My GPS Camera Phone

While I’ve had some success in the past with taking camera phone photos of the moon, it doesn’t mean I really knew what I was doing. Hard to believe, I know. This time around, however, I think I can say with a slight bit of conviction that the best time to shoot the moon is dusk on a semi-clear evening while the sky is still blue. Having a polarizing filter, as seen in Dan’s example, would eliminate the glow around the moon, but we’re talking about a camera phone here. Instead of agonizing over the inability to get a “perfect” photo, work with what you have and be positive about the potential results.

It goes without saying that a little bit of Photoshop surgery is still going to be required to remove the dreaded camera phone jpeg artifacts that will likely arise from this low-light photo. A little application of the “Reduce Noise” filter and the image is less pixellated, resulting in a smoother blue sky.

I think that the biggest point to remember is to not move. It’s a no-brainer, but seriously, don’t move. If you have to freehand the shot, exhale before the snap and relax. If at all possible, brace yourself against something solid to reduce body movement. In a best case, try to use something as a camera mount, like a wall, fence, car, newspaper stand or anything else. Motion is not the enemy, but it certainly doesn’t help us in this scenario.

Just remember to keep trying and to keep a positive attitude on your results. There’s no film to develop, so delete the bad photos and try again! Before you realize it, you will have captured your subject. Happy shooting!

Is it me or does this water look like crystals flying through the air? Regardless, I didn’t think a camera phone would stop motion like this.

The water fountain in the image was taken last week at the University of Florida. The day was warm and the kids were looking for something exciting to do. We had to pick up Nancy, who always manages to find the cool things that nobody else seems to find.

After a few loops around campus to find her, we park and walk to this new fountain that is ground-level and barrier-free. The jets of water turn on and off at predictable intervals, but the kids got fooled many times. They were soaked and their fountain antics drew smiles from passing students and faculty.

About 30 minutes later, we packed up the kids and went home to dry clothes and Nintendo DS. I was lucky enough to get to return to work for a few more hours. But at least I got this cool photo. More to come, possibly a big set.

One last thing: Can you locate the angel? Free linkage to the first one to clearly point it out in the comments. “Yes, I can see it,” is not an acceptable response. Chuck at D is for Dad! (Awesome site, BTW. Go check it out.)

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A nice sunset for you, complete with silhouetted tree and orange sky. I’m going to make this short because the freelance work is suddenly rolling in and I’ve been busy. I will respond to the comments that have piled up – thanks to everyone for visiting.

There’s news to report but that’s going to be left for the next post. I’m lurking in my spare minutes…

Since we’re on the topic of butts, I wonder how many have sat here? How many parents have yelled at their kids from here? How many kids have thrown tantrums when they were told it was time to go home? How many birthday party balloons have been tied to it? How many homeless people tried to sleep here? How many people took this same picture?