Wonderduck's Pond

December 27, 2015

Residual Photoshoot Thingy

Back last August, I finally posted the "creative project" I worked on for much of my enforced extended vacation. In that post I mentioned that I had purchased a new camera for my birthday. While I was learning how to use it, something I can honestly say I haven't figured out yet because it's a little more advanced than a point'n'click, I decided to see how it did in low-light situations. The very first picture I took told me that I had gotten a nice camera.

^{If one wished, one could click on the picture for a bigger version.}

I still think its the best picture I've taken with it. Not bad for something taken on a whim with one hand holding the camera, the other holding the EL Wire. The most surprising part was the faintly red background... that's from a glowing mushroom in my dining room. I'm going to have to explain that, aren't I?

Back when I had the Cardiac Incident in 2005, I had... concerns... that one night I'd have to call 911 and not be able to get out of bed due to whatever was happening in my chest. I thought it'd be best if the EMTs would be able to see so a light would be needed... but it would have to be relatively unobtrusive, otherwise I'd not be able to sleep. Some weeks later, I stopped at Walgreens and found a low-wattage red CFL for some decent price. I put it into a more-or-less translucent mushroom-shaped lamp, put it on a small side table in the dining room, and turned it on. Save for a few minutes here and there when I vacuum, that light has been on ever since. Nearly 10 years... well over 80000 hours! I don't care that it's "just a light bulb", that's pretty amazing. Particularly since wikipedia suggests the usual lifespan for a CFL is ~15000 hours. I don't know what I'm going to do when it finally passes from this world to Light Bulb Valhalla.

^{Clicky-poppy.}

Amazing what a good camera can do, eh? I don't like this picture anywhere near as much as the first, but it's still a swell photo. Anyway, enjoy, won't you?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:00 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 That first pic is quite good, yes! Cleverly done.

And wow, that's one heck of a long-lasting CFL. Longest life I've seen in one was in my lamp at work, though it wasn't on 24/7. Lasted about 8 years before finally giving up the ghost last month.

Posted by: GreyDuck at December 28, 2015 08:41 AM (rKFiU)

2 I'm trying to figure out why your number keys have 2 leds.

Posted by: Ben at December 28, 2015 09:23 AM (DRaH+)

3 Ben, probably for the symbols. Frankly, I'm kind of jealous, I'd like a lighted keyboard too, especially on my laptop.

That first picture is very nice. I got myself a good camera this year too - A Canon EOS Rebel T5. What did you get?

Posted by: Mauser at December 28, 2015 11:00 AM (5Ktpu)

4 Ben, though it looks like it, there's only one LED illuminating each number key. Mauser has it right, both the numbers and symbols are glowing (example: $ and 4).

The keyboard is a Logitech G105 Gaming keyboard, and by "gaming" they mean the WASD keys are grey, the rest black. There are also a few macro keys and a "game switch" that turns lets you hit a key rapidly without Windows asking if you'd like sticky keys turned on... important when you're trying to land on the Mun and jiggling the throttle control like a really determined hummingbird. Amazon has it for $39.99 right now.

Mauser, you've got a nicer camera than mine! I've a Sony A3000 mirrorless camera... it's sweet, but it's no Rebel. However, I got it on sale for $200, when it used to street at $399, so... yeah, great deal, and it's more than enough camera for me.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 28, 2015 03:44 PM (zAcee)

5 After the torture of trying to shoot the Reno Air Races with my Olympus Point-and-shoot, I decided I needed a DSLR with a decent zoom. You just can't read an LCD screen in the desert sun, and the trigger delay was intolerable.

What I really need though is a simple picture sharing site that I can easily share the shots in some form of organization with my box-mates. I've posted a few on DeviantArt, but I wouldn't want to send some of those folks to that site....

Posted by: Mauser at December 28, 2015 11:57 PM (5Ktpu)

6 imgur? How about talk to Big Papa Pixy and start another blog? Or have him set you up with something like he did for Shamus and "DM of the Rings"?

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 29, 2015 03:03 AM (zAcee)

7 Well, one thing that makes it kinda difficult to do a lot of images here is the awkwardness of file management. Upload one at a time, get BBCode, paste BBCode into a blog entry etc. PhotoBucket has a nice drag and drop interface, and I was using that for entries in my LiveJournal, but I've got the privacy cranked up on that. I might be able to set up some public directories, but if I move anything I might break some links in posts that admittedly nobody will ever look at again.... Also, the images in their current state are rather large, something over 3k pixels wide.

I think I have an account on Flickr, but that one has an annoying interface for browsing images. I haven't looked at it in ages. (I've also got a Blogspot I never use....)

I'll work something out once I get off my butt.

Posted by: Mauser at December 29, 2015 04:20 AM (5Ktpu)

8 BTW, If anyone's interested in the EOS Rebel T5, it IS an awesome camera. But get the 250 mm telephoto, not the 300. The 300 doesn't have image stabilization. And ask me for an Amazon Marketplace link so I can get a little kickback.

Posted by: Mauser at December 29, 2015 04:21 AM (5Ktpu)

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