A Garden Seat and more ...

Hi Guys,

 

I’ve been doing a few small home projects

and have the photos of them to put up,

but my camera software is being a bit weird

and I won’t be able to transfer them any time soon.

I don’t know how long it will take to resolve this issue.

So, it will have to be text only entries for now.

 

 

The things that I’ve done lately, are –

 

    Renovated  -  A Wooden Garden Seat

 

       Two Small, Wooden Folding Tables

 

    Cooked       -  Strawberry and Meringue Dessert with Rose Cream

 

    Knitted        -  A Black Cotton Summer Beret in a Spiral Pattern

 

 

 

Things are progressing steadily, here.

I’m doing a lot of trial and error in the cooking area, food and drink,

and that is coming along ok.

 

Things that I’ve been focussing on lately in this area, are -

 

    Basic Soups and Stews

 

    Basic Breads

 

    Basic Salads

 

    Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate and Chai Latte Strengths

 

 

 

It is well worth learning how to cook to some degree,

because that takes a lot of stress out of your life about where your next meal is coming from !!

I encourage anyone to do what they can.

And I support Jamie Oliver’s idea of cooking skills for whoever wants to learn.

 

 

Stay Safe Everyone.

 

 

 

© Katherine Stuart 2024

Dochas Books Film 

Film - "Interview with the Vampire" (1994)

This is a pretty intense storyline,

just having to get around the

whole concept of vampires.

but it flowed very well.

So that suggests to me that

someone is very familiar with

the subject.

 

Anyway,

the opening sequence floats in to the

Port of San Francisco, turns left,

then heads up the street,

to a motel,where

the interview with the vampire

is underway.

 

As soon as I saw this,

I was polarised on to the film,

as there is exactly the same street plan

here at Coogee, Sydney, Australia.

As I don’t have a drone,

I can’t replicate the approach to the Port,

but, here you can see the ocean ,

and the way in to the “dock”.

Just from the side,

with a better view of the “dock”.

Turning around to see,

what I think could be the site

of an ancient landing pad,

and, the main street

going up into the distance.

Turning left at the road

behind the “landing pad”,

and heading up.

You come to this intersection.

There used to be a tram line

that ran past here.

 

The cream coloured building

houses apartments.

Here is a better look at it.

 

The style is the same idea,

as that of the building

depicted in the film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excluding the film poster photo

© Katherine Stuart 2023

Dochas Books Film

Cooking Some Basics

Hi Everyone  :)

Sorry that I've been so quiet lately.
I've been working on  3  different recipes

every week, self instructed,

and it's a lot of trial and error, 

so results are slow.

But, I'm happy to share

that this is what I've achieved so far -

-  Basic Plain Cake

-  Sweet Pastry Pie Crust

-  Soft Almond Meringue

Cooked, using -

-  an  8  Cup  Slow Cooker

Basic Plain Cake

-  1 hour,

    on High,

    lid ajar,

    rotating pot  180 deg  at  35 min

Sweet Pastry Pie Crust

-  1 hour,

    on High,

    lid off,

    rotating pot  180 deg  at  35 min

-  a Toaster Oven

Basic Plain Cake  

(finishing off, cooking top)

-  8  min,

    top element only,

    bottom shelf,  

    door ajar

Soft Almond Meringue

-  1  &  1/2   min,

    top & bottom elements,

    then,

    4  &  1/2  min,

     top element only,  

                                                                                                      bottom shelf,

                                                                                                      door ajar,

    

            :)

(c) Katherine Stuart 2023

Dochas Books Film

Camera - Time Lapse Creative

While I’ve been making my Time Lapses, I’ve also noticed some interesting creative aspects.

These are those, that I’ve understood so far –

 

Using the Camera - Panasonic Lumix DMC - FT30 Automatic Digital Compact

 

 

How to create the illusion of the “flash” of a ghost passing close to the camera, in a Time Lapse

                          -  Have a person walk directly in front of, and past the camera, in between frames being taken.

                         

                             The camera’s sensors seem to detect a “darkness” falling on it, and possibly widen the aperture to

                             adjust to it.

    But, in this camera, the aperture doesn’t adjust back fast enough to the normal view, after the      

    person has passed by, in time for the next frame to be taken.

                             So, effectively, the next frame is overexposed to some degree depending on when exactly the person

                             passes by.

                             This creates individual frames which appear as lighter “flashes”.

 

                           eg.  “A Ghost at Dusk”

          

                           How to Balance slow action and fast action in a Time Lapse

                           -  25  fps  video / film  rate  seems to be a reasonable basic speed to capture the change in slow                                          moving objects, such as clouds or sunset, which are in the background of my Time Lapses.

                           -  But, as with the Time Lapses that I have done so far, faster moving objects have been in the                                              foreground, such as waves and people, and at   25  fps    their motion has appeared stilted.

 

                           eg. In    “Clouds Over Wedding Cake Island”    25  fps

                                                            The wave motion is stilted.

 

                           -  This is ok if the focus is on the slow moving objects,

                              and the area where the fast action is happening is minimised,

  

                           eg.  “Rain Clouds Over Coogee”    25  fps

  

                           Or, you are happy with that effect,

 

                           eg.  “Evening Soccer”   25 fps

                           But, if you want to balance slow and fast action,

 

                                     -  then a slower    video / film rate  (speed)    such as    5  fps    can do that

                           I have chosen    5  fps    because that is the next lowest speed that my software can produce. 

                           But, it is quite reasonable for this purpose.

                           eg.  “Clouds Over Wedding Cake Island”    5 fps

 

                                                           Balancing cloud movement  

                                                           with the waves breaking on the island.

           

                                                           The wave motion appears more natural 

                                                           while maintaining a level 

                                                           of increased cloud movement.

 

 

                           Or, if you want to include the fast action, because something interesting is happening there, 

                           and you want to be able to see it more clearly,

                                      -  then a slower    video / film rate  (speed)    such as    5  fps    can also do that

 

                           eg.  “Senteniel 1”    25 fps 

                                  “Senteniel 1”      5  fps

                                                          Balancing the sunset, 

                                                          with the activity of the people in the foreground.

   

                                                          The actions of the people, 

                                                          and also the change in lighting, in the foreground,

                                                          can be seen more clearly. 

                                                          While making the wave action more natural, 

                                                          and maintaining a level of increased speed 

                                                          of the sunset occurring.

                        (c) Katherine Stuart 2023

                        Dochas Books Film