27th Oct. Included 'Nobbies' flash scene in Screensaver. Idea is to recreate a bit of the real life atmosphere of the beach...
23rd Oct Back from weekend in Melbourne, went surfing at Phillip Island... went to Woolami beach and took Picture and Video and Panaromic, Same with WC and Nobbies.
20th Oct Reworked Flash Wallpaper to be more practicle. Not everyone is able to download entire file each day so I will create a complete new Flash Wallpaper each week and post to Internet for download. Picture of the day can still be downloaded directly to Desktop.
Im going to Melbourne for the weekend so there will not be any updates tomorrow or possibly Sunday but should have some new pics and vids on Monday.
18th
Oct Created and launced first Internet Wallpaper, 2 still images Tamarama and
Bare Island. Created interface, which will be installed on end user computer.
Interface will attempt to download actual media (still image or moving flash panoramic)
from website each day when computer is restarted. Created Internet Wallpaper Page,
with detailed instructions on how to set flash permissions, how to uninstall etc.
Created a new 'Latest' page that combines info on Internet Screensaver Pictures,
Internet Wallpaper Picture, Latest picture added and news. Realised previous news
link was dead….
17th Oct 2006 While experimenting
with Moving Panoramic Flash Wallpapers I wondered if it would be possible to load
flash from external server, like I do with Internet Screensaver.. And yes…
it is very possible… though a little tricky to set up. Flash requires permissions
to be set when accessing external media and though it took me a while to figure
out I needed to authorise files on computer not server I finally was able to create
a simple protype Flash Wallpaper that downloaded media from the WideScreenWater.com
website! Doesn't sound exciting?
What that means is that I will be able to
create a Flash Wallpaper that can be installed on an end users (You) computer
that will get its media from my websites server. So everytime I change the master
file on the website it will update on end users desktop, similar to Internet Screensaver.
I
will be able to change the master file, which will contain either a still image,
moving panaromic or something else I dream up in the future, and it will automatically
update on your desktop the next day. (If youv'e managed to set the permissions
right!!)
16th Oct 2006 Created test moving flash panoramic
using 3 shot pano I took of Bronte Beach. Im thinking I will create a new group
of pages to display these, similar to videos. I experimented with a Flash Wallpaper
installer a year or so ago… might be worth creating moving panaromics as
flash wallpapers.
15th Oct 2006 Went to Tamarama and Bronte
beach, hoping to test UW casing out in the surf, but conditions had changed drastically.
Took Picture and Video
from headland top of Tamarama. Despite strong winds I managed sound ok, though
I now believe I will need to get an external recorder if I ever want great sound.
I could do this with my old camcorder and external microphone, but dont want to
carry something so bulky around all the time. I want an simple solution.. so will
keep looking. Took a 3 shot panaromic that worked out well.
14th
Oct 2006 Went to Bare Island, La Perouse which is a suburb south of Sydney. Took
a Picture and Video
with my new tripod. Very Happy with result, by far the closest representation
of a moving still image. Sound was ok, but not great. Went snorkelling with underwater
case. Conditions were far from perfect for UW photograpy, but can see potential
as well as limitations. I also need to think about what type of pictures I want
to take. I find most UW pics are subject based.. ie, this fish doing something
or some diver swimming next to a reef. I want to apply the same style I use for
beach photos... sweeping underwater landscapes that will be suitable for desktop
wallpaper and screensavers.
13th Oct 2006 Purchased tripod.
I don’t know where my last one got to, but I like this one a lot better.
Its much lighter, but still sturdy and has a fluid video head which will be great
for taking beach panoramics.
12th Oct 2006 Camera Arrived!
Stopped at Brighton Le Sands on way home and took quick Picture
and Video to test. Very Happy with video quality,
it suits my purpose exactly and is much sharper and easier to process than my
camcorder… not to mention easier to carry around! Obviously I need a tripod,
handheld Video is not pleasant. Sound is also worse on the FX01 compared to already
bad sound on the camcorder, will look into this down the track, but dont want
to complicate process too much.Picture Quality is not too bad, obviously not as
good as my Nikon D70, but acceptable and much more portable meaning easier to
take pictures.
11th Oct 2006 Added a flash panoramic of
London Bridge at the Twelve Apostles to Internet Screensaver…
It looks great and has inspired me to take more pictures like this. Panoramics
have the benfit of covering a much wider view than normal photos
10th
Oct 2006 Ordered Panasonic FX01 digital camera and underwater case. This seems
like a good solution to my video quality problems as lense is wide at 28mm and
it film in widescreen. Im not happy with result from my camcorder, picture is
not that detailed and not wide enough. Basically I want to capture the same image
as my photos but 'Live' with waves crashing and sound. Underwater case will give
option of taking camera into water to take a variety of different images such
as unique angles, surf and wave photos and ofcourse underwater photograpy. I first
got into photography through taking UW photos, and have had many frustratingly
bitter experiences since, so much so that I have never produced an UW photo I
liked, gave up in disgust at least 3 times (with 3 different cameras) and ended
up taking pictures of the beach instead. Im sure this time will be different though.......
9th Oct 2006 Added Port
Phillip Bay and Ensenada Mexico
Photos. Added more Google Earth Links.
8th Oct 2006. BhPhoto
cancelled my order so Im back to square one with video. The same parts cost double
the price in Australia, and are hard to find. I might look at other options, as
video quality from my 3ccd digital camcorder is not all that great anyway.
7th
Oct 2006 Added Google Earth Links to website. Google Earth is a worldwide collection
of zoomable sattelite images. The links are placed in Google Earth at the location
the photo was taken at, along same angle. If you have Google Earth installed clicking
on the link will take you directly there.
Google Earth also has the option
of creating 'Tours'. This is an interesting concept I will explore later, when
I have more photos up. Im thinking along the lines of linking a series of photos
together as a tour, with matching content in Google Earth. For Example, I could
create a tour of beaches from Sydney to Brisbane.
5th
Oct - Added new video Pier 55 Seattle from
tapes taken during trip to US in 2004. Tried to 4th Oct 2006-
There were 120 Screensaver Downloads on first day. Screensaver members page launched.
This page can only be accessed through pushing space bar while screensaver is
running and contains information on pictures within screensaver and latest video
additions. 3rd Oct 2006 - Launched Internet Screensaver. This
Screensaver will check for updates each day. If a picture has been added Internet
Screensaver will download it automatically and add it to screensaver. Download
Internet Screensaver here 1st
Oct 2006 - WideScreenWater.com Launched! Concept is to provide pictures and other
media in 16:9 format suitable for widescreen lcd monitors and widescreen tvs.
Site launced with Twenty picutres and 2 videos. Three hundred people visited on
first day. | 
