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Two cool iPhone GPS apps

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:21:05 -0500

CoPilot Live 8 - http://www.alk.com/copilot/iphone/

CoPilot is one of the better GPS apps available on the iPhone right now. It features a full map of North America (other versions are available for Europe) and voice guided turn-by-turn directions (it even says the name of the streets). Unlike some of the other GPS apps available, CoPilot is only $20 with no additional fees for use.

Waze - http://www.waze.com/blog/tag/iphone-waze-free/

Though not as robust as CoPilot, this app makes up for its lack of features with its price… free. Waze puts an interesting spin on map data by turning unknown areas into a game. You’ll actually get points (represented by cherries and other icons) for driving through areas where Waze doesn’t have a lot of information which is both fun and helpful. Fun, because your boring commute home just turned into a hunt for points… and helpful because it adds data to the crowd-sourced maps Waze uses. Very cool idea.

New article up on DPS

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:07:23 -0500

I wrote an article for Digital Photography School a while back and it went up on the site over the weekend:

http://digital-photography-school.com/7-ways-to-get-your-photos-seen

Photos from an abandoned power plant

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:51:00 -0500

I spent a good part of yesterday exploring an abandoned power facility in Hagerstown, MD. With the exception of a partially flooded basement, the site is in relatively good condition with many of the original controls and terminals still present.

More photos from the facility are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zero101/sets/72157622764494574/

Kaylee has discovered the joy of hiding… in her clothes...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:05:35 -0500

Kaylee has discovered the joy of hiding… in her clothes hamper.

Nocturne... filmed on the new Canon 1D Mark IV

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:45:19 -0400

Canon announced the new 1D Mark IV today and it looks pretty incredible. The specs are certainly impressive (1080p video, 102400 ISO, 45-point autofocus) but lots of cameras look good on paper but don’t necessarily perform.

After seeing this video though, I think it is safe to say that this camera can perform. This was shot on the new 1D Mark IV with natural ambient light… the results are just astounding:

Flickr Galleries

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:07:19 -0400

Flickr added the abilities to create “Galleries” a while ago… basically, a collection of photos you like from other Flickr users. I just put together two galleries for my two favorite genres of photography:

Urban Decay photography gallery

Infrared photography gallery

These photos were collected after browsing through some groups I belong to and looking through the photos of some of my Flickr contacts. I’m sure more will be added to the galleries during the normal daily routine of browsing through Flickr photos.

Photos from an abandoned prison

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:37:27 -0400

Recently, I was given the opportunity to see part of a prison complex in Virginia that is no longer in use. Really interesting place… I can’t even imagine how horrible it must have been to spend any lengthy amount of time there though.

More photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zero101/sets/72157622590832176/

Photo

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:46:01 -0400

Playa playa!

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:14:54 -0400

While a hefty chunk of my youth was dedicated to videogames, I have kind of fallen out of the hobby over the last few years. Between the kid and photography, I just haven’t had the time or interest to play anything.

Two games have managed to draw me back into gaming though… and both are on the DS:

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

I loved the first Professor Layton game and this one is just more of a good thing. Basically, it is just a series of puzzles and brain teasers wrapped in a European mystery. It has great cutscenes and voice acting… just a really nicely presented story mixed with incredibly tricky puzzles to solve. Very fun and incredibly addictive.

Scribblenauts

Imagine a game where you can write any word and it instantly becomes an object that you can interact with in the virtual environment. At its heart, Scribblenauts is a puzzle game, but the fun really comes from seeing how different objects will interact with each other. Want to see a fight between God and Cthulhu? Yeah, you can do that. Really incredible stuff that is only limited by your imagination.

Story in the Catonsville Times

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:23:22 -0400

A reporter for the Catonsville Times interviewed me at the Baltimore Gallery show last week. The story hit the paper today:

http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/community/101583/derelict-decayed-his-lens-finds-beauty/

Not a bad article, but it does get some details wrong. Still, always great to get some attention for my photos… and nice to see some of my friends and family get mentioned as well.

My first gallery exhibit

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:05:10 -0400

Last night was the opening of my Abandoned Spaces exhibit at the Baltimore Gallery.

It went really well… a good number of people showed up (there was at least one person who read about the exhibit in the Baltimore Sun, too) and everyone that was there seemed to enjoy the photos. All in all, it was a very good time.

The photos will be on display through October 8th, so if you are interested in stopping by, the gallery is open Tuesday through Thursday from 12-4, and by appointment (410 276-7966). The gallery is located at 4519 Eastern Ave, Baltimore MD 21224.

Photos from an abandoned hospital

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:17:22 -0400

I spent a few hours taking pictures at Glenn Dale hospital yesterday. Pretty creepy place…

Details on the site can be seen on Wikipedia, and more photos can be seen in my Glenn Dale Flickr set.

Colorado

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:07:57 -0400

Just got back from vacationing in Denver, CO. The trip went a little something like this:

Day 1

- Hopped a flight to Denver, watched Star Trek on the plane, wife lost bag

- Checked in to the hotel

- Did some shopping (and found a cheap flash for my camera), ate dinner at a bar near the hotel (and had my first Fat Tire) and then went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool.

Day 2

- Took a trip to Colorado Springs for the day.

- Did a little more shopping for clothes to replace the stuff the airline lost.

- Went to the Cave of the Winds. Had fun walking around in almost total darkness. Also gave me a good excuse to play around with the new flash.

- Visited Garden of the Gods… maybe one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

- Had dinner at Katie Mullens… really fun irish pub.

Day 3

- Woke up and headed into the city for breakfast at Crepes & Crepes. Started off with a egg, cheese and ham crepe (topped with pesto… so yummy!) and then finished with a banana, strawberry and icecream crepe. Absolutely delicious!

- Did a little more shopping in the city and MeLisa charged her cellphone at an AT&T store.

- Hopped in the hotel shuttle and went over to the Denver Botanical Gardens. Unbelievably huge place…. so many different gardens filled with amazing flowers and trees. I had a lot of fun walking around and taking pictures.

- After the botanical gardens, we stopped at a Japanese restaurant and had some lunch and then spent the rest of the day at the hotel… resting, playing videogames, going through photos, etc.

- Rested up from the lazy afternoon, we headed back into the city and had dinner at the City Grille. The restaurant claims to have Denver’s best burger, and I have to admit that it was the best burger I ate while we were out there. Bacon, swiss and ceaser dressing… very tasty. Also had another Fat Tire beer. I really wish I could find a bar out here that sold Fat Tire.

Day 4

- Had breakfast at The Delectable Egg, which wasn’t nearly as good as the previous day’s crepes. It was good, but those crepes were a tough act to follow.

- More shopping!

- Lunch at a sushi place… tempura eel and sashimi. Very tasty!

- Went back to the hotel and had another dip in the rooftop pool.

- Finished off the night at Hamburger Mary’s.

Day 5 was mostly spent flying back to Maryland.

It was a really fun trip… the city of Denver feels so relaxed in comparison to Baltimore. Everyone was incrediby nice and the food was amazing. Given the economy, MeLisa and I are probably stuck in our current house for a while, but in a couple of years it is entirely possible we see what housing in the Denver area costs.

Snow Leopard

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:27:23 -0400

Got back from vacation today to find a nice little present from the mailman waiting…

I will probably install it tomorrow afternoon. Can’t wait!

Never ever ever fly United Airlines

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:04:00 -0400

I will do a blog post soon about our overall vacation, but first I wanted to get something down about my wife’s baggage and the horrible customer service we have experienced with United Airlines.

It started on Thursday, August 27th. My wife and I flew from BWI airport in Baltimore to Denver on United Airlines flight #441. Once we arrived in Denver, we immediately headed over to the baggage claim area… a few minutes later the luggage started appearing on the conveyer belt.

My bag showed up almost immediately, but my wife’s wasn’t near it (despite the fact that we checked the luggage at the same time). We waited…. and waited… and waited… nothing. At this point nothing was coming out of the chute and almost every other bag had already been claimed. Having never lost any luggage, I wasn’t worried yet but I did walk over to the customer service and ask if more bags were due to arrive. She asked for our luggage claim ticket which I gave to her as she typed away on her terminal to check the status. She got a puzzled look on her face and now I started to worry.

“I can see here that your bag was scanned on to the plane, but it wasn’t scanned off… um… it is definitely in Denver, but I don’t know where it is…. um… hold on…” and the customer service agent picked up a telephone to call someone. After getting off the phone, she assured us that the baggage would probably be found within a few hours and it would be delivered to our hotel.

“But how do you know the bag is actually in Denver and not still on the plane flying to a totally different destination… I mean, the bag wasn’t scanned off the plane, it could still be there, right?”

“Well,” she responded, “a lot of times they don’t bother with the scan when baggage comes off… it just takes too much time.”

“Then what is the point of having the scanning process to begin with?” I asked, somewhat impatiently. She just shrugged and kind of smiled a little… she had no real response.

At this point we were annoyed but still assumed the bag would show up within a few hours. No harm, no foul. We headed off to pick up our rental car and then made our way to the hotel to check in. We went about our vacation as per usual… got some food and then took a swim in the pool. Still no bag though.

I called the customer service number we were given and the automated message explained that the bag had not yet been located. A check on the baggage claim website confirmed the message. Worried that the luggage may not show up as quickly as the customer service agent had claimed, we decided to do a little shopping for clothes to wear the next day. My wife bought a cheap pair of sneakers, a shirt and a couple of other items… all told, $40 spent to get us through the next day. We figured it was only a matter of time before the bag showed up, so this should hold her over until it did.

We spent most of the next day enjoying ourselves, but made sure the cellphone was always charged and had signal so that we wouldn’t miss the inevitable call from the airline. Unfortunately, that call never came. When we got back to the hotel that night, however, the website had been updated… the bag had been found!

My wife called the customer service line and a rep told her that the bag had indeed been found, but he didn’t have much other information. Important details like where the bag actually was or when it would be delivered was unavailable, but the status of “located” was still extremely promising. It was probably only a matter of time before the other blanks had been filled in.

We went out to dinner feeling much better about the situation… we wouldn’t need to buy more clothes and the rest of the vacation could proceed as planned.

Those happy feelings were short lived though, because when we came back from dinner the status of the bag (when checking the website) had changed again. This time though, it had changed back to “At this time, we have not received confirmation that your baggage has been located.”

My wife, in a bit of panic, called the customer service line again… and yet again the agent told us that he had very little information but that it did appear that we were no closer to having our luggage returned to us. “Maybe the tag was found, which is why the status changed, but I don’t think they have found the actual bag yet. Can you describe the bag in more detail? Can you tell me what is in the bag?”

At this point, the reality of the situation sunk in with both of us and my wife started to cry. Certainly, there are worse things in life that can happen than losing your luggage with the airline, but there were irreplaceable items in that bag… things she can never get back. A teddybear she has had since childhood, unique clothes and jewelery… these are items that couldn’t be found in a nearby store or mall. And it was quickly becoming apparent that we would never see them again.

We asked the service agent what the airline could do for us… we were obviously going to have to spend more money out of pocket for replacement clothes and toiletries and other items to get us through the vacation. The rep said he could process us a $50-per-day incidentals allowance to help, but that it would be some time before we received it. Otherwise, we should just keep the receipts for anything purchased and it would be reimbursed if the baggage is never found. He also offered us a 20% discount on a future United Airlines flight (which my wife immediately turned down). And finally, if the baggage wasn’t found within a month, we were told that we would be reimbursed for whatever was lost after we filled out a form and mailed it to the United Airlines home office.

So, after two days without my wife’s luggage, the airlines has basically offered to reimburse us for the lost items and expenses (up to $50 per day), and give us a discount on future flights…. it didn’t exactly wow us with their generosity.

Another day went by and we did more shopping to replace some of the missing items… $100 or so bought us a couple more shirts, a pair of shorts and a few other pieces of clothing to wear while in Denver. Money that came out of our vacation budget and that would have otherwise been spent on food and other things. Meanwhile, still no word from the airline.

Finally, on the last day of our trip before flying back, I decided to call the customer service line and talk to them myself. I explained our situation to the first rep and was told the same thing as my wife had been a few days earlier… they were sorry they lost the bag, they would eventually be willing to reimburse us (after filling out the paperwork and mailing it to the office) and we could have a discount on a future flight. His flat unsympathetic tone angered me. “You are doing nothing to make up for your mistakes” I declared in terse words, “we paid an extra fee to check luggage… a fee you have not offered to refund, I might add, and then you lost that luggage we entrusted you with… we have had to pay for items to live on out of pocket and all you can offer us as compensation is a reimbursement at some future date and a discount on another flight with you… basically, you want to pay us back for the items you have stolen and give us another opportunity to spend money with you at a discounted rated. NOTHING to help us or make us feel better for what has happened now.”

The agent on the phone paused for a moment, searching for something that might explain the situation better or, at the very least, get me to calm down. Those words elluded him… “uh, sir, I am sorry, I… uh… there is nothing else I can do.”

“Then transfer me to someone else that can do more” I demanded.

I was transfered to the agent’s manager who was no more sympathetic than the previous person. He once again re-iterated what was already said “if you just fill out the paperwork available on the website, you will be reimbursed for the items you lost and if you submit the receipts to our office, we will reimburse you for any money spent during your vacation as well. Also, the 20% discount on future flights is good for any…”

I cut him off and launched into the same attack that was levied against the previous agent. I explained that what was being offered to us was a bare minimum response…. of course they would pay for the items we lost, that was a given. But the fact was that nothing had been offered to help us now. No immediate help with the expenses of replacing the items we needed during the vacation. No offer to upgrade our flight back. Nobody to speak to that would help process the claims… we had to fill everything out, mail it in and then just wait to possibly, someday, be reimbursed. Nothing.

I don’t ask for much, but when a company is clearly in the wrong and has compromised its customers in the way that it had, it seems common sense that something would be done to help with the immediate problems and inconveniences. It isn’t just a matter of losing some items… it is an added expense on our vacation and additional time spent trying to replace items to get through the days. And for that, what does the airline offer us? 20% off our next flight with them.

Thanks but no thanks. Under no circumstances would I ever spend another cent of money with United. I hope nobody else ever has to experience the situation we went through with them.

Limited Edition Polaroid Camera Kit

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:07:18 -0400

Urban Outfitters is selling 700 Polaroid ONE600 cameras along with one package of film at their retail stores. No word on pricing, but I would love to have one of these sets if I could get my hands on one. The Polaroid camera is such a neat piece of photographic history.

21 Impressive Bathroom Pictures

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:15:00 -0400

One of my photos, Bath, was included in a list of impressive bathroom pics on DPS:

http://digital-photography-school.com/bathroom-pictures

I need to own this

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:22:03 -0400

http://lebowskifest.com/Product/tabid/79/p-111-the-achievers-dvd.aspx

“Directed by Eddie Chung, this feature-length documentary goes inside the world of hardcore Lebowski fans to get tot the bottom of it all, with interviews of fans including My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Lebowski Fest founders Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt, and The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.”

Rubber Factory

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:55:00 -0400

Jon and I spent some time shooting at a couple of different places on Sunday, with the majority of the day devoted to an abandoned rubber factory.

Not the best locations I have been to, but any day spent taking photos is a good one.

Twitter account for my photography

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:05:08 -0400

After those DPS stories ran, I got a number of emails asking if I had a Twitter account for my photography site. I didn’t, but I do now…

http://www.twitter.com/studiotempura

I will still continue to update this blog and my personal twitter with things happening in my life but now there is a twitter page specifically about my photopgraphy, if you are so inclined.