Where I've been and what I've learned along the way…
This is the best exposition I’ve seen of the recent about face by the FCC and what’s at stake if it should become reality. Major take home…
They should be regulated as such. She also answers the question why we in the US pay so much for so little? Directly out of my Econ 101 textbook… Monopolies are bad for everyone except the monopolists. Vi puts traditional media outlets to shame. Kudos!
June 1 Update: Humorous take on the same topic by John Oliver! [profanity]
We recently visited Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. After many hours of editing the first complete Gallery of Photos is ready. I will add to this post periodically. Here is my overview of selected highlights…
We arrived about noon and proceeded to nearby Black Turtle Bay where we saw Sea Turtles, Sharks, and Golden Rays amongst the mangroves. If you have enough bandwidth you should also view the 12 Minute Video I’ve prepared to see them in motion!
After an overnight cruise we awoke the next day anchored in Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island (basically the flooded caldera of an extinct volcano!). After a wet landing on a sandy beach we had our first encounters with Sea Lions and nesting Frigate Birds. (With many, many more to come!)
After snorkeling and lunch we climbed a narrow stairway to reach the top of the island. Over one million birds nest here according to our guide. We saw thousands of Petrels, Shearwaters, Frigate Birds, and Boobies in the air and on their nests. We also saw their top predator, the Short-Eared Owl. [I should note that the panoramas below were taken with my iPhone 4s, which did a remarkable job under the circumstances! See Video to get a feel for the thousands of birds flying overhead!]
We again cruised overnight and woke up anchored in Sullivan Bay near the iconic Pinnacle Rock of Bartolomé Island. The landscape is stark and strangely beautiful almost beyond words. We first climbed to the Bartolomé summit for one of the most famous views in all of the Galápagos. We were standing on an old cinder cone almost completely barren of plants. In the near distance was the pinnacle and our barkentine sailboat the Mary Anne. Beyond a narrow channel was Santiago Island with black lava flows and red rock outcrops. Spectacular!!
On the ascent I spotted a Galápagos Hawk feeding on an iguana…
We then took a snorkel around the pinnacle and came across Galápagos Penquins sunning themselves on the rocks…
After lunch we crossed the narrow passage and landed on Santiago Island at the site of extensive lava flows dating from the 1800s. We walked for more than two miles over black Pāhoehoe Lava with endless patterns, swirls and cracks.
The next day we arrived at Rábida Island with its prominent red cliff and red sand beach. We took an extended dingy ride along the coast (to the right in the photo below). The hillsides were covered with dormant Sandalwood Trees and Prickly Pear (Opuntia) Cactus. [See Video]
This was our first encounter with the quintessential Blue-Footed Boobie, a magnificent bird! There were also Marine Iguanas, Sally Lightfoot Crabs and Sea Lions playing in the surf.
We went for a hike around a point overlooking a blue water bay, and then went snorkeling.
Several Sea Lion Pups decided we were good targets for playing chicken! [See Video]
In the afternoon we landed at a point called Cerro Dragón.
The “dragons” in this case are large yellow Land Iguanas. We also encountered a lovely Large-Billed Flycatcher. It was so unafraid it landed on a branch about four feet from me!
As the sun got low in the west we encountered a pair of Flamingos busily feeding in a small lagoon. [See Video]
The next day we spent traveling around in the dingy, cruising the coastline and landing on a small island called Mosquera, which is a sea lion resort! [See Video]
Someone had gathered the bones of a small Beaked Whale and assembled them on the beach.
Next day we moved down the coast of Santa Cruz and landed on the small South Plaza Island. This is a wildlife and photographic paradise! Sea Lions, Marine and Land Iguanas, Cactus Finches, Mocking Birds, Swallow-Tailed Gulls… you name it!
The island gently slopes from a shoreline to a forty foot cliff. There we saw several Red-Billed Tropicbirds as they flew in the updrafts close to the cliff edge.
That afternoon we proceeded south to Santa Fé Island for a different species of Land Iguana, Tree-Sized Cactus and a large Sea Lion Colony.
Our final day on the water brought us to Española Island with its high cliffs and unique residents.
The Marine Iguanas were the most colorful we’d seen…
A pair of Blue-Footed Boobies did their courtship dance on the trail as we walked past…
Young Fur Sea Lions cavorted in the surf…
And finally the Waved Albatross courting and nesting along the trail… [See Video]
The next day we got in a van and drove through the Santa Cruz Highlands back to the airport. Along the way we had the opportunity to visit a water hole with several Giant Tortoises lounging in it. A perfect coda to an outstanding trip!
I recently purchased this waterproof camera to take along on my kayak trip to the Everglades. It cost just under $300 online. The results so far are impressive, especially the high-res video.
After a month I’ve become pretty familiar with its basic functions, but the PDF-only manual is thick and there are lots of bells and whistles I haven’t tried (such as time-lapse). Here is my quick review…
It seemed to survive the salt water nicely, though I did not open the battery/card door during the trip and did not use it underwater. I bought a floating wrist strap that worked well. Very nice not to worry about getting it wet! There are two caveats however: 1) It is very easy to get water or salt residue on the lens window. Inspect and clean it often. 2) There are controversies on the web regarding water damage, warranty service, and required replacement of the door seal. My impression is the company is beginning to listen to customers who had problems and is making maintenance easier.
The basic functions are all there and reasonably well implemented. The location of the wide/tele buttons took some getting used to (they are on the back where you can hit them with your thumb). The Manual Mode is a bit odd in that you only have two choices for aperture (f3.3 and f10 at full wide). I thought it was broken at first. (Perhaps there are only two apertures available in full auto as well? This might be a reasonable design compromise for a small camera.) Switching to shutter speed takes another button press. This is clearly a design flaw since most of the adjustment comes from the shutter. In Manual Mode it should default to shutter speed and aperture adjustment should require the extra step!
The video sequences I shot in the Everglades were truly impressive. I set the camera to capture high-res mp4. The raw files fill my desktop screen and I’ve had to reduce the resolution to use them on the web and DVD. I’ve edited the best clips together into a short movie so you can judge for yourself!
Based on one example, this seemed to work well…
This is where the extra steps and awkwardness of Manual Mode became painfully apparent. The process was complicated by the fact that the “meter” hides itself between exposures, so I had to partially depress the shutter release each time I wanted to make adjustments. (Perhaps there is a setting somewhere that will override this? I should probably just revert to doing the exposure math in my head like we did back in the old days before meters became common. <smile>) That said I was able to get a few decent two-exposure HDR photos without too much frustration…
To get these quick-and-dirty high dynamic range (HDR) photos take two photos of the same scene with the same aperture at 1.5 and -1.5 EV. Then combine them in Photoshop or your favorite HDR software.
The gallery below shows a general sampling of the photos I’ve taken in the past few days. Overall I am quite pleased with this camera and its minor faults are more than compensated by being waterproof!
