This time I did actually get to sneak into St. Mark’s Basilica (without that stupid backpack ban) and stood for a minute or two in the back while services were going on. I thought about doing the ol’ “cough and click” to fire off a few discrete shots with my camera, but the shutter’s loud and I’d be busted. Shit.

The first stop for the day was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Now, I’m learning to like and appreciate art, but I still don’t understand it. The Guggenheim collection had art types I don’t get: Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, etc. I do wonder if my logical brain freaks out when looking at these and wondering “what the hell is this?” After all, when Jackson Pollock makes the most sense, you’ve got some unique works of art. Plus, no photography. Sucks.

And then you have this gem from Marino Marini:

What the fuck. A horse with a dude with a guy with a boner? The name of the piece is The Angel of the City. What this means, I have no idea.

I decided to walk to the Basilica of the Salute, an impressive church that was liberal with their photographic policies. Damnit, I’m Nick -- I have a professional camera, LET ME TAKE PHOTOS!!!111. I was happy, though. After that I went to the real art museum, the Gallerie dell’Accademia. The museum was way better -- better classical art, free and allowed photos. Take that Peggy’s ghost!

After that I walked over to Campo Santa Margherita, a nice square that was desolate because of the rain. I ducked into a bar and watched half of an Inter Milan game with locals. When it’s rainy, you can’t sit outside and soak up the sun or the Italian cafe culture. What else is there to do?

The final stop of the day was the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, one of the most epic churches I’ve been in. Naturally, no photos. No nothing. And they were on the ball about busting people who tried to sneak photos. They had some really cool monuments to the designers of the church. I like that. That’s what I want.

I was tired of the rain, so I ducked into a cafe, stood and had my various coffees and ate some lackluster food. It does make me wonder that if I’ve grown up on Americanized Italian food and I encounter the real stuff, am I in the wrong for thinking the food wasn’t that great?

The next day involved a few hours bus ride to Ljubljana across the border, so it was time to get my gear stowed and ready to roll in the morning. I was beat, and roboknee was aching badly.

Flew the 9am flight to London’s horrible Heathrow airport, sat in business class, napped a bit, read and then transferred to Gatwick. Now, the big question is what to do at Gatwick at 1am?

The plan, initially, was to visit the Yotel and crash there for a few hours, but I was wide awake and not going to crash. Instead, I hit Marks and Spencer at the airport, bought an excessive amount of cocktails and drank and read.

Once security opened up, I went into the BA lounge, ate and read then hopped on the flight to Venice.

Flight to Venice was uneventful. A bit crowded but overall, ok. Took the water bus and got off at San Marco and dropped off my stuff at the guest house. After that, it was time to get lost.

I enjoyed San Marco but the crowd was out of control. Damn tourists. I couldn’t get into St. Mark’s Basilica because of their no backpack rule (that, and no photography -- that sucked) so I walked around in, tried to sneak in but gave up and kept wandering. I didn’t have a goal in mind, but I just kept wandering. The first thing that hits you is the cost: Venice ain’t cheap. The food wasn’t that great either. Ended up drinking and eating near the Rialto Bridge. From there, I just kept wandering and taking photos.

Around 6pm, I ran out of steam and hopped on a vaporetto back to the guesthouse and chilled. It’s been a while since I’ve indulged in the cafe lifestyle and sat and did nothing. I crashed early in anticipation of a marathon day in the morning. Overall, I felt good and ready to explore more.

This is the vicious feedback loop I get in:
*Get on a trip.
*Want to share about my trip.
*Upload my photos.
*Get neurotic because no one wants to read about my travels.
*Get even more neurotic because it sounds like internet braggery.
*Retreat into my shell.
*Consider deleting my blog.
*Book another trip.

Oh well.

I did harbor some ideas about the gondolas -- not actually riding in one (100 Euros an hour) but I wanted to learn how to pilot them. Something different and another useless skill to learn. And besides, if I’m paying 100 Euros an hour, I want a shot of me actually piloting the damn thing.

Overall this will put me up to 7 countries visited this year. As always, the rule applies if I’ve a) left the airport and b) had a beer. And halfway to the all-important status requalification. Once you’ve gotten hooked to the status and the perks it brings, then you’re stuck because you can’t go back and sit with the rest of them and pretend you’re not missing it. It’s like love in a way.

I’m off again on a jaunt in 16 days. Again, underprepared and feeling a bit nervous. It’s something I’m used to doing several times a year, and yet still can’t get over it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to have cajones that size like Earl would throw.

I’ve revamped the postcard list. It’s not that I don’t like sending them, it’s just that thank yous for getting them are in short supply. I’m never told that they get postcards, only that they never arrive. I think my sent to received ratio is something like 70:1, and that’s disappointing.

I’ve decided that I’m going to pick up the cello and take lessons at Old Town School of Folk Music. I figure, what’s another seemingly “useless” skillset to pick up?

Other than that, I’m looking forward to April 29th, where I’ll drink 4 beers in 4 countries in 24 hours. Life could be worse, even without the prozac.

Did you watch this gentle smackdown of a US Senator? Senator Pastore went from total dick to sympathetic guy.

And during the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire’s coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:
—--

Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.”

And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, “I’ll watch the time.” There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn’t kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, three seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly “May God be with you,” to all his vanquished children.

—--
A gentle giant slays the powerful, making think about themselves and making them feel better. That’s awesome.

Now, I like taking photos. I’m not an expert but I take some halfway decent ones. And I’m very anal about keeping them organized, cataloged and archived. And when you’re pushing 900gb of storage in digital RAW, you learn a few things.

It would be simple if camera companies stuck with something like DNG from Adobe (you know, a nice open standard) like PDFs. But whatever. Instead, I have probably close to a dozen types of Canon RAW files from cameras I’ve owned over the years. Instead, every camera has their own proprietary way of laying down sensor data.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m too lazy to move to DNG.

I don’t think Canon’s going anywhere, and if they do, there’ll be ample enough time to move my photos into a format that can be read generations from now. I’m sure if Canon did tank, I’ll get plenty of notice.

DNG also has a psychological component as well. It doesn’t make sense when you move from one lossless format to another and have it shrink 30%. Part of me is like “Dude, WTF? WHERE DID ALL THOSE MEGUHPICKSELS GO?” That, and writing metadata of the file goes inside the DNG, not into nice neat little XMP sidecars. That makes for a slow slow editing session.

I shoot RAW because I can. Drive space really isn’t an issue and I don’t want to subject my photos to aggressive noise correction and other nice things that the camera will do. The thought is with the RAW file and that over time, I’ll be able to do more to my photos as the technology progresses. Have you seen that sweetass de-blurring preview from Adobe? It’s amazing, and I figure I can salvage some of my photos. Yay for technology!

My advice? I don’t have any. Keep shooting what you like. If you’re a pixel peeper, OCD or got time and money, then stick with RAW. JPG is fine if you’re not shooting with a dSLR. Just remember to have fun shooting.

Pretty cool eh? Well, maybe. At least my grandma loves it. That image itself is comprised of around 50 photos, seamlessly stitched together.

Sure, I could have put on my wide-angle lens, but there’s something to be said about having a totally immersive photo that’s so large that it feels like it will swallow you whole. When I look at my panoramas, I want to feel that I’m back there.

As much as I want to haul a full load of camera gear around with me everywhere I go to try to get “the perfect shot,” I’m not always wanting to do so. Laziness gets the best of me -- so instead of an ultra-wide angle lens, I’ll use my walkaround lens to take photos and stitch the photos together. I’ve made panoramas on everything from my Canon 5D Mark II to my various Powershots to even my beloved Blackberry’s camera. So don’t worry about your camera not being “good enough” because it most certainly is!

How I do it:
Capturing the images is pretty simple. First, pick an excellent vantage point. Then you must pivot your camera about a nodal point, a fixed point in which you’ll be taking the shot. If you’re shooting from a tripod or monopod, you’re all set. In my case, I pivot upon my heel while I try to keep the same steady position with each shot while trying to take the photos as quick as I can. Why do I try to shoot as quickly as possible? Mainly to reduce the amount of “ghosts” -- people moving and other objects in motion. Just remember to breathe with each photo -- that ensures you don’t have blur from the camera movement.

First, keep the same zoom. What I do when I shoot with my walkaround lens is push it to the maximum zoom and hold it there. You want to aim for about a third of the photo being an overlap from the previous one while you’re keeping shooting along a line -- I aim for the horizon, then will try to capture below the horizon. Or experiment for yourself and have fun. Try to keep the aperture the same throughout -- it’ll make for a far better image. And the more photos the better. When you stitch them together, you might have gaps that will make your panorama unusable. I’ve learned this the hard way, but since I’m not a professional I’m totally ok with that. A typical panorama that I create takes about 20-40 photos, depending on how big I want to make it and how much time I have to take it before my friends make fun of me for taking lots of photos.

This also works when things just won’t fit in your widest angle for your camera. I’m guilty of taking 4 photos of something and stitching them together. This photo, for example, inside of the Vatican worked out well and something that I couldn’t capture at 24mm on a full frame camera.

Software:
For Windows users, the Microsoft Image Composite Editor is not only a great product, but it’s also free. There’s also Hugin, an open-source solution that is also free for all platforms. The best in class product is Autopano, which at around $135 and up, isn’t the cheapest thing around, but if you plan on trying to sell your photos, it might be worth the investment.

Before you import your photos into any of the panorama creators, do your post-processing on the images. In my case, I export them to high resolution JPGs from RAW. It saves a lot of time in stitching the images together.

Step one:
Create a new panorama and drop your images into Microsoft ICE.

Step two:
Let the panorama software crunch and render a panorama. From there, we can Export to Disk (as a JPG/TIFF, but JPGs have to be under 64000 pixels in each dimension) or we can Publish To Web and send it to Microsoft Photosynth.

If you click Publish to Web, you’ll be prompted for more information about your Synth.

And once you click OK, the Synth will upload and you’ll get a nice lovely full screen experience like this:

It really is that simple. I like Photosynth because it allows a nice degree of flexibility in viewing the image. Plus it allows you to build a 3D environment that lends itself to exploration. The interior of churches or museums -- it will build a nice little immersive world.

There’s also a Photosynth app for the iPhone, which allows for more impromptu panorama creation. It does the stitching on the phone and will upload it for you.

Ok, Now What?
Unfortunately when we create large photos, we run up against the file hosting limits of our image hosting. Flickr’s maximum file size is 20mb, SmugMug’s is 24mb. One option is your local web hosting, or Dropbox.

Using Microsoft’s Seadragon technology, you’re able to link to the image and it will allow you to zoom into the photo from the browser. I took this nice nearly 500 megapixel composite photo of a sculpture on the Michigan Avenue bridge. Or if you’re against Microsoft or don’t want to deal with Silverlight, there’s also Zoomify Express (free), which will break down the huge image into digestible chunks and give you a nice interface to explore your panorama.

There’s also GigaPan. It’s a fun way to upload your large image, and then let the community explore with your photos. It’s a cool little scavenger hunt.

The key to panoramas and using technologies to make cool stuff is to have fun while doing it. So go out, take lots of photos and do fun things with them!

The social media landscape has erupted into this great exchange of ideas as well as made to a feeding ground for new-age con artists. Well, con artists may be a bit too strong of a word -- but they all take advantage of someone’s vanity to make themselves infamous and make a few dollars in the process. How else can you explain a desire to have “more hits” or some artificially created metric?

Travel bloggers sell you the concept of freedom. That freedom generally comes with tradeoffs -- living in third world countries or countries with a very low cost of living while making a few dollars blogging, selling their wares (e-books, with a good few making halfway decent photos) and living a pauper’s life. None of which is sustainable because like all good cons, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and competition is fierce, leading our cons to develop the new cons. In the workplace, we’d call that professional development.

The professional nomadic set, the ones who have managed to “quit the cubicle life” or something along those lines, are the ones who I find extremely fascinating. It takes a lot of chutzpah to say that can’t handle their entry level job and that we’re all suckers for working for a living. Or that they’ve somehow become “master hackers” during their brief time in the workforce or some tall tale that fails in an attempt at seduction. Amateur cons try to get your confidence while professionals give you theirs. Maybe being a con is too strong a word. Perhaps they’re unaware that they exist in a world where they don’t know how to contribute, and they exist for us as a temporary distraction -- something we shrug our heads at.

Part of it, I think, is perception. They see a person with nice things -- the businessman in first class or in a luxury suite, and they see it as an object of derision. I see it as a reward for hard work. They see themselves as “citizens of the world” -- I find myself wondering why they believe nature is a great benevolent place. One of the things that you learn from extensive travel and the outdoors is that nature wants you dead.

The Secret Knowledge that they try to sell you is that there is no Secret Knowledge. If travel becomes your job, then you deprive yourself of what it’s like to reward yourself with an adventure.

Flight down was ok. I hate connecting in Miami -- it’s our own Banana Republic in the US. It’s a horribly designed airport with completely indifferent and rude people working there. Plus they got rid of my Pizza Hut and the Flagship Lounge -- what the fuck was I going to do? The good news is that there’s now a train that schleps you to and from gates. It’s not particularly beneficial, but hey, at least they’re trying.

Flight to Bogota was equally uneventful. I read, I napped and had some cocktails. I flew through immigration and customs and got into a car to go to the dump of a hotel that I grabbed off of hotels.com since it was near the airport. The hotel -- the Hotel Parque de Normandia -- itself was devoid of character, wasn’t near anything, and was in a residential neighborhood that was partying until 5am. That made for a nice overnight sleep of which I got about 20 minutes.

The next morning I hopped on LAN Colombia for the puddle jumper up to Cartagena. The views were nice, and I was the only one on board who didn’t have their camera at the ready for takeoff and landing. The purser came to shake my hand, I guess a nice benefit afforded to OneWorld Emeralds, but it managed to weird me out as well as make fellow passengers ask “Who the hell’s that?” Cartagena’s airport is the size of a broom closet but it had the nice tropical weather, which made me happy.

I hopped in a taxi and met at the guesthouse to meet up with my good friends, but I had got there early while everyone was crashed out and ended up getting a snack about town with Josh, one of Robert’s friends from Nashville. I had met Josh in Marrakech last year and he was a cool dude, so it was nice to get back into the swing of things. When we got back, the infamous Monte, Patricia and I went out for a short walk along the fortress wall that surrounds the old city of Cartagena. It really was impressive, and I could just imagine the hell in trying to assault this place and take it over in the same way it was attempted over the years.

We got back and the gang decided we were all going to jump in a mud volcano. Now, I accidentally forgot a bathing suit and along with being a borderline nevernude thanks to my hideous body fat/hair/scars, I figure I’d come along for the laughs and to take photos.

The Volcan de Lodo El Totumo stands about 100 feet tall, up a set of “stairs” leading to the mud volcano. You dive in, get muddy and scrubbed, and then you jump into the river and get cleaned off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuflCrtILfg

Except my friends decided that it would be fun to cannonball into the mud, drenching myself in mud as well as my beloved camera. Because they’re my friends, and that’s what they do.

After the mud, everyone went down to the river and got cleaned off, including my friend Monte who didn’t *need* to take his shorts off but felt like he should anyway.

After that, we grabbed some dinner and kicked back and chillaxed. Tomorrow was a day on the boat, and I looked forward to the sunburn.