Capitol - Photoshop

I used this photo I took back in early September for multi-raw processing in Photoshop. By using multi-raw processing I was able to make everything but the capitol brighter. This photo did not turn out too well, as you can see the graininess in the photo where I really increased the brightness. One thing I really like about this photo is that you can clearly see the light beams of the spot lights that are lighting up the capitol. Below is the photo with unmodified exposure. 

Wine Racks

For a little Sunday project, I installed four wine racks. This will come in handy when my wine is done fermenting and is bottled. 

Before racks are mounted

Mounted. I took me a lot more time planning the install to make sure
all of the spacing was correct than it actually took to put the racks on the wall.

The rack looks a little empty right now, but will be bottling 30 bottles in the next couple weeks.
And then bottling 30 more bottles in five to six weeks.

A close-up of the wine rack, one side has larger swoops to hold the base of the bottle.
The other has smaller swoops to hold the neck.

A view looking down the wine racks.

My Condo

All of the below photos were taken with my new wide angle lens.

My Kitchen

Kitchen again, showing my wine fermentation jug

My Bedroom

New Camera Lens

A picture of my camera with the new lens mounted, had to take it with my web cam. Looking forward to using it tomorrow photographing the inside of a couple apartments.

Secondary Fermenter

The wine has been racked, or transferred, into my secondary fermenter, a six gallon glass carboy. Here there is still a little space in the top of the container to allow for a some more aerobic respiration prior to switching it over to anaerobic respiration. You will notice that the wine is very murky, not allowing any light to pass through it. As the wine sits, some of the sediment will start to fall out of solution. After seven to ten days, I will stir up all the settlement and add a clearing agent. It will start to clear rapidly as we head to the final phase of wine making. 

Graiden's 2nd Birthday!

Uncle Ryan and Graiden start opening presents.

Little brother Sullivan helps Graiden get his presents open.

Sullivan crawling around while Graiden tries on his new Aaron Rogers.

Graiden is very excited about his new kitchen all all of the accessories.

Graiden's party theme was Elmo

Yum, it was delicious cake!

Wine Making - Primary Fermentation

Right now my wine is in the primary fermentation stage. Here the yeast are undergoing aerobic respiration [bringing me back to my days of Medical Microbiology & Immunology]. Aerobic respiration is the phase where the yeast are utilizing oxygen and the sugars to rapidly reproduce. At the top of my primary fermentation container is an air gap. That serves two purposes, 1) to prevent unwanted things, especially bacteria and other fungi, from entering the container while 2) allowing gas to escape from the container without allowing more oxygen in. Slowly the oxygen will be depleted forcing the yeast to undergo anaerobic respiration - the secondary fermentation stage - which utilizes a different fermenting container.

Obama Visit

I debated whether or not to go see President Obamaa today or not. Instead of going I decided to go shopping for my nephew's birthday this weekend. Below is a photo I took from my condo of one of the helicopters swirling above head.

Wine Making

As the fall season begins to set in, I decided to start brewing my first batch of wine for the year. Wine making is a rather simplistic process where cleanliness and timing are two of the most important factors. Over the past few years, I have brewed over 120 bottles of wine. Ranging from White Zinfandel, Piesporter, Pino Blanc, and Gewurztraminer. I have enjoyed all of those wines except for the Pino Blanc, which is a little too dry for my liking.

I chose to make a White Zinfandel. It will take me anywhere from 29 to 38 days from start to bottle. The time variation depends on how fast the yeast is fermenting the sugar and how quickly the wine clears towards the end of the brewing process. Then after bottling, the wine will sit another month before drinking.

Getting started it not that expensive. Check out Wine and Hop Shop to see various starter kits. I use a 6 gallon set up, which ranges from about $130 - $155 depending on the quality of the supplies you buy / extra accessories that are not absolutely required, but help make the process easier. On top of that it costs anywhere from $65 - $155 for a kit that contains all the additives and juices to make the wine. Then all you need are 30 bottles and corks. Cheaper bottles tend to run around $1 and corks are much cheaper. Some people use old used wine bottles which is perfectly acceptable. However, I prefer to buy a set of bottles for a couple of reasons. 1) It only costs $30 2) You have a consistent looking end product 3) The bottles are reusable, so next time you can reuse all the bottle [of the ones that do get returned]

Camera Lens

After further research, I am now leaning towards purchasing a Nikon AF-S 10-24mm DX Zoom-Nikkor f/3.5-4.5G ED instead of the Nikon AF 10.5mm DX Fisheye-Nikkor F/2.8G ED. The 10-24mm lens has 61 to 109 degree viewing angle instead of the 180 degree viewing angle on the Fisheye. Currently I have a Nikon AF-S 18-55mm DX Nikkor f/3.5-5.6G VR. The 18-55mm provides a viewing angle of 28 to 76 degrees, so I fell the 10-24mm would be a good set towards wide angle lenses, instead of going to the extreme wide angle of the Fisheye. One concern that I do have is that the 10-24mm lens is not VR - Vibration Reduction. Although the 10-24mm lens is more expensive than the Fisheye, I fell that it will provide a lot more versatility and therefore will have more opportunities to use the lens.

Lindsay & Matt's Wedding

My cousin Matt just got married to Lindsay on September 18th.

The reception was at Miller Park

 

Here my father and Andrea are playing bags.

It was nice that my brother Aaron and his wife Emily

were able to fly in from Washington D.C. for our cousin's wedding

[an excellent excuse to see both of them!]

My brother Andrew and Amanda - playing a little ladder golf 

tailgating in the parking lot prior to the reception

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Once again, another one of my brothers, Ryan and Nicole

If my memory serves me correctly Nicole and Andrea beat my dad and Ryan

Of course that was right after the girls beat Ryan and I

Looks like the guys need to set up our game!

FMI

This photo is an image of our current landing page. Check back with my blog over the next few weeks to see the refresh unfold. FMI

Wakesurfing Rock Lake - Ryan

A picture of my curly haired brother Ryan, surfin Rock Lake. Ryan is an Architect Major at UW-Milwaukee currently working on his Masters and getting his Architecture License.

New Lens

I am looking into getting another lens for my camera. I would like to purchase a Fisheye lens to take photos inside apartments for my website Forward Management, Inc. A Fisheye lens is an ultra wide angle lens, providing 180 degrees of view. This 180 degree view can be accomplished with a standard lens and a little knowledge of Photoshop. The disadvantage to this method is that you do not know how the image turned out on the spot, but have to wait until the post production is complete. This can be rather problematic especially if you are not customary to bringing a laptop with you as you shoot. Wost case - you have to go back and shoot all the photos for the merge again. With the Fisheye lens you are able to take the shot and review it immediately on the camera's display. That is why I am looking at purchasing the Nikon AF 10.5mm DX Fisheye-Nikkor F/2.8G ED [pictured below courtesy of cameracompany.com] The big disadvantage of these super wide angle lenses is that they create linear distortion, causing straight lines to curves as they get further from the center of the photograph, however this is the case with both Fisheye lenses and using the Photoshop photo merge.

 

Sailboat - Rock Lake