Welcome to Breakfast in America
My photo journal is an eclectic mix of things; there’s no guiding theme or topic. It is whatever happens to catch my attention, what I’ve been thinking, doing, and whatever my current obsessions are. At the moment, they are clearing some of the backlog on my ‘honey-do’ list, backpacking and hammock camping.
Recent posts
-
Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage Two
Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage Two, almost complete — Some final adjustments to the bottom doors to be made. There is still some minor work and finishing touches to be completed. Apart from that, all done. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Now with added ‘Small Product phototable.’ For small quick shoots it can be pulled out with a small surface, just over a foot deep. For larger items it can extend up to 36-inches. The whole unit can be moved around to make the best use of the light or to put it where it is needed. Now to find out if it improves our photography workflow.
-
A costly mistake…
A costly mistake… Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. At $70 per door, and I ruined two doors before I realized my error. I forgot to allow for the Inset panel (at 3/16-inch) when selecting screws to mount the doors on cross braces. That brings my ‘Cock-up Account’ up to $200 in a couple of months (don’t ask).
-
Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage One, almost complete
Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage One, almost complete. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage One, almost complete. Now for the fiddly bit of the end panel and the ‘fill-in’ panels. That big gap — that’s a special space, and will be Stage Two!
-
It fits
It fits. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Carcasses fitted to the wall, this, and fitting the doors is the easy bit.
-
Will it work?
Will it work? Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Dry fit. Just eyeballing it to make sure we like the use of space, and checking I hadn’t messed up my size calculations.
-
Boxes
Boxes. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Boxes — I was going to custom build the Sparkle Zone Storage Center, but we realized we could save a lot of time (but not $$$ — the doors alone were nearly $700) by bringing in ready-made units. I volunteered my friend Tom and his pickup to help me collect the boxes and the large 8ft by 3ft end panel. The truck’s bed was full to overflowing.
-
An empty wall equals storage potential
An empty wall equals storage potential. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Recently we’ve been on the lookout for more storage space. We have also been looking for somewhere with space, that we can use for small product photography. The south facing windows of the ‘Sparkle Zone’ offer good light and, we realized, space for storage of our photography gear — and more.
-
Doorstop
Doorstop. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved I finally found a use for one of the few small rock samples I have collected over the years. The rock is a memento from a vist to Piney Creek in July 2021.
On the first version of the doorstop, I used a hot glue gun to fix the rock. It held for a few hours before (as I suspected) the sandy surface of the rock caused it to come loose. Reluctantly, I opted to drill the rock so it could be screwed to the base.
This picture is the result of several technology tests. I installed the Samsung Raw Camera software (thus far, I like it) and Lightroom on my phone and used them to take the picture and edit the image (cropping and a few tweaks). Finally, I’m creating this post on my phone. The only step in the process that hasn’t gone as well as expected is creating this post. The Jetpack post creation software is sadly lacking in the basic functionality required to create a decent post. Oh well, that’s why I’m trying this. I’ll finish it off on my computer.
Apart from the problems creating the post, the results are encouraging. The camera lens foreshortening is fairly significant, which surprised me as I used one of the ‘Telephoto’ options, which ought to have reduced it. (The base and back are made of the same 3/4-inch board, not that you would think that looking at the picture). I’ll need to try moving back and cropping more.
