Hop on the bus, Gus

My friend, F.T., constant deliverer of things interesting via e-mail, sent me these 30 second videos encouraging bus travel by De Lijn (The Line), a transport company run by the Flemish government in Belgium to provide public transportation. Their tagline is “It’s smarter to travel in groups.”

Sigh…yet another gadget on my wish list!

Thanks (yet again) to my friend, F.T., for sending me info about yet another gadget I am now drooling over. It’s the TimelapseCam 8.0 from Wingscapes, and for what it does, I think it’s a steal (and wouldn’t it make just the best Christmas present ever, hint, hint?). Can’t you just imagine how cool it would be to see the garden growing when you’re not looking? Or following what your cats do when you’re not at home?

Isabel & Holly

I had a fantastic mini-vacation with my friend Gina this past weekend. We flew to Dallas early Sunday morning, then drove to Bossier City, Louisiana to surprise her mother for her 69th birthday. It was a whirlwind, spontaneous three days and I shot lots of photos of people, places and things. This photo below was from a quick session on Monday evening. I photographed her cousin Greg and his family at their home—below is his wife Holly and daughter Isabel. It was an impromptu shoot with just my D300, Nikkor 18-70 lens, a Nikon Speedlight attached to a RayFlash ringlight and a bare office wall serving as a background—but with lovely models like these two, I couldn’t help but get a few good images. In many of the photos Isabel is a deadringer for a young Reese Witherspoon! More photos from their session to come…

In upcoming posts, I’ll have some photos and stories gathered on our road trip. Our three-day adventure concluded with an awe-inspiring tour in Shreveport of CRM Studios, a video and audio production company where Greg is the Director of Broadcast Production, as well as Moonbot Studios, the home of Bill Joyce, whose latest project is the short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (which, as a self-admitted biblioholic, I cannot wait to see—the short will be available as an iPad download next month!). Joyce is an author, illustrator and leader in the digital animation industry and was named by Newsweek Magazine as one of the 100 people to watch. Projects based on his works have been translated into feature films and television shows, including Robots and Meet the Robinsons, and the Emmy-winning series Rolie Polie Olie and George Shrinks. Wish we could have met Joyce during our tour, but we did get a brief glimpse of the studio where all the animation magic happens! (Thanks so much for the special tour, Greg!)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Travel Archives: Yeah, that looks safe.

Picture this. Alaska. Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. Circa 1990-something (as I recall). During a cruise with my friend Norma, we took this side trip excursion via helicopter. We were given groovy moon boots to wear, then turned loose on the glacier. I toted pounds of 35mm camera equipment and my brand new Sony videocam, which I’m using here. Back then, I apparently liked living (and shooting) on the edge (I know my dad will frown when he sees this shot—I sure am close to that precipice, aren’t I?). So this is why they made us sign that “withhold from harm” paper. Afterwards, I scooped water into my hands and drank straight from the glacier. Norma frowned and asked, “aren’t you worried you’ll get sick?” I figured if the water isn’t pure in Alaska on top of a glacier, we’re all doomed. And no, I didn’t get sick.

WOW! Behind the scenes of the PBS film, Hummingbirds

Nikon D300s movie by photojournalist Ami Vitale

I have two Nikon D300 bodies, but now I’m craving the D300s because of the video feature. I just discovered this D300s video on Nikon’s website. It’s a movie about Indian culture by photojournalist Ami Vitale. So beautifully done…from the video to still images to the music selections…great visual storytelling…mesmerizing, frenetic and haunting…but then again, getting into video—-I’d have to learn Final Cut Pro, too (Unlike Ami, I can’t afford to hire Dai Sugano to be my multimedia producer—yet). Great…yet another program to learn…not enough hours in my day! On the upside, I did acquire a full copy of Final Cut Pro for 75% off when CompUSA was going out of business a few years ago. Score!