Looks like the new Memorial Hermann building I wrote about previously is nearing completion. I can only speculate as to why there are beams of light shooting skyward. Perhaps these are transporters that deliver the souls of those who don’t make it to their great reward. I was unable to verify if there were equivalent beams of light headed in the other direction emanating from the ground floor or basement.
Interesting challenge trying to put together the components of a panorama with the subjects in motion. This was done at the 2009 Houston Via Colori.
Click your mouse into the image and hold it. Then move the mouse around to scroll through the scene:
Click here for the full sized version
Notice that I have managed to edit out the tripod in this one.
Received my Nodal Ninja pano head on Friday. Stayed up much too late last night sorting things out. This is the 10 shot stitched 360 panorama of my front entryway. Click to see larger version.
This is 8 shots around the 360 horizon combined with one shot up (zenith) and one shot down (nadir). You can see the tripod squished along the bottom of the image.
Taking this into another program I was able to generate this 3D interactive panorama. Click your mouse into the image and hold it. Then move the mouse around to scroll through the scene:
Click here for the full sized version
I’m having way too much fun!
Gasteracantha Cancriformis aka the crab spider, spiny-backed orbweaver, spiny orbweaver spider, crab-like orbweaver spider, crab-like spiny orbweaver spider, jewel spider, spiny-bellied orbweaver, jewel box spider or smiley face spider
When I bought my first DSLR (The Sony A100) I got a good photo of a Jeweled Spider in my backyard using a 50mm non-macro lens with some macro lens add-ons. It came out pretty well. The original blog post from 2009 is here if you want to check it out.
This past weekend I spotted a Jeweled spider in the front yard but this one was not the orange color I came to expect. This one was white with black spots. These shots are with my A850 and the 100mm Macro lens. Click the images below to see the full sized, much more frightening versions:
Wings Over Houston Air Show recreation of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Click any image to see larger version.
Standing in the middle of Fannin near Dallas looking straight up at the crosswalk of the Houston Pavillions. Shot with the A850 and the Sony 16mm fisheye. Had to move quick, the light at the intersection doesn’t stay red for long.
I always seem to miss the annual Ballunar Liftoff Festival held each year down at the Johnson Space Center but this year I heard about it in time to get down there for a look see. I was really only interested in the balloon glow which is where they use the burners to illuminate all the hot air balloons they have gathered for the festival. And this only happens the first night of the festival.
I wanted to set up the tripod and use the Sigma 12-24mm wide angle lens and shoot a few shots. Cynthia and I arrived just as this was underway and I did manage to get a few shots. The “glow” only lasted about 30 minutes and then it was over. We didn’t hang around after that, opting instead to head back to Houston.
A murder of very large, very loud and very clever crows have taken up station at the end of the block. Apparently there’s a pecan tree down there yielding some nuts. The crows are flying to the top of the neighbor’s house and attempting to crack the nuts using their beaks. When this fails they let the nut roll down the roof and into the street to be crushed by oncoming cars. It’s quite a site to see. At one point there were about 7 or 8 crows lining the peak of the roof and all had pecans they were working on. One by one they let skitter to the street below. I can only imagine what it sounds like inside the house.