Sunday, August 31, 2008

Windmill

I guess the "third time's the charm." I visited Old Settlers Park on three separate days to get a photo of the windmill. I had been out at the park earlier to test depth of field and focus. Some experimental shots of the windmill showed blurring on the blades, because it was moderately windy.

Last Friday it was low winds, so I went out to try for some serious shots. I got lucky and actually had it stop a few times. Problem was they were all darker than I wanted. I should have upped the EV since the back ground was blue sky and clouds.

I got my Weekly Assignment shot for next week, so the trip wasn’t a total waste. A number of the shots didn’t have a blur giving me hope.

Went back Saturday because I had the day free. Joanne was at a quilt show. I boosted the EV two notches. The wind was puffy and didn’t cooperate. I liked the shots, until I got home and looked at actual pixels. Vanes were sharp but the spokes were blurred. The speed of rotation was definitely the culprit, everything else was sharp.

Sunday morning I usually go out for the Sunday paper. Took my camera and drove the extra 3 miles to the park. Light wind but some of the flags were drooping. If they’d been ripping off the poles I would have turned around.

Plus 0.7 EV, large format for extra cropping latitude, and a little patience for the wind to hold up occasionally (at least slow down). For an extra benefit, the wind was aiming the tail into the sun, so the sun lit up the Texas flag on the tail. Out of 14 taken, seven are pretty good. The others had very small distortions around the spokes.

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Fill Flash

Went out to shoot some Round Rock Historical Markers. Inspired I suppose by the video from the 150 year celebration for Williamson County (1998). Thought we would go looking for Sam Bass markers.

It was about 1 in the afternoon, and there was plent of sunshine. That also means plenty of shadows. I though the flash always turns on if you flip it up. But I was wrong!

The flash will fire if it is up and the metering thinks it is needed. That’s the usual situation taking photos in the house. When I popped it up outside for a "fill flash" on the marker the flash didn’t go off.

I felt a small tinge of panic. I’d swapped out my usual battery for the one I’d bought over the internet a few weeks ago. It looks like a SONY battery, but maybe the charge is not enough or its providing lower than normal voltage.

When I got home I took a few pictures of my desk. Yep, the flash fired. Now I’ve got a mystery.

But not for long. Grabbed the User’s Guide and looked up flash. It’s a setting under the function knob. Setting the flash to "Fill Flash" will always fire with the flash up.

So, camera isn’t broken and the spare battery still seems OK. Chalk it up to operator error (or misconception). I’ll continue to shoot with this battery and see if I get my usual 250+ photos. Then I’ll know it will hold a normal charge.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Creative Commons

Got to reading about Creative Commons licensing over the week-end. Decided I would open my flickr photostream up rather than just use all rights reserved. Looked like the Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative configuration made the most sense.

I can still strike a deal with someone if they want it for commercial use, such as micro-stock.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Spare Battery

Spent the week looking for batteries and compact flash cards. I was surprised at how understocked the camera store was. I’m familiar with lean and just in time, but empty shelves means loss of sales.

Went to a store in downtown Austin and got a couple of memory cards. 2GB for me and a 1GB for Joanne. We don’t know if her camera takes a 1GB chip. I figure we can try it, and if it doesn’t work, I can use it in mine.

Neither store had a spare battery for the Alpha 100. They had some "replacements" but not a Sony model. Not sure that matters but I always prefer the original manufacturer. One store suggested a battery store, which would be on the way home.

The battery store had a lot of Sony batteries but not the model I wanted. The clerk said the FM50 or equivalent would work. Mine is an FM55H which should last longer. The whole issue is cold weather and the need for extra batteries. Why would I want one that has less capacity?

Checking the cameras User Guide, it specifically says the FM50 and FM30 will not work. So, I'm glad I didn't take the clerk's advice.

I checked the Internet. A lot of people selling batteries that are "claimed" to be to the original specs. I found a couple of sites that seem, from the descriptions, to be original Sony batteries. I ordered one, so will see if it works.

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