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2021 12 30

Something Different – Drone Flights

For a while now I have wanted to learn to fly rc helicopters. I have purchased a few small ones over the years but have never to come close to being able to fly them. They are terribly difficult to fly (at leas for me) and fragile. If you crash, which seems inevitable, you will break something. Apparently the smaller the copter, the more unstable they are. Hate to start with a bigger (meaning more expensive) one just to crash it on the first attrmpt.

Then I was given a DJI Spark. At the time of release, this was the first affordable consumer drone. This little drone is small (smalleer than the size of my hand) and light (weighing just 300 grams) but is packed with features. It has intelligent flight modes, such as active track. orbit and helix. And is built like a tank.

The drone is super stable where you can just let go of the sticks st any time and it will stop and hover and is loaded with safety features, automatic return to home and object avoidance with the front facing sensors. To the point where even a klutz like me can fly it and have a lot of fun.

Below are some first attempts.

2021 12 20

Infrared Indoors

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I’ve been wondering what the process is for taking ir photos indoors. I understand that a speedlight produces light in the near infrared range but there is a filter that blocks infrared and ultra violet light. Since I have an older Yashica flash that I am not using, I figure it is time to experiment.

The flash has zoom capabilities so In order to convert the flash I first pulled off the zoom head and removed the filter. This should allow infrared light to pass. To filter the visible light when the flash fires, I decided to 3D print an adapter to mount a Hoya R72 filter which wil block the visible light from the flash leaving only a faint red glow when the flash fires.

Tried a few random test shots and it seems to work ok. I then tried to take an actual photo in a dim room with just indoor light. What I did not consider is that led or fluorescent light does not emit infrared. It is somewhat difficult to take a picture when you cannot see the subject. So it appears that some supplemental lighting is required and maybe flash is best used as fill lighting. Looks like more testing will need to be done.

2021 12 13

Data Safety and Integrity

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As a photographer I have accumulated a large number of images most of which will be somewhat disastrous if lost. I use Lightroom and Photoshop for editing and photo management. Losing the Lightroom database will also lose the edits even if the files themselves can be recovered.
So what to do to prevent data loss and corruption to the image files as well as any personal documents. There are numerous cloud backup options but they all come with a cost whether monthly or yearly. In addition restoring the files may be slow unless there is an option to ship the files in a hard drive to you. For professions, this is probably the best solution in addition to any local backup strategies. With your data being stored on someone else’s server, there is always the remote possibility that whoever you use could access and view your files. How important this is to you will depend on the sensitivity of the data and your tolerance level.
I am on the Windows platform and can briefly describe how my system is set up and the software I use. My desktop is an Intel i7/32 GBs of ram with all ssd hard drives, m.2 nvme boot drive, 2 ssd’s on a stripe volume (not the best practice) for fast data access and a separate ssd for swap.
The software I use for backups is called Oops! Backup by Altaro. This uses delta backups where only the bits of data in a changed file is backed up and not a whole new copy of the changed file. This is vastly more efficient and makes for small sizes. Unfortunately the version that installs on a client OS is no longer available. When the software no longer works in future versions of Windows, I will need to look for alternatives. A quick search shows a number of free and paid options such as Comodo backup, Acronis True Image, AEOMI Backupper among others.
For storage I have a NAS server running Freenas. I have been using Freenas for a number of years. Freenas has been purchased by iXSystems and is now known as Truenas. The version I used was older and unfortunately there is no upgrade path to the current version of Truenas, So it was time to rebuild the server and while I was at it move over to a more capable box. Truenas/Freenas uses the zfs file system on freeBSD, is robust and checks for file corruption and runs on older hardware. So you can build a NAS server from a box you may have lying around. My server has 3 hdd’s in a raidz1 configuration with another drive as a hot swap. What this means is that in case of a drive failure, the raid array will fail over to the hot swap drive and rebuild. The system also uses 2 smaller ssd mirrored drives for boot so that if one of the boot drives fails the other will keep the server running.
Oops! Backup runs on a schedule to automatically back up files to the NAS and also does a nightly sync of the backed up files to an external usb drive. Data can still be lost and a copy should be stored off site in case of something like a fire. But I figure if my house burned down my pictures will be the least of my worries.
A limited number of important files can easily be stored on a service such as Google Drive or Dropbox. I have recently come across Boxcryptor which will encrypt files stored on a number of cloud providers.

2021 12 03

Journey into the Red

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Red in this case is infrared photography. I have always been intrigued with this form of photography, maybe because it is so different and for the surreal images this technique can produce.
My first attempts were with my Minolta Dimage5 fitted with a Hoya R72 filter. This filter will only pass light in the 720nm spectrum and when looking through it looks completely black as our eyes cannot see in the infrared range. Though not ideal, this is an inexpensive way to experiment.
There are of course a number of drawbacks. Because the viewfinder is essentially black with the filter in place, everything has to be done before screwing on the filter and pressing the shutter. Exposure is usually measured in seconds with a lot of guessing and you have to deal with any focus shifting at that wavelength. Not easy but not insurmountable, certainly inconvenient.

Some examples of images with this setup converted to black and white.

My current setup is a Nikon D300 that has been converted to ir by Life Pixel. The process involves removing the hot mirror from the sensor and replacing it with an appropriate ir filter and the camera is then recalibrated for focus. Once converted the camera can no longer be used to take pictures in normal light. The removal of the hot mirror allows more normal exposure times, the ability to see your subject and proper focusing using live view. Using live view also allows for the use of different lenses. The conversion process can also be optimized for a particular lens but changing lenses will result in focusing errors. As infrared photos are best taken under bright sunlight conditions, I attached a Hoodman Loupe over the rear lcd.

2021 11 12

Badminton

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I have been playing the sport of badminton in excess of 20 years. Just love finding an activity that is combines fun and exercise. I have been an active member of the Wooddstock Badminton Club since I started playing.

This is a wonderful way to meet up with some friends, enjoy some fun times and get some exercise. Over the years I have used many different of rackets and shoes. I started using Black Knight badminton rackets and Asics shoes. I am currently using a Kawasaki racket and Mizuno shoes. Along the way I have used the following brands of rackets, Sotx, Apacs amd Victor. In shoes I have tried Head, Asiscs , Yonex and Mizuno. A well fitting pair of court shoes are essential to avoid injuries. This is a fast moving sport. I started using Asics which provide great cushioning and grip but they are generally a bit heavier. Mizuno shoes have excellent grip and are much lighter. The most important is finding a pair and style that fits properly. As for insoles I find that stock insoles are generally not good. On a new pair of court shoes, this is the first thing that gets replaced. I currently use Enertor insoles with my second choice being Dr. Scholl’s Performance insoles. The Dr. Scholl’s insoles fit me well at less than half the price of the Enertors. For my court shoes I use the Enertor insoles.

Resources : there are some good sites available now compared to just a few short years ago. BWF has recently been uploading much of their international tournaments to their Youtube channel, something that was not available a few years back. There are now a number of videos on techniques and strategy. Some of which can be found on Shuttle Life, Badminton Family and Tobias Wadenka amongst others. If you like forums, the best is here.

We are fortunate that we have access to a facility that has wooden floors , good even lighting and darker walls to aid in visibility.

Unfortunately I recently had a rather severe illness and am still recovering from that and surgery. i have not been able to be on court since the end of March. I am hopeful that eventually going to be able to play the sport again.