Every now and then I like a good rain, but for the most part when it starts, I get both myself and my camera gear indoors.  Here is a great set of photos I saw over at Digital Photography School of fabulous photos taken in the rain.  Maybe I shouldn't me so quick to head for cover next time it rains.

(Click on the photos to see the photographer's page)

I just found out that BBC has been filming a sequel to its popular 'Planet Earth' series called 'Frozen Planet'.  Here is a brief description of the series from the website: 

"Frozen Planet takes you on the ultimate polar expedition.  This landmark series brings to the screen the frozen wilderness of the Arctic and Antarctic as you have never seen them before, and may never see them again."

I loved the Planet Earth series and this one looks like it won't disappoint.  More info can be found on the Frozen Planet website but here is the trailer if you're interested:

Jeff Han is a researcher at NYU and has developed a cheap, scalable multi-touch and pressure-sensitive computer screen interface.  The screen seems to be very responsive and 'natural' to work with and I can think of many applications where this would be useful.  For instance, how nice would it be to be able to flip through digital photos as if they're sitting on a table in front of you and to resize them with only a quick finger gesture?  Also, think about photo editing software; many aspects of post processing would be much more natural as you could use your fingers instead of a mouse pointer.  The Google Earth demo is also quite neat.

Check out the TED talk below where he demonstrates the abilities of the screen

Here is a wonderful short film created for TMG Health by Kipany Pictures about a pioneer travelling across Iceland.  The scenery is gorgeous cinematography is extremely well done.  There are so many interesting angles, perspectives and it has a great 'mood' to it.  Makes me want to go explore!  

I know I've already posted several time-lapse videos but I just can't resist.  They are just so spectacular - and spectacular is the perfect word to describe this one.  It was originally created to promote tourism in Finland and was shot with DSLR cameras.  Enjoy!

Source: PhotoWeeklyOnline

You may remember that I was a bit sceptical about the new Nikon 1 camera system in my previous post.  Well the DxOResults test results are out and the Nikon 1 cameras perform remarkably well given their small sensors.  If fact, they're pretty much on par (or better) than cameras with larger (4/3) sensors such as the with the Olympus PEN EP3 and Panasonic Lumix DMC G3.  The only weak point is the ISO performance, which with such a small sensor, can only be expected.  Here are the basic test results comparing the three cameras mentioned above:

I still don't think that small interchangeable lens cameras are for me (I'll stick with my DSLR), but for those who are interested in this type of camera should certainly consider the Nikon 1 series, particularly if low light shooting isn't a concern.  

Here is an interesting post I saw over at PhotoWeeklyOnline.  They shared some very old screenshots from photography related websites from the mid-90s.  They look a little different now ;)

Here are some great photos taken by German photographer 'Klaus' (aka Leontjew on Flickr).  I like the way they pop with the bright colours and strong lines.  Makes you wonder what the rest of the scene looks like!  Somehow I don't think these photos would work as well in B&W ;)

Source: RogerAllen.net

Here is a pretty neat video where you can see what it would look like if the other planets in our Solar System orbited the Earth at the same distance as the Moon.  I don't think I would want to be there when Jupiter passes by!

Just a quick post to put up a really cool image I saw over at Reddit.  The photos were taken to promote the Sydney International Food Festival.  What a cool idea.  (click for larger view)