GadgetFamily.org

I’m starting to get through processing and uploading the hundreds of photos that I’ve taken since I’ve been in Shanghai. Here are some from the “PC Mall” that Richard and Welles took me to the first day I was here. It’s a huge 5 story mall, like you’re probably thinking of. Except that every store, every kiosk, every nook, and every cranny is crammed full of computers, computer parts, cameras, media players, games and consoles, phones, monitors, and every other kind of electronics you can think of. It is a gadget lover’s paradise.

The best way I can sum it up, to people in the US, is that it’s like Fry’s on crack.

Anyway, here are some photos. As always, I love it when you leave comments. Let me know what you think, if you have any questions, etc. You can see all 34 photos in this set on Flickr, and view them as a slideshow.

Enjoy!

I shot 350 plus photos this afternoon and evening, walking around Shanghai and the Huangpu riverfront. And I’ll put all of the good ones on Flickr, eventually, but I just HAD to share this one immediately:

Click it to view the photo on Flickr, then check out some of the larger sizes. I snapped this about an hour ago from the bar on the 87th floor of the Shanghai Hyatt, the “tallest hotel in the world”. It occupies the 50th through 87th floors of the building that houses the Shanghai stock exchange. And the view is astounding.

Thanks to Kelly, Tammy, and Jay, who I ran into on my way back to my room, for “shanghai’ing” me into going back out with them. The view alone would have been SO worth it, but the company and conversation were great, too.

Here’s another collection of video clips from the two days of IDF Shanghai. Highlights include a look around the IDF venue (Shanghai International Convention Center), the Huangpu riverfront at night (gorgeous!), a peek at Chinese TV in my hotel room, a look at what websites are blocked in China and which aren’t, some “man on the street” video with Intel’s new Mobile Internet Devices, a look at the terrifying chaos that is pedestrian and vehicle traffic in Shanghai, and a cameo appearance by Celene Dion.

Like the walkabout video I posted before, these little clips were all shot in HD on my little Aiptek Go-HD video camera, then pieced together in Quicktime Pro and rendered down to 640×360 on my Elgato Turbo.264. And then converted to low quality Flash by YouTube. The video is about 10 minutes long, and I’ll probably post a higher quality version than what I can get from YouTube when I get home.

I’ll probably keep shooting and posting these while I’m in Shanghai. I’m here until next week - going to spend a few days working with some of the Intel Software Network team here at Intel Shanghai. And I kind of like the style/technique of these videos. I’ve had lots of people ask me how I’m doing this. It’s very simple: I turn the screen on the camera so I can see myself, then hold it out at arm’s length, pointed at me, and pivot around in place to show what’s around me, while keeping myself on screen. Kind of fun to shoot, and I like the results.

You know the drill - leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Want to see more like this? Hate it? Have something about Shanghai that you want me to shoot? Drop me a line, and let me know. And thanks for watching!

It’s been a whirlwind two days. IDF just got over, and for the last two days, I’ve been shooting video of keynotes, sessions, demos, and other interesting stuff. Since all my video gear is kinda heavy to lug around, I haven’t bothered taking my Nikon D40 DSLR with my, to take many photos. Now that I’m done with the heavy duty video stuff, I’ll have my camera with me much more while I’m here in Shanghai, and will take and post some more photos.

In the mean time, here are a few that I’ve managed to shoot with my iPhone. Some of these turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. As always, I love it when you comment on my stuff, so let me know what you think, and enjoy!

You can, as always, see all of the photos I share on Flickr.

I’ve been in Shanghai for about a day and a half now, for the Spring 2008 Intel Developer Forum conference. I’m here to shoot video of stuff that’s interesting and useful for software developers and generally cover the event for Intel Software Network.

Yesterday was “Day 0″ of the event - badge pickup, etc., but no real events scheduled. I took the opportunity to escape my hotel, and do a little walkabout exploration of my surroundings in Shanghai. I’ve been shooting tons of pictures and video, and I could write thousands and thousands of words about how cool Shanghai is. For now, enjoy this little video I put together of my “walkabout” in Shanghai.

Features include: about 100 people offering to sell me a “Rolex”, some of the great Shanghai architecture, exploration of the “Super Brand Mall”, including the Chinese versions of McDonalds and Toys R Us, a supermarket, and more.

Later that evening, my ISN China colleagues (and Shanghai natives) Richard and Welles basically showed me the town. They took me to PC Mall, which is a 5 story mall full of nothing but computers, electronics, cameras, and games. It’s like Fry’s on crack, and I’m DEFINITELY going back there before I come home. There’s a bonus clip of PC Mall at the end of the video.

I also ran into my first “blocked in China” site while trying to upload this video - blip.tv. I love Blip, for lots of reason - video quality being one of the top. So I was bummed to not be able to use it for this video. Instead, it’s on YouTube (strange that Blip is blocked but YouTube isn’t - what’s up with that?), with the accompanying quality loss. But at least you can see it. And the quality isn’t super high anyway - it was all shot handheld in HD on my Aiptek Go-HD, then reencoded to 640×360 on my trusty Elgato Turbo.264. I’ll put up a high quality version when I get home.

Here’s the video - enjoy!

Rachel and I took a short two night getaway to one of my favorite places on the planet, the Oregon Coast, last weekend. We dropped Emma and Gabe off at Grandma’s (thanks Grandma! ), and headed over to Lincoln City. Of course, I took a ton of photos while we were there (more than three hundred). I narrowed them down to 100 “keepers”, and posted 60 or so of the ones I’m most proud of to Flickr in this photoset (you can browse them all there, watch a slideshow, etc.).

You can, of course, click on any of these to view the original on Flickr, including all sizes up to the original/full size versions.

Many of these were taken by Rachel, who just has a natural ability with a camera. I read books and try techniques and think and analyze, and get usually mediocre pictures. She just picks up a camera, and out comes magic. I’m totally jealous, and totally proud of her creative abilities (which extend far beyond photography).

Anyway, on the drive over to the coast from Salem, we actually ran into a heavy snowstorm in the mountains. As in, the trees were white and there was accumulation on the road. Later that night, when we were at dinner (Blackfish Cafe, recommended by friends on Twitter, was excellent), it snowed in Lincoln City itself - there was snow piled up and melting on the car when we came out. Weird weather for the first day of spring. But we lucked out the next couple of days - the skies were clear and blue, and it was warm and nice (for the coast in March ).

We went for a late breakfast (OK, it was 11:30 AM, so it was practically lunch) at Pig N’ Pancake. Mmm, bacon… *drool* After that, a walk on the beach, of course!

If you’ve never been to the Oregon coast, you don’t know that the water is FREEZING COLD. All year round. So, after my first couple of trips to the beach after I moved here, I learned my lesson, and I never go down to touch the water when we go to the beach. But Rachel, a native Oregonian (and part hippie), has to commune with the salt water every time (that’s my way of saying she took these pictures of the water).

While Rachel was splashing around, freezing her toes off, I found a nice driftwood log, and did what I always do when I have a few minutes to myself - pulled out my iPhone, read some feeds in Google Reader, and chatted with friends on Twitter.

Obligatory picture of my trademark orange Crocs on the beach (”the Crocs shot”):

We got some really cool silhouette shots of people when we shot directly into the sun and its reflection on the water and wet sand.

Of course, there were people with dogs everywhere. We felt out of place without a canine companion. Maybe next time we can rent one for the weekend, so we can fit in with the dog people.

I love how none of the girls’ feet are touching the ground in that shot above. Of course, Rachel took that one.

After a while, we retreated to our room, and took a nap. We watched the sunset from our room’s balcony, which was RIGHT on the water. As in, look straight down, there’s the sea wall, and when the tide comes in, the waves lap at the foundations. It was actually kind of creepy.

But the sunset was awesome, of course! And I took way too many pictures. Even after culling and throwing a lot of them away. I couldn’t help myself.

There was a flock of seagulls hanging out on the roof of the hotel next door, so of course, I was trying to take all kinds of artsy pictures with them.

And finally, I got some really strange/cool pictures thanks to a GIANT floodlight mounted on the roof of the hotel next door. It lit up the whole beach for hundreds of feet in all direction, and lit up the white foam of the waves especially well. Of course, I was out on the balcony at 10:30 PM, trying to take some pictures of the phenomenon.

Like I said before, you can view all 60 or so of the photos I uploaded in this photoset on Flickr. Leave me a comment on this post, or on any of the photos there. Photography critique, suggestions, ideas, thoughts, or whatever. I crave interaction and feedback, so let me have it!