Category: Artwork

Posted on

My Mini and the Moon

Attempting a drone range test with my DJI Mini SE…

Well, not really, I was flying to catch a sunrise over Little Assawoman Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

More seriously, I was flying the drone at sunrise in our back yard – to catch early morning sky colors – and looked up to see a waning gibbous moon. I moved the drone a bit south and east (at 200 ft.) to catch this silhouette.

dji mini se silhouette with moon
DJI Mini SE silhouetted against a waning gibbous moon.

Well, I didn’t catch it at first because all I had for a camera was my cell phone. While the best camera to have is “the one you have with you” – I also realized I need a bit more reach with a telephoto lens than what my iPhone 12 could provide. It was an interesting enough image (to me) that I thought it might make a cool photograph. In this particular case the “best camera to have” was in my office upstairs in our house.

I landed the drone so I could go inside to grab my Olympus E-M10 Mark IV and mounted my Olympus 75-300 f/4.8-6.7 zoom lens. Techies might be interested in the EXIF data: 228mm focal length; 1/200 sec; f/22; ISO 1600; Aperture priority; center-weighted metering.

Oh, yes, here is the morning sunrise that prompted the silhouette image of My Mini and the Moon. Yes, the contrast and colors have been “boosted” a little – to make the morning flight on Saturday, September 17 a bit more worthwhile.

sunrise over little assawoman bay and the atlantic ocean
Sunrise over Little Assawoman Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Fenwick Island

I’m sure I will be asked about maintaining VLOS (Visual Line of Sight) which is, by law, defined as normal vision without the use of any extra optics like binoculars or a spotting scope. A long, long time ago I learned (and got used to) peering through the viewfinder of a camera while keeping both eyes open. Yup – believe it or not!

Don’t believe that works? Try a Google Search and you might find something like this: “Most photographers close one eye when looking through the viewfinder, but keeping the other open allows you to remain aware of your surroundings. It means you can see things coming into your frame, keeping you ready to press the shutter at exactly the right moment.“

Posted on

Local Printing Sources for Photographs

The printing equipment at your local Walgreens or CVS pharmacy is top quality.

I have a quality Epson printer that has seen years of service. It is still going strong and prints high quality images at sizes up to 13″x19″ on photo quality paper. However, I occasionally want a 16″x20″ print either for a client or to display in our own home. There are both CVS and a Walgreens drugstores (mini-department stores?) in our neighborhood. They both have quality photo processing equipment (that I only wish I could afford), offer very fast service and have reasonable prices.

Discount note: Another plus with both CVS Photo and Walgreens Photo is that they run a deep discount sale at least once a month.

While it’s true I have online galleries and can get my work printed in high quality there, sometimes I just need a 16×20 print, which is larger than my printer can handle, and find it more convenient to “shop local,” so to speak. For today’s project I’ll use the local Walgreen’s Photo service. Here is what I want to have printed in a 16″x20″ size.

Nancy's blue and purple pansies
Nancy’s Blue & Purple Pansies

What’s cool about using the service at Walgreens Photo is that I can upload the full-size image and place the order online. I may even be able to pick up the finished print in a few hours time. The store is also less than one mile from home – can’t get much more convenient that that. Right? So, I’m about ready to place this order – and will try to return here with the results (a bit later on).

Progress…
1) Order placed online Thursday at 10:44 AM – with an estimated “ready time” of Friday at 10:44 AM (24 hours – not bad).
2) Oder ready (notified by email) at 11:45 AM Thursday (TODAY). Wow, how good is that?
3) Order picked up just before 2:00 PM – and it is perfect. I will post an image when I frame it and hang it on the wall.
4) Because I found and used a coupon code (right from the Walgreens’ website) I got it for half price. Total cost was $9.49, noting that I live in Delaware so there was no sales tax.

photo print from walgreens pharmacy
Picking up the 16×20 photo print from the local Walgreens – less than four hours after the order was placed online. It is a perfect, high quality photographic print.

Oh, yes, I will also (eventually) upload this image, along with other pansy images, and make them available as wall art in my online galleries at FineArtAmerica/Pixels and Pictorem – in the “Flora” collections.

Posted on

Resurrecting an old but popular Ocean City website.

A travel/business directory style site is being repurposed for local art and entertainment.

I am in the process of resurrecting an old travel/destination website, Visit Ocean City at www.OCtheBeach.com, that had a major server crash last year. I am also repurposing it to be an art and entertainment resource for the Ocean City area. We live two miles from Ocean City and do like the music/entertainment at many venues in the area. I will focus on our favorite entertainers and venues within the Beach Resort Area from OCMD to Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach because those are the ones with which we are most familiar.

The focus on Ocean City art will, of course, feature photography by me – and be billed/promoted as Bill Swartwout Photography and USPictures. For “Visit Ocean City” I have chosen to feature Pictorem as our POD (Print On Demand) fulfillment partner because they offer free ground shipping within the United States and Canada, where most of our site viewers reside. The produce high quality work and have a satisfaction guarantee. See the intro article here: Ocean City Art Gallery.

Bill Swartwout Photography Ocean City MD Header Image

For many years, OCtheBeach.com was a premier travel directory for the Ocean City area and provided information about local businesses and, of course, a way to book a hotel room. The original site was launched in Late May of 1999 and served for nearly two decades as one of the more popular Ocean City Websites. We were even a member of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce for 11 years – until they started to directly compete in the hotel reservations market, which was our main source of revenue.

OCtheBeach.com is being “reborn” to coincide with its 23rd “birthday” and is, once again, providing value to Ocean City visitors. There are myriad other websites and (of course) Facebook sites and groups that extol the virtues of every place to dine, stay and play. Visit Ocean City will offer a slightly different “view” of the Beach Resort. We hope you, too, will find it useful.