Category: Photography

Flickr Video Controversy Gets Out of Hand

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Flickr Video Controversy Gets Out of Hand
Internet, Photography, Rants

The image above from user Brent and Marilynn is about the best Flickr protest I’ve seen. It’s certainly better than the plethora of protest images on both sides. In my opinion, the whole thing has gotten out of hand. The video naysayers have caused more disruption than the addition of videos to the site. It’s … Read More “Flickr Video Controversy Gets Out of Hand” »

Exploring Laurens County

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Exploring Laurens County
Local, Photography

Laurens County Courthouse

It’s Spring Break this week, and the weather stinks out loud. Monday and Tuesday were cloudy and wet, so I spent the first part of the week on home maintenance, specifically, oiling our unfinished knotty pine paneling with linseed oil. It was a smelly job, so by Wednesday I really needed to get out of the house. Wednesday was also the only day this week predicted to have good weather, so it was now or never.

As with most of my photo drives, I only had a rough idea of where I wanted to go. I knew that I wanted to check out the Gray Court-Owings Historical Society’s new display area, and I wanted to visit some sites for genealogy purposes, but apart from that anything was open. Originally, I had planned to load my mountain bike in my truck and check out the Enoree Passage of the Palmetto Trail. However, with the weather not cooperating, I abandoned that idea.

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One More GPS Tracker – Qstarz BT-Q1000

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on One More GPS Tracker – Qstarz BT-Q1000
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

After the miserable failure of the i-gotU GPS tracker, I decided to ship it back and purchase the Qstarz BT-Q1000 instead. The preliminary tests I’ve run on the unit just bear out the old adage – you get what you pay for. The i-gotU was around $50 and the Qstarz is nearly double that.

This is the updated unit to the one we bought Chip for his birthday. He had been very pleased with its performance, and I had read several other favorable reviews. This unit has double the memory capacity, but otherwise functions pretty much the same way and has the same features.

Qstarz comparison

As can be seen in the photo above, the Qstarz (middle) is a good bit larger than the i-gotU, but still smaller than my Garmen eTrex. It’s still small enough to slip into a pocket, and it comes with a protective cover that has a belt loop.

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i-gotU GPS Tracker – Summary Review

Posted on By Tom 8 Comments on i-gotU GPS Tracker – Summary Review
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

UPDATE: This review was for the i-GotU GT-100. Mobile Action has contacted me and asked if I would try out the new GT-120. I’ve tested it, and posted the new results here. So far it’s worked much better than the GT-100 reviewed here, which has now been discontinued by Mobile Action. I’m leaving this review … Read More “i-gotU GPS Tracker – Summary Review” »

Test Driving the i-gotU GPS Tracker

Posted on By Tom 20 Comments on Test Driving the i-gotU GPS Tracker
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

UPDATE: This review was for the i-GotU GT-100. Mobile Action has contacted me and asked if I would try out the new GT-120. I’ve tested it, and posted the new results here. So far it’s worked much better than the GT-100 reviewed here, which has now been discontinued by Mobile Action. I’m leaving this review in place for archival purposes.

I’ve been test-driving the new i-gotU GPS tracker. It’s a tiny little device that looks more like a toy than an actual gadget. The silly name and baby-blue plastic wrapper don’t help that impression much. However, it’s simplicity (as well as its price) were what drew me to this tracker in the first place.

There were several arguments for using a dedicated tracker for geotagging photos as opposed to a handheld GPS. First and foremost is size. The i-gotU unit is small enough that it could be attached to a camera strap so that it’s always with the camera. It won’t get in the way like a larger unit might. Since these trackers don’t have LCD display screens, battery life tends to be much better. Usually data trackers like this have the latest GPS chipsets, so accuracy is improved. In order to see if these arguments held true for the i-gotU, I decided to put the tracker to the test and do a side-by-side comparison with my trusty Garmin eTrex Legend.

i-gotU GPS trackeri-gotU GPS tracker compared to Garmin eTrex Legend

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Roving Gangs of Photographers

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Roving Gangs of Photographers
Local, Photography

A new menace has hit the streets of Greenville. Last night the Falls Park area was invaded by a roving gang of photographers. Two rival factions actually joined forces for this assault – the Exposure.Greenville! group on Flickr, and the Travelers Rest Photography Group. I arrived at the appointed spot at River Place at 7:15, … Read More “Roving Gangs of Photographers” »