· Lens malfunction (March 2005 )

· New (to me) stock photo site (March 2005 )

MorgueFile is a free-use stock photography site. I just tripped upon it today, but after a quick scan it looks like it's got some decent stuff....

· Ride ()

This is the last month I'll be riding these until next winter....

· A life you love (November 2004 )

Just threw up a couple new images on photoredux....

· Photo month (June 2004 )

Kevein E. has proposed a photo month, like we did last year... ... since I just got a new closeup lens, this sounds like a very good idea to me. :) I'll start my month on Monday, and will post new photos to photoredux. To keep track of everyone, I suggest we use a trackback ping... Set up a new category in Movable Type (or your CMS of choice), and have it ping the following URL every time you make an entry in that category. The entries will show up on the sidebar over to the right. http://WWW.staticred.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/988 Here's a quick and dirty guide to getting this to work in MT: 1) Load your blog's configuration in MT. 2) Click on the Categories button. 3) Create a new category. 4) After the category has been created, click on the Edit Category Attributes link. 5) In the Trackback URLs to Ping text box, enter the trackback URL above. 6) Click save....

· Cross processing in Photoshop. (April 2004 )

Cross Processing in Photoshop

· New photos (April 2004 )

New photos!

· ingrangible (February 2004 )

I want to be like this guy when I grow up.

· Re: Open Challenge (January 2004 )

Another photo challenge.

· Also... (December 2003 )

There's some new photos up at photoredux, now that I have my camera back....

· Paul Groper, more like it. (December 2003 )

Newest in a series of unfortunate photographs...

· I get my camera back! (December 2003 )

My camera is back! yay!

· In other news... (November 2003 )

In other news, I had to drop my digital camera off at London Drugs, so they can send it in to Canon on warranty. It appears that the weird photos weren't a problem with the flash card connection, but with the camera itself. Bummer, since I'm without a digital camera for 4 weeks now. :(...

· photoredux updates (November 2003 )

photoredux has been updated with a few new photos. The Darth Vader one is my favourite. ;) A question regarding photoredux: Do you guys want comments enabled?...

· the photo blog... (October 2003 )

How are you guys liking photoredux? I've been sporadically adding images over the last few weeks (though perhaps not as often as I should)... let me know what you guys think of it. Translation: praise! I require praise!...

· Something new.... (September 2003 )

Something new for you, my faithful readers, tonight. » photo·redux. It's my new photoblog. :) Somewhat sparse at the moment, but I'll start filling it up soon enough....

· Look! A photo! (September 2003 )

My 1950s road bike. Or, at least, the handlebar. And the seat & helmet....

· 10 provinces (and 3 territories) (September 2003 )

In answer to 50 States - Sharing the Beauty of the United States, I propose "10 provinces (and 3 territories) - Sharing the Majesty of Canada. I'll need you, readers from across our home and native land, to submit photos from your home province (or provinces you've been to). Send your photos to me at webmaster@staticred.net with the subject "Our Home and Native Land". Photos should be a minimum of 470 pixels wide and in JPG format. (Zip it if it's large) Update: edited to reflect the fact that Canada actually has 10 provinces. Go my team....

· Daily Photo » August 21 (August 2003 )

It's Fringe season... We took a walk down tonight to catch some of the street performers... Not too many of the pictures turned out because it was pretty dark out.. but I liked this one....

· Daily Photo » August 19 (August 2003 )

This is another photo from that misty morning on the 13th... This is the Legislative Building in Edmonton....

· Daily Photo » August 13 (August 2003 )

A daily Photo (finally) taken this morning. There was a tonne of fog over the city this morning, and it made for a really mystical bike ride into work....

· Farmer's Market photos ()

And here's Kirsten's photos from the Farmer's Market... more inside......

· 28mm (August 2003 )

There's a new issue of 28mm out No photo for yesterday.... we spent the evening across the street at our neighbours' house, and I forgot to bring the camera....

· Personal Goal... (August 2003 )

Something I really need to improve at is shots of people. I just can't seem to get it to work. So, my personal goal for August (and likely September) is to be a better 'people' photographer....

· Daily Photo » August 5 ()

Apocalypse outside my window, or an overexposed night shot? You decide. (Incidentally, this photo was not manipulated in any way. That's the way it came out of the camera!)...

· Daily Photo » August 4 (August 2003 )

Bell Tower, outside my office, taken in the late afternoon....

· Daily Photo » August 3 ()

A little architectural detail of Rutherford Library at the University of Alberta. I've been pretty preoccupied lately, so I haven't been taking pictures as much as I should have... ;)...

· Daily Photo » July 29 (July 2003 )

· Daily Photo » July 28 (July 2003 )

Looks like I'm tiptoeing into "crazy cat person" territory... here's another picture of Heidegger the Fearsome, mid-yawn....

· Daily Photo » July 26/27 ()

Kirsten took this photo of a bee in one of the flower bushes in the alley... Some more photos for the weekend are inside......

· Daily Photo » July 25 (July 2003 )

Not really a Photo, per se... dug this out of the archives, because I left my camera at home today....

· Daily Photo » July 24, 2003 ()

The path begins with the first step......

· Daily Photo » July 23 (July 2003 )

Our neighbours' sunflowers......

· Daily Photo » July 21 (July 2003 )

Some apricots at the Farmer's Market in Calgary....

· Daily Photo » July 20 (July 2003 )

And the daily image for today.... we stopped by the A & W before heading off to the farmer's market in Calgary this morning. Feel free to caption. :) I'll write up the whole thing tomorrow some time. The hike was good, but long - clocking in at 10 hours and 15 minutes in total... Photos can be found (for now) here (of hike) and here (of market)....

· Daily Photo » July 18 ()

Life from a dog's view... cliche, sure, but I was running pretty late Friday morning. :)...

· Daily Photos for the weekend... (July 2003 )

No Daily Photos for me this weekend, as we're gone to Calgary to go hiking. If I get the chance, I'll upload one for today when I get home -- but chances are we'll have to leave right away! (There'll be lots of photos from the weekend when I get home though)...

· Daily Photo » July 17 ()

Today's photos didn't reveal any immediate beauties... so I took my favourite of the bunch and photoshopped it a bit to give it a Lomo-like flare....

· Daily Photo » July 16 (July 2003 )

Today's image.... we're getting a lot of thunderstorms running through Edmonton lately... tonight, we had these odd 'bubbly' clouds hanging over the city. I'm not sure I got them perfectly here, but I think it still worked out well....

· And now, a theme. ()

If you were a cat, how would you see the world? Here's your assignment for the daily photo for Friday... An Animal's life. Kirsten thought of something like this before, taking a series of shots from the perspective of a five-year-old, but I was reminded of it by this article on CNN, about a documentary filmmaker that attaches small surveillance cameras to various plants and animals to show life from their perspective. So, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to shoot from an animal's perspective. What would interest you as an animal in the city? How would you see the world?...

· Daily Photo » July 15 ()

A little late, but here it is.... this is the elevator at work....

· Daily Photo » July 14 (July 2003 )

Today's daily photo also comes from Kirsten......

· I know... I know... ()

I know... I missed the last Daily Photo entry... ;)...

· Daily Photo » July 12 (July 2003 )

Courtesy of Mother Nature, you get the Daily Photo a little early today... I couldn't capture what I wanted to though -- there was ball lightning running through the clouds before the fork lightning started... It was stunningly beautiful to see these balls of light play with each other through the clouds, arcing and turning and flying. We spent a half hour or so sitting outside watching the lightning flash across the sky above us. This is a crop of the best photo of the bunch (man is that stuff hard to catch!)...

· Daily Image » July 11 (July 2003 )

Today's daily image comes courtesy of Kirsten, and illustrates why they call Alberta "Big Sky Country"....

· Daily Image » July 10 (July 2003 )

Aw, that happy Laughing Buddha! We like to cover our bases here at StaticRed HQ. On that bookcase alone, we have Buddha, the (chinese) Three Wise Men, a blessed NIV Bible, the Popol Vuh, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, and two statues of an African fertility god and goddess. As soon as we can get one, we'll have a statue of Shiva there too. The books in behind Buddha are just a few of the many Kirsten needs to write her dissertation. Many more lie in various (neatly stacked) piles around the apartment....

· Daily Photo » July 9 (July 2003 )

Here's my daily photo for today... Not doing much to avoid turning this into a Crazy Cat Person blog, am I? We let Heidegger outside for awhile today... he's been suffering from cabin fever since yesterday. While I was out watching him I took a few pics, and this one was the best of the bunch. The cone gives him a bit of a regal look when you catch it from the right angle... not so much from the other angles. :)...

· Open Challenge! (July 2003 )

An open challenge to everyone I know who has a camera and a website. For the rest of the month, post at least one image a day! I know there's at least four of you reading this that have easy access to cameras... Alan, Dan, Andrew, and Chrissie... Let's see how many of you can do it! Update: For those of you who don't have easy access to a camera, but have a scanner -- post an image from your old albums. Start as a kid and tell us a tale of growing up, or describe something from your past....

· Theme Thursday (July 2003 )

Submission for Theme Thursday: Yellow...

· Photos: Garneau ()

Took some photos around the Garneau district yesterday, while waiting for some repairs on my new (old, bought at a pawn shop) bike....

· new photos... (July 2003 )

Three new albums: Downtown Candy After Rain...

· PhotoStudio (July 2003 )

Photo Studio Program for creating EXIF thumbnails in images, while saving existing EXIF data......

· And for muckhead... (July 2003 )

I took the camera and the tripod outside just a few minutes ago for Kevin E's request for night shots... this is our building at 12:30am on a 15 second exposure:...

· And for Alan... (June 2003 )

To fulfil Alan's photo request... (blame him, not me) Have a photo request? Use that link on the right!...

· Photos from the hikes... ()

· takin' requests... (June 2003 )

Alright, kids... it's Photo Request Time! Here's how it works: Think of something you'd like to see a picture of. Tell me what you'd like to see me take a picture of If it's not obscene, or ridiculously dangerous, I'll take the photo and post it on a new minisite I'm going to make. If it is obscene or ridiculously dangerous, I'll take the photo and keep it for myself. Revel in the joy that is the Internet Community. *revel* I'll have a link up on the right later tonight to make a request... :) Link is now up on the right....

· theme days... (June 2003 )

It seems like a good time to start following sites like Photo Friday and Theme Thursday from now on, to give myself some direction for things to take photos of... ;)...

· gallery software... ()

Coppermine Photo Gallery - A PHP Image Gallery Script Good little album script! Update:...and you can see it in action here....

· another test... (June 2003 )

This time, of the 'stitch' function......

· The bestest girl in the whole wide world... ()

Kirsten is the bestest girl in the world, and here's proof:...

· My kingdom for... ()

My kingdom for an affordable digital adaptor for SLR cameras -- I see this as being about the size of a roll of film, with a CCD extending over where the shutter would be. Something like this: .-- Were such a thing to exist, I'd be a happy camper. :)...

· so... (June 2003 )

So, I currently have my beloved Konica Autoreflex in at the local London Drugs, undergoing a thorough exam to estimate its trade-in value towards a digital camera. I know I just said I was thinking of sticking with the SLR, and not going digital... but after this weekend, and having pictures not turn out due to a) exposure (despite the fact it has an auto-exposure function) and b) bad focus (which I can only blame on myself), I've decided that I need to go to a digital -- or at least a fully automatic SLR (which is the same price). Hence, my post yesterday. Obviously, if I can sell the camera, I'll get more money for it than I would trading it in... of course, I don't want to bother with the Ebay route, nor do I want to go through the hassle of a classified ad. I decided that if the trade-in is at or above a certain dollar figure, I'll bite the bullet and trade it in towards the Canon Powershot A60 and pick up a 128MB compact flash card in a couple weeks. If they can't meet my mental dollar figure.... then I'm getting a nice computer upgrade. :)...

· photos from EEOR & West Wind Pass (June 2003 )

Some photos from our latest hike (photos from the city hike to come tomorrow night)......

· Autoreflex for sale.... ()

Anyone want to buy my Konica Autoreflex T3N off me? ;) $120 and it, along with a Soligor 135mm lens is yours....

· Fun with photos (June 2003 )

One of my favourite Kirsten shots of late, which is also the header picture above (testing the posting of photos):...

· digital or not? ()

Brian's post, linking to a rant on the problems with digital photography has left me with a fair bit to think about... I've been toying with the idea of going to digital for a couple of years now. I was almost sold on the Canon A60/A70, but just can't afford to drop $500/$600 on a camera, despite a generous offer from K to pay for at least half. But now I'm thinking that film is the better choice in the long run. I've already got the film camera and scanner setup at home, which has been working decently in the past. What I need now is a decent way of archiving the photos and negatives. So as an experiment, I'm hauling (and I do mean haul - the sucker's HEAVY) my Autoreflex T3N along on our next hike. It has a standard 50mm lens, along with a 135mm telephoto lens, which should be great for capturing the mountains. I'll let y'all know how it turns out....

· new photos soon (June 2003 )

I just realized that some photos I took a month or two ago never made it onto the site. I'll have to rectify that tomorrow....

· photos from hike #2 (June 2003 )

And here are the photos from hike #2......

· Welcome to K-Country. (June 2003 )

Wow. We're bushed. Two hikes down, umpteen more to go. Kirsten will have full writeup for you tomorrow. Until then, here's the batch of pictures from the first hike. Photos from the second hike haven't been developed yet... but will be soon....

· Agfa photography courses. (May 2003 )

So it turns out that AGFA has a bunch of photography courses online, free for the viewing. I think this will occupy some of my time over the next few weeks. :)...

· super-cool (May 2003 )

2 8 M M . O R G | Issue 006 | About | Drowning Miss Daisy, by Sean McCormick Good on ya Sean!...

· Wage Peace, not war. (March 2003 )

Wage-Peace.org - Resources for Alberta-wide Antiwar Activism...

· new photos! (February 2003 )

I was driving around this morning doing errands, and something caught the corner of my eye -- the local graveyard. I was inspired, ran back home to get my camera, and drove back to take some pictures.... and here are the results... What caught my eye was the mausoleum at one end of the graveyard. On top of the mausoleum was a beautiful life-sized statue, which many of the pictures shown here are of. Without meaning to, I went through an entire roll of film there. This is also a great opportunity, since many of the photos turned out quite well, to test a new photoshop filter I ran across... those can be found here - let me know what you think of the filter....

· something fun (February 2003 )

While I'm playing around with Gallery's code, I thought it might be nice to show y'all what I'm doing with it. basic changes include: 1) changing the login process - though it won't show here, if you try to go to the root folder, you'll be presented immediately with a login screen. By default in gallery, you're presented with a blank screen and a "login" link (which opens a popup). 2) layout changes: on the album pages, I've moved the admin options to their own box on the left... i've also made significant changes to the way information is shown on the individual image pages. still have a lot of work to do here. 3) Automatic watermarking of uploaded images. At the moment, it's just text. When I have access to gd4, I can adjust this to use an alpha-transparent png file for something more graphical. 4) slowly changing things over from table layout to css layout. very slowly. the author of gallery has created a messy tangle of nested tables within his code, so it's not easy to figure out what goes where. There's still a few bugs left (ie: not being able to put the album images in multiple columns) that I have to iron out, but it's going pretty well so far. If you're wondering why I'm doing all this, well, it relates to a second secret project I'm working on. ;)...

· from the new camera! (February 2003 )

Here's what turned out well from the Konica Autoreflex T3... turns out I'm not yet the photographer superstar I want to be yet, so I'll have to keep on tryin' ;)...

· new photos coming soon! (January 2003 )

I just finished the first roll from the Konica Autoreflex 10 minutes ago... I'll take it into Walmart or Superstore tomorrow (London Drugs turned out to be WAY too expensive for a single roll) and post pictures as soon as I have them! ;)...

· new pictures! (January 2003 )

Got the roll of pictures (from the Pentax) back from London Drugs tonight... half of them had to go back for reprocessing, but here are some of the ones that turned out well.....

· speaking of photography... (January 2003 )

Alan has been playing around with an SLR too.... I like this image....

· it's a beaut! ()

I cleaned up the new camera the other night... and it's a beauty! There was a small smudge on the lens that I was worried about, that could have been either hiding a scratch or fungus... but it cleaned up wonderfully with a little help from my glasses lens cleaner and chamois. There's a small dint in the lens, which means I won't be able to attach filters to it.... but since I can pick up new lenses from McBain Camera for around $40, I'm not too worried. The mechanics are in great condition; the lens mirror snaps up nicely, with no hitch and the mirror is scratch free as well. there's a small black spot in the viewfinder, but that will have no bearing on any photographs taken with it... all in all, it was a steal for $20. Something I noted in the previous entry was that it lacked a flash hot shoe. It turns out I was wrong on this count (I was going from memory, not having the camera in front of me).. it not only has a flash hot shoe, but it also has two external leads out of the camera, to hook up to external flash units (not that I'm ever going to need or even use that functionality). Something I did note about the Autoreflex T3, aside from its weight (it's at least a pound heavier than the K100... and physically bigger as well) is the volume of the shutter mechanism. This is not a camera to take subtle, stealthy photos with... if you snap a picture, the people around you will know it. :) Tonight I need to head out and get batteries for it (for the auto-exposure)... and after that, I can start taking pictures! (which reminds me... I've got a roll of film from the Pentax sitting in my coat pocket, just waiting to be developed. It has some more Christmas tree photos on it. Now that I have a scanner, and it's working, I can hopefully scan them in at a better quality than what walmart was doing)...

· new camera (January 2003 )

I was feeling pretty crappy all day yesterday, having been up the entire night before, for no discernable reason whatsoever (my body just wouldn't let me sleep, until about 5am). I finally dragged my sorry ass out of the house in the late afternoon to pick Kirsten up from coffee with a friend, and we stopped by Value Village on the way home... Now, I always keep an eye out in Value Village for two things: old computer equipment (which I never buy, but always play with) and old cameras. Usually, the cameras are crappy, cheap-o instamatic type cameras... the kind you'd buy in a dollar store. But last night, there was an actual SLR. It's a Konica Autoreflex T3 (PDF manual), and although it's ancient, it has a crapload of nifty features, such as auto-exposure, a timer, external flash leads (though sadly no flash hotshoe) and multiple exposure. I checked out the mirror, mechanics and lens, and all checked out (except for a dirty lens which might possibly be hiding a scratch, but we'll find out when I clean it). And how much did I pay for it? $20. You just can't go wrong at Value Village. It even came with film! ;)...

· HOLY SHIT! (January 2003 )

I'm flabbergasted. Codswolloped. Happier than a Royal that just had a scandal-free year. CBC Radio 3 used one of my photos in their December 20th issue. Look on page one....

· it's beginning to look a lot like christmas (December 2002 )

Some new photos, just in time for Christmas... we put up a little tree in our house for Christmas this year, since this was originally going to be our first Christmas in Edmonton....

· new photos (October 2002 )

Posting some photos from the most current roll. This roll is still using the old Minolta... next roll posted here will be from a borrowed Pentax. ;)...

· nice! (October 2002 )

silvergull is sporting a new look... looks great!...

· neat lens trick (September 2002 )

I love the photo guys at the London Drugs on 51st Ave. I dropped by last night to pick up some home staples, and thought I'd see if they had any K mount lenses (I'm going to be borrowing my dad's K1000 at the end of the month for awhile). I was especially interested in seeing what they had for K mount macro lenses, as I love the kind of pictures you can take with them. They do have some used ones, it turns out, for about $80 (much better than the $300/400 for a new one). But the photo guy that was working that night showed me a trick with a standard 28mm or 50mm lens I can do to get damned close macro shots. What's the trick? Put the lens on backwards. Essentially, you take the lens out, open the aperture fully, and hold it onto the camera body - making sure not to let any light leak in. Then, simply move the camera forward until you get a good, clear shot. With a standard 28mm lens I was able to get a clear shot within 2 inches of an object. It seems to be a bit of a zen technique that takes some practice, but saves you the cost of another lens. Apparently, the technique has been around for decades, and they used to make adaptors to mount the lens that way so you didn't have to hold it! Another trick I learned from the last time I talked to the camera guys at LD is how to get metering preview on a Pentax....

· new photos... (September 2002 )

The next batch of photos came in......

· and... the results! (September 2002 )

Just got back from Wal-Mart, and here's the results! (warning: lots of pictures)...

· traditional vs. digital... ()

As much as I love having the new camera, I realize now just how much freedom the digital gave me... As I was wandering around yesterday looking for things to photograph, I realized that I was forcing myself to pause, and evaluate whether or not I really wanted to take a picture of [insert object here], or if I should wait for a 'better' opportunity to present itself! With the digital, I'd just take pictures of everything and anything, because I knew I could just delete it later... with film, I'm limited to the 12 or 24 exposures in there! As well, I miss the lack of instant gratification / quality checking available in the digital format... it sucks that I'm going to have to wait a couple days to find out whether the pictures I took were any good or not! On the bright side, I suppose this will work towards making me a more 'careful' photographer in the long run. At least I discovered that Wal-Mart will develop the negatives direct to CD for about $4, so I don't have to worry yet about getting them into a digital format....

· So, I got one.... (September 2002 )

Through a kooky set of coincidences, I finally ended up getting myself a camera this weekend. Kirsten and I drove out to Sherwood Park yesterday, to go to a thrift store my coworker Amanda had told me about. On the way back, we decided to hit a few garage sales we'd seen. At one of them, I happened to come across an old Minolta Hi-Matic G, a fixed-lens 35mm camera built in 1974, for $3. The lens was nice and clean, with no scratches, and all it needed was a new battery (for the metering). I picked up a 12-shot roll of ASA100 to try out in it... I'll develop it & post shots some time next week......

· I need to get a camera... (August 2002 )

All weekend, I had no end of opportunities for great pictures, if only I had a camera in my hand. Whether it was a great night sky, a dresser and drawers out on the lawn, drying after a fresh coat of stain was put on them, or just the grass outside our apartment, I had the itch to capture their images. It doesn't help that Kirsten said, "That would make a great study" when I mentioned one of the shots I would have taken....

· colour film guide... (August 2002 )

Pokin' around on the web, I came across this Color Film Guide [PDF]. I'm going to be borrowing my Dad's Pentax K1000 in a month or so, and I'll be snapping pics like nobody's business. (at least, that's the plan)....

· question... ()

For those of you who have them, how do you like your Lomos? What Lomo do you have, and how do you find it for every-day picture taking? How many pictures on a roll would you say are good / nifty / downright garbage?...

· morning notes (July 2002 )

This is a great picture. Pictures like this makes me want to get my own camera. Spent the weekend in Calgary, visiting a friend of K's. We didn't get out of the house all that much, because she has two young boys (3 & 4), but we had a lot of fun nonetheless. Although they were a heck of a lot of fun, and (relatively) well behaved, it was exhausting! I'm utterly amazed she is able to even think in those surroundings, never mind work on papers and research for her PhD!...

· new photos... (June 2002 )

Some new photos are up on iStock: » Catholic Church » Haunted House » Money Ceiling » Savannah Police Car...

· He ain't pretty... (June 2002 )

This is what I look like, after 8 days in the Deep South, where the temperature is high, and the humidity is higher. It ain't pretty. (Parental warning: Screen small children from view of the large version of this photo.) This photo was actually taken in Savannah at Factor's Walk - essentially, the tourist district of Savannah, right alongside the river. There's not much to see at Factor's Walk, unless you like souvenir stores, candy stores, bars and restaurants. It is, however, the site of the St Patrick's Day celebration every year. I figured I fit right into the touristy nature of the place that day, as I wore my floppy hat, zipper pants and sandals. Tourist Darren!...

· some more savannah photos... ()

On our way back to Savannah from Beaufort, we rode back with Mary & Larry, visiting the conference from Wisconson. Since we both were staying in Savannah an extra day, we decided to spend the afternoon together. Mary & Larry fit to a tee the stereotypes of the average American K & I hold (not the gun-toting, NRA loving loudmouth) - Mary was a housewife who ministered to prisoners through her church, and Larry was an ex-captain in Vietnam. We had a great time with them, and learned a lot about Republicans (they voted Bush in, and support his actions), Wisconson, and the US population's preconceptions of Canadians. Overall, they were good people, and we were glad to have spent some time with them (though I'm sure that we tuckered Mary out by all our walking through the streets of Savannah). Along the way, we walked through one of Savannah's many graveyards. Kirsten thought it would be a good idea to randomly snap photos throughout the cemetary, and so I took about 20-30 random pictures. Out of these, two caught our attention:     Freaky, eh? Near the end of the walking tour, we turned a corner to see this: You can tell the Catholics have a lot of money. the church was incredibly tall, done in Gothic style, and had a gorgeous interior. At the time we entered, we were told we could only visit the right-hand side of the church, as Confession was taking place on the left-hand side. Out of respect, I didn't stay long enough to get any good shots of the interior....

· of course... (June 2002 )

...the reason we went down to Savannah in the first place; the Milton conference. The conference itself was so-so. K did a great job delivering her paper to a pretty full room. Her ideas were somewhat controversial to some Miltonists, however, so there was much discussion after the reading... At the receptions, held in some pretty swanky places, most of the conference members were pretty cliquey. Eventually, on the last day, we met up with some of the younger conference attendees, and all had a drink out on the hotel's stoop (which we later found out was quite illegal to do)....

· one of the best pictures I've ever taken... ()

This is one of the best pictures I think I've ever taken... it's of a 1953 Buick that served as one of Savannah's squad cars... Yes, it was just that shiny in person, too....

· Another picture... ()

     This is the Internet terminal I had to work with in Beaufort -- the one that intermittently had a spacebar -- at Hemingway's, a small bistro off the main drag. :)...

· ok, I lied... ()

...I didn't get a chance to go through the pictures and post them last night. I did, however, pick out the best, and throw them into an images directory, however... I'll be posting pictures during the day with some stories behind them... Until then, take a look at this: We were walking around Savannah doing a self-directed ghost tour (we picked up the book Savannah Spectres), and met up with this guy who told us his house was haunted. The story goes that he and his room-mate would hear people walking up and down the stairs and in the hallway late at night. At the time, they had both assumed it was each other, coming in late after a night at the bar. When they asked each other, however, they discovered that it wasn't either of them! The spectre also has a bad habit of turning on the hall light by itself -- regardless of where the light switch is positioned! Kirsten asked if we could take a picture of the haunted hallway, and when we were looking through the photos that night, we found a strange floating orb in the one to the right! There was nothing on the wall that could have reflected, and no other sources of light that could have caused the effect... freaky! Go check out the other photos in the directory... I'll add more stories a little later....

· Good news... (May 2002 )

K's Dad is very graciously lending us his digital camera, which means I'll be taking lots of pictures while we're in Beaufort! (As an aside... anyone have an Internet dialup account I can use while I'm down there? Email me)...

· some advice... (May 2002 )

I know that at least 2 of you out there are photographers, so perhaps you can give me some advice... I'm planning on buying a camera in the next couple of months, but I can't decide between digital and film (SLR). I know both have their benefits (initial cost being one of the benefits for film), but what are the drawbacks of each? If you've used both film and digital, what differences have you noted between them? Do you prefer one over the other? If I do decide to go for SLR, what's a good mid-range camera? Let me know in the comments......