Tag Archives: Doctor Who

I’m On A Boat!

Posted by on February 8, 2013 No comments

OK, I am not on the boat yet, but I will be shortly.  Sarah and I are attending JoCoCruiseCrazy 3 this year and it’s going to be awesome!  This will pose some interesting #FirstWorldProblems.  The internet on the boat, while available, is very expensive.  Many folks are going without as a challenge.  I may or may not be up for this challenge.  Of course that means that uploading my P365 pictures is going to be difficult (or non-existent).  Take heart people, I will be taking and processing my photo every day, when I get back to the Internets (or possibly at a hotspot in one of the ports of call) I will upload and label them for the days they were taken.

In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow of my P365 shots to today.

Also, check out the Trooper Adventures, who will also be going with us on the cruise.

Trooper Adventures!

Posted by on January 18, 2013 No comments

A strange idea came upon me while I was getting ready for this trip.  I had planned out all of the photos I was using for the 365 project, but I ran across an idea for a photo that I couldn’t pass up.  I have a few Lego mini-figs and a few of the Doctor Who building block kits.  They use the same scale and interlocking system, so I thought, Why not combine them!  I thought it would be cute to have two of the Stormtroopers take off in the Tardis.

A Long Time Ago? let's test that! (P365-6-2)

With my travels, it was a great chance to take them along and take some shots of them in the Tardis in different locations and situations.  Thus, the Trooper Adventures was born.  When I get the chance to pull these guys out and let them have fun, I do.  They even brought along a friend!  Keep an eye out on the Flickr Set for more adventures.
Trooper Adventures - It looks so tall!
Trooper Adventures - Repairs to make
Trooper Adventure - Beach Landing
Trooper Adventures - The Chase

P365 Progress and Getting ready for travel.

Posted by on January 7, 2013 No comments

I told you I probably wouldn’t be posting the P365 pics here as I take them, but to catch everyone up I wanted to post what I have so far.

BUT FIRST.

A few notes about my trip.  I leave on Tuesday the 8th….yeah, tomorrow.  Flight leaves at 9:50pm and is a 12 hour jog over the Atlantic to land in Kuwait City at 5:50pm.  Kuwait is 8 hours ahead of EST so no one call me in the middle of my night!  Actually, you can’t call me since my phone number will be voice mail only.  You can call and leave me a voice mail, it will get sent to my e-mail and I will get it.  I will be available on IM, Skype, and through e-mail.  I should still have access to Facebook and Twitter, so for most folks it will appear as if I never left!

The Project 365 is going pretty well.  I haven’t hit any sort of wall about what to shoot.  I am approaching it with the idea of shooting what I am doing/working on for the day, that way it documents my year as well as practices the art.  Here is the catch up:

A Long Time Ago? let's test that! (P365-6-2)

A Long Time Ago? let’s test that! (P365-6-2)
Bonus Pic!
Since I caved and used Auto on the group shot earlier, I felt I should do another one. This may lead into a series of pics with these two guys as they take the Tardis to different locations. I wanted to grab this shot as a bonus pic since I am leaving the country soon and wasn’t sure if I would have the chance, and I already have the next two shots planned out.

 

RetroNick Radio (P365-6)

RetroNick Radio (P365-6)
Just a fun picture of the RetroNick Radio crew. I cheaped out and went auto for this shot because I just wanted a quick shot of the guys.

 

Days gone by (P365-5)

Days gone by (P365-5)
Today we went to a convention called Magfest. It’s mostly about games and gaming, kind of a “Pax-lite”. Still fun and they had a lot to see and do there. I wanted something that represented the time we spent there. Classic consoles are always a favorite.
No flash this time, all natural (well, indoor con based) light.

 

It was a Dark and Stormy Adventure (P365-4)

It was a Dark and Stormy Adventure (P365-4)
Friday is our game night. This was our first run together playing D&D, normally we stick to card/Board games.
The drink is called a Dark and Stormy, rum and ginger ale.
Simple shot, with an on camera speed light.

 

That time of year (P365-3)

That time of year (P365-3)
Yup, it’s time to toss the tree and tear down Christmas!
For this shot, since it was late in the evening, I used both of my strobe lights. One positioned down and to my left, the other I held at arms length above and to the right of my POV. Both were remotely triggered.
This was also post processed on the iPad using Snapseed. I like the iPad for some quick touch ups and adjustments.

 

Light Orb (P365-2)

Light Orb (P365-2)
Always wanted to try this trick with long exposure. A friend gave me a small blue LED light so I tied it to a string and went out for a twirl.
Nikon D5100, 35mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 103 second exposure.

 

A month of travel.

Posted by on December 27, 2012 No comments

So i finished up a full month (maybe a tad over) of traveling for work.  Not just the typical “Go there, be gone for a month, come back”  Nope, I would fly out for a week, fly back for the weekend.  Destination: Sierra Vista AZ.  It was hard on the body but at least I got to spend my weekends with Sarah.

 

 

Here are a few things that happened while I was gone.  (Both good and bad)

Just because I wanted another fun travel pic.

That should bring us all current with what’s going on.  Now we approach the new year and it looks like there will be much in the way of travel for the year 2013.  This time there is a good chance that Sarah and I will both be doing the traveling together.  More on that as it develops.  With any luck, you will see lots of posts about Photography and Gaming from overseas.  Will be interesting to see what the culture is like in other places.  (like we did in London!)

 

 

Speaking of gaming, Sarah and I wrapped up Borderlands 2 (although she is still playing to get all of the extra stuff), I picked up and finished Halo 4 (still working on Spartan Ops), and I am playing The Walking Dead from Telltale games on my iPad.  I still get out to play some Ingres, but I hit the level cap and am having a hard time finding more to do it.  I hope that will pick up soon.

Sorry things are not more upbeat.  I was hoping to have more to write about but the end of the year is just….well, the end of the year.

On Holiday

Posted by on June 27, 2012 No comments

Cheers mates!

Just a quick post to say that we are heading off to jolly ol’ England for a bit of a holiday!  Many gadgets will be used and pictures will be taken.  An interesting note, we are not planning on taking any laptops!  This will be a little bit of an experiment.  Sarah and I are only taking the iPads and our phones.  I’ll stock up on Memory cards and clear off the iPad to use for storage for pictures, but yeah, no laptop.

We rented a flat in London and it is supposed to have Internet access.  to spread this into WiFi I picked up a [amazon_link id=”B004T8FC66″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]ZuniConnect Travel Router[/amazon_link].  So far this thing is awesome.  It will bridge the connection from a wired LAN to WiFi, or the reverse, Or echo an existing WiFi!  This will work out great to share the connection with the iPads and phones.  So far I have used it to extend my WiFi connection to a wired only machine and it worked great.  More reports to come.

We have a huge list of things to see and fun to be had, including a day trip out to Stonehenge!  Keep an eye on Twitter for some potential updates along the way!

Scarfs are cool.

Posted by on February 1, 2012 No comments
I have been a very long time reader of a web comic called Real Life Comics.  I found the series back in probably around 2002, went back and read all past strips and then have been reading ever since.  Needless to say, I have been a big fan.  Unfortunately, I never really got into posting on some of the forums and fan groups because I just didn’t need yet another social site to try and keep up with. None the less, I love the strip and the work that Greg does.  Every now and then he would throw up a strip that nearly mirrors conversations that Sarah and I have had!  (Some of them almost verbatim).

Well yesterday Greg posted about a charity auction that he was helping out with by donating his hand made 4th Doctor Who scarf!  Now, Sarah already owns a 4th Doctor scarf and loves it.  I have always been jealous of her massive warmth in who-dom.  So I got pretty excited about the potential to have my own that 1: Was hand made by someone who I am a big fan of, 2: helps out a great charity!

So Last night I sat and watched the timer tick down on the auction waiting for the price to skyrocket out of my range and was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t!  For just over $200 I am now the proud owner of Greg Dean’s Hand Made Doctor Who Scarf!

Big thanks go out to Greg for making laugh on a (nearly) daily basis!

TARDIS Long Exposure pictures

Posted by on January 28, 2012 No comments

Using the same technique I was talking about in my last post, I decided to take a good subject out to a good location and try again.  This time I went to one of the local Battlefield areas and found a great hill that provided an amazing view.  L st night the weather was nice and clear so there were some good stars out as well.

I opted for two styles of picture, the straight long exposure that I turned in a good B/W shot, and a colorful light painting shot.  For the subject, I used my ½ scale TARDIS that my son and I built.  The light painting was actually done with Sonic Screwdrivers as my son and his friend ran wildly around the TARDIS.

Overall I am happy with the results.  They aren’t HDR, this is just a single shot taken between 2-3 min long.  I fired the strobe once or twice on the outside of the TARDIS to give detail and then twice inside to give the light.  (Click for Flickr Link)

TARDIS at Night

Sonic Stars

Almost done with the Tardis!

Posted by on August 6, 2011 1 comment

Been a little while since an update due to my starting the new job.

While I was at work the kid Started in on the signs for the top.  Went for all wood and painted using a stencil.  If we go full size I will definitely look into getting signs made.

Also, I think I see a table saw in my future.  All of the cuts here were made with a handheld circular saw or a hand skill saw, and it shows. (and it makes me sad).  But hey, this small one was more meant for fun and learning!

So here is where we are now:

We stuck the front door sign (phone box sign) on with Lamination and sticky back.

Whats left is the Lantern, and Window framing, and then some touch up painting!

Bad Wolf Sun Shirt on sale!

Posted by on August 5, 2011 No comments

Ok, it’s only kind of on sale.  I submitted to sites like Teefury, Ript, Shirt.Woot, and a few others but haven’t heard back or they came back with “That’s not really our style” (which makes no sense).  So I fell back on my back up plan since I would like to get some of these made and out before DragonCon.

With that, you can now get the Bad Wolf Sun from my mini shop at CafePress!  if anyone has any suggestions for a Print Your Own site tat is cheaper than CafePress please let me know.  I set the markup as low as I could get it (I think it’s at 1% so I get maybe $0.20 per shirt).

So please pass it on, you can get the shirt at: http://www.cafepress.com/Cheeseitprod

See you at DragonCon!! 

Father Son 1/2 size TARDIS build

Posted by on August 1, 2011 1 comment

So, the wife and I have now made it through all of the new Doctors and I am slowly working my way through the classics, as well as catching up on Torchwood.

One of the thing that struck me was the Tardis.  I looked at it early on and thought…..I bet I could build one of those.  See, I love woodworking.  Especially odd ball stuff.  I designed and build a box for my cat to have his food and water in that we could see into, but the dog couldn’t get to it.  So I thought, “why not build a Tardis!”  Shortly afterwards my Son mention that we should do it as a team project.  Since he is prepping to join the military, I figured this was a good bond type of thing for us to do.

So, here we are.  For the last two months I have been browsing the forum Tardisbuilders.com, looking at everyone’s builds and gaining inspiration.  I know that I would have a few days off from work (just switched jobs) and it would be perfect timing for this build.  I eventually want to build a Full scale box but wanted to start small and get ideas.  This will help me build the larger one when it comes time.

So we started Wednesday and I made a point to try and take pictures along the way.

Since this is a 1/2 scale (ish) we started with a simple base frame:

We opted to have the walls be plywood (1/4 inch thick) and cut out the squares.

Sonic Screwdriver says Math is Hard!

Cutting out the squares:

Our Corner pieces are 4×1 inch paired with a 3×1 inch, 4 feet long:

With the walls attached (doors are just leaning)

And here we are after today.  Doors attached and everything mounted on the base:

So Thursday we got the backings on all the panels and added a roof to brace for when we add the tiers (and to hold everything in place.

Also, First Blood happened.  I almost always bleed somehow on every project.  Thankfully it’s only a small puncture.

You may also notice that the top is a tad shorter.  We cut off about 3 inches to solve the tall top problem.  our sinage will be about 3 inches tall so we should have maybe an inch of overage.

A big lesson learned here would be to save the door attachments until after the top is on.  We now will need to take the doors off and trim them up a bit as they stick when opening.  (Through warped wood or being 1/4 inch off.)  That’s one of the downsides to working small scale. even 1/4 of an inch can cause HUGE problems.  

Next stop, Lowes to pick up wood for the Signs and Roof!  I think we may look at doing a flat roof instead of the slanted as in 1/2 scale the difficulty curve is pretty high.

 

We painted on Saturday and that means some outside time.  I am so glad my shop is downstairs in the basement where it’s nice and cool.

So here’s where we are now: Took the doors off and started painting the main body, first coat.

While that was drying (and the wife helped with the second coat) the kid and I went down to build the roof.  here it is sitting on the top. (Not the actual lantern that will be used)

I bought some pre-cut plexi for the windows and left the frost plastic on them.

So that leaves us with the Signs, Window frames, and Lantern for the top.

I opted to not do the Phone box on the side door because of the material we are using being very thin and the overall size being very small.  On the plus side, the whole thing is extremely light!