Sunday, July 29, 2007

Gone Pro on Flickr

STS-118 Orbiter Specular Ripple (Hi-res)
I finally decided to "go pro" on Flickr. A free account is hard to beat as a way to keep 200 images on line for use in blog entries, and I have used it mostly for Orbiter screen shots to illustrate my posts. But the other limitations of free accounts make it hard to organize the images, especially the fact that you can define only three themed "sets" (I defined Moon, Mars, and Outer Planets some time ago).

Now for $24.95 a year, I can have unlimited pictures on line (I have 291 at the moment - they don't delete your pictures on a free account when you exceed 200, they only hide them), and I can have unlimited sets and collections. This will allow me to add photos from museum visits and other real-life events without fear of bumping off an Orbiter image that I'm using in some blog post. If I keep my sets and collections up to date, I can add as many Orbiter images and real photos as I like and still make it easy for visitors to find what interests them. They also allow you to keep full-resolution images on line (they are limited to something like 1280x1024 on free accounts, and scaled if they exceed this).

If this reasoning seems less than compelling to you, consider that it also has given me an excuse for procrastinating on paying bills and finishing my overdue expense and trip reports. The picture shows the Endeavour in Orbiter separating from its External Tank with Cape Cod in the background. Note the "specular ripples" on the Atlantic Ocean - this is a 2006 Orbiter feature that I just discovered.

No comments: