I recently updated the installation of pixelpost, the CMS that controls our photoblog. Something in the update b0rked how the images displayed in IE6/7 and I was forced to wipe out the database and install a fresh copy of pixelpost to fix it. As a result, I lost some of the images and all of the comments.

On the bright side, there are a couple of fresh images there…

To make a new banner.

Jackie just got a new toy and she asked for a little information to get her started. I’ll edit this post as I get the time so I’ll start with your new polarizing filter. I’ll give you my minute amount of knowledge but you can easily do a web search and find sites like this.

One of the most important things is to ensure you have a circular polarizer or it simply will not work. If it’s linear you need to go and exchange it. Linear filters will not work with TTL (through the lens) metering systems (which you have).

As for the use, here’s an example from one of my shots of the effect. Note the rich blue of the sky and the contrast with the clouds. The color saturation in the photo is due mostly to the polarizing filter too, not, as you may have suspected, post processed in Photoshop. That specific photo I posted just to show how a shot can turn out with minimal post processing.

Once you’ve attached the filter, point the camera at the sky and look through the eyepiece. Slowly rotate the filter with your fingers and watch how the polarization changes. This is necessary when you’re shooting with the filter attached or you will not get the right angle of polarization. You can see how the sky darkens as you rotate. Note that you may notice vignetteing in the corners of your photos at certain focal lengths (I think that’s the cause anyway). Try the same thing with reflections. Point the camera at a shop window and rotate the filter to see how it cuts down or cuts out the reflections. You may have to change your physical position too.

That’s about the extent of my knowledge on polarizing filters. Trial and error is where it’s at. Have fun!

Just ’cause, I’m posting a couple of links to some very useful CSS guides/tutorials. The first one is the CSS Slicing Guide which shows you how to turn your Photoshop built web layouts into somewhat compliant CSS layouts. This link was found via Digg.
The second is a step-by-step CSS Layout From Scratch which I found extremely useful. There are some great tips for creating navigation bars from a single image that therefore won’t break when a user increases the font size on the page. This link was found via searching Digg for the first link above.

After seeing this link via digg.com, I decided to try my hand at the technique with an archive photo that could use a little sprucing up. The original of course had full depth of field. This photo could obviously benefit from cropping but I chose to show the original size to highlight the DOF effect. I could increase the lens blur but it started to give a kind of Viewmaster effect I didn’t like.

Unfortunately all of the photos taken on our ‘02 Hit ‘n Run European Tour suffered from my lack of digital photo knowledge. I never set the resolution so the default web settings (72dpi, 1280×960) were used. Also, my plan to upload images to the web to free up room on my puny memory card were foiled by a lack of resources in Europe and my kit bag. I ended up being real stingy with the number of photos taken to save for the next city and the next city and so on. As a result our last city visited, Rome, had the most photos which was still far too few. I guess we’ll just have to go back.