Some new (to me) photos of the elaborate, sophisticated, luxurious, jealousy-inducing Singapore Airlines A380 emerged recently, and I’ve got the whole lot in a convenient gallery below. Feast your eyes on the amenities most of us will never have the chance to experience, like in-flight chess games and video monitors the size of my television at home.
Some of these are repeats, but some are new. Have a look:
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If you’ve spent more than two minutes on the Internet recently, you already know and love photo-sharing site Flickr. Today the site is breaking some interesting new functionality, allowing pro users to post videos of up to 90 seconds. Rumors of video have apparently been floating around on site’s message boards for some time now, though today marked the feature’s official launch. Users haven’t wasted any time pulling together video-focused sharing groups to take advantage of the new feature.
Some people are questioning the wisdom of Flickr’s decision. Why, they point out, would Flickr launch video sharing when sites like YouTube already dominate most online video attention? I tend to disagree with this view because I think Flickr video can occupy an interesting niche for photographers. If you consider the way most people capture travel video these days, it tends to be short snippets from point-and-shoot digital cameras. When you upload these files, computers don’t really distinguish between photo and video – everything is usually lumped into the same folder. Thus there’s an interesting opportunity to allow users to share their photos and videos all in one place. Flickr is also limiting their video size to 150 megabytes or 90 seconds, which to me also emphasizes they’re looking to capture short camera clips, not your three hour long wedding ceremony (as heartwarming as it might be).
Only paying pro users can use Flickr Video for now, but perhaps they will open it up to others in the near future. Check out the help page to get started.
One of my strongest memories of my trip to southeast Asia was being chased by a herd of monkeys in Vietnam. It was kind of funny at first, until we realized how persistent they can be when they want some food. I think I can honestly say that hungry monkeys lose the ‘cute’ factor pretty quickly. Still, they’re kind of charming in photos like this one from Geotraveler. So what do you think? With innocent monkeys in Phnom Penh guzzling Fanta like it’s the sweet nectar of the Gods, is the obesity crisis going to start affecting Animals too?
Have a funny/cute/moving photo to share? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr pool.
We all have our strange hobbies. Besides the obvious, mine is buying and selling odd things on Ebay. Catherine’s is ostrich racing. Justin sings opera to mentally disabled children.
And some people steal spoons from airlines and take pictures of them. I am reminded of one of the scenes from the Home Alone series when several of the family members put nice flatware in their bags during their flight.
One guy on Flickr though has done exactly that. He’s either pilfered, been given or traded for over a thousand different airline spoons and has meticulously taken photographs as well as details of every single one and posted them to the web. It didn’t strike me as to how many photos this was until I was leafing through page five of spoons and clicked on page sixty eight. Still going strong.
My favorite thing to do is to look at the spoons with a larger bowl to see the reflection of the photographer or his camera. You can almost see how excited he is to be adding another photo into his collection.
I’m currently taking an advanced photography class. It’s not the best timing because the class requires a lot of work and my life is quite busy right now, but I enjoy it and that’s what matters. Our first assignment was to take photos of a landmark that my hometown is known for: The Calgary Tower.
It is the most recognized building in our city’s skyline, and the focal point of many postcards. Taking a photo of it would be a snap. But there’s a catch: It has the be photo you wouldn’t see anywhere else. In other words? A non-postcard photo. Hmm. That would be like taking an original photo of the Eiffel Tower. Is it even possible? Are there any angles of the Eiffel tower that haven’t been shot a gazillion times?
I think the art of taking photos lies not just in capturing something usual well, but in capturing something usual in a way that stands out, a way that is unusual but still visually appealing. So I headed out with my camera gear and stalked an object that I’ve seen a million and one times before. And? It was fun, interesting even.
If you’re into photography, I suggest doing something like this: Head to a touristy photography spot with the intent of making your photos different from the rest. Not only will it teach you about photography but it helps you appreciate the ordinary attractions all over again.
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