At last, the winter inertia is gradually diminishing. This was prompted in part by an unexpected invitation from Germany to visit for exploratory talks. This came totally out of the blue and was due to the host remembering me from a 2006 event.
With the book "A View from the Lodge" now printed and Mr James the author actively pursuing sales, attention turns to "Dark Seeds 3AM" by Mrs Lowry which is close to completion, following talks with the cover photographer and designer of Perfect Yellow.
A message left on the New Scientist group of LinkedIn requested mentors for US High School science projects. One of these was in the area of molecular biology, an area in which I have considerable experience. Contact with the student resulted in a favourable response and i now await the project initiation.
A casual internet search on certain technology matters revealed a dramatic change in accessibility and cost-effectiveness in certain areas. This has led to the exploration of a new venture which I am researching further assiduously.
Sadly, Hermione Triops is now deceased. Triops, like all arthropods, grow by repeated shedding of old skin and expanding before the new skin hardens. Hermione had a small amount of old skin was not shed, around her tail after one moult. The subsequent moult proved laborious because the old remnant made it impossible to fully shed the next skin. I did attempt microsurgery which did remove most of the old shell, but the tail was now so constricted that food waste could not be ejected and after two days, Hermione passed away.
Sad though this incident is, the different forums on the internet suggest that moults are a known crisis point, leading to premature death.
I have set up a new hatch of Triops two days ago but have yet to see any sign of life.
The headlines are currently dominated by the holing and capsizing of an Italian cruise ship, the impugned conduct of the captain during the emergency and the continued search for the missing passengers, numbering 20 or so.
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Skype conversations and annotating stained glass photos.
Gradually getting back into the routine of work, with a promising Skype conversation as well as the usual chats with Mr Heker as we drafted a new communication text together for his company.
Placed copies of both the Stereomicroscopy book by Mr Woolnough and the “A View from the Lodge” by Mr James as for sale on Amazon. This time I was offering to sell worldwide.
I also quickly generated German pages for the front and end of the Flash game and uploaded that as a separate entity.
Hermione the Triops has a carapace now around 1cm long, demonstrating the tremendous growth of this species. Spent a large part of the evening beginning to collect annotations and information on the stained glass windows of Worcester Cathedral. Began with the seven East cloister aisle windows. This has introduced me to the Saxon Kings and the gradual penetration of Christianity into the British Isles.
Eve Arnold, photographer, died at 99. Spent some time browsing her pictures online. Rather than studio work, she appeared to photograph on location or behind the scenes at studios. The one that really struck me was a picture taken during the US integration crisis. It shows two girls, one black, one white, at an integration party eyeing each other with spontaneous smiles.
Placed copies of both the Stereomicroscopy book by Mr Woolnough and the “A View from the Lodge” by Mr James as for sale on Amazon. This time I was offering to sell worldwide.
I also quickly generated German pages for the front and end of the Flash game and uploaded that as a separate entity.
Hermione the Triops has a carapace now around 1cm long, demonstrating the tremendous growth of this species. Spent a large part of the evening beginning to collect annotations and information on the stained glass windows of Worcester Cathedral. Began with the seven East cloister aisle windows. This has introduced me to the Saxon Kings and the gradual penetration of Christianity into the British Isles.
Eve Arnold, photographer, died at 99. Spent some time browsing her pictures online. Rather than studio work, she appeared to photograph on location or behind the scenes at studios. The one that really struck me was a picture taken during the US integration crisis. It shows two girls, one black, one white, at an integration party eyeing each other with spontaneous smiles.
Friday, 30 December 2011
December in brief
- Alan James' book, “A View from the Lodge” published and printed.
- Contrast to the financial meeting in London – photography and filming of the public sector demonstrations in Cambridge see http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/nine-points-learnt-photographing.html.
- Three trips to Hereford and back – family related. I used the opportunity to take a better set of all the available stained glass at Worcester Cathedral and spent time editing the images.
- Also climbed up the Malvern's British Camp and Worcester Beacon with the SLR and tripod to try some panoramic views – images still to be edited.
- Completed the total recreation of the company brochure for Jos-Reinigung Nord - http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/jos-procedure-by-juengst.
- Personal accounts and most of Company accounts done.
- Timing totally out for my most recent speech at Toastmasters – need to tackle for 2012.
- Had fun with Chinese Brush Painting, creating Robins and Holly for a video Christmas Card http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-do-robin-holly-feature-at-christmas.html. Originally initiated by a request by Ms Mix in Germany for an e-mail Christmas Card.
- Saddened to hear of death of Gregor Scholz who visited the UK earlier this year and whom I acccompanied in London – article at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/12/cheers-to-gregor-scholz-farewell.html.
- Saw a program about living fossils – Triops. Was so captivated, bought a kit to hatch at home and am currently nurturing a small specimen of Triops longicaudatus in a tank.
- Had a lovely Christmas with the family.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Stained and etched glass in the cloisters of Worcester Cathedral – and King John submitting kingdom to Pope
The drive back to Cambridge from Hereford began in pouring rain. I had contemplated stopping off at Cadbury World, but a phone call in advance established that they were not open today.
Seeing signs to the Royal Worcester factory on the ring road around the city, I decided to visit this instead and started following the erratically placed signs. By the time I was approaching the centre of the city without a clear indication on where to go next, I promptly stopped and parked near the Cathedral and made that my outing.
I spent a couple of hours photographing the stained glass windows in the cloister and then briefly touring the rest of the Cathedral. I came away with the clear intention to visit again. The photography took some time as the light was poor and the hand held camera needed long exposures that really challenged the anti-shake function on the device.
One new fact learnt from the sign by King John's tomb, he submitted the Kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope in order to patch up an argument about which Archbishop should be appointed at Canterbury that had led to King John's excommunication.
I edited the images in the evening, as best possible considering the quality, and uploaded them to my Picasa web album collection at http://goo.gl/uMRQn.
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Useful photographic software and trepanning
I woke briefly with the aura of an impending migraine, took some tablets and slept again until the medication took hold.
Yesterdays photographs at Ely Cathedral included a range of images either taken at different focal depths, e.g. of carved figures around a column, or of a scene such as a stained glass window taken at a range of exposures so that the series would capture all the detail in both the darkest areas and lightest ones.
These two different series would be used to create composite images using some extremely useful software. However, I needed to transfer and activate licensed software from my old PC for these programs on my new PC and that was a key task undertaken today.
The most important software is Helicon Focus, used to create a focus stack. A problem commonly experienced with photography, especially macro-photography and microscopy, is that when areas in the foreground are in focus, the background is not and vice versa. Whilst this can be used to great effect to achieve an emphasis of one subject, by making sure it is the only one in focus, in other instances you actually want a whole area to be in focus.
When it is critical to have more of an object in focus than can be achieved with a single photo, I ensure that the camera is fixed and then take a series of photos, changing the focus from front to back in incremental steps. With Helicon focus I can then combine all the images together and create an final image where only the elements that are in focus are used from each serial image.
The second software is Photomatix. It can combine images of different contrast range to create a High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo which reveals all the detail.
Our eyes and brain are brilliant at looking at a scene where there are very bright and very dark areas. Imagine yourself on a path in a wood in bright sunlight – you can see detail in the shady areas AND the bright areas. Cameras have a much lower contrast range, meaning that if you expose to reveal the detail in the brightest area, the shadows are black without detail – and vice versa.
With Photomatix, I photograph a scene from a fixed position (tripod) over a range of bracketed exposures and then combine these in Photomatix to create an HDR image.
In the evening, during the judging of Strictly Come Dancing, I started reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. One of the curious minor story threads is the use of trepanning or trepanation – the drilling of holes in the skull and allowing them to heal – for spiritual or health reasons.
I'd seen a skull displayed in the International Museum of Nubia in Aswan showing a skull with an accompanying X-ray where there was lesion that I thought was a trepanation that had healed over.
Trepanning or trepanation had been part of human culture for at least 7000 years, starting with a neolithic skull found in Ensisheim, France, and in Chinese, Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Arabic and European skulls. Approximately 6% of Inca and pre-inca skulls had been trepanned, with a suggested survival rate of over 60%.
There is a small group of individuals who actually self trepan to the present date.
Reasons for trepanning include the obvious medical – to repair skull damage or antique beliefs that it helped with curing migraines or epilepsy. However, there may also have been trepanning for spiritual reasons.
The current rationale for trepanning in the absence of medical necessity is to increase brain activity with the explanations that it might help by allowing the brain to expand or increasing oxygenation of the brain. No medical evidence for these exists to date.
Whilst I am a migraine sufferer, I will not be taking up trepanation!
Two interesting links : Wikipedia and An illustrated history of trepanation.
Yesterdays photographs at Ely Cathedral included a range of images either taken at different focal depths, e.g. of carved figures around a column, or of a scene such as a stained glass window taken at a range of exposures so that the series would capture all the detail in both the darkest areas and lightest ones.
These two different series would be used to create composite images using some extremely useful software. However, I needed to transfer and activate licensed software from my old PC for these programs on my new PC and that was a key task undertaken today.
The most important software is Helicon Focus, used to create a focus stack. A problem commonly experienced with photography, especially macro-photography and microscopy, is that when areas in the foreground are in focus, the background is not and vice versa. Whilst this can be used to great effect to achieve an emphasis of one subject, by making sure it is the only one in focus, in other instances you actually want a whole area to be in focus.
When it is critical to have more of an object in focus than can be achieved with a single photo, I ensure that the camera is fixed and then take a series of photos, changing the focus from front to back in incremental steps. With Helicon focus I can then combine all the images together and create an final image where only the elements that are in focus are used from each serial image.
The second software is Photomatix. It can combine images of different contrast range to create a High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo which reveals all the detail.
Our eyes and brain are brilliant at looking at a scene where there are very bright and very dark areas. Imagine yourself on a path in a wood in bright sunlight – you can see detail in the shady areas AND the bright areas. Cameras have a much lower contrast range, meaning that if you expose to reveal the detail in the brightest area, the shadows are black without detail – and vice versa.
With Photomatix, I photograph a scene from a fixed position (tripod) over a range of bracketed exposures and then combine these in Photomatix to create an HDR image.
In the evening, during the judging of Strictly Come Dancing, I started reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. One of the curious minor story threads is the use of trepanning or trepanation – the drilling of holes in the skull and allowing them to heal – for spiritual or health reasons.
I'd seen a skull displayed in the International Museum of Nubia in Aswan showing a skull with an accompanying X-ray where there was lesion that I thought was a trepanation that had healed over.
Trepanning or trepanation had been part of human culture for at least 7000 years, starting with a neolithic skull found in Ensisheim, France, and in Chinese, Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Arabic and European skulls. Approximately 6% of Inca and pre-inca skulls had been trepanned, with a suggested survival rate of over 60%.
There is a small group of individuals who actually self trepan to the present date.
Reasons for trepanning include the obvious medical – to repair skull damage or antique beliefs that it helped with curing migraines or epilepsy. However, there may also have been trepanning for spiritual reasons.
The current rationale for trepanning in the absence of medical necessity is to increase brain activity with the explanations that it might help by allowing the brain to expand or increasing oxygenation of the brain. No medical evidence for these exists to date.
Whilst I am a migraine sufferer, I will not be taking up trepanation!
Two interesting links : Wikipedia and An illustrated history of trepanation.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Radio, Ely Cathedral, an ethereal chorister and angels
Last Friday, Radio Cambridgeshire's Andie Harper Show invited listeners to join them at Ely Cathedral, with the option of a tour of part of the cathedral not usually open to visitors. Since this was a first come first served offer, I jumped at the chance and phoned in to book a space.
So I arrived today at the cathedral with camera and tripod in hand. The shows presenter Mr Harper and close support Mrs Carman, Mr Williamson & Mr Dee soon appeared with radio technicians and paraphernalia. A band of loyal listeners joined the group and the Cathedral helpers plied us with coffee, tea and biscuits as the show began.
The acoustics of the Ely Cathedral are such that the radio interviews themselves took on a slightly hallowed air. At 10am we went to visit the Prior Crauden's Chapel with Mr Dee as the live interviewer and Mrs Carman as his minder whilst we listeners got to know each other in conversation.
Our guide to the Chapel was the historically well informed Cathedral Guide Mr Shank. He led us up the tight little staircase into the small first floor chapel. It had survived the reformation remarkably well, only losing the mediaeval stained glass as so many religious establishments did. However, the Victorian replacement was a very vibrant light featuring St Andrew (Sanctus Andreas), St Philip, St Paul, St Thomas and St Simon.
The chapel also had the shadowy remnants of a wall painting of the crucifiction – very difficult to make out. However, the real gem was the mediaeval tiled floor, where a large panel featured Adam and Eve at the moment of temptation, surrounded by lions (or should that be leopards) and a recognisable deer.
Another of the show's facebook friends, Mr Redhead, was also there with his SLR and we alternated views and photographs. After the tour of the chapel we both bought tickets for a tour of the West Tower to take advantage of the views.
Our septuagenarian guide Mr Sallows took us on an informative and humorously commentated tour that included the 288 steps to the top of the tower. We started out as a party of six and arrived on top as a party of five. At this altitude, the wind was fair whistling past us as we peered through the towers crenelations, photographing the map-like landscape and architectural model buildings with minuscule figures spread below us.
After the tour, I had a baked potato lunch and drink in the cathedral refectory, with the sound of a military wedding in the choir of the chapel being broadcast in the background.
Refreshed I wandered back to the Octagon space, looking for suitable photographic subjects. The sun, which had decided to hide itself in broken cloud whilst we were up the tower, now resumed full power, such that the south facing stained glass windows glowed in brilliant colours. I was taken by the depiction of the Tower of Babel and photographed that first.
Then suddenly, as part of the wedding, the ethereal voice of a chorister lifted to the accompaniment of the organ with a rendition of Ave Maria, followed by Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.
The light coming through the South Transept light shone on simple modern grey fabric seats arranged in rows, imbuing then with subtle colours and glows. The wooden seats in the nave also took on dappled shades giving some striking photographic effects.
Many photograph the Octagon, as I have done in the past. The decorated vaulting around it often disappears into the shadows and yet is in itself beautifully decorated if viewed with a longer exposure.
The vaulting photographs lead me across to the South Transept to use the telephoto lens and capture some of the Angels arranged along the beams. Their faces were sometimes serious, sometime comical and at their feet the beams ended in more grotesque faces, including a remarkable likeness of Princess Leia during her twin bun phase.
The battery on my camera was running low as I took the last shots before leaving the Ship of the Fens, to wind my way back home via a diversion to Over.
A selection of photos here: Ely Cathedral with Andie Harper Show.
So I arrived today at the cathedral with camera and tripod in hand. The shows presenter Mr Harper and close support Mrs Carman, Mr Williamson & Mr Dee soon appeared with radio technicians and paraphernalia. A band of loyal listeners joined the group and the Cathedral helpers plied us with coffee, tea and biscuits as the show began.
The acoustics of the Ely Cathedral are such that the radio interviews themselves took on a slightly hallowed air. At 10am we went to visit the Prior Crauden's Chapel with Mr Dee as the live interviewer and Mrs Carman as his minder whilst we listeners got to know each other in conversation.
Our guide to the Chapel was the historically well informed Cathedral Guide Mr Shank. He led us up the tight little staircase into the small first floor chapel. It had survived the reformation remarkably well, only losing the mediaeval stained glass as so many religious establishments did. However, the Victorian replacement was a very vibrant light featuring St Andrew (Sanctus Andreas), St Philip, St Paul, St Thomas and St Simon.
The chapel also had the shadowy remnants of a wall painting of the crucifiction – very difficult to make out. However, the real gem was the mediaeval tiled floor, where a large panel featured Adam and Eve at the moment of temptation, surrounded by lions (or should that be leopards) and a recognisable deer.
Another of the show's facebook friends, Mr Redhead, was also there with his SLR and we alternated views and photographs. After the tour of the chapel we both bought tickets for a tour of the West Tower to take advantage of the views.
Our septuagenarian guide Mr Sallows took us on an informative and humorously commentated tour that included the 288 steps to the top of the tower. We started out as a party of six and arrived on top as a party of five. At this altitude, the wind was fair whistling past us as we peered through the towers crenelations, photographing the map-like landscape and architectural model buildings with minuscule figures spread below us.
After the tour, I had a baked potato lunch and drink in the cathedral refectory, with the sound of a military wedding in the choir of the chapel being broadcast in the background.
Refreshed I wandered back to the Octagon space, looking for suitable photographic subjects. The sun, which had decided to hide itself in broken cloud whilst we were up the tower, now resumed full power, such that the south facing stained glass windows glowed in brilliant colours. I was taken by the depiction of the Tower of Babel and photographed that first.
Then suddenly, as part of the wedding, the ethereal voice of a chorister lifted to the accompaniment of the organ with a rendition of Ave Maria, followed by Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.
The light coming through the South Transept light shone on simple modern grey fabric seats arranged in rows, imbuing then with subtle colours and glows. The wooden seats in the nave also took on dappled shades giving some striking photographic effects.
Many photograph the Octagon, as I have done in the past. The decorated vaulting around it often disappears into the shadows and yet is in itself beautifully decorated if viewed with a longer exposure.
The vaulting photographs lead me across to the South Transept to use the telephoto lens and capture some of the Angels arranged along the beams. Their faces were sometimes serious, sometime comical and at their feet the beams ended in more grotesque faces, including a remarkable likeness of Princess Leia during her twin bun phase.
The battery on my camera was running low as I took the last shots before leaving the Ship of the Fens, to wind my way back home via a diversion to Over.
A selection of photos here: Ely Cathedral with Andie Harper Show.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Dahlias and foraminifera
A leisurely Bank Holiday Monday as Mrs T and I drove to Anglesey Abbey for an afternoon walk and a photo-session with the Dahlias. The sun shone wanly through the high cloud and breaks, making the over-large blooms glow. My favourites were the varieties with a more raggedy appearance.
In the evening I pulled out the larger microscope and looked at the box from the Postal Microscopy Society that was due for posting at the end of the month. It was a mixed box put together by Mr Darnton, containing soundings from the RRS Disovery and HMS Challenger, from the Norman Bequest. I enjoyed looking at the foraminifera using crossed polars as they revealed the black cross pattern on a light background usually seen with starch grains. There was also a strew of multihued spicules, which looked equally attractive, whether under transmitted illumination or crossed polars.
Although past midnight when I finished, I was tempted to go online and do some last minute research on photography and photography restrictions in Egypt.
In the evening I pulled out the larger microscope and looked at the box from the Postal Microscopy Society that was due for posting at the end of the month. It was a mixed box put together by Mr Darnton, containing soundings from the RRS Disovery and HMS Challenger, from the Norman Bequest. I enjoyed looking at the foraminifera using crossed polars as they revealed the black cross pattern on a light background usually seen with starch grains. There was also a strew of multihued spicules, which looked equally attractive, whether under transmitted illumination or crossed polars.
Although past midnight when I finished, I was tempted to go online and do some last minute research on photography and photography restrictions in Egypt.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Identifying Stentor on a snail's shell
Received first feedback on the draft press release for the NRW delegation – we sought approval from our various hosts. Some changes required, including a revision of the original title which had been emasculated by the suggested revision. Sighed, accepted my lot and made the changes, then sent on to Ms Luetje and Mr Juengst to keep them informed. Still have another permission/edit outstanding to be mailed to me.
The mood was enlivened by the arrival of Ms Fleming and Mr Snoswell with a pond sample containing small ramshorn snails with strange green goo at the central depression of their whorls. I had been intrigued by the photos on Ms Fleming's Facebook post, which tantalisingly lacked sufficient detail for clear identification. We soon had the stereo-microscope out and were chasing the snails in a petri dish as they threatened to zoom out of view at 6x to 20x magnification.
I attached my camcorder to the microscope and made some recordings which we then replayed on a larger television screen, with identification guides on hand. We soon established that the green matter comprised colonies of Stentor polymorphus, which absorb chlorella as symbionts. The vase shaped organisms, with their cilia rimmed apertures, were oblivious to the movement of both the snail and the petri dish.
I edited a short video with a range of clips. Mr Heker called in via Skype on another matter and was roped in to help with the audio editing via shared screen! The video was uploaded to YouTube and also embedded in a short blog article which was subsequently submitted to Micscape, an online microscopy magazine.
The rest of the afternoon was a return to continuing the manuscript review begun yesterday.
The evenings news is is full of the Libyan rebels storming Gaddaffi's compound, a key target in Tripoli. No sign of the colonel or his sons though.
The mood was enlivened by the arrival of Ms Fleming and Mr Snoswell with a pond sample containing small ramshorn snails with strange green goo at the central depression of their whorls. I had been intrigued by the photos on Ms Fleming's Facebook post, which tantalisingly lacked sufficient detail for clear identification. We soon had the stereo-microscope out and were chasing the snails in a petri dish as they threatened to zoom out of view at 6x to 20x magnification.
I attached my camcorder to the microscope and made some recordings which we then replayed on a larger television screen, with identification guides on hand. We soon established that the green matter comprised colonies of Stentor polymorphus, which absorb chlorella as symbionts. The vase shaped organisms, with their cilia rimmed apertures, were oblivious to the movement of both the snail and the petri dish.
I edited a short video with a range of clips. Mr Heker called in via Skype on another matter and was roped in to help with the audio editing via shared screen! The video was uploaded to YouTube and also embedded in a short blog article which was subsequently submitted to Micscape, an online microscopy magazine.
The rest of the afternoon was a return to continuing the manuscript review begun yesterday.
The evenings news is is full of the Libyan rebels storming Gaddaffi's compound, a key target in Tripoli. No sign of the colonel or his sons though.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
The slight disappointment of Whipsnade
Thursday, 28th July: The whole family made our outing to Whipsnade zoo. Having visited Banham zoo and Colchester zoo in the past years, we did have high expectations of this zoo as part of the Zoological Society of London.
The tone was set with the entry price which included an optional donation that one had to actively opt out of, the map we were given to find our way around contained inaccuracies and there was no indication of the feeding times of program of events given at the outset.
However, with warm and mainly sunny weather and cameras in hand, we made the best of the day. The impressions that remain from the day were the Maras and small deer that ran around freely, the pigmy hippopotamus mother with her calf, the antedeluvian appearance of the White Rhinos and the lively action at the end of the day at the elephant enclosure.
The tone was set with the entry price which included an optional donation that one had to actively opt out of, the map we were given to find our way around contained inaccuracies and there was no indication of the feeding times of program of events given at the outset.
However, with warm and mainly sunny weather and cameras in hand, we made the best of the day. The impressions that remain from the day were the Maras and small deer that ran around freely, the pigmy hippopotamus mother with her calf, the antedeluvian appearance of the White Rhinos and the lively action at the end of the day at the elephant enclosure.
Business visitors for lunch
Monday, 25th July: Herr Juengst and Herr Noll came to Meerbusch for an informal business related visit. They had been part of a previous NRW delegation to the UK and were following up with another visit, coming to London on the 8th August. I had initiated the meeting as it is always a pleasure when previous visitors to the UK actually follow up on potential business.
We covered some aspects that might be of assistance to them and then enjoyed a Schnitzel at the only nearby Pension that was open on a Monday.
That evening, photographed my German grandfather's typed diary text. This had been originally transcribed from handwritten notes into a word-processor document by my oldest uncle, printed and sent to family members. However, the original digital files had been lost. In my publishing role, I was interested in seeing if it was possible to recreate the digital version for future use. Mr T turned the pages (over 300) whilst Mrs T read through the notes, finding mention of herself as a child and chuckling at her fathers perception of her as a headstrong girl.
We covered some aspects that might be of assistance to them and then enjoyed a Schnitzel at the only nearby Pension that was open on a Monday.
That evening, photographed my German grandfather's typed diary text. This had been originally transcribed from handwritten notes into a word-processor document by my oldest uncle, printed and sent to family members. However, the original digital files had been lost. In my publishing role, I was interested in seeing if it was possible to recreate the digital version for future use. Mr T turned the pages (over 300) whilst Mrs T read through the notes, finding mention of herself as a child and chuckling at her fathers perception of her as a headstrong girl.
Fishy photography at the Aquazoo
Sunday 24th July: Sunday had promised to be a dull wet day, so Mr T, Mrs T and my good friend Mr Lingnau visited the Aquazoo – Loebekke Museum in Duesseldorf. The route there was somewhat convoluted as the usual Rhine Ferry was not in action and we ended up queuing in the rain with the hundreds of other visitors who had made the same decision.
Mr Lingnau and I were armed with our cameras and took up the challenge of photographing both static and moving marine and freshwater exhibits. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the circuit, not departing till closing time at 18:00h.
Later that evening, we reviewed our photographs, amazed at the success of some and accepting that others were simply blurred due to the long exposure times.
The photos are now part of the large collection taken in Germany and will need a quiet day to begin selecting and editing the best.
Mr Lingnau and I were armed with our cameras and took up the challenge of photographing both static and moving marine and freshwater exhibits. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the circuit, not departing till closing time at 18:00h.
Later that evening, we reviewed our photographs, amazed at the success of some and accepting that others were simply blurred due to the long exposure times.
The photos are now part of the large collection taken in Germany and will need a quiet day to begin selecting and editing the best.
The Gasometer and it's 616 stairs.
Saturday, 23rd July: Today we did successfully make the trip to the Gasometer, which is actually in Oberhausen, to see the exhibition “Magic Places - Natural and Cultural Monuments of the World” (http://www.gasometer.de/en_GB/index.php?pid=3_1).
The exhibition featured large panels of photographs of natural and geographic features, interspersed with mineral and fossil samples on the ground floow. On the next level, there were beautifully recreated cultural artifacts from the Gipsformerei der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin). The low light was a challenge for photography, but I persevered in attempts to capture the bust of Nefertiti.
The centre of the hall was dominated by the giant sculpture of a rainforest tree that loomed up into the vast space and was illuminated by gradually changing lighting.
On the way in to the exhibition, I had noticed that the the outside stairs leading all the way from the bottom to the top of the 100m high gasometer were actually open to the public. After wandering around the exhibition, I moved outside to take up the challenge of making the ascent. An initial rush soon changed to a steady pace. I started counting steps but soon gave up as the stairwell had a varying number of steps around each quarter. I later established that there were 616 steps to a height of 115m (the total height of the Gasometer is 117.5m), making this one of the largest industrial stairs in the world.
At 30m, I was already looking down on a tree-top climbing activity. The view gradually expanded to take in the river, railway and related exhibition areas. The wind also picked up and my ears were beginning to freeze. It took me more than 20 minutes to make the ascent, breathless but with a feeling of achievement.
The exhibition featured large panels of photographs of natural and geographic features, interspersed with mineral and fossil samples on the ground floow. On the next level, there were beautifully recreated cultural artifacts from the Gipsformerei der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin). The low light was a challenge for photography, but I persevered in attempts to capture the bust of Nefertiti.
The centre of the hall was dominated by the giant sculpture of a rainforest tree that loomed up into the vast space and was illuminated by gradually changing lighting.
On the way in to the exhibition, I had noticed that the the outside stairs leading all the way from the bottom to the top of the 100m high gasometer were actually open to the public. After wandering around the exhibition, I moved outside to take up the challenge of making the ascent. An initial rush soon changed to a steady pace. I started counting steps but soon gave up as the stairwell had a varying number of steps around each quarter. I later established that there were 616 steps to a height of 115m (the total height of the Gasometer is 117.5m), making this one of the largest industrial stairs in the world.
At 30m, I was already looking down on a tree-top climbing activity. The view gradually expanded to take in the river, railway and related exhibition areas. The wind also picked up and my ears were beginning to freeze. It took me more than 20 minutes to make the ascent, breathless but with a feeling of achievement.
Mr Heker`s practice, The Cathedral and Synagogue to Essen
Thursday, 21st July: This morning breakfast was followed by a quick check on the business e-mails and removing the accumulated spam comments on the Cambridge Open Studios blog.
The it was off to Oppum railway station to catch the train to Essen to meet with Mr Heker. The first train was a Regional train, stopping at every station to Duisburg. Alighting from the train there, a fifteen minute wait to catch a double decker Regional Express which then took me speedily to Essen.
Arriving at Mr Heker dental technical laboratory “Teeth R Us”, it was a great opportunity to have a tour of the laboratory equipment and techniques with Mr Heker. We then spent a couple of hours catching up on possible tasks and strategies for attendance at the BDA exhibition in Birmingham in October.
Afterwards I was taken on a tour of central Essen, The first highlight was the Dom, the cathedral of Essen. Although only a cathedral since 1958, its origins go back to the foundation of an abbey by Bishop Altfrid in the late AD 850s with a peak of influence in the elefventh and twelfth centuries.
For me, the absolute delight were the modern stained glass windows completed in the 1950s to 1960s by a variety of artists (see http://www.dom-essen.de/index.php?id=263). I took an extensive series of photographs which I hope to edit in the near future.
The tour continued to the Synagogue, renovated and resplendent with its large dome. A police bus was discretely parked nearby, indicating the sensitivities still extant. The interior was delightfully elegant with clean lines, reflecting the modern construction style at the turn of the 20th Century and there was an interesting set of exhibits on the building` history and also Jewish traditions. The technological highlight was a series of two giant cogged wheels that interlinked to show the relationship between the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar. Flash photography not being permitted, I hope that the hand-held or supported photos give unshaken results.
We finished with an evening meal in a Greek restaurant (Artemis) before I finally caught the train back to Meerbusch via Krefeld Oppum.
The it was off to Oppum railway station to catch the train to Essen to meet with Mr Heker. The first train was a Regional train, stopping at every station to Duisburg. Alighting from the train there, a fifteen minute wait to catch a double decker Regional Express which then took me speedily to Essen.
Arriving at Mr Heker dental technical laboratory “Teeth R Us”, it was a great opportunity to have a tour of the laboratory equipment and techniques with Mr Heker. We then spent a couple of hours catching up on possible tasks and strategies for attendance at the BDA exhibition in Birmingham in October.
Afterwards I was taken on a tour of central Essen, The first highlight was the Dom, the cathedral of Essen. Although only a cathedral since 1958, its origins go back to the foundation of an abbey by Bishop Altfrid in the late AD 850s with a peak of influence in the elefventh and twelfth centuries.
For me, the absolute delight were the modern stained glass windows completed in the 1950s to 1960s by a variety of artists (see http://www.dom-essen.de/index.php?id=263). I took an extensive series of photographs which I hope to edit in the near future.
The tour continued to the Synagogue, renovated and resplendent with its large dome. A police bus was discretely parked nearby, indicating the sensitivities still extant. The interior was delightfully elegant with clean lines, reflecting the modern construction style at the turn of the 20th Century and there was an interesting set of exhibits on the building` history and also Jewish traditions. The technological highlight was a series of two giant cogged wheels that interlinked to show the relationship between the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar. Flash photography not being permitted, I hope that the hand-held or supported photos give unshaken results.
We finished with an evening meal in a Greek restaurant (Artemis) before I finally caught the train back to Meerbusch via Krefeld Oppum.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Maidenhead and Prison Doors
The drive down to Maidenhead to visit Mr Dodsworth went without incident. We spent the day collating all the paperwork and planning the finalisation of the completed German project that we had been managing for the past year.
The return journey was enlivened by two small observations en route. The first was the witty graffiti across a bridge spanning the eastbound M25, stating “Give Peas a Chance”. The second was a silver van advertising doors. Not just any doors, secure doors and … Prison doors!
This evening, had much more success in assembling a panorama from the nine overlapping cylcloid fish scale stacks. I am hopeful that the ctenoid scale will be easier.
The return journey was enlivened by two small observations en route. The first was the witty graffiti across a bridge spanning the eastbound M25, stating “Give Peas a Chance”. The second was a silver van advertising doors. Not just any doors, secure doors and … Prison doors!
This evening, had much more success in assembling a panorama from the nine overlapping cylcloid fish scale stacks. I am hopeful that the ctenoid scale will be easier.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Authors and unsuccessful panoramas
I had agreed to meet author Ms Lowry at the Country Park Cafe, however, with the upper rooms reserved and the cacophony of infants downstairs, we walked over the Jane Coston bridge to the St John's Innovation Centre cafe for our talks over a cup of tea. Ms Lowry's book is progressing well, with seven of ten potential chapters completed in first draft. Even just skimming through the work so far reveals an intense personal story with some of the most disturbing experiences that she had in her early life. Currently we are on track for publication in time for the Christmas market.
Yesterdays images of the fish scales were transferred to my PC and stacked in focus triplets before attempting a stitching of the images into a panorama. This evening I played for a couple of hours with the program Hugin Panorama Creator. At first try, I cannot get a quality alignment and I will have to try again.
The rest of the day was concerned with preparing for tomorrows meeting with Mr Dodsworth in Maidenhead, to round up the last German program. Part of this was renting the automobile for the trip, a small metallic blue Toyota Aygo. With its rounded curves, it has a friendly appearance and sufficient room behind the steering wheel for my long legs. The remainder of effort went to printing out support material. The World of Computers had a small printer by HP on offer for a mere £24 and I purchased one with a view to using it as an economical mobile accessory.
Yesterdays images of the fish scales were transferred to my PC and stacked in focus triplets before attempting a stitching of the images into a panorama. This evening I played for a couple of hours with the program Hugin Panorama Creator. At first try, I cannot get a quality alignment and I will have to try again.
The rest of the day was concerned with preparing for tomorrows meeting with Mr Dodsworth in Maidenhead, to round up the last German program. Part of this was renting the automobile for the trip, a small metallic blue Toyota Aygo. With its rounded curves, it has a friendly appearance and sufficient room behind the steering wheel for my long legs. The remainder of effort went to printing out support material. The World of Computers had a small printer by HP on offer for a mere £24 and I purchased one with a view to using it as an economical mobile accessory.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Portraits, fish scales and Neptune's anniversary
I received an email from another German company, specialising in building conservation techniques, who had taken part in a previous delegation from NRW to Wimpole Hall and London. Information is being accummulated for a potential press article/release after their planned next visit to the UK. I responded with the suggestion that we meet up informally when I next venture to Germany in the coming week.
This afternoon, I uploaded the portrait photos of some of the Cambridge Open Studio visitors who came last weekend and made a selection for more detailed editing. There were four final pictures in all, representing a gentleman wearing a fez, two different mothers with their daughters and a father with two student daughters.
The editing was limited to optimising lighting and contrast. Then the colour saturation was carefully adjusted by increasing it slightly, altering the saturation balance to maintain a natural set of tones. I do not go in for heavy skin or other editing as would be done for a fashion model. I do remove the occasional skin spot (three in total) and in one instance, reduced the pimples on the brow of of one subjects.
Having saved the colour image, I would then convert the image into a grey-scale version, again optimising lighting and contrast for this particular medium. There is a particular beauty with grey-scale portraits, whether it is the impact of the face without the distraction of colour or the beautiful texture of wavy hair with one of the mothers.
This evening, I was acutely aware that I had been hanging onto a box by Mr Richardson from the Postal Microscopical Society that should be passed on, initially delayed by illness and the distraction of Open Studio preparation. I returned to view the slides again (having to change a 30 year old bulb when the existing one blew – the next time will require a new lighting system!).
I had seen this box probably over a decade ago and illustrated two fish scales enclosed. This time, I decided to photograph them. The first was a cycloid scale from a rainbow trout. The scale is generally ovoid with concentric rings leading to an almost central focus like the contour lines on a mountain. The second was a ctenoid scale from Dover sole. These are more rectangular with a quartered pattern. The two long sides again have contour lines. The front part of the scale that is exposed on the fish skin, is covered in rows of short spikes that elongate towards the edge of the scale. The remaining side has a series radial ribs, giving the contours traversing them a way characteristic.
Even at a mere 40 times magnification, the scales were larger than the field of view through the microscope and camera viewfinder. The trout scale was photographed in a series of three columns and three rows of overlapping photos, each location at three focal depths (edge of scale, halfway up scale and centre of scale – giving 27 pictures in total. The Sole scale was photographed in the same manner but only required two columns of three rows at three focal planes – 18 photos in total.
Stacking the focal planes and then aligning the rows and columns is a labour for another day.
The interesting anniversary today is that around the 12th July it will be the first year's anniverary of the discovery of Neptune by Johann Gottfried Galle, in neptunian years of course. Herr Galle first identified Neptune 164.79 Earth years ago in 1781. Ever since the ignominious departure of Pluto from the pantheon of planets by its derogation to planetoid, Neptune has been the eighth and outermost planet of our solar system. The Hubble space telescope took some “Anniversary pictures” of Neptune late in June, which can be seen here http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/19/image/a/.
This afternoon, I uploaded the portrait photos of some of the Cambridge Open Studio visitors who came last weekend and made a selection for more detailed editing. There were four final pictures in all, representing a gentleman wearing a fez, two different mothers with their daughters and a father with two student daughters.
The editing was limited to optimising lighting and contrast. Then the colour saturation was carefully adjusted by increasing it slightly, altering the saturation balance to maintain a natural set of tones. I do not go in for heavy skin or other editing as would be done for a fashion model. I do remove the occasional skin spot (three in total) and in one instance, reduced the pimples on the brow of of one subjects.
Having saved the colour image, I would then convert the image into a grey-scale version, again optimising lighting and contrast for this particular medium. There is a particular beauty with grey-scale portraits, whether it is the impact of the face without the distraction of colour or the beautiful texture of wavy hair with one of the mothers.
This evening, I was acutely aware that I had been hanging onto a box by Mr Richardson from the Postal Microscopical Society that should be passed on, initially delayed by illness and the distraction of Open Studio preparation. I returned to view the slides again (having to change a 30 year old bulb when the existing one blew – the next time will require a new lighting system!).
I had seen this box probably over a decade ago and illustrated two fish scales enclosed. This time, I decided to photograph them. The first was a cycloid scale from a rainbow trout. The scale is generally ovoid with concentric rings leading to an almost central focus like the contour lines on a mountain. The second was a ctenoid scale from Dover sole. These are more rectangular with a quartered pattern. The two long sides again have contour lines. The front part of the scale that is exposed on the fish skin, is covered in rows of short spikes that elongate towards the edge of the scale. The remaining side has a series radial ribs, giving the contours traversing them a way characteristic.
Even at a mere 40 times magnification, the scales were larger than the field of view through the microscope and camera viewfinder. The trout scale was photographed in a series of three columns and three rows of overlapping photos, each location at three focal depths (edge of scale, halfway up scale and centre of scale – giving 27 pictures in total. The Sole scale was photographed in the same manner but only required two columns of three rows at three focal planes – 18 photos in total.
Stacking the focal planes and then aligning the rows and columns is a labour for another day.
The interesting anniversary today is that around the 12th July it will be the first year's anniverary of the discovery of Neptune by Johann Gottfried Galle, in neptunian years of course. Herr Galle first identified Neptune 164.79 Earth years ago in 1781. Ever since the ignominious departure of Pluto from the pantheon of planets by its derogation to planetoid, Neptune has been the eighth and outermost planet of our solar system. The Hubble space telescope took some “Anniversary pictures” of Neptune late in June, which can be seen here http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/19/image/a/.
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Open Studio, day 2
The (garage) door to my open studio opened slightly ahead of time and I was able to bask in the morning sun for a while before the first visitors arrived. Today was a busier day, though there was a quiet period from about 1pm to 3pm.
Again, there were one or two familiar faces, however many new visitors appeared too, a significant proportion coming specifically to my exhibition. However, many commented on the benefit of having two studios open at the same time, close to one another, and that this was also a major deciding factor. Several independent groups came from St Ives. The furthest origin was from New Zealand, a couple visiting and accompanying their mother who lives in the county.
I was delighted that one young man had seen the invitation to come wearing headgear and be photographed, outlined on my Cambridge Open Studios website entry. He had brought a Fez – I forgot to ask if this was in response to the Dr Who episode featuring one – and wore it unselfconsciously and confidently for the photograph.
A number of parents with mature progeny were also willing to be photographed, mainly mothers and daughters, but I was pleased to also have a father and his two daughters.
The latter had arrived just 10 minutes before the planned close of the studio and it transpired that I was the last visit of a busy day. The two daughters were still college students. Yet they still had such a lively interest and curiosity, that our conversations continued to well after 18:30. It was so refreshing and rewarding, as usually it is the parents that are more vocal, with the youths being more tongue tied.
All in all, there were 57 visitors over the weekend, 19 on Saturday and 38 today. There was lively interest and discussion of the subjects portrayed, however, as in previous years, purchases were on low value items such as postcards. People are also taking the student notes and polarisation info sheet, many of them not students.
The last days of an era are in progress. The last ever space shuttle mission blasted off for space on Friday and docked with the international space station today.
Again, there were one or two familiar faces, however many new visitors appeared too, a significant proportion coming specifically to my exhibition. However, many commented on the benefit of having two studios open at the same time, close to one another, and that this was also a major deciding factor. Several independent groups came from St Ives. The furthest origin was from New Zealand, a couple visiting and accompanying their mother who lives in the county.
I was delighted that one young man had seen the invitation to come wearing headgear and be photographed, outlined on my Cambridge Open Studios website entry. He had brought a Fez – I forgot to ask if this was in response to the Dr Who episode featuring one – and wore it unselfconsciously and confidently for the photograph.
A number of parents with mature progeny were also willing to be photographed, mainly mothers and daughters, but I was pleased to also have a father and his two daughters.
The latter had arrived just 10 minutes before the planned close of the studio and it transpired that I was the last visit of a busy day. The two daughters were still college students. Yet they still had such a lively interest and curiosity, that our conversations continued to well after 18:30. It was so refreshing and rewarding, as usually it is the parents that are more vocal, with the youths being more tongue tied.
All in all, there were 57 visitors over the weekend, 19 on Saturday and 38 today. There was lively interest and discussion of the subjects portrayed, however, as in previous years, purchases were on low value items such as postcards. People are also taking the student notes and polarisation info sheet, many of them not students.
The last days of an era are in progress. The last ever space shuttle mission blasted off for space on Friday and docked with the international space station today.
Saturday, 9 July 2011
The first day of my Cambridge Open Studio for 2011
I had probably not got to sleep before 4 AM in the morning and was therefore less than enthusiastic about the inadvertent sounding of the alarm clock at 7 AM. I managed to sleep for another hour or two before reluctantly clambering out of bed and getting ready for the first of my two Cambridge Open Studio weekend days.
The very first task before the studios opened at 11 AM was to assist Mr Cooper in setting up flags at the end of all road and further along the road towards the main route through Milton, to ensure that visitors could easily find both my studio and that of Mrs Cooper who was exhibiting under her artistic name of Alison Hullyer. We met and chatted with some other villagers on the way, gaining some juicy nuggets of gossip on yet another conflict within a village organisation.
Then it was back to direct our gazebo, under which I intended to sit and paint whilst waiting for visitors to appear. My studio was not only clearly marked with the Cambridge Open Studios flag but also with the banner that Mr Burt of Jamy Ltd had prepared for me a couple of years ago for when I was on the plinth. Walking down to the end of our close, I ascertained that anyone walking past and looking in that direction could not fail to miss the fact that there were two studios open along Hall End.
Sounds drifting over from the playing fields at the other end of the village reminded us of the fact that we were competing against the Milton village fair. I had a scant four visitors before lunchtime. However things picked up during the afternoon and by the end of the day, 19 people had visited my studio, meeting the expected average based on prior experience.
Seated under the gazebo, I took the time to practice my Chinese brush painting. The lack of practice over the past few weeks showed and it took some time to get back into the flow. The gradually improving sketches that were done were added to the special board within the exhibition as examples of practice work.
Now that the first day was over, this Sunday and the following weekend would be less stressful as the familiarity of the open studio set in.
The evening was spent reformatting my now old Asus EeePC and installing the new Natty Narwhal version of Ubuntu. This resulted in a more compact use of storage space and gave me more space for my own files on the little netbook, should I so wish.
Good news by text from Mrs Ekblom – she had returned home and was recuperating after a successful operation.
The very first task before the studios opened at 11 AM was to assist Mr Cooper in setting up flags at the end of all road and further along the road towards the main route through Milton, to ensure that visitors could easily find both my studio and that of Mrs Cooper who was exhibiting under her artistic name of Alison Hullyer. We met and chatted with some other villagers on the way, gaining some juicy nuggets of gossip on yet another conflict within a village organisation.
Then it was back to direct our gazebo, under which I intended to sit and paint whilst waiting for visitors to appear. My studio was not only clearly marked with the Cambridge Open Studios flag but also with the banner that Mr Burt of Jamy Ltd had prepared for me a couple of years ago for when I was on the plinth. Walking down to the end of our close, I ascertained that anyone walking past and looking in that direction could not fail to miss the fact that there were two studios open along Hall End.
Sounds drifting over from the playing fields at the other end of the village reminded us of the fact that we were competing against the Milton village fair. I had a scant four visitors before lunchtime. However things picked up during the afternoon and by the end of the day, 19 people had visited my studio, meeting the expected average based on prior experience.
Seated under the gazebo, I took the time to practice my Chinese brush painting. The lack of practice over the past few weeks showed and it took some time to get back into the flow. The gradually improving sketches that were done were added to the special board within the exhibition as examples of practice work.
Now that the first day was over, this Sunday and the following weekend would be less stressful as the familiarity of the open studio set in.
The evening was spent reformatting my now old Asus EeePC and installing the new Natty Narwhal version of Ubuntu. This resulted in a more compact use of storage space and gave me more space for my own files on the little netbook, should I so wish.
Good news by text from Mrs Ekblom – she had returned home and was recuperating after a successful operation.
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Hanging pictures for my Open Studio
Most of the day was devoted to my Open Studio preparations. The framed pictures needed to have cord attached ready for hanging. I purchased some fresh white emulsion and polyfiller and then spent an hour in the garage sanding and then filling the holes from previous years exhibitions in the display boards affixed to the walls.
Miss T then valiantly donned protective garb and tackled the re-coating of all the mounting boards with the white emulsion over a couple of hours.
With temperatures in the mid twenties Centigrade, the emulsion dried extremely rapidly, so we progressed to planning the hanging of the chosen collection. Having established a suitable arrangement, we then took another couple of hours to carefully align and hang the pictures.
The slow progress in hanging is due to the need to ensure that there is an underlying structure to the pattern of the pictures, most commonly, ensuing that pictures in a row across a wall all share the same height from the floor at their top side. This gives a clean line to the eye. Second rows and the attention paid to alignment of columns is also critical.
The evening was spent entertainingly at the Huntingdonshire Speakers meeting of our Toastmasters International Club.
The day still left me drained as my body apparently continued to be in recovery from the weekend's illness.
Miss T then valiantly donned protective garb and tackled the re-coating of all the mounting boards with the white emulsion over a couple of hours.
With temperatures in the mid twenties Centigrade, the emulsion dried extremely rapidly, so we progressed to planning the hanging of the chosen collection. Having established a suitable arrangement, we then took another couple of hours to carefully align and hang the pictures.
The slow progress in hanging is due to the need to ensure that there is an underlying structure to the pattern of the pictures, most commonly, ensuing that pictures in a row across a wall all share the same height from the floor at their top side. This gives a clean line to the eye. Second rows and the attention paid to alignment of columns is also critical.
The evening was spent entertainingly at the Huntingdonshire Speakers meeting of our Toastmasters International Club.
The day still left me drained as my body apparently continued to be in recovery from the weekend's illness.
From OCR to Open Studios
Tuesday was a day of catchup. There was an enquiry about a possible translation to be done, based on a PDF containing a news item about Green Ventures in Potsdam. It provided an opportunity to test out the new Omnipage 18 OCR software to convert the article into text.
The complexities included the need to OCR and recognise German text, The fact that the layout of the article included images and text in both fields and columns, plus the start of the article itself began in a column half way down the page and ended with a column at the top, plus additional separate text fields set within the columns; all this made it a challenging opportunity to learn very rapidly how to use the software to positive effect. In the end, the translation was not actually commissioned but I am now much better prepared for similar future challenges.
Yet another interpersonal conflict has arisen, in which I have been involved as an intermediary. Fortunately, fast action and bringing different parties to talk to each other appears to have actually ameliorated a potentially venomous situation.
Today’s news was still full of the impending humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, where 10 million people are being displaced by drought. Save the Children has initiated a campaign which I condone and support.
Dr Maunders dropped by early evening with the prints prepared of my photographs by Mrs Maunders And Miss T assisted in getting these framed and added to the stock of pictures to be displayed at my Cambridge Open Studio this weekend.
The complexities included the need to OCR and recognise German text, The fact that the layout of the article included images and text in both fields and columns, plus the start of the article itself began in a column half way down the page and ended with a column at the top, plus additional separate text fields set within the columns; all this made it a challenging opportunity to learn very rapidly how to use the software to positive effect. In the end, the translation was not actually commissioned but I am now much better prepared for similar future challenges.
Yet another interpersonal conflict has arisen, in which I have been involved as an intermediary. Fortunately, fast action and bringing different parties to talk to each other appears to have actually ameliorated a potentially venomous situation.
Today’s news was still full of the impending humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, where 10 million people are being displaced by drought. Save the Children has initiated a campaign which I condone and support.
Dr Maunders dropped by early evening with the prints prepared of my photographs by Mrs Maunders And Miss T assisted in getting these framed and added to the stock of pictures to be displayed at my Cambridge Open Studio this weekend.
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