I took 800 pictures at that game. I posted 43 decent ones.
Tag Archives: photography
Top Notch For All Parties
Michelle and I DID end up making it to the Bucks game this evening– she was pretty sick and didn’t go into work this morning, but the drugs she got from the doctor were kicking in by the time the game rolled around, so we decided not to waste them.
I haven’t been shy about bad-mouthing the Bucks in this forum for the last couple seasons. If Michelle was not a huge fan of TJ Ford (from his days in Milwaukee), I most likely would not have bothered with a game this season. This is definitely a different group than the last time I watched them, though (back in December of 2006). I was impressed with the hustle and the apparent effort at the defensive end of the floor. Granted, on this particular evening, they were shooting anywhere from 53-57% throughout the game, so there was a lot of incentive to get after the ball and keep things rolling. But yeah; I’ll admit, I was impressed.
Meanwhile, I took along my camera, attached the telephoto lens, put it on continuous-shooting mode and ended up with about 750 images to download– yikes. Bed time; be back tomorrow…
What Are You Doing In the House??
If you are living in WI, go the hell outside– it is a beautiful weekend! I have things to do around this place, but I am heading out shortly to take some photos this afternoon. I haven’t tried photographing the outdoors in (relatively) yucky-looking winter weather, but it’s worth a shot. I also want to get some practice in with my new camera, so however I can make that happen will be cool.
Speaking of which, I decided I’m going to switch over to Picasa 3– its cross-platformy goodness and a little studying of its key features made it seem a lot more usable to me. One thing, though: does anybody know how to make it display all pics in the collection by date, and just ignore the folders that they’re in?
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday…
A Little Do-Over
So I’m pretty sure I mentioned I got a new camera. I started using it this past weekend, and I’m going to enjoy shooting with it (some of those photos may be available for viewing right here on this website soon)!
As I imported my images to the photo-catalogging software that I used, I realized that my system for storing pictures is a little bit antiquated; I used to keep a certain number of pictures “sync’d” between my laptop’s hard drive and the server. Thing is, how often do I really haul my laptop around to show people pictures (unless it’s a special event)? And secondly, it seems like it would be a lot easier to work on editing pictures when you have them stored locally, versus on a network.
So I trashed the database that my computer had built of the pictures, I did a total reinstall of F-Spot, and I’m starting over with a local storage directory on my desktop machine that will be backed up nightly to the server. Seems like that fits in a little better with the current state of affairs.
I also overslept this morning and need to start getting ready for work soon, I’ll have to catch you up on the rest of my weekend later on.
Have a good Monday!
If We Don't Shop, the Terrorists Win
Nothing like counting those chickens before the eggs are even laid (to say nothing about hatching). When I got home yesterday, I was thinking I would whip some photos from the holiday season up on the site, to augment the one I borrowed from Christy. But I really didn’t have any shots worth posting (out of the 12 that I actually took).
I mentioned to Michelle that part of the problem is I’m really bored with my camera. I don’t even particularly feel like taking it places or turning it on when I do remember to bring it along. Bocko needs a new camera to reinvigorate that photographic energy.
To that end, one of things I’ve decided to spend a portion of the forthcoming tax refund on is the digital SLR I’ve been on the verge of purchasing for about 3 years now. I’m sure Wordy will be pleased to no longer have my annual “which-camera-should-I-intend-to-but-not-actually-buy” emails. This is the outfit I’m figuring on purchasing (whether through the linked vendor, or another). I’m going to spend a little bit more and get a telephoto lens included, because having that versatility was one of the prime motivations I felt to get a DSLR in the first place. Next year when I go to the ballpark, I want to take some nice shots of guys in the field…
Speaking of which, 20 Brewers tickets is one of the other things I’ve already spent that tax money on.
…
I guess now that I’m 30 I should try to get a better handle on this whole “saving money for more important stuff” thing. I SWEAR I will do that right after I buy a new TV…
Some Worthwhile Consumables and Weekend Notes
I finally listened to episode #368 of This American Life, “Who Do You Think You Are?” on my way in and for the first half hour or so of my work day. About half the show was excerpts from a series that Studs Terkel, a recently deceased, longtime Chicago radio man hosted in the 1970s called “Hard Times.” He did interviews with ordinarily American citizens about their experiences from the Great Depression. It was fantastic to hear these unique perspectives of witnessed history. Listening to a piece like this makes me think about how valuable the mass media archives of the 20th century could potentially be as the future rolls on.
And I guess that I’m thinking about it relative to photography in a sense: sure, we have photographs from as far back as the mid-19th century, and it is amazing to look into the faces of the people who lived at those times. But what still photos lack (a clear idea of what the people who lived in those times THOUGHT about them), sound recordings and motion pictures of the 20th century have in spades. As generations of people pass on and memory continues to fade, we retain an ability that no era in the past could boast: we can engage those past generations in conversation through recordings. Pretty amazing stuff, if you think about it.
And speaking of voices from the past informing the events of the present, an interesting little piece here from New Scientist about how the worldwide economic doldrums we find ourselves in were predicted (with computer assistance) in 1972.
Beyond that, had an enjoyable and somewhat productive weekend. Michelle and I went to see Quantum of Solace on Saturday. Not usually a movie she’d be interested in, but we had a good time at the last Bond. I thought it was good, but I agree with most of the critics I’ve read that Casino Royale was better. The review I saw in The Onion tried to parallel the 2nd Daniel Craig-Bond flick with The Dark Knight, both being the first sequel in a largely-reimagined franchise. I dunno if that’s a fair comparison, in part because Batman has such a long, rich body of source material to work from: the Joker is a well-established and defined character; James Bond is up against a new villian every time out. So anyway, Bond was good; not great, but good.
Michelle was on pins and needles through most of the movie. She hasn’t watched a lot of action films, so when she DOES see one, it is literally a heart-pounding thrill ride. It’s fun for everybody. After we left the theater, we talked about some other movies like this one that she might try, and we agreed that action flicks with lots of explosions, chases, fights, and general debauchery are a great reason to have a bigger TV.
OK, well, the kids are starting to back up in the office. Best get to it…
Slower Than Expected
Howdy. I stayed home sick today, so pardon me for being brief.
Michelle and I went the Halloween shindig @ the Price house in Hartford on Saturday– it was a good time, and there is photographic evidence in the DaytoDay gallery. We also made a “homemade” pizza on Sunday, and there are a couple pics of that, too. It turned out really well.
But anyway, I wanted to get those photos posted about 4 hours ago, but it took me this long to:
- learn that some extensions for PHP hadn’t been enabled on the new server,
- figure out that some of the plugins here rely on the extensions in question,
- find out what to do to enable those extensions,
- figure out that the reason I couldn’t get them all enabled was because I needed to install extra packages from the Slackware install disc,
- backup the base ( / ) directory on the server,
- install the needed packages, and
- finally upload the pictures that I wanted.
I think I’ll take a nap for a while now.
Yes, I Have Been Taking Some Photographs
There’s been some barking over the last week or so about the lack of new photos (of my apartment, in particular). Rest assured, I have taken photos and you’ll all have a chance to see them. First things first, though: a month later, please take a look at the handful of shots from Jen and Joe’s Justin Roth House Concert. They are in the Milwaukee gallery.
Have to get back to making dinner now– I have plans to go to Mayfair to see Batman, and the show’s on in less than 2 hours.
Well, Let's Try That Again
Like I said the other day, I’ve got a handful of new pictures that I’m putting up. I noticed today that I forgot to “re-size” them, so they were taking an agonizingly long time to load (a 2-meg photo will do that on a residential connection). They’re fixed now, so if you tried earlier to look and ended up closing your browser in frustration mumbling, “goddammit Bocko…” you can go back now and enjoy.
Also, I could go for a sandwich.
The Latest (Visually Speaking)
Jim Droste gave me a good idea the other day when he started posting some photos from his recent trip to the Dells– rather that upload a whole big mess of pics at the same time, he’s treating us to just a couple a day. Easy for him, easy for you to not miss something.
So, yeah– stay tuned over the next few days for some updates to the photo galleries…