I went on a fun 4 hour walking tour today. The tour guide was great and we covered all the monuments along the National Mall and Tidal Basin area. If you're in the mood to learn about the history behind it all, look up "DC by Foot". They do free, tip-based walking tours of various areas in Washington D.C.

El Monte Guys Podcast Blogspot Page

Check out http://elmonteguyspodcast.blogspot.com/ for all of the El Monte Guys Podcasts!

The El Monte Guys Podcast

We did our first podcast!

For those of you who are wondering what Google+ is all about, one of the bloggers on there posted this great description of what it is and what it isn't.

Google+ (This is not Facebook)

:)

These past few weeks, we have all gathered on an internet chat room to discuss the various issues encountered in light of current events. There has been more than a million lines of chat dialog exchanged between all of us (about a group of 12 or so people) and Caleb has summarized it very well for all of you out there. :D

Tom: Mac good!
Danny: Google good!
Caleb: EVERYONE sucks
Kirk: BSOD again dammit
Pablo: lolwut

Update:  Oh yeah, we also made use of Google+ Hangouts!  G+ Hangouts for the win!

Photographing Fireworks

I spent the evening watching fireworks and saw a lot of people attempting to take a decent snapshot with their point and shoot / DSLR.  Many just couldn't get the shot they wanted to.  So here are some simple steps.


1.) Attach your camera on a tripod.
2.) Set your camera to full manual.
3.) Set your ISO to 100 for minimal grain.  Set your aperture to f/11.
4.) For point and shoots, set your shutter speed to 4 seconds.  Take a snapshot and see how it looks.  Raise or lower shutter speed to your liking.
5.) For DSLRs, go into "Bulb" mode (where the shutter stays open as long as you hold down the shutter release button).  I used a shutter release cable (i.e. Canon RS60) to prevent potential camera shakes when I physically touch the shutter button on the camera.  When the rocket bursts, hold the shutter open.  When the light trails start to fade, release the shutter.


Easy as pie!  =) 

Hostel Life

Living in a hostel during your travels is quite a neat experience. I have never seen the horror movies but in real life, it's quite a friendly environment.

Balmer's Herberge in Interlaken, Switzerland

You essentially pay $20-$25 dollars on average for a one night stay and you live in a dormitory style arrangement. Compared to expensive hotels that can range from $100 and above, living in hostels isn't too bad if you're traveling by yourself or with friends. If you're traveling with kids or a wife that wants complete privacy, then hostel life may not be for you.

The community room at Wombat's Hostel, Munich

Most hotels have a room with multiple beds in them and you share the space with all the other travelers. The bathrooms and showers are communal just like in a dorm. You have the option to go co-ed or with same gender when it comes to the dorm arrangements. The hostel provides sheets and blankets but you have to pick them up and make the bed yourself. Once you're ready to check out, you will have to pull the sheets and blankets and dump them in the laundry.

Foresteria Valdese Hostel in Venice

One of the things I loved about living in the hostels was the opportunity to meet other travelers. Since you're in a dorm style arrangement, people are more inclined to talk to each other and make friends. Most hostels also have a community room and some even have their own bar downstairs for people to socialize in.

Europe - The Prologue

I recently took some time to backpack through various parts of Europe. I took over 4000 snapshots over a span of 2 weeks traveling through 3 countries, all in an attempt to tell a story with them. So here goes:

Whenever you go overseas (as it was the first time for me), it is good to note that not everyone uses 110V, 60Hz power with traditional power outlets that resemble the ones we have here in the states. So one of the handy things to have is a power adapter. Note that there is a difference between a power adapter and a power converter. A power converter converts the 220v 50Hz electricity in Europe down to the 110V, 60Hz power that our electronics use. Most of our modern day electronics have a converter built in to the AC adapter. Usually, old hair dryers or kitchen appliances are the ones that don't have these built in converters and you'll have to bring one for them to plug in to.

I checked the AC adapter on my MacBook and my camera battery charger and they have built in power converters so I was good to go. I purchased a power adapter made by Swiss Gear that is essentially the swiss army knife of power adapters. Depending on what country you are in, you just flip the switch and the appropriate plug pops out. It was pretty awesome. The field test was quite successful.

Next up: Hostel Life

Star Trails

Quick Lessons Learned from my first Star Trail type shoot:

1.) Use a larger aperture to make the stars more apparent. They give off so little light in the first place such that a larger aperture will help bring the stars out from the dark sky. Using the largest aperture on your lens may introduce unwanted vignetting or other artifacts, however.

2.) If you use a wide angle lens, expect to sit out there longer. The stars will take longer to move across the sky. If you use a nice zoom lens, the opposite occurs.

3.) Point towards the east or west for the most star movement. Stars closer to the north/south poles move much less.

4.) Have some patience and bring a friend to chat with. Bringing some beers will also help pass the time.

5.) If you have something in the foreground, you'll have to separate your shots into segments instead of one continuous exposure.

28 Minute Exposure cut into 30 second frames (56 frames total), f/4.0, ISO 100