wiredfool

Doesn’t really like flash photography. But he’s the one who curled up in the middle of it.

Dougal wants out.

A cat, handheld at 1/4 sec. I’m surprised that the cat stayed still for that long. Especially since this was the third in a sequence.

We’ve had this new camera (digital rebel) for about a month and a half now and taken somewhere north of 3000 pictures in that time. Even with the low end zoom that comes with it, (f3.5-5.5, 18-55mm, plastic) we’re getting good natural light shots of Ben.

It’s taken a while to get the hang of the focus point selection, and to make sure that it’s matching the composition of the picture. Typically for portraits that means that one eye needs to have the focus spot. Quite a challenge with a moving baby. I’ve found that the focus seems to be a little to the front of where I would think that it should be, but it’s hard to really tell without seeing images at full size, and by then I’ve sometimes forgotten exactly where I had the focus point. Perhaps I can hack something up with the exif data.

I’ve also noticed that the auto white balance for tungsten is leaving images distinctly warm. That may be an issue with the interior colors in the house (shades of terracotta, wheat, cream, and yellow) overwhelming the color bias and shoving it farther into the warm range. Or it may just be something that I need to figure out in custom white balance or post production.

I’m pretty impressed with the image quality at ISO 1600. Of course, I’d prefer less noise, but that’s pretty much a given. I suspect that one of the things that Moore’s law is going to help is to lower noise at high sensitivity, maybe in 5 years we’ll see usable 3200 or 6400 settings. I think the next outlay with this camera is to get a 50mm prime lens, since that’s going to give me another stop to play with in far less than the 5 years it will take to get an upgraded sensor. I will note that I think I’ve developed a pretty steady hand after years of trying to take lo light pictures with an Elph that only does ISO 100.

One thing that’s straining under the load is my image workflow. Sometime next month, we’ll pass the total number of images that I took with my old camera over it’s 4 year lifetime to date. I need better image archive/photo browsing software, and file system folders and imagemagick don’t do it anymore. (well, at least without a week or two of additional hacking). The trickiest thing is that there needs to be centralized storage (on the media server, the fancy name for a 4yr old debian box that now has another big drive on it, and space for 2 more) and mac laptop control and image posting. I have seen something that might work, I think it was livejournal’s photo management software.

Sometime about 5 years ago, I got this new software called Manila, and did a silly logo in the gimp. Started a website that turned into a weblog, and started flipping the home page in early December. It was an intense time, as the WTO came into town right at the end of November.
A few years ago, Rose and I observed buy nothing day as an invitation to do a create something day. 3 years go that involved several dozen hand dipped candles. This year it involved writing documentation and amusing a baby. Times do change.

Thanksgiving has always been a cooking holiday, this year one of the starters will probably come back in a slightly different form — spicy thai pumpkin soup. It’s identifiably pumpkin, but it’s not the sweet cinnamon taste that pumpkni seems to always have this time of year.

This goes quickly, so have everything ready to go.

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tbsp coriander seed, ground
1/4 tsp tumeric
Cayenne pepper, to taste. This year, I put in one whole dried one, next year I’m going to cut that way back.
1 can coconut milk
Guts from 1 smallish pumpkin, blended smooth. 2 cups or so.
1 tbsp fresh ginger, blend with pumpkin.
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup or so brown sugar

Heat some oil, when it’s hot put in the spices. They should sizzle for 30 sec or so, then pour in the coconut milk. Let simmer for a minute, stirring, then add the pumpkin guts. Add a cup of water or so to thin out, and add the soy sauce and brown sugar, and cayenne pepper. Stir in till everything is smooth, simmer, then reduce to low for 10 minutes or so. Cool for a few hours for the flavors to mingle, then reheat just prior to serving. Drizzle in a bit of cream into the serving bowls for that gourmet chef look.

Dogfish Head Worldwide stout is good, but not ‘Oh my, that’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted’ good. It’s deep, has wonderful flavor and a long finish, tastes like a good imperial stout should, and you don’t really taste the 20% alcohol. I think all in all, I prefer the Fish Tail and Stone brewing imperial stouts, especially since they’re each less than half the price of Dogfish Head.

Finally, at the risk of officially becoming a catblog:

I am evil, hear me meow