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madshutterbugWe are winding down July, which puts us well and truly into the Time of Wet. This year been a bit wetter than others, not complaining (or not much) but there is some work to be done and it isn't work to be done while being rained upon. Particularly not if that same rain includes lightning. Staying caught up with routine things, not getting ahead much on other projects
This covers the Meanwhile Back at the Ranch part of today's post. Other than we are (and will be for a bit) settling in to the routines with only one Border Collie Bro about. Houdini is wanting to be close to me a bit more than usual as well, which only makes me wonder how long his next solo walkabout will be, not to mention when. And he thinks there hasn't been sufficient Rides recently, anywhere. This may be true, since at this time of the year there is no leaving him in a parked car while running errands, not even one which is left locked with engine and AC running. Just, No.
For the past week, this hasn't been possible since Sydney Subaru Outback is at the shop, It's mostly accumulated Things Needing Done, some quite routine like filter changes (along with oil, coolant, and such). I'd thought one of the CV joints (Constant Velocity, not Curriculum Vitae... I don't think Sydney has that sort of CV) was going but our mechanic says no. We did know the brakes needed attention if only because Sydney is a venerable 312,000 kilometres (195,000 miles) old. Turns out the sound I thought indicated problems with the CV joint is/was the brake caliper on that side.
Hopefully we get him back tomorrow.
Since July is winding down, so is our month at The Doris as the GFAA Featured Artists. We took in our folding display racks and matted inventory Friday evening past since the last Friday of the month is Art Walk. I've known about Art Walk for a bit over a year; various business establishments in Downtown Gainesville either art gallery type places or otherwise that support the arts stay open late, and host a bit of an open house. Since we are currently showing artwork at The Doris we sat in for the Art Walk, and helped out pointing visitors in the correct directions for whatever. Probably will next month as well, though then it will be as part of a larger show Art For All Seasons, 90th Anniversary of the GFAA. We will each have two pieces in that show; not sure which ones yet, but two each.
Meanwhile I've also actually spent money on an app for smartphone. Might not seem such a big deal to most folks, but I'm know as a bit of a spendthrift offspring of unmarried parents on a lot of days, and from the start of my carrying anything even purporting to be a smartphone (as in the old Treo NotSoSmartPhone) all the apps either came with the phone or are free. Some of the free ones are to make it easier to conduct business with certain firms. B&H Photo in New York is one such, plus bank apps, the Weather Channel app, some others. Even if the 'functionality' is limited compared to a purchased app, nearly all are free.
The one exception (so far) is AutoStitch. This app I picked up after a good amount of research, as it meets my needs for an experimental approach to my photography. I've often said (related to cameras but true overall as well) that the most useless tool one owns is the one at home when needed. This is one of the things about smartphones I really like, always having a camera handy.
Panoramas are a type of photography where a wider image is made by overlapping a series of images. Often used for landscapes, and the word itself somewhat harkens back to that source, the concept need not be limited to landscapes. There are a number of apps about that help automate this process, which helps, yet are limited to either horizontal or vertical assembly. AutoStitch is not so limited; I can take three or even more vertical rows of overlapping images and put together an assembled panorama.
Where this attracts me so much is that I like making big prints, always have. Smartphone cameras are constantly improving, but they aren't quite up to even middle-line point and shoot megapixel rating, much less DSLR. So being able to assemble a larger photo from multiple smaller ones is one way around this limitation. I figure to be ready to post some of the results for visual sharing next week.
In my spare time.
I think I've got some spare time.
Somewhere.
This covers the Meanwhile Back at the Ranch part of today's post. Other than we are (and will be for a bit) settling in to the routines with only one Border Collie Bro about. Houdini is wanting to be close to me a bit more than usual as well, which only makes me wonder how long his next solo walkabout will be, not to mention when. And he thinks there hasn't been sufficient Rides recently, anywhere. This may be true, since at this time of the year there is no leaving him in a parked car while running errands, not even one which is left locked with engine and AC running. Just, No.
For the past week, this hasn't been possible since Sydney Subaru Outback is at the shop, It's mostly accumulated Things Needing Done, some quite routine like filter changes (along with oil, coolant, and such). I'd thought one of the CV joints (Constant Velocity, not Curriculum Vitae... I don't think Sydney has that sort of CV) was going but our mechanic says no. We did know the brakes needed attention if only because Sydney is a venerable 312,000 kilometres (195,000 miles) old. Turns out the sound I thought indicated problems with the CV joint is/was the brake caliper on that side.
Hopefully we get him back tomorrow.
Since July is winding down, so is our month at The Doris as the GFAA Featured Artists. We took in our folding display racks and matted inventory Friday evening past since the last Friday of the month is Art Walk. I've known about Art Walk for a bit over a year; various business establishments in Downtown Gainesville either art gallery type places or otherwise that support the arts stay open late, and host a bit of an open house. Since we are currently showing artwork at The Doris we sat in for the Art Walk, and helped out pointing visitors in the correct directions for whatever. Probably will next month as well, though then it will be as part of a larger show Art For All Seasons, 90th Anniversary of the GFAA. We will each have two pieces in that show; not sure which ones yet, but two each.
Meanwhile I've also actually spent money on an app for smartphone. Might not seem such a big deal to most folks, but I'm know as a bit of a spendthrift offspring of unmarried parents on a lot of days, and from the start of my carrying anything even purporting to be a smartphone (as in the old Treo NotSoSmartPhone) all the apps either came with the phone or are free. Some of the free ones are to make it easier to conduct business with certain firms. B&H Photo in New York is one such, plus bank apps, the Weather Channel app, some others. Even if the 'functionality' is limited compared to a purchased app, nearly all are free.
The one exception (so far) is AutoStitch. This app I picked up after a good amount of research, as it meets my needs for an experimental approach to my photography. I've often said (related to cameras but true overall as well) that the most useless tool one owns is the one at home when needed. This is one of the things about smartphones I really like, always having a camera handy.
Panoramas are a type of photography where a wider image is made by overlapping a series of images. Often used for landscapes, and the word itself somewhat harkens back to that source, the concept need not be limited to landscapes. There are a number of apps about that help automate this process, which helps, yet are limited to either horizontal or vertical assembly. AutoStitch is not so limited; I can take three or even more vertical rows of overlapping images and put together an assembled panorama.
Where this attracts me so much is that I like making big prints, always have. Smartphone cameras are constantly improving, but they aren't quite up to even middle-line point and shoot megapixel rating, much less DSLR. So being able to assemble a larger photo from multiple smaller ones is one way around this limitation. I figure to be ready to post some of the results for visual sharing next week.
In my spare time.
I think I've got some spare time.
Somewhere.
