LINKS

Home
Archives
Site Feed

JimDoty.com
What's New?
Gallery
Family
Nature
Learn
Digital

 
THE WHITE ROSE

Hans (left) and Sophie Scholl with Cristoph Probst (right), leaders of "The White Rose" resistance movement. Munich Germany, July 1942.

Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie were part of "The White Rose", a group that opposed Hitler and the Nazi party. Hans served as a medic on the Eastern (Russian) front from late July to October 1942. One month later, 300,000 Germans were trapped in Stalingrad and only 5,000 returned to Germany. . . .

Hans and Sophie were arrested February 18, 1943 for distributing leaflets and indicted for treason. They were "tried" February 22, 1843 along with their friend Cristoph Probst, found guilty, and executed by guillotine later the same day. A moving account of the trial and visits with their parents during their last hours is toward the end of this article.

12 or so years ago, my son Jim acquired the above photo. He and his friend Eric wrote the following poem at that time.

--- --- ---

WHITE ROSE

They are the things of nursery rhymes

Such as ones you read to children –

Unknowing toddlers suffering parents’ crimes

And burned beneath the ashes of Dresden:

Petals falling to the ground.

Sophie stares darkly serious

With heavier weight than should be

Allowed for a woman on twenty-one.

But everyone carried burdens.

Three hundred thousand bodies

make the conscience sour,

Shameful that a much larger number

would be necessary to sate one man’s

Thirst, or earn

righteous vengeance.

For Hans, perhaps no healing powers

Ever learned could stop the burns and amputations

from the

EAST

Or mend the bleeding of a people

Once vast

Once proud

Once beautiful.

And more than beauty, the daisy

sits

Close to Sophie’s bosom,

In its last bastion of protection

Where life and beauty survive

If only for a moment –

Innocence lost, like blood drained and

Whitened leaving zombies in blind sleep;

Red sapped from passionate roses

Stifling growth,

Cultivating compliance,

Leaving only a single symbol

Of virginity

Of purity

On aninimity

White Rose

- Copyright © Eric Duckworth and Jim Doty III

--- --- ---

You can learn more about Hans, Sophie, and the White Rose here , here, and (if you speak German) here.

Sophie's story has been made into a critically acclaimed movie that will be released in major U.S cities between February and May. You can learn more about the movie here and here.

Playdates are listed at the movie site.

 
SWEDISH BLOG LINK

Every once in a while I check out the server stats to see how people find my web sites.

Links from this blog send people to two of my digital infrared articles. Here is the post.

Here are the links from the above screen capture: Tidigare sökningar, svart-vit IR, and färg IR.

Unfortunately, I can't read Swedish, so I ran the post through a free online Swedish to English translator with somewhat odd results:

"Sat and muse few if husband should want one IR filter to Christmas. And was bending surfer about few for that watch what people says if IR photographers and Canon 20D. Olds sökningar had goats few halv positive answer but the interacts iaf product wholly possible. Tex find followings two equipment from Jim Doty , a if black - white IR and a if colour IR. Them sheep husband take and read through decently ngn tread."

I wrote to the blog's author, Karl-Petter Åkesson (Kalle), at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science. He was kind enough to send me an English translation that matches the structure of the Swedish post. You can compare the two.

"Was just musing about if one would wish for an IR filter for Christmas. And started to surf around a bit to see what people say about IR photography and the Canon 20D. Earlier searches have given half positive results but it seems to at least be possible. E.g. found the following two articles from Jim Doty, one about black-and-white IR and one about colour. Sometime one has to read those through carefully."

As Kalle pointed out, the online translator "failed at many abbreviations, for instance, iaf, tex, ngn which are quite common in colloquial writings like blogs."

You can explore more of his writings on a wide variety of topics (much of it in English) by going here.

 
NEW! CANON 30D



It has been known for months that Canon would announce a replacement for the Canon 20D sometime in Feb 2006. Today it is official. The Canon 30D (not to be confused with the D30 of several years ago) is here.

For several weeks now, I've encouraged anyone who wrote to me about buying the Canon 20D to wait and see what the new camera will be like.

Here are the basics from the press release.

* 8.2 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor
* 5 fps and 30 large JPEG frame burst
* 2.5”, 230K pixel, 170º wide viewing angle LCD screen
* Picture Style image processing parameters
* Spot metering and High Precision 9-point AF system
* DIGIC II image processor with 0.15 sec start-up time
* Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software
* 100,000 cycle shutter durability and rugged magnesium alloy body
* Simultaneous RAW and JPEG recording
* Wide 100-3200 ISO range
* E-TTL II Flash
* PictBridge compatibility
* Complete compatibility with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
* USB 2.0 Hi-Speed and Video Out connectivity

This is basically a "tweaking" of the Canon 20D with the same essential sensor and probably the same image quality. Upgrades are the spot metering and "Picture Styles" taken from the Canon 5D, and a faster frame rate and more rugged shutter.

If you already have a Canon 20D, I don't see a really compelling reason to upgrade unless you simple must have spot metering and a faster frame rate (5 fps).

If you are thinking of upgrading from the 10D or Digital Rebel, you have a choice, get the 30D at a little less than the 20D used to cost, or save a lot of money and buy a 20D as the prices drop and the remaining stock of bodies is sold.

So which should you get? I would suggest you wait until DP Review has a full review comparing the two cameras, and then make your decision.

Canon's official info is here and DP Review has info here .

 
CHOOSING A DIGITAL PROJECTOR



With the switch to digital, a lot of photographers are going from analog to digital slide shows. Finding a good digital projector that will keep photographers happy can be a challenge. Projecting photos is much more demanding than projecting a business Powerpoint presentation, so a lot of the digital projector reviews on the internet aren't that helpful to the photographer that wants to do a high quality digital slide show.

The good news is that you can get a good quality digital projector in the $900 - $1900 price range, depending on the specs and power (ANSI lumens) that you want. Quality goes up and prices come down. $1400 today buys you a better projector than $3500 would buy three years ago.

It is important to get an LCD projector (not DLP) for the best image quality. XGA resolution (1024 x 768) should be the minimum for projecting photos. You can read more about resolution here. It is nice to have a digital projector that has computer and video inputs. You can use your laptop to do slide shows, and your video or DVD player to show movies. Read the specs carefully to make sure your digital projector will do everything you want it to.

When it comes to digital photography, one of my trusted sources is Tim Grey. Before working for Microsoft, Tim was George Lepp's digital guru and taught some of the classes at the Lepp Institute of digital Imaging. With Tim's permission, I have quoted from his digital newsletter before.

If you aren't already on Tim Grey's DDQ email list, think about signing up. He answers digital photography questions on an almost daily basis when he isn't traveling. Signing up is free. I would suggest you consider making a voluntary contribution to support his newsletter.

Below is part of a recent DDQ newsletter on choosing a digital projector. It provides some helpful advice. Tim likes Epson and Canon LCD projectors. I'm using an earlier model Epson projector (a predecessor to the 755C) that Tim recommended a few years ago and I have been very pleased with it. George Lepp is also impressed with the recent Canon projectors. If money is no object, check out the Canon Realis SX50, linked below and reviewed here.

Projector links are at the end of this post and range in price from $900- $1900 models, plus the Canon Realis SX 50 at $4200. If all the links don't show, REFRESH (RELOAD) the page.

*** *** ***

Digital Darkroom Questions e-mail list
December 2, 2005

Our camera club is considering purchase of a digital projector. We want to consider the following uses:

1. Potential speakers want to bring digital program material (e.g. on Powerpoint). What would we need for a system and how could we be sure that it is compatible with any speaker's material?

2. There is some interest in using a digital projector to present members' images for competitions. What would this involve?

==========

"The particular specifications would depend a bit on the projection conditions. In particular, the concern is about the ability to darken the room. I assume, however, that the location you're using for this does allow you to darken the room reasonably well. I also assume you're talking about a moderately small room, without the need to project the image over a significant distance to a particularly large screen. In other words, I'm assuming you're dealing with a situation that is pretty typical of most camera club presentations in my experience.

To meet those needs, the requirements are relatively modest. I'd suggest a project that supports a resolution of at least 1024x768 (XGA) and that has a brightness value of at least 1000 lumens. I recommend an LCD projector rather than DLP projector for photographic displays, because LCD projectors are able to project slightly better saturation. I've been very happy with the Epson PowerLite line of projectors, and am also very impressed with the latest models from Canon. You can get a very good projector at this level for around $1,000, such as the Epson PowerLite 76c. If portability is a significant concern, or you have other needs, you can certainly spend more for a higher-end model. I also recommend checking out specifications and reviews at Projector Central (www.projectorcentral.com) as you research the model that best meets your needs.

Quite frankly, once you have a projector it is very easy to put it to work. Think of it as a monitor that can be connected to a computer but functions in a different way. You can connect it directly to virtually any laptop (provided it has an external monitor connection, which the vast majority do), set the laptop to send a signal to that port (which is usually handled via a shortcut key on the laptop) and you're all set.

This, of course, leads into your next question. You've no doubt seen plenty of presentations where the speaker comments that the projector doesn't look good, but it looks great on his laptop display. Considering that anyone who presents or submits images should have created that presentation on a calibrated monitor display, you should be able to rely on the image files or presentations containing accurate color. Therefore, the only real trick is to get accurate color from your projector. You can work to make adjustments to the projector display using a target image that assists in this regard, such as the PDI Target image you can download from my website at www.timgrey.com/ccdownloads.htm. The better solution is to purchase a projector calibration package, such as the Beamer from GretagMacbeth (www.gretagmacbeth.com). This allows you generate a profile to set as the default monitor profile for the laptop (or other computer) being used for the projected presentation, ensuring accurate color for all images and presentations assuming the source data is good. This is the best way to get accurate color from your projector and is a solution I highly recommend." - Copyright (c) Tim Grey. All Rights Reserved.

*** *** ***

Epson Digital Projectors (The Powerlite 76C is$899.99 as of Feb 21, 2006)



Canon Digital Projectors

 
FREE PANORAMA STITCHING SOFTWARE


Christmas at Easton, Columbus, Ohio. Photo (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

One of the great things about digital photography is that it has made panoramic photography much easier. No more time consuming film scans. No more arduous sessions trying to match the color and density of all those scans. With a digital camera in manual mode with the exposure, white balance, and focus set so they don't vary from image to image, it is much easier to produce a "matched" set of images.

The second challenge is to get the digital images stitched together into one panoramic photograph. That just got easier and less expensive. AUTOSTITCH is free and it works very well. It is much better than most free software, and it also works better than a lot of the commercial software I have tested. Best of all, once you set the OPTIONS (easy to do, and I provide directions), the stitching process is completely automatic. There is one minor file order quirk, but I explain the easy work around.

Learn all about AUTOSTITCH in this article.

The photo at the top of this page is too small to give you an idea how well this software stitches photos together. No seams! You can get a much better idea here.

 
ONLY 2 DAYS to SAVE OUR U.S. NATIONAL PARKS


From the National Council of Churches home page, February 16, 2006

You have until February 18 to do your part to save our National Parks. It will take you less than two minutes of your time if you use the form letter at the link below.

Proposed changes to the policies that have protected our National Parks can turn them into "A Noisy, Hazy, Off-road Nightmare." Keeping the 2001 NPS Management Policies would be much better for our parks than adopting the proposed changes.

A number of retired employees of the National Park Service, each of whom served the National Park Service in executive level leadership positions, are opposed to the proposed changes and have explained their concerns in a detailed letter. The signers of the letter include three Deputy Directors that served between 1975 and 2002 and a long list of Regional, Associate, and Center Directors. Their letter will tell you most of what you need to know (see the "letter of protest" link below). They call the proposed changes "a drastic and dangerous departure from a longstanding national consensus." They go on to say "We are especially troubled by the omission from the opening sections of the Management Policies of their long-established emphasis upon the NPS’s overriding responsibility to preserve resources on behalf of all Americans, including those yet unborn."

Several senators are also opposed. The National Council of Churches (NCC) and FaithfulAmerica.org are calling on Americans to do their part to stop these changes. Surprisingly enough, it was an email this morning from the NCC that brought this issue to my attention.

If you are a photographer and you want to protect our National Parks from visual degradation, DO YOUR PART.

If you are a person of faith (no matter what religion) and you believe that stewardship of the earth and preserving the beauty of some of our national wonders is important, DO YOUR PART.

If you want your children and granchildren to be able to enjoy our National Parks in the future in the way that you have enjoyed them in the past, DO YOUR PART.

If you believe in the values of wilderness, tranquility, and peace, and you don't want our National Parks to sound more and more like amusement parks, DO YOUR PART.

If you use the form letter at the link below, it will take you less than two minutes to fill out and send. The NPS deadline for sending emails or post marking letters is February 18 at 11:59 pm MST.

While you are at it, write to your representatives in the House and Senate. Find your elect officials here.

Send an email to the NPS:

Send a message to the National Park Service with this online form letter from the Faithful America web site. Just fill in your name, email address, and mailing address and click "Send this message". You can edit the letter or write your own letter in the box provided.

You can also use the NPS comment form. You are limited to a 4,000 character message.

Or write to this NPS email address: waso_policy@nps.gov and use this subject line: "Comments on NPS Management Policies (ID: 12825)".

There is an online form letter you can log on and use at the Sierra Club web site and another online form at the National Parks Conservation Association web site.

Information Links:

The web site of Faithful America with more information about this issue.

Read the letter of protest to the NPS Director from National Park Service employees that served in executive level leadership positions with the park service prior to their retirement.


The National Parks Conservation Association is also opposed to the proposed NPS policy changes.


Some Republican and Democratic Senators oppose changes to proposed NPS policies changes.

The complete text of proposed revisions to National Park Service management policies.

National Council of Churches home page.


From the FaithfulAmerca.org web site, February 16, 2006.

 
Happy Valentine's Day!


Grocery store, February 14, late in the afternoon. Photo (c) Jim Doty, Jr.


Ah! Valentine's Day. I was at a local grocery store about an hour ago and the flower section was packed with men and women doing some last minute shopping. The card section was packed too and the card shelves looked like a tornado had gone through.

Despite all the reports in the media about how stressful this day can be (Men: "What if I don't choose the PERFECT gift?" Women: "What should I wear?"), I like Valentine's Day. The flowers I bought are in a vase, the card purchased, the gift ready to go, and I will take my favorite girl out to dinner later this evening. It's a good day. Maybe this day is less stressful since I am less perfectionistic than I used to be (at least that is what I keep telling myself). So what if things aren't just perfect? Flowers orders can get lost, dinner reservations get mixed up, things can and do go wrong. So? What really matters is the people we care about.

If you haven't done so already (and it doesn't matter what day you read this post) it's a good day to call, write, or email some of the special people in your life and tell them how much they mean to you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
MOVIE: GRIZZLY BEAR MAN



Grizzly Bear Man is a parody of the movie Grizzly Man. The parody is an 18MB download and you will meed QuickTime (a free download for Windows or Mac) installed on your computer to watch it. Featuring "Tommy Treadlow," much of the parody will only make sense if you've seen the original movie. This is definitely a low budget production with a "limited" cast.

Some of the scenes that parallel the original movie are the back scratching bear, Treadlow with the bears (different names, same bear costume), the pilot, Treadlow's "I wish I were gay" speech (yes that is part of the part of the original movie), the director with Treadlow's ex-girlfriend, and Treadlow with the fox. In a thoughtful and touching scene from the original movie, the director tells Treadwell's ex-girlfriend never to listen to the tape of Timothy's death. Some of the add-ons to this scene in the parody (like "the book" segment) are as humorous as the original scene is touching.

On the other hand, there are some offensive scenes in poor taste that I would have left out of the parody. It is not politically correct. More info is here.

 
CANON DIGITAL FLASH

The message began like this:
"Help! My Canon 540EZ flash doesn't work on my new digital SLR."

That's right. I found that out myself. Canon "EZ" series flash units that were made for film cameras don't work at all or with very limited functions on the digital SLR bodies. You need one of the "EX" series flash units. Two good current models are the Canon 430EX and the Canon 580EX (see the links below).

A higher model number means a higher guide number (i.e. more light output). At maximum power, the 580EX puts out about one more stop of light than the 430EX. The 580EX has a few more electronic bells and whistles, like the ability to fire other flash units via an infrared remote signal. If you don't need the extra power or the extra bells and whistles, the 430EX will be just fine.

You can also buy discontinued EX models like the 550EX, the predecessor to the 580EX, or the 420EX. Look for used flash units at KEH.com and other used photo equipment dealers on my LINKS page.

 
GRIZZLY MAN


"Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell

The award winning (Sundance Festival and L.A. Film Critics) documentary film Grizzly Man is showing on the Discovery Channel this weekend. If you like nature, Alaska, bears, nature photography, or human behavior that is beyond the edge, watch this movie. Director Werner Herzog's movie provides a fair, sensitive, non-sensationalized account that is worthy of the awards it has won.

Grizzly Man is about Timothy Treadwell, a self-styled bear expert and naturalist that spend 13 summers living with the bears in Katmai National Park. Much of the footage in the movie was taken by Treadwell who spent his last few years at Katmai recording over 100 hours of footage of his bears, his foxes, and himself. He did a number of retakes of scenes of himself, so he was obviously preparing to make a movie with himself as the on camera narrator.


Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37

On October 5, 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by one or more bears. The attack was recorded on 6 minutes of audio tape. His friends grieved his death, but they were not terribly surprised. Treadwell took a lot of unnecesary risks, despite warnings from Park Rangers. After a few years with the bears, he stops using an electrified fence and quits carrying pepper spray.

He loved his bears, called them by name and treated them like friends. In some of the footage, he reaches out byond the camera lens and touches the bears on the nose. He tells each one "I love you." It is a dangerous thing to treat wild and potentially dangerous animals like cuddly friends. He sets up camp in locations that he himself called very dangerous. In other ways he lived by the rules, being scrupulously careful about food storage and cooking. He knew the bears and their behavior very well. He is a strange contradiction, being both very knowledgeable and aware, and naively foolish.

While his love for bears grows, so do his paranoid suscpicions about humans. He finds a note on a log (Hi Timothy, see you in the summer of 2001) and a happy face drawn in ink on a rock and interprets both of these as threats on his life. He goes into an angry, vulgar (bleeped out), obscene gesture (fuzzed out) filled rant against the National Park Sevice, and then does another take of his rant. In Treadwell's world, bears are perfect, people are bad, and he is the only one who cares about and protects his bears from poachers, eco-tourists, and the National Park Service.



Some of the videography is quite stunning. The fight between "Mickey" and "Sgt. Brown" is powerful and terrifying. The landscape is beautiful. There are wonderful scenes of the bears at play and him at play with the foxes that den near his campsite.

The foxes that become habituated to his presence climb on his tent, chase him across the fields, and let him stroke their fur like they are pet dogs. There is some mutuality betwen him and the foxes and he grieves when one is killed. It also conflicts with his fairy tale view of nature. He doesn't like nature "red in tooth and claw" and he is disturbed when his "perfect" bears eat the cubs when there aren't enough salmon during a drought. He yells at God for not providing enough rain so the salmon can run upstream so the bears can feed.

On October 5, Treadwell called his best friend by satellite phone with good news to share. He spotted one of his favorite sows that had been missing and he feared she had been killed by poachers. Now that she had been spotted he was ready to be picked up. Arrangments are made for a pilot to come the next day.

Treadwell shot some more video footage that afternoon. Later that day or that night, he left the tent to check on a bear. He or Amie turned the camera was on but the lens cap was left on so the final 6 minutes of tape is audio only. Mercifully, the audio is left out of the movie. The very few persons who listened to the tape describe the final minutes.

Treadwell yells that he is being attacked. His girlfriend tells him to play dead and the bear ends the attack. When Treadwell moves the bear attacks again. Huguenard attacks the bear and hits it repeatedly on the head with a pan but to no avail. Amidst his moans, Treadwell sense the end and tells his girlfriend to run away. She will not leave him and continues to fight the bear. Her screams change to shrieks. The tape runs out.

The next day the pilot who comes to pick them up is charged by a large older bear. He runs back to his plane and takes off. He flies over the camp and sees the bear over a human rib cage. He buzzes the bear but can't scare it off. He calls state troopers and Park Rangers. When they come on the scene they are charged by the same bear and have to shoot it. While they gather the few remains, they are stalked by a 3 year old bear and have to shoot it too. They take the remains and all of the camping gear and leave. Hindered by bad weather, they can't return for two days.

When they come back, all of the younger bear has been eaten except for its head. There is nothing left to tell if he was involved in the deaths. The bigger bear is 28 years old, weighs 1,000 pounds and has broken teeth. When they cut him open, he is filled with human parts and clothing. Having eaten his fill, he was hiding what was left of the remains when the pilot arrived. There is no way of knowing if he killed the couple, or came along later to take advantage of a smaller bear's kill. The whole thing was a real trajedy.


Timothy Treadwell and one of his beloved bears

Grizzly Man is a fascinating look at this contradictory man and the the world he loved. Director Herzog's view of nature is the opposite of Treadwell's, but he is still sensitive to Treadwell the man and his complex motives.

For further reading:

The Myth of Timothy Treadwell
A tragic loss by Lynn Rogers
News Account: Grizzly mauls, kills a bear 'expert'
Blood Brothers

Treadwell's book and Herzog's movie:

 
CANON 5D CAMERA SETTINGS



Three new articles on how to set up the Canon 5D camera:
Canon 5D Menu Settings
Canon 5D Custom Functions
Canon 5D Top Deck Controls