Just received the PS3 disc from Netflix. Popped it in and was given a short code to enter via the computer. A few minutes later, my streaming queue, new arrivals, new TV, etc. showed selections. The menu for browsing is quite nice, and the streaming quality is good as well. Good move, Netflix.

Some very interesting RED announcements are up on their site. They mainly concern upcoming, hopefully shortly upcoming, EPIC specs and pricing. There are some other images of Tatoo beta units, production renders, a carbon fiber matte box, and other goodies down through the postings, as well.

Some are particularly elegant.

Others, such as this sensor comparison chart, are pretty informative and useful.

Finally, one of the most interesting things for me is the active Nikon (and other) lens mounts.

If anyone wants to front the money for a beta unit, I would gladly put it through a grueling round of testing and use!

I’m up in the D.C. area for a few days to participate in the IEEE Biometrics: Theory, Applications, and Systems (BTAS) 2009 conference. There’s always some interesting new work, of course. I’m presenting some work on Monday, myself. Here are some sample images that I synthetically age-progressed with the techniques that I’ve been researching.

I’m also looking forward to the U2 concert on Tues. evening at FedEx! I caught them a while back at Clemson and also in Columbia, SC. I feel a little bit like I saw them recently, too, with the U2-3D thing that was pretty impressive and immersive. It’s been a good year for concerts including this and catching a lot of neat groups at Bonnaroo this past summer.

Amsterdam is a great place to visit, and since I learned that last year, I was a bit sad when I missed traveling there this year. IBC was in Amsterdam per usual and recently ended.
There was some neat new stuff out from Red. Their showreel is always fun and impressive. (I recommend right-clicking to download). Also, visit RGM Camera Network’s site for some updates on the Epic that include some nice photos and videos. I enjoyed seeing the comparisons to the Red One body.  It looks like it will be a lot of fun to use.

Continuing my habit of trading-out, upgrading, and trying new photography equipment, I’ve been using an Olympus E-P1 recently. It is a great camera because it is stylish, small, capable, and it also has a wide range of possible lenses thanks to the micro four-thirds format’s small flange focal distance. Regarding this, there is impressive interest right now, and prices on 16-mm film lenses in the C-mount format have jumped quite a bit — probably enough to drive up prices, or on eBay, at least I’ve been getting into the C-mount thing a bit, but mostly I’m using by Nikon lenses and the E-P1 kit lens right now.

Also, I’ve experimented a bit with the quite flexible internal settings of the camera to output .jpg files that are to my liking. With these settings, too, the images are actually pretty close to the look of film because the mild noise pattern of the camera looks a good bit like traditional grain. I’m favoring turning off the noise-reduction most of the time while decreasing the contrast setting and increasing the sharpness setting. I leave the color at neutral. The image-stabilization seems great on stills (physical) but not so great on video (algorithmic — adds to “jello” effect at times). In monotone mode, these settings along with using the various color filters make some very nice B&W images right out of the camera.

Anyway, one drawback right now (or at least for the days or weeks until support is released), neither Preview, iPhoto, nor Aperture open the raw camera files from the E-P1. Using some superficial information from around the Net and a little experimentation, it seems that the raw files from the camera are pretty much the same as from the Olympus E-30. In fact, changing the small text chunk in one of the E-P1’s .ORF files from “E-P1″ to “E-30″ allows all these fun programs to open and work with these files. It’s a nice little find, so with that in mind, I put together a quick-and-dirty Python script to batch several files for this change.

This Python script will change your Olympus E-P1 raw .ORF files so that Aperture (most importantly) will use them.  (Please back-up your images, of course, before using). To use the code, run the script from your terminal “python changeORF.py”, and if you like put some arguments on the end. You can either place the script in the same directory as your .ORF files and run it, or you could place the script elsewhere and specify a directory of .ORF files to change and also the name of the new directory in which to place them, if you like. It will run through all the .ORF files in a folder and place new .ORF files with the same name in the new folder (defaults to “updatedORF”). Hope it helps.

As a side note, part of me always likes storing the most detail by shooting raw, but I’m actually moving a bit in favor of just shooting .jpg files most of the time since I tweaked the settings to liking. It results in a big savings of time and storage space, and since time is precious — that’s a good thing.

Here’s a link to the script file:  changeORF.py

A while back I woke up stressing and worrying.  Useless thinking about how much that I have to do, troubling things that might happen, and also that the fridge on our new sailboat/home was not working. It may be difficult to completely control such thoughts, but it only leads to discontent. One thing that is viewed as “bad” brings to mind everything else deemed so in a tirade of melancholy. As Mihály Csíkszentmihályi said, “To control attention means to control experience, and therefore the quality of life.” If we’re not controlling it, and even worse, feeding into negative thoughts, it makes experience and quality pretty poor, of course. If we can focus on our blessings and act with gratitude in our thoughts, though, it makes an impressive difference on our experience and quality of life.  Things really are as we see them.  I knew this but was still feeling down at the time because I gave in a little bit.

To continue the story, though, finishing this post months later, I decided to work on the refrigeration. I wanted to at least get started, despite the often powerful impulse not to start. Digging a few things out of the lazarette so that I could crawl down below, I noticed that the previous owner had done a very nice job of finding and installing the Adler-Barbour Cold Machine. Very much to my delight, there was a control panel right in front with a flashing light. I read the code on the panel and found that the unit was not receiving the proper voltage. Less than one minute later, beginning to trace the power supply, I found that a grounding post had come unscrewed just enough that the unit was not properly grounded. Five twists later, and the unit was back up and running. To make things even better, I spotted the issue that had troubled the auto-pilot since our return trip and was able to fix it as well. (I’ll be optimistic here, as I actually haven’t tested it well, yet). I kept thinking about how glad I was that things were so simple this “time around” and that God really has always looked out for me. It’s a nice feeling to let go of the worrying.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. (Matthew 6:25-27, NIV)

Thanks to Wilmington’s Cinematique, one of the few possibilities around NC to catch films that aren’t hyped by the major distribution channels, I had the chance to watch Food, Inc. last night. I’ve watched the fun documentary Super Size Me and read some of Eric Schlosser’s (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan’s (Omnivore’s Dilemma) writing, so I’ve already been researching what I consume a lot more than in the past. Despite some overlap, the film is very enjoyable and informative. It also brings up some new issues such as bully tactics used by larger corporations such as Monsanto as well as questionable practices with both genetics and pesticides involved in our food-supply production. I would recommend that anyone who has not seen this documentary seek out a chance to screen it and then talk about it with others!  For more information, visit the documentary’s website, which has some good ideas and links for follow-up and action. Here are some other follow-up links concerning Monsanto and also the safety of one of their products.

Sunset somewhere off the coast of Florida.

We recently brought the S2 back up from Florida.  There were some delays to starting due to weather and other issues, but the trip was a success and a lot of fun;  that’s not to say that it wasn’t some work or that it was cool, clear, and breezy every day, but it was a great experience overall.  We combined a couple off-shore excursions with a few days of Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and fortunately missed all of the thunderstorms and a lot of the rain that happened during the same time in the southeast.  Sailing off-shore in many ways is easier and more relaxing — no worries of waiting for bridges, constantly watching for markers, avoiding shoals, running-aground, or avoiding lots of recreational boaters.  Of course, there are a few more risks, but it is very nice to put up the sails, shut the engine off when possible, and let the auto-pilot do the steering (when it works).

With just two crew members, though, it can get a bit tiring working around the clock, particularly when one has to steer because the aforementioned auto-pilot has gone a bit whack.  Although it might not be something easily continued for several days, sailing overnight is a possibility and shouldn’t wear two people out too much over a 24-hour period.  (As a lot of people will agree, though, the condition of the crew is one of the biggest factors for safety and enjoyment of sailing voyages).  Sailing off-shore has a lot of perks, though.  Some of my favorite experiences are seeing the shoreline drift away, enjoying beautiful sunsets and sleepy sunrises, and also watching the colors in the blue water as the boat moves along.  Another highlight is brilliant starry expanses on clear nights.

The ICW was enjoyable, too.  We visited Charleston, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach and caught a wide variety of landscapes and saw a variety of houses along the water, too.  Anchoring and marinas are both fun, but marinas in the more popular places cost a bit of money, unfortunately.  Be prepared, though, for either not planning to make a lot of distance each day or wearing oneself out steering all day on watch for markers and drunk boaters.  As often discussed, too, the ICW is ridiculously shallow at times these days, too.  It will be one nice thing of the Recovery Act if dredging is actually performed in the near future.  We found that the Ashepoo-Coosaw cutoff was basically impassable for a 5-foot keel near low-tide, and we had to wait several hours to catch it mid-level on a rising tide.  The section above Charleston and Isle of Palms is quite shallow and narrow, too.  Don’t stray a bit, or you’ll need a wake or pull by a friendly boater at the least.  Stay windward if in a questionable area, proceed slowly, but don’t stress too much.  One of the nicest parts of the ICW, I think, is anchoring in fairly remote spots — relaxing at the end of a run and enjoying a nice sunset, meal, and rest.