In Camera Panoramas

Panoramas - Something I know next to nothing about, but I'm working on changing that.

Like lots of digital cameras, my Canon Elph compact has something called "stitch assist", which I've never had much luck with.  However in all fairness, I've not really spent any decent amount of time at it.  I just kind of played with it a time or two, didn't get any great results and moved on.  (Apparently I sometimes have a short attention span.)  Anyway my point is, it just might be a dandy little feature if I'd only give it a bit of a chance.

My Sony Nex5N has something called "sweep panorama".  Even though my love affair with this camera began more than a year ago, I'd never bothered to use it.  So while vacationing in Hawaii recently I decided to give it a go.  My first attempt was overlooking the Halemaumau Crater.  I carefully steadied the camera as I panned slowly from left to right.  I made several attempts - each time getting a nasty-gram from my beloved Sony - a horrible beeping noise with the message "move the camera from left to right".  Well dammit!  What did it think I was doing?!  I consult the help menu and again I'm told "move the camera from left to right".  After briefly questioning my abilities to know my left from my right, I set out to try again.  Well it just so happens that next to me some young 'fella with his smarty-pants phone is panning and he's just going lickety-split.  And it worked!  So I throw myself into 'overdrive' and finally my camera captures an image.  It turns out I was just underestimating technology and my camera was just wanting me to pick up the pace.

Now you can see above, this first attempt is not a roaring success.
It's very clear that I wasn't steady enough for the camera to match up the segments.

So I give it another try, moving quickly but steadier and tackling a little smaller area.

Not too bad.

A couple of days later while heading to the beach, I decided to try it again.

This time I got several decent panoramas and was able to pan a bit wider distance.  Success!

Of course by then I'm feeling pretty smug and decide I'll test things out going vertical instead of horizontal.  Well guess what?  No matter how many times I tried  - and at various speeds - I wasn't able to get one stink'n shot.  Not even a messy, zig-zag one like my first example...  Ah well, something for another day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of the day I thought I'd share one of my favorite red rose images.  However in uploading this to the blog, I have discovered that for whatever reason, the upload degrades this artsy-edited picture horribly.

To see the real deal, please visit my gallery: Red Rose

P.S.  This is my first irritating moment with "Blogger".   Grrrrrrr....

Photography & Refrigerators - Huh??

What in the world does a refrigerator have to do with photography??  Not much unless you're an amateur photographer like myself - one without any fancy props or backgrounds. My kitchen appliances happen to be black, so placing flowers in front of the fridge works quite nicely.

There.  We just discovered something that the oh-so-popular stainless steel numbers don't excel at. Hah!! ;)

Metal Prints

Last fall I shared a Groupon link for metal prints.  I don't know if any of you took advantage of it, but I finally got around to redeeming mine and I'm pretty thrilled with the results.  I've done several prints on canvas which I've been happy with, but this is a whole different look - really crisp & vibrant.

I don't know where I'm going to put these yet, but here's a quick peek.  (This shot doesn't quite do them justice.)

Normal price on these things isn't exactly cheap, but I just checked to see what Groupon is currently offering.  If you're interested,  follow this link:  Groupon Offers for Metal Prints .  As of today they show 3 different offers.

Tip - You want to make sure to use a high resolution, very clear image.  Canvas prints can be somewhat forgiving, but not these.  

Aloha!

"Aloha" from the big island of Hawaii.  I've been here for a week and taken somewhere around 1,000 pictures (more on that later).  We had rain one day and so we killed some time shopping.  I was disappointed that it wasn't a good 'camera day', but ended up making a great discovery instead.  We stumbled across a gallery that I didn't know existed, but I'll be keeping track of it from now on. Check these guys out if you want to see some amazing photography!

www.lavalightgalleries.com

The website doesn't quite give you the same feeling as when you're actually standing in front of these amazing images, but definitely spend some time exploring their site.  These guys do amazing (and somewhat terrifying) things - from swimming with sharks to dodging red hot lava.  And they capture it all beautifully.

If you get the opportunity to visit one of their galleries, it's well worth the time.  CJ (one of the photographers) was at the gallery when we were there and spent all kinds of time telling us about his experiences.  I only wish I could have stayed longer!

They also have a facebook page.  Just search for Lava Light Galleries and you'll find them.