Friday, March 30, 2012

Last day of the Canberra Convention


The last morning of the convention was really (and I mean REALLY) interesting. Firstly we had a young man speak who talked about the cameras he used for different video projects. This was of major interest to all the “tech heads” especially when Patrick Gallagher talked about the really expensive high definition cameras and the little toy that has become so useful for adventurous video makers, the Go-pro (or some such name!!!!) The camera is tiny and can be strapped to bike handle bars or the toe of a surfboard or on the dash of a car that is dropped from a crane and it will survive anything that it faces. Several speakers through this week use one for awkward or dangerous angles.

After talking about the cameras used for short film making, Patrick went on to talk about the cameras that were used in Parliament for recording proceedings in the chamber. He is one of the camera operators and they work from an office below away from the proceedings and controls eight cameras with joysticks and buttons to change feeds from one camera to another.

The second speaker was one of the coordinators of ABC Open. This is an exciting project that is less than two years old and is in 45 regional centres around Australia. The program is aimed at both teaching people who have never used computers, cameras or the internet how to use them by giving projects and the means to complete them. The spin off is that there are now lots of fascinating stories of real people that can be accessed by the people who created them and the rest of the world too. I must find the web site and take a closer look at what has been done there – it all sounds so exciting that I want to be involved myself! I believe the address is http://open.abc.net.au  but I will check and edit this link if it is incorrect.

Colleen was waiting for me when the sessions were over and after lunch and farewelling as many people as I could we packed the car and set off for Taree. Of course we managed to strike the peak hour traffic but it was never stationary so although it was a long trip we made base by 8.20pm (we left about 2.00pm) After checking in we raced into town to the Chinese Restaurant we so enjoyed on our first stay here and luckily found it open.
We took a photo of ourselves as we waited for the meal to be cooked!
 Cheesy grins to a hand held camera from AJ and Colleen
The food was brought back to our motel room – which again is the same room we had when we first came through Taree! Room 16. There were real plates and metal cutlery so we dined in style! The family are all eager to have us home! The phone has been running hot! It took us eight hours to get here from the Gold Coast so I guess it will take the same length of time to get back there. That is including time for stops along the way – and lunch. It has been a great week.
AJ

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