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pierces

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About Me

  • Location
    Southern California
  • Interests
    Cruising, cruising, wildlife...oh, photography too!
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Royal Caribbean, Celebrity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Alaska
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    www.pptphoto.com

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  1. Could you clarify "theoretical"? Do you mean things like the Trinity of Exposure (aperture, sensitivity and shutter speed), depth of field and composition such as the Rule of Thirds or the technology behind cameras themselves? There is a vast array of information on all of these things available on the web without donating to some academic organization that likely built their curriculum on the same data via a Google search. Clarify your target and there are several regulars here who can supply you with what keywords to search for and favorite informational sites. Dave
  2. Early Sunday morning, we went to the local ice rink to watch an in-house competition where Jackie would be performing her first long routine. Her flowery outfit was dreamed up by her mom and made real by her great aunt. I debated a bit about the title, with things like “Wood Nymph” and “1960s Hippie Without the Drugs” being some of the possibilities. I finally decided on “Flower Girl”. Simple and descriptive. Watching the routine through the viewfinder, I almost wished I could have just watched it like normal people do. Jackie has become quite the performer with her jumps gaining altitude and spins starting to speed up and last longer. That wish evaporated when I downloaded the photos. She deserves her hard work to be documented. Flower Girl Dave
  3. Pictures taken between Monday, March 11 and Sunday, March 17. This week ends with Saint Patrick's Day. Maybe post pictures of yours or your neighbor's Saint Patrick's Day decorations...which I guess only applies if you or your neighbor own a bar. Anyway, get out and use your image recording device to record some images and share them with us! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  4. #5 is disturbing...ly funny! 🙂 Dave
  5. Pictures taken between Monday, March 4 and Sunday, March 10. March! In like a Lion and out like a Lamb! I was told it was a weather thing with the end of stormy winter at the beginning and the start of gentile spring at the end. So poetic. That give us some creative license with a wide variety of potential weather photos or some lion or sheep-based images, if you have access to lions or sheep. Just do it. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  6. A very slow week for photos. We're having a tree taken out and there is some prep work needed. Between that and many days of rain, there was precious little to photograph and what there was, wasn’t. The only half decent image this week was a fortuitous find Son Dan made while on a birthday trip to Vegas. He is a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay and while dining at one of his locations, he had a Browned Butter Old Fashioned. He was impressed enough to message me a photo and the name of the main ingredient. That ingredient (pictured here) was immediately searched and the only location west of the Mississippi was a Total Wine store in, you guessed it...Las Vegas. He picked up a couple of bottles on the way home and I must say, it was worth the trouble. Tasteful Surprise Dave
  7. This is an honest request for insight. We've been cruising for 30+ years and never once have I felt the need for binoculars. I have a nice pair that belonged to my Dad, but have never packed them when on a trip or used them at all since he passed in the early '80s. I'm sure this is because I've been using some kind of camera or another since I was about 10 years old and a telephoto is my go-to for distant subjects. My mindset has always been to share my travel experiences with family and friends and "a picture is worth a thousand words" is a phrase that carries the weight of religion with me (and explains my abysmal typing skills). Share your thoughts and opinions. Dave
  8. Only use a polarizer if the window is glass. Polycarbonate plastic windows (very common in aircraft and, incidentally, domed train cars) or vehicle windows with UV coating or tint film will cause color banding due to the plastic being itself polarized. A large rubber hood pressed against the window will eliminate most reflective glare unless you are shooting towards the sun. Dark clothing is a big help. Having your bright Hawaiian shirt reflected in the window could be interesting, but probably not desirable. 😉 Dave
  9. I am not familiar with your camera models but for reference, the images from the Iceland part of our 2019 Ireland/Iceland trip were shot with the 24mm-105mm zoom a bit over 90% of the time. Lots of big scenery. Dave
  10. A polarizing filter would help but is not an absolute necessity. The following were taken with no filter: Dave
  11. Pictures taken between Monday, February 26 and Sunday, March 3. This is it! Thursday is Bonus Dias! Get out and shoot those once-in-four-years photos. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  12. We were half-watching the news on Thursday afternoon when fate stepped in and decided the age-old, yet daily "what's for dinner" dilemma for us. The news person was babbling on about a bunch of inconsequential stuff when we heard the words "today is National Margarita Day". The first question that popped into my head was why haven't we seen any commercials or flyers handed out in parking lots or planes towing banners announcing the parade? How could an event this culturally significant be relegated to a brief “and in other news” mention just before a commercial break? Despite the failure of the Powers That Be to inform us properly, we managed to round up friends, head to the home of the best house margaritas ever and honor the day. National Margarita Day Dave
  13. Well, that didn't take long. PC World posted a pretty comprehensive real-world test of the new T705 and though it did set a new record for reading data in one category, it was only "really good" in most of the others. The tests were centered on file transfers and such without the endless tests with various games that clutter most reviews and ended up pointing out that the older T700 is the best bang-for-the-buck choice for my use. This in no way indicates that the T705 is not a better drive (and a fantastic peek into the future of the technology), but as with the i9 vs. i7 CPU comparison, the increase in performance is not worth the price premium for me. Looks like the 1TB T700 is going to be my boot drive. Dave
  14. We traveled to Salem for the last one. Crossed it off the bucket list and since my son moved back to CA from TX, we have no plans to travel to this one. It was spectacular, though. Composite image. Good luck! Dave
  15. I recently upgraded my phone to a Pixel 8 Pro, mostly for the camera. I have a well-stocked camera bag, but the quality of the images from the latest generation of high-end phones has become way more than "acceptable" for travel photography. Upgrading to the latest iPhone would provide you with a simple and effective way to get great photos from your trip. The only big gap in depending on a phone for an Alaska trip is the lack of a long zoom for wildlife. The longer zooms on the latest phones are better than before, but still no equal to what is possible with a interchangeable lens camera. Other than that, for scenery, walkabout photos and pictures of the ship, you will not be disappointed. Here is a link to a short cruise we took where I only took the older Pixel 6 Pro phone for photos (an unforgivable sin only a few years ago). https://pptphoto.com/galleries/Travel/Cruising/2022-4 Navigator/index.html Dave
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