Sunday 10 April 2016

Some You Win, Some You Lose

I tried converting about 500 of the time lapse still photos of the apple to video. Unfortunately the lighting is very variable. I'm not sure yet what the cause is but am working towards having external power to one of my Speedlight type flash guns to see whether that will give better results. The Speedlights do have a socket for an external power input but it only charges the lighting circuit. They still needs batteries in place to power the electronics. The only way to have everything powered externally is to route the voltage through the battery compartment. Theoretically an easy task by making a couple of dummy batteries to carry the wiring to the bottom of the compartment. Another job for the Round Tuit pile.

On a brighter note it is 13 years since I had a major cancer op. I don't think I will ever forget the night before the op. Although I went through all the extensive pre op preparations there was no certainty it would go ahead the next day unless a bed space could be guaranteed in the intensive care ward as I would have to spend three days there before being returned to the normal ward. Since then I have had regular check-ups at the local hospital. Last Thursday was the latest. It was really great to told I was being discharged from their care as after 13 years being clear it was very unlikely to return.

For about a fortnight I have been receiving bounce emails when I comment on other blogs. This seems to be a change in the way Gmail and Yahoo pass mail to each other. Originally I signed up to Blogger with a Yahoo address so I have changed that to a Gmail one hoping that things will revert back to normal. The comments I made were published OK but it stopped people receiving a copy by Gmail if that was the way they kept a track on comments being made.

11 comments:

  1. Great news you are passed fit and well.
    I suspected that you would get flicker on the time lapse. It still happens a bit with ETTL but if youshoot in the dark it ought to be fine. When I did the inkcap video I set strobes to manual and after a test exposure I uncocked the lens a fraction so that aperture didn't vary. You hold in the DOF button and twist just a little bit so the contacts don't connect.
    I have noticed that I don't get email notifications of your comments.

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    1. Adrian: The light changes were a bit more than just flicker. This morning I made a couple of dummy batteries from some square section wood as that left room for the wire up the side of each. One to take the +ve lead in and the other for the -ve lead. Also had to file a couple of small grooves in the battery compartment lid for the leads to get out. The flash gun powers up OK from an external 6V battery though I will probably use a 6V mains supply to make sure it can keep going for weeks at a time. I will have to set things up in a different room where it can stay in the dark.

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    2. PS, if you found a cheap studio strobe and a softbox all the problems should be solved. The old Canon lenses are manual and adapters are cheap from SRB Griturn. Cheaper still if you don't need the lens corrector for infinite.

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    3. Adrian: Had to find out how to switch off the power saving on the flash as it shut down after about 30 minutes. Now done. Set it up in the original position for now. Increased the timing delay to 1 shot every 30 minutes as the apple decay is a slow job.

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    4. Adrian: This morning I ordered a portable 50cm soft box on eBay. For approx £30 it includes the soft box, two lights with tabletop stands and a tabletop stand for the camera. I have the camera set to manual exposure / f18 and the flash to 1/8 with the diffuser fitted which seems to be a reasonable combination.

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  2. Great news that your cancer is a thing of the past! Puts it all in perspective, doesn't it?

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    1. Wilma: It does. For me every day is a bonus since that diagnosis.

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  3. Comments are a bit random in G mail, sometimes they appear in main inbox, sometimes in the social one for me.

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    1. Simon: I wish these companies would stop fiddling with things. If it aint broke, don't fix it.

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  4. Good to hear the cancer is a thing of the past John.

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    1. Keith: Thank you. Even though things appeared to be going well it was always a bit nerve jangling coming up to each year's check up.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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