Author: Kevin Withnall

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Bike Trip update

We had a bike trip night the other day and of 8 people who said they were coming, including John for whom the night was chosen, decided to not turn up. So it was basically just me.

I voted (and it was unanimous) that the trip be moved to July 2007, start on a Friday morning (to be able to meet the train on time) and finish in Darwin (to make it cheaper/easier to fly out and get the bike(s) out)

I now have to order my BMW R1200RT shortly so I have it ready by the day I leave. Theres a 3 month wait but I want a 2008 build so timing will be interesting. I also want to be able to get the 1000km service done before going.

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My little studio

Recently its had some more use. I often get called out to shoot other peoples families etc but rarely get to shoot mine. I had the studio setup for a co-workers family shoot and decided to bring my family in the next morning.

I got some shots. They are not fantastic but I like them (probably because I know the people in them)

They were also shot on the last day I used the D2X (the D3 arrived the next morning)

_dsc0044

Family Portrait (self portrait)

This was a self portrait (the remote is behind Christy’s back). These were shot with 2 large softboxes.

 

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Nikon D3

I received my nikon D3 the other day and have been playing with the settings. Firstly, ISO 6400 is fantastic (although seems to have more noise than some reviews indicated). Its about what I was getting with ISO 1600 (HI1) on my D2X from what I can tell so far.

Also, the 70–200mm 2.8 (my favourite lens) is now a better lens for more portraits etc. Ill have to go to the 80–400 (3.5–5.6) for more reach now but at higher ISO settings, the speed will not upset me too much. I would love a 500mm 2.8 but at $10,000 its a little too much to justify.

Anyway, Ill have some photos to post shortly. I will be shooting the basketball tomorrow in Sydney (I don’t yet know if the Hawks will get any photos yet) just to test the camera out. Hopefully the Higher ISO values, FX sensor, faster frame rate, 2 CF slots and dynamic 3D focussing should help me get some keepers.

 

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Christopher Hitchens – Challenge

Christopher Hitchens – An Atheist Responds – washingtonpost.com

Name one ethical statement made, or one ethical action performed, by a believer that could not have been uttered or done by a nonbeliever. And here is my second challenge. Can any reader of this column think of a wicked statement made, or an evil action performed, precisely because of religious faith?

I heard this a while ago and thought it was worth repeating and pointing out to anyone who reads this. There appears to be less and less reason to be religions as the centuries have turned up to the point where its now, if looking at it with fresh perspective, more of a mental illness than anything else.

Bearing in mind that many ‘think that god talks to them’ (hallucinations) and ‘believes in creation’ (delusions) thats two symptoms and thats whats required to be considered schizophrenic (via the international DSM IV-TR standard).

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The bike trip idea

Recently, Iโ€™ve started thinking about a bike trip around Australia. Iโ€™ve started updating a page on this site to have the most up to date version of what we plan to do.

Iโ€™ll also be blogging the leadup to the trip and thr trip itself so people on the RSS feed can see whats going on.

Currently the plans are to do the southern part of the trip in early(ish) 2008 or early (2010) so its possibly a while away. I also need to get a new bike (probably the BMW R1200RT) to do this on and then install boke-to-bike comms etc.

We also need to get the group organised to do a First Aid course first and possibly some other basic survival training for the desert sections (the second half of the trip, to be done at least a year after the first)

Each trip should take 3โ€“4 weeks in total.

If you are interested in coming along, please let me know. If you want to do it in a car (and be a support vehicle) also, please let me know.

Currently we have

  • John (Friend from next door at work)
  • Jim (Friend and security person)
  • John (Friend and electrician)
  • Aldo ?
  • Ian ?

And David and Linda in a support (car + caravan) role.

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