Down and Flat in San Francisco

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I blame the jetlag. That and an over-confidence in the abilities of lithium ions. Anyhoo, whatever the cause it resulted in me not bothering to charge the camera battery last night, on the eve of our walk around SF, with the opportunity, nay obligation, to take hundreds of pictures. So, of course, ten shots into the trip everything shuts down and the camera becomes a paperweight. Wah.

Fortunately we were on our way to Best Buy, and I had intended to get a new battery at some point anyway, so I would have a spare in case this kind of thing happens. Yes, they do have a battery. It won't be fully charged, but it beats the heck out of nothing. And they also sell travel chargers at a sensible price. And Nigel, once he hears my sorry story, is even willing to plug the charger in for a few minutes to get me back on the road.

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Go and buy lots of things from this man.

This was service above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks very much for that. And so it was off for a coffee at the local diner.

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They have everlasting coffee cups here

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Artistic use of mirror on way to bridge

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The money shot

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The view from the beach

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Playtime

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These folks asked Derek to take a picture with their camera.

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Just a few kites

Game Developers Conference in SF

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This is a graphics heavy post. Rob is on his travels again...

Up bright and early today to catch the 6:20 am flight out of Humberside Airport for San Francisco. It's a tough life. But mostly OK, right up to the point where I tip wine all over my travel documents on the plane. I also managed to fill one of my shoes with the drink of the chap sat next to me. I offered to let him finish it off from there, but he demurred.

So it was a squelchy walk through Homeland Security and into the land of the free. I had a plan to buy an 80 Gbyte Zune. I bought a little (30G) one last year, and I liked it so much that I planned to get another one as soon as we arrived. Bad things plans. They let the gods know what you are thinking of doing..... The first blow was that my favourite shop in SF, Comp USA, was closing. Really closing. I could have bought a yard of shop counter if I'd wanted, but no Zunes. After some research I've discovered that these devices are pretty darned popular over here. Everywhere I've tried so far has been out of stock. Derek and I went for a walk to find BestBuy, we didn't find the shop, but I took the big camera, and grabbed some snaps.

Funny thing photography. I've got a little camera that will take great photographs just by pointing it in the general direction of the scene and pressing the button. The big camera is a bit more tricky. However, once you have taken the picture and spent some time in Photoshop you can come up with some really nice results.

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I just like the car

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..and another car

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..and a fire engine

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I think their turn lights are broken

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Lovely colours

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..what happens if you point a wide angle lens up in the air

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Fine Diner

More pictures tomorrow, or today, or whenever.

 

Friday Four Fifteen Club

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I'm starting a new club for first year students. It is for those "lucky" enough to have the 4:15 pm slot on Friday afternoon. The weather on Friday was horrid, and by the end of the day most of us felt like we had done enough for the week. Thanks for turning up folks.

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This is not the entire group, I've left part of the room off so that you can claim that you were really there.....

Happy New Semester

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The new semester started today. Did my first lecture at 12:15. Didn't manage to escape until ten minutes after the finish, because there was so much discussion about what I'd said. I love lectures like that. At lunchtime I went out for a walk and took the little camera with me. Whenever I travel far afield I take lots of pictures, and I really must remember that there are some nice bits just around my workplace too.

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I love the colours on this tree

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Go Hannah Pickard

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Green campus

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The Venn Building

Science Graduation Ceremony

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Today I did my final routine for this set of ceremonies. These were some students from our department, who I'd actually taught, which was nice. As a celebration I took the big camera and the fancy lens and tried to get a photograph of everyone at once. The light could have been better, but the results do seem to be recognisable. Although I can't find myself in the pictures anywhere....

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Front of house graduands

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Stage graduands

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Marshal's eye view of the Vice Chancellors speech

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After the ceremony

The weather was a bit dull and blustery, but a good time was had by all.

There are a few more pictures on my Flickr Account. Click on any of the above images to go there.

Evil Exam Invigilation

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photo

This morning found me performing an unexpected Exam invigilation in the Sports Centre. I was down as reserve invigilator and when someone didn't turn up I had greatness thrust upon me. I wasn't that keen to be honest, until I saw the content of the paper I was invigilating, which had the wonderful title of "Evil". Thinking I might be good at evil, since I practice a lot at home apparently, I had a look at the questions. They were very thought provoking and I quite fancied having a go at them. The last one was "Is evil art?". Profound stuff.

Then tonight it was down to the pub for the first Preston Foster Appreciation Society meeting in a long while. A great time was had which, to be honest, was not very profound. For some reason I found the following very funny.

"I was feeling a little under the weather last week, so I went to the doctor to find out what it might be. He told me it was raining."

Perhaps you had to be there.

Wedding Daze

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Went to Iain and Suzanne's wedding bash tonight. Good food, good company and good music. I didn't actually dance (I'm not actually allowed to until the court order is rescinded) but it was a great event. I took the little camera and grabbed a few snaps.

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The figures on top of the cake were ace. Although I don't remember Iain having that much hair...

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...and they even had their own branded sweeties for us

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Congratulations, and the best of luck for the future.

ShutterBug

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I seem to be getting back into photography again. I've been selling computers and phones and buying cameras and lenses. And I'm not alone. I was in the newsagents today and there are loads and loads of photography magazines sprouting up.I think part of this is due to the availability of cheap digital SLR cameras, and also sites like Flickr which let you show off your pictures. Either way, it is nice to see, because photography is fun and with modern computer based technology there is no need to mess around in the dark with strange chemicals (unless you really fancy it). At Hull we even have a Hull University Photographic Society now, I'm looking forward to going along to some more meetings next semester.

I've been taking photographs since schooldays, when hiding in the darkroom was a very pleasant alternative to school sports on Wednesday afternoon. I had a developing tank, an enlarger and hands that smelt of fixer. I used to borrow books from the library about photographic technique and learn phrases like "contre jour". In those days taking a photograph was quite an effort. If you didn't have a light meter to measure the brightness of the scene you could use a little plastic calculator to work out the exposure. You gave it the date and time and it worked out how bright the outdoors should be. Then you had to calculate the distance, set the focus and finally fire the shutter. After a session in the darkroom you would get to see your negatives, which you would then convert into prints after another foray into the pitch black. Great fun.

Nowadays you just press the button. The camera decides what you are photographing, sets the focus and exposure accordingly and then makes a noise like old cameras used to do - just to keep you happy. You can look at the picture straight away, and print out copies of the ones you like best, with no darkness at all.

Of course, as someone who used to do everything the hard way, I think this makes it all too easy, but then again you can get nice pictures with minimal effort. I took the new camera and lens down to the marina and had a happy half hour taking pictures. Which I guess is what it is all about.

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Lifeboat

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Boats and tidal barrier

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Flags

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Hull Marina

..just think how much I've saved

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Went shopping for clothes today. Went very well, got a couple of jackets and some jeans It might not seem much to you, but I'm only able to buy clothes a couple of times a year and this was one of them. I'm not telling you how much I spent, but I saved loads...

The weather was kind of interesting and wintry. Asked number one son to poke the camera out of the car window during the journey.

So he did.

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The first shot he took

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True Grit

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Not quite an oil painting, but it could be..

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As could this...

New Year at Hornsea

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We always try to go to the seaside on new years day. We've done this for years, and we are still not sure why. The thing is, sometimes the weather is great and you can get some superb pictures.

Then you have days like today. It was quite cheering to find that there were a few other plucky souls who had ventured out into the horrible weather. I, of course, took the camera to record the occasion.

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Nobody was swimming.....

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Teddy bears

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Snakes and Ladders

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We spent a pound here. In two pence pieces....

Party and Fan Man

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Went to a party today. We had our "office do" at Fudge in Hull. Very nice it was too. Great food, great company, great times.

And no photographs. (I forgot).

Then it was back to Paul's, where he strapped a propeller on his back and tried not to fly around his garden. No. Really. Paul is a recent convert to paragliding, having just helped to create the world's first paraglider simulator. He wanted to show us his new rig and was offering drinks and sweeties, so we were all round there like a shot. So it was that, drinks in hand, we watched as he fired up his machine and tried to use it to blow cast iron garden furniture around. Now this I did get a picture of.

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Fan man

When Paul bought his house, it came with a collection of plates. Including this one.

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I'm not sure if it is dishwasher safe, but it does have a unique style.

After the party we wandered back to the office for some gaming. I had to zoom off early and do some other bits and bobs, but I did manage to win at Wii tennis (although Warren beat me at Guitar Hero).