Backup and pano processing

This morning I did a backup, and read PhotographyBlog's review of the Sigma SD15 while I was waiting. I was surprised that the review had so many comments, many of which are more helpful than the actual review itself. I don't plan on getting an SD15, but there is a slight possibility that I could purchase an SD14 (mainly for infrared work).

One of my backup drives didn't work though (it either wouldn't be detected by windows, or would make windows really slow, and the drive would be really slow if you tried to copy anything to it). It was one of the Western Digital 1.5TB drives I have had the same problem with two times before, but I thought I had solved with my new hot swap drive bay.

However, this drive wouldn't work properly connected internally by SATA so I RMA'd it, like I had to with the other two drives.

I sorted some photos and uploaded them to my photo website, then went down town to post the faulty hard drive. It rained a bit while I was out, but I managed to shelter under a tree for the worst of it, and it was only a couple of minutes shower.

When I got back home we had lunch. For the afternoon and evening I processed a couple of panos that I took yesterday evening.

I spent quite a while trying out the Oloneo PhotoEngine HDR software that I downloaded yesterday. Unfortunately, just like all other HDR software that I've tried, it can't handle movement well. The plants in the field in my bracketed photo that I tested were moving about quite a bit in the wind. In the Oloneo HDR version of the photo the plants had become all blurred due to the movement between the bracketed shots.

I didn't find the type of blurring very objectionable, and I think it would be fine if you wanted the plants blurred to show that it was windy. However, I generally prefer to have the plants relatively sharp and static, so it doesn't seem like Oloneo PhotoEngine will be of any use to me. So I'll keep processing my photos the time consuming way using masking in Photoshop.

The weather today started off with a clear blue sky, then gradually got cloudier during the morning. It was relatively overcast most of the afternoon. A bit before sunset the sun came out for about half an hour, but then it had clouded over again by sunset.