I love planning. I don’t like random email pitches from PR or product companies.

Today the two worlds collide. That’s because Expedia pitched me something I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT AND WILL USE! It doesn’t happen often.

It’s their Kids In The City program and you might be able to guess what it’s about. Kids. Cities. Doing stuff (with their parents).

The site offers up individually picked attractions and fun-things-to-do in a dozen major cities across the USA. The individuals doing the picking are parenting and traveling experts by the likes of Debbie Dubrow, Jen Miner, Mara Gorman and Kara Williams. These are people I know, personally, in real life, and trust their recommendations. Heck, before this program, I was even going to be asking Jen what might be fun to do with Sabrina in LA as we will be taking two trips there this summer. Now I don’t have to because she tells us in a video!

Expedia will be highlighting 12 cities over 12 days (and it started yesterday, so you need to catch up!) on the site to help with your summer planning.

If you have kids, give it a look-see. Yes, eventually it has links to be able to book things on Expedia, but there is no hard sell and the picks are genuine points of interest moms in those cities think you will find fun. They have first hand knowledge of many of the attractions and have tested them with their own kids. Humanely, I hope.

It’s a resource I have already found useful and will be checking out Portland as well for two trips this summer with Sabrina.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Sheri, meet everyone on the Internet.

I’m introducing you all to each other today because Sheri is the reason Sabrina and I are getting up way earlier on a Sunday than we normally would plan. We will both be running in the Komen Race For The Cure on June 3rd in Seattle to raise funds for breast cancer research and to aid those battling the disease.

As you may guess, Sheri has breast cancer. She’s been battling it for what seems like a brazillion years. Sheri’s been battling it as long as Sabrina has been alive, over a quarter of her life. I haven’t liked seeing my friend suffer and wishing for a cure for her, and more like her, won’t get us anywhere.

Sheri’s been my friend for a brazllion plus a gazzlion years it seems. Middle school is where we met, to be more precise. She is my only close friend to have contracted this type of cancer and it pains me to see how the disease has changed her life, slowed her down. At least it has not dimmed her smile.

I don’t want others to have to watch their friends go through this ordeal and that is the main reason why Sabrina and I are running the race. It’s only a 5K (3.6miles) and seems like a piddling effort compared to what those who fight for their lives have to endure. But it is what we can do, to raise funds to find a cure.

That’s the length of my spiel.

If you would like to help the cause to find a cure for breast cancer, please donate with one of the links below. Sabrina and I are part of a team of Sheri’s friends all running together. It doesn’t matter if you give to Sabrina or I, the funds all go the same direction. Any amount is appreciated.

Want an incentive to give?

Donate $20 or more and I will send you a set of three blank 5”x7” greeting cards with any of my images printed on them.

Donate $50 or more and I will send you an 8”x10” print on archival matte paper. Again, any image on this site or peterwestcarey.com is available.

After you make the donation, drop me an email and I’ll send you what you like.

Donate to Sabrina’s efforts here

Donate to Peter’s efforts here

Thank you.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Getting Started

Welcome! This tutorial will explain the steps I take when using my iPhone to create time-lapse movies shot from commercial airliners, as seen above. I will be explaining how I use iTimeLapse Pro, my app of choice in this post which is a companion to another post I wrote on Digital Photography School that explains the process of setting up the shoot to ensure best results from the app. I suggest you check out that post in addition to this one to gather the whole picture (pun intended, always).

iTimeLapse Pro is a very useful app as it will shoot and create the video for you. No need to download the images and compile them in a computer. That does create some limitations in regard to exposure smoothing between images, but for what it is, this app is a great tool. Here then are my suggestions for using the app to gain the most of airborne time-lapse shoots.

Turn Off Auto Lock

Auto Lock is your enemy here. Turn it off. It can be found by going to your iPhone’s Settings menu, then General then Auto-Lock. When your phone locks, image capture stops.

Name Your Video Before You Start

Speaking from experience, naming videos before you start is the way to go. In the excitement of creating these short movies, I have often become confused about which video is which. They all start to look the same when the sample image is of the horizon and ground.

Bigger Is Not Always Better

The app has a number of settings for the camera resolution. I choose the Good settings of 1920×1440. This allows for longer videos without making them too huge. For instance, at this setting I shot the SEA-LAX video with 690 frames on this setting (which, the app tells me, is about 2.6MB/image). The final size on disk of that video’s still images is 1.1GB, while the final video is only 39MB (at 720p HD). If I had shot this at the Best setting, it would have taken up 2GB on disk and this can be problematic at times.

Use The Start Delay

The start delay will be your friend and stop you from becoming too frantic while setting up your shoot.

Turn The Flash Off, Mostly

There is a flash feature on this app and for shooting video out plane windows, it is all but useless. Turn it off so it doesn’t accidentally (in auto mode) decide to come on. This feature will becomign available when you start capturing your images. Leaving a long Start Delay will help you turn this feature off without messing up your shots.

Judge Your Timing

Timing for time-lapse is greatly influenced by speed and distance. If objects are further away, you will need a longer interval between shots to show movement (or risk a super long video that no one will watch). If objects are very close, shorter timing is needed. For a typical flight, I prefer every 4 seconds when at altitude. This allows for a smooth enough movement and a decent video length.

Turn The Volume Off

By default iTimeLapse Pro makes a shutter sound with each shot. In a plane, this is not that big of a deal as the ambient noise will likely cover it up. Still, I notice the noise once in a while, even with my bad hearing, and wonder where it’s coming from. It’s best to not have to listen to it (and this is helpful advice for other shooting situations as well). Don’t do this if you are still listening to music on your iPhone.

Record Ample Shots

Most video plays back at 24 frames a second or 30 frames a second. I have found, with shooting at a frame every four seconds, I can get decent video down to 16 frames a second on a plane. This means, if I want to capture 10 seconds of film (just about a minimum for most viewers) I need to capture 160 frames. That will take about 11 minutes when all is said and done. Do this calculation first so you are not tempted to stop early just to see what you got.

Now all you need to do is hit Start Time Lapse, align the camera and shoot away! TIP: Use the window shade to hold the camera in place, or grab a GorillaMobile to help keep the camera in the best location.

When you are finished recording, press Exit to be brought back to the main menu.

Edit Out The Bad Frames

Maybe setting up the iPhone didn’t go as smoothly as you hoped and you captured a few extra frames. Or perhaps the last 20 frames weren’t needed. Click on the Details tab and then click Edit Frames. On this screen you can remove any frame, anywhere, the doesn’t work for you.

Rendering Options

On the Render screen you have a number of options. The first is frames per second. As I mentioned, I suggest 16 frame a second for plane flights otherwise the video can be quite fast. Play with this and see what works best for you. There is also the option to create a video to a particular length.

Change the file name to something intelligent so you can find it later.

Video resolution is up to you. I suggest choosing 1080p video and pick the 1440×1080 option, unless you shot your video with the idea of cropping out the top and bottom. If you make your video 16:9 ratio, it will not compress the proportions, it will simply crop off the top and bottom.

A Music Soundtrack can be added as well on this screen so you can pick a song from your library.

Video Quality? 100%, unless space on your phone is an issue.

After clicking Render Now, your phone will create the video for you to watch. For the example here with 690 frames, it took 7 minutes. You can leave it to run in the background but you can’t create another time-lapse while it runs. So it might be a good idea to capture your videos while the time is right then render them when the capturing moments have passed.

Share!

When your video is finished, it’s time to share with the world. There are three online options here; YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo. As expected, each will require a one time authentication with the service in order to share, but after that, you’re set.

There are options to save the movie to your Camera Roll so it can be used with other apps. You can also email the video if it is small. USB is an option to copy the file to your computer when connected via USB and with iTunes running. Instructions for all of these methods popup when selected. Lastly, Local Wifi Sharing is available if your cable is not available.

Conclusion

Oh! One more note. You can listen to music while the images are being captured. Just make sure to start it before the action begins.

iTimeLapse is a fun app with even more features than mentioned here. It is a useful tool that does just want I need it to do when creating fun time-lapse videos from a plane.

Suggested Equipment:

• iPhone 4s
• iTimeFrame Pro app
• Laptop for extended battery life
• GorillaMobile for iPhone
• Patience
• A good window seat

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

To use this image, simply click and drag to move around. Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or use [Shift] to zoom in and [CTRL] to zoom out.  And if you want to turn things up a notch, right click and choose “Fullscreen”. Have fun!

Description: Lima Cityscape Panorama Exploration

Location: Lima, Peru, South America

Description: This image was created from 33 individual images, shot vertically to get the most foreground in as possible. I then combined the images in the computer and stitched them together using Kolor’s AutoPano Giga software which handled all the magic. I will be writing about the process I use to create these images soon at Digital Photography School. If I were evil, I’d ask you to find the man walking his dog…but I’m not THAT evil, maybe.

Shot with Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens with settings of ISO 100, 28mm, f/8 and 1/640th of a second.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click here to be taken to a full view.

If you want to see more Panoramas like this one, click here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Description: Colorado River Panorama Exploration

Location: Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA

Description: Just off the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park are numerous view points of the Colorado River, including this isolated spot. Visiting in March, there are few other tourists and the place seems as it has been for thousands of years.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

If you want to see more Panoramas like this one, click here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

To use this image, simple click and drag to move around. Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or use [Shift] to zoom in and [CTRL] to zoom out.  And if you want to turn things up a notch, right click and choose “Fullscreen”. Have fun!

For the Nepal fans out there, especially those who have trekked to Everest basecamp, you can see the Tengboche Monastery as well as the trail from Phortse (the village on the left shaped kind of like an hour glass) to Pengboche (not visible just around the corner).

Title: Nepal Himalaya Panorama Exploration

Location: Mong, Nepal

Shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens at 28mm. I shot this with bracketing, meaning I took one shot at the camera’s prescribed exposure, then one shot over-exposed by a stop and one shot under-exposed. I then combined the images in the computer and stitched them together using Kolor’s AutoPano Giga software which handled all the magic.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Are you interested in joining a photo tour in Nepal in 2012 to this exact location? Email me for more information or click here.

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click the page link to be taken to a full view.

Be sure to check out yesterday’s Photo Of The Day for the same experience at Machu Picchu.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

They try to. And the Mukilteo-Clinton run I was waiting for happens to have the best on-time performance in the fleet.

So my curiosity was piqued when, at the normal time of seven minutes until departure, the ferry wasn’t loading. A big truck blocked my view of the boat so I thought not much of it and went back to chatting with my daughter.

At departure time we still hadn’t moved. And I could spot three police cars parked by the dock.

At seven minutes past departure time I was genuinely curious. A few more police cars were showing up and a Coast Guard rescue helicopter was now circling with its landing gear down, a sign that it wasn’t just passing by.

I snapped a few pictures of the activity.

Washington State Patrol K-9 officer (minus his dog) walking on the ferry in Mukilteo.

Coast Guard helicopter circling the scene.

Workers (I’m unsure if this gentleman is with WSP or WSF as a number of officers were not in uniform) check around the boat.

And then the big bomb truck from the Washington State Patrol showed up  (as the ferries are part of the Washington State Department of Transportation, the WSP has responsibility for their security).

And a dude or two started putting on protective gear.

All the while passengers were asked to leave their vehicles and stand near the back of the parking area. Some huddled by the toll booths for a good point of view. The wind was blowing a winter chill around and warmth was hard to find outside of our cars.

Meanwhile, Sabrina took her first bomb threat in stride.

Throwing rocks in a storm retention pool.

Walking to the side of the dock, the activity on the water was pretty obvious.

The Navy boat was just passing by but doesn’t it make things look more urgent?!? One of my friends said he saw a device, like a log standing straight out of the water with an antenna on top, float by, not bobbing with the waves as the multiple logs were, and head for the boat. Sabrina called this a UUFO (Unidentified Underwater Floating Object). We checked my friend’s breath for signs of alcohol but he seemed sober. I never saw this device but it’s cool to think the WSP or Coast Guard had a mini-sub there to check things out. Makes it more exciting.

We then heard, “Fire in the hole!” and a loud pop. I’d give it an M80 sound on the scale from Popits to Nuclear Warhead. Walking back to the bomb truck, there is now a spool of cord on the ground and more people talking.

Oh look! News cameras! They must know something.

Getting closer:

Now to work my way to the front of the pack for a better view.

It’s bomb dude with a black backpack. I’m guessing this is not his kid’s backpack even though it looks like the one Sabrina sometimes uses. He also decides to get his knife out and start cutting into the bag. This is certainly not his bag, I hope.

Movies? Let’s take a page out of Hollywood and, “Zoom in. Rotate. Enhance.”

Does anyone know what that is? It looks like a video game possibly. And the letters “..STROM” ?  A little help here?

Moving on, bomb dude keeps ripping apart stuff.

And then he finds something. Shows it to his buddies (at least I like to romanticize all bomb dudes are buddies, just like in the movies).

See the smile on his face. I think he wants to take it home.

After that, he opens and pours out a water container.

And that’s pretty much about it. The Coast Guard heads off…

Ferry workers reboard the boat…

Bomb dude undresses… (just the suit, ladies)

And puts away the bomb blowing up stuff…

Police stand over the remains of the pack. I’m sure some of them wanted to have a smoke, there was certainly some tension going on.

And the film crew turns to filming the boat loading.

We then sail off to Whidbey Island, about two hours later than anticipated.

I want to thank the Washington State Patrol and Coast Guard for doing their job well today. No panic. No beatings. No glamor and glitz as if Tango & Cash had showed up. They kept the passengers and crew safe and dealt with the situation professionally.

My daughter also experienced something I hope she never has to deal with again. You know how kids like anything cool and out of the ordinary? That was her morning and she was excited to tell al the kids at school about it.

In the end, according to news reports, there was no explosive device found. That thing bomb dude showed to his buddies, on second inspection, was likely just a bong.

I think this picture says it all.

Looking for something pretty to look at instead? Check out yesterday’s Photo Of The Day – Immersion Panorama Of Machu Picchu

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

When I was growing up there was no Museum of Flight. It came into existence on the South side of Seattle after my passion of flight was already sparked, but before I found out I get rather ill inside small aircraft I am not jumping out of (by the way, the instructors at Gavin Flying at Boeing Field are top-notch and never complained about having to clean up their Cessna 152 after I, uh, redecorated the cockpit somewhere over Puget Sound. I still want to thank my instructor for his patience while I figured out flying a plane was not for me, commercially speaking).

The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field has grown over the years to be awesome. It’s huge! When my brother, a member of the museum, offered to take my daughter and I to the museum (you get free passes for guests as a member) on a rainy Winter day, I was excited to share the experience and to see what was new since my last visit 20 years ago.

First of all, if you have kids, go see the museum. Kids over five or so will enjoy their time. The specific kid area isn’t that large, but does have some fun exhibits for them to play with while actually learning things (just don’t tell them they are learning). Scaled down wind tunnels and the chance to move a plane as in a video game will get them excited.

And then there is the main hall. Zowie! It’s big and FULL of planes. Hanging from the ceiling, on the ground, some cut in half so you can see how they work. One of the nation’s old spy planes, an SR-71 Blackbird, takes center stage surrounded by a classic DC-3 and a reproduction of the Wright Brother’s flyer. Helicopters, fighter planes from many eras, mail planes, gliders. And then there is the space section with lunar rovers, space capsules and a mock up of a section of the International Space Station. Outside you can tour an older Air Force One that presidents used to call home while traveling. And a Concorde.

Ohhhh!!! And in the future, they will have an actual Space Shuttle Trainer in one hanger. A frickin’ real sized space shuttle! Too cool.

For adults, there is also a large history wing that chronicles Boeing’s rise as an aircraft giant. And a cafeteria. And a whole other area that I didn’t cover on this trip! There’s seriously a whole day of exploring at the Museum.

More Info:

• Hours and directions
• Cost ain’t super cheap, but I felt it would be worth it once a year for most people. $17 for adults and $9 for kids. Discounts given.
• They have a number of simulators I’d love to try next time.
• Perfect for rainy winter days.
• Special events abound. Check their schedule.
• They also offer learning opportunities at the museum and in the area.
• If your kid is around age five, or really into airplanes, they will get the most enjoyment from time at the museum. Younger kids might get bored before parents feel they have got their money’s worth.

Seriously, it is a fun place and a bit like a playground. There is a lot to learn or you can simply gawk and the massive amount of aircraft on display.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

When I recently visited Los Angeles I was happy that I could actually see Orion in the night sky for two reasons: #1 It was winter and I live near Seattle, so seeing stars in winter doesn’t happen that often and #2 LA is a massive sprawl of lights, lights and more lights.

Then I found the Griffith Observatory, perched to the North of town on what surely would be a hillside covered with houses if it were not a LA municipal park. This lack of houses makes it a great site for star gazing. While the city still does its best to block the star light, the observatory itself is worth the visit. But just in case you needed convincing of the wonderful panoramas from the decks of the observatory, this image should suffice:

On a clear night, this is what awaits you. And a walk up the hill to the observatory. And a lot of people because this is a popular site, even in on a Thursday night in January. When I arrived (15 minutes from closing, so I was able to gain an upfront parking spot instead of the parking in the overflow lots lower on the hill) the grounds were buzzing with couple and even a few kids. A few volunteers had set up smaller (but by no means small) telescopes in front of the observatory and were checking out Venus or the moon while allowing visitors to have a look.

The place had a nice, festive atmosphere. And the park closes at 10pm, which is when people will herd you to the exits and down the hill. And the observatory is FREE! Well, except a small fee for some of the programs held in a number of halls on the grounds. Free parking and free entry within the LA city limits? It’s all true. And if you have children who are even remotely interested in what’s above us in the night sky, there are a ton of exhibits explaining how telescopes work and other mysteries of the Universe.

Need some solid info for planning your evening at the observatory? 

• Plan to arrive early, even before sunset, to give yourself enough time to explore the grounds and exhibits. It’s a great spot for a picnic dinner.
• Tickets for events and shows are first come, first served.
• Parking will likely be down the hill for you, but you can drive to the top and drop off anyone who doesn’t want the uphill walk.
• The park closes at 10pm.
• The observatory is closed on Mondays and most Tuesdays.
• The official site can be found here.
• You can visit during the day time as the observatory has a solar telescope as well.
• Public star parties are held during new moons each month. More info on the schedule can be found here.
• Need help in finding your way to the observatory? It’s actually quite easy. Here’s info to  get you started.
• The observatory really does beg multiple visits at various times as there are outdoor exhibits that explain the path of the sun and moon and planets.

I plan on visiting the observatory again on another visit to LA because there is more to take in. Plus, they close the 12” telescope about 30 minutes before closing and I didn’t get a chance to look at the stars up close.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

The time when a bunch of bloggers get together (on the internet) and decide they want to help out others. This annual event is called Passports With Purpose and is run, entirely on volunteer power (read: 100% of donations goes to the assign charity), by the likes of an amazing gaggle of heroines: Pam Mandel, Beth Whitman, Debbie Dubrow and Michele Duffy.

This year’s charity is Room To Read. Specifically, Passports With Purpose will raise $80,000 to build two libraries in Zambia. That’s right: will. Not ‘is trying to’ or ‘hopefully’. Every year these gals have organized this event, it has far surpassed their financial goals by leaps and bounds. Why?

Awesome prizes and people who want to do good.

Personally, I also love the charity this year. I first became involved with Room to Read in 2007 when my ex-wife and I decided to raise $15,000 to help build a school in Nepal. Not only did we raise the funds, the school has already been built and is educating a new generation of Nepalis to help improve that country’s population. What I love most about Room to Read is that they only partner with communities that come forth and ask for assistance, while putting in 50% of the equity to build the schools, libraries and more. They don’t simply hand over a school to a community that doesn’t want it, they make sure the community has a deep investment in making the program work.

To that point, I have wrangled up a prize photographers in the crowd will love. I have worked with BorrowLenses.com in the past to find great gear to review on Digital Photography School. They seemed like a perfect fit for this fund raising effort as they have been responsive, enjoyable to work with and have a quality product I know many of you would want.

To that end, I’m happy to announce BorrowLenses.com has donated a $150 gift certificate for the raffle. That’s $150 to rent anything from their site (they only ship to the USA) and can either be used in whole or in part to pay for your order. The list of what they rent is long and includes more than just lenses:

• Lenses for Canon, Nikon, Leica, Sony, Pentax, Olympus and 4/3rds mounts
• Video equipment
• Audio equipment
• Lighting
• Bags
• Accessories
• Underwater housings
• Point and shoot cameras
• Computers
• Heck, you can even rent an iPad 2 if you are so inclined

The full range of items can be found on their site: http://borrowlenses.com .

Some simple rules for this prize:

• Prize can only be shipped to the USA
• Last day for raffle entry is December 16th, 2011
• Enter by visiting Passports With Purpose’s site and selecting the appropriate prize (and there are a TON of awesome prizes to choose from!)
• Winners will be announced via email on December 23rd, 2011
• Prize must be redeemed before December 31, 2012
• Gift Certificate may be used for shipping and insurance costs as well as item rental
• Odds of winning depend on how many people choose this prize
• Full official rules can be found on Passports With Purpose’s site

So what do you plan to rent with your prize?

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.