lowepro CompuRover AW or Tamrac Adventure 9. The first one seems to cost a bit more than the second but seems sturdier in build. 189$ US VS 124$ US (online price check), but in EU the prices differ a bit... the first costs roughly 168€ and the second 130€. That's some difference ;) I haven't handled the Lowepro one in person but I have seen the Tamrac model, and it looks quite nice (better than the pictures display it - looks soft and weak).

Hmm after just reading a review on this page I am suddenly not interested in Lowepro backpack anymore ;)

So I guess when the "higher power" ok's it I'll be getting a Tamrac Adventure 9 ;)

Oh and here are some of the pictures I took with the new photo (the one that now needs a fine new storage - hence the post searching for a new backpack).

And of course I wish you all a very nice and peaceful Christmas (or insert a holiday you celebrate around this date)!

Cookies R US

My wifie decided that Sunday is a cookie baking day... so the cookies were on the schedule.
First she made the dough, put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. And since we had a couple of hours on our hands we went for a cup of coffee in Ljubljana old center.

During Christmas/NY holidays Ljubljana is decorated with lights and looks quite nice in the dark (not that it wouldn't look nice during the daytime). Here are some pictures...



















Ljubljana old town (view from the Town hall to the Prešeren Square)



















Ljubljana old town (City Hall)

Later we made a short visit to my family...

Kind of reminds me of Grinch.








And after that we came home she made cookies (with chocolate and sprinkles, almonds and just plain old). I did a small assist on sprinkles and almonds, but I can't take any more credentials for them. I seem to be the one without any cooking inclinations in our family. The best I can cook is if I order pizza or take wifie out to a restaurant ;)

Well here is a plate of the rrrRRRReeeealy tasty final results (cookies).

Night time movement

The picture below was taken with my cheap pseudo SLR camera that only has 4s of max. exposition time. So the thing is I had to take multiple pictures and layer them one over another and merge them together. To create the effect you see on the image I used one of the filters that creates a bit of a painting effect. I quite like it this way, looks like it was done during daytime almost.

I would like to encourage you to write comments about the picture, since I really would like to learn and improve my photography skills.