Photography « Between Bag End & Orodruin

Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Bondage, Bondage…Oh Sorry I Mean Security…

2015 - 11.02

Posted in General, Photography | No Comments »

Well more Server and Website tightening and other configuration has been going on over the weekend, been long days since friday last. I’ve moved off the self signed certificates, to avoid confusion for all and also made sure the redirects are all working effortlessly for visitors. It won’t matter whether you use an old bookmark or not I should imagine now, you’ll get to any of the blogs using http://whatever or https://whatever and it will resolve correctly. Additionally the certificates should no longer give an error in your browser as they’ve been certified. The andulain.net domain and blogs have been certified by StartTLS while Shard Of Arcadia my new Online Photography Store has been certified by GeoTrust.

To be frank I’m happy with both, I didn’t require any support for my Shard Of Arcadia domain, but there were some pithy issues with some of the older sites in the andulain.net domain which required some consultation with support from StartTLS and they were AWESOME! They were absolutely fabulous with the amount of knowledge and expertise their first level support demonstrated. If you don’t require a paid level 2 certificate, I thoroughly recommend them. While I’m still on the subject of StartTLS I also decided while I was at it to start certifying my email using a certificate from them too, so you may notice that the next email you receive from me. When I have the spare time I’ll throw the code into the andulan.net domain blogs to give them some credit. They deserve it.

Now that the work on the less artistic side of the Store is settled, the rest of my free time is now being devoted to having the content up on the Photography Store by the end of this week. All going well from this point and Shards Of Arcadia will be live and open for business. Ok I won’t get rich fast, but I do hope that over time it allows that freedom of choice I’m looking for with regard to my income & time. So the life-size D20 has been rolled!

Secured But No Bondage…

2015 - 10.28

Posted in Art, Photography, Tech | No Comments »

Well the Apache server has been configured for SSL now, and all sites will automatically redirect to the “https://” protocol. I just hope most can work out that the new Certificate for each site can be trusted! 🙂 Anyway that’s one more step towards getting Shards of Arcadia online store operational. In addition Chemoux is starting to get demanding about a blog and Tiggakat is encouraging her so I’m in a losing battle.

Work is improving, access is slowly forthcoming and there’s new areas of Windows Administration for me to learn. Depression’s been mostly non-existent for the last few months. I’m still getting the drop in mood every four or five weeks, but it’s nothing that’s debilitating or even particularly noticeable until after the fact. Hopefully that’s the way it’s going to stay now. It seems that there’s at least about a dozen & a half people still working where I’ve returned to work again, and I genuinely believe all of them have been happy to see me again. That’s a remarkably enjoyable feeling. It’s good to once again feel that you make a difference for people and it’s good to know you have a positive impact on people.

There’s been a few new games creeping into the list, and a couple of useful books arrived for furthering my identification skills for the tiny beasties. That’s good since I seem the warmer days are bringing the wee beasties out now finally! While in the subject of Photography, I went for a shoot at some friends’ new house where they have a derelict Dairy. Their intention is to renovate it into a working Dairy again. It’s only a 6 cow at a time Dairy, so not huge, but still it’s something they want to do and good luck to them. Anyway the purpose was to document the way it was before they started to work on it, and then document the journey along the way to finishing. I should have some of those photos up on Mirrormere shortly.

So it seems I have no shortage of things to do now, and so little time left in a lifetime to do it. *sigh* Such is the way for many of us I suppose…

Late October…

2015 - 10.25

Posted in Depression, General, Goals, Photography, Work | No Comments »

So it’s been just on three months since I resigned my last position gave myself some time to heal. Not that I was doing nothing, obviously I wasn’t as there were things to be done. Clearly you don’t recover from Depression by doing nothing, that’s exactly what Depression does to you!

Anyway things have a definite positive shine to them these days, and I started work again last week. At this stage the position I have is four days a week. This leaves me three days to devote to myself and my photography. It’s been a good start, the team I’ve joined are young, friendly and have a sense of humour. The pace is not overwhelming, and there’s no mad changing of the ground rules 6 times in a day. Additionally I’m not likely to be sent off at the drop of a hat to the other end of the State, although admittedly that wasn’t happening too often the last couple of years. So in reality what I have at the moment is another job like I had without the madness. Morale is not fantastic, but it seems nowhere in the bottom echelons of IT has good morale anymore. Too much Bean Counting taking place.

I confess to feeling quite tired by the end of Thursday, but I found myself feeling quite refreshed after a morning shoot at a derelict Dairy with a friend on Friday morning. The trip to the Grampians didn’t eventuate this weekend, but that’s fine, there’s plenty of other opportunities for that option. It’s a blustery day today, warm as well. Good washing day! So now to finish washing and get it hung out.

On the Rise & Looking Over as Sol Rises…

2015 - 10.04

Posted in Depression, Furbag, House, Photography, Tech, Work | No Comments »

Moving into October already, it’s hard to know where all the year has gone. However, it’s winding to a close in much better space than it started. Clearly events seem to be unfolding as close to my intended plan as I could have hoped. A good 2 month break from work, and now some part-time work about to start. All that is left is to achieve the right balance between work & required income. Hopefully those conditions will become clear soon.

The hope is that I can manage enough free time to be able to really apply myself to the photography business and create some solid foundations there and still be able to pay for the mortgage & cat food. If I can’t the Furbags may be unhappy to say the least!

I’ve still not yet got the online shop up yet, but I’m prioritising it this week, as I don’t really know how much time I will have after this coming week. I’ve updated the server and the Apache and WordPress installations in preparation for moving over to full SSL before putting the online store up. After consideration I didn’t want to proceed with going live with the production version until the SSL was in place and fully tested. Hopefully that will be sorted by Wednesday and stock will go in the store that day. All looking good, it should go live for the Weekend.

Clearly my Depression has been halted from worsening, and has certainly lessened to the point I’d say it’s improved to the best it’s been ever. I don’t want to say it’s cured, I don’t think I’m at that point, nor if I’ll ever be, but clearly I’m fully functional and been experiencing a significant amount of happiness over the last couple of months.

Not Exactly the Yellow Brick Road…

2015 - 09.24

Posted in Depression, General, Goals, Literature, Photography, Tech, Work | No Comments »

Well it’s been another week passed and still I seem to be holding my own. I’ve had a couple of “flat” days, but nothing like the Depression I had been feeling just over two months ago. In general things seem to be back on track. Hopefully work is going to sort itself out over the next couple of weeks. I’m hopeful that I won’t need to pull full-time hours to get back into the “Black” at this stage but plan on going at it for up to twelve months to try and make the part-time work.

While I’m doing that, it’s going to be work at the Photography and find as many options for bringing in some money with it over the next twelve Months. I do believe there’ll be time to get a full-time role down the track if it becomes absolutely necessary to stay afloat.

As an aside, I managed to procure those texts I was discussing in a recent post, and I managed to get 50% off the total price, so managed to get them for under AU$110 in the end from the same publisher that was already the cheapest. Interestingly I’ve noticed Australian prices for books, boardgames and photography gear going up, despite the fact that they were blaming GST exclusions and the high Aussie Dollar. Western Society in general is just such a greedy beast.

Seeing Through the Veils of the Mind…

2015 - 09.18

Posted in Depression, Dreams, Furbag, Health, Photography, Tech, Work | No Comments »

Well I can see it’s been several weeks since the last update. That’s not indicative of a Depressive Relapse, it just means I’ve been very busy lately. It seems that the days are just flying by now with not enough time in the day to get done all I want to get done. It is quite amazing how it’s so like coming out of a fog, and the days are becoming bright, vibrant and nourishing in a strange but welcome way. I’ve not had a serious bout of Depression since Mid-July and despite money being tight, and the bills still coming in I’ve managed to stay afloat with the generous help of friends and family.

Today I’ve had word that there will be some work coming up for me in a few weeks, requiring only the need to jump through some hoops for a bit of paper work and I should have some part-time work very soon. I am looking forward to feeling more financially independent again, but things have had to go the way they’ve gone to get where I am now: feeling Happy and managing the Depression very well at this stage.

The Furbags think it’s been fantastic having me here home at their beckoned call for so long. Unfortunately I’ve had to endure much saving of Lizards, Beetles, Birds, and other gifts of appreciation. Still they’ve been very helpful for getting me through; they are both a source of much joy and amusement.

I’m hoping to put quite a bit of effort into my Photography and really start getting the business off the ground over the next 6 months. Fortunately now it looks like I will have part-time work to help fund my attempt. I’ve not got my tax return notice yet to know if any money is coming back to me this year, but hopefully I will get something back. Anything to put towards the upcoming regular bills I have at this time of year will be most welcome. As it is, things are good.

As an aside I’ve managed to blow my Internet Quota for the first time EVER! I guess that must mean I’ve been home more than I should surfing photography blogs!

Out of the Inferno, Through Purgatory and on to Paradise…

2015 - 08.14

Posted in Depression, Furbag, General, Goals, Photography, Tech, Work | No Comments »

I’m finally starting to feel different and no longer still feeling echoes of my stint at my previous place of work. I actually feel detached from it now. It’s been a month since I resigned, and my sleeping has changed dramatically, my mood has been constantly elevated, and I’ve at no point felt a drifting towards another depressive patch. My health overall is improving. I’ve lost weight (not more than about 3 kg) but feeling that another kilo or two may not be unrealistic, and I’ve not had to try hard for that to happen. I’m reducing my sugar intake steadily although I’m not completely avoiding it yet. I’m certainly eating more healthy options than I was four months ago on a consistent basis. Not that my eating was unhealthy by any huge measure. But I’m changing some of what I eat and changing how I eat it. So far it’s all been for the better. I don’t see the Anti-Depressants going away soon but I’m certainly feeling more benefits from them than I was over the last six months.

To sum up the work and health side of things up at the moment, less money but better quality of life. I know that without work for a period of time longer than a few months that will be difficult to maintain however that’s not the intention. The goal was always to be getting out of what was holding me back. Nothing more.

The Furbags are very happy to have me home constantly at the present, although I’ve applied for two jobs so far in the last two weeks. Both jobs have been ones that I really couldn’t justify NOT applying for given that they were both in Ballarat. I hadn’t wanted to go looking for work for another month or so, but I figured either of these jobs couldn’t be up & running within 4 weeks anyway. I’m certainly not going to ignore good opportunities, just because they come up quick. I think the Furbags will have me home for a while yet. They’re getting plenty of “pat overdose” at the moment. They’re also keeping me happy and amused. I’ve been rigging up some cardboard boxes for them to play with during the week and it’s been hilarious watching them try to sneak into one after the other one has wandered off for a snack.

It’s been nearly a week, and the new DNS servers are performing well. I’ve fixed a couple of configuration issues that I’d forgotten to check on the other servers with Static configurations and the network is the snappiest it’s ever been. I’ve also handed the servers a bit and cleaned up the firewall rules now that a few old activities are no longer happening. All in all very please. I’ve purchased another NAS as I’ve been very happy with the current one and need to provided some better Disaster Recovery options for the photography business side of things.

I’ve scraped enough extra cash up to invest in a carbon fibre legged tripod for the trekking for the outdoor shooting. My gear has been getting heavier to carry over the last year on the treks out. I opted for another Manfrotto Tripod. It’s a tricky balance between sturdiness and stability; compactness & weight being the counterbalance. I opted for the X Pro 3 way head as against the alternative 496RC2. I’ve tried a couple of friend’s “Ball Heads”, and confess to not finding them my preferred mode. It is probably me, but I find it easier to deal along each axis individually, than wrestle with the weight of the camera & Lens while trying to position a “Ball Head”. I’ve yet to take it on a trek out, only having received it today, but since shoots have been scarce for a month and a half, I sense a few shoots coming up over the next week or two: life outside of Photography has been rather busy and full of change.

Sweet Sweet Desert Island…

2015 - 08.05

Posted in Depression, Furbag, Health, Humour, Photography, Relationships, Tech, Work | No Comments »

Three weeks ago I resigned my previous role. Overall I’ve seen a dramatic increase in my level of happiness and a commensurate decrease in my level of Depression through the last 3 weeks. Since I made that decision of getting out of my previous workplace’s negative environment, I’ve had a steady path onward to increasingly better feelings. I’ve started to enjoy activities again that previously were simply numb attempts at trying to feel better. Clearly it was the best choice I could have made. Nothing else was moving forward anymore.

In fact I was losing ground again slowly but surely. At least so it seemed for the most part. Then when least expected but most needed: Epiphany! In an Ocean of Despair appears a place to drop anchor, take on Fresh Water and Sustenance. A Desert Island to Rejuvenate my Soul.

Since then most things have fallen into place in a very positive manner. Financially things couldn’t be much better considering I’m not a man of savings. But preparation, good friends and the truth has meant that I’ve been able to position myself to begin weathering the storm at least starting with a good supply of hope and positivity. Already I’ve put in for one role, although it’s a bit early, it did seem one of those things where I needed to be willing to do what was required. Results will unfold in time. Nothing has to happen tomorrow.

The Furbags are eating and so am I, and on a daily basis that’s what’s important right now.

Is that Sgt Peppers I Hear Somewhere…

2015 - 05.24

Posted in General, Health, Humour, Photography | No Comments »

While I was shooting Macro, practising my Focus Stacking, Stefan was out with his Fisheye giving it a try. Apparently this is what my world really looks like at the moment. Got to confess, there’s days it feels like it too.

Is that Sgt Peppers I hear somewhere?

Stack It On…

2015 - 05.03

Posted in Goals, Health, Photography, Tech | No Comments »

Normally a post on photography would be going on Shards of Arcadia but in this instance I’ll put it here for the moment as it’s more a summary, and I think I will be adding a “Techniques” page to Shards of Arcadia when I want to expand on it.

I suppose the important point for me today about this is that I was reading some photography sites, and stumbled across a technique for enhancing the Depth of Field (DoF) for Macro & Landscape shots. Now this technique’s probably no surprise to the more experienced Macro shooter than myself, but I was blown away by what it will offer me. I’ve struggled with how to achieve “maximum” DoF with my Macro shots, and have often been wondering how others achieve considerably better results. Was it the gear? Well no, they were using gear of a similar calibre. Was it far more light? Once again not particularly. I’ve bought a flash ring and although it helped to some degree, it brought with it some other problems even though it resolved the difficulty of lack of light and using small aperture. It seems that there’s a technique / process that’s called by a number of names, but I found it first as “Focus Stacking”.

Without going into a too technical diatribe that most of you will be completely bored with, I’ll simply outline the process. Some of you may be familiar with High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography. It produces a striking image by the crafting together of multiple shots of the same scene or subject at different exposures, to create a composite image with a greater dynamic range overall than any single original shot. It creates some very powerful and wonderful shots. “Focus Stacking” is conceptually similar in that you take a number of shots of the same scene but shift the focus point ever so slightly for each individual shot. Once again software is used to “composite” all these shots into one image that reflects the multiple focus points thus representing a greater DoF.

So what you say? Well for those of us who enjoy Macro photography which is probably most notable for it’s “detail”, it’s a boon! You’re able to present the viewer with an image which has more of the subject in focus and more of that interesting detail to be seen. Of course outside of the software to combine the images, not much is really needed to make this happen. However to do it extremely well, I see a number of additional pieces of hardware coming down the track. More on that later.

I’m excited!

Between Bag End & Orodruin

Ramblings regarding my journey through the Cosmos…