 |
| "The Artist" |
 |
| Elle |
Model: Elle Bunny - ModelMayhem 2200634
Hairstylist/MUA: Tea Scott - ModelMayhem 1048908
Photographer, Retoucher: Bruce Walker - ModelMayhem 1440574
Location: Acor Studio - ModelMayhem 1987608
The problem we're going to solve today is a common but important one: how can we keep a watch on a critical authorization server and be notified quickly if it stops answering queries?
I'm going to show you how to create a Panl "Custom Monitor" and use a server-side timed script to send updates to it. If the updates report "down" or the updates themselves fail then the Panl monitor will send an appropriate alert to the admin's mobile device or email.Read the full article here ...
The Panl monitoring service is now launched and available to everyone!
Panl offers free website monitoring, and the ability to create custom monitors to track almost any IT metric. Our unique "overdue alert" capability lets you know about events that are supposed to happen but don't. You can track monitor status on the web or with our iPhone app, and receive alerts via email, SMS, or iPhone notifications.
You can sign up for our commercial plans for as little as $10/month, or get additional free monitoring services by referring your friends and colleagues.
Please visit http://panl.com to get started, or for more information. And please pass this email along to any of your IT contacts that might be interested.
Strobist: shot outdoors in open shade. I added front fill with a bare AF-540FGZ lying on a table camera-right, remote triggered optically from the K20D.
I've been concentrating on portraiture lately; setting up the shoot, directing the models, lighting, post-processing, retouching. Altogether, quite a challenge.
In this shoot I (somewhat) learned how to direct the human reflector stands ... somewhat. With 30Km/h gusts of wind, my reflector holders kept wandering out of place. Plus they couldn't see around the 40 inch opaque reflector so they didn't know when they'd gone out of alignment. Oh, and the long hair kept flying around and getting into eyes.
Everyone did their best and I got some decent shots, I think.
I haven't posted a photo for a while -- I've been pretty busy and it's been pouring rain here for about the last two weeks. I've been watching this bush outside my kitchen window coming into bloom and this afternoon the clouds finally cleared.
The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.
This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.
These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.
This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet.
We urgently need to send a clear message to Ottawa, saying that we won't stand by while some of the most profitable companies in the country indiscriminately add new fees to our Internet bills. Enough is enough.
We had an unexpected little snow dump this morning, and as it was about -20C it fell as the lightest, fluffiest stuff imaginable. The results on the plants in our garden were spectacular!
Seen on a jaunt into Port Credit this morning.
I'm experimenting with creating tinted gradient filters in Adobe Camera Raw. This image was processed to simulate a filter like the Singh-Ray "Gold-N-Blue".
My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.
This was shot using entirely window light (big bay window behind), aided by a 40" silver reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1) in front below, slightly left.
My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.
These are shot using mostly window light (big bay windows), aided by a 40" reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1 [a great deal, btw]).
Pentax K20D, DA* 55mm, f/2.4, 1/45th, ISO 400.
My brother-in-law's sister recently agreed to model for me, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon this past Saturday in her lovely home. I enlisted my own sister as assistant. Teresa has been working out body building so after doing some traditional portraiture, I had her pose with weights.
These are shot using mostly window light (big bay windows), aided by a 40" reflector (Photobasics 5-in-1 [a great deal, btw]). In this portrait I also added a hairlight: a gridded AF-540FGZ on a stand behind to her right.
Pentax K20D, DA* 55mm, f/1.7, 1/500th, ISO 400.
Seen near the Chappell House in the Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga Ontario during a Flickr group walk Sunday. These were in full glare sun so I used myself as a light modifier: I shot them in my own shadow. :-)
From a headshot photoshoot in and around Mississauga City Hall.
Strobist: a teensy bit of fill from an on-camera AF-540FGZ modified with a Westcott Micro Apollo softbox.
Adele Casuga: "Mom, Education Consultant and aspiring knee and elbow model." Tutor Doctor
Made the pilgrimage to The Gate last night and had a great time. Started off with their Rib Steak dinner which left me in a serious state of bliss. Then Brownman served up sizzling hot, fat-free jazz protein. Oh yeah!
Brownman Ali - trumpet (http://Brownman.com/)
Michael Herring - upright bass (http://DangerHerring.com/)
Ernesto Cervini - drums (http://ErnestoCervini.com/)
Food - Gate 403
Here's another one for the bokeh fans. Believe it or not, this isn't Photoshopped. I reduced the Clarity somewhat and the Contrast a little (in Adobe Camera Raw). The rest is through the magic of Pentax optics!
Sumac.
Was out walking along Etobicoke Creek this morning with my friend Julie and our dogs when my eye was caught by the sun sparkling off the creek and backlighting the flowers and foliage.
While meeting with friends for coffee in the cafeteria at Mississauga City Hall I spent some time prowling around the ground floor. I happened to look up and noticed all these crisscrossing lines.
My nieces celebrated their birthdays recently. They claim they don't feel any older. I know that I do.
This has got to be my favourite of the roses. The heady perfume from a large Hansa shrub can simply knock you down, it's so fragrant. I wish that my Pentax could capture smells! :)
#ds155 The Daily Shoot assignment for 2010/04/19: It's metal Monday! Find a metallic subject today and make an interesting photo.
Setup:
- AF540FGZ Pentax flash with Honl 1/8" Speed Grid, handheld below typewriter
- Honl 8" Speed Snoot unrolled flat, cantilevered over keys, on top of typewriter, and weighted down with a 2nd (powered-off) 540FGZ flash :-)
- flash triggered optically from K20D body's popup.
The best photography from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List, with all net profits donated to CureSearch, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Edited by Mark Roberts with Associate Editors Scott Loveless and Bill Robb. With a foreword by Doug Brewer.
ISBN 978-1-4507-0950-7
Well spring arrived ... and was instantly replaced by summer. It's 24 degrees C here right now (75F), and with humidity it's like 28C (82F). I'd normally be taking these shots wearing a coat and gloves instead of jeans and a t-shirt.
I figured that these delicate little guys would be blown out soon, so this was likely my last opportunity to get 'em. Enjoy!
K20D, smc P-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM, f/2.0, 1/1000, ISO 100
With this shot, I just realized that I've created A Project, which I can call The Fleetwood Series. I have been roaming around my local park, Fleetwood Park, for over three years now, shooting stuff that grabbed my fancy. I think that counts as some sort of mini-documentary thing. :-)
More urban foliage. Of course I've passed these pine trees a gazillion times before during daily doggy outings. Only today I was thinking about re-framing the world at 55mm. :-)
Cake fresh from the crock-pot!
Louise is giving a crockpot-cooking course and I'm getting shots for her web site.
Strobist: lit with an 18" Westcott Apollo softbox and Pentax AF-540FGZ hotshoe flash triggered optically.
