Stories A lot of what I do these days is centered on projects. Some projects involve travel. Other projects create things, often related to computer technology. I like to document my projects and I have a feeling that the natural format for this documentation is a story. My broad goal is to create stories that combine words and images. Further, I want these stories to be available on the Web and able to be formatted so that they are useful on a variety of devices. Many of the stories here are experiments on how to accomplish my goal. Some designs are more successful than others, of course. The purpose of this site is to provide access to the stories so that the underlying technology and designs can be evaluated. And if you enjoy the content, that’s nice, too.
Exposure Stories Combining photos and text is the goal. It has been possible to do this in a blog, but that alternative isn't very good, especially from a design perspective. The Exposure site offers photographers a way to make attractive documents that are based on a good combination of text and photos. The strategy behind Exposure stories encourages you to make sections that group the text and relevant photos. Photos can also have a descriptive title. This is all done in a simple editing system. You create a story by adding text to a sets of photos. You do a bit of formatting, mostly on the text. Exposure then takes over by reformatting the story depending on the device being used as a viewer. The story is also stored on the Exposure servers. The product looks nice on a full range of devices, from desktop monitors to smart phones. And you can then link these stories into Flipboard or a web page, such as this one. This provides much needed integration by providing a host for sets of stories. For more about Exposure, visit their website: exposure.co
Exposure Stories
Ranunculus Flower Fields, 2013 This is a short story about Ranunculus, a popular flower that is grown at Flower Fields, near San Diego, California. People flock to the 50 acre spread in the spring to see the bright bands of colors produced by these flowers. Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/ranunculus
An alternative story about Ranunculus, in particular the apparent lost of diversity, and is available on this ISSUU link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/ranunculus_talk_brit
Exposure Stories
Plumeria Impressions Leaving my comfort zone I had two hours in my favorite grove of Plumeria trees. But it was the wrong time of the day for photography and I had the wrong gear. This is a story of how I transformed the pictures, using digital technology, to capture a new view of a long-familiar photographic subject. Maybe all of the things that were wrong were really right.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/plumera-impressions
Exposure Stories
Cinque Terre Impressions from a trip in September, 2014 There are some particularly beautiful and photogenic places in the world. Cinque Terre, on Italy’s west coast, is one of these locations. How do you capture and show your personal impressions of this beautiful place in a way that is more uniquely your own? This story documents our trip with images that have the quality of memories, rather than the precision of pixelperfect photographs.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/cinque-terre
Exposure Stories
The Arctic Circle Challenge 2013: A Smart car trip from San Diego to the Arctic Circle Smart cars are for urban driving. Right? Taking a Smart car to a very remote place seemed like an interesting challenge. It took a year of planning and considerable effort before we could head north. It paid off. We got to the Arctic Circle, and a bit beyond, while having a great time driving this wonderful little car.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/the-arctic-circle-challenge
Exposure Stories
Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my! Ethnical stewardship and the challenges of zoo photography I like to visit zoos. And, like most people, I carry a camera. While my animal interests are broad, I particularly like to see the lion, tigers and bears. Equally important is my concern for the ethical stewardship of the animals. I judge what I see at the zoo through two lenses: one is focused on the beauty of the animals and the other on the accreditation standards that apply to these institutions.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-oh-my
Exposure Stories
Hot Air Balloons 2001 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta There are hundreds of balloons and thousands of visitors. We took a “lift� early on a very cold morning. This provided a spectacular sight and a unique flying experience.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/hot-air-balloons
Exposure Stories
St. Paul’s Cathedral 20 photos from a short London visit, 2013 I had two days in London by myself. Camera in hand, I wandered the city looking for photo opportunities. One subject kept popping up: St. Paul’s Cathedral. I used this subject for a series of photos, taken from many locations at all times of the day and night.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/st-pauls-cathedral
Exposure Stories
Floral Art of the Pa`u Rider Kamehameha Day Parade, 2013 The elegantly dressed Pa`u riders are a significant part of the annual Kamehameha Day parade. These women are adorned with the flowers appropriate to the island that they represent. This is floral art, in the context of riding a horse.
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/floral-art-of-the-pau-rider
Exposure Stories
Ramen Burger A very “expensive� meal It came to Honolulu with little notice. A ramen burger. Available on just one day, January 15, 2014. Moreover, the quantity was limited to 700 burgers. The word got out and people gathered. Soon, the line of burger-lovers began to snake around the block. It took five hours (!) for us to get to the start of the line. Would we get to the head of the line before the 700th ramen burger had been sold?
Exposure Link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/ramen-burger
ISSUU Stories ISSUU is a web service that provides access to magazines. Generally, the pages are shown as a double-page spread, much like you would see when handling a paper magazine. The graphical interaction appears like a magazine, too. You get the appearance of flipping pages. There are features that let you zoom the page and search for text. You can put your own stories into ISSUU by making them into PDF documents. ISSUU stores the PDF documents and the presents them in ways that fit the constraints of various devices. Creating the PDF is left to the person creating the story. I have been using PowerPoint (or its analog, Google Docs) as my story-creation tool, almost exclusively. I’m comfortable using PowerPoint and the conversion to a PDF is very straight forward. I’ve had to adopt some design standards, such as a minimum type size, to make ISSUU stories work with the constraints of small screens. Another design constraint (or feature) has been the need to consider facing-page layouts. The page you are viewing is being shown on ISSUU. For more information, visit the ISSUU website.
ISSUU Stories
On Viewing Some Old Buildings in Honolulu This is an illustrated story about 24 buildings and monuments that are located in Honolulu’s Capitol District. There are also comments and pictures of some of the significant plants used in the landscaping. The text provides background information regarding the origin of the structure, notes on special construction features, and a history of its use. The photographs illustrate the structures and their surroundings. Digital processing techniques were used to capture and display the structures in a way that is evocative of an earlier era.
Pages: ISSUU Link: issuu.com/kimbridges/doc/on_viewing_buildings_pre-review
ISSUU Stories
Gardens by the Bay: A Photo Essay This story is a photo essay about two new botanical venues in Singapore. These are world-class attractions that should not be missed. It is convenient to see them both as they are adjacent to each other. Cloud Forest is a man-made mountain inside a greenhouse. It is a verdant oasis, complete with the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. Flower Dome is the world’s largest free-standing greenhouse. The immense area under the dome displays a variety of ecosystems. There has been great care in selecting the plants and displaying them properly. Even the outside of the area is special.
Pages: 78 (horizontal layout) ISSUU Link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/singapore_photo_essay
ISSUU Stories
Plumeria Honolulu Botanical Gardens has a great collection of Plumeria trees at its Koko Crater Botanical Garden. There is considerable diversity in this collection with many varieties of Plumeria on display. Equally important, the flowers are generally accessible. The trees are not trimmed so flower-covered branches are in easy view. This story is a photo essay of some favorite Plumeria images collected over the years. For an alternative view of the flowers in this garden, check the Exposure link: https://kimbridges.exposure.co/plumeria-impressions
Pages: 32 pages (horizontal layout) ISSUU Link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/plumeria
ISSUU Stories
Ranunculus asiaticus variability and its lessons for BRIT This story is based on a presentation made at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. The origin of the study was the discovery of the immense decrease in the availability of Ranunculus varieties. The story discusses this and proposes some technology that might be used to prevent the loss of plant variety information in the future. This story is an example of re-purposing a traditional PowerPoint presentation.
Pages: 62 (horizontal layout) ISSUU Link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/ranunculus_talk_brit
ISSUU Stories
Kaua`i Field Notes This story is an experiment. The focus is on an alternative way to support field classes. This document consists of a series of brief highlights of natural history observations in Waimea Canyon and along the Pihea Trail on Kaua`i. Each highlight is supported by photos or diagrams. The object is for students to learn the essence of each highlight before going in the field. In the field, there is elaboration of each highlight and students have an opportunity to take new photos. Finally, students review the highlights as they substitute their photos for those which are in the original document. Note: This document is in draft and will be changing.
Pages: ISSUU Link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/
ISSUU Stories
Smart Cars We have been driving a 2010 Smart ForTwo Passion around the US and Canada. This “urban� car has shown itself to be a capable road warrior. TwoRed, as it is called, has been in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and all ten Canadian provinces. It has gone far to the north, a bit beyond the Arctic Circle in Alaska. It has done the extreme east and west points on the contiguous US highway system. This story provides a glimpse of our adventures with TwoRed and provides lots of statistics about these travels.
Pages: ISSUU Link: https://issuu.com/kimbridges/docs/smart_cars