GoPro Replacement Bolts

After buying the GoPro Hero 2 and some of the accessories I found that I never had enough bolts, always short by one bolt and had to rob from another accessory to make my set up work the way I wanted. I found some good alternatives at ACE Hardware that worked really well.


I was able to create a long bolt for $2.20, and the short bolt for $1.40 (USD). All that was needed was thumb screws, and some aluminum spacers.

Parts list for Long Bolt (Option 1): $2.40 (USD)
1 - 2" 10-32 Thumb screw ($1.10)
1 - 1" 10-32 aluminum spacer ($.75)
1 - 5/16 10-32 aluminum spacer ($.55)

Parts list for Long Bolt (Option 2): $2.95 (USD)
1 - 2" 10-32 Thumb screw ($1.10)
1 - 3/4" 10-32 aluminum spacer ($.75)
2 - 5/16 10-32 aluminum spacer ($.55)


Parts list for Short Bolt: $1.40 (USD)
1 - 1" 10-32 Thumb screw ($.85)
1 - 5/16 10-32 aluminum spacer ($.55)

Amazingly enough the spacing matches exactly to what the GoPro bolts do and fit into existing nut caps. On the long bolt options if you lose the cap nut the 5/16 spacer will fit in the same (nut hole?) hole without damaging plastic in order to keep filming. I did find an alternative to the GoPro nut which doesn't look good but works, I used a 1/2" 10-32 hex nut pictured at the very bottom, I like it because I can hold onto it when tightening or using gloves in the cold.

I have used these bolts with my GoPro rigs and found them to work out very well. One word of caution is when using the aluminum spacers in salt water, be sure to rinse really well with fresh water and let them dry vertically so all the water escapes, otherwise they will corrode. Better yet take them apart to dry if you can.

Below are photos of the finished product/comparison:
I showed the aluminum spacers screwed out so you could see how I assembled them. Be sure to screw all the way tight and check against your GoPro housing to make sure proper fit.


This is the replacement/spare bolt holding my GoPro




This is the hex nut replacement option


Hope this helps other GoPro owners :)

Cheers,
Wayne

Panoramics of Astoria

Burning steel wool photography

Here are a few shots that we took for our first trial of burning steel wool. The camera settings were:
1) Sony Alpha 500 DSLR on tripod
2) Sony 50mm F1.8 lens
3) ISO set to 200
4) Remote trigger

My daughter got in on the fun and swung some steel wool.

This is the picture we forgot to refocus the camera but would have been one of the better shots. It is really hard to tell how far away you need to be to get the whole picture, especially when it is so dark you can hardly walk :)

Trip to the "real" Western Washington

Oftentimes when people talk about Western Washington they think of Seattle on down to Olympia but there is more to the West over on the Olympic Peninsula. Below are a few pictures of our 4 day trip on the Peninsula.

Day 1 we drove to Sequim and went to see the Dungeness Spit which is about 2.5 miles long and sticks out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Day 2 we drove up Hwy 112 to Cape Flattery which is as far West as you can go in Washington and back to Sequim. Long day due to really windy roads. But I hear this is the best place in the world for Salmon fishing.

Day 3 we drove down Hwy 101 from Sequim to Ocean Shores via Forks, WA

Day 4 we drove from Ocean Shores back home to Sammamish

Below are the pics from the trip. https://cid-393c896513597985.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/2011-MidWinter%20Break?wa=wsignin1.0&sa=843911733

Photos on Lk. Sammamish

Daughter and I spent some time last night 6/11 at the Paxman's dock on Lk Sammamish and took a few pics of the only sunset in the last month. Sure was nice to see the sky again.... darn Seattle spring's. (click for larger photo)















Also used this picture as I cropped it in from the far side of the lake but looks like flames above Redmond.

Light Writing Experiment

My oldest daughter and I spent some fun time together doing some light writing with a flash light in a dark garage which is quite dangerous because the garage is so messy.

This is my second attempt at light writing, first one failed badly because the light source was too strong and you can see the garage ceiling. So this time I blocked part of the light from the flashlight by putting a pink post-it note covering the bulb, though I did poke a pic pen hole through the paper to let a bit more light through. This time it worked out though it seems to do it right I should have blocked the end of the flashlight with a light blocking tape and only let through the light I wanted, but in this case some pics turned out well. I like some of the white light mixed with the pink.

Anyway, let me know if you try this and see if you're pics turn out better than mine.

Click on pics for larger size photos.

Are Sun Streaks Good or Bad?

I was taking some photos with my daughter in the backyard, she gave the camera back to me and I snapped a few photos of the leaves in the tree she was climbing in. I took one shot, on the second shot I was able to nap a sun streak between two leaves. I believe that this happens when the sun streaks across the lens but in this case it didn't seem likely becuase of the position of the first leaf.

Is this a good or bad thing to have in photos? Which picture is better?