Ever watch a movie or TV show, where they torment a kid in school with a presentation? What did you do last summer? None of my teachers ever bothered me with an assignment like that. Instead, my summer days were filled with sports, tv / movies, and video games. But just because I’m not a student anymore, there are still lessons to learn. Here’s a collection of Photics.TV videos that show the information gained during new adventures.
Baby Birds Hatched!
🪺 The Birds Under The Deck — Reviewing The Outdoor Expert Mini Trail Camera
Well, I suppose this was still technically Spring, but it was amazing. In early June, a bird’s nest was discovered under the deck. This created the perfect opportunity to record baby birds being born! I learned that the momma bird ate the shell, then threw it up into the mouths of the hungry birds. Throughout my life, I’ve been trying to keep little bits of egg shells out of my breakfast cooking. So, I was quite surprised to see that happen.
Flipping A Speedboat
Force1 Velocity RC Speedboat — 1980s Styled Montage! 🚤
While it was just a toy, it was quite an adventure. Considering the trouble I’ve had with drones and an RC plane, I was concerned that I might lose my Force1 Velocity RC Speedboat. And soon after taking it out to the water, it landed upside-down. It was only the second test run of the day and it looked like this would be disaster. However, the boat could easily be flipped by alternating the controls. It was such fun that I turned it into a 1980’s styled video montage — with a video game theme.
Muddy Lawnmower!
Lessons Learned With The Greenworks 80 Volt / 42″ CRZ-428 Zero Turn Riding Lawn Mower
It rained a lot this Summer. And even though I thought the grass was dry enough, the ground was still wet. It was not just dirt. It was sticky wet clay. The big fancy tires of the Greenworks 80 Volt / 42″ CRZ-428 Zero Turn Riding Lawn Mower was no match. It got stuck like it was in heavy snow. The lesson learned — now I wait for the ground to be more dry before mowing.
No More Shorts!
This is not about the dropping temperatures and wearing pants. This is about the disappointment with YouTube Shorts. Even though it’s easier to make a 60 second vertical video, the result doesn’t seem as beneficial in the longterm. While there is an initial surge in traffic, the Photics.TV YouTube Shorts underperformed. Shorts seemed to be detrimental towards building a community, as the Shorts had more downvotes and fewer comments. I’m not sure that such content is good for humanity either. I tried watching YouTube Shorts and it was more like mindless candy, rather than useful information.
Also, vertical video just seems odd. 16:9 is a nice standard. So, that’s the plan for at least the immediate future — NO MORE VERTICAL VIDEOS!
Looking Up!
After years of city life, where the night sky is obscured by light pollution — and actual pollution — it was nice to look up. Although, that was tough at first. With so many stars in the sky, I had to fight against kenophobia. But after trying AstroShader, a Astrophotography app for iPhone, I was getting quite used to the night sky. It takes a while to create one of these stitched images, so it was quite a change of pace. I was sitting, outside, in the cold, at night, looking at stars… so many stars!
But even with an iPhone SE (Second Edition), a free app, and a basic Tripod, I was able to create a nice image. It is possible to do astrophotography with an iPhone. This is good practice in preparing for the total solar eclipse.
So, it was a nice and insightful summer. 🙂