Plantations of pine trees are huge in this area as well. Everything along this stretch of highway is done in masssive proportions. Forestry SA has huge tracts of land that are just planted out with pine trees. the good thing is that they also have areas planted with natives as well.

I was intrigued with the patterns created by the long rows of trees you see as you drive along the highway.

Naracoorte has some limestone caves you can trek through a few kilometres out of town. I didnt really have much time to stop and look so I grabbed a few photos of the sculptures that protect the entrance instead.

Murray Bridge - The first bridge to be built across the mighty Murray River.

Under the Murray Bridge

The tiny hamlet of Hahndorf is as big in character as the German hospitality you receive all through the town. I stopped at the German Arms hotel (above) for lunch and experienced the best German food and beer I have ever had. The meals are massive and you wont leave unsatisfied. The rest of the town is full of trinket shops and cafes and german stores. Hahndorf is a definite visit for your next trip to Adelaide.

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Adelaide Road Trip

On a recent trip to adelaide I went to check out the city. I think Adelaide is a  very clean city, with a simple layout and heaps of open space parklands but as far as cities go it didnt really do much for me. I dont know why that is but the Adelaide Hills appealed to me more. Because everything in the city is so clean I felt like there wasnt that much character to they city itself. Above is the Parklands on the northern side of the city with the Adelaide Convention Centre in the background.

An artpiece along the rivers edge. It reads: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” This ties in with a fountain and boats all laid out on the water. At night everything is lit up and looks quite spectacular. Unfortunately I didnt get back in at night time to photograph it.

More photos after the jump

These geese (I think their geese, not really that great with bird types) just sit around in the park and are quite happy to sit there and have their photo taken.

One of the many statues scattered all around Adelaide City

A winterised tree. The photo doesnt really do it justice as the overcast sky really muted the vibrant tones once captured.

Paddle Boats along the rivers edge waiting to be ridden

Under the bridge I was drawn to the patterns created.

Victoria R.I. She stands in the city centre watching over everything.

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Adelaide City Walkabout

I Recently went away with work to Adelaide for two weeks so heres a few random photos from the trip. The photo above is the City lights taken from the Mt Lofty Summit. The Adelaide lights are great to see of a night. They symmetry of the city’s layout is very defined when viewed from above. Everything looks ordered and clean unlike other cities where is is just plain chaos.

The Glenelg Wharf. Very popular spot for peope to walk. Coming from the east coast it was cool to see a sunset over the ocean.

Glenelg Promenade silhouetted by sunset. Glenelg is a vibrant clean beachside town. The marina is spectacular complete with it own sailing ship in the lagoon.

Glenelg Fun Park. It didnt appear to be operating but there is a complete fun park with water slides and rides right on the waterfront.

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Adelaide Random Photos

As you may know I have been looking at buying a HDD/DVD Recorder recently. I have been looking around to try and find which units had the best features, ease of use and best quality of sound and picture, all for a reasonable price. I went to a few stores and checked out what was available and prices then looked around online for reviews as well as comparisons between brands. I must say it is a minefield out there at the moment.

In terms of systems, and media types, the possible combinations of components available are endless. To really be sure that you are buying what you need and not spending money on features you can’t or won’t use, you really have to know what you already have and what formats it supports as well as think ahead as to any additions you plan on making to your home theatre. As I see it now, the digital home theatre market is in a transition stage where there is alot of new formats as well as connectivity systems that are coming and going, which makes it hard to mix and match your system with new and old components. At the moment there is broad support for a mixed digital and analog theatre system, but I think give it a year or 2 you wont find anything that will accept input from or output to the analog dinosaur of yesteryear.

Weighing up all my options, I bit the bullet and ended up buying the Sony RDR-HXD970 250 GB HDD/DVD Recorder. I chose this unit for a few reasons:

• Firstly because my existing system is all Sony. I am always open to new brands but I guess I was a bit biased when other brands had similar features for the same money. I stuck with familiar territory. Sony has always given me a great run in terms of reliability and ease of use. The existing home theatre is now getting a bit old at an average age of 7 years but I have never had a single problem with any of it. Recently the video player died but only because my 2 year old filled it with pencils and coins -  8 years is a pretty good run for a video player in my books.
• The recorder has a good mixture of digital/analog inputs and outputs ensuring a wide range of compatibility with any future additions I make to my system.
• Reviews on both the 160GB and 250GB unit are unanimously positive.

I havent included buying price as it would be obsolete in a few weeks anyway. Everyone is willing to do deals at the moment and I did manage to pick it up cheaper in a physical shop than I could online for once.

Initial Impressions

Straight out of the box the HDD/DVD recorder is very impressive, with clean lines and an unassuming front panel. As far as connecting it in with the existing system, it integrates easily. The hardest bit is deciding which way I wanted to connect everything. As my amp doesn’t have any digital inputs I had to use the analog outputs from the unit. I know its not the ideal way to connect a new digital unit, but I do plan on trying to pick myself up a digital decoder unit like the Sony SDP-E800 which you can find cheap second hand if you look hard enough. In a perfect world I would already have my big screen plasma and I would be able to connect everything with 1 single lead from the HDMI output and enjoy the 1080p upscaling for better picture quality.

When you first turn the recorder on it goes through an initial setup which covers everything like digital channel setup and output formats. Dont stress too much about these settings as they can be easily accessed later if you dont quite get it right. From there it was time to play.

TV progams are clear and crisp. The auto tuner was spot on with picking every channel, even to the point where we now have a clear channel 10, which has been fuzzy ever since we moved into this house no matter what I tried to clear it up. Recording of TV programs to either HDD or DVD is simple as pressing the record start button. Select either HDD or DVD and thats where you will be recording to. I mainly played with the HDD at first. Chase play, where you can start watching a program from the beginning while recording the end is excellent. You can fast forward the ads and once you reach where it is up to recording it returns to live television.

Our Sony Handycam which records direct to 8cm DVD’s is easy to copy to the hard drive with direct dubbing once you insert the disc into the unit. It also allows you to watch what you have just recorded without finalising in camera first. I havent got around to trying to burn a few discs onto one 12cm DVD yet, but I’m sure it should be pretty easy. There is also the option to connect direct via the iLink on the front panel and have the unit control starting and stopping the camera for you.

One of my big plans with the unit was being able to backup our 2 year old daughters movies onto the hardrive so we didnt have to worry about changing discs, as well as preserving the originals. Unfortunately the unit wont let me do this. It appears as though the HDD/DVD recorder honours the discs copy protection, and wont allow us to record from a DVD movie. This is a good thing as far as copyright protection goes, but I would love to see a movie backup feature that would allow you to copy to the harddrive but then prevents you from recording off the hard drive onto DVD’s. That way your originals can be kept safe from the fingerprints and scratches that come along with having toddlers. I guess that would present a whole new array of copyright infringements somewhere in the world so it is easier from Sony’s point of view to just not allow it.

The photo hub is a bit ordinary, but I guess I am comparing this to my current photo editing computer. Copying direct from camera, as well as from a USB 2.0 compatible card reader is slower than a wet week. I started to copy a few photos across to check it out and it took more than a few minutes for about 12 photos so I cancelled out. Come on. If you have a spare hour to copy a 1GB memory card to the hard drive then go right ahead, but there are better ways to view and organise your photos. Once the images are on the HDD the image rendering onscreen is nothing short of poor but in defence of it all my television is only standard resolution. I am sure it would be much better on a high definition big screen. Being a glutton for punishment, I decided to try backing up the 4GB memory card in the the Olympus 1030SW direct to DVD thinking it might be a bit quicker. Bad idea. Over 2 hours later it finally finished and decided to create a slideshow to boot just to frustrate me more.

The music jukebox is a little clunky but it works. If you are going to upload song to it I would recommend doing it from a thumbdrive where all the songs have been named and organised. It took me long enough to name 1 song. I envy anyone with the patience to rename a whole album. If you have an Ipod then just connect its headphone jack direct to the input on the front panel and play from there as it saves you having to setup playlists and organising songs on the hard drive.

Wrapping Up

In my opinion you are best served to just use the Sony RDR-HXD970 HDD/DVD Recorder as a television program recorder as well as for easy organisation and backup of your home movies from your Handycams. I am sure there is a way to be able to backup DVD movies to the hard drive for watching over and over to save your originals from destruction. AS far as the music and photo ‘extras’ go then use them at your own peril. They are frustrating to use if you have an alternative way to view or listen to them. I dont currently have pay TV so I couldnt trial recording any of that across but that is on the cards for the near future. Over the coming weeks I plan to give the recorder a bit a work out and really get into its inner features and see how it fares. But my initial reactions to it are extremely positive and I am happy with it overall.

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Sony RDRHXD970 HDD DVD Recorder

Deke McLelland, the photoshop guru and self confessed geek has put together a hilarious video that anyone who uses photoshop will really enjoy. He gives out 101 photoshop tips and shortcuts in 5 mins set to a theme song while dancing like a monkey with a death wish. Hilarious!

Very educational, slightly eccentric but highly entertaining. Click on the blip.tv video above or go check out deke.com for more of his shennanigans and photoshop tips and tricks. He has some great podcasts and blog articles realted to all things Adobe!

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101 Photoshop Tips In 5 Minutes

Well it has come time to finally invest in a hard drive recorder or a combo HDD/DVD recorder. Our VCR has finally shat itself and we have no way of recording stuff from TV to watch later. I was originally going to just replace it, but why bother. I cant stand the quality of video now that I’ve had DVD for so long and I cant remember the last time I watched a video anyway. I dont want a standalone DVD recorder as I dont want 10,000 DVD’s that will never be watched again so I figure a HDD recorder is the way to go where you can delete stuff you dont want and burn off what you do.

My biggest problem is that I love my gadgets and I have been in a gadget black hole for some time now so I have got cravings for toys. The problem is that I have not been keeping up on my home entertainment technology like I used to so I dont know who or whats good anymore and thats where you guys come in. I need some help from people in the know or other people who like their home theatres as well.

What brands are currently the better ones, which major features are MUST HAVES in HDD recorders, which features really make life easy and which recorder is the easiest for my wife to use but has the flexibility for me to really get in amongst its nitty gritty’s?

Thats the start of it I guess so come on peoples let me know.

In the mean time for those of you in the same situation I have compiled a small list of starting resources for you:

• CNET - Seven tips on buying a DVD recorder
• Smarthouse - DVD recorder Buyers Guide
• The Age - Hard Drive Value - Good beginners guide to Hard Drive Recorders
• PC World - PVR and Hard Disk Video Recorder Buying Guide - A bit more in depth and a good read
• Choice - Test DVD/HDD Recorders - A free test for mid market hdd/dvd recorders

I am open to suggestions as well as sponsorship of products for testing and review.

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Buying a DVD/HDD Recorder

You can find part 1 of this review in my Olympus 1030 SW review post.

I have now had a few weeks to play with the Olympus u 1030 SW point and shoot digital camera I recently bought. To sum it up in a few short words I would have to say easy to use, mostly sharp, clear and definitely bulletproof. I took the approach of just being a general user of the camera, I tried to put my SLR brain aside and look at this as any untrained general user of the camera would. Thats said I also tried to pick it apart as much as I could and throw some difficult shooting situations at it to really see what it can do.

Apart from getting my wife to take mountains of happy snaps all around home and out and about, my first big test of the camera was when I went to the Snow for the opening of the ski season. I had grand plans to take heaps of test pictures with it while in the snow, but I had too much fun partying and taking photos was the last thing on my mind. I did manage to get a few macro and super macro shots though. The first big test for it was when I accidentally left it in the car overnight. The temperature got down to -7°c and everything was covered in ice in the morning - including the camera. I wasnt too concerned as it was mainly on the LCD which was left screen up on the seat, so I fired it up and it turned straight on and started taking pictures so I was really impressed with that. My mates Nikon Coolpix didnt fair so good and had troubles turning on, so I couldn’t take a picture of the ice for you. After about an hour, the Nikon thawed out enough and was fine.

Overall the Olympus 1030 is a very capable camera. In full auto mode it looks after everything for you from flash to ISO and in most situations I couldnt find any major flaws. Mixed white balance scenes confuses the sensor a bit, but any camera will do that, and it chose the dominant white balance every time which you would expect it to do. If you need more manual white balance control it is available through the camera menu when in P mode as well as manual ISO control too. For the purposes of this review I mainly used the camera in auto or scene modes as that is what the majority of people will want to do.

Auto ISO can be a bit annoying as noise is a real problem when light levels start to drop. The ISO compensation introduces a nasty amount of noise and colour aberations at anything above 400, and is even worse if you have shadow adjust turned on. I don’t think this is something that really goes against that camera as noise is a problem for my Nikon D200 SLR at anything above 800, so comparitively for a much smaller sensor and lense of a much lesser quality it doesn’t do too bad. I haven’t come across a compact camera yet that manages noise well at elevated ISO’s.

I have noticed though that Jpeg compression may be a bit harsh in some conditions. I first noticed it in the images from the Hugh Jackman Wolverine photos I took. The day was overcast but very glary, but it was also a low contrast scene. I was using normal jpeg compression so why it made the image soft and washed out the detail so much I dont know. If I had have noticed it on the day I may have tried fine compression to see if that fixed it. I havent been able to recreate it since. In most situation the images are great, producing sharp images with accurate saturation. Indoors can be hit and miss in auto mode with funny White balance selections, but the majority of the time it is fine. I would expect that as well, especially in a house like ours where we have a mixture of light sources from tungstent to flourescent and any number of combinations of the two. Using the scene modes can improve the images quality dramatically and give you a little bit more control with out having to know what it is doing in the background.

With my big fingers I sometimes have troubles with the small buttons and dials on compact point and shoot cameras, I have had no dramas with the olympus 1030 sw. Buttons are laid out well and fairly logical to my thinking. It can take a little bit of time to find all the functions at first but once you know what does what in which mode everything is pretty well accessible at the touch of a button. The immediate access to macro and flash controls, either side of the OK button, is brilliant for my style of shooting. It gives fast control for modes that sometimes you need immediate and fast access to. I love that you dont have to ferret around in the menus looking for commonly used controls, as the menus in the Olympus can be confusing at times as they vary wildly between shooting modes and arent always that easy to understand.

Overall I think the Olympus 1030sw is a brilliant compact camera. It is easy to use, fast to learn and powerful enough for those who want a little extra control over their images. In auto mode I almost cant fault the cameras selections, but the minor things that bug me, like noise at high ISO, would not even be noticed by the majority of users. Although a little dearer than an equivalent model probably with better features, it is a tough and ideal choice for families with small children, divers or snorkellers, surfers, adventurers and tradespeople who need a camera that will take the abuse and not fail at a crucial moment. I highly recommend the Olympus 1030 SW as tough, almost bulletproof camera.

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Olympus 1030 SW Review - Part 2

Had a day off work today so decided to go down to Blacksmith’s Beach to check out the filming of Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman. I mainly wanted to go down to check out the movie pyrotechnic special effects, and my wife wanted to perve on Hugh. I got to see my pyro but we were too far away to see Hugh. I only took my Olympus 1030 SW point and shoot camera after I heard about the dramas other photographers were having with their long lenses and managed to get this photo, but as you can see we were so far away you cant make much out.

The crew has been on the Wolverine set for two days now, with locals getting really excited about the action. Apparently Hugh Jackman made a special appearance for fans yesterday signing autographs and taking photos.

The setup is quite impressive with the whole of the Blacksmiths Surf life saving club carpark taken over by trucks and camper trailers. The beach appears to have been setup like a world war II beach landing scene, I think it was the Normandy beach landing. After waiting for an hour we managed to see a live run of the soldiers taking the beach with bombs going off everywhere including in the water and gunfire fights as well.

I cant wait until Wolverine comes out in cinemas. I am keen to see how what we saw translates onto the big screen. Rumours say it should be out next year some time.

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Wolverine - Hugh Jackman

I have been travelling out west last week for work around the Gunnedah and Narrabri area. I am impressed. For the whole week I got to see the sunrise and sunset while travelling to and from work. I had grand plans of getting time to shoot a few sunsets but unfortunately time didn’t permit. Compared to here on the coast where I live, the colours out west are amazing, they last longer and light the landscape in ways I havent seen for a long time. The beginning and end of the day is greeted with the most intense pinks, purples, blues , yellows and oranges. It was hard as a photographer with camera at the ready to not be able to stop and take a few shots to share with you.

Most of these photos, except for the bus ones, were taken from a moving vehicle as there was no time to stop. I was surprised that they cam out so good. I might have to work on my technique for future trips where I cannot stop again.

In between Gunnedah and Narrabri is a sleepy little town, population 70, called Baan Baa. Perched along the Kamillaroi highway, its main purpose is serving as a grain rail terminal for the local farmers to disribute their commodities out to the world. The first thing I noticed as I was driving through was a green bus off the side of the road that at first look appears abandoned and forgotten. It was quickly pointed out to me by my passenger that in fact it was the local cricket club grand stand. Thats Aussie ingenuity for you. Most people would leave it to rot in a paddock but the locals at Baan Baa have made it into a talking piece that for me put it on the map. If it wasnt for the bus I would have most probably not noticed the few houses on the side of the road.

Further down the road stands the majestic Gin’s Leap which legend has it that an aboriginal girl threw herself from the rock while being chased by a wild aboriginal tribe. Originally known to early settlers just as the rock it took its name once the legend became more widespread. If you are travelling the Kamillaroi highway you will not miss it as it is a massive piece of stone and has a very ominous presence early in the morning with the light of dawn warming its face.

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Gunnedah And Narrabri

Made it out shopping today and bought my self an Olympus u 1030 SW digital camera. Our old point and shoot happy snap camera finally died after mountains of abuse so I thought I had better upgrade. It was a tough decision but I decided on the Olympus because of its sheer toughness. No other camera could match its performance in such a diverse range of conditions. I have been missing a compact camera to take in my pocket as it can be a pain in the ass to carry my SLR’s with me every where, especially if all you want is a few happy snaps. Although it was a bit more expensive than cameras with with similar features, the waterproofing and drop resistance are worth the outlay if you have kids, work in wet or dusty environments, enjoy snorkeling or diving or even just go to the beach or pool on a regular occasion. I am pretty happy to know that if I abuse this little camera it will keep on working, and that just suits me fine.

The Olympus 1030 SW (SW is for shock and waterproof) is Drop resistant to 2 m, waterproof (not water resistant) to 10m, crushproof to 100kg and freezeproof to -10 degrees. To me that also sounds like its pretty kid proof too. I have a 2 yr old who is obsessed with any kind of gadget that has buttons, lights and makes noises, so once she finds out this takes pictures too those specs are gunna get a thorough testing. Built solidly, I think anything short of a nuclear bomb wont really worry this camera too much.

As a camera the 1030SW has some pretty impressive tech specs as well. It has a 10.1 megapixel CCD sensor, 2.7″ TFT ‘Hypercrystal II’ LCD display, 3.6x optical zoom, (5x digital zoom too but I wouldnt bother with it) 29 shooting modes, image stabilisation, face detection, shadow adjustment and a whole swag of other goodies. There is also a Manometer to tell you how high up or deep in the water you are,

When you open the box the first thing you notice is how solidy this camera is built. With the outer casing made of metal with full rubber seals around all the joins and everything screwed not glued together, it even feels tough. Button actions have a responsive feel and everything is easy to access, even with my big fingers.

I have only taken a few pictures so far, mainly of my feet and computer desk and walls and stuff around me so nothing worth posting yet. As I put it through its paces over the next week or so I will post some for you to see. The screen is crystal clear and appears reasonably accurate and optical zoom is good. There is a mountain of shooting modes including portrait, night time, inside, underwater, macro etc etc and I think I would actually use alot of them. When I am not using my SLR’s I like to be able to have some control over images I take, but I dont want to have to think about settings. The scene modes appear to cover this reasonably well.

Stay tuned as I will have more for you soon.

Part II - Olympus 1020 SW Review

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Olympus 1030 SW Review