Category Archives: publishing

4,000 and Counting

I was looking through some old posts the other day to try and find something and I saw that the published post count was exactly 4,000 posts.  I hadn’t been keeping track of this so was quite surprised that it was a) that many and b) I happened to look when it was exactly 4,000 published posts.  The first post I made was on March 14, 2011.  At that time, things were not as structured.  My first entry was followed by a second a week later.  Then I had a couple in one day.

By May, I was posting every other day.  I come up with subjects long in advance and tend to prepare the posts in batches which are then scheduled out.  I was getting to the point where I had so many posts scheduled, it was going way out into the future.  It was this that triggered me to go daily.  That’s how it has been ever since.  While my initial focus was on aviation themes, the lack of interest from some family and friends on those topics meant I went to alternating with aviation one day and non-aviation the next.  That is how it continues.  Let’s see how long it all continues.

Changing the Blog Template

If you are a regular reader of the blog, firstly, thank you.  Second, you will have noticed that the style has changed a bit.  I have been using the same WordPress theme since starting the blog.  I wasn’t desperate for a change but I was motivated to do something by a Facebook issue.  It used to be that I could put the link to a blog post in to Facebook and it would include the link and an image from the post – usually the first one.  The first image is usually my favorite for illustrating the topic so it gets the prime slot on the post.  However, something happened in the Facebook algorithms.  I would put in the link, the page would auto populate beneath the text with the right image and then I would hit post and it defaulted to the banner image from the theme rather than my actual image.

As a result of this, I had taken to deleting the link after it auto populated and then pasted in the main image manually.  This was a pin and it also seemed to reduce the number of people actually clicking on the post rather than just looking at the picture on Facebook.  I decided to try going to a more recent theme design to see if this fixed the issue.  I looked at a variety of them.  Some seemed okay but others were more business focused.  I selected a slightly newer theme but it still had a simple look to it which I liked.  I tested the change over and configured it as I wanted before switching.  I like the look and it now behaves better with Facebook so the whole exercise seems to have been worthwhile.

Putting Together a New Gallery

I was pondering the content of the gallery on my website.  I hadn’t updated it for a long time and thought there were plenty of shots that should be in there that weren’t.  I started compiling a folder of shots for the revised gallery.  I thought I should check the old gallery to see which shots I should carry across and, when I went to open it on the website, it didn’t work.  It turned out the design was not compatible with current browser design!  I have no idea how long it has been out of commission.

I looked at what options there were for alternative gallery designs and was struggling to find one that I liked that did something special.  In the end, when concluding that a simple design was what I was going to end up with, I went with one of the templates within Lightroom.  That made creating and updating the gallery a lot simpler.  The revised gallery is now online at the link at the top of this page or, if you can’t be bothered to click up there, here is the link.

www.robedgcumbe.com/gallery/

Printing on Glass with FractureMe

I do like to experiment with alternative printing options and, when I heard an ad on the radio for FractureMe, a company that prints on glass, I was curious as to how it would look.  I decided to make a print with them and to see how it came out.  Their approach is pretty much how it sounds.  A print is created on glass with a what backing sheet to provide the base and that is it.  Nothing tricky about preparing the files so I uploaded an eclipse shot I had and placed the order.  I did this just before Christmas and the lead time was three weeks, probably as a result of a bunch of holiday orders.

I sort of forgot about it for a while.  When I got the shipping notification, I was quite excited until I realized it would be a week for the package to make its way across the country.  When it did arrive, I was quite impressed with the way it had been packed.  The image was recessed into a cardboard mount that was supported by a thick sheet of corrugated card.  All of this was wrapped together and then slotted into mounts on the edge of a far larger box.  It was stable and well away from potential dings.  It arrived in great shape along with a mounting screw for the wall.

The image looks great.  The eclipse shot is not a standard type of image so I haven’t tested color reproduction with this but it does look nice and the darkness of the shot seems to work with the glass well.  The first thing I had to do was clean it.  It seemed to have acquired a lot of dust – presumably in the packaging phase.  Now it is time to find a spot to keep it long term.  For now it is sitting on the mantelpiece.

Open House at the 142nd

The 142nd FW of the Oregon ANG is based at Portland International airport.  They held an open house one Saturday morning and I figured a trip down was worth it.  I put together a piece for Global Aviation Resource on the visit which you can see here if you want.  The event was aimed at sharing the work the unit does with the local community that is probably well aware of their presence courtesy of the regular launches of F-15s from the runway at the international airport.

They had a couple of the jets for people to take a look at.  One was out on the ramp and you could walk around it.  Another was in the hangar with an access ladder to the cockpit (devoid of ejection seat, just to be on the safe side).  They also had missiles and engines available to look at with people on hand to talk about them.  Meanwhile, the unit launched a few waves of jets.  They taxied out from the shelters a short distance away and, given the distance to the threshold of the runway, the F-15s were airborne well before they even came in to sight.  Fortunately, they did keep them low and fast until they came by our location.  Then they pulled up rapidly.  Each departure was appreciated by the spectators!

Updating Your Keywording Standards

I provide a number of images to stock agencies.  They require keywords to tack what is in the images.  This has never been a problem because I have been keywording my images for a long time.  Some people keep their images in folders based on shoots but I have, for a long time, been more bothered about putting keywords in for my shots.  This way I can use Lightroom to find shots of any topic really easily.

However, I have become a lot more diligent about my keywording standards in recent times.  I used to not get too bothered about adding too much detail to my keywords.  Now, when I am looking for something, I search on a keyword but the result doesn’t show up an image that I know I have.  When I look at older shots, the keywords are rather sparse and not as specific as they would be now.

The result is that I am making an effort to improve my old keywords.  This is not a quick task.  I find little fixes I can make for clusters of shots and implement those.  It usually triggers something else I can do.  I don’t try and do everything at once.  I just build a list of little tasks and tackle them one by one.  I am now also more diligent about keywording new shots more aggressively.  Fixing this afterwards is a lot harder so now they all get tagged with everything relevant.  I hope this will eventually pay off for me.

Sweating on the Range

B11I4723.jpgWhile watching the arrivals for Hawgsmoke was a lot of fun, the main focus was the range work on the first day of exercise.  The Air Force put us on a bus for the drive out to the Barry M Goldwater Range south of Gila Bend.  This is about a two hour drive.  The temperatures were above 100F and the bus was a bit lacking in air conditioning terms.  We were toasty as we traveled out.  Standing on the range is another thing.  It is rather warm standing out in the sun.  However, you soon forget how hot it is when the jets arrive.

AE7I5828.jpgThe four ships for each unit have a range slot.  They start with the various bomb missions so they are quite a way off while this is underway.  You can just see the little practice bombs as they are released if you look closely and then the impact on the target out on the range.  They try a few different profiles.  Then they move on to the strafe work.

B11I4342.jpgLong range strafe is first with the jets firing from quite a way out from the target.  They then move on to low angle strafe where they are firing from very close to our location on the range tower often firing until alongside us.  The first experience of the A-10 firing is quite something and it is good to see someone react to their first shoot.  After the firing pass, the jets turn overhead our location so you get a great topside view of the jets.

B11I4982.jpgWith the different units taking their turns on the range, you can get shots from different perspectives.  Close in shots, wider shots, a bit of video – all of this can be done in the available time.  Sadly, we have to head off again before too long and it is back on the bus for the return journey.  I spent the day drinking a ton of water.  The bus was hot, the range was hot and the bus was hot again so I needed every drop I drank.  The shower when I got back to the hotel was definitely welcome.  I wouldn’t hold this against the visit though.  It is a ton of fun and the time is spent with some good people too so you can’t go wrong.

Hawgsmoke on the Ramp

B11I4043.jpgEvery two years the A-10 community gets together for the Hawgsmoke competition.  I covered it again for GAR and you can see the piece I wrote here.  The first day we were there was the arrival day.  The plan had been to watch some landings and then to move to the parking ramp area.  As it happened, we couldn’t get too close to the runway and some of the arrivals were delayed so we headed to the ramp instead which proved to be a good choice.  The A-10s were coming in from the various units.

AE7I5421.jpgInitially he team were a little concerned about how we could access the area while the jets were on the move but we gradually got more access as they got more confident in us staying in the right places.  The jets were taxiing along the outsides and then parking facing inwards.  Consequently, we could be in between the rows and out of the way of the aircraft on the move.  As more jets were parked up, we could move further out towards to the taxiway and closer to the arriving aircraft.  It all worked pretty well.

B11I3922.jpgOnce the jets were on the ground the ground crews were straight into action taking off he baggage pods and starting to load up with practice bombs ready for the range slots that were to come as the exercise got underway.  Most of the jets were parked outside the sun shelters so the crews were getting pretty hot as they worked.  Plenty of coolers of water were on hand to keep them in good shape.  This was a good start to the coverage of the exercise from my perspective.

Blog Image Upload Using WP/LR Sync

Providing a review on something you haven’t had a lot of use of doesn’t seem like a good plan. This is something I have been using for a while and, now I have had a bit of time with it, I thought I would share what it is like. Uploading images to the blog is obviously a big part of the preparation of posts since, at the end of the day, this is primarily a photographic blog. When I first started out, I would create the images I wanted and then upload them manually. That was time consuming but was soon superseded by an alternative.

I started using the LR/Blog plugin to Lightroom. This would create a version of the file including any formatting, borders and conversion to the right color space and would then upload it to the blog. This worked okay for a long time but it had one significant limitation. If I tried to upload too many shots at once, it would fail and then lock me out of the blog for a while. I started searching for an alternative when my efforts to solve this problem went nowhere fast.

If you Google this topic, almost everything brings you to LR/Blog. However, recently I came across WP/LR Sync. It is a Lightroom plug in that makes use of the Publish services in Lightroom. Rather than uploading the images one time, you add the files to a collection that is then published to your blog. If you change the image, you can have the online version amended in sync with the original. If you go to http://apps.meow.fr/wplr-sync/ you can read more about it.

I decided to give this a go. However, in the guidance, Jordy provides a piece of information for people like me who have problems uploading lots of images. Apparently, my hosting service treats too many upload attempts in a short time as an attack and you get locked out. This was what was happening before. WP/LR Sync has a field that allows a small time delay between images which, if set just long enough, will prevent you getting treated as an attack. Something like this would also cure my LR/Blog issues I guess but that ship has sailed.

I am very happy with the new plug in. It works well and allows the same edits of the image before uploading as before. A benefit is that, if you drag images to the sync collection and they were already in there, you don’t end up with duplication on the blog. The one you previously uploaded is there. You just might have to scroll down a bit to try and find it. If you want to have a go with this add on to Lightroom, visit http://apps.meow.fr/wplr-sync/ and check it out.

Islander Anniversary

CRW_9239.jpgThe Britten Norman Islander recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of the first flight.  A group, based in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight – the home of the Islander – were involved in celebrating this event.  BNAPS is the group and they have been restoring the first production aircraft.  My mum is a part of this group so this one is close to home.

QB5Y0523.jpgGAR covererd this topic via two articles produced by Bob Wealthy who is a key player in BNAPS.  It was good working with Bob on these pieces and you can find them at the links below.

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2015/06/13/aviation-history-britten-norman-islander-50th-anniversary/

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2015/06/15/civilian-aviation-britten-norman-islander-g-avcn-restoration/

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