HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is accomplished by taking multiple exposures, generally 3 or more. The camera is set to take photos in different AV increments. Typically +- 2 stops will accomplish the job, but sometimes more are needed. Most newer SLR, and some higher end “point and shoot’s” will have a setting that will allow for a burst of 3 or more exposures +- 2 stops. The best way to tell in the field is to look at your histogram in each photo. You are looking for it to display from the darkest shadows, to the brightest highlights. Some compositions will require up to 7 photos, but you have to be careful, more does not necessarily mean a better photo. If you are in doubt, take 7 to 9 shots at 1 AV increments. You can always discard the images you will not need during post processing.

Because HDR photography uses multiple exposures, it is recommended that you use a tripod, otherwise ghosting and artifacts can appear. If you are shooting trees, it will require a windless day to get the best quality.

Well, we all survived yet another year going down Cataract Canyon.  I would like to say THANK YOU to Carl Dec and his entire crew for keeping us all safe, fed, and drunk. Since the trip in 2008, we were eagerly awaiting the 09′ shit show, and were not disappointed.  This year’s trip started off like last years, with a engine that did not want to cooperate, and Carl leaving on a jet boat for a rescue replacement engine.  And, just like last year, he came back with one.  Charlie, our fun-loving, drunken driver kept us all thinking…. “What The TF”, but always seemed to pull it out when we needed him most. We didn’t have as many people this year as we did in 08′, and I hope this will be a annual tradition that will continue.

Rapid day (3) was quite a bit different for me this year, being inexperienced in a inflatable 2-man kayak.  I went swimming quite a bit more than I anticipated.  Big drop 2 took me out, and I almost went swimming down Big Drop 3, if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of Dan, who was able to make a perfect throw with the rope bag.  Seriously, I thought for a moment that I was going on a horrible ride for a minute.  Jake rocked the one-man ducky the entire day, and saved my ass a couple of times.

Check out Red River Adventures if you are planning a climbing or river trip to Moab.

Open the embed code in a text editor and modify it like this:

Search for this string:

param name=”flashvars” value=”autoplay=false&brand=embed”

Modify to this:

param name=”flashvars”
value=”viewcount=false&autoplay=false&brand=embed”

Search for this string:

embed flashvars=”autoplay=false&brand=embed”

Modify to this:

embed flashvars=”viewcount=false&autoplay=false&brand=embed”

Save the viewer embed code and replace the old code on your web page.

Most of the big video hosting sites, i.e. YouTube, Vimeo etc. have streaming video that allows you to put the playhead anywhere on the timeline and start the video from that position.  Upon further research I found that the cloud storage company I was using (Rackspace) will work with FlowPlayer.  I already have a licensed copy of JW Player, so I did some more searching.  Turns out that Amazon S3 is compatible with this player… This is just where the fun began.

From the research I have performed, there are two media types that work well for streaming.  You can use .mp4 or .flv files.  If you use .mp4 it must be in the flash codec for it to stream properly.  (If I’m wrong about this please let me know.)

Next come the tricky parts.

I decided to open an Amazon Cloud Front account so I could wrap my videos in the JW player.  The first thing you need to do after opening your account is to create a bucket.  Within the bucket you can add folders and files.  You can place your video player files and the media files you are going to use within this bucket.  **Make sure you change the permissions on the files to “PUBLIC”, or your player won’t work!  You can do this by right clicking on them and selecting “Make Public”

Next you need to create your streaming distribution.  To do this, go to the CloudFront tab of the console and make a streaming distribution with files we created above.  SELECT STREAMING.  The origin will be the name of the bucket you created.  Then click on create.  Don’t worry about the other fields.

The code for your video player is going to be different depending on the type of video file you are calling.

For MP4 it will look like this:

<div id=”container”>Loading the player …</div>

<script type=”text/javascript”>
jwplayer(“container”).setup({
flashplayer: “/path_to_player/player.swf”,
file: “Mp4:FILENAME“,
height: 360,
provider: “rtmp”,
streamer: “rtmp://YOUR_CLOUDFRONT_DOMAIN/cfx/st”,
width: 640,
skin: “path_to_skin/skin.zip”
});
// ]]></script>

Pay close attention to the file: “Mp4:FILENAME”, line.  DO NOT ADD THE .mp4 after the filename when you are using a mp4 file!!!! Otherwise the player will appear as though it is loading FOREVER!!!  Make sure it is file: “Mp4:Filename”

I learned this lesson either the hard way, or missed the memo somewhere.

For flv it will look like this:

<div id=”container”>Loading the player …</div>

<script type=”text/javascript”>
jwplayer(“container”).setup({
flashplayer: “/path_to_player/player.swf”,
file: “FILENAME.flv“,
height: 360,
provider: “rtmp”,
streamer: “rtmp://YOUR_CLOUDFRONT_DOMAIN/cfx/st”,
width: 640,
skin: “path_to_skin/skin.zip”
});
// ]]></script>

Notice that they are identical EXCEPT for how the file is called.

Here are some other thinks that you need to know:
Make sure you have /cfx/st on the end of your cloud front rtmp address!  Otherwise, it won’t work.
Make sure you have any skins you are calling in a .zip folder

There are instances that you would want the skin folder to not be zipped, you can find articles on Longtailvideo.com for more advanced customization.

More Information:

JW Embedder Reference Guide

Here are the steps.

1. Download ManyCam
2. Launch the program
3. Select your camera
4. Open Skype/preferences/audio-video
5. Select your device in the drop down menu

After the initial setup, Skype is recognizing my firewire camera without having to launch ManyCam again!

I am using this hardware/software setup:

• Sony Z5U
• Mac Pro OSX 10.7 (Lion)
• Wirecast Pro 4.1
• Watershed (Ustream)
• Skype (For video interviews)
• ManyCam (Allows Skype to recognize Z5U camera)

They offer a great selection of sushi and other asian food that will blow your mind!  Seriously, the portions are plentiful, the presentation is fantastic (Look at the hand carved carrot in this photo!) and the flavor is both fresh and absolutely delicious.

They are located at 476 12th Street Ogden UT 84404, in a strip mall right off the main road.  They are not in a location that you would expect for such great food, but once you walk in the establishment, any pre notions will be gone.  From soothing wall decor, to the plush dining seats, you’ll be cozy from the moment you walk in.

Don’t worry, the prices are less than what you would expect to pay for this quality, and quantity of food.  I have yet to leave there without a to go box for leftovers.

Here’s one of my favorite rolls “The Stacker”

Roosters on Historic 25th Street – Ogden, UTah

If you ever visit Ogden, Utah, make sure to visit Historic 25th Street.  It has been transformed from a vagrant dominant, roll up the windows and lock the doors into a locals hotspot and tourist attraction.

During the early 20th century, 25th Street was a center of activity in Ogden. Home to retail shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors, hotels, and laundries, the street was also a common site for illicit activities such as gambling, prostitution and narcotic sales. Popularly known as ‘’Two-Bit Street’’, the area obtained such a seedy reputation that Al Capone is rumored to have said that Ogden was too wild a town for him. An urban legend tells of a system of underground tunnels that bootleggers created during prohibition to move alcohol from Union Station to the Bigelow-Ben Lomond Hotel located on the east end of the neighborhood.

I somewhat challenge the urban legend, as I was able to take a walk through some of the tunnels as a child, and it seemed like they could have been used for much more than store delivery and storage for the business.

There are many quaint boutique shops, art galleries, and great restaurants to meet just about any budget.  Roosters is a local favorite (Photo).  They have an in house brewery, where you can see the beer making process first hand through floor to ceiling glass panels.  There is plenty of seating for large parties, and a menu that can whet anyones appetite.  Make sure to save some room for their extremely delicious bread pudding!

S[kydiving has been a passion of mine since 1999. It all started after I went bungee jumping at the Utah State Fair. The bungee jump was scary, but fun, so I though skydiving must be that much more scary and fun. In '99 sport skydiving was just starting to really take off. The technology was changing rapidly, and the exposure to the sport was more mainstream. There are several disciplines to skydiving. These photos are examples of "swooping". Swooping is accomplished by putting your canopy in a steep dive, usually while making a corkscrewing turns of 90 degrees or more. The timing has to be perfect to recover from your dive, and transfer the downward velocity into forward speed.

The skydiving community is a very tight knit group. This sport is the only one I am aware of that brings together so many different types of people. In the skydiving community you become friends with people you would never had otherwise, both young and old.

Skydivers are recognized for different milestones. Here Bill Fridberg is recognized with gold wings and a certificate for making 1000 jumps. When I started skydiving, 100 jumps seemed like something that would take me forever. I now have over 2500 skydives, most of them made in the last 5 years. It’s not uncommon for me to make 10-15 in one day while I am working as a tandem instructor or videographer.

Here Brian Wallace (DZO of Ogden Skydiving Center) receives his 96 hour freefall badge. To put it in perspective, each skydive accumulates 45-60 seconds of freefall time.