Hack Photo

I know this is about 6 months late, but here are some images from when my wife and I decided that we needed to evacuate from Houston to Austin when Hurricane Rita blew through. Turns out there wasn’t even any wind damage to our house. Heck, the rose bushes still had all their leaves.

Being the camera nerd that I am my camera gear was on the list of things that we had to take with us. So when I got bored sitting on IH-10 I pulled out my camera. It’s not nearly as dangerous as it sounds – the fastest we got going was about 5 miles per hour.

This is the view out of my windshield that I enjoyed for about 12 hours.

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I suppose it’s a good sign. It must mean my little corner of the internet is at least getting linked to somewhere. Comment spammers have started hitting me pretty hard. Fortunately I moderate all the comments so they won’t show up. But it’s still a pain to deal with them.

As part of the PMA show, Canon announced two new printers in their Pixma line – the Pixma MP800R and the MP830.

Both use Canon’s ContrastPLUS ink system and deliver 9600×2400dpi. The MP830 can print up to 30 pages per minute black and white and 24 pages per minute in colo.

The MP830 has IRDa built in to allow wireless printing from PDAs and cell phones.
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Announced Feburary 21, just prior to the PMA, Canon has release 3 new compact digital cameras in their Elph line. The SD700 IS, SD600, and SD630. Notably, the SD700 IS has image stabilization built in. For more information, visit the dpreview.com site for the SD700 IS, and the SD600 & SD630.

On Februray 21, Canon released the next generation of their mid-level dSLR cameras, the DOS 30d. Aside from the name so closely resembling a previous generation, the d30, there is apparently some frustration from Canon fans on the seemingly small upgrades to the 30d over its predecessor, the 20d. Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend we went away for a mini-vacation at The Get Away Cabins in Weatherford, Texas, just south of Fort Worth. The landscape is very typical Texas – cedar and oak trees, hills, cactus, and deer.

This is one of the best features of digital cameras. To get this image the camera had to be so low to the ground that I couldn’t see through the viewfinder. So, I guessed. It took about 3 shots to get the one I liked, but I got it because I could check after each shot and aim again.
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I recently upgraded from a painfully slow Athlon 600mHz that has been sitting under my desk for the past 5 years or so to an eMachines T6524. While admittedly not the fastest computer out there, it is still exponentially faster than what I was used to.

The problem I had is that I’ve become used to (or addicted to, your choice) having dual monitors. I had incorrectly assumed that I could simply drop a PCI video card into my new machine and have twin monitors again. But, it wasn’t that easy. After several hours of trying different solutions and Googling for more, I decided that I’d look for a PCI-e dual head card to make the process as easy as possible.

What I found was hopefully an even better option, the Tritton See2 USB to VGA adapter.

So, how did it do? About as well as I expected, but not as well as I hoped. The video is choppy, just like pretty much every review I read stated.

The installation was amazingly easy. Stick the 8cm CD-ROM in and install the driver. Reboot. Plug the monitor into the adapter and the adapter into a USB 2 port. And the second monitor comes to life.

Would I recommend this? If you’re not expecting to be able to run quick video on your second monitor, this is a great device. It’s perfect for what I needed – a monitor to hold Photoshop palettes. If you’re planning on playing games on your second monitor, skip this box and get a real second video card.

For the first time, Kodak has profitted more from digital products than film products over the course of a year. Digital sales represented 54% of total revenu for Kodak in 2005.

Link to the Full story.

Inspired by a posting on PhotographyHack.com, I realized that I needed to make some New Years resolutions for my photography; in addition of course to the normal lose weight, be happier, manage my money type that I make every year.

With that said, here are my 12 resolutions to make myself a better photographer in 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

Somehow, the idea of throwing my camera up in the air during a long exposure never crossed my mind. Now that it has, I probably still won’t ever do it. But if you’re so inclined, here are the instructions for camera tossing. I’ve got to admit, the pictures are pretty cool.