A hailstone weighing almost a kilo that fell in the state of South Dakota has been confirmed as the largest ever recovered in the USA.

via press release: SYFY’S ROBUST SCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT SLATE FEATURES PROJECTS FROM KEVIN SORBO, LEE MAJORS, SANCTUARY CREATIVE TEAM AND UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS Los Angeles, California – July 30, 2010 – Building upon solid ratings and critical acclaim for returning hits Warehouse 13 and Eureka, and newcomer Haven, Syfy today announced a rich development slate of [...]

Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, and Amanda Tapping are reimagining the legend of Robin Hood.

Guest Post & Photo by Joe Farace – Follow Joe on Twitter When I was a student at the Maryland Institute, College of Art I attended a class on color and my first assignment was landscape photography. I wasn’t then nor am I now a serious landscape photographer but as a serious student developed a series of guiding principles on the “what” and “how” for photographing landscapes that I still follow today. These four principles are not cast in concrete and are presented here only as guidelines for your own explorations. You can use’em or lose’em, they are: 1. Photograph locally While it may be a gross oversimplification to say that anybody can make a great photograph in Monument Valley the truth is that that the art of landscape photography often seems to get confused with the real estate business because of it’s emphasis on location, location, location. When I completed that Maryland Institute assignment oh-so-long ago, it’s subtext was being able to photograph landscapes “that I could walk to from my house.” Since I lived in Baltimore City, the teacher and my fellow students asked to see my slides again after I announced the subtitle. That’s just the kind of affect you want to have on whoever your own audience may be-”can I see it again?” Tip: Each weekday and some weekends-no matter the weather-I take a three-mile walk and usually take along a camera because I never what I might want to photograph. Using these images I produced a presentation called “Right in Your Own Backyard” showing many of the photographs made on these walks and today’s audiences, as they did back then, sometimes ask to see them again. 2. Use a wide angle lens There is no “magic bullet” or perfect lens for photographing landscapes but I find that wide-angle lenses produces a dynamic perspective especially in those situations where you can’t back up enough up to capture those wide vistas. Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that can imaged by a lens and is often interchangeably used with the more general term of field-of-view. So-called “normal” lenses generally cover an angle of view of between 50 and 25 degrees. A wide-angle lens’ focal length is shorter than a normal lens and its field of view typically covers between 100 and 60 degrees. Super wide-angle lenses can cover up to 180 degrees. I like using the Carl Zeiss 21mm Biogon T* f/2.8 manual focus lens for landscape photography because it that along with extremely sharp image detail and low distortion it provides a wider angle of view (90 degrees) than a 28mm lens. (It’s available in several different digital SLR mounts.) Tip: Be sure to use a lens hood! (See Podcast #46) Capturing large chunks of sky in your photographs increases the chance of flare caused by the front lens element being struck directly with light from the sun that can create the traditional flare artifacts on film but can also reduce contrast and affect apparent sharpness. Get a lens hood for all your lenses; it’s cheap insurance and will protect the front element of the lens from being damaged too. 3. Create maximum depth-of-field When focusing a lens, it focuses on a specific subject at a specific place and all subjects at that same distance are critically sharp. Objects that are not at the same distance are theoretically not as sharp but there is a range of acceptable sharpness that is referred to as depth-of-field. Increasing the depth of field increases the overall level of apparent sharpness in an image. Depth of field varies depending on camera type, aperture, and focusing distance and my personal rule for landscapes was to always use the smallest smallest possible aperture to produce the great amount of depth-of-field. Tip: Depending on the ISO chosen you may have to use a tripod to steady your camera because of the slow shutter speeds produced by small apertures. Working with a tripod enforces a slower more deliberate approach to composing the images, so a side benefit is that the composition of your image may be a little stronger as a result. 4. Saturate the colors In the old film days it was easy. Just load your camera with Fuji Velvia. These days SLRs such as Canon’s offer Picture Styles (other brands have similar features with different names) that punch up the contrast and increase saturation on JPEG files. An easy way to increase the saturation of your image after it’s been digitized is by using Adobe Photoshop’s Saturation command that is found in the captured Adjustments > Hue/Saturation menu tree. Even slight increases in saturation will produce dramatic results. RAW shooters can use the Saturation slider found in Adobe Camera RAW.

This post sponsored by X-Rite Color and the ColorChecker Passport

A Guest Post by Wayne Turner from http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com It’s Saturday morning, a beautiful day and your photography juices are flowing. Your trigger finger is itchy and you just want to get out and shoot photos. You pick up your gear bag, take a step towards the door and then stop. What are you going to shoot? The inspiration bank is suddenly empty. I have been in this position often and my solution has always been to go to the ideas book I keep. Like a photo journal of thoughts and ideas. Always keep one with you and as soon as you get an idea, write it down. Out of this ideas book comes five photo ideas close to home. Why close to home? The more difficult it is to get to a location the less likely you are to go there so you need to make it easy. 1. In the Kitchen Image by limonada Don’t laugh or discard this idea before trying it. I was standing in front of the sink the other day and realised a great photo opportunity was staring me in the face. There in two large jars was a variety of kitchen utensils just waiting to have their photo taken. Full of holes, texture, pattern and all shiny and bright with great reflective surfaces. The draws are full knives, forks and spoons. How much more could you ask for. If you have a macro lens, macro feature on your lens or compact camera then this is for you. Try it and see just how rewarding it can be. The kitchen is a great place to learn digital photography and the weather will never affect it. Just watch out for the water sprayer. But don’t just limit yourself to the kitchen, try the bathroom (not toilet) and other parts of the house. 2. The Garden Image by Ashley Rose One step away from the front door is the garden. And, I’m not just talking flowers and insects here. Look around and see what there is. Get down low and explore the ground and you’ll be surprised what you see. The cracked pathway, a coiled hosepipe or a rusty hand trowel standing in a flower bed. Metal buckets, watering cans or wheelbarrows all have photo potential. Just be prepared to look and start seeing with a photographer’s eye. You will surprise yourself. Again, a macro lens will be great but you won’t necessarily need a macro feature. 3. The Driveway or Garage Yes, still close to home and many opportunities. The family car if you have one, or, perhaps the neighbour’s motorcycle if you don’t, makes a great subject. Getting in close on the most boring car can give you images that you never thought were possible. Key here is to experiment with angles and get in as close as your lens will allow. Focus on colour, reflection and lines. Lie down on your back and shoot up. If the car is old then focus on damaged parts like rust. There are just so many little things you can shoot and when viewed up really close can give an amazingly abstract image. 4. The Park or Public Gardens Image by Chaval Brasil Around the corner for many of us is a park, public garden or kids play park just waiting to be photographed. Here you’ll find all sorts of objects from sculptures to water fountains, play equipment to stone walls. When you get there just sit and observe and try to see the potential photo opportunities. Allow yourself to start seeing rather than just looking around. 5. The Local flea or Street Market Image by funadium Street photography is a real hot photo topic at the moment. Going into a flea market and shooting just anything, from people to colour to antiques and art are just some of the ideas. Be sensitive to people and when shooting close up ask their permission. You’ll find so much atmosphere and activity that will stimulate you to shoot many interesting subjects. This is a great place to learn digital photography because the opportunities and ideas are so diverse. These five photo ideas close to home will hopefully inspire you as you learn digital photography and add skills to your photography journey. Shoot regularly and don’t allow a few obstacles to stop you taking great images. Share Your Ideas and Shots Over the next few days – try some of the above photographic subjects and come back to share your best shots in comments below. What other ‘close to home’ photo subjects have you enjoyed photographing? Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Five Photo Ideas for Shooting Close to Home

Doctor Who's showrunner, Steven Moffat has confirmed he will be writing five episodes of Series 32 of Doctor Who as well as the forthcoming Christmas Special. Talking to Den of Geek, Moffat confirmed he will be following the previous pattern established by Russell T Davies, with the Lead Writer penning five of the thirteen episodes in the series.As previously reported Neil Gaiman will be writing one episode, thought to be the third in the series. Writers have not yet been officially confirmed for the other seven episodes in the series.http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com