A Fine Dram

Super- (and I do mean Super) slow motion video of a lightning strike. (via Kottke.org)

Anyone have $18,000 they want to donate? Plus a few thousand for lenses...?

Time lapse video. Very cool.

Another great video shared by a friend on facebook...

Having recently converted to Lightroom 3 (Sorry, Apple. Aperture is just slower and less capable. Sorry!) I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at some of my photos to see what I can do with them now. I still don't think it's a great idea to re-edit old photos, but I just can't help myself...

That's the original above. Done up in Aperture. It's not bad at all. I actually had a print made of it. But, let's see what I can do with Adobe's Lightroom...

This new edit is noticably different. First, it's brighter and more colorful. The rust is red (not brown) the moss is green (not the same color as the concrete) and you can see all the way through the structure even with some vignetting added.

A more subtle change can be seen when you notice that the second photo is cropped in slightly closer than the first. That's because Lightroom has a Lens Distortion effect that corrects the barreling you get with wide angle lenses (this one was at 18mm). Aperture has a similar feature but it is so slow and cumbersome I gave up trying to use it.

The main difference, though, is the time it took to get the results. In Aperture (especially given how slow it runs - it is a memory abyss) editing that photo could take 10-15 minutes. That doesn't sound terrible until you remember that I might take 100-150 shots on one of these photo walks. Even at my typical 10% usage rate thats between 2 and 3 hours to edit the photos. I edited the Lightroom photo from the original RAW file (actually a DNG conversion) in less than 5 minutes.

I'm not trying to knock Aperture. It is a fine program, I'm sure, on faster machines. But I can't afford a Mac Pro. And it does manage your photo library for you in a more sophisticated way than Lightroom. But, I've found that the trade-off in speed and capability far outweighs any advantages in file management. I can rename folders for myself, you know. Fact is, the Flash thing aside, Adobe has much more experience in digital image manipulation and they know what photographers want and need in their workflow.

I've rearranged the layout of the Dram. Do not be alarmed.

Also, I'm considering a slight change of direction for the site. Nothing drastic... Updates coming soon.

Erin and I went on a cruise. We had a really good time. Here is a look at our trip...

We drove down to Fort Lauderdale. In a van. Dad did what dad does (make the best of everything). And you can see Bruce doing what Bruce does (Working... Always working.)

Erin and I got through check-in pretty quick but it had been quite a long day of traveling and dealing with me...

But it didn't take too long for us to find something to get us back into a good mood.

My neice Abbey and my cousin Amanda pose on the balcony as we depart.

A look back at the storm and sunset over Miami.

Labadee, Haiti. This was everyone's favorite stop of the trip. Here dad is pointing out something very important on the island to mom.

The Oasis of the Seas. This ship was amazing. It's currently the biggest in the WORLD. We honestly didn't realize just how big it was until later in the week when we saw it docked next to the Grandeur of the Seas and made that ship look like the S.S. Minnow.

The obligatory post card shot.

Labadee is gorgeous. It is on the North side of the island and was fairly unharmed by the earthquake. Every week Royal Caribbean unloads TONS of food and other relief materials here that are trucked down to Port-au-Prince.

I'm sure this boat was placed here just for the benefit of the tourists, but it was just too tempting. I had to get this shot. Weirdly, I didn't see any of the other DSLR-toting nerds getting this shot.

Abbey and Amanda tried to get a feel for the Dragon's Tail roller coaster before the ride.

While everyone else went to the beach for a swim my camera and I had another agenda.

A look back at the beach. My polarizing filter lets you look right through the water.

I got myself a rum drink to cool off and then Randy and I went for a little photo walk.

The marketplace presented a photo opportunity I couldn't pass up.

The beach from the other side of the bay.

Welcome to Mexico! I honestly never need to go back.

Costa Maya exists solely to separate tourists from their money.

See?! Proof that I was there.

The 'Central Park' area of the ship.

The 'Royal Promenade' is packed with shops and bars and restaurants.

There were almost 10,000 individual pieces of artwork on the ship.

Our guest photographer here also makes a mean cocktail.

Our waiter, 'Alex', tries to instruct my nephew, William, on the finer points of his profession.

I love a good photo of my dad.

I love a good photo of my brother, too.

The ruins at Tulum were a little underwhelming, but they did make for some good photos.

Our tour guide, Saul. He was less than impressed with us gringoes.

The beach at Tulum is well-defended.

Honestly, how could I not get this photo?

Erin enjoys a show at the Aqua Theater.

Randy and I are fearless.

My mom zip-line's. She is a zip-liner.

William zip-line's. He's a zip-liner, too.

A last look at the great ship from our favorite port, Labadee.

To see the entire photo set click here.

Erin and I did a lot of work on the front yard today. During one of our breaks we saw this cloud over the trees across the street. First it looked like Snoopy. Then it was a Ram. When I grabbed the camera and came back out it had morphed into Pluto eating a bone.