Friday 19 August 2011

Joehoe

I first encountered Joehoe or rather JOEHOE! in a Dutch comic. Interesting character, I thought, who is he? It wasn't until I applied the rules of Dutch pronunciation that I realised that this was just YOOHOO!


And that also explains why babies go boe-hoe-hoe in Dutch.



Monday 8 August 2011

What I've learnt from scanning in 17 boxes of slides so far

1. I used to take worse pictures in the past. I'd see a pretty landscape and take a picture without foreground.

2. Camera shake was a perennial problem for me, especially as I liked low light photos.

3. Depth of field was also a problem, as you'd expect with 35 mm camera lenses, especially the telephoto.

4. I like difficult shots, e.g. twilight, but the film wasn't up to it. In particular Kodachrome had little latitude. Ektachrome fared better.

5. Colour balance was a problem. Sunny shots came out ok, but overcast shots were disappointing.

6. Most of my pictures are forgettable, except for some where people I know are in it, or the occasion was memorable. Perhaps 2 or 3 slides per box are really worthwhile. I should have just enjoyed the jazz concert, street fair or whatever.

7. I usually took more photos during one overseas trip than in several years of ordinary life. E.g. 12 rolls for the 1997 trip.

8. I should have taken more incidental photos. But in those days shots were expensive. Now digital photos are practically cost-free.

9. Today's cameras are so good, they do so much behind the scenes to make pictures in nearly every condition look good.

10. Slides stored in boxes fared better than those more exposed to open air.

11. The scanner is better than the film because any dust comes out sharp, but the images aren't that sharp.


Here's one of the better ones, taken at Pittwater YH around Christmas 1990.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Another coffee joke

What does a chronic smoker ask for in a café?


Coughey.





Tuesday 2 August 2011

Internet filter (another bad joke)

What's the difference between a very popular movie and an Internet filter?


One's a blockbuster and the other is a bustblocker.