Free Desk-Top Wallpapers

That’s right, I found this website that is a great place to upload your photos and download other photos for using on your desk top. Talk about some great art and a way to show off your work. The down side is that it’s all free. The up-side is it gives you exposure. The link I provided should take you to my album, if not just type in “CqCasting” into the search and it should take you to my collection(s).

For now I’ve only uploaded some photos I’ve taken locally. I’m in the process of looking for some people to model for me as I would love to add a personal touch to the creative venue. In the event the link should fail then you will have to copy and paste http://my.desktopnexus.com/CqCasting/

CqCasting @ DesktopNexus

 

Model T Convertable

I came across this yesterday and believe it’s the Model T, possibly a Model A (sorry, I never knew the difference between the A’s & T’s) not sure of the year. Built in America by American workers during a time when we built things to last. Disposable economy was not part of the equation.

 

Downtown Sculpture Walk

A busy day today, got the critters walked, dishes caught up, fresh cup of java, and the typical household errands. Then it was my time. I headed to downtown Port Angeles to-do the Sculpture Walk and photo-shoot to promote this incredible area and to plug into Photosynth to learn more about this program. My results are on this link http://tinyurl.com/3bygle5

 

Panorama ~ 001

Stitch photography or bust. This goes beyond what my capabilities are, this is a rough pan as it’s my first attempt. I will work on learning this program to develop some measure of perfection. Oh, did I mention that this program is free and it even works on some i Phones. Click on this link.

 

 

Art On the Pier

I thought of playing with some photos on the Pier and the Murals for some fun interaction in this slide presentation. This is the beginning of something wonderful and the program is a free download.

Follow this link, the slide show is interactive as you can zoom, and move the pic’s with your cursor, Enjoy

 

Removing the dams, restoring a river

Lake Aldwell and Lake Mills will be missed for local paddlers. I spoke with Dave King at Olympic Raft and Kayak to get some feelers out. To my surprise Dave stated that the removal hasn’t had any effect on his rafting business. While there a rafting trip was en-route to the takeout. Looking over the former launch site, the lake is gone. For those who white-water you will have a longer run.

Mixed feelings, you bet. Kind-of like dam if you do and dam if you don’t. This video that I borrowed from the Seattle Times makes for a great starting point in the recovery and all that is involved.

 

Stitch Photo II

OK, so now I really feel dumb, here I am talking about this program on my camera that allows one to do stitch photo’s on site. I’m thinking camera capabilities and photography. Not once, thinking pc programs or anything on-line that deals with stitch photography. So, I Google “stitch photo’s” and all sorts of web-sites come up for discussion and downloads, most are free. Magic word “Free”, one particular site come up, PC World. You bet, I clicked on PC World just to find out what they have to say about the subject. Not only do they have a great article on the subject they also link to some FREE downloads through another favorite Windows program, written by Dave Johnson author PC World.

Isn’t it great knowing that non of us have to re-invent the wheel, it’s already in place and several have made contributions that have improved it. Wouldn’t it be great if our Government worked the same way….? You’re wright, we can’t fix anything that broken.

Well, now I need to figure out how to transfer what I have in this photo program to my blog or other web-sites, FB, twitter or what have you. Will share with you what I find, Oh, one last thing, For those who think I’m at-a-loss, remember this, when I went to school, we weren’t allowed to use calculators.  Today, out children are armed with cell phones, i pads and smart phones to mention a few. Most people in my age group don’t even want to get involved with this technical stuff.

 

Stitch photography challenge

Yesterday was my first attempts at “stitch photo’s”. Thought I was doing alright until I up-loaded to my photo-shop. Omg, what a disaster. On the camera display they didn’t look that bad. The problems I encountered were due mostly from sun-glare and difficulty viewing the screen to line up the next shot.

Project Stitch

The discovery of the stitch feature. With a little practice this could-be very useful in web-page design and developing stock photo’s.

The self-assignment; Practice, evaluate, make adjustments, re-evaluate, make corrections, trouble-shoot, perfect. The trial & error process.

Some really weird imagery going on here. I’m thinking a tripod would make a difference, except for one small issue….

The launch site

Oooooops

 

 

 

 

Problem # 1.  Sun Glare on the LED screen interrupts ones ability to locate and align registration points for a smooth transition.

Solution:  Dim the sun. By blocking out the sun you reduce the glare. It’s simple if you know how to. Large format photographers know that the use of a blanket allows them to focus and set up their shot before taking the picture.

Problem # 2.  Moving Platforms. When one is in a moving platform, the stability of a tripod is rendered some-what useless. In a kayak one is riding on swell height, wind, tide & currents. Keeping the craft motionless would only be possible when hell froze over.

Solution:  Are You up to a Challenge?

Calling all Challengers, submit your solution to this problem solving discussion and you will earn the following of all who are faced with this dilemma.

Thank you for your comments, like, and following.

 

Pentax Optio W80

My Camera, Pentax Optio W80

Freshwater Bay

It’s time for another contribution to this blog, with some research like, reading some directions and putting things into practice I may even learn how to do this blog thing.

I’m like on a total learning curve here. Not only am I learning about blog-set-up and manage, I’m also learning about this camera and all it’s different functions. Let me tell you about this camera.

My camera is a Pentax Optio W80, yeah, yeah, a point-n-shoot easy and simple, right, right.
Trust me I read the reviews on several cameras before deciding on my purchase. I’ve had this camera for about 2 years now and I’m just learning about some really neat features built into this little compact.

So why am I just now discovering these features? Good question, let me start by telling you what happened. I knew about this “burst” setting and where it was located. On a few of my outings I made some adjustments on the settings. Long story short I discovered I could no longer access the burst setting. It was like I was locked out or maybe I deleted that setting without knowing. Whatever I did, I couldn’t get to that setting.

On top of that, our move prevented me from locating the owners manual. Fortunately, I found the manual on-line and downloaded it.

Just how complicated can a point-n-shoot camera be. Lets just say I’m like most guys, we don’t start reading or asking directions to get from point A to point B unless all else fails. Our brains won’t allow us to reason like woman, the female species will always play the look, read and follow the directions. Not us, our sense of pride will not allow it.

I’m now reading the manual for this camera. Did I tell you that I also read some forums and found several negative comments toward the Optio w80. I can’t help but wonder if they have any clue to the many features this camera has. On the other hand, are they comparing it to the DSLR cameras priced 3 times the value in hand or is this a step down from other compact cameras? For me it’s been a step up from the 3 to 5 mega-pixel. Some day I hope to step up to the 18-28 mega-pixel DSLR.

For now, waterproof and kayaking work for me @ 12 megs. Plus all the features I need to learn and work toward mastering.

The greatest thing about digital is that you can delete all the bad pix. However I keep some around to see how I’m progressing. After all you don’t have to print them.

Well, I’m off to my next lesson, “Stitch frame photography.”

 

Early Paddle~

I finally made it to a mourning paddle, even though it was not as early as I hoped for it was great seeing all the wildlife. Mostly seals, harbor seals and of course the birds. There was more wind than I expected for this time of morning but all-in-all it was a great paddle. Also met and talked with a couple of the local guides from Adventures Through Kayaking and Sound Bike & Kayak.

Enjoy the video; Don’t forget to click the Like button, Follow and add me to Favorites. Thanks~ Ron Armacost