10 tips for holidaying
23 May 2009 | 22:48 | Humour, Tips | No Comments
Forewarned is forearmed. Here’s 10 things to be aware of before you take a holiday – particularly apropos if you are to end up on a relatively deserted island.
1. Even if there is a “premium beer” category on the drinks menu, you shouldn’t expect anything better than Crown Lager. Unless you are flying Qantas, where you can get a bottle of James Squire (golden – not amber) for $6. This is a necessity as getting tanked is the only way to survive the 65 year old woman sitting next to you who only stops her nails-down-chalkboard sounding emery board action is to laugh in a booming voice at the hilarity that is Confessions of a Shopaholic.
2. Just because the steak costs $45, if there is only 1 restaurant to get dinner from, it’s not going to be better than what you can get for $25 at home. And It’s not going to miraculously get better the second time.
3. Unless you buy your shit at K-Mart, you should bring your own gear wherever possible and avoid suffering the (possibly diseased) crap that passes for hire equipment at the dive store.
4. Just because getting up before 10:00am sounds very un-holiday-ish to you – don’t expect breakfast to wait.
5. If you leave at 5:30am and are dressed appropriately and are travelling 6 degrees longitude or more (particularly in the “hot” direction) don’t expect your outfit to be suitable when you arrive in mid-afternoon.
6. Just because you get a bed, a bath, and a minibar doesn’t mean there’s mobile reception. Or this new thing kids today call the Internet.
7. It’s always good to pace yourself and try not to get a 3rd degree sunburn on the first day. Peeling gets old pretty quick (unless you are peeling someone else – which is fun for hours)
8. You can expect a fine selection of toiletries in your room (normally your bathroom) to cater for your needs. Unless you want to shave, that is.
9. If you are a bit of a reader, factor in (and pack for) reading a book a day. And If one of them is by Douglas Coupland, be sure to allocate enough time to periodically stand up and declare “fuck you’re a wanker!” If you are stuck for reading material, I recommend your camera user guide, you usually get a wide selection of languages to learn.
10. Unless you are trying to impress someone by showing them how flush you are, bring your own Pringles to save paying $4 for a 43g can.
But it’s not all bad – maybe you get to see something like this every night:
Quick Tip – picking white balance
29 April 2009 | 10:48 | Photography, Tips | No Comments
Are you like me and don’t know (or can’t remember) the difference between tungsten, fluorescent, and incandescent (is that the same as tungsten?).
Do you find your cameras auto white balance setting never seems to be right (particularly indoors)?
A quick way of choosing the best setting is to switch on your cameras live view and cycle through the white balance options.
If your camera doesn’t have live view, I guess you can take a quick shot using each of the presets or adjust in post – but I’m just stoked to find a use for my cameras live view 