Mt Baker from Aldrich Rd, Ferndale, 2010
I was biking up Aldrich on my way to work when I viewed this. I expect more good things from this commute path.
Mt Baker from Aldrich Rd, Ferndale, 2010
I did a b+w version of this but adding a little bit of color back in made it just the thing. If you’d like to see a b+w version, lemme know.
Curb Drain, Ferndale, 2010
I added a color-normalized layer and a black and white grain layer to boost this one up.
Curb Drain, Ferndale, 2010
Programming Standing Up
After listening to a Science Friday report on the correlation between TV time and mortality, I’ve decided to stop sitting at my desk. I’ve propped up my keyboard and monitors with boxes. I’ve done it for a week now. My calves and shins are tired, but my legs don’t get fidgety, or fall asleep or get uncomfortable from sitting for long stretches.
I’m going to have to raise my monitors higher. I think my neck is going to tire out. When I cycle home after work, I definitely notice my neck more–bending my head up. My monitors are lower than they used to be. Happily, I think this indicates that the ergonomics of my monitors were very correct for my sitting posture, because I never noticed any neck strain before.
I’d thought about doing this a year ago, but I immediately jumped into a “what do I have to build” and started over-engineering the issue. Cardboard boxes are working for the present.
Commute Map
I didn’t realize on Google Maps that I could drag the route around to modify the directions. That’s awesome!
Commute Along Aldrich
Aldrich Ride — Very Pretty
I expanded my northbound commute to go up Aldrich on Wednesday. Very pretty. I’m hoping to keep doing that. I like the extra distance and I like going down the hills–I got to 28mph! I bet I can get to 30. Also I think I can get better photos of the rolling countryside on that route.
Low Carb Diet
I just got sucked into a Wikipedia article on low carb diets. It’s very interesting to note that from a anthropologic point of view, and an evolutionary point of view, that humans have not been raising grain for a long enough timespan in order to effect evolution. So the logic that (normal, not excessive) ketosis is harmful seems unfounded by the fact humanity lived long enough to develop agriculture at all.
Infinity Fire Hydrant, Ferndale, 2010
I turned it a little past 11 with the title, no? Gritty texture.
Infinity Hydrant, Ferndale, 2010
Streetfox Tadpole Trike
This is the kind of bike I think I’d most like to build. You can tell that this trike was built from an old suspension mountain bike. However, the placement of the suspension between the backrest and the rear wheel seems like it would offer a much more comfortable ride on this trike than on a mountain bike.
Think how useful this would be if it was in a longtail version. Imagine long panniers on the back. Going uphill in bellingham with it would likely suck, however.
Ever seen a monocycle?
This is wicked!
Tweed Ride
My sister has a bunch of friends in Eugene that do “tweed rides.” Yes, dress up in tweed, go for a group ride!
Tweed Ride, Eugene, 2010, by Katura Reynolds
More Tweed Ride on Katura’s flickr.
Awesome!
I think Archival Clothing is a site that has some interest in this. Bikeportland seems to have some buzz too.
I noticed the tall bike, and asked my sister about it:
The tall bike is a rental from the CAT (our local HUB equivalent, of all things). It’s direct drive, but it can coast, pretty luxurious. The woman who rented it, April, is itching to rent it again at the end of the month and take it on the train to Portland for their upcoming tweed ride. Rawk!
Tall Bike, Tweed Ride, Eugene, OR, 2010, by Katura Reynolds
Tall bike on Tweed Ride, Eugene, OR, 2010, by Katura Reynolds.
Alley Van, Bellingham, 2010
The side of a van I saw tonight. I’ve got another picture that shows how tidily this van is parked, patching a hole in the fence of it’s yard.
Alley Van, Bellingham, 2010
Whatcom Creek, 2010
I was able to prop the camera against a signpost and get this 1 second exposure with my 28mm lens. Sometimes I’ll start some post-processing, get a bit frustrated, and come back to it after puzzling it out in the back of my head after a while. It getting texture I visualized for the water involved playing with grayscale layer for a while, coupled with a dodging layer on the top to restore the level of the mist that morning.
Whatcom Creek Bridge 2010
I’m going to start making all the desktop pictures 1680×1050 now.
Jesse Watches Whatcom Creek
Jesse was complaining a lot this morning about going to the library. At dinner time, he was very proud we did, though. To defray his anger, I swung by Maritime Heritage Park, and he happily ran around. I caught a picture of him absorbing the power of the rushing water.
Jesse, Whatcom Creek, 2010
Grass Pod, Razar State Park, 2009
I really like this one. I was able to get a good, distant background and multiplication darkened it easily.
Grass Pod, Razar State Park, 2009
Thistles, Bellingham, 2010
I enjoyed the tiny bit of “sun” today and cruised some alleyways. I’ve gained a used Vivitar 28mm f2.5 M42 lens. This is the first lens that I’ve noticed a big difference in “quality” of the light. I mostly use modern lenses with smooth aspherical properties that make a picture seem evenly bright. The low-exposure areas drop off pretty steeply, and it meters the highlights differently. So with my Sigma zoom, I’ll get a 1/10th exposure at f2.8, but it will appear brighter than the 1/15th f2.5 exposure with this Vivitar. (I’m sure you think I’ve been swindled.) There are some homely reasons I like this vivitar lens, though. It’s focusing is stiffer, and the minimum focusing distance is about 4 inches…I can treat it like a macro lens and I’m not so afraid I’m going to wear this lens out as with the Sigma. The Tamron and Sigma lenses I have feel very fragile.
Thistles, Bellingham, 2010
This is also the first picture I’ve used a map/distortion filter on. I mapped the picture to a tilted plan in order to reduce the parallax in the picture. That was my biggest problem with the composition, the “looking down at” point of view in the picture made it look a lot cheaper. If it still looks cheap, let me know…I can take it.
Grass Blossom, Razar State Park, 2009
A bit more colorful than some of the others. I really like how my 50mm can focus in pretty close without needing to use extension rings.
Grass Blossom, Razar State Park, 2009
Grass, Razar State Park, 2009
I think this was one of the better desktop pictures, I think.
Grass, Razar State Park, 2009
Branches, Razar State Park, 2009
This “short walk” turned into a mini photo-safari. When I got back to camp, I had to pack everything up.
Branches, Razar State Park, 2009
Bark #1, Razar State Park, 2009
This is one of about a dozen pleasant images of bark. I was having fun with my shallow depth of field. Razar State Park was pleasant, except for the droves of mosquitoes.
Bark #1, Razar State Park, 2009
Driftwood, Point Roberts, 2006
I don’t clearly recall this trip. I think I was on autopilot the whole time, getting used to a life of small kids, constant server failures, lots of caffeine and less sleep. It must have involved crossing the border. I wonder if this was the trip we tried visiting the UBC campus and got lost trying to get back to Freeway 1 to get home. Probably. The signage in Vancouver BC sucked. Miracle we made it out with our lives.
Driftwood, Point Roberts, 2006
Is there something wrong with the balance of this photo? How would you crop it differently? I find a lot of interesting elements, but I think I study it too much. Should it focus on the rock, or the shadowy face it paints?
Gears, Semiahmoo Spit, 2006
I have visited Semiahmoo Spit twice. Each time, I’ve been impressed with the amount of driftwood along the spit. I took lots of photos of the driftwood. Few of those pictures seem interesting to me now. However, a fun experiment with some pictures of old machinery on the spit still shows sparkle. I often don’t use edge-detection techniques, but in this case, it gave the geometry of the gears a crisp punch that I like.
Gears, Semiahmoo Spit, 2007
Flower, Razar State Park, 2009
This was mostly an experiment in depth of field. In fact, after I got my 50mm F1.4, I went around snapping lots of pictures on the camping trips, trying to exercise my curiosity for detailed highlights. I’m posting this one because it’s…morbid. This is actually the most morbid picture of a flower I’ve ever seen. I don’t usually go there. You prolly don’t like it. I look at this picture and mutter, “that’s like a clinically depressed image of a very pleasant blossom.”
Flower, Razar State Park, 2009
I don’t even think I really like it. However, I’m fascinated by how I’ve twisted it. Does it earn me devil horns? Please suggest a snappy caption :-)
Sunset, Iron Springs, 2009
A nascent family tradition is to spend a weekend at Iron Springs. I was quite pleased that I was able to get some sunset pictures out of it. I don’t often take my camera near a wet beach. This time I was, and running around wildly shooting up the landscape.
This one makes a better desktop background I think.
Sunset, Iron Springs, 2009, 2
I make a black border around the print versions for framing purposes. Often the cropping of the image doesn’t match a premade 8×10 or 10×14 matte. It also allows me to not worry about aspect ratio. The black can be trimmed or cropped however.
Sunset, Iron Springs, 2009
