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I need to upload  more, but you can see the pics at Smugmug.

I got a new camera this week and went up to  Wildwood Park near HACC to take some pictures today.   I really like the 20x zoom lense (the main reason I bought it), and the image stabilization seemed to work pretty well.   I think it is cool that I was able to see the details of the pollen on the bee.

Bee on a flower

Goose swimming in green alge

We all live downstream

Overrun lake

Main trail

Tabacco sign on a McDonald's

I saw this when stopping on my drive back from West Virgina this afternoon.  The McDonald’s was at a travel plaza and shared  space with a small convenience store.

Venn diagram of UNIX and graffiti enthusthiasts

I came across this on a couple of buildings, fence posts, and the sidewalk while walking around Morgantown.

Has anyone seen UNIX-like graffiti tagging elsewhere?

UNIX graffiti in Morgantown, WV

This is probably only interesting to experienced photographers and/or open-source geeks.

I recently came across CHDK (Canon Hacker’s Development Kit), an open-source firmware project for Canon’s  PowerShot line of cameras that adds a bunch of additional functionality to the cameras.  You basically copy the CHDK firmware to your flash card and then while the camera is on instruct it to upgrade the firmware (which takes about 5 seconds on my SD400).  The firmware upgrade to CHDK only lasts for the given power-cycle, so once you turn the camera off, it will revert to the standard Canon firmware.

Here are some of the main features:

• RAW – CHDK can record raw files, giving you access to every bit of data the sensor saw, without compression or processing. Raw files can be manipulated on the camera, or processed on your PC. CHDK also has experimental support for the open DNG raw standard.
• Override Camera parameters – Exposures from 64s to 1/60.000s with flash sync. Full manual or priority control over exposure, aperture, ISO and focus.
• Bracketing – Bracketing is supported for exposure, aperture, ISO, and even focus.
• Video Overrides – Control the quality or bitrate of video, or change it on the fly.
• Scripting – Control CHDK and camera features using ubasic and Lua scripts. Enables time lapse, motion detection, advanced bracketing, and much more. Many user-written scripts are available on the forum and wiki.
• Motion detection – Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.
• Edge overlay – Detect the edges in a scene, and display them later. Ideal for timelapses, stop-motion, stereography and much more.
• Live Histogram – CHDK includes a customizable, live histogram display, like those typically found on more expensive cameras.
• Zebra-Mode – Displays under and overexposure areas live on the screen.
• GRIDS – Create custom grids and display whichever one suits your shooting conditions.
• Multi-Lingual Interface – CHDK supports about 13 languages, and adding more languages is simple.
• DOF Calculator – Display detailed DOF information on the screen.
• Customizable OSD – Improved display of battery status, free space, camera parameters, and much more. Fully customizable with an on-screen editor.

There are a number of other features ranging from the ability to hook two cameras together to take stereo pictures all the way to playing games on the camera’s LCD screens.

I started uploading the photos I took at the Harrisburg Marathon today.  Thanks to the beauty of cheap compact flash cards, I took over 1200 photos. They won’t all be uploaded until sometime tomorrow, but you can view the gallery here.

The regular results and relay results are now are posted.

I spent most of today helping support my friend Jon as he ran in the “Blues Cruise 50k” trail ultra-marathon today.  I took about 500 pictures and have started uploading them to smugmug.  It will probably take until tomorrow to get them all uploaded.  You can view the gallery here.

The race was really well managed and the weather was fantastic .  Jon cut 35 minutes off his time from last year.   Way to go Jon!

Update: If you are looking for the results, they are posted on the timing company’s website.

I went out to watch the Harrisburg Half-Marathon this morning.  Up until last night I was thinking about volunteering, but my stomach was feeling a bit wonky so I thought it would be safer just to be a spectator.  I ended up taking about 240 pictures, which I tried posting on Flickr, but ran into the limits on their free accounts.  I have now purchased an account on a photo site called Smug Mug, you can see all my Harrisburg Half pictures here.  I was able to upload all the full-sized images, so you should be able to access them directly.  If you find any photos you like, feel free to save them (or you can order prints from Smug Mug, I didn’t set any price so you just have to cover Smug Mug’s costs).

I would appreciate a blog comment or email of your name and bib number if you find yourself in any photos, it is nice to be able to associate a person with their picture at future races.

I really enjoyed the race atmosphere and cheering people on, I’m hoping I’ll be in a position to run the race next year.

Marcus and Dave around mile 5

Extra google bait: Harrisburg Half Marathon halfmarathon race pictures photographs pics

I wanted to find a neat topic for photography and while web surfing stumbled across ferrofluid, which is basically very small iron filings suspended in an oil which reacts strongly to magnetic fields. I ordered a ferrofluid kit consisting of a nut, a bolt, and a small bottle of ferrofluid from an educational supply store and spent a few hours playing. Here is my favorite result:

I also created a photo set showing the progression of the ferrofluid as it was dripped onto the nut and bolt.

The only real downside of playing with ferrofluid is that since it is oil-based it can be a real pain to cleanup properly.