Been playing around with the Theodolite app on my phone today. This is one of the Sherwin Lakes.
Berkeley Walkabout
Last weekend, I spent some time in Berkeley, and on Saturday I had a chance to see the UC Botanical Garden. This is one of many shots I took.
The whole set can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben_erlandson/sets/72157629975114371/
Hope you enjoy them!
Catching the spray in the waning light at Carmel Beach
I found myself down at Carmel Beach last evening to hang out with a buddy of mine (and his two cool pooches) at the beach to watch the sun and waves, bitch about the week, and talk science.
Eventually the sun went down, my buddy went home, and I stuck around to get some post-sunset surf shots. I love the effect of slow shutter speeds on the waves. Using a circular polarizer adds to the glow of the waves, I think.
In this particular shot, I kept trying to get the timing just right (with about a 4 second exposure, if I remember correctly) to get a good spray off the rock that you can see there. I think this one came out pretty well…
Bee, a la 7D!
I’ve been enjoying exploring the increased flexibility of my new Canon 7D, and although I like the fact that the new lens I got has image stabilization — allowing for on-the-fly closeups like this bee — I’ve come to realize that it’s causing me to forgo the tripod more than I should. I’m mostly happy with this shot, but I know it could be so much better with a tripod. The sad thing is, I had my tripod with me, strapped to my awesome new slingbag, but I just got caught up in the moment.
Ahh, well. Next time…
Ifenthaler comes to CSUMB!
I’m happy to announce that my friend and colleague Dirk Ifenthaler will be visiting CSUMB to give a lecture/workshop combo next Thursday and Friday!
Here are the details:
Alternative Assessment
Pragmatics for the 21st Century Campus
PD Dr. Dirk Ifenthaler
Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence
Department of Educational Psychology
Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education
University of Oklahoma
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Thursday April 26
Lecture Event
Media Learning Complex Rm 118
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Applying Alternative Forms of Assessment in the Educational Arena of the 21st Century
Closely linked to the demand of new approaches for designing and developing up-to-date learning environments is the necessity of enhancing the design and delivery of alternative assessment systems and automated computer-based diagnostics. In many settings, manual and therefore labor-intensive methods have limits. Hence, following a general assessment framework design, several automated and integrated tools are introduced which have been applied individually in many studies so far. The technologies which are discussed in this presentation aim at the assessment, re-representation, analysis, and comparison of knowledge. The tools were developed independently and then integrated step by step. The possible applications go beyond the structural and semantic analysis and comparison of knowledge. The tools also allow the development of self-assessment technologies which can be used directly by the learners.
Friday, April 27
Workshop Event
Chapman Science Center Rm E105
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Automated Knowledge Visualization and Assessment: Technology Framework and Practical Implications for Computer-Based Knowledge Analysis
This workshop involves tools for assessing learning and performance in complex, problem-solving domains. Various integrated tools will be discussed and demonstrated. Participants will have an opportunity to refine a research design and apply the tools in a research setting by conducting a mock experimental study. The tools elicit problem conceptualizations from subjects as annotated causal concept maps or in open text form and provide analysts with comparisons of two representations with regard to seven metrics.
Here’s a link to the full description (including specific tools to be used): http://tla.csumb.edu/workshops
Sunrise Salmon Search
Yesterday morning, I was on a boat at 5:30am to go fishing for salmon in Monterey Bay. I didn’t end up catching any salmon — in fact, only one guy in the whole group caught one — but I did catch a few other fish, including a sand dab.
The trip wasn’t a wash, though: we saw a pod of orcas fairly early in the morning. They actually made a kill right near our boat! There were some yearlings with them as well. I never expected to see killer whales live in person. Unfortunately I didn’t get any shots of the orcas because I was too busy fishing. I did, however, get some cool shots of the pre-dawn Bay!
Sunday Shoot in the Sur
Taking a break from shooting to grab a quick cappuccino (and some broccoli quiche) from the Big Sur Bakery.
Website Reboot
Greetings, cyberspace.
I’ve decided that I’m tired of maintaining my own site that I’ve built from scratch.
It’s time to switch over to wordpress for good, methinks. I’ll be updating the look and feel over the next few weeks and integrating a lot of content from all my other web and social media presences.
Stay tuned!