Focal length. Some people consider it the “zoom” of a camera. It’s expressed, though not really explained, by the numbers on the lens that say “18-55mm” or some such. Essentially, it determines how close the subject appears, the magnification or lack thereof. There are, naturally, the obvious aspects of using focal length in composition –
Author: Al Denelsbeck
Stupidly proud of myself
I mentioned before, I take pride in being able to retrace my steps, even on trips long ago where I’ve never been before or since. But back when I added the Google Earth placemarks to many of the images in the photo gallery, one in particular was a little tricky: the time exposure on the side of the highway.
It was the night of a total lunar eclipse, and after totality had ended, I went out
Odd memories, part nine
It’s funny – as a species, we seem to have a propensity for discovery, to explore uncharted areas in the hope/belief that something magical awaits just over the horizon. It’s probably responsible for most of our explorations across the planet. There is definitely a cool feeling when you’re traveling, and you see a new and interesting place awaiting you on your path
Bridges peak in the middle
There is a common confusion among humans between doing something that is fun and doing something that it useful. Put as directly as that, it seems silly – “I can tell the difference between fixing my flat tire and putting plastic wrap across the toilet seat” – but it’s a bit more subtle than all that. As my example, I’m going to use a current internet “fad”
The proper way
Sorry, this will be brief, and pointless. Courtesy of a post by Sean Carroll, I herewith present the proper way to order your favorite drink:
1. Ask for what you want.
2. Drink it.
You will note that I have excluded everything having to do with learning how anyone else does it, receiving instruction, and most especially long discussions about what effect some method produces. It’s your
What’s not in a word?
Not too long ago, I picked up a book that I’d had, not exactly in my childhood, but in my earlier adulthood (which may yet be my childhood, at least if you ask some people, including me.) Tortured sentences aside, I’m finding it quite interesting to note how differently I react to the content now, two decades after my first read-through.
The book is called Mysteries of the Unexplained,
Anonymity and the web
Over at Why Evolution Is True, Jerry Coyne has posted a new rule regarding anonymity and pseudonyms – specifically, that he no longer allows someone to link to his site from another when critiquing his posts, unless they’re using their real name. I will stress that as a policy,
Grecian troublemakers
This is a revisit of a subject that I first broached in this post, which I felt needed more examination. So let’s return to that radical concept of Phi.
Phi is a mathematical ratio that, curiously enough, has more than a few close representations in nature. It is an irrational number, one of those decimals that go on forever, but usually shortened to 1.618. If you create a rectangle
But how uncertain do you feel?
I have very mixed feelings about emotions [now, there’s a sentence of remarkable profundity.] As manifestations of internal functions to provoke behavior that benefits our species, they are distinctly important, but too often, they’re not specific enough, or they’re too easy to fool, producing behaviors that don’t really benefit us and are sometimes quite detrimental. I hate
Nicely done!
[UPDATE: The video has been taken down now, since apparently the copyright holders of the ABBA music felt that a non-profit organization using it was “too commercial” and was unlikely to boost the sales of a thirty-five-year-old song. Did you need more proof that attorneys are not bright?]
It’s been a while since I mentioned having worked in an animal shelter, a portion of my life