Geotagging Photos Using iPhone GPS

I just learned how to geotag digital photos taken with my camera (embed GPS info into a JPG photo) using the iPhone as the GPS data logging device.

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New Camera and a Butterfly…

I discovered that my Canon PowerShot A610 camera ( photo ) was recently replaced with a newer camera with higher megapixels and a larger LCD screen… so I made an impulse buy on Friday and bought a Canon PowerShot A640 ( photo ). I received the package today and started using it.

I gave my older camera to my nephew JR for his birthday today. He’s using it now at a concert he and his friends are going to.

Here is one of the first photos taken with my new camera.

West Coast Lady Butterfly on Marigold

I had a tough time trying to photograph this butterfly. It would not sit still and everytime I approached it, it fly away… but eventually came back.

I’m not exactly sure what type of butterfly it is, but I just noticed it today for the first time this year.

Camera Troubles…

I had some trouble with my camera today. A couple of my photo got corrupted and when I deleted them and took more photos, some would get corrupted. Luckily, I take multiple shot of each subject, so I didn’t loss too much.

I figured that there was some bad areas on the memory card, so I downloaded all the photos that could be downloaded and reformatted the card.

I took several hundred test photos and encountered more corruption, which confirmed that there are bad areas on the memory card.

I then remember a trick that I use to do back in the Atari days when I would get bad sectors on floppy disks.

My trick to avoid the corrupted area

Telegraph Hill + Lens + Coleus Pots

Today (Tuesday), I ate lunch at my desk, but later it was a little slow, so I decided to walk around. I went up Telegraph Hill again, but it was a lot warmer than my previous hike, so I was panting… I took a couple of photos including a massive clump of that mystery weed I’ve been wanting to ID… I also found it’s flowers. I’ll post those later. I also saw a Passiflora that seemed to just be growing wild on the hillside. I don’t think I got a clear shot of it though.

When I got home I got the package of the Telephoto and Wide-angle Lens… I was very pleased with the company because they also upgraded my shipping to two day air for free and included a free Lens Conversion Adaptor, a free Mini Tripod, a free Lens Cleaner (Solution, Tissue and Cloth), a free Brush/Blower and free Packing Popcorn! All this for the price of two lens which was about $30 each. I think the deserve an A+!!!

There was a little bit of light, so I planted a few Coleus pots.
Coleus pot #11: 2 ‘Kong Scarlet’ cutting (from last year) + 2 ‘Kong Hybrid’ seedlings (seeds I harvested last year)
Coleus pot #12: ‘Joey’ (He deserves a pot of his own)

I noticed that a few of the remaining Coleus (that I haven’t potted up) are quite leggy and infected with more mealy bugs!!! I think I will have to decapitate these and reroot them. I took a look at some of the others that were already potted and I think I will have to do the same.

Bugs on the Swiss Chard

We’ve been having weird weather. Last weekend was sooooo hot, reaching the low 90s on Sunday. Throughout the week it’s been getting cooler and cooler, then this weekend, we got rain again. It’s actually not bad’ it’s kinda nice not having to water outdoors.

Before it rained today, I was cutting down more of our bolting Swiss Chard (in vegetable bed #1), because I want to fix it up and start my vegetable garden. At the same time, Calli was running around exploring the back yard and my oldest brother came to visit and was pulling out the Peach leaves with Peach Leaf Curl.

As I was pulling up the Swiss Chard, I found a whole bunch of bugs. There was a couple of Ladybird Beetle larvae, which I relocated to our aphid stricken Italian Plum tree.

Swiss Chard   Ladybird Larvae

Soldier Fly?   Unknown Bug

I think the left photo above is a Soldier Fly, but I’m not sure. If you click the photo and view the large version, you can see the details of its purple and blue eyes. It has an interesting pattern.

As for bug on the right… I don’t know what that bug is, but I’ve seen them in our Persimmon Tree. They are slow moving and very very shy. This one was very good at hiding from the camera. I’m surprised I got a photo of it.

I can’t wait to get the lens I ordered on Friday. I also got myself a 10x Macro Lens which I hope will give me more detail with photo like above.

Two Camera Techniques

I’ve been researching some photography techniques online and learned two techniques that I want to try.

One is called focus stack. For this, you take a series of macro shots of the same subject, each at a different focus depth. You then use a program like Photoshop to combine the various focused element into a single photo. This results in a photo with an exaggerated DOF (depth of field).

Here are some focus stack examples on Flickr.
Here is a focus stack tutorial written by Flickr user Lord V.

The second is reverse lens. For this, you take a lens and attach it to your camera backwards. This essentially act sort of like a super magnifying glass.

Here are some reverse lens examples on Flickr.
Here is a reverse lens tutorial written by Flickr user Domk.

I purchased a Conversion Lens Adapter for my Canon PowerShot A610. This way I can attach lenses and filters to my camera. I also purchased two lenses; a wide angle lens and a telephoto lens so I can experiment more with my camera and expand my photography skills.

Photos from the Garden

I love my new Canon PowerShot A610 camera, because it can take much better macros than my old Canon PowerShot SD100. I can shoot as close as 1cm. Below are some photos I took earlier today.

Jade Plant Flowers
Jade Plant Flowers

Coleus “Alabama Sunset” Seed Stalk
Coleus Alabama Sunset Seed Stalk

Dried up Dusty Miller seed heads
Dried up Dusty Miller seed heads

Dusty Miller photo

I want a new camera…

Last night, I downloaded garden photos that I took over the weekend from my Canon PowerShot SD100 Digital ELPH, and was disappointed at most of the photos… most of which were of Coleuses. The photos were either blurry or the colors seemed really flat. I’m not sure if my camera is dying, if there was not enough light or if I was out of the macro focus range.

I’ve done some research and decided to buy a new camera with better macro capabilities. I came up with the Canon PowerShot A610. It’s minimum focus distance is 1cm, as opposed to my SD100’s focal range of 10-47cm, so hopefully I can get really close and capture those fine details. Plus, I won’t have to fix most of my photos in Photoshop before posting.