Our family took a classic American road trip this past summer - from our Northwest home to Nevada's Great Basin National Parks, then on to Utah and Arizona to visit Cedar Breaks, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Kodachrome, and Capital Reef parks. Camera in hand, I took more than a few photographs and was overall pleased with the results.
Then comes the question: how best to share the photos with others? One technique is via an audio slide show - in this case, the audio is provided by a music score. I choose what I considered my best photographs from the trip and imported them into Windows Live Movie Maker. The software name notwithstanding, it does slide shows in addition to movies.
Once in Movie Maker, I inserted title slides announcing the next park, an overall title slide and a credit slide at the end. Movie Maker allows you to set various transition modes (how one slide moves on to the next), the timing of each, etc. Fairly simple to learn and use.
Next came the music. Since I wanted to share via YouTube, it was really important to take music copyrights into account. So I went to http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ which has a wonderful selection of mood music to accompany slides shows or even movies. Use of music from the site only required attribution, which I added to the credit slide. The music I choose was just about the right length (under 4 1/2 minutes) for the 40+ photographs, so I clicked the box that automatically set the slide show duration to match the music. And I was done.
The result can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/LYQpD9IxOVY.
Showing posts with label U.S.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S.. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Why Travel?!
Why travel? Because the world is out there - full of sights and sounds and people and cultures and landscapes. The travel experience presents new ideas and opportunities to understand and to be receptive to other cultures - whether of another state, region or country. It's also a great way to spend quality time with family or friends, to get away from everything and everyone, meet other people or just mellow out. Travel provides a chance to rekindle a romance, start a new one, or check out if you're really compatible! And, of course, there are airline and train seats that would otherwise go unused every day. Why Travel? Because!
From the Introduction to "Journey On! Taking Your Travel Experience to the Next Level." Available from The Traveler, Bainbridge Island; Wide World Books, Seattle; your local bookseller, or through Amazon.com (http://tinyurl.com/c65bega).
From the Introduction to "Journey On! Taking Your Travel Experience to the Next Level." Available from The Traveler, Bainbridge Island; Wide World Books, Seattle; your local bookseller, or through Amazon.com (http://tinyurl.com/c65bega).
Saturday, July 17, 2010
State-By-State: My 5 Favorite
I've managed to hit all 50 states in my travels - some more than others, but all nonetheless. As I was walking today, I started thinking about my favorites - not the 5 you MUST see before you die, but just the 5 that I have I enjoyed the most. All 50 have their pluses; these have had the most, IMHO.
I'll start with Maine. Lobster piers, rugged shoreline, lots of islands. Real summers and real winters. Forests, off the beaten path. And a great accent.
Then we'll cross the country to my home state - Washington. Lots of water, lots of islands (a theme, OK), big contrasts between Western and Eastern Washington - forests and deserts, water and crops, democrats and republicans. And, at least in the western part of the state - real Springs and real Autumns. And Dungeness crab.
Since we're westward-bound, let's keep on going to Hawaii. Water, islands (the theme continues), international and indigenous cultures, warmth. Nearly year-round summers, great beaches, snorkeling, big waves. And plate lunches.
OK, now for a diversion - inland to a state not known for water or islands - New Mexico. My favorite inland state - pueblos and sand dunes, and the arts and red rocks. Multi-cultural (another theme), great southwest cuisine. Shiprock and Acoma. Santa Fe and Albuquerque and Alamagordo. And chiles - when I used to be able to eat them.
Narrowing the final 46 down to 1 was a challenge - the 1st four, if truth me told - which it is - came into my mind just like that. Snap. The 5th was much more challening - do I go with another coastal state - Oregon, California, Florida; or with another cultural mix - Louisiana (OK, coastal as well), or with a heartland state like Missouri (lived there for 5 years), or with the wild west - Montana or Wyoming. Well, I finally went with diversity - diversity of landscapes, cultures, cities, beaches, national parks, commerce. California. The Bay Area, Yosemite, Mt Lasson, the Redwoods, Death Valley, Santa Barbara, Lake Tahoe. All in one state, albeit large. And the Pacific Ocean is always a tie-breaker for me.
So, there. My 5 favorite states and a quick summary as to why. In the coming weeks, I'll look at the other 45 as well - all with sights and sounds and experiences worth checking out - whether in this lifetime or next or next or ...
I'll start with Maine. Lobster piers, rugged shoreline, lots of islands. Real summers and real winters. Forests, off the beaten path. And a great accent.
Then we'll cross the country to my home state - Washington. Lots of water, lots of islands (a theme, OK), big contrasts between Western and Eastern Washington - forests and deserts, water and crops, democrats and republicans. And, at least in the western part of the state - real Springs and real Autumns. And Dungeness crab.
Since we're westward-bound, let's keep on going to Hawaii. Water, islands (the theme continues), international and indigenous cultures, warmth. Nearly year-round summers, great beaches, snorkeling, big waves. And plate lunches.
OK, now for a diversion - inland to a state not known for water or islands - New Mexico. My favorite inland state - pueblos and sand dunes, and the arts and red rocks. Multi-cultural (another theme), great southwest cuisine. Shiprock and Acoma. Santa Fe and Albuquerque and Alamagordo. And chiles - when I used to be able to eat them.
Narrowing the final 46 down to 1 was a challenge - the 1st four, if truth me told - which it is - came into my mind just like that. Snap. The 5th was much more challening - do I go with another coastal state - Oregon, California, Florida; or with another cultural mix - Louisiana (OK, coastal as well), or with a heartland state like Missouri (lived there for 5 years), or with the wild west - Montana or Wyoming. Well, I finally went with diversity - diversity of landscapes, cultures, cities, beaches, national parks, commerce. California. The Bay Area, Yosemite, Mt Lasson, the Redwoods, Death Valley, Santa Barbara, Lake Tahoe. All in one state, albeit large. And the Pacific Ocean is always a tie-breaker for me.
So, there. My 5 favorite states and a quick summary as to why. In the coming weeks, I'll look at the other 45 as well - all with sights and sounds and experiences worth checking out - whether in this lifetime or next or next or ...
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