The Munchkin's Notebook

We got a Pixelstick about three weeks ago, thought it would be a fun thing to add to the gear collection and possibly use at anime conventions.  The pixelstick is a narrow 6-foot strip of colored LEDs that will go off in a pattern, and as you walk with the stick, it will form a light trail or picture based on the loaded program.  Most people use it to create abstract light art or do light painting ; however, it can also be used to create a background for a photo or add effects like fireballs and ghosts. Last night I did a few test shots with the stick.  I did some light painting first.  Which is interesting, but I think I need to have a specific pattern in my head or be working around interesting objects and/or people.  I also determined we might need to get the attachment for the stick, which bends and smooths the light to form better curves.   Overall, the light painting turned out okay. However, I need to work on my timing for the moon. But th...

In honor of my photography Facebook page reaching a 100 likes, I ran a contest to give away a 100-minute photo shoot with digital images and a 5x7 print.   The winner of the contest was chosen at random from those who commented on the contest post.   The winner of the contest was Sara Cosplay , who does historical versions of the Disney princesses.  Snow White in the Wood She choose to do a combined outdoor and studio shoot for her historical Snow White cosplay.  We did the outside shots in a local park, which had a waterfall feature and a trestle area covered in ivy.  For the shoot, I used my standard 18-200 mm lens, using an ISO 100 with a f5 and smaller aperture, with various shutter speed, and an external flash.  The flash was used because the waterfall photos were taken in a heavily shaded area and it allowed for the me light the subject properly and separate here from the background.  My husband used his 70-200 mm lens with ...

In September, we were up in Ohio to attend a wedding.  The weather that weekend was mostly dreary and rainy.   Coyote in a barrel The Friday we arrived, it was cloudy and looked as though it was going to rain any minute, but we went to the Akron Zoo anyway before dinner with family.  The Akron Zoo is a small zoo that makes you feel you are up close and personal with the animals in the zoo.  However, the zoo does feel like a bit of a maze.  Overall, it is a nice zoo.  I have upgraded to a new camera, a 70D and my husband has upgraded to a 5D.  I used my typical 18-200mm lens while my husband used a 70 – 200mm with 1.4x converter.  I kept my aperture around 8f, since it is the most versatile for the environment, while my husband varied his f-stop.  We used various shutter speeds with ISO around 200 and up depending on the exhibit.    We got a couple nice shots, plus lucked out and got to see the snow leopard try to ...

Londrangar Now that my trip to Iceland is over, and I had time to reflect on the experience and edit all my photos these are my final thoughts on the trip.  In general it was a good vacation, have I had better yes; was it an experience, definitely.   Over the course of the trip, we found Iceland is not ready for an influx of tourists, and in not a luxury destination. We found many of the accommodations outside the two major cities were basically bed and breakfasts, which backpackers would consider luxury accommodations. I’m sorry but having to squeegee the bathroom floor because there is no shower stall, does not say upscale or classy accommodation to me.  I’ll grant many of the rooms were nice, it was always just little things that would catch you off guard, like the squeegee.  I also recommend getting use to the smelling like sulfur after your shower, because most of the hot water in the smaller locations smells heavily of sulfur.  Also, be prepared ...

Today was our last day in Iceland, we fly home tomorrow.  We capped the trip off with an hour snowmobiling ride on a glacier.  We were picked up at the Gullfoss visitor center, by a Mercedes off road van, it had really big tires. Think jacked up pickup truck with monster tires. It was a thirty minute drive on an “F” road (mountain dirt road requiring 4 wheel drive, actual 4 wheel drive not AWD).  They are serious about the “F” roads, regular passenger cars on them can get fined, they don’t really plow them, and the snow can be several meters deep.  So after the bumpy thirty minute drive we arrived at the shack to suit up into snowsuits suits and get on the snowmobiles. We had new four stroke, bright red snowmobiles, the handle bars were even heated to keep your hands toasty. When we started I was leading then was passed by my husband because I wasn’t going fast enough. It was interesting riding because there was a thin crust with snow underneath, very differen...

Husafoss Today we traveled from the northern area of Iceland past Reykjavik to the Golden Circle area.  It is about a 4 to 5 hour drive without stops, but we made several stops along the way.  Our first stop was at Husafoss to see two waterfalls. One of which comes out of lava rocks from underground rivers.  The second stop was at a point of interest which had a bunch of little cairns. The third stop was at Þingveller, which is a national park and was the location of the Viking Althing. We did a little bit of light hiking there, to a waterfall.  Then we headed up to Geysir, before heading to our hotel.  The Geysir was not as impressive as I hoped, especially after being at Yellowstone.  The Geysir area is small little cluster of geysers with one that erupts about every 10 to 15 minutes.  It was cute. Little Cairs before  Þingveller Waterfall at Þingveller Our hotel seems rather old; at least the furnishings make it feel that ...

Today we slept in, if you call sleeping till 7:30 AM sleeping in, and took our time to eat breakfast and leave the hotel.  We still left by 9:30 AM that gave us several hours to kill before we could check into our next hotel or go horseback riding, which were only about an hour and half away.  We are determining the route could have been better spaced or activities better timed. So we to fill time we stopped at almost every information and point of interest point along the way.  We also tried to take a ferry out to one of the islands but they don’t run in the morning on Sunday.    Some of the points of interest were good, others were busts. The most interesting one we stopped at was the sod homes at Glaumbær along route 75.  Those were interesting, but the two busloads of senior citizens on vacation overwhelmed the place.  We also stopped at a point of interest which had a statue of a fisherman looking out to sea, and another stop were there ...