TranceMist

Buy.com Tries to Sell Warranty on Ink Cartridge!

2008-09-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

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Last week I placed an order from buy.com for replacement ink cartridges for my Epson Stylus CX5400 printer. Having researched the prices and taken into consideration things like shipping and sales tax, they had the best net price.

Today I get an email from them recommending that I buy "an extended protection coverage or replacement plan" for these.

A warranty for ink?

ROTFLMAO!

I paid $33.24 for the tri-color cartridges and $30.24 for the black.

Looking at their "Warranty Center", they want $19.99 to cover this $30 product for 2 years.

Furthermore, the details read as follows:

So you have to add shipping cost on top of the cost of this thing. Even if this simple cartridge did "fail", it would be simpler and probably just as much to just buy a new one. Besides, aren't they covered under a manufacturer's warranty anyway? And it'll be used up in a month or two anyway.

I highly doubt that they will "repair" or "replace" an ink cartridge just because it runs out of ink!

I wonder how many fools and their money are soon parted using this trick.

Unboxing - Drobo Series 2 (FireWire 800)

2008-09-03T19:12:00.000-05:00

My 2nd generation Drobo (FireWire 800) arrived today along with six 1TB disks, all ordered from newegg.

Drobo unboxing video:

Two of the disks are Seagate 7200.11 1TB and will be used as a mirrored pair in my MacPro for the main Aperture library.

I will take my existing two 500 GB internal disks and will create a mirrored set for the boot disk.

The other four 1TB disks that I ordered are the Western Digital Green Power (GP) 1TB versions and will go in the Drobo. This will provide 2.7 TB of protected storage. I will use this for video, one of my Aperture vaults and other data.

I ordered the Drobo and disks separately this way because it saves about $100 vs. ordering the 4x1TB disk kit.

TWiP Photo Contest Moves to Photrade - The Good and Bad

2008-08-26T12:22:00.001-05:00

Recently the TWiP podcast moved its photography contest from Flickr to Photrade.

(TWiP, which stands for This Week in Photography, is a fantastic podcast that I've really enjoyed listening to ever since I discovered it earlier this year)

Scott Bourne, who has disclosed that he is on the board of advisors for Photrade, says that it is to take advantage of the new voting system that Photrade has built specifically for contests like this. This new contest engine has the ability to allow the participants to vote for their favorite image.

Opinion

There are really two issues here.

1. The move to Photrade

The fact that they've moved the contest from Flickr to Photrade doesn't bother me at all.
In fact, it offers a few benefits:

There are currently fewer entrants in the pool, given that Photrade is new and not everyone wants to make the effort to sign up.
Photrade allows you to sell your photos, so there's at least a chance of making some money. There is none on Flickr.
Photrade doesn't (at least yet) have an API that allows access to their photos. Flickr is notorious for allowing people to steal your photos, regardless if privacy or copyright settings.

2. Voting by the masses

Scott says the real reason for moving the contest to Photrade is because people are always complaining to him that he picked the wrong photo as winner in the contest. So Photrade's contest engine will allow the participants to vote and thus alleviate him from having to delete a bunch of complaint emails.

There are a couple of issues that I see with this new system that concern me.

a) As evidenced by the above screenshot, most people just seem to vote for their own photo (wouldn't you?) So does this mean that the winners will be picked by a very tiny majority of people who decided to vote for someone else?

b) I like the idea of a judge. Given my assumption that the majority of TWiP listeners are not professional photographers, I'd much rather have the winner judged by a more knowledgeable eye than a tiny minority consensus of the masses.

Note: I realize that Scott Borune says "It's not about the contest, the idea is to get you to go out and shoot." However, when you put a "VOTE" button under every photo, you've really changed the emphasis away from your stated objective.

I have also noticed another interesting inconsistency or quirk. TWiP is also running the Aperture Nature Photography Workshops Contest, which I wrote about recently (and have entered myself). That contest is also being hosted on Photrade, and while there is a "VOTE" button under every photo, the contest rules clearly state that there are three judges: Scott Bourne, Steve Simon, and Martin Gisborne. So why the "VOTE" button? Just for fun?

Recommendation

Here's my recommendation to Scott Bourne and the rest of the TWiP team: Stand up and judge. You guys pick the winner. Let the audience pick the runner-up for second place. Or maybe just have two winners, the "judged" winner and the "voted" winner. Since you always have a runner up, it doesn't really change things that much.

Redress

Let's keep all of this in perspective. I'm offering my opinion and suggestion, but don't mean it to be a complaint. Scott Bourne and the rest of the TWiP team put together a phenomenal podcast and I'm very, very happy with it. In the large scheme of things this is a nit. So thanks guys for a fantastic show and keep it up.

In the mean time, vote for my entries! :-P

Enter my Contest!enter

Vote for my photo!vote

Red Twilight

2008-08-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

I've really been enjoying listening to the TWiP (This Week in Photography) podcast over the last few months. They also have a fantastic blog with lots of great links and information. They've now teamed up with Apple to give away seats at the Aperture Nature Photography Workshops. Voting is being done on Photrade, which I've been playing with and much prefer to the very cumbersome, monolithic and overly corporate iStockPhoto.

The above photo is my entry for this month. I took it at Pescadero State Beach in California last October (2007), using the following setup:

25 second exposure @ f/11
Canon 20D
Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Singh-Ray Vari-ND (set to ~4 stops)
2-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter
Levels and contrast adjusted in post-processing.

If you like my photo, vote for it here:

Vote for my photo!vote

Why I Refused To Pay American Airlines' Baggage Fee - And Prevailed

2008-08-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

I had just spent nine days backpacking with friends in the high Sierra, spending the most of that time well above 10,000' enjoying the world free of the complexities of modern civilization.

Then I arrived at Fresno Airport (FAT) to begin my trip back home only to reminded exactly how ugly air travel has become.

My ticket was issued by Delta Air Lines. I flew to Fresno on Delta operated flights via SLC. However, my return journey included a hop from FAT to LAX via a Delta codeshare flight operated by American Airlines' subsidiary, American Eagle. American has a new checked baggage fee policy, $15 for the 1^st bag, $25 for the 2^nd. Delta Air Lines on the other hand, does not charge for the first checked bag. Furthermore, they allow up to three free checked bags for their Medallion members, which I am.

I arrived at the American Airlines counter a full one hour and 45 minutes before my scheduled departure time. During my 30 minute wait in line, I glanced at the signs announcing their baggage fee (which were all over the place) and wondered if I was going to have to deal with this issue.

Surely enough when it was my turn at the ticket counter, upon declaring that I have two bags to check (each under the 50lb threshold) the agent wanted to collect $40. I pointed out that my ticket was issued by Delta Air Lines, and that I was booked on a Delta flight number (albeit code share), and not an American Airlines flight. I further explained that since my ticket was issued by Delta Air Lines, that their CONTRACT of CARRIAGE prevailed.

As you would expect, the ticket agent would hear none of it and just gave me a blank stare, asking for $40.

I pulled out my Passenger Receipt and and Itinerary issued by Delta and pointed out the following two paragraphs written on the back, under CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT:

“Delta Baggage Policy for Domestic and International Travel. [ ... ] Delta will accept of a maximum of one (1) checked bag free of charge for each ticketed passanger for Domestic travel within the U.S., Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. [ ... ]”

...and...

“11. No agent, servant of representative of carrier has authority to alter, modify or waive any provision of this contract.”

Note: While the CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT clearly state one (1) bag free of charge for domestic travel, Delta's policy for Medallion members is three (3) free bags. I was willing to settle for one and pay $15 for the other had your agents been willing to follow the letter of this contract, understanding that the latter may be a priveledge that is not expressly extended in this agreement.

At this point the ticket agent barked “Sir, if you want to get on the flight, you will pay the fee.” She then tried to shove me asside to check in other passangers in-line, no doubt she would have ignored me until the flight left without me. I replied that I "do mind" stepping aside and will not do so until he checks me in. I also explained that her trying to charge me a fee that is expressly against the CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT that I held amounted to a breach of contract. As you may expect, airline ticket agents are clueless to this.

We even got her supervisor at the ticket counter involved. He was professional, checked some things on his computer, but was unrelenting. Pay or don't go.

I was having none of it.

I proceeded to call Delta Air Lines. I discussed the situation with the agent on the phone who brought in her supervisor. The Delta supervisor confirmed to me that American Airlines should not be charging me the baggage fee under the codeshare agreement and requested that I hand the phone over to the supervisor at the ticket counter in Fresno so that they could speak. At this point I had spent 27 minutes on the phone with Delta and had a mere few minutes left before American's "30 minute computer controlled check-in cut off".

Finally, after 10 minutes on my phone, out of view in the back office, the AA supervisor emerged and proceeded to check me in and to check my bags, without charge. He grumbled something about having to “send an email to corporate” but was otherwise professional. At this point however, there remained only 20 minuntes until scheduled departure time, well within their “30 minute computer controlled cut-off” as the signs at the counter clearly screamed. I was still at the ticket counter.

I hastilly took my now tagged bags to TSA screening, informed them of my impending departure and they graciously agreed to screen them next, ahead of the pile they already had. Fortunately there was no line at the TSA security check point. As I placed my items onto the X-ray machine, the PA system announced my name as being late for the flight, which was about to depart. When I finally managed to run up to the gate, the gate agent was just walking to the door to close out the flight. As I boarded the plane, I saw my bags on the conveyor being loaded into the cargo hold.

In summary, I arrived almost two hours in advance of the flight only to be endlessly hassled by ticket counter agents over a $40 “nickel and diming” procedure which I'm sure enfuriates every customer. Their ignorance of CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT and codeshare agreements is representative of poor training. I almost missed the flight and was frustrated and disgusted with the experience.

Given this experience, combined with American Airlines' policy for charging for checked luggage, I can be very definitive in stating that I will avoid American Airlines at all costs. I will not only ensure that I am never again placed in such a tenuous “code share” situation, but will also be sure to avoid purchasing any tickets on American Airlines directly. I further plan to publicize this situation to my corporate travel department, my friends, family and colleages, send copies of this letter the the media, and publicize on Internet discussion forums such as flyertalk.com, and of course here.

It was a very unpleasant way to end an otherwise fantastic vacation.

I have since then followed up with 10 letters of complaint to various departments and executives with American Airlines and American Eagle, 4 to Delta Air Lines, one to the Consumer Protection Division of the U.S. Department of Transportation and copies to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and American Public Media's Marketplace.

Why I Decided To Buy a Canon 5D Now

2008-05-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

I've wanted a 5D for a long time, since last fall. So I began to do some research and quickly learned of all of the rumors of an impending replacement. It has gone by several names, back then the Canon 7D was a contender (I even jumped in), though now consensus has settled down to the Canon 5D mk II. Canon had revamped every other camera in its EOS lineup except the 5D. Expectations were that they'd announce it at PMA08.

PMA08 came and went (I was there) and no announcement. Then there were rumors around April 22. Nothing.

Then I had a problem with my 20D where auto focus failed. Suddenly I was without an SLR. I bided time playing with several point and shoots and started to think again about the 5D.

I did more research and more thinking. I did a price analysis. I posted questions on Flickr. I discussed it with other contacts and bloggers.

There were several features that I really wanted in an updated 5D:

Higher usable ISO
The self cleaning dust-reduction system in the Canon 40D
Larger LCD (although the 5D's 2.5" is not bad)

Some of the other features introduced in the 40D like original decision data, and live view (because it would be useful for manually focusing macros) would have also been useful. And a Bluetooth link to a GPS for geotagging would have been the cat's meow.

All of my analysis pointed to the next possibility for Canon to announce an update for the 5D to be September at Photokina.

This lead me to also consider the downsides to a new 5D (albeit temporary ones):

September is a whole summer gone by
It won't be available in September (most likely), but one or two months after that
I wouldn't want the first production run, I'd rather wait a few months and make sure there aren't problems like with the 1D mk III [1, 2, 3 and 4].
There'd be a delay before Aperture supported it (most likely). It was months with the 40D.
Nobody knows when it might come out, really
Some people think Canon might not ever upgrade it
The price would likely be much higher. Estimates are around $3500 (body only).

I even considered the following alternatives:

I briefly looked at the 450D (XSi), but eliminated it for its size, durability and lack of a few key features (custom white balance, for one). Also the fact that they crammed 12 megapixels in the same space where my 20D has only 8 or the 40D has only 10 means there must be more noise.
I considered getting a 40D for now until a new 5D is out. I found several good comparisons the two [1, 2 and 3] (my desire for full frame won that)
I considered switching over the Nikon. I found a good comparison of the Nikon D3 to the Canon 5D. However, there are lots of tradeoffs. The D300 is not full frame, and while the D3 is, it is substantially more expensive ($5,000 body only at B&H) and much bigger and heavier eliminating it as a backpacking option. And then there's my investment in Canon L lenses to consider. Also, I like fast primes, Nikon isn't as good at that.
HamWithCam suggested I look at a used 20D, or 5D to bide time for the new 5D. I didn't like the idea of buying another used body where the condition isn't really known.
I even considered the 1D mk III, but it's not a full-frame, and while the 1Ds mk III is it has a lot of disadvantages. Cost ($8,000) size and weight, and the fact that there are 21 megapixels crammed into the same sensor size as the 5D. That cannot be good for noise. (it's a studio camera, anyway)

In the end I decided to buy the 5D now. It still has the best image quality of any DSLR even double its price, or in its size. It's a very well proven camera, and while it may be long in the tooth on "features", image quality is king. Then I found out that Canon was about to offer a $300 instant rebate in a couple of days (at the time). Decision made. I purchased mine at B&H.

Interestingly enough, my 20D came back from Canon Repair working again, even though they didn't fix it.

Now I have the best of both worlds.

Why Feedback Matters (PicLens responds to Flickr Users)

2008-05-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

I've been using PicLens for for a while now to browse the photo streams of my contacts' and discovering new users on Flickr. A while ago I wrote about two enhancements that would make PicLens much easier to use with Flickr. Others had similar ideas.

I decided to write to PicLens (using their Contact link) to let them know what I think.

Here's what I wrote:

I love using PicLens to browse Flickr.

However, I'm often frustrated by having to escape out of PicLens to mark a photo as a Favorite, or to leave a comment.

Adding these two features into PicLens, so I don't have to escape out would be a big improvement.

For example, if I could just hit the "f" (or "*") key while viewing a photo and have it marked as a favorite on Flickr.

If I could hit the "c" key and have a small dialog box pop-up to enter a comment.

That would be nirvana.

:)

A couple of weeks later I got a very nice reply from them in a personally written email (non form letter). Firstly, they thanked me for my thoughts and suggestions and mentioned that they have been "utterly amazed" by the incredible amount of support that Flickr users have shown them. They added that they plan to add "a load of new features" in the next few months, including options to share and save images, and that they would definitely consider my ideas (above).

They've also put together a Flickr community (pool) on Flickr called ImmersiveViews where the entire Cooliris Team is there.

Lastly, they invited me to participate in their beta program for the new features.

What a great response to a few suggestions.

I love PicLens.

Thank You Canon - For Not Repairing My Camera

2008-05-20T13:49:00.000-05:00

I just got my 20D back from Canon's Repair Department (in Jamesburg, NJ), "unrepaired".

However, the camera works again! Here's what transpired...

On April 25th autofocus mysteriously failed on this camera. I had been shooting macros that morning, which while I mostly focused manually, I did also use AF. Later in the afternoon I connected the 20D to my Mac (via USB) and for the first time tried to control it remotely using Canon's CameraWindow utility. While I've occasionally connected this camera to this computer via USB before to download photos via Aperture, I usually take the CF card out and just put it in a card reader. In the 2.5 years since I've owned this camera, this is the first time I tried to run CameraWindow with it. Although I did use the EOS Utility about a year or so ago to set the "owner string" in the camera (both utilities were updated to the latest versions available from Canon's web site). From that moment forward, the camera would no longer auto-focus. I tried 5 different lenses. I tried cleaning the contacts. I called Canon Technical Support.

Alas, that same day I decided to send it into Canon for repair. Canon will provide a free estimate, and if you turn it down they will return your camera and not charge you.

FedEx picked up the camera on April 28th and on May 5th I received a "Repair Estimate" email from Canon for a total of $306.20. The breakdown was $290 for labor, $1.20 for tax, and $15 for shipping.

Upon noticing my Tweet about this, HamWIthCam was kind enough to give me his very strong opinion that I should not have this repaired. Primarily due to the shutter life (100,000 cycles) and that I'm probably very close to that (initially I thought I was way over that), but also that I should instead put the money towards something with less use. A used 20D or 5D was his recommendation. The thinking being that I would want to buy the new replacement for the 5D when it's announced (I'm expecting September). While his logic made sense, the idea of putting money into another used camera (with condition not really known) did not appeal to me.

I gave it a lot of thought. One thing that struck me was that Canon's repair estimate did not contain any parts, only labor. HamWithCam suspected that it was only an initial estimate. I called Canon and they confirmed that it was a final estimate to repair AF, although if they would find something else wrong during the course of repairing AF they would contact me again for approval to fix whatever that might be at a higher cost. He was also adamant that a technician or engineer had not actually looked at my camera before that estimate was made. This I agreed with. However, the "labor only" aspect bothered me. If there was nothing to replace, then could I fix it? This lead me to retrace in my mind what lead to its apparent failure and the possibility that perhaps connecting it over USB and trying to control it with CameraWindow caused some sort of state or software error in the camera that could be rest.

So on May 7th I declined the repair. My plan was to reset the camera to factory default and see if that would clear up the problem. If not I could re-install the firmware. A helpful sales person at Showcase (local camera store) also recommended taking out both batteries (the main BP-511A and the secondary CR-2016) and letting it sit for a few minutes, thus also inducing a reset (presumably).

I waited in great anticipation for the camera to return. Canon took their sweet time returning it. They only shipped it back on May 17th, 10 days after I declined the repair.

So today I have the camera back. I put in a battery, CF card and a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Autofocus Works!
I try the 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens that the problem first occurred with. AF works!

So what happened?

I doubt that Canon actually repaired anything. The settings in the camera appear unchanged. The first thing that I would expect them to have done is reset the settings.

I suspect the problem cleared itself after a while. Note that when I sent the body back to Canon, it had with it only the body cap and eye cup. No battery (BP-511), although the secondary CR-2016 did remain. Perhaps they removed the CR-2016 just to check if it was there? But wouldn't that reset the settings?

I'm not entirely sure, but I like the fact that it works again, and that I saved myself a tad over $300 for what would most likely have been a useless repair. And thanks to HamWithCam for insisting that it wasn't worth throwing $300 at anyway. It seems like I have the best of both worlds now. :)

In the mean time, I did a lot of shopping and ordered a 5D which arrives tomorrow (Canon has a $300 instant rebate now). More on why I still chose to buy one, despite rumors of an imminent 5D mk II soon in another post.

And finally, it's a bit early to tell that the problem has gone away completely. While the camera does auto focus now, I'm hoping that I do not begin to see an intermittent problem develop over the near future.

Camera Buying Analysis

2008-05-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

Having my 20D's autofocus fail a few weeks ago got me to start thinking about new equipment again.

That has snowballed into a rather large consideration project and I've been doing a lot of comparison shopping.

I'm pretty much decided on getting a 5D. The remaining questions are which other lenses, and there's a bit of a consideration of also picking up a 40D body. However, I actually think I can revive autofocus on my 20D when it comes back from Canon (I declined the repair, they wanted $300). Having given that some more consideration, I hadn't tried a hard reset or reloading the firmware.... Canon is taking forever to return it.

I'm also leaning toward the L series prime lenses. But I've also got my eye on the 70-200. I already have the 24mm f/1.4L, 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.2L which is why those are not on the list.

My other consideration is whether I should get the 24-105mm f/4 L IS kit lens with the 5D, or skip it and get another prime.

The above are prices I've researched. Bold indicates the lowest price. I've eliminated the 2x Extender because the only lens it would work with would be the 135mm f/2L. I've also compared prices against a very reputable local shop. They're not even close to what I can get on-line, and I haven't even factored in the 7% local sales tax I'd have to pay there. The on-line prices do not include shipping. If you think I should consider some additional source, let me know.

I'm certainly not going to get all of this now, but these are the ones I'm looking at.

Finally, I spent a long time considering waiting for an long-rumored and awaited supposed 5D successor. My current analysis tells me that it would be September before Canon might announce one. Add a couple of months before they're shipping and available, and maybe a few more before the bugs get worked out of the first production run and it'd be almost a year (or more) before I'd want to buy one (EOS 1D mk III have had issues). In the mean time, the 5D is a very stable quality product.

Children, iTunes and DRM

2008-05-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago I bought both of my daughters (pre-teen) MacBooks. Along with that I gave each of them a $10/month iTunes allowance.

At the time I didn't buy much stuff on iTunes myself because of DRM. That has changed now that DRM-less music is much more pervasive on iTunes. Still, for them it was a simple solution and I didn't want to expose them to the non-purchase alternatives.

Needless to say, they've done a great job of spending that allowance and filling up their 80gb disks with all kinds of music, movies and a lot of TV shows. It wasn't long before we had to start to delete some stuff off of their laptop to make room for more. So there was the dilema. I paid for this stuff, I don't want to just throw it away.

The solution I found was a rather simple and elegant one: Transmit

My MacPro has tons of disk space (4TB at the moment). They have logins on it as well.

I use a program called Transmit to synchronize their MacBooks with the MacPro (one way), and then they delete what they no longer want on their MacBooks. The beauty of this solution is that they still have access to everything, even from their MacBook via iTunes sharing from the MacPro.

The trick was to set up the SSH daemon on their MacBooks and use SCP as the transport within Transmit. First I turned on Remote Login under the Sharing tab in System Preferences on their MacBooks. However, I didn't want their laptops open to a password guessing attack (kids use simple passwords). So I set the following two options in the SSH daemon's configuration file (

/etc/sshd_config

PasswordAuthentication no
AllowUsers trancemist kid1 kid2

The first entry prevents passwords as being used to login to the system via the SSH protocol.
Only pre-authorized SSH keys are allowed.
The second line is a bit more security by only allowing specific users to login.

The last step was to generate an SSH key for each account on each laptop, and put the public key in the user's

~/ssh/authorized_keys

file.

When I want to sync (one way) their MacBooks to my MacPro, I just login as them, load the private SSH key into SSH Agent, and run Transmit's Synchronize feature as shown in the screenshot above. I pick their iTunes folders as the source (MacBook) and destination (MacPro) for the syncrhonisation. Transmit updates everything new from the MacBook to the MacPro.

The final step is to go into iTunes on the MacPro and select

File->Add to Library...

and point it at their iTunes Library. Now they have access to it all again.

I also run complete backups on their laptops to an external FireWire drive using SuperDuper!

Two Features That Would Make PicLens Much Better (on Flickr)

2008-05-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

I've been using PicLens a lot recently on Flickr to browse photo streams, photos from new contacts and photo pools. Even Explore (by calendar).
(PicLens is a browser plugin for Firefox and IE on Windows and Firefox and Safari on OSX)

One of the features that I love about PicLens is that I can view most photos at maximum resolution. I have a 30" monitor, so this makes a big difference. What's interesting is that as long as someone has uploaded a photo in full resolution, I can see it that way. Even if they don't allow "All sizes" to be viewed based on their permissions. So using PicLens I actually see a lot more than I would by just browsing Flickr or by using something like FlickrLeech.

However, I find that I don't Fav and comment on photos as much as I'd like to because it's so painful to re-enter PicLens and find the spot where I left off after popping out to Flickr in Firefox to leave a comment or Fav a photo.

So there are two features that I think PicLens should implement for Flickr.

I should be able to use a keyboard shortcut (i.e. "f") to mark a photo I'm viewing as a favorite.
I should be able to leave comments directly within PicLens. A keyboard shortcut (i.e. "c") should pop-up a small dialog box for me to leave a comment.

This would be nirvana.

If you think this would be a good idea, write to them and tell them.

Canon Dilemma

2008-05-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

I have a dilemma.

Two actually.

I. Autofocus in my 20D stopped working last week, and after diagnosing it with Canon, they recommended sending it in. I did, along with a note that the pop-up flash occasionally won't pop-up. Today I received notification from Canon that they want $300 to repair the camera (it's well over a year out of warranty).

So this isn't really much of a dilemma. While some may question spending $300 on fixing a 20D (HamWithCam already has), it's worth it to me. It's been of great use and I'll continue to use it (if the shutter doesn't break next -- I'm sure it's well past it's 100,000 cycle life. Several times over, most likely).

I've wanted a second body for a long time, and have been thinking about it much more since I've been without my SLR for a week.
(in the mean time, I've gotten a few good shots with some of my point and shoots)

Hence the next dilemma.

II. XSi (450D), 40D, or 5D?

Let me preface this with stating that I've wanted a full-frame sensor (i.e. 5D) for nearly a year, and have been holding off for the past six months waiting (hoping) that Canon will announce a 5D mk II (or maybe even a 7D). After all, they've revamped everything else in the product line.

Here are the things I'm waiting for in a revised 5D:

Higher ISO
Highlight priority
Dust vibrator (you know, in front of the sensor, I change lenses a lot)
Digic III (because III is better than II?)

So here are my real questions:

Which of the above three has better ISO with less noise?

Is ISO 3200 on a 5D better than ISO 3200 on a 40D?

Even if that's the case, I still want full frame (think wide angle).

What do you think? Will Canon ever update the 5D?

The Salcantay Trek

2008-03-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Cerro Salcantay - 6271m / 20,574'

In May of 2005 Marjon and I set out to Peru. The primary objective of our trip was to visit Machu Picchu (although we saw a lot more). As typical for us, we tend to a fair amount of research in advance, but make only basic reservations and figure the rest out along the way. This worked fairly well for us when we arrived in Lima with only an onward flight to Cusco the next day, but no accommodations there and no onward reservations. We'd figure it out along the way.

Plaza des Armas - Cusco

We knew in advance that the Inka Trail now requires reservations which can only be booked through a trekking company (you can't trek it on your own, sadly). So we figured we'd arrange that when we arrived in Cusco. We had already planned to spend nearly a week in Cusco to acclimate to the 10,500'+ (3200m) elevation. So, we had plenty of time, or so we thought. We discovered the hard way that all spaces were booked for months in advance. We ran around to at least a dozen outfits, hoping someone might be able to arrange something. This is South America after-all, doesn't "no" just mean "You look like a gringo and we want you to pay more?" Not so.

Marjon at the Hotel Wiracocha in Cusco

All was not lost though, and in retrospect I'm actually glad it worked out this way. We had arrived with all of our backpacking gear, tent, sleeping bags, food for 5 days, all we needed was to purchase some fuel locally (very easy). I dreaded the idea of being hoarded along by some tour operator, along a crowded trail. Then there was the equipment question. These treks are all inclusive. They provide the gear and the porters to carry it. The benefit is that you can hike along carrying little more than a day pack in splendid comfort and have camp and dinner ready for you when you arrive at the end of each day. This all sounds good to most people. Personally, I don't like to rely on such outfits. I suspected their equipment would be cheap, and -- this being Peru -- their food likely unsafe to eat (poor sanitary conditions). But what to do? Should we then carry our own gear while we're along with a tour operator that provides everything for everyone else? Marjon was up for it. I'm glad that I never had to make this decision.

As we were looking for spaces for the Inka Trail, one of the tour operators suggested the Salcantay trek. It was relatively unknown at the time. Only a couple of operators seemed to be running tours though it. It's through the wilderness well southwest of Machu Picchu. It's not paved, no reservations or permits are required... and here's the best part: very few people go there. Perfect! We decided to go for it, on our own, no tour operators no crowds.

We had actually read in Lonely Planet about a similar trek that also starts from the town of Mollepata, but then crosses on the eastern side of Cerro Salcantay and into fairly dry territory where there are a few small ruins. So we already had an idea of where to start, and the suggestion from that description to hire an arriero in Mollepata. However, we didn't really have any good description of the route, nor any topographical maps of that area. I had my GPS, but it was only loaded with the Garmin Worldmap which is very basic and wouldn't even get us to Mollepata let alone be useful for navigation along the trek (now I would have checked the free GPS MapCenter2). None of the local shops or outfitters in Cusco had any maps suitable for navigation. The answer was South American Explorers in Cusco. There we purchased the 1:100,000 map of the "Machupicchu" sector published by the Instituto Gragrafico Nacional (IGN) in Lima. The title is somewhat misleading as it doesn't actually cover all of Machu Picchu, but it does cover the entire trek from just north of Mollepata to Santa Teresa.

Map of Salcantay Trek with GPS tracks from MapSource (full size)

Our plan was to get to Mollepata and hire an arriero to carry our gear to Santa Teresa. The trek passes over a 15,000' (4578m) pass just below Cerro Salcantay (6271m / 20,574'). We knew that weren't in shape enough, nor acclimated to carry our 50lb packs over that. The only public transportation from Cusco to Mollepata is a colectivo that runs daily at 06:30, the location of its origin was described vaguely and its regularity was in question. By chance we discussed this with the owner at the Hotel Wiracocha where we were staying. He recommended taking a taxi. It would be approximately a two hour ride and would cost about $22! Marjon and I looked at each other in disbelief, at first thinking that was so much more expensive than the $1 or $2 each that the colectivo would cost. Suddenly the reality of speed, comfort, assured transportation and flexible departure time struck us. "We'll take it!"

Views along the route from Cusco to Mollepata

Mollepata (elev. 9,456' / 2882m) is a very small town situated up on a hilltop at the bottom of the Rio Blanco Valley. A tiny dirt road winds serpentine up a dry mountain for many miles before reaching a town that appears completely isolated. We found a small hotel where we got a room with two beds, access to external hot showers and breakfast. All for $5 each. Given how tourism has been growing recently, especially due to overflow from the Inka Trail, this town will likely not last this way for long. However, it was an incredibly beautiful quaint, quiet little town when we were there in May of 2005.

Marjon With The Owner of the Hotel in Mollepata

While the hotel owner's son prepares us dinner, we discusse our plans with the owner and ask if he knows of a good arriero. "Sure, my brother is an arriero, I will get him." A few minutes later, Neptali Estrada Perez appears before us. A man in his late 40s, wide jaw with brimming mustache and a welcoming smile, Neptali strikes me as a seasoned man with good balance and a sense of humor. I instantly like him. We discuss our plans, Marjon conducts a bit of negotiation (he insists on bringing two animals), we settle on a price and agree to meet at 8am the next day for the start.

Neptali has done this route many times. His value becomes evident the minute we leave town. He takes us through a labyrinth or trails and zigzag paths that we would not likely have discovered ourselves. He knows this trail well, he's done it many times. As it would come out later, he's not just our arriero, but considers himself our guide.

Marjon with Neptali (our arriero) two hours out of Mollepata
with Cerro Salcantay visible in the background.

The road winds steadily up on a hill above the west bank of the Rio Blanco towards Salcantay. By the time we reach our intended camp at the Soraypampa meadow we have traveled 12.1 miles and gained 3,135' (955m) in elevation. Soraypampa is a big meadow with a beautiful view of Cerro Salcantay. It's green with lots of water flowing, a few cattle grazing, and a couple of dirt huts at its edges.

Water is plentiful but we're well aware that it contains at least Giardia and probably many other bacteria. I find a good flow of water, filter it with my MSR Miniworks, and then add a few drops of chlorine and let it sit. So we treated all of our water while backpacking in Peru.

Just as I'm walking back to our camp, a tour group with about a dozen trekkers begins arriving and makes camp nearby. Given how large Soraypampa is, we don't really feel crowded.

We pitch our tent, eat some dinner and Neptali announces that he's off to see if he can find a place to sleep in one of the huts. They're homes of the peasants there, but they usually rent out a small space for arrieros for a few pesos. After we've settled into our tent, Neptali returns to announce that the place is full of "pulgas" (roaches) and he won't sleep there. He asks if we have room in our tent. That's a rather silly question given that our tent doesn't look like it will fit two from the outside, and certainly not three. However, I brought along a rain tarp just in case we had to deal with inclement weather and I offer to make a small shelter using two trekking poles to prop up the ends. He seems very happy with that and so we go back to sleep.

Our Camp at Soraypampa. Neptali Slept Under The Tarp.

We awaken to a fantastically beautiful morning at 12,591' (3873m). Marjon has a bit of a headache, probably from the elevation. We pack up and begin our trek to Cerro Salcantay. Neptali knows the way. The views are breathtaking. Salcantay has a few clouds shrouding some of the view, but not enough to hide her completely. The valley is lush green and the scale of everything is very impressive.

We pose for a few pictures and let the animals get some water before beginning the really steep climb up to the 15,000' pass.

Cerro Salcantay

The climb up over 15,000' feet is grueling. As I get over 14,000' I can barely take three steps before I need to catch my breath. I'm wearing only a light trekking t-shirt and shorts. My pack and everything else is mounted on the horse. Marjon decided to ride the mule. She's doing even worse than I am. The air is thin. She's getting a migraine and can hardly think. Sure signs of elevation sickness. But we press on, knowing that we will quickly descend down the other side and not expose her to this for too long. I begin to feel cold. As I approach the top of the pass, warm humid air from the high jungle on the other side blows over, quickly cools and saps all of my energy. I decide to put on a jacket. Suddenly I feel better and can continue. It's a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other. Finally, we reach the pass.

Me At The Pass (4,630m /15,200 feet) below Salcantay

After a short break we begin to descend down the other side into the high jungle. The vegetation is lush. The air warmer and moist. The valleys surreal in their beauty.

The Mist of the Jungle - descending to Huamantay

After another break for water and then lunch, we arrive at what is the most beautiful alpine meadow and valley I have ever seen. Completely unspoiled by people. Though there are a couple of small huts and what appear to be some subsistence peasants with goats and horses, this all blends in perfectly with the environment. Nothing seems out of place, and it looks like it has been this way for centuries. Time appears to have left this place alone.

Marjon arriving at Huamantay

I am convinced that this is where I'd like to make camp. The beauty is breathtaking. However, Neptali is adamant that we must continue onward. That we will not have enough time to finish the trek otherwise. Not having really calculated the distances myself I go along, reluctantly, regretting it as we descend into the jungle. In retrospect I would have preferred to spend an extra day on the trek and camp here. If you do this trek, I highly recommend it. It is the most beautiful place along this entire trek, in my opinion.

As we descend down into the jungle, a couple of guys from the other group with the tour operator catch up to us and ask if they can borrow our mule because one of their women has developed some sort of digestive illness and can barely walk (poor sanitary conditions by the cooks, as I suspected). They are from Isreal, with their heavy accents and not much on charm. Their tour operator appears to have nothing for them, unprepared for such an event. However, their need is real and even though Marjon was slightly limping on a swollen ankle, she agrees to let them use our mule, saying it'll probably be good for her to walk a bit, downhill now. Neptali is insistent that we charge them something. I recognize their desperation and the fact that we're in the wilderness of the high Andes and decide that the higher rules of the mountains apply, you give assistance to those who need it here. We let her ride on the mule, no charge. They are very grateful, and their mood improves.

After several hours of downhill on a steep muddy trail, we arrive at camp just at dusk. It's a small open clearing in the jungle. Crowded with lots of tents and tours at this point. It's exactly the kind of place I wanted to avoid, and I still wish we had stayed at Humantay. We make camp. Neptali recommends we offer a few pesos for the use of the land to the owners in the small hut, so we do. As we unpack our gear, pitch our tent, set up our tiny "pocket rocket" butane stove we notice the porters and guides from the other tours watching us. Later, Neptali tells us very proudly that they've never seen anyone with such "sophisticated gear" go it alone here. They're fascinated. He's proud to have such clients. We think it's charming, but we're tired and just want to go to bed.

Me at Our Camp on Day 2 - Totorayoc

The next day is a long trek down along the Rio Santa Teresa. We're in the jungle. It's warm, there a mosquitos and other bugs now, but not enough to bother me. The terrain is not as interesting as higher up in the mountains, but we do spot the occasional hut or small hand farming area up high on the mountain slopes. After a few hours we arrive at what appears to be a small snack bar. Made out of wood, and selling bags of 10 Pomegranates for a few pesos. These things are growing all over the place, but at the price it's not even worth picking them yourself. We go through 3 or 4 bags of these fantastically ripe and sweet fruit. They were simply amazing.

Another two or three hours of trekking downhill and we arrive at a horribly ugly little settlement called La Playa. It's quite a stark contrast from the natural beauty of the past three days. Trash is littered all over the place and there are only some makeshift sheds around. Nobody seems to care about how this place looks. Neptali informs us that this is the end of our trek. There is a road that leads from here to Santa Teresa, the town along the Rio Urubamba which leads to Machu Picchu. We can walk it in about three and a half hours or pay a few pesos to go in a colectivo.

Saying Goodbye to Neptali at La Playa

We pay Neptali for his three days of excellent service, and I give him the topographical map of the area that I had bought in Cusco as a gift. I'm not really sure he knows how to read such a map (nor does he need it) but he accepts it with great pride. I suspect it will be a personal treasure to him rather than of actual use. We say goodbye and the minute he leaves we instantly miss him. He was an excellent guide, a good friend, and not to mention arriero.

We wait in La Playa for what seems like eternity for the colectivo. Finally, after the drivers have a leisurely lunch they start loading up. In a small Toyota 4x4 van, which seems not much larger than a typical suburban minivan they manage to pack 15 people and all of their backpacks on the roof and set out down the steep, pothole laden dirt road to Santa Teresa.

Santa Teresa used to be a nice town. However, a severe flood on the Urubamba river wiped out most of the town which sat too close and too low to the river. The flood also wiped out the railroad that came from Aguas Caliente (Machu Picchu) and the bridge across the Rio Urubamba. Thus the town was cut off from the rest of Peru. What remains now is an ugly shanty town with muddy streets, all built high up above the original town. We were advised to camp on the soccer field with the rest of the tour groups. A rather anticlimactic end to our journey, but not all bad. We met several of the other trekkers, including the Israelis who said the girl was feeling much better. We found a hot shower in a shack a few blocks away and were advised to keep all of our packs inside our tent overnight due to the possibility of theft. That turned out to make for a rather cramped two person tent.

View from Our Tent in Santa Teresa

Since the railroad and bridge were washed out, the only way to Machu Picchu is to cross a Tyrolean bridge across the raging Urubamba river, hike a couple of miles to a point where a truck picks everyone up and takes them to the hydro electric plant a few miles up river, the new terminus of the train from Augas Caliente.

Crossing the Rio Urubamba in Santa Teresa

So we proceeded with the rest of the tour groups. We crossed the bridge, walked the mile on sand, and rode the truck to "Hydroelectrico" to wait for the train.

Marjon Riding the Truck from Santa Teresa to Hydroelectrico

And in Hydroelectro we wait.

For the train.

Nobody seems to know when the train to Machu Picchu arrives or departs.

Finding out where to purchase tickets is even a mystery.

We feed a skinny injured cat some leftovers from our tuna pouch.

We wait.

Eventually, the train comes.

Waiting for the Train to Machu Picchu

Hydroelectrico is just that. A hyrdo electric station that takes advantage of the sharp decline in the elevation of the Rio Urubamba between the east and west sides of Machu Picchu. They've actually drilled a long hole under Machu Picchu and use the pressure of the water to generate electricity. Little of this is actually evident there, except for the few guards and fences that make sure you don't get too close. However, this is also now the terminus of the tracks to Aguas Caliente.

The Backside of Machu Picchu

In the end the train came and we got to Aguas Caliente and had a fantastic time visiting Machu Picchu.

Photos from our entire trip to Peru are available in my Peru 2005 set on Flickr.

Reference Info

Location of Salcantay Trek in Peru (full size)

Satellite Image of Salcantay Trek (full size)
(yellow is train route between Aguas Caliente and Cusco)

You can download my GPS data from the Salcantay Trek on my Maps download page as either a GPX file or Google Earth KMZ file.

PicLens Rocks

2008-03-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

I've been using PicLens for a little over a week now to explore various streams on Flickr. It works very well on sets, users' streams, pools, etc. PicLens is a plug-in (extension) that works with various browsers (Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer). It's not just for Flickr, PicLens also supports many other websites such as Picasa, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Though I've only used it with Flickr.

The above screen shot is of PicLens in full screen mode (on my 30" Apple Cinema Display) while browsing pbo31's "your favorites" set.

It has a fantastic kinetic motion based interface, similar to what you may know from the iPhone. You just drag your mouse across the screen (while holding the primary button) and the photos fly across your screen. Click on one and it gets bigger, double click on one and it goes full screen. What I find particularly fascinating about this is that PicLens will allow me to view photos in full screen mode from people that have not allowed their full resolution photos to be accessible through the standard Flickr interface! It has really revolutionized how I explore streams on Flickr.

I initially came across PicLens in a comment by Greg Furry posted on Thomas Hawk's article about FlickrLeech 2. While I have used FlickrLeech in the past, its user interface pales in comparison to PicLens, IMO. My only slight gripe about PicLens is that I wish it were easier to escape out of it to leave a comment on someone's photo. You can do that, but you can't get back in exactly where you left off, which is annoying. I also haven't investigated to see if clicking on a photo in PicLens counts as a "view" on that photo page, it would be a shame if it did not.

Home Office Of The Week

2008-03-05T14:52:00.000-05:00

I've been wondering lately why the above photo of my home office that I posed on Flickr has been getting so many views and favs lately (5,287 and 17 as of this writing).

Technorati provides the answer.

It appears Enterprise Nation (a home business website) has decided to publish my photo as their "Home Office of the Week".

And another website, Shedworking decided to echo it.

Do I Travel Too Much?

2008-02-29T10:22:00.000-05:00

A recent thread in the Atlanta Photographers Guild group on Flickr got me thinking about how many of the photos that I actually take do I post on Flickr.

So I decided to run some numbers.

Here is an analysis of my major recent trips since last summer:

Europe, July 2007 - 1531 photos, 217 on flickr = 14.1%
The Palisades, August 2007 - 931 photos, 127 on flickr = 13.6%
Netherlands, August 2007 - 581 photos, 179 on flickr = 30%
London, November 2007 - 151 photos, 42 on flickr = 27.8%
Warsaw, November 2007 - 194 photos, 30 on flickr = 15.4%

Sierra, October 2007 - 741 photos, 47 on flickr = 6.2%
Patagonia, December 2007 - 2517 photos, 144 on flickr = 5.9%
PMA & Death Valley, Feb 2008 - 413 photos, 10 on flickr = 2.4%

I believe the numbers for the first 5 trips are misleading, because I've already deleted a lot of rejects, so I was only able to count the images left. For the last 3 trips, I haven't rejected anything yet, so I believe those percentages are more accurate.

These figures also do not include photos that get deleted during the trip and thus never get counted.

What are your percentages?

Backups for Apple Laptops

2008-02-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

A friend writes to say that he's just gotten an external disk drive for his Apple laptop and asks "What's the best way to backup my iPhoto library?"

Here's my advice.

The first thing you should do is make sure it's formatted for "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" format.

Most external disks come formatted for PCs using the FAT (File Allocation Table) format which is really crappy for Macs.

You can check with Disk Utility, here's a screen shot of where to look:

If it's not this format and your disk is empty, erase and format it anew (careful, it will delete everything on that disk).

Next, the best way to do backups is with the SuperDuper! program. It will just clone the disk in your laptop to the external drive.

Should your internal drive fail, you can just clone it back after getting it replaced. Even better, you can just boot off of the external drive and run from that while waiting for a new laptop drove. Just hold down the Option key on your keybaord when you turn on your Mac.

SuperDuper! makes an entire clone of your disk. So if you just wanted to restore your iPhoto library, you could go onto that disk and drag a copy of it back to your main disk. Then double click it and iPhoto will open that library.

Also, have you upgraded to Leopard yet? If you have, use TimeMachine! TimeMachine does incremental backups and makes things really easy to restore.

If you haven't upgraded to Leopard, you should really consider it. Time Machine is just one of the many great features.

If you do have Leopard, you can create two separeate volumes on your external disk. Let's say you bought a 250 gb external disk and your internal laptop disk is 80gb. Using Disk Utility, split your external disk into two volumes, one of 80gb and the other with the remainder. Use SuperDuper! to clone your internal disk to the 80gb partition, and give the rest to TimeMachine.

You might ask why you want to use both? The answer is that SuperDuper! makes it trivial to restore your system, and it makes a clone partition that you can litterally boot off of. While restoring from a TimeMachine backup is more involved and slower. However, TimeMachine is better for being able to restore individual files (or images). They're complimentary.

The Final Hour

2008-02-25T21:09:00.000-05:00

At first I thought that my quest to get to Racetrack Playa in time to photograph the moving rocks in the golden light before sunset had failed.

In about five hours of driving to get here, I had managed to get a flat tire and then waste time walking around the wrong end of the dry lakebed searching for these rocks and tracks in vain, thinking the sun had already set.

Just as I was about to give up, I thought I'd drive to the south end and see what's there. As I approached I saw another SUV parked and what appeared to be people in the distance. Suddenly the meaning of the word "Playa" hit me and I realized that walking around the middle of a lake, you do not find a "Playa"!

What's more, whereas I thought I had lost the sun behind the mountains, it turns out that at the point where these rocks are there's actually a gap between the mountains. Not only does this gap allow the sun to shine longer than the northern end of the lake (excellent luck for me), but I believe it also contributes to the explanation behind how these rocks move.

In my hypothesis, this low gap in the mountains on the west side of the lake allows for the wind to rush through with great force. The mountains on the southern and southeastern side of the lake form a curve to the north that these winds can bend around and continue to blow at great speed. This, I believe is the force behind the motion.

The second part of the hypothesis is lubrication. Having stepped in a bit of a wet area on the western side of the lake, I noticed how incredibly soft and slippery it was. When this very porous surface receives just a slight bit of moisture, I believe the entire surface of the lakebed becomes incredibly slippery, thus allowing the force of the wind (mentioned above) to ever so slightly and gently push these rocks.

Finally, the bend of the eastern mountains to the north creates a kind of a "wind bowl" where the wind can swirl around, thus perhaps explaining why not all of the rocks move in the same direction (over time).

Special thanks to G. Dan Mitchell for posting this photo that first got my attention and his subsequent advice on getting here.

A truly magical place.

Racetrack Playa
Death Valley [National Park]
California

Published by San Pellegrino

2008-02-25T15:29:00.000-05:00

About three weeks ago I was contacted by Besanopoli the "communication agency that manages all San Pellegrino websites" requesting to use of this photo:

Per their email:

"Official website www.sanpellegrino.com is dedicated to the S.Pellegrino and and Acqua Panna waters - with its extensive sections spanning all the interesting nuances of Italian culture, from the thousands peculiarities of our food and wine tradition to works of architecture, art and design; from the selected tourist itineraries to the best restaurants, their gourmet cooking and the Italian Lifestyle on the whole."

I thought about this request, and the fact that there was no payment offered. In the end I thought it'd be a good thing. It's fun to see your own work published (with permission and credit). I've thought for a long time that the traditional business models of photography and "old media" are quite staid. It's not like they asked me to do a photo shoot for free, after all.

There are photos from several other Flickr members featured on that page, and credit is given to all of them at the end of the article.

Thanks Besanopoli and San Pelegrino.

And above all, thanks to my good friend Carlos, Architect and Chef who was actually cooking this delicious Risotto that night at his house.

Carlos Ostrej

The article will be available for a limited time on www.sanpellegrino.com, under the title "Risotto: simply delicious!"

Where Are They

2008-02-25T08:34:00.000-05:00

Having just fixed a flat in the middle of Death Valley on a long stretch of unpaved road, I decided to continue the remaining 7 miles, now without a spare.

By my calculations, I had given myself plenty of time to get here in time for the hour before sunset. In fact, I was worried that I would have too much time here and might even take a nap.

But now I'm here. 16:07 PST.
Where's the sun?

"Have I missed the sunset?"

"Where are the rocks and the tracks?!"

I walk around the nothern end of the dry lake bed, wondering where all of the rocks are, and still rather perplexed that somehow I hadn't considered the possibility that there would be a sizeable mountain to the west of the lake bed that the sun would go down over a good two hours before actual sunset!

"Did I really just spend nearly 5 hours to drive over 200 miles and miss it all?"

The Middle Of Nowhere

2008-02-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

Let's put this in perspective...

To get to this point I had already driven almost 200 miles from Las Vegas to Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley. The last 20 miles were on gravel washboard.

While the road as you can see isn't necessarily all that challenging, it is evident from this photo that there is at least one hazard.

Had I taken the advice of G. Dan Mitchell, I would have still been about 10 miles back, but with a fully inflated tire.

Not me.

No patiance.

40mph, even a peak of 50 mph on a few long flat stretches. This Toyota Rav 4 seemed to be doing just ifne.

Then a curve. A bit of a drift... overcompensation... and "BAM!" accompanied by an instantaneous "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" in the cockpit (flat tire sensor alarm).

Suddenly the toughts go through my mind:

"You idiot!"
"Crap!"
"I hope there's a spare..."
"I hope it's not a doughnut"
"I hope it's inflated."

I'm 20 miles from the nearest paved road, which is then over 50 miles from the nearest town.

I am in the middle of Death Valley.

I am literally IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (map). With a flat.

I had anticipated the possibility that I might get suck. The low temperature at night was forecast for 25F. I was prepared (down jacket, hat, gloves, etc).

I changed the tire.

I had another 7 miles to go to get to Racetrack Playa.

Now what?

Do I continue?

With no spare?

Aperture 2

2008-02-23T09:24:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled with the new enhancements in Aperture 2. Among my favorites is the Advanced pane of the enhanced "Highlights & Shadows" controls. It really helped me bring out the definition in this photo.

There are many other great features, and this isn't the only one that I used on this photo, but it made the biggest difference.

Here's the final photo:

.

Note: Aperture 2 doesn't display a side-by side comparison like this, nor does it overlay the controls in this way. This is a composite illustration that I created using The Gimp.