Yep, that’s my reflection in the window of the polling place where I voted in the Republican primary election on 23 August 2011. Voter turnout was very light.
Archive for the ‘Digital Photography’ Category
I voted. Did you?
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011360 Panorama app — still needs some work!
Thursday, June 16th, 2011On 04 April 2011, I published a post on my Posterous photoblog entitled, “Field test: 360 Panorama app.” Summarizing the results of my field test of 360 Panorama ($1.99), I said, …
Can you see where the panorama [photo] came full circle? Let’s hope the developers at Occipital are able to figure out a clever solution for this glaring problem.
Soon afterward, Occipital posted the following Tweets (in chronological order):
Panos captured in 360 Panorama will now get better over time after upload.
Well folks, you be the judge — does the online interactive version of my panorama photo of Milway Meadows (a residential community in Fairfax County, Virginia) look like it was healed? Nope, the seam where the photo overlaps itself is still glaringly obvious! Hence the title of this blog post: 360 Panorama app — still needs some work!
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
Breaking news: TPE on sale this weekend only
Friday, April 15th, 2011The Photographer’s Ephemeris app (TPE for iOS) — one of two noteworthy Apple iOS apps for planning photo shoots of the Sun and Moon — is on sale for $3.99 this weekend only. That’s right, for two days only you can buy TPE for less than the price of LightTrac ($4.99), a similar yet much less robust app. Don’t sleep on this extraordinary offer!
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
MotionX GPS update
Monday, April 11th, 2011
The latest update of MotionX GPS app for Apple iPhone solves two problems I mentioned in a product review posted last September: Images captured for photo waypoints by the in-app camera are saved at full resolution (2,048 x 1,536 pixels on my iPhone 3GS); and photos saved to the “Camera Roll” are geotagged. As good as MotionX GPS app is — and it’s VERY good — there’s room for improvement.
I give MotionX GPS a rating of four-out-of-five stars, unchanged from my last review. My new criticism is two-fold:
- Embedded photos are not displayed along the track line.
- Photos do not export with the track (Sharing).
Let’s hope the developers at Fullpower are able to figure out a clever solution for the preceding problems. See the work-around I created, documented in two posts on my Posterous photoblog: Photowalking Hollin Hills; Combined GPS Track & Photo Gallery for Display in Google Earth.
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
waltersanford’s photoblog on Posterous
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
Since early March 2011, I’ve been experimenting with Posterous as a platform for photoblogging. The Posterous app for Apple iPhone, ideal for mobile blogging, is a little buggy (when the Posterous app is used to upload geotagged photos from an iPhone, the photos that appear online aren’t geotagged) and there are some features that are conspicuously missing (e.g., the capability to add hyperlinks to a new post and edit old posts). In contrast, the Posterous Web interface works well and does not suffer any of the problems I mentioned.
The Posterous app was preceded by PicPosterous, another app from the same developer. PicPosterous is all about mobile photoblogging, pure and simple — maybe too simple, or sometimes, not simple enough (see Editor’s Note, below). While there is some duplication of features between the PicPosterous- and Posterous apps, PicPosterous enables you to add photos to an album you created already; Posterous does not.
Posterous does some things especially well, such as automatically resize photos and videos to fit the layout for your blog; multiple photos are shown in a good looking gallery. Images and videos are optimized for mobile viewing. And you can autopost content to other sharing sites such as Twitter and Flickr.
Posterous accounts are free; the PicPosterous- and Posterous apps are also free. Visit waltersanford’s photoblog.
Editor’s Note: PicPosterous app predates the Posterous Mobile apps (for iPhone and Android), and is showing its age! PicPosterous app enables you to upload one photo at a time to a Posterous gallery; you can add more photos to the same gallery, but again, you select photos one at a time. You can add a title and narrative text to the gallery; you cannot add tags. The user interface is very clunky and counterintuitive, in contrast with the Posterous app. Bottom line: PicPosterous app’s time has come and gone; move on to Posterous app and never look back!
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
The Not So Big Moon
Monday, March 21st, 2011There was a lot of excitement about the so-called “Super Full Moon” on Saturday, 19 March 2011. Lots of people photographed the event. I wonder how many of those folks looked at their photos and thought, “That’s not what I saw!” The fact of the matter is the camera doesn’t lie. The apparent diameter of the Moon (and Sun) is less than 0.5 degrees, or about 1/50 the width of most photos. Prove it to yourself: The apparent width of your thumb held at arm’s length is about one (1) degree; you can easily cover the disk of the Full Moon with your thumb! Photos of the Sun and Moon are disappointing unless you use a camera with a telephoto lens.
So why does the Moon seem to appear so big when you see it in the sky? There’s no consensus among experts, but I think it’s due to frame of reference: The Moon looks much bigger when you see it near the horizon and are able to compare its size to objects like buildings, trees, etc. In contrast, the Moon looks much smaller when it’s high in the sky.
And while we’re talking about photographing the Moon, it’s a good time to mention two noteworthy Apple iOS apps for planning photo shoots of the Sun and Moon: LightTrac ($4.99); and The Photographers Ephemeris ($8.99). In my opinion, you get what you pay for: The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) is more robust than LightTrac. TPE for Desktop, a FREE equivalent of the TPE app, works on all computer operating systems including Apple OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
100 days, 100 iPhone camera and photo apps
Sunday, February 20th, 2011During the next few months, Allan Hoffman’s 100 Photo Apps project will showcase 100 camera and photo apps that demonstrate what’s possible using the Apple iPhone built-in camera. Mr. Hoffman is a journalist and author of the book, Create Great iPhone Photos: Apps, Tips, Tricks, and Effects. Follow the project as it develops day-by-day for 100 days. Looks very interesting!
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
Freezing rain event
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011I went for a short photowalk to photograph a freezing rain event that occurred overnight January 17-18, 2011, in Alexandria, VA. Here is a slideshow of 18JAN2011_freezing-rain, one of my Google Picasa Web Albums (Flash required):
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Picasa Web Album: 18JAN2011_freezing-rain
Teacher Tips: What is freezing rain? For a graphic explanation, see “How winter storms bring rain, ice and snow,” an interactive online article from the USA TODAY Weather Book by meteorologist Jack Williams. See also, “Snowflakes – A Thematic Approach (A Flurry of Interdisciplinary Ideas for Teachers)” perfect for enriching/extending everyday instruction during the winter season.
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
Mostly365: Share a photo with the world every day!
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Mostly365 is a social photo-sharing initiative hosted by professional photographer Lisa Bettany. Looks interesting!
Tech Tips: Use Twitter to post a Tweet that includes the hashtag #mostly365 and a pointer to an online photo that you took. For example, “#mostly365 … here’s a photo of a windmill located at a nearby church … <enter URL here>” (an excerpt from my first Tweet to mostly365). Your photo will appear automatically on the mostly365 Web site (see the photo that I Tweeted). Follow me on Twitter: @Geodialist.
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.
Sundials – A Waymarking.com Category
Saturday, January 8th, 2011Waymarking is “a scavenger hunt for unique and interesting locations” around the world. I follow the RSS feed for the Sundials category, an informal initiative to document the location of all sundials around the world. Be on the lookout for sundials during your travels — they’re everywhere! Whenever you see a sundial, record its exact location, take some photographs (ideally geotagged photos), and be sure to register the sundial at Waymarking.com.
Editor’s Note: I currently serve as chairperson of the North American Sundial Society (NASS) Education Committee. Educators interested in exploring ways to use sundials to enhance and/or enrich classroom instruction are encouraged to contact me.
Posted from Arlington, Virginia, United States.