Chris Howard's Blog, page 99

Cassiopeia and the Milky Way

I love this universe. I spent far more time just staring up at the stars than taking pictures. I'm still goofing with exposure, iso, f settings, but here are a couple that came out reasonably well.  The first is of the Milky Way and the second is the constellation Cassiopia with a batch of other stars.

Little less than half loony

Shot this with the 300mm lens.  Not the best, but the earth is just moving too fast and I only got a couple shots off before the moon went behind the trees.

Early morning photography

I got up around 4:30 and the sky was so clear after Irene passing through that I had to get out my camera and tripod to shoot it.  I was wandering around in the backyard and the dogs didn't even get up--too early for them apparently.

Here's one of the constellation Orion, around 4:45 AM, f3.5 at 30 seconds (the starlight is just starting to shift at 30 secs). Camera: Nikon D3100, Nikkor 18-200 lens.  Facing east--those are PSNH's transmission lines up the hill from us.

 

Not so flat flatbread

My son Christopher and I were watching Aarti Sequeira on Food Network (TiVo'd) and she was making some awesome beef Vindaloo with chapatis (whole wheat flatbread).

I started some bread dough around 8 this morning, and just for fun I rolled some out--very flat--with a little olive oil and salt.  Then baked the flats at 475 F. I started each on a pizza pan, then slid them right onto the rack when they started to puff up.  A few of them puffed up so much they turned into pillows. I then flipped them over on the middle rack in the oven for about 8 minutes. 

They came out great--just ask Alice.  I also made some Kheema without the peas because we didn't have any. Alice and the kids stuffed it inside the bread and went to town.

Here are a few shots with my phone while I was baking:

 

Long exposure

Long exposure shot from the back deck. So this is our backyard with a beautiful night sky (just before the storm). Shot this with the Nikon D3100 and the Nikkor 18-200 lens. Used my tripod with the timer so I wouldn't be around when the shutter opened. (The light was on in the garage.  That's why it's so bright along the ground and the playhouse).

Doing some reading out loud and recording it

I spent an hour or so tonight reading and recording the first chapter of Teller, preparing to record...all of them. Let me know what you think!  Here's the print and ebook.

 

Same recording, two formats:

 

MP3, 2.4MB

TELLER-ChrisHoward-CHAPTER-01b.mp3

 

OGG, 3.2MB

TELLER-ChrisHoward-CHAPTER-01.ogg

 

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Goofing with QR Codes

I've created a QR code for SaltwaterWitch.com (black and white) that works just like it's supposed to, but I started playing around with colors and how far I could distort the code and still have it readable.  I got pretty far.  If you have a QR code reader on your phone let me know if any of these don't work. They all worked with mine, although I had a bit of trouble with the last one.  I suspect I'm getting to the edge of what's readable.

Not easy being green?

After a bunch of sketching and speed painting, here's a new character study for an old character of mine. Mostly Sketchbook Pro, some Art Rage, some Shop, about fifteen hours of work. I started this last weekend, playing with a general idea that came together with this sort of crazy cool stance, arms folded over her head, fingers uncurled around her face, vines shooting out and going everywhere.  I originally had one arm slung loosely over a branch, but it wasn't coming out right.

Anyway, this is the main character Theodora from my book Winterdim, the one before my last, Teller.  It's still with my agent. It's been a tough sell. If I had to come up with a high-concept for Winterdim it would be The Odyssey meets The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  It's in the future, but I consider it a fantasy--a post ascension fantasy. Obviously I'm not making it easy to sell.

Still a few things to work on, and then I'm going to have some prints made--one for the Boskone Art Show.

See the detail crop of the painting below.

Detail Crop--yes I spent a long time on her shirt, because clothing with embedded plant images just seems so cool:

It's easier for some of us to be green

After a bunch of sketching and some speed painting, here's a new character study for an old character of mine. I started this last weekend, working with the idea that came together with this sort of crazy stance, arms folded over her head, fingers uncurled around her face.  I originally had one arm slung loosely over a branch, but it wasn't coming out right. Anyway, this is the main character from the book before my last one Teller--still with my agent.

Skateboard Technology: Method is at the edge

A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like to him; wherever he goes. And wherever he goes it'll be on a Method skateboard.
  --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Very true. Awesome words by Ralph. Well, except that last line. I added that, but it's implied.  Come on. Emerson was a longboarder from way back.

Method Skateboard out in California is breaking ground and rolling smoothly over it with their negative camber trucks. "NC Truck takes advantage of a well known racing enhancement called a Negative Camber Angle (NC). Camber angles are used in the design of high performance vehicles like the Formula 1 and drifting motorsports rides".

Check out Method Skateboards and their variety of decks, longboards, hand-crafted decks, performance trucks, completes, wheels, hardware, and more.

The Conspiracy line of decks "are made with the highest quality cold pressed laminated Canadian Maple.  Decks are formed into custom concave and convex cambers with a variety of nose and tail kicks to choose from.  Each deck includes custom positoned wheel wells, high quality screen transfer graphics and custom grip tape.  These are great boards for campus cruising, concrete surfing or a late night parking garage session"

Oh, by the way, I designed one of the Conspiracy Decks, so of course this is my favorite: ZEV Zero Emisions Vehicle, smoke - complete

Emerson sidewalk surfing--old school: