Images fixed 11/20/06...bump.

Images fixed 11/20/06...bump.

Well, K.O.E. isn't completely dead... I have the story and stuff, but I have to make the time to get it out, and it's harder to do that now.

I am humbled to hear people really liked K.O.E. If I can get my domain and site back up, I'll relocate the pics so the links won't be broken. I certainly didn't take it down on purpose.... register.com screwed up my renewal.

Biggs

The entire concept of the Phoenix is very earthly, actually. The idea of a bird rising again from its own ashes, and the word phoenix itself are very rooted in earth mythos. It'd be like having a story about a special lightsaber and calling it Excalibur or a mighty warrior Jedi and calling him Achilles.

The concept is good (we all know Star Wars borrows heavily from Eastern and Western mythology), but I'd come up with some new words. Lucas didn't call the Jedi Samurai for a reason - this is a whole new universe.

Fritz -

I have a Moccassin sitting on my desk *right now* with similar plans for it. You beat me to the punch (and how). 

How did you get the driver to fit? Everyone I put in there ends up with his head poking out of the top.

Top notch work!

212 -

1. Use the "Macro" setting on your digital camera. Most digis have this setting. It usually is represented by a flower icon of some sort.

2. *COMPLETELY IMMOBILIZE THE CAMERA* This is critical. In macro mode your camera is likely to shift to a longer exposure. The down side to that is even the slightest movement will blur your edges. I usually have something to sit my camera on, even if just a book or something.

3. Use the shutter switch timer. This is usually set at 20, 10 or 2 seconds. The important thing is you don't want to actually push the button to take the pic - even that pressure can make the lens jostle, causing blur. Use the shutter timer at two seconds. Press the shoot button, release, and let the camera take the pic two seconds later. This trick will reduce blur by more than 80%!

4. Make sure the focus of your picture is in focus. Note how many of my pictures will focus on one subject and allow the others to be blurry. You can choose your depth of field by aiming the focus center at your subject, then moving the camera slightly to account for composition without refocusing. Then click.

These either sound really complicated or really simple depending on your experience level. Even if you only use one or two ideas, you will get sharper images. Best of luck!