I've been a Jaycee for a few years, and I miss a lot of events because of work and other responsibilities. I think every Jaycee should take the time to attend at least one Jaycee convention. One of the highlights I find in attending a quarterly convention is hearing Norman McGee talk about Camp Hope. This year in addition to his normal talk about camp, he played a recording from a mother of two Camp Hope campers. Her sons had attended the summer program for decades, and she shared what it meant to her. There were more than a few tears in the audience after the recording stopped. I invite … [Read more...]
Small Stuff
November 29, 2010 by
A new gallery made with the help of extension tubes. You attach them in between your camera and lens. They put distance between the lens and the sensor in the camera. It causes additional magnification. Definitely not true macro photography, but it's a cheap start. In some of the pictures, you can see individual carpet fibers! [smugmug url="http://dpack.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=14851936_hdSxB&format=rss200" imagecount="9" start="1" num="6" thumbsize="Th" link="image" captions="false" sort="false" window="false" smugmug="true" size="L"] … [Read more...]
Asbury Hills Map
October 29, 2010 by
On my recent trip to Asbury Hills, I carried a hiking gps with me. The GPS kept a tracklog as I walked around taking pictures. With that log, I was able to geocode (add geographic coordinates to) all my photos and drop them on a map in Google Earth. I'll describe the process with the GPS and my photos in a later post. In this post, I'll illustrate a few of the benefits of Google Earth. Once my pictures were in Google Earth, I was able to export a kmz file that I could upload to Google Maps showing where I took all my photos. You can see a small version of that map below. View Asbury … [Read more...]
Falls Park
October 27, 2010 by
Downtown Greenville is great to visit. While you are there, stop by O.P. Taylors and the MAST General store. Once you've gotten your fill of candy, toys, camping equipment and mill ground grits, take a walk down to Falls Park. It's a lovely little park around the Reedy River. I think the pictures speak for themselves. You can see the full gallery by clicking the link at the bottom. [smugmug url="http://dpack.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=14364477_hZT6m&format=rss200" imagecount="9" start="1" num="6" thumbsize="Th" link="image" captions="false" sort="false" … [Read more...]
Asbury Hills Apple Butter Festival
October 27, 2010 by
I have many wonderful memories of Asbury Hills United Methodist Camp. I went for retreats there as a teenager. For two summers during college I worked there as a counselor and later a ropes and trips coordinator. After college, I have occasionally returned for mission work of a non-standard variety. I've installed software, fixed computers, run Ethernet cable, set up servers and even created a wireless internet bubble between three camp buildings. Through the time I've spent there, I've met many wonderful people and grown as a person. I've also found several imaginative uses for duct … [Read more...]
United Methodist Relief Center
October 6, 2010 by
While photographing and podcasting at the Fall Mission Trip, I had the pleasure to spend a few minutes with Dan Nesbitt of the United Methodist Relief Center. UMRC is a non-profit that repairs homes in the low country of South Carolina. Dan took the time to discuss the history and mission of UMRC. I am thankful to UMRC for giving the college students from Charleston and Winthrop an opportunity to serve the community. Dan is a great public speaker. He wonderfully presents the need that motivates UMRC. If you are looking to make a difference in your community, UMRC is definitely a way … [Read more...]
In their own words
October 6, 2010 by
On October 2nd I spent the day with the students of the Charleston and Winthrop Wesley Foundations at their Fall Mission Trip. For several years the two Wesley Foundations have met in Charleston to renovate houses with the United Methodist Relief Center. This year the students worked on three separate sites across the low country. [smugmug url="http://dpack.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=14028253_Rpndm&format=rss200" title="My%20Mission%20Trip%20Photos" imagecount="25" start="8" num="3" thumbsize="Th" link="image" captions="false" sort="false" window="false" … [Read more...]
2010 Scottish Games
September 21, 2010 by
On the 18th of September, I attended my first Scottish Games. It was a wonderful time. I volunteered with the Charleston Jaycees. After a couple hours manning a booth, I spent an enjoyable afternoon watching the games, listening to pipe bands and taking pictures. If I have the time, I'll definitely attend next year. [smugmug url="http://dpack.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=13844177_2Wt6z&format=rss200" imagecount="15" start="2" num="12" thumbsize="Th" link="image" captions="false" sort="false" window="false" smugmug="true" size="L"] … [Read more...]
Charleston Panoramas
September 5, 2010 by
I had a few minutes today, and I decided to take a few pictures in historic Charleston. I took these photos from the top of the Cumberland garage near East Bay Street. [smugmug url="http://dpack.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=13352751_rPr8C&format=rss200" imagecount="15" start="7" num="3" thumbsize="Th" link="image" captions="false" sort="false" window="false" smugmug="true" size="XL"] … [Read more...]
WordCamp Savannah
August 25, 2010 by
I've been blogging on WordPress off and on for the last 18 months or so. For the first ten months, I periodically updated a WordPress.com blog before making the jump to a self hosted WordPress install. Over that time I have learned to greatly appreciate the WordPress platform, and I wanted to attend a WordCamp event to meet others who shared that appreciation. I was thankful to read about WordCamp Savannah a few months ago. It meant I could go to a WordCamp nearby, and I got to spend a weekend in Savannah. To increase my geek score this year, I have started packing podcasting equipment … [Read more...]