My Geek Life

Dropping Flickr and Moving to Google+

2012-02-18T10:54:00.001-04:00

With the recent explosion of Google+, especially in the area of photography, it got me thinking about whether I should keep my photos up on Flickr or make the move to G+.

I have been on Flickr for years now and have over 61,000 views on my images. I'm paying for the Pro account so I could upload full-res images. You see, I had been using Flickr as my photo backup as well as my display area. Yes I was backing up my images to an external hard drive, but that really does not help me, if God forbid, my house was to burn down or something.

In the past few months as Google+ has becoming more popular, I keep reading articles on how Yahoo seems to be loosing interest in Flickr. Top individuals of Flickr have also been leaving the organization. And really, has Yahoo done ANYTHING in recent years to compete. I originally joined Flickr when it was run by its creators, Ludicorp of Vancouver back in 2004. I wanted to support a Canadian company.

My Flickr Pro account is coming up for renewal in May at a cost of 24.95 USD/Year. Not outrageous by any means, but still a cost.

With the renewal coming up, the things I'm hearing about Yahoo and how G+ is coming on strong it was time to re-think my Photo strategy.

My goal has always been to share my photos on-line and make sure they are also safe. This is what I am doing now:

1. Backing up my photos

My computer and photos are backed up to an external drive (my Drobo) using the local feature of CrashPlan (the Drobo unit contains 4 hard drives, so even if one fails, it will continue to work without any data loss).

My computer and photos are also backed up to the "cloud" via CrashPlan, I purchased the 4 year plan at a cost of $118.99 or approx. $30/year for unlimited backup ... small price to pay for peace of mind.

* For those of you who can't afford the cloud backup solution of CrashPlan, you can still use the free account to backup to a friend who is also using CrashPlan... great free way to have an off-site backup.

2. Showing my photos

I am currently in the process of putting my photos up on Google+. With this I am no longer putting every single image on-line, only the ones I consider to be my best. As I gain more experience as a photographer, I take fewer pictures, delete more, and show less.

One of the other features that helped me decide to move to G+ is that G+ allows you to upload unlimited photos for FREE, as long as you don't mind having them re-sized. See here for more info...

Personally, since these are only being viewed on the web, I re-size all my images to fit within 1600x1600 pixels.

3. Why not FaceBook you ask?

I think this is another blog post entirely, but in short, everyone uses FaceBook for different things, personally I try and keep mine more personal and closed to the public, so only showing images there, will only get seen by a handful of peeps. Maybe one day when I consider myself a "pro" photographer, will I create a "fan" page to market my business.

...

So there you have it. This is my solution that still allows me to show off photos and keep everything safe in case of something unexpected happens.

Leave a comment and let me know what kinds of things you are doing to keep your precious images safe.

Cheers,
P

Is Anyone Looking At My Photos?

2012-02-18T09:47:00.000-04:00

I'm sure it is just a matter of time, but currently Google+ does not show you any stats on your images. It would be nice if you could see things like number of Album views and individual Photo views. Well, in a round-about way, you can, but you have to view your photos via PicasaWeb. Here's how...

- Go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/
- select an Album
- then select a Photo
- below the image at the lower left you will see the # of views
- NOTE: Recent uploads stay at zero for a few days.

Thanks to the power of Google and other G+ geeks, I found this out via Trey Ratcliff's post on the subject.

Yoga Desktop Wallpaper for Feb 2012

2012-02-07T21:36:00.001-04:00

Thought it would be fun to create some free desktop wallpapers from photos I've taken.

This first one "Virabhadrasana 3" is based on a photo I took of Carol Fellowes for her web site and it got me thinking it would be cool to take some of her yoga poses and turn them into desktop wallpapers. (With her blessing of course.)

I plan to continue the yoga theme thru 2012 and as well create a few other from some of my other work.

Here is the original the wallpaper was based on.

And here is the wallpaper I created from it...

Here are the download links for the sizes I've created...

(1024x768 / 1440x900 / 1600x1200 / 1920x1200)

Enjoy and please share!

You've Got Mail... Well no one told me!

2011-04-23T08:07:00.000-03:00

Now even though I am a GMail user, on my Macs I use the Mail.app application to send/receive my GMail messages. Why you ask? Well mainly because I like the integration with my Mac for entering such things as calendar and todo items. Yes, my iCal is also linked to my Google Calendar.

To get back to why I am writing this post...

One of my biggest beefs with the Mail app is that you can only play a sound bite to indicate you have new mail.

If you are like me and have multiple windows open and are either playing music in the background or got your tv on as well, you won't hear that notification and may not even notice the little new email notification on the Mail icon in the Dock.

So I did a little searching around to see if I could find an app/plugin that would, at the very least, popup a window to let me know new mail has arrived. Also, that the window remains open until I close it. (If you are away from your machine and come back, a notification window that comes up then fades away after a few seconds, is not very helpful).

What I found was a Mail plugin called Herald.

This app does exactly what I need! It plays a sound when new mail has arrived (I chose "You've Got Mail") and it shows a popup window that stays visible until you close it. Perfect!!!

Here are the settings I am using:

I hope you enjoy this free app as much as I do!

Hacking My Workspace

2011-02-14T21:39:00.001-04:00

Not too long ago I saw this article on Lifehacker on a "Cordless Workspace" which inspired me to do something about the mess of cables, hanging off my desk (well, really a table).

I went looking for a basket similar to the one they used (seen to the right here), but had no luck.

I ended up doing things on the cheap. I purchased a roll of garbage bag ties (that you can cut to length) and some "screw eyes".

I placed screw eyes around larger items like my power supply and internet isp modem and then along the back of the desk. I inserted the garbage ties through the eyes and around the devices and cables to hold everything in place. Lastly I secured some of the loose cables by duct tape. I know... but hey, it works!

In the photo below you'll see my D-Link router, power bar, ISP cable modem, a USB hub and some of the cabling.

I still have a little bit of work to do as you can see from the view of my desk. I want to better hide the cable on the right, going to my cable modem and the power cord on the left, going to the wall.

Also, I'm thinking of installing some kind of basket drawer for my scanner to make more room on top of my desk.

Overall I am pretty happy with the outcome considering it was only a couple hours of work and a total cost of about $5.00.

What Do You Do When The Power Goes Out?

2011-01-13T13:33:00.001-04:00

IMG_7782
Originally uploaded by Paul Wesson

What do you do when the power goes out? Write code, that's what!

Just make sure your laptop is fully charged and you don't play any video, use usb or wifi... but then again, with no power there is no wifi.

I got 3 hours of coding in and completed my work and still had 2 hours or more left on my MacBook battery. Pretty sweet.

Like the candles?

Most Used Mac Apps of 2010

2010-12-31T09:15:00.000-04:00

Below are a list of Mac apps I just can't live without. Some are free and some I've paid for, but in my mind are well worth it.

Adium (free)
- Great IM client that I have connected to 2 Google Talk accounts, 2 MSN accounts and a Yahoo account.
Evernote (free version, mac and windows)
- Though when I first got Evernote I paid for a years use to get a backlog of all my papers and receipts scanned and imported. I don't keep paper documents anymore, I scan, import and schred.
1Password (paid version)
- Though 1Password was not free, it is well worth the money. It remembers all my passwords so I don't have to. The browser plug-ins work great... Chrome, Safari & FireFox.
Chrome (free)
- Awesome browser for the Mac. Blows away Safari and FireFox!
Delibar (free version)
- I use Delibar to access my delicious bookmarks so I don't have to have plugins in any of my browsers... love the way it integrates with my Mac.
Flickr Uploadr (free)
- how I get my photos to Flickr
Transmission (free)
- awesome torrent downloader
TweetDeck (free)
- great Twitter client for Mac/Windows running on Adobe Air
TeamViewer (free)
- Great client for doing remote computer support to either Mac or Windows machines
Aperture (paid)
- Fantastic photo organizer, editing, manager
Dropbox (free version)
- Easiest way to sync files between computers in your house or anywhere for that matter.
Avery DesignPro for Mac (free)
- If you have to print labels of any kind, this software from Avery makes it dirt simple.
Pixelmator (paid)
- All I have to say about this app is that, there is nothing I haven't been able to do with it that I've had to use Photoshop for in the past. At $59.00 it is a no brainer.
Skype (free)
- When dealing with people that don't have a Mac, Skype is great for those audio and/or video chats.

Tuesday's Come Too Fast

2010-11-16T23:20:00.001-04:00

It is almost 11:30pm and I totally forgot it was Tuesday. Good thing everyone and their dog writes a list similar to this each Tuesday, or I'd never remember.

I need to blog more so there is something here other than 10 random thoughts each Tues.
High School volleyball season is so busy and so fast, the last time I checked, it was summer. (Good excuse for #1)
My 2007 iMac runs as sweet as it did when I got it.
Apparently you can spend $800.00 and have nothing to show for it.
Why does this list have to have 10 items.
Pretty sure Mexico won't be on my travel list for this spring...
Does anyone really read this?
This new juice (Tropicana, Orange Peach Mango) is delicious. I should buy some vodka and sprite, it make a great spritzer.
I still have beer and coolers in my fridge from 2 months ago.
Why do they make a running watch you can't turn off and have to recharge all the time. Someone didn't think that through.

Well Said

2010-11-11T12:16:00.001-04:00

Tuesday Random's

2010-11-09T12:22:00.000-04:00

It is Tuesday and I wish it were Friday. Is it the weather that has me in this funk? It can't be February already? Anyhow, here are 10 random thoughts I just came up with in under 2 minutes.

Can't seem to stay focused or awake today, too much stuff going on in the office.
Dating is a lot of work.
My body is craving exercise, rain please stop so I can go for a few runs this weekend.
I like chocolate way too much.
I want it to be summer, right now!
Why can't cable companies offer ala-carte programming, don't tell me you can't!
I should buy a TV some day.
Why is it when I get one car paid off, I want to go out and buy a new one?
Come on TweetDeck... if a tweet shows in one column don't repeat it in the main feed! Can't be that hard to implement, can it?
I have no style.

My 2nd Lesson from the Pro

2010-11-07T08:40:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, Nov. 4th, Tanya Reynolds asked me back to help out with a different type of shoot (thank God it was indoors!)... a Christmas themed stock photography shoot for her iStock Photo collection.

My job tonight consisted of helping with the decorating and adjusting the lighting as needed... oh and to find where she last left her flash or pocket wizard.

I had a great time and learned how she used the various lighting setups to get the shots she wanted. It was also fun again watching her work with her models, who were all great by the way! fyi: I didn't draw any blood this time.

Tanya also let me geek out a little bit and set up my camera to do a time lapse of the event. (disclaimer: No models or assistants were harmed or treated poorly in the making of this video)

View on Vimeo

Learning From The Pros

2010-11-06T21:23:00.000-03:00

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to help out Tanya Reynolds on one of her fashion shoots in downtown Halifax with model Rebecca.

My job consisted of carrying the light/umbrella and keeping it from blowing away in the high winds. I did "#fail" at one point when I was caught by surprise by a wind gust (shortly after the above shot was taken). Tanya didn't want to use that umbrella much longer anyway, and I really didn't need that eye.

One thing I learned doing this... wear gloves because when it is cold out, like it was that night, your hands freeze pretty quickly holding onto metal objects. (duh) Actually it was really fun watching Tanya work, she has a great re pour with her models which helps get those great shots.

See Tanya's post from the shoot here...

Thanks Tanya!

Follow Tanya on Twitter @TanyaReynolds

My 10 Random Thoughts for Today

2010-10-26T11:31:00.000-03:00

Being sick and staying home gives you time to think (all though it hurts) about random ~~shit~~ stuff.

Yesterday I did some work from home but gave up after about 4 hours as I found I could just not be creative enough to write good code. Today my head feels like it is in a vise, so let's see what gets squeezed out!

Why do I always eat up all the Halloween candy before Halloween gets here? Now I just have to go buy more.
I love my iMac!
I miss going down south.
Smarties taste better when you put the whole box in your mouth at once rather than eating one at a time.
People send way to much crap via e-mail that could easily be sent by IM.
Hey twitter people, stop posting links to stuff on your FaceBook page when not everyone uses FB or has access to it from work!
Rolling my chair over hardwood leads to f'd up floors. And... I didn't see that coming, because?
People make fun of me because I like Nickelback. Too f'n bad. If a song rocks, it rocks!
I'm 44 now. How will I ever earn enough money to retire?
This was a lot harder that I thought.

Playing with lighting

2010-10-23T21:49:00.000-03:00

Tonight (being sick and bored) I thought I'd experiment more with my Westcott Umbrella & Lightstand using my 580ex-II strobe. It was time for a new self-portait.

The hardest part I find is trying to get the photo to be in focus. Took me a bunch of shots to get it right (or close to right).

Here is the result.

(Link to original)

People often ask what I do for a living?

2010-10-23T15:42:00.000-03:00

This should explain it!

Too Cute Not to Share

2010-09-26T18:03:00.002-03:00

Dreams are often most profound when they
seem the most crazy. Sigmund Freud
Originally uploaded by mr.KIO

Usually I just tweet links like this, but this little pup is just too cute to not share with you.

Head on over to mr.KIO's flickr stream to see more of his work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/igievil/

My New Camera Gear

2010-09-06T11:01:00.000-03:00

One of the things I wanted to start getting into is portrait photography so I went looking for a lighting kit.

My buddy Mark Chiasson pointed me towards a few links on eBay where I could get this stuff pretty cheaply. I however do not have the patients for finding every little piece I need at the best price. For the heck of it, I went on the Henry's site and found this Westcott Lightstand Kit. It was exactly what I needed and at what I thought was a good price.

My only problem was that Henry's site did not describe how tall the stand was... which is kind of important. I e-mailed Henry's and the guy at the Dartmouth store had no idea either, as they only know what is on the site as well. On the plus side, he said he could order it in for me and if the height was not to my satisfaction, I didn't have to buy it. Well, it is an 8ft stand! Perfect.

Can't wait to start using it!

FYI: The flash I will be using with it is a Canon 580EX II

Back to the blog

2010-09-06T09:01:00.000-03:00

Well after a few years away from blogging, I've decided to give it another try. Until now I've relied on twitter to help me speak my mind. Here I'll be able to more easily share my pics, thoughts, links etc.

Stay tuned.
P