My Sneakers

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Camera Aperture

For some time, I've been trying to upgrade my photog skills. I know some of the basics, but then I fail to use them during crunch time.

Trying a 12 week free course over at Two Peas in a Bucket. It's called "12 Weeks to Better Photos". Easy enough.

First lesson is about aperture. I took three different pics using different apertures: 2.6, 5.6 and 8. I want the look that is best seen here in the 2.6 image. I like the foreground in focus and the background fuzzy. Gonna work on that more.

VIDEO: Random Images from Egypt

Since moving to Egypt, there is rarely a moment when I don't have my camera. It's nothing fancy a Canon A570IS, but it's compact enough to fit in my purse and relatively quick to start up.

Though I've taken lots of photos while in Egypt, there are times when taking images is inappropriate. For example, I really want a pic of Muslims during prayer, but it just seems invasive. Also, in some of the more conservative parts of Cairo, sometimes they are not comfortable w/people taking pics and so I honor that.

Often when I am out and about, something weird and/or random happens. Nice to have a camera for those times.



Some of the images in this slide show are random images from Egypt. Most of the images were taken in Cairo, but some were taken in Alexandria as well as the White Desert. And there is one image that I did not actually take - it's the one of a group jumping in the sand. That was taken by Yehya Hafez. Thanks for looking.

The White Desert in Egypt

Here is just one of the many pics that I took while camping in The White Desert. It's part of the Sahara. It is a sight to see.

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Minarets and More: A Walking Tour of Cairo

Sharing a slideshow that I produced using Vuvox.

I went on a three hour walking tour in Cairo from Tahrir Square to the Citadel. Whew!

Images of Cairo

I've managed to get out and about in Cairo. I love seeing the people running their daily errands and just living their lives.

Here's the link to the Images in Cairo slideshow.

The Vatican Embassy in Cairo

I came across a slideshow program called Vuvox recently. It seems dynamic and easy to use. Isn't that what we all want? An extraordinary platform to display and share images w/o all the hassle. Think we've found it.

This is a very quick example of what is possible.

More Pics from Day One in Cairo

Just getting around to editing and downloading pics from last week. It was a whirlwind.

Went to:

• Step Pyramids
  
• Egyptian Museum
• The Bibliotheca Library of Alexandrina
• Fort Quaitbey
  
• The Catacombs of Alexandria
  
• Pompey's Pillar
  
• Giza Pyramids

Click here to see a full size view of the "Seeing the Sites in Cairo, Egypt" slide show.

We ate a numerous restaurants and every meal has been tasty. I've come to like a beverage called a lemon juice ... not quite lemonade and not quite just lemon and water; it's a little sweet and frothy. It is sometimes served w/fresh mint.

Well ... enjoy this set of pics, but know that there are more on the way.

Where I'm Livin - Summer 2008

This post was originally scheduled for July 13, 2008.

I love street signs. Sometimes I take pix of them. But I am so dependent on street signs. And I like street signs that are large and very visible; as in they are very hard to miss.

So I saw something recently about documenting the street signs where you live. I might get around to that, but I love Flickr for this very reason - someone else has already taken pix of various street signs.

Here's a mosaic for the occasion:

1. Rich past, bright future, 2. Untitled, 3. IMG_9981, 4. Lexington Avenue, 5. Lexington., 6. Lexington Avenue sign, 7. IMG_1654, 8. One Way, 9. Guess the Box Wasn't Blocked

A Little Photo Editing and Collage

I took this photo a while ago in downtown Cleveland. At the corner of Superior and East 9th Street; I was traveling west, so I'm right near the Catholic Diocese Headquarters, which you can't see on my right. But directly across the street is the Hampton Inn.

I took two pics. The first one I just wanted to toss out. And the second one is in the top left corner. I used the night snapshot mode on my Canon A570IS digital camera. I like the second picture. But the first picture has found life in the photo editing world.

I used Picasa to do some very minor editing. You can see the results in the other three pics. I sharpened each of them, then added an additional feature: the one in the upper right corner is focal black+white; the lower right corner is warmify and the lower left corner is black+white. Nice, huh?

Oh and then I had to assemble a collage to exemplify my work. Up next, I plan to try to utilize some actions using Gimp.

Washington, DC Vacation - part 4

Just a few final pix. This one is from the Art Sculpture Garden; a take on "The Thinker."

The next two were taken from the roof of the Newseum. Awesome view. Even the elevator ride up was nice - it's a glass elevator; very cool.

The pic above is the National Gallery of Art. Good stuff.

Playing with Photoshop

I teach a multimedia course and we've been using Photoshop for some assignments. I like the program though it can be intimidating.

I've discovered 'actions'. Which has made my life in Photoshop so much easier. Actions are recorded steps of things you want to do to an image - like make the image black and white from color.

So check out the action that I applied to this photo (and noticed how I added my watermark; I need to do that more often).

Also, I want to do some digital scrapbooking and I signed up for an online course with Jessica Sprague. The course is called "Up and Running". Good stuff. I've learned a ton so far.

The Road to Home

Here is more of my beginning photography (and just so you know, I am not taking pix while driving. I only took pix when I stopped and there is not much stopping on my drive; you'll notice how most of the pix are taken when I am stopped on the bridge):

Too much time on my hands ...

I was surfing a forum and came across a link for a mosaic. Oh, boy, do I love these.

So, here is the one that I made; bright and cheery, eh?

Who knew ... ?

... that the funeral business has incorporated technology into the funeral ceremonies? Well, my maternal grandfather recently passed away and it wasn't as difficult of a time as I thought it would be. I held up okay. I even had a role in the ceremony - I read the obituary; while reading the obituary, I took the liberty announce that I was my grandfather's favorite grandchild - it was one of the rare moments of laughter during that time though my sister said that she did not think it was funny ...

Despite the occasion, it was wonderful to see my relatively large extended family. I saw cousins that I hadn't seen in years and met some second cousins for the first time. Also, my parents have been divorced for some time, so I was pleasantly surprised when my dad and my step-mother showed up; that was a very nice gesture.

Now, back to the technology: well, there was a slide show w/the lots of photos and an accompanying song. It was just right. But I was just surprised then I noticed a projection screen coming down and I thought, what is this? I'm sure some folks have incorporated video and so much more. I think it is a great addition to an otherwise somber situation.

The next thing was the funeral program. Extremely elaborate! A true keepsake - as you can see, but I did not scan in the bookmark that came w/the program. What's most interesting about the funeral program is that it was designed by my truly talented brother! He is a creative genius. period. So much so that the funeral home was totally impressed and he will probably get some freelance work out of the situation!