Below is what my work space looks like now.

The photo itself is made up of 30 second stacks shot with the built in interval timer on the K-7 over a period of about three hours, final stack and post was done in Photoshop.
I also put together a timelapse video but was a bit disappointing as I noticed condensation happening halfway through the shots, I'll post it up anyway as it looks pretty cool but lesson learnt: use hand warmer packs to keep the lens from fogging up.

Click on the picture for the big version on my devArt site.
Enjoy!

This was the short timelapse I ended up with.

First off a bit of background as to who Sanya is:

Sanya V. Litvyak hailing from the cold regions of the Orussian Empire she is the 2nd youngest member of the 501st, she has limited contact with the other members of the team and sometimes is seen asleep on her feet relying on Eila to move her around this is due to her duties as the resident night fighter.
Her magical abilities mimic those of radar enabling her to sense activity beyond visual range and also able to pick up on signals such as radio waves, this ability when used manifests as antennas that resemble those used on German Lichtenstein radar sets. Sanya's striker is the MiG60 a fictional warbird that combines the features of the MiG-1, MiG-3 and Yak-1 and when equipped she gains the ears and tail of a black cat.
Her pilot archetype is based off the real world ace Lydia Litvyak.

She's a recent release from Alter only just out in mid July for the modest cost of 6,630 yen at Hobby Search. Being an Alter release the quality is top notch a variable A+ job, oddly enough she's still available for purchase as of writing this post which is somewhat understandable as there isn't a huge as following for Sanya as the other girls.

True to her night fighter duties she is posed flying on a one can imagine a routine patrol, this particular instance of Sanya is much more conservative than Kotobukiya's version released September 2009 and to be honest captures Sanya's essence so to speak much better especially her facial expression.
Details are well painted, neat and decals applied flawlessly resulting in an amazing show piece.

Her iconic rocket launcher 'Fliegerhummer' is held at the ready in her hands and a magnet inside her head prevents the rocket launcher from slipping from it's position, she's attached to the mounting plate with a small metal peg which connects to the bottom of one of her striker units, which have interchangeable propellers one set of simulated action and the other normal props.
I suspect that in a few months time she'll be quite sought after by collectors as aside from being a high quality Alter figurine, she's incredibly cute to have on your desk or display case. Who doesn't want a girl to protect their desk from the Neuroi invasion?

Anyway it looks like I'll be even more broke than I am now if Alter decides to release an Eila figurine as having Sanya is not complete without her best friend Eila.

Oh well enjoy the photos.

Photo while driving on the Parks Way

Went out for a morning drive yesterday in hopes of being able to get some neat photos of mist floating around Scrivener Dam early in the morning but ended up with a sunrise.

What I was greeted with when I got to Scrivener Dam.

Panorama was stitched in Photoshop, and photos taken with my Sigma 10-20mm.
Big version is on my deviantArt here.

Enjoy!

Took this while I saw this lovely Lancer Evo 10 while waiting for a tow truck to get my car out of Civic.
This photo is actually made up of several shots I took with my 50mm lens and then stitched together in Photoshop.

Enjoy!

Bigger version here.

This was made from a photo I took in the car on the way home while experimenting with light-trails.
The road was dark so the only illumination was from the cars that passed and any distant[ish] light source, taken with the K7 coupled with a Sigma 10-20mm.

Unfortunately, it's laptop sized since I made it on a whim and tailored it to my own laptop's screen so 1280x800 folk.
Otherwise enjoy my new wallpaper!

Big version on my deviantArt site as usual.

I took this photo a while ago but on that day I was bored and wanted to try something different.
So I requisitioned some matches and proceeded to try and capture the moment a match ignites.

The setup was very simple: The camera was setup on a tripod pre-focused in drive mode and with remote trigger. The matches were soaked in alcohol so they could lit like a fuse providing time to get ready to trigger the camera's shutter via remote.
Of course this was all down to good timing which ment I went through many matches to get a half decent shot...

Drop us a comment and as usual high res version is on my deviantArt site here.

Having finally bought all the Borderlands DLCs off Steam I thought I'd give them a spin, then review them after finishing or getting stuck.

Accurate depiction of what you will be facing

First up is Dr. Ned's Zombie Island - This DLC promises us the opportunity to slay zombies and lots of them.
Set on a island bought by the Jacobs corporation which for some reason is now crawling with zombies, wereskags and other undead abominations.

This looks promising...

As you materialise from the Fast Travel system you are greeted by a Claptrap imploring you to clear the local township of zombies and reset its defenses. You are then set on a journey through swamps, forests and hordes of zombies to meet the [in]famous Dr. Ned who sends you on your way to run errands to collect data on the zombies which he created accidentally but is apparently looking for a cure.

I really am helping...

From this point onwards you are thrust into an adventure to find out the truth behind the zombie infection, fighting mutated citizens and undead creations that only Dr. Frankenstein would think up.

My flesh, it burns!!!

Gameplay is the same as Borderlands just this time there's more emphasis on use of incendiary, explosive weapons and copious headshots to be had on your undead foes - those who decided to invest in elemental weapons you won't be disappointed by the lightshow.
Pack rats and trigger happy folks are well catered for with the zombies dropping masses of loot, and ammo.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

The Zombie Island arc difficulty is scaled to your current progress in the main arc, resulting in more challenging zombies and better loot the further you are. Unfortunately for me I was only a third way through my second play-through when I decided  to give Zombie Island a spin which resulted in a less than challenging run.

Watch out for the clay pidgeons

The AI is rather dumb with most zombies charging at you with exceptions of those that attack you at range with slowing mud or explosive barrels (that can be blown up), all of which can be countered by simply backpedaling and setting the poor souls on fire. They do have a few tricks up their rotten sleeves such as the ability to spawn anywhere that there is dirt, so watch out for that midget creeping up behind you as you're fight the tank in front.

The new art assets for the zombies look great in their rotting glory, the new maps although simple are loaded with atmosphere everything from creepy looking trees to angry crows that want to eat you; the new local include a hospital graveyard, lumber mill and haunted swamps. Gearbox have done a great job getting the point across that something is not right in paradise.
Network play also gets a mention here as it seems like the various patches for Borderlands has finally fixed the inability to host private games, unfortunately what they haven't fixed is the lack of information about the server such as ping, and location. Aside from those faults the netplay runs like butter.

I think a saw a body move...

This is a great DLC but there are a few shortcomings such as Gearbox recycling the Lance outpost featured in the main arc - reskining it, placing a few corpses strategically and changing the lighting to make it all creepy. Unfortunately that won't fool anyone as even the vending machines are in the same spots.
The problem with items partially showing or not showing at all still exists and remains unpatched by Gearbox.

This picture contains spoilers click at your own risk

Overall what did I think of this DLC? It's a great distraction from the main plot, lets you kill zombies in the most spectacular ways, has a few plot twists, and features Claptrap on Claptrap action: All in all a fun package wrapped in rotting zombie flesh.
Go grab it and you too can be a hotshot zombie slayer!

Yeah I know you're look at those funbags.

Stay tuned for my review of  Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot DLC!

As one can probably gleam from the title it's a defence game more specificly a highly addictive Tower Defence game.

The premise is simple: to defend a group of power cores from aliens of varying types that run the gauntlet through your barrier of towers in waves, these waves get harder and more numerous as the game progresses.

Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run...

Enemies come in all shapes and sizes from tiny swarming bugs, to flying and cloaky bugs who can only be shot at by towers point blank.

So many towers, so little time...

The towers also come in various flavors from the simple machine gun tower to cluster bomb towers.

HMS Dreadnought would be proud

Each tower has its strengths and weaknesses for example the concussion towers drop cluster bombs over a small area and are extremely effective against swarming aliens but are completely inadequate against single tough units, conversely towers such as the Cannon towers deal massive damage to single units but their rate of fire does not allow them to effectively counter aliens that swarm.

(Left to right) Dakka, More Dakka, Even More Dakka

The towers are upgradeable up to two times each upgrade increases firepower, range and rate of fire boosting their effectiveness each time, the towers upon upgrade redeploy with a bigger gun or even more guns ('More Dakka') and are colour coded green (level 1), yellow (level 2) and red (level 3).

Enlighten the Xenos today!

For those who are familiar with Tower Defence games they tend to feature a super weapon capable of saving the player when he/she gets overwhelmed usually in the form of a bomb: Defense Grid gives the player a giant laser satellite that shows the Xenos the light of god in a limited area.

As previously stated the game is very simple: aliens attack your base and you have to defend it with a series of defensive towers, in the default story mode your power cores that are stolen can be returned to your base providing you kill the alien running away with it at which point the alien will drop its prize and the core will slowly float back to its rightful place.

Screamin' Eagles!

The maps make ingenious use of  height opening up new tactics such as perching towers up higher so that they can rain shells on the enemy below while also covering their own level, other design features are multiple entry/exit points for aliens, multiple power core locations and attack paths that can be 'shaped' by blocking them with towers.

Make for interesting game play and unlike more primitive tower defence games allows for a more expanded tactics to be used.

Do it you know you want to.

For the masochistic, challenge modes can be unlocked one of such modes is 'Poison Core' in which any alien that picks up a dropped power core will instantly die and the core is lost. This challenge and other challenges are available after completion of the related story mission.

The game's visuals are pleasing to the eyes - crisp, vibrant, and conveys the game's atmosphere and gameplay very well. The camera allows only one view direction but does let the player to zoom in right down to the heat of the action.

The audio is not bad the soundtrack plays very well with the action, and sound effects are excellent with cannons giving off a chunky 'Bam!' when they let loose. Unfortunately the voice acting in story mode is rather cheesy. Your AI partner speaks with a heavily stereotyped British accent with lines that only James May would utter, just will less sarcasm and 'luxuriousness'.

When talking about it just isn't enough.

As for online features Defence Grid offers leaderboards, highscores and four DLC packs up for sale for $0.99 each which apparently includes more steam achievements and extra maps to slug it out on.

All in all Defence Grid: The Awakening was a great game it fills all the criteria for a game of this type (in my books): Addictive, simple, and entertaining.

Which Defence Grid managed to pull off with flying colours, unfortunately it was only let down by the cheesy voice acting otherwise it's a great time waster for when you're sick of playing soldier, taking over the world or just plain procrastinating.

Grab a copy off Steam today!