Second Site Image Gallery

Published on May 13, 2008 in Personal and astronomy. 0 Comments

Being legally blind presents new challenges on a daily basis. While the irony is that I used to photograph the human retina for a living and I now have a rare genetic condition that affects my vision, I have somewhat reversed the irony by using photography to assist how I see the world.

I can no longer enjoy the around me in real-time, but I can take a picture of it, blow it up on my huge monitor and I can study the image in detail. At 20/400 vision, I can’t read, drive, look at wildlife and people’s faces, still image photography allows me to stare at the enlarged image at will so I can finally see things.

I invested in a Canon 40D and a few lenses - a 17-105mm zoom, a 70-200mm zoom, a 135mm fixed and a 2x extender. The camera is “spectrum enhanced” which means the IR filter was removed at the factory. This is a benefit to astrophotography but requires something called an IDAS filter for daily use.

My wife and I go for walks and she acts as the spotter. I frame the subject the best I can and take an image - many images. I rely heavily on the auto-focus of the 40D which happens to work very well.

If you use a DSLR, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of Lightroom by Adobe. It is a wonderful program that manages the images, does some basic image enhancements and creates a web gallery. Using Lightroom, I can look at my many images so I can choose the best ones for upload to my new image gallery - Second Site Image Gallery. I think the name is fitting.

For astrophotography, the enhanced 40D is quite a performer. I would like to share a few with you now - they are also posted on the gallery.

M42

This first image is of the Orion Nebula - M42. It is a single 30 second image taken with the Canon 40D through a Meade 80mm apochromatic.

Moon

This second image is of the moon through the Meade 80mm apochromatic. The IDAS filter is in place in the Canon 40D.

For those who wish to do astrophotography with a DSLR camera, I highly recommend “Digital SLR Astrophotography” by Michael Covington. This book discuses how the camera works, techniques for imaging, techniques for image processing and much more. I was able to read the book before I lost my vision. Because of this, my wife helps me to recap on things I forgot.

For those out there who have lost their vision, don’t let that stop you from doing what you want! Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Please enjoy the Second Site Image Gallery.

Been Away For Awhile - I am Back

Published on March 31, 2008 in Drums. 0 Comments

My eye’s aren’t my only problem. My back has suffered three really bad accidents in the past and its now coming back because drumming seems to be irritating it - and I am getting older.

Two of the accidents were car related - not my fault. I was drilled in the rear at 60 miles an hour by a drunk driver when I was 12. When I was in the army, I had a bad rappelling accident causing a compression fracture of L4. The last accident I was drilled in the side by a red-light runner - he was going 50 miles an hour.

The doctors tried this new drug about a month and a half ago, and the side effects were terrible. I was so sleepy I slept most of the day and when I was awake, I felt like a zombie. Worst of all, it made my vision worse. 

Sometimes these new drugs they got make things worse than the problem they are supposed to treat.

I am off the drug, and I feel so much better. I am back to playing the drums and it feels great - not for the back, but I don’t care.

One of the issues I had with recording is my drums sit in the bedroom while my computer is in the dining room (its now my office). To solve this issue, the good folks at Sweetwater suggested a TranzPort. This device controls Logic (or whatever DAW you are using) wirelessly. While I can’t see the LCD screen, all I use are the record, stop and play buttons as well as the jog wheel. This even controls iTunes.

A note for you Apple OX 10.5 users; you will have to go to the TranzPort website to get the latest software for this to work: Frontier Design Group. The device uses four AA batteries and a USB port for the transmitter.

Tranzport

Using this device, I made some “first sound” recordings:

This recording is unedited. On playback, I can hear that the sound is uneven so I thought some cables were loose. After checking the cables, I recorded another:

On playback, I heard no difference in the balance. 

After doing some software checking, I realized I had set the polarity on the left input of my Apogee Duet. I just did a quick recording check to make sure this was the problem - and this was the problem, but I did not save the recording.

I hope you readers enjoy the above recordings even though the balance (polarity) is off.

Comments are always welcome.
 

American Idol Fever

Published on March 31, 2008 in Music. 0 Comments

I am sure I am not alone in the quest for the winner of this year’s American Idol contest. They (Simon, Randy and Paula) often mention how this year is the most talented ever.

I don’ see it…

There are a few talented folks in the bunch, but I am afraid the Idol contest is becoming more of a popularity contest than an actual talent contest.

Of the Idols in the past, I have my personal fan favorites - Daughtry, Eliot Yamin and Blake Lewis come to mind. I bought their albums from iTunes and really like them. The only winner of Idol, in my humble opinion, that is worthy of the title is Kelly Clarkson - excellent voice, but not my style.

I have my picks for this year’s contest, and I picked them carefully since day one. My choices are David Cook and Ramiele Malubay. David makes some bold choices, and does them very well. And he goes for the show, which is perfect for rock and roll. Ramiele has an outstanding voice, and very powerful - the best female voice I have heard in a long while. Her downfall will be due to song choice.

I just downloaded the studio versions of David’s “Billie Jean” and Ramiele’s “Alone” and the songs are well done and very professional. I recommend you check them out. Pitch is spot on.

So go David and Ramiele. I would like to see you two in the top two. And that is all on my thoughts of American Idol. If my fellow readers agree, please vote for them.

This post was created with voice recognition software - please forgive spelling and grammatical errors.

Finally a Drum Related Post - Hi-Hat Tip

Published on February 25, 2008 in Drums. 0 Comments

Here is a tip I hope you will find useful.

When I am not playing double-bass patterns, my foot rests on the hi-hat pedal. When I do hi-hat clicks with the foot, I used to keep my foot on the pedal and try to keep the beat, but I found that beat was rushing. What I do now when I add clicks with the hi-hat is I lift my foot about 3 inches off the pedal after each click. I found the timing improved and I did not have to concentrate as much in keeping the rhythm.

I hope this little tip is helpful. Keep on jammin’!!!

Astronomy Text for Low Vision and the Blind

Published on February 7, 2008 in astronomy. 2 Comments

Touch The Invisible Sky, written by Noreen Grice, Simon Steel and Doris Daou, is the first astronomy text I have seen that is specific to low vision and the blind. That is not to say such services are not available for people like me. Noreen Grice founded the website called You Can Do Astronomy - a website dedicated to teaching astronomy to those with disabilities.

I am happy to know such services exist, and the world needs to know about them. As for this book, it is simply wonderful. Geared for introduction to astronomy, the text features a hybrid of braille and large print. The images feature a special tactile feel with legend so the blind can "see" the extent of nebula, a galaxy, dust particles and so on. It’s a great idea.

Touch the Invisible Sky

The focus of this book is the use of a variety of light detection methods used to study astronomical objects in depth. It has a great introduction into the electromagnetic spectrum and light. It also focuses on the Hubble Space Telescope (visible light), the Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared), the Chandra X-Ray Telescope (x-ray), and Radio telescopes.

Using these methods, the text goes into detail about the Sun, Eta Carinae (a large star on the verge of supernova), the Crab Nebula (a supernova remnant), the Kepler supernova remnant (also known as Cassiopeia A), the Whirlpool galaxy and the Antennae galaxies (a pair of merging galaxies).

The book itself is wire bound and has 59 thick and durable pages. It is protected by a clear plastic cover. The cost of the text is $75.00 and can be purchased from Ozone Publishing.

I highly recommend this text for those who are blind or have low vision. I would even recommend this to anyone as a great introduction into multi-wavelength astronomy.