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I am not a big fan of wide and narrow format photos. I guess this is because I find too much information in a photo outside those bounds. Maybe it is just because I just don’t have much vision outside of my DX size sensor brain. I was not going to post …Continue Reading Here…
I am a man of many different hobbies. Of course, the most obvious is photography, but this is the most tame of them (sometimes not). I like just about any kind of “adventure” sport you can dream up. From rock climbing to …Continue Reading Here…
I have been in a very cold mood lately. Not as in my attitude, but as in “I can’t wait for winter”. However, I have to confess, the weather was not too bad here. I can only have Irene to thank for our lower than usual temperature and nice cool breeze. On the other hand, my heart goes out to all those who have been affected by this massive storm.
I love to go fishing and I don’t get to do it as much as I want to. However, I must say that I hate to take the fish off the hook. I don’t know where this fear comes from, but it is there none the less. I guess that has to go along with my fear of heights, but I love to rock climb…go figure. I took my daughters for the first time several weeks ago and they were successful little fishers. Enough so that I had to take a few photos of the event. This is one of my wife and daughter sitting patiently. Of course, I think the shutter speed was cranked up to around 1/2000th of a second because I know they were not still that long.
Just after this photo, the little one actually caught a good size large mouth bass.
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
Now, I know I am the only one who has this problem, but wanted to express my utter frustration. Tuesday this week I saw one of the most stunning sunsets I have seen in awhile. In fact, it was so stunning that I had people calling me asking if I saw it, to which, I answered that I did see it. And for the frustrating part, I was unable to photograph it. No, I was not in a bad location for photography, but I was otherwise occupied.
Fast forward to today (Wednesday)…around two hours before sunset, the sky had those nice, I can’t wait to photography clouds in the sky. Enter the plan for a spontaneous sunset trip. Just because I knew it was going to be wonderful. About an hour and a half passed and, of course, the heavier / lower clouds make their entrance. Beautiful sunset nixed. I still went to the location I wanted to go to, but the sunset I was wishing for never materialized.
I know no one else has this problem. But, if I am mistaken and this has happened before, leave a comment with your experience.
I had a meeting late the other evening and decided to take another route home. It has been a long time since I had driven that road on any regular basis. Well, lets just say “years” since I was on it for any length of time. This road passes by Carters Lake in the North Georgia area. Carters Lake is the deepest lake in Georgia and the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi River. At the bottom of the dam is another smaller recreation lake. I was driving the road which has a small bridge when I saw the remnants of what had been a beautiful sunset. The colors were still great, so I stopped and got a few shots before it went away.
Don’t miss this other photo of The Lake (not this one of course). And while you are at it, this is last Thursday’s daily photo.
The iPhone Google+ app was released today. This is a great improvement over the web app with which Google started. So far, I have found that all the functionality which was not working in the web app appears to be fixed. I am able to view my circles, add contacts to the circle I want, but the posting is still lacking. I like to post links to photos instead of posting photos through Google+. This is not available through the iPhone app. I envision something like the facebook share button on a web page where it adds a link and you can type something short to go with it.
Overall, I really like the layout of the home screen for the app. Google has manage to keep it simple and not add so many features that you can not use the app.
I could not help but post another photo of this lake. I am fortunate enough to see it very often. Okay, nearly everyday. On nice puffy “Simpson” cloudy days, I love to sit and watch the reflections. I just happened to stop being in awe long enough to get the camera for this and a few more shots.
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
I was fortunate to get an invite to Google+ a couple of days after Google made invites available. At the time and still, I think it is an amazing upgrade from Facebook, its closest rival. However, I believe it has some growing still to do. The number of people in the world with smart phones as compared to computers is huge and I believe the iPhone continues to hold a majority in that market. I have found little fault in the Google+ interface on traditional computer browsers. In fact, Google has put a lot of thought into giving people a different way of connecting with friend’s, family and acquaintances through circles. The only problem I have had is that it takes work on the front end to make sure you place everyone into the proper circle. It is time consuming to go back and re”circle” your friends.
My biggest problem with Google+ is the mobile interface. Now, I have an iPhone and currently there is no app, although, it is “coming soon” according to Google, so I can’t offer input as to the functionality on the Android app. For the iPhone, the streams work wonderfully and the ability to quickly check notifications is a plus. On the other hand, posting from the mobile web app is less than what I would hope for. I am frequently on the go and need to post links. Through the mobile web app, I have yet to find a way to do this. I am able to change from the mobile version to the desktop version to add a link, but then I am not able to add any comments to the posting of the link; just the link itself.
Another issue that I have heard of is that users who have created an account with a pseudonym or profile picture other than of a person, are being forced to change them. I am at a loss as to why Google would be forcing this issue. Anywhere else on the web you go, you can be known by whatever name you want to be. Also, me being a photographer, the user agreement is not that friendly for anyone wanting to retain all rights to their photos. I currently have my portfolio stored at Flickr and will keep it there until that changes. However, photos which I do not think I will have a need for exclusive rights may still end up on Google+.
All in all, I have had an enjoyable experience with Google+. I think the interface is outstanding and the concept behind the circles was genius. I will continue to use Google+ and hope that some of the initial bugs get worked out. I guess being an early adopter on the cutting edge has a tendency to come with it’s own issues.
Find me on Google+ as Daryl Clark or here for my Google+ profile.
I was sitting on the porch at the house the other day when I noticed the clouds were beginning to look good for a few shots around the house. This place happens to intense me into a creative mood no matter how the day starts out. Not to mention, from spring to fall, there are constantly blooming flowers. Everyday here is a new adventure.
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
For anyone who wants to, unless otherwise labeled, I offer all my photos on Flickr in their original size. Or at least as large as I can get them on Flickr. So jump over there and check them out or just go to Flickr and search for Just Shooting Memories.
Okay, I was going to wait awhile before I posted another firework photo, but I was so impressed with the lightning in addition to the fireworks that I am putting another one up now. This was another on Lake Allatoona at the Allatoona Yacht Club. Conditions could not have been any more perfect. A storm in the background and fireworks up close. They shoot these from a barge in the lake and there are hundreds of boats lining the lake. This will be an annual event for me.
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
Fortunately, I was able to find a firework show this year which was on Sunday, July 3. It was on Lake Allatoona at the Allatoona Yacht Club. I had almost decided to skip the event and just go to one Monday night. I am SO glad I decided to go. While sitting on the lake shore just on the other side of a small cove from where the Yacht Club is, I began seeing a large thunderhead moving near the lake. I set the camera up and captured some bolts of lightning. Not a good sign, maybe the rain was moving in. I also got a few shots of the hundreds of boats lining the lake.
At 9 PM, the show was supposed to start. 9:02 PM and still no show, but no rain either. And then, all the sudden, Fireworks. I began taking photos and rapidly as the fireworks were going off. I sat through about 30 minutes of beautiful fireworks. What a sight. The Alltoona Yacht Club really puts on a show.
I got finished packing up and literally ran back to the truck to beat some of the crowd. While we were waiting in traffic (My father was kind enough to put up with my photographic jaunt), I was reviewing some photos and noticed what I thought were additional fireworks (Lightning) in the background. This was confirmed when I opened them in Lightroom for a little post processing. This is one of those double features…
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
