ITCOW 360 [Pano Asia].

“Dude, how to recover my photos if my harddisk has crashed?”

Another harddisk bites the dust. Another friend who has lost years and years of ex girlfriend(s), wife, his newborn son, 2 year old daughters (pass 2 years photos), vacation, the happy, the sad, whatever…photos. Gone, puff*, justl ike that.

“Didn’t I tell you harddisk are dirt cheap now?”

Advise that are not heeded. No time to make a trip to buy one….His late-father’s photos, wedding photos…puff*

“Google Backblaze when you have time then…”

Yes it has limitation but those are limitations that a computer guy will have. Not a photographer….clients photos, his past 8 year’s worth of photography portfolio…(he does this full time!) puff*

—————————————————————-

ok everyone, Backblaze. Read the whole site, FAQ, blog but this is what it does but here’s the simple version:

1. It back up EVERYTHING
2. It does not backup network mapped drives or NAS. If you do not know what that is, you don’t have to bother.
3. $5 USD per month per PC. Less than USD$4 if you pay 2 years upfront.
4. Restore is free. Options available for DVD to be sent or Thumbdrive. Not cheap but photos are priceless.
5. Secure? How fast is the backup? Mac/ Windows? < Click
6. Best of all, it stores data “offsite”.

*That friend exist in all of us and is not real…well, sort of…and of course, since it backs up everything, it’s not only photos. It’s everything that’s important, work documents, that 500 page presentations etc etc If you can afford a DSLR, you can afford to have the photos backup, somehow, somewhere.

Originally posted on 19 Dec ’10 @ 3:00 pm

2009

2010

Seems like the official photographer for President Obama has a tradition of his own. Great shots! And we hope we’ll see this every year.

All photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

Originally posted on 15 Dec ’10 @ 3:00 pm

Get there via Bukit Timah Road. Say Hi to Mr Ghani when there.

Map and info here.

Originally posted on 14 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

Originally posted on 13 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

How to videograph a space launch – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2VygftZSCs

Originally posted on 12 Dec ’10 @ 3:49 pm

Originally posted on 11 Dec ’10 @ 5:05 pm

image – Girocam

Interestingly designed with 3 fisheye lenses, spotted at Photokina 2010 and seen in this month’s Shutterbug.

More info @ http://www.girocam.com/product.php

Originally posted on 9 Dec ’10 @ 8:00 pm

Originally posted on 3 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

Snapfish Singapore Only!

http://www.snapfish.com.sg/snapfishsg/welcome

There are only 48 hours left to order your 4R prints* at a tiny 1¢ each! (Normally 19¢).

Just use coupon code 40FOR40V2 at the checkout.

Offer ends in 48 hours.

There prints ain’t fantastic but for that price, it’s hard to ignore!

Originally posted on 2 Dec ’10 @ 11:16 pm

USD$100 for the modification from 6 Dec 2010 in USA for the 5DMK2 and 7D only.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_7d?pageKeyCode=prdAdvDetail&docId=0901e02480245968

Originally posted on 2 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

For those keeping track of our pano through Facebook. Come to our main site for all the features.

We’ve added a “Featured Pano” post on top of the site. This cycles through all old panos and displays one random post everytime the page is reloaded.

HTML5

We are excited with the additional of HTML5 to the many browsers but mostly, to Pano2VR. Excited that it works on the iPad and iPhone. Showing it to clients or just people we meet is now a breeze. In the past, we get users to download (yet another) an app, the Pangea VR. We’ve decided to stop using it but will keep those for maybe 6 months “or so” before phasing it out completely. With HTML5, you can simply use the built in Safari browser, come to the site and click on the iPad/ iPhone link to launch the pano on your iDevice.

HTML5 works on Safari and Chrome on Macs and PCs.

Multi Resolutions

As above, we will be doing away with the Big or Small view of panoramas when each are published, you may have stumbled on one already, the first test was done on this post. It will open a panorama automatically and scale accordingly when you zoom in or out. That’s multi resolution! There’ll be an additional link to use iDevices, which we collectively call iPads, iPhones and iPods.

We started this in March 2007 and over the years and met wonderful people and clients through panography. Check them all out in the Collections section.

So HTML5, officially ready or not, use it! Native compatibility with iDevices and not having to install and ocnfigure an app for us ANYTIME!

Originally posted on 1 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

View | iDevices

Originally posted on 1 Dec ’10 @ 12:00 am

The 5DMK2, 150,000 shutter operations built with magnesium alloy and I managed to crack it with a drop from less than 0.5 Meters.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos5dm2/03.html#03

Repair was around SGD$250.00, nonetheless, getting great shots with this.

Originally posted on 30 Nov ’10 @ 8:00 pm

Click for bigger image.

Panographers need their tripods. Period. And I wish deployment of the tripods to be faster, smoother, not hitting kids or anyone else when I am doing it and simply, just not as tiring.

For a commercial shoot, it’s generally easy with the place scouted out before the actual shoot be it a hotel, resort, exhibition hall and I go in before the business day even start. Carry around my full pano gear mounted on a fully extended tripod is not a problem.

The above picture is National Geographic’s NGET1. An “automatic” tripod that allow fast deployment of it’s legs but weighing in at 3.2Kg. It just has to be lighter (and while at it, cheaper). It’s around $554 pounds approx $1140.30 SGD. The NGET1 is actually made by tripod gurus, Manfrotto. From a day shoot (I’ve done more than 50 panoramas during a short Malaysia trip to shoot Hotair Balloons) , deploying and retracting for every single panoramas can be a real chore. One pano, 3 legs retract and 3 extends.

I would imagine fast deployment meant having some electronic acutators shooting the legs out, the faster, the more force which means it’s dangerous. Anyone inventing anything yet?

What will be ideal?

– Priced at up to SGD$1000.00
– Have a load of at least 3kg
– Multiple height designs
– As compact as can be, folded length should not exceed approx 70cm, max height to be at least 1.2 Meters
– Carbon Fibre?
– Not 3.2Kg when nothing is loaded! National Geographic videographers/ photographers sure have big arm muscles…walking in some rain forest with this will kill anyone but may be useful to ward off attacking orang utans or the local man-eating tribe?

Originally posted on 29 Nov ’10 @ 3:00 pm

View | iDevices

Trees from the past in this year’s Raffles City Tower Christmas Tree.

Originally posted on 29 Nov ’10 @ 12:00 am

View | iDevices

Originally posted on 28 Nov ’10 @ 3:09 am

View | iDevices

They getting the floor colors right compared to last year!

Originally posted on 27 Nov ’10 @ 1:00 pm

As seen on Wallstreet, the movie. An interesting photo.

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?racerid=178

The painting in the same room was this http://www.vincesear.com/10-scariest-paintings-1-saturn-devouring-his-sons/

Originally posted on 23 Nov ’10 @ 3:00 pm

Flickr added a new copyright category, exclusive, for The Obama Administration on Flickr.

Read about it on Wired.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/flickr-creates-new-license-for-white-house-photos/

Originally posted on 22 Nov ’10 @ 9:00 pm

View | iDevices

Originally posted on 21 Nov ’10 @ 12:00 am

(image: C-Loop)

We’ve pledged. You should too. USD$43 for Singapore shipping.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/customslr/c-loop-camera-strap-mount-solution

Originally posted on 20 Nov ’10 @ 5:05 am

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Originally posted on 19 Nov ’10 @ 12:00 am

Coming soon, to Pano2VR Version 3!

http://gardengnomesoftware.com/wiki/Pano2VR_-_Flash_Output_Settings#Multiresolution_Tab

You may already have seen multi resolutions panoramas, they are mostly generated using krPano. Prices of the plugin is a high 90 Euros. Having shelf out money for your gear, a fullframe camera, a fisheye lens, some other accessories, flash triggers, umbrellas, flashes, tripods, bags…It really put a strain on photographers thinking of even starting out on panoramas.

Enter Pano2VR. You get to do virtual tours, templates, great community help and more clicking and exporting then figuring out XML files or other codings. One strong point they have is the online video tutorials.

After each (paid) assignment, we build our our gears both in hardware and software and still over the years, I come back to Pano2VR more from using FPP with Flashicator, trying out krPano or simply, exporting Quicktime panoramas from within PTGui….

For starters and the season panographers, all you need for software is still PTGui, upcoming Version 9 features the HTML5 output…think iPad, Safari AND Pano2VR (HTML5 soon too!). If one job for your panoramas does not cover these 2 software cost, you are charging too low! : )

Existing 2.x version of Pano2VR can upgrade at a cheaper rate of 20 Euros (Around $36.30, Paypal rate). New purchase is 59 Euros.

Originally posted on 18 Nov ’10 @ 3:00 pm

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Originally posted on 18 Nov ’10 @ 12:00 pm