My GPS Camera Phone

Here’s a creepy moon photo from November 2007. Have a safe and happy Halloween.

OK, before you go on and call me a lush, know that I only had one rum and Coke that evening. Had I drank a few more, maybe this is what everything would have looked like. But then I wouldn’t have thought to take the photo.

The rum in question is Cruzan, direct from the island of St. Croix. Unlike most spiced rum I’ve tried, this one was much lighter in color and flavor, but still had that spiced rum headiness to it. It’s good stuff that makes you yearn for the islands. What better way to spend a summer evening with friends but on the back porch enjoying a quality beverage?

Photo info: desaturated in Photoshop CS2 then applied a blue photo filter at 25%.

Rather than bore you with a post about how to capture great shots of fireworks, I’ll fill you in on the fireworks between the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and my Casio G’zOne type-V.

As a precursor to the July 4th holiday, my girls and I went outside and tested some sparklers to make sure the worked. I took the chance to run some night photography testing between the Nokia and the Casio to see how well (or how bad) they handled low-light situations. I lit some of those cool sparklers that shoot sparks and started shooting.

The Casio G’zone fared as expected, which is not that great. The Casio tends to compensate for the lack of light by overexposing, making for a pixellated and digitized-looking image. The settings for this shot were standard, with no brightness or filter changes. The Casio did manage to capture the spark trails, though, but the effect is lost with the overexposed background. I’d say it’s not the best camera phone for low-light shots.

The Nokia 5310, however, fared much better. I’m surprised at the quality of the image, since most camera phones I’ve seen are terrible at low-light photos. In this case, the 5310 shines. The spark trails are captured as I had hoped, without compromising the rest of the image. The background remains dark, but light enough to see the subject. As with the Casio, the shot was taken with the standard presets.

If fireworks are in your plans tonight, be it a large display or some sparklers in your yard, break out the camera phone and see what you can capture. If anything, it will make a great wallpaper for your phone.

Disclaimer: No compensation was received for this review nor is there any affiliation between T-Mobile/Nokia or Verizon/Casio and this web site. All reviews and statements herein are based on a trial usage and personal experience.

Lawn bowling at night, courtesy Satchel’s Pizza, home of the best pizza in Gainesville (and possibly anywhere else). Not only is this a pizza joint, but it’s also an art gallery, a junk shop, a live music venue and an extremely child-friendly restaurant. The kids have three play areas and the adults have lawn bowling. And beer. And wine. Oh, and really awesome pizza. Green olives, roasted red peppers, garlic (real cloves, not that powdery stuff) and extra cheese.

The best part: I can walk there if I want. Yeah. Even better: all employees get a living wage and all the perks of so-called “real” jobs. Business is booming and it has been since they opened their doors. A welcome addition to the neighborhood, for sure.