A Sci-fi Geek's Guide to Raising Children, Part 1

I'm a proud father of two: a girl and boy. I'm also a science fiction fan. One thing I've noticed is that there isn't a ton of entertaining and relatable information on raising children for us sci-fi geek dads and dads-to-be. What's a guy to do?

A Sci-fi Geek's Guide to Raising Children is my attempt at addressing that (black) hole. It will be a series with personal advice on being a father but in science fiction terms. So let's take the ship out of orbit and go where most men have already gone before.

The First Day of School explained via the Large Hadron Collider
The first day of school is like flipping on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). Often the drama surrounding the event is much larger than the event itself. The child usually settles in within five to ten minutes after you leave. But you can rest assured: great and wonderful things will be discovered as a result.

Dressing Your Daughter explained via Ghostbusters
Mixing Princess Characters in an outfit can be like crossing particle streams. Don't try it unless you know what you're doing.

Preschool Levels explained via Star Wars
Preschool has two levels: nursery school and pre-k. Hell, mixing up the two is like mixing up a Jedi Youngling with a Jedi Padawan. Geez.

Digg it   |   del.icio.us   |   Add to Technorati Faves

Unbelievable Fireworks Photography Tip

VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK


This is NOT an original technique. However, I DID take these pictures of Labor Day Fireworks in my town. You can also see them on Flickr. Now to the good stuff.

How Did I Do It?
I had my camera on a tripod. I set my ISO down to 100, my aperture to f/9.0 (though I switched it up a little here and there during the show but not far off) and my shutter speed up to 1 second (again, I switched up here and there during the show.)

Now here's the key: set your lens to MANUAL focus. Furthermore, set your focus to the closest range possible. In other words, if you were to photograph the fireworks, they would be blurry as hell. This will create the billowing effect.

The trick is to snap the photo right before the fireworks burst happens. Over the course of the exposure, turn your focus ring all the way to infinity. In other words, if you were to photograph the fireworks on infinity, they would be crisp and sharp.


VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK


VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK



What's Happening?
As the burst is captured from blurry to sharp, the camera's sensor picks up a trail of light that goes from fat to thin.. So, early in the exposure, the burst's lights are billowy and large. Toward the end, they're small and sharp. The time elapse in between captures the color and full shape of the streaking light.

The Flickr post from which I learned this technique actually calls for you to use a wireless remote to snap the shot and focus. I don't have that luxury. The funny thing is, it contributed to some unique tentacle-like structures.

VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK


VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK


VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK


VIEW LARGER | FLICKR LINK

Digg it   |   del.icio.us   |   Add to Technorati Faves