Sean's Blog

Sleep

I've been up testing MarsEdit in the hope of being more productive wih my blog time. Not working right though! Or at least not on some of my other blogs!

posted by SeanMcC @ 8:08 AM 0 comments

Going, Going..

I'm sitting on the train back to Galway right now. I've been in Dublin for the weekend visiting my Father in Law. He's been there since June, initially in for a small operation. While there, they found a lump on his throat.
Initially thinking it was as tumor, they found it was actually a fungal infection in his throat. This particular fungus is in the air normally, but because Jim has a bone marrow disease (like a very mild form of leukemia), he couldn't resist it like we do. Because of it, he ended up in Intensive Care. It was horrible to see him there, sedated and riddled with tubes. The fungus was causing a lot of internal fluid in the lungs which had to be pumped out. Eventually they got it under control, but not without weeks of discomfort, pain and heavy sedation. Jim was moved to a normal bed after this. His recovery seemed to be starting then. As it turned out, the infection wasn't gone. Part of why this is so hard on him, is that he requires transfusions 2-3 times a week with the bone marrow disease. Fed up of the constant discomfort and poking and prodding, Jim elected to stop all medication relating to the infection. He's gone from a slightly overweight man to literal skin and bones. Even lifting him up, to let him drink water on his own yesterday, I could feel his bones through muscle and skin. They're not holding out much hope now and it is only a matter of time before he goes. As I travel here now, I would not be surprised to get the phone call telling me that he has passed on. We can but wait.

posted by SeanMcC @ 3:30 PM 0 comments

Guitar Girl

Trying a test post from Flickr.com

posted by SeanMcC @ 7:55 AM 0 comments

Realisation

It's dawned on me just now, after 4 (or is it 5?) years living here, that the reason I hate our kitchen area is that there is no window over the sink. It's on the opposite side of the room in fact.

posted by SeanMcC @ 6:40 AM 0 comments

The mod

I did the mod based on what I was reading. Unfortunately the socket would not fit in the shoe. Of course I had drilled holes for it first. I eventually located it on the left of the bottom part (from the front view) as below. You can see all my extra holes! I should really get black silicone to to fill them in..

Using this into an umbrella yields nice results, such as below.

If you're wondering about the sellotape on the flash, the left bit is holding on gel and the right bit is holding the red filter on the front.

posted by SeanMcC @ 3:06 PM 0 comments

550ex with PC sync.

Strobist has a lot to answer for. He has great articles and advice on flash, but of course for Nikon flash units. Us poor Canon users don't have a PC sync socket and are left to fend for ourselves with crap hotshoe adaptors. Michael Bass will add a socket for you for $59.95 plus shipping, with quick turnaround, to solve the issue.

Intrigued by this, and because I've modified an Off Camera Hotshoe Cable in the past, I decided to research into others mods and perhaps do my own.
The first stop in my Google hope was Photography On The Net, but it turned out to be a 580ex thread, with little references to the 550 I have. One reference took me to Fred Mirandas forums. Again it turned out to be more 580 based, as was this one. There was a final link to Flickr, but by then I'd taken the bottom off the 550ex. There's a lot more screws, but I reckon it's a simple job and I'm off to get the bits tomorrow.

posted by SeanMcC @ 1:15 AM 2 comments

Olympus SP-550 UZ

Check this out:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0701/07012507olympusp550uz.asp

It's a 7.1 Mp camera with stabilization, 18X optical zoom (28-504mm equiv), yes that's wide and long for compact. Has a 3:2 mode to emulate 6MP DSLR's. ISO 50-5000 and check it out: it shoots RAW. Yep. RAW.
I've been looking for a compact since my Fuji F11 took a dive into the sea when I fell on the pier and the underwater case popped open... This looks like it. With the added benefit of RAW, it looks like a real Canon G series beater.

posted by SeanMcC @ 6:56 AM 1 comments

Printers: As if deciding between an Epson R1800 and R2400 wasn't enough.

Through a post on the Prodig.org email digest: HP B9180 in depth review with comparisons to the R2400. I'm stunned by the technologies on offer in this printer. It really looks like an incredible option.

Labels: printers

posted by SeanMcC @ 5:03 AM 1 comments

John Beardswoth Blog

John Beardsworth is a Photoshop author with a number of books under his belt. As well as an interest in Lightroom, he also has links to fascinating news and great photographers in his Blog.

posted by SeanMcC @ 2:57 AM 0 comments

Powerbook Power Supply woes

I've pulled out the 12" Powerbook and pressed it into use again. I'm currently running Lightroom Beta 4.1 on it for testing and perhaps tutorial purposes. So to aid with that I've referenced all the file in the Originals folder of my iPhoto library on this machine, just to have a testbed of images. Or at least that was my plan until I went to recharge it tonight. On plugging in the PSU the light didn't come on. Within seconds I could smell electrical burning. Oh Oh I thought and grabbed for the plug.
I found the problem instantly: the DC cable coming out was worn and in fact was rotten looking where it had corroded.
This kind of thing doesn't bother me. It's well out of warranty so my first thought is to open the PSU and simply cut and resolder the cable. I looked around the brick and poked into a few times with a screwdriver, but I couldn't see signs of clips holding the sides together. Glued I figured. I googled just to check and found this site which details the same problem. Judging from the comments, it's not a rare issue. Now being 5am when I started this (I only got home from work at 3:30am), I went outside to hammer the case open with a screwdriver. It was quick and painless for me, but not for the case. Anyway. It's all back together and working charging away.
I suspect the problem may have initally started a long time ago. Why? Because I'm not getting tiny shocks off of it anymore. About 4 months after I got the Powerbook it started giving out little shocks. Nothing bad, no sparks or anything. Just like a feeling of electricity in the case. The earth cable must have been already worn and shorting slightly. My body made the earth more effective. I thought it was due to a reported USB power issue charging the case. Nope. Well fixing the PSU has removed the issue and (fingers crossed) all's well that ends well.

Labels: Mac, repairs

posted by SeanMcC @ 6:25 AM 1 comments

Service and smiles

I've been deliberately not posting recently and nearly even reached the point where I was going to delete the blog altogether or just make it private. I'm still not decided. There's a lot going on that I'd like to talk about, but can't for various reasons. Some personall, some business, some just waiting on things to happen. I may even remove the archives and start afresh. I've not decided.
Anyhow. Why have I suddenly decided to post? Well it's a tale of bad and good service really. Last April I had a lot of things stolen on a trip abroad. I blogged about it at the time (but I'm not searching for the post!). In May I replaced the iPod with a new one. I bought a case with it at the time and it's lived in it ever since. Recently though I had a problem. I wanted to add a few new podcasts to it, so as to listen to the in the car. iTunes told me my iPod was corrupted. This was odd seeing as it was working fine. I figured I'd restore anyway because I could just let all the stuff copy over during the night anyway. Then the worst happened. The restore failed and left me with a useless iPod. I followed the error code and downloaded the newest version of iTunes and tried again. No Joy. Now each restore was taking 1 hour before failure. I figured 'that's it, it's f*cked'. I brought it back to the O2 shop where I bought it. They sent it in, saying they would ring me when it arrived back. I called in after 3 weeks. I know the manager there and she said that they called. I had no messages from them, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She got the box. The news was bad. Due to a small dent in the back of the iPod (caused by the case I bought with it no less), they said the warranty was void. I couldn't believe it. Literally they did not even plug it in. I knew the issue was not a physical one because it worked fine before the restore process. Now they could've and charged me and that would be fine, but no. They did nothing at all. I took it away with me. That was Friday evening.
Today (Monday) I called into Galmac to Alan. I explained the situation and he showed the dent to the techs. They said that the dent could be construed to allow a warranty to be void. Alan said that seeing as this was the case could he open it. "Fine" I said.
He poked around a bit. The drive was starting and shutting down constantly. He couldn't find much wrong and said the hard drive didn't sound so good. I mentioned that maybe the issue was still just the restore failure and that there was no OS on the drive to boot from. So he plugged it in and found that there was new firmware available (we had to put it in drive mode first). Viola. This restore worked. Cost to me? My custom. Anything that I may have bought from the O2 shop in the future will now be bought in Galmac instead. Thanks again Alan.

Labels: iPod, service

posted by SeanMcC @ 2:41 AM 0 comments

Competitions

Well another successful night in competition entries. 1st in colour print, 2nd in Digital and 3rd in Mono Print. Ironically the same 1st only managed a 78 with the SWPP and the 3rd a 74. Another 74 in that competition was a candid shot of a woman drinking a bottle of water. A bad shot. Good old SWPP strikes again. I got an 80 for a landscape. Again. I'd prefer to get them for my portraits.

posted by SeanMcC @ 12:44 AM 0 comments

Presentation at Galway Camera club tonight.

The time has come again to present my recent work to Galway Camera Club. The meeting kicks off at 8pm tonight in the White Room on the GMIT Cluain Mhuire campus in Wellpark. I'll be showing a mix of landscapes, studio and band photographs and talking about some of my project work, including my Tattoo project. If time allows I will show some of this work also. Also on tonight is Ann Sweeney.

posted by SeanMcC @ 2:28 PM 1 comments

Fun in the Sun, not in the sea.

On holiday in Majorca. The weather is great. Picked up a snorkel set to try some underwater photography. Did a little pool prep and headed for the sea near the hotel. The cove was a bit rocky so I went onto the pier to climb down into the water from there. Worst mistake I made so far. I slipped on the underwater step and came down hard on my back and hit my head a split second later. The back took the impact, saving my head from a harder hit. Not that I probably didn't loose brain cells. I've cut my back all over the place because the edges of the pier were jagged and the hard fall made for a deep bite into the skin. My muscles are aching too now, especially my neck. Some motherly love'd be good.
My Fuji F11 camera was in the underwater housing when I fell. It popped open on the pier and the F11 bounced into the water. Destroyed. Really badly battered. The battery and card fell out. I couldn't find the card unfortunately. It would've still worked. Ironically when I put my head under water to search for the card I could see a shrimp working away there right under the step. Sigh. Technology + Sean=Bad Luck in 2006.

posted by SeanMcC @ 9:28 PM 3 comments

Lightroom Blog

Just to announce I've started a dedicated Lightroom blog over at http://seanmcfoto.com/lightroom.

posted by SeanMcC @ 1:22 PM 0 comments

Hmm. One month

Thats bad even for me. On the photoblog more. Quickies.
Loads of festival stuff done. Sound and photos. 
In Laws are visiting.
Still not sleeping. 
Shooting new stuff in all genres. 
Driving is much better and I'm not bothered by it. I'm using the choke a lot more starting and it helps mostly (yes manual choke). 
NCT is monday week. I expect to fail but I'll stillget the car ready. 
New story over at brendans. Very good.
That's all.
I may just blog more at Random Panderings/
 

posted by SeanMcC @ 7:21 AM 0 comments

Fun and games and no fun and no games.

Double jobbing today. As well as my night gig I spend the day travelling all over Galway County taking pictures of naked men hiding their modesty as well as some of the girls of El Paradis club for a Calender in aid of the National Council for the Blind. I'd love to show off some of the photos but not until the Calendar is published. 
After shooting the gentlemen and before the ladies, my phone disappeared. I reckon it fell in the car. I went back later but couldn't find it. I retraced my steps but no sign of it even though it was ringing. When I was driving home I noticed that there was a gap in the driver door. Someone had tried to break into the car. They may have succeeded but I've no way of knowing. If they were after the phone and it was in the car then they got it, but other than nothing seems missing. Although now that I'm thinking about it there was a jackect there. I'll check tomorrow. I rang the Garda and they had me come back in to do a report. I'm back in town for 11am to shoot more Calender shots. Night! 

posted by SeanMcC @ 4:19 AM 0 comments

SWPP

I've finally got on the Winners list with the SWPP Print Competition, with a studio shot of Barry, in the Monochrome. you can see the shot on the bottom of this page. I've been entering for a bit and although I've been happy with my entries, this one is the first to score over 80 to get me onto the winners page and into Professional Imagemaker magazine. You can see a larger version of the picture on Random Panderings.

posted by SeanMcC @ 12:09 AM 0 comments

Book

After a trip to the Saltees in the middle of June, I took the opportunity to create a book of my favourite images from there. Being a seabird sanctuary it is a book of seabird photos. Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Puffins and Gannets feature with the odd moth and Oystercatcher visible too. This was my first introduction to PoD (Print on Demand) publishing. Relatively speaking it was painless. Download a Microsoft Word template, populate it with pictures (this was tedious, but not hard). Then upload it for conversion to PDF. Proof it, create a cover and then order a print copy. There are quite a few online PoD suppliers, I used lulu.com. My finished book (a vanity print really) arrived today. The actual photo print quality is reasonable, in fact compared to last months National Geographic, it's pretty good. However this came through lulu's new Spanish printer Publidisa and there have been numerous complaints about their books on lulu's forums. My book is the norm here unfortunately. There are lines on maybe 10 of the 100 pages marring the look of the photos. It's obvious that the ink has been lifted off from running through the printing presses. Pages are not exactly aligned either but this is not an issue for this book, but might be for others (if I want a double page spread for example). I was planning on releasing the book to the public for sale, but now I'll wait and see how lulu respond to my issues. If it all works out I will be putting together a book of People pictures, Landscapes, maybe a book on the last 4 Salthill Airshows, and a variety of others, possibly including a Tattoo book. It was worth doing simply for the experience but for anyone interested in getting their art out there, be it photos, paintings, drawing or writing, this could be a good avenue to look into.

posted by SeanMcC @ 12:55 AM 0 comments

Still at it

My mother reckons my car starting issue could be a timing realted thing. It nearly freaked me this evening when it evenually started (3rd time). After being a bit jerky (as if I had let the clutch out too much) it suddenly sped off and then got jerky again. Bearing in mind I park near the local Garda (police) station, with a few Gardai about, I had reason to be nervous. Not that I was in the wrong, just the less contact the better! Once the car is going she'd fine..

posted by SeanMcC @ 5:34 AM 1 comments