Prelude to a wipe and re-orientation. That is my attempt to avoid just saying “a new beginning” which, obviously, has been sort of hijacked by Star Wars.
I keep thinking, from time to time, of things to post about, but the overall structure of this blog just stops me. So does my inherent laziness. Above all that, though, for some time I have been thinking, and may have hinted at, removing all the content of this site and starting over with a new slate.
My writing has trailed off. I’m interested in videos over photography. I want to share more of my literal wanderings as well as mind wandering. Emphasis on “want.”
So, a true fresh start seems appropriate.
Maybe I just have cabin fever, it’s pure laziness, I’m under the weather, depressed over the state of the world, just need to regain focus, or all of the above.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to try and rewrite my About information to better reflect what I think I might do. I’ll also reduce this site to just this post and start over. I’m aware that nothing posted online is ever truly lost, so I’m not worried about the two or three people that might perhaps possibly somehow want to see any of my previous postings. Besides, I have copies of all my posts.
It is, after all, my portal to what I care to share with the internet in the slim hope that someone finds it interesting or helpful.
It’s been a while. I’ve had thoughts and ideas for some postings here, but nothing that stuck with me. I’d think of things while driving, while looking out over the Owyhees or the lake, or while otherwise occupied. By the time I get to the computer, they’re lost in the depths of my mind. Perhaps someday I’ll recover them, actually write them up, and finally post them.
While backing up my old writings with the aim of creating some new space on my hard drive, I came across a folder called Untitled. Of course, that got my interest and I looked into it. There I discovered a note file, three preliminary chapters, and an epilogue of a tale begun long before Pa’adhe.
Checking them out, I found myself wanting to make some edits. After reading the epilogue, I really wanted to resume writing this tale.
To do so, I will have to resurrect an old friend, one that roamed an ancient world, to become the template for my main character. As written, this main character is barely present, although the notes do hint broadly to his background. I find it fascinating that this unnamed hero so resembles my Ancient World friend, Beorn, that I can’t help but wonder if Beorn was based on this vague character and developed with the intent of filling out for this old tale. The worlds are so different, though, that surely it was a mere indication of the type of hero I like to write for?
It remains to be seen if I will actually start working on this tale once more. I confess, it will be nice to once again sit looking out over the wild of the Owyhees or a river or lake, and disconnected, let my wandering mind type whatever it needs to tell a tale.
I have moved the directory to my work area and my mind already roams that world, seeing places and actions, people and things that call to be revealed.
First, though…I need to re-write that epilogue. I think it’s great the way it plays out, but that first paragraph repeats “breathe” just about every sentence. And that’s a no-no.
Well, it’s been a rather fun last few months. In no particular order…
I recently had the opportunity to spend several days with my sister, her son, and his family. Along the way I was introduced to a small cafe in Fairfield, Idaho, that has the absolutely best malts I’ve had in a long, long time. The fries I got with it were equally crispy good and even though it’s almost 2 hours away, I fully intend to revisit the Wrangler Drive In for a burger, fries, and another chocolate malt.
While with the family, we spent most every day fly fishing. Luck was not with us, probably due to the big storm moving in. I did get some bites, but just could not set the hook. My nephew, though, is one die-hard, stubborn fly fisherman, good on him. He caught the only Brook trout, a nice 12 to 14 inches. Having watched another fly fisherman fail on a spot that had several rises, we were able to point him to that location. He went through just about every fly in his fly case before that wily trout finally hit on a midge so small that you wouldn’t think the fish could even see it. Big kudos to my nephew’s tenacity!
Aside from being a well known fly fishery, the area is absolutely gorgeous. I want to go back and have him drop me off at a certain point or three, he goes fishing for the day, then he picks me up on the way home. There were so many places I just wanted to spend the day with my cameras, catching the changing light and shadow play of the passing day. One spot…a gorgeous valley from a high vantage point goes off into the distance where, on certain nights and times, the Milky Way rises from where the river fades into the distance. That’s according to a picture I captured using Dioptra then investigated in Stellarium.
Dioptra image of valley
Sorry, but I’m sworn to secrecy as to the actual location. It’s a fisherman thing.
I had been wanting a 3D printer for a long time. This year the prices were reasonable and I finally bit the bullet, purchasing a Voxelab Aquila C2.
My new Voxelab Aquila C2 3D printer
After printing out some articulated slugs, geckos, octopuses, and other items for family members so to familiarize myself with the new printer, I went to work. I designed and printed out a laser pointer holder for astrophotography to test my skills. Then I discovered my new enthusiasm: lithophanes.
I do all my lithophane work on a Linux box and make use of just three pieces of software: GIMP, Blender and Ultimaker Cura. I use GIMP to remove backgrounds and/or convert a photograph to PNG. Next, in Blender I take that PNG file, convert it into a 3D object, and export as a 3D STL file usable by slicing programs. Cura I use to open that STL file, slice it and generate the necessary GCODE file required by the printer to actually print the lithophane.
So far I have printed several lithophanes. Two of them, of one of my granddaughters and one landscape, are shown below. I have an easier time, for some reason, printing portraits than I do landscapes, which is somewhat ironic as I prefer landscape photography over portraiture.
Granddaughter lithophane
Granddaughter lithophane backlit
Walter’s Butte lithophane
Walter’s Butte lithophane backlit
I’m finding that contrast is much more critical in landscape lithophanes. There is a certain landscape image I really want to capture and use create a lithophane. However, aside from the difficulty just capturing the image, I’m not sure just how well the lithophane will come out. For now I’m keeping that project under wraps but if you know my other main interest you can probably figure out the general idea.
Ah, bursting water filled balloons. So much fun.
Far longer ago than I care to admit to, I saw my first image of a bursting water balloon and the bullet passing through it. This was back when being able to capture such an image was a major accomplishment. Yeah, that long ago.
Ever since then I’ve always wanted to capture a similar image, but the necessary technology wasn’t readily available nor in an affordable price range. That was then, this is now, and to some extent the technology has become both readily available and affordable.
Among my kit I have a GoPro Hero 8 Black. It has the capability to shoot 1080p at 240 frames per second. This got me to thinking that might be fast enough, finally, and it was water resistant. So, suiting thought to action, I set up a simple test rig, hanging a water balloon from a board, putting the GoPro on a stool nearby, setting the GoPro to Activity mode using 1080p at 240 fps, and poking the balloon with a knife.
Editing the resulting video in kdenlive gave me a real nice video which at 3% of the original speed resulted in both the desired water shape as the balloon burst and a smooth slow motion video of the burst. Very promising, I thought. So much so that I decided to go for shooting the balloon.
Poking a water balloon with a knife
I knew, though, that actually capturing the bullet might be a problem from the side like the above image. After all, the slowest .22 round I had was rated 1225 feet per second: A hair over 5 times faster than the camera fps. I reasoned that taking the video looking down the bullet’s path might allow me to at least capture something of the bullet. So, I now needed two GoPros capable of 240 fps video.
I suggested the project to a friend and partner-in-crime, asking if he’d let me use his GoPro Hero 9 for the second camera. That way, it would only be my camera at risk were something to happen. He happily agreed to the project and we just recently did the shoot. The results can be found on my YouTube channel here: Shooting a Water Balloon.
I was correct in that we didn’t capture the bullet in the video. However, in two of the video clips, three if you look real close, you can see the streak of the bullet’s travel. All four clips show the path of the bullet through the balloon.
Unfortunately, it appears that the bullet creates so much pressure that the water moves faster to get out of the way and I don’t get that “perfect” balloon shape of suspended water. I think I need a camera capable of 480 fps. Now I’m watching the various action camera manufacturers and hoping soon….
Bill's Meanderings 