Camera geekery

teeka and I must be getting close to being "camera geeks." So far, we're each on our second digital camera (I started with a CoolPix 2100 and upgraded to a CoolPix 5700, she started with a CoolPix 2000 and upgraded to a Fuji A360), having each previously had a point and shoot film camera, and a Canon Rebel 2000 that we got as a wedding present.

We're also up to 7 tripods now. We've got a lightweight "normal" tripod, we've each got a monopod - Manfrotto 1100s, with a mini-ball-head (Teeka) or a Manfrotto 3D head (me) - and I've got a mini tripod, and she had a micro tripod (what else do you call one that's only 3" tall?). Today the GorillaPods we ordered after Christmas came in. She's getting a GP1 and I'm getting a GP3, which really needs to be matched with the 3D to work right.

Then there's my camera bag. It's a Lowepro Nova Pro 1 AW, either my third or fourth bag. It contains the camera, a big Quantaray flash (a QTB 7500A with the Nikon AF module), the mini tripod, the GorillaPod, a laser pointer, a remote shutter cable/timelapse controller, the battery charger and its cord, the AC adapter, 5 spare batteries (4 rechargables and one lithium), 4 spare AAs for the flash, three spare memory cards, a cleaning kit and duster bulb, and some hard candies that Teeka left in it. And now, since I added the GorillaPod, it's full. And I haven't added the 3D head yet.

I'm resisting a new bag, but I'm looking at the Nova Pro 3 AW as an upgrade.

Gorillapods

teeka picked me up from work, and on the way home, commented that "you should make a stop-motion war of the worlds thing with those" after seeing the gorillapods. We decided that my camera with the flash on it would be the ship, and her camera on the smaller pod would be the pilot, who could go out exploring and whatnot. We could the Photoshop in the "beam of death" from the flash (for anything that needed destroying), and any other effects we wanted. We were amused, and then I spent the rest of the ride seeing where you could mount Teeka's camera inside the truck using her 'pod.

After we got home, I realized that there is a problem. I'd need a third camera to shoot any of the pictures where the pilot is entering or leaving its ship, as both of our cameras would need to be in the shot. I took one picture anyway, but I don't think we're ever going to actually do anything with the idea. This is the part of the movie where the alien gets out of his ship, and we find out why he's terrorizing the planet of the origami panda people (who, from the looks of things, also can use sailboats). I could probably do the whole thing by taking every picture twice - once with each camera and then putting everything back together, but that seems a little, um, ridiculous.

On a day like today....

it can only mean one thing when the outside thermometer reads 68F.

teeka's out in the garage playing with glass.

We got atomic clocks for Christmas. They included a wireless outside temperature probe, which Teeka has in her shop so that she knows how cold it is out there. She also knows when it's warmed up enough to be reasonable comfortable to work in, too.