The Smirkonian Sightseer

Tonight's Sunset

Ghosts of BBC Television Centre

Quadcopter adventures at sea

A little TLC goes a long long way...

I've been a supporter of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy for a few years. They recently launch a new TVC campaign.

SBS Foundation sponsored TLC advert from Tasmanian Land Conservancy on Vimeo.

Just before the Christmas holiday kicked in the TLC's first TV ad was launched on SBS, and I might be biased, but it's looking pretty schmick.

The ad wouldn't have been possible without the generous donation of time and talent from Mark Ringer and Andrew Charles, who guided the creative concept development, Red Jelly Hobart for production development at cost and the SBS Foundation for awarding TLC free-to-air advertising time.

Find out more about the Tasmanian Land Conservancy 

(source TLC)

Hobart Weather Camera Resident

Emerald Lake panorama

Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, Canada

Nikon D5000
Calico panorama (3 image stitch)
Lightroom 4 with 32bit HDR plugin

eBook: A Sense of Place

Download Younes Bounhar's eBook A Sense of Place: Finding Your Eye at Home and Abroad for just $4.

New PDF eBook  A Sense of Place is more than just a travel photography workbook; it's geared towards helping you learn to experience a place more fully, see it with wider eyes, and photograph it more intentionally. Photography, for many of us, is all about learning to see. Younes Bounhar's A Sense of Place, Finding Your Eye at Home and Abroad, is a 42-spread eBook that can help you make stronger photographs, whether at home or elsewhere, by honing your ability to see and express, not just point the camera. Based on his trips back home to Morocco, Younes guides you through his process of making photographs in a place that is both foreign and familiar. Through this experience, beautiful photographs, and a series of excellent creative exercises, Younes teaches you how to see in new ways and do the work needed to make beautiful photographs of places near and far, strange or familiar. Starting off with a quick section about shooting At Home, he then jumps head-long into a much longer section on making photographs Abroad, but the two can not be so easily separated: the skills, and exercises, needed to make compelling photographs in either place are the same. For those looking for a discussion about traveling with gear, he touches on that too, but it's so much more. Younes is a patient and capable guide, though he'll make you work for it. If you're looking for a primer on photography of places, this is an excellent place to start. Younes Bounhar is a scientist turned travel, architecture, and landscape, photographer. He is based in Ottawa, Canada. His clients include St-Joseph Media, Apex Publications, K2 Impressions, National Institute of Scenic Arts and Music (Spain). His photographs have been featured in several magazines in Canada and abroad (including Canadian Geographic, PhotoLife, PhotoSolutions, Photography Monthly, and Craft & Vision's PHOTOGRAPH). Special Offer For the first five days only, use the promotional code  PLACE4  when you checkout and pay only $4 OR use the code  PLACE20  to get 20% off when you buy 5+ PDF eBooks. These codes expire at 11:59pm (PST) December 22, 2012.

Franklin River Rafting

For me this is the most treasured part of Tasmania...

Franklin River Rafting are taking 2013 bookings now.

Sunset Pano

Another sunset over the back paddock.

Nikon D5000 (5 image capture)
PSE10 Photomerge
Lightroom

Sunset & Smoke Haze

Sunset and Smoke Haze by Andrew Shepherd

Black Friday Special

As if they weren't cheap enough, $5 ebooks are now half price thru Friday.

Visit Craft And Vision before Friday, November 23 at 11:59pm (PST) and you’ll find every eBook marked down by 50%.  No discount codes required - we've already done it for you. Happy reading!

Exclusions: BigBooks and Magazines are not discounted. 
 

eBook: Lightroom 4 Unmasked

Download Piet Van den Eynde's BIGBOOK: Lightroom 4 UnMasked (Save USD $5) PLUS - Get 50% off any eBook - No Discount Code Required (Sale Ends Friday Night)

LIGHTROOM 4 UNMASKED  This is a complete guide to Adobe Lightroom 4 and we know you'll love diving into this beefy book. At 312 spreads this PDF is full of high-resolution screenshots, step-by-step instructions, and the tips, tricks and ideas that make digital darkroom work productive and more enjoyable. If you’re looking to learn Lightroom 4 and need a resource to help you do that quickly, or you’ve just upgraded and need to get up to speed, this is a great value. INTRODUCING THE BIGBOOK  A BIGBOOK is like an eBook but bigger. A lot bigger! It's a PDF that, other than the fact that it's fully searchable and loaded with hyperlinks, is really the text book you've always wanted, like those big, heavy ones you'd normally pay the big bucks for! We put our elves to work and we've produced a digital text book. Instead of carving up the content into smaller chunks we've created something BIG so that you can have a definitive resource at your finger tips while saving money at the same time. Featuring 60 (that's right... sixty) cases! Piet puts the tools and features into context, helping you learn and apply what you read along the way. Every module is covered in-depth, even third-party applications and plugins are tackled head-on. Lightroom-to-Photoshop integration is also included. Piet Van den Eynde is an Adobe Certified Expert and he's left no stone unturned. Whether you're new to Lightroom, or are upgrading, you can be at ease here as this BigBook is up to date (Lightroom 4.2). If you're looking to gain a deeper understanding of Lightroom or want to nip in the bud those novice issues that have plagued you for too long, then Lightroom 4 UnMasked is the perfect edition to your digital library. Download Note: This PDF file is very big (216MB). Please keep this in mind when initiating your download.  SPECIAL OFFER  Download Piet Van den Eynde's BIGBOOK: Lightroom 4 UnMasked (Save USD $5) The retail price of this BigBook is USD $20. But for the first seven (7) days only, use the promotional code  LR4FIVE  when you checkout and pay only $15. This code expires at 11:59pm (PST) November 27, 2012. BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL  Hold on to your hats! Visit Craft And Vision before Friday, November 23 at 11:59pm (PST) and you’ll find every eBook marked down by 50%. No discount codes required - we've already done it for you. Happy reading! Exclusions: BigBooks and Magazines are not discounted.

Sydney in Tilt-Shift

Toy Boats - A Sydney Tilt-shift Time-lapse from Nathan Kaso on Vimeo.

Slow: The Magic of Long Exposure

Download Andrew S. Gibson's latest eBook SLOW: The Magic of Long-Exposure Photography

New PDF eBook  If you're looking to explore the creative possibilities behind the slow end of the shutter dial, looking for some new ideas, or wanting a primer on intentional camera motion, panning, long exposure techniques, and the equipment to help you get there, SLOW is an excellent place to begin. SLOW is 64 spreads of teaching and inspiration on the techniques and aesthetics of using a slow shutter to create expressive images skillfully captured through exposure and movement. To complement his own work, Andrew also includes two case studies from photographers Doug Chinnery and Joel Tjintjelaar, which help to provide tangible insights on the subject of long-exposure photography. Download Andrew S. Gibson's latest eBook SLOW: The Magic of Long-Exposure Photography

More BSG

This is the Blu-Ray unrated trailer for Blood and Chrome...

Jules and Jim Music Video

While not the greatest music video I've seen, it is my favourite song from Nada Surf's album The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. Here is the newly release Nada Surf  clip for "Jules And Jim".

I notice a 'menage a toi' theme going on here. I'm into sharing!

Youtube clip notes:

The music video for the song Jules and Jim was filmed over the span of several months on location in Arch Cape, Oregon and inside a historic house in Providence, Rhode Island. It gently alludes to the classic French New Wave film of the same name. The video brings you into the dreamlike world of three characters who are both intertwined and isolated and into three different worlds which are also intertwined and yet isolated. The different perspectives of both the three characters and the three worlds seek to evoke the ever changing feelings and roller coaster ride that comes from being a rational being crazy in love - desire, jealousy, security, ecstasy, sadness, beauty and the like, and yet to be able to see clearly outside ones own feelings. The sets are either actual outdoor settings or were composed from organic materials and found objects. The characters were made from found objects, wire, and Sculpey.

The film was directed, animated and edited by Rachel Chaiya Blumberg. This is her second music video. In addition to film making she is also a painter and a musician.

It's nearly time..

With the first episode of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome about to go online, here is a exclusive teaser clip to get you pumped.

 

In other Battlestar Galactica news...

HOME RELEASE SITREP: BLOOD & CHROME will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD on 19 February 2013. Pre-order now via... fb.me/B0yfrobx

— BSG: Blood & Chrome (@bloodandchrome) November 8, 2012

 

Gary Hutzel and Doug Drexler talk about how LightWave was instrumental in the creation of the 1,800+ VFX shots for... fb.me/w4eXDZiG

— BSG: Blood & Chrome (@bloodandchrome) November 8, 2012

Big Australia

Southern Cross Production in Tasmania have been putting in the long hours to get Big Australia 6 part series on air this Saturday evening. Tune to 7Mate at 7.30pm.

View the sizzle reel at Cineflix.

Blood & Chrome

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is the prequel to the re-imagined BSG television series of 2004 and follows on from the BSG: Caprica series.

Set in the tenth year of the First Cylon War, the story follows William Adama as a young man, with the call sign "Husker." William, being a recent Academy graduate, is assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. He is ordered to escort a young woman, who eventually turns out to have vital information that carries significant importance to certain Cylon secrets. He is accompanied by Coker Fasjovik. The routine mission eventually turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal part in their story. (source: Wikipeadia)

 I remember seeing Luke Pasqualino on the Skins TV series a few years ago and have been following him on Twitter, awaiting news of the Blood & Chrome series. That news came today...

 

Hey guys check this!!Please spread the word :-)insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/05/bat…Enjoy!!

— Luke Pasqualino (@LucaPasqualino) November 5, 2012

 

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome starts this Friday as online at MachinimaPrime YouTube channel.

Sex Toy Rejects

When "just-in" ain't big enough...

Stanley Park Documentary in need of finance

Today I made a small contribution to beautiful documentary about Stanley Park. I had the opportunity to visit this amazingly scenic park in May this year and walked the surrounding seawall.

Stanley Park: An Urban Wilderness is a full length documentary telling the remarkable story of Vancouver's iconic park.

As of this posting they had only raise $235 of their $100,000 target with 42 days to go. I'm surprised the local Vacouverites haven't shown much support for a film about their deeply loved 404.9 hectare park in the heart of the city.

Film-makers Adrian Green and Grant Finlayson started the project last year and need finance to finish the documentary off. Please visit their website Beautiful Earth for more information about the film, or drop by the campaign page to make a contribution.

Take a moment to view the work they've completed so far...

Stanley Park: An Urban Wilderness Teaser Trailer from Beautiful Earth Films on Vimeo.

Skywalker-ing Tweetsheet

Nada Surf's front man Matthew Caws got in the spirit for Halloween.

chapel hill, two-thousand-and-something, look at that cinnamon bun hair! twitter.com/nadasurf/statu…

— matthew caws (@nadasurf) October 31, 2012

Hard-core Nada fans (myself included) quickly picked up on the reference to a line on their song In The Mirror from their album The Weight Is A Gift

I look in the mirror
To see what my hair is doing
Is it kind of skywalker
Or kind of stupid?

This comes on the news that Disney acquired LucasFilm for 4.5 billion dollars which includes the Star Wars franchise and operating businesses.

 

EPCOT, an acronym of Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, is a Utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney and are probably looking at a few makeovers.

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL amusement park! boingboing.net/2012/10/30/luc… via @boingboing twitter.com/jasewells/stat…

— Jase Wells (@jasewells) October 31, 2012

I am 100% against new Star Wars episodes. That being said, if they'd cast me in them, I am 100% FOR new Star Wars episodes.

— David Blue (@DavidBlue) October 31, 2012

 

Darth Vader takes his Stormtroopers to Disneyland and it looks like they had an awesome time! imax.ly/Y7dR6z (via @laughingsquid)

— IMAX(@IMAX) November 1, 2012

 

Now that #Disney bought LucasArts... twitter.com/cartoonartist/…

— Idan Schneider (@cartoonartist) October 30, 2012

 

New PDF Magazine: PHOTOGRAPH

Download Issue One of PHOTOGRAPH, a Quarterly Digital Magazine for USD $8 

or buy the 1-Year Subscription and Get Four Issues for the Price of Three (Save USD $8).

 

Today Craft & Vision are thrilled to announce PHOTOGRAPH, a digital quarterly magazine for creative photographers. They've been working hard for several months to create something exceptional: a gorgeous, ad-free, magazine full of great photographs from exceptional photographers, and articles from photographers and authors like Chris Orwig, John Paul Caponigro, Martin Bailey, and Piet Van den Eynde, photographers who understand that this is not only a technical pursuit but an artistic one and write as much from the heart as they do from their expertise. There are columns about printing, composition, post-processing, inspiration, editing, and yes, even gear. Issue One is the inaugural issue and includes featured portfolios and interviews with Art Wolfe, Bruce Percy, and Nate Parker, as well as articles from David duChemin, Andrew Gibson, Nicole S. Young, John Paul Caponigro, Martin Bailey, Al Smith, Jay Goodrich, Piet Van den Eynde, Younes Bounhar, Kevin Clark, and Chris Orwig. Curious about what's inside? Download the table of contents. See more sample spreads.   Purchase Issue One of PHOTOGRAPH for $8 USD   Purchase a One-Year Subscription for $24 USD  - that's four issues for the price of three.   SPECIAL OFFER: And because they'd rather you have a chance to do this risk free, you can buy Issue One for $8 and, for a limited time, buy the rest of the subscription at $16 once you've had a chance to read Issue One. They'll send a short email to everyone who purchases Issue One, and you'll have until the end of November 2012 to opt-in to the rest of the one-year subscription. "I really believe the best way to learn photography is to study exceptional photographs, and to listen to voices that not only know the craft, but practice the art of photography. I hope PHOTOGRAPH inspires you the way it has already inspired us." - David duChemin

Sandy Photos

Here are a few photos from Flickr taken during and after Hurricane Sandy that got my attention ...

Finding a bit of Tassie... Overseas

Back in May & June this year I traveled to British Columbia, Canada. A feature of this trip was a day cruise on the Inside Passage aboard BC Ferries Northern Expedition from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. There are snow capped mountains, waterfalls, whales and other wildlife, all stunning vistas to keep a photographer happily occupied for hours along this sheltered waterway. I'm currently reviewing several hundred video clips shot on my little Nikon AW100 and also capturing a few still frames of scenes I'd missed taking with my DLSR.

On a few occasions while travelling, I come across items that are made in my home state of Tasmania. Below is a video frame capture taken on the cruise and shows a liferaft capsule made by Liferaft Systems Australia who operate out of Derwent Park in Hobart, Tasmania.

I only discovered this today. How did i miss it?

eBook: Essential Development - Techniques for Lightroom 4

Download Sean McCormacks's eBook Package ESSENTIAL DEVELOPMENT This .zip file includes a Lightroom Toolbox of 85 presets. Or buy the PDF only.

New PDF eBook + Lightroom Toolbox Want to take your Lightroom workflow to a new level? Essential Development, 20 Great Techniques for Lightroom 4, by Sean McCormack, is an amazing resource for any photographer who wants to get the most out of Lightroom's Develop Module without all the guesswork. Lightroom keeps changing, and most of us don’t have time to dig around under the hood to learn it all. Essential Development is a no-holds-barred guidebook that can help you explore, modify, and dig deep into the Lightroom 4 tools you need to make your post-processing efforts more productive and produce the final images your portfolio deserves! The eBook is divided into 20 chapters, focused entirely on the Develop module, covering topics such as: Understanding The Histogram, Making White White, Beauty Retouching, Dodge & Burn for Beauty, Cross Processing, Achieving a Filmic Look, Image Toning, Tilt Shift, Effective Sharpening, and Correcting Lens Issues. Sean is a consummate professional, and an industry leader in Lightroom education, and he's delivered a large, concisely-written eBook full of clear and large screenshots that will feel more like a workbook than an eBook.  Our primary offering is an eBook package (.zip file) which includes the PDF of Essential Development, Essential Development Toolbox (a folder of 85 Lightroom presets), and a short PDF instruction manual to help with the installation and catalog some of the presets. Presets are a great way to cut down your editing time and with 85 of them there are presets here for a range of styles and tastes. Whether you’re just looking to tweak your knowledge of Lightroom since the jump from LR3 to LR4, or you’ve been waiting for a great resource that doesn’t bog you down in Library modules and Print templates. This is a useful, hands-on offering that we know you'll love.  Special Offer on Essential Development Package The retail price on this package is just USD $7, but for the next six days, use the promotional codeDEVELOP6 when you check out so you can have the Essential Development Package (incl. the Toolbox of 85 Lightroom presets) for just $6 OR use the code DEVELOP20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ PDF eBooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST Tuesday - October 23, 2012.  PDF Only If you want to keep it simple, you can purchase the PDF only for just $5 - visit the standard product page at Craft & Vision. At 120-spreads this is great education and a killer value.

Joey L. - the future of photography

One of my favourite photographers has a new book coming out in December. Although I specialise in landscape and not portraiture, I really like the lighting style of  Joey L . 

Photographing Shadow and Light: Inside the Dramatic Lighting Techniques and Creative Vision of Portrait Photographer Joey L. 

 

Amazon book description:

Aspiring photographers are always looking for that edge, that fresh point of view to add drama to their images. Photographer Joey L. found his vision early, drawing critical acclaim as a brilliant commercial photographer with a distinctive technical expertise for lighting. 
            In Photographing Shadow and Light, Joey lifts the curtain on his dramatic, creatively fearless approach to portraiture, sharing his personal philosophy and a behind-the-scenes look at 15 striking photo sessions—from personal projects shot in Africa, India, and Brooklyn to commercial shoots for 50 Cent, the Jonas Brothers, and Project Runway All Stars. Joey provides readers with a step-by-step description of how he visualized each shoot, formed meaningful connections with his subjects, and “built” his signature dramatic lighting effects—one light at a time.
            Featuring more than 85 stunning portraits, detailed lighting diagrams, and a foreword from industry icon David Hobby (aka Strobist), Photographing Shadow and Light shares the creative process behind one of today’s most exciting photography talents, providing serious amateurs and professionals a fresh perspective on creating compelling, professional quality portraits.
 
“Joey Lawrence is . . . the future of photography. Get used to it.” —David Hobby, from the foreword
 
Get inside the images of commercial and fine art portrait photographer Joey L. with this behind-the-lens guide to his fearless approach, creative vision, and signature lighting techniques.

Also available as an ebook

  

Art Of Motion 2012

Stayed up to watch the world's best Parkour athletes compete at Art Of Motion in Santorini, Greece.

 

This is Ryan Doyle (UK) performing. Ryan was knocked out in the final round, coming 8th.

For a full event replay, follow the link in the tweet below...

Μείνετε συντονισμένοι - για event clips & φωτό!redbull.gr/artofmotion #RedBull #ArtofMotion

— Red Bull Greece (@redbullGRE) September 29, 2012

Great Light, Easy Light - Strobe techniques that don't look lit

Download Kevin Clark's PDF eBook Great Light, Easy Light

New PDF eBook  Great Light, Easy Light – Strobe Techniques That Don’t Look Lit by Kevin Clark is an eBook about creating beautiful light. Kevin is a veteran commercial photographer who knows how to cut to the chase and provide photographers of all levels with the practical advice they need to create and manipulate light in order to produce the best aesthetic. Whether you’re using studio lights or off-camera flash, an eight-foot octabank or a bed sheet, you’ll learn about how to get light to do what you want, regardless of the tools.  This 64-page (32-spread) PDF is a hands-on guide that will help you understand how to make a scene look a little more natural, and a little less “lit”. With diagrams showing one, two, and three-light setups, as well as case studies, you’ll be able to set aside the formulas and recipes for lighting and learn how Kevin plays, tweaks and experiments with the subtleties of light. Great Light, Easy Light is a gorgeous eBook, full of stunning portraits, and is the behind-the-scenes resource you’ll want to have in your digital library as you plan for your next shoot.  Download Kevin Clark's PDF eBook Great Light, Easy Light

Vancouver centric film

Back around May this year I spent a few weeks in Vancouver to explore the pleasures the city has to offer. Vancouver is renown for its film and television industry, just check out the listing on IMDB. Here's a trailer for an small independent file, Do Something With Your Life. In it you'll see a few of the iconic landmarks of the city.

From Vancouver Is Awesome:

Directed by Darren Borrowman… the unofficial working title for the film was actually “Vancouver Is Awesome”! They made the film for about $15,000 over the course of the last 3 years and while I don’t imagine that independent filmmaking is an easy road to travel down producer Bob Woolsey told me that “At the end of the day our greatest asset was the city itself. No matter where you point the camera you’ve got a beautiful shot and no matter who you talk to they know someone who is involved in film in someway and they’re always willing to lend a hand.”

SYNOPSIS:

Mike Browne is in the middle of a quarter life crisis when Lindsay (the girlfriend that never was from high school) and Kara (the exciting new girl he falls in love with) both (re)appear in his life. Mike must navigate his feelings for both women while also trying to figure out who he is and what he wants out of life.

His best friend is an amateur wrestling manager, his brother just got in to university but doesn’t want to go and his dad smokes more pot than he does. With no one to look to for guidance, Mike is left haphazardly wandering from one problem to the next with a feeling that life is passing him by.

Homer Simpson votes

Depth of Field

The Lion City from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Rob Fairs

I've had the pleasure of working with Rob Fairs for the past 17 years. Yesterday, Rob read his last sports bulletin for Tasmania's Southern Cross News and will return to his previous vocation as a radio announcer at LA-FM.

Happy air-waves, Fairsy!

GoPro Seagulls

This is the second video I'm seen of a seagull taking off with a GoPro.

 

And there's the other one, posted about a year ago...

Quote

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Edison

— Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) September 11, 2012

Sex sells

Hot on the trail of all the 50 Shades hype, I can't help but think the Afterglow campaign is relying on the premise that sex sells.

Tourism Tasmania is conducting a special two-month tactical advertising campaign to encourage Australians to visit Tasmania during spring. The campaign will also create further consideration for travel to Tasmania over the following summer and autumn period. 

Oh, the places you'll go...

Based on Dr. Seuss's final book before his death, this is a story about life's ups and downs, told by the people of Burning Man.

Robot & Frank

Sometimes I need a little help around here too...

One bike vs. San Fransisco

It's like Parkour only on a bike.

Portraits of Earth

Download David duChemin's latest PDF eBook Portraits of Earth

New PDF eBook  Portraits of Earth, An Introduction to Landscape Photography is an inspiring and beautiful eBook that teaches just about everything David has learned about landscape photography while chasing the light across seven continents. As a landscape eBook for all levels, photographers will find the education and inspiration to make beautiful photographs of their own, no matter what adventure awaits them.  This massive eBook boasts 90 spreads (180 pages if you're still counting the old way) is broken down into sections on Gear, Composition, Light, Land, Water, Snow, and Detail Shots, and is accompanied by large, beautiful photographs, all with complete EXIF data, many of them previously unseen, from travels on all seven continents. There's also Behind the Shot sections that discuss topics like exposure blending, maximizing sharpness, using ND and polarizer filters, and shooting in weather, like fog. Whether you're new to landscape photography or looking to hone your craft this eBook will be a valuable and inexpensive addition to your library.   Download David duChemin's latest PDF eBook Portraits of Earth

Winter Sunrise

Occasionally I forget I've left an SD card in the camera. I discovered this sunrise still on the card taken way back in June.

 

Taken from my back door looking over Prospect Vale, Tasmania at 8.10am June 17, 2012

Nikon D5000
Lightroom 4

 

Illfraville Sunset

Sunset from my brothers house at Beauty Point.
Illfraville and West Arm on the Tamar River
September 1, 2012

Nikon D5000
Lightroom 4

Swimming Koala

Although it is not unknown for the marsupials to take to water, experts believe the animal might have felt trapped on a tidal bank in Tallebudgera Creek and decided the canoe was its best way to escape. (via towleroad)

When in Rome...

Aussie Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham and his ukulele take Rome by Segway

Star Wars Detours

This is a new wacky animated comedy that explores what daily life is like in a galaxy far, far away. There are no Empires striking back or attacking clones here. Instead, Star Wars Detours focuses on the universe's regular folks and their everyday problems... which, to be fair, do frequently involve famous bounty hunters, crazed Ewoks, and even a Dark Lord of the Sith.

Welcome to Star Wars: Detours: the other side of the stars, between the wars.

Tweetsheet Tuesday

So here are a few Tweets that have grabbed my attention today.

I know what I'm watching tonight...

Billy Connolly + British Columbia - what's not to like? Tonight 7.30pm on 72: last ep of his Journey to the Edge of the World series.

— BeCuriousinBC (@AussiesLoveBC) August 27, 2012

I've been looking for a solution to synchronise Lightroom catalogues on my MacBook Air and iMac. This comes close but not quite...

Synchronize your Lightroom catalog with the cloud using Mosaic View: j.mp/MWfAZg

— PetaPixel (@petapixel) August 27, 2012

This is a beautiful waterfall shot...

Norway by Apo Japo bit.ly/Tkrydk on 500px.com

— 500px: Choice (@500px_choice) August 27, 2012

… and this stunner of the Milky Way pouring into a waterfall. Well thought out composition.

Milky Way + Waterfall: ow.ly/dfiKm

— Amazing Photography (@AmazingPics) August 27, 2012

Although I'm not the conference type, I hear the best part is the free buffet...

When I go to a conference at the @westinbayshore tmblr.co/Zt2_5vSFyuWy

— Definitely Raining (@VancouverWTF) August 27, 2012

British match racing sailor, Ian Williams started following me on Twitter today. No chance of reciprocating as I'm following the Kiwi FMJ team. (Yes I know I should be backing the Aussie teams.)

Just moved into the Badrutt's Palace hotel ready for St Moritz Match Race. Pretty nice view from the balcony! twitter.com/Williams_Racin…

— Ian Williams (@Williams_Racing) August 27, 2012

Last I checked, bids were at $7,000 for the tin lid...

If a Cylon + Boba Fett had a baby...ebay.com/itm/Reimagined…#eBay

— Video Game Museum (@vgmuseum) August 26, 2012

Tassie pro cyclist Wes Sulzberger retweeted this unfortunate gem...

Doh! Not the way to win a race... youtube.com/watch?v=PGBQ4G… via @cycle_nation

— dan craven (@DanFromNam) August 27, 2012

Last year I stayed up all night to watch this event via internet streaming. It's one way to use up my monthly 30G quota, but worth it. Santorini is a natural environment for Parkour.

Early promo for this one. It's gonna be huge! :D instagr.am/p/O1fZ_BDUPj/

— Airborn Academy™ (@AirbornAcademy) August 27, 2012

 

And the tributes continue...

Throw-away photographs shot during Neil Armstrong's visit to the moon: j.mp/SKwHxN

— PetaPixel (@petapixel) August 27, 2012

 

RT @in_focus: Neil Armstrong, 1930-2012 - a farewell to a true pioneer in 38 photos - theatln.tc/NRQZWJ

— Amazing Photography (@AmazingPics) August 27, 2012

Tweetsheet Sunday

It's been many moons since I last did one of these… strap yourself in.

  

Prince Harry's at the Reading Festival. You may not recognise him with his clothes on.

— Elizabeth Windsor (@Queen_UK) August 26, 2012

 

She knelt before me on the shed floor and tugged gently then harder until finally it came. I moaned with pleasure, 'Now for the other boot.'

— Fifty Sheds of Grey (@50ShedsofGrey) August 25, 2012

 

Suits finale secret: In that scene where Rachel wakes Mike up to go to give his eulogy . .i broke a toe after kicking the table. #warwound

— Patrick J. Adams (@halfadams) August 25, 2012

 

“@lancearmstrong: My official statement re: @usantidoping's pitiful charade bit.ly/Ozm7XZ”Lance, head high.Travis, sit down.

— Nathan Fillion (@NathanFillion) August 26, 2012

 

Video: Wesley Sulzberger (Orica-GreenEDGE) talks about the Vuelta ow.ly/deoUS #lavuelta #cycling @orica_greenedge

— CyclingCentral (@CyclingCentral) August 26, 2012

 

Im still thinking.... #FavouriteDisneyMovie

— Luke Pasqualino (@LucaPasqualino) August 26, 2012

 

#RipNeilArmstrong.’I put up my thumb and shut one eye & my thumb blotted out the Earth.didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.’

— Andrew Shepherd (@SmirksTas) August 25, 2012

 

Finding Focus

Download Nicole S. Young's latest PDF eBook Finding Focus

New PDF eBook  Finding Focus, Understanding the Camera's Eye is an invaluable resource for photographers who want to further develop their technique of on-camera and post-production focus. Finding the best expression of your photographic vision can only happen when your working knowledge and skills produce images that direct the viewers' eye to what you intended. This beautiful eBook is for photographers of any level and you can expect to immediately benefit from Nicole's in-depth analysis of aperture, depth of field, camera settings, lenses and lens compression and editing. "FINDING FOCUS will help you make sharper photographs, but more than that it'll help you make photographs that help you tell a stronger story and achieve the aesthetic you're hoping for in your photographs." - David duChemin. This ebook merges together the best of both worlds: the Artist and the Geek. Nicole's insights and hands-on advice zeros you in on the advanced focusing techniques you need to photograph subjects of all kinds (people, groups, animals, still life, macro, landscapes) while at the same time leveraging the element of focus to further develop your visual storytelling. Then the software gets its turn as she unpacks how to best use sharpening tools in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and use advanced techniques, like focus staking and adding blur, to your advantage. All of this is backed-up by easy to understand illustrations and detailed descriptions. And no stone is left unturned as Nicole addresses common mistakes helping you make quick work of making clear and stunning photographs. Nicole S. Young is a full-time photographer and author specializing in food and stock photography, licensing her images through iStockphoto and Getty Images. She's an accredited Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in Photoshop CS5 and has authored print books through Peachpit Press (Canon 7D: From Snapshots to Great Shots, EOS Canon 60D: From Snapshots to Great Shots and Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots). Download Nicole S. Young's latest PDF eBook Finding Focus

Rearguard Falls pano

A three image panorama of Rearguard Falls in British Columbia, Canada.

Rearguard Falls is one of two waterfalls on the Fraser River, situated near the BC/Alberta provincial border.

Acquisition: Nikon D5000
Panorama: Calico
Processing: Lightroom 4 

Pushed the processing to give it a slight faux hdr/tonemapped look.

There's a larger view on my Flickr page.

Here's the before image... 

Lions Gate

Lions Gate Bridge at Prospect Point (Stanley Park). The bridge spans Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver.

Taken on an evening harbour cruise just after sunset.

Nikon AW100
Lightroom 4

Processed jpeg file from AW100 . The faux HDR look created by ramping up the Clarity slider in Lightroom's Develop module.