Such that it is.

(Disclaimer: Amazon Affiliate links included where possible and I deem them relevant. I’ll earn a small commission, as described in my privacy policy from eligible purchases made through these links.)

Photography Practice

The first update would be my monthly “before and after” photos. First there is the beginning of the year, followed, of course, by current photos:

Not a whole lot of difference… yet. Methinks I need to adjust the position of my camera mount, though; February’s photos look oddly angled and zoomed in more than January’s. (And all it takes is jostling it once and I’ll have no easy way of knowing that it’s in a different position until after I snap the photo.)

I had hoped to show either or both group using WordPress’s built-in gallery feature, but I’m still playing around with that to see if there’s a way to eliminate most of the white space between photos.

Update: Forgot to include my “weight loss” for the month

I think FitBit needs is a “custom range” option–just today, a full month at a time (not just the rolling 30 days you see here), things like that. I mean, a single day at a time I could do straight from the app’s main page, but it would be nice to have other options on the actual chart….

Gaming Footage

I finally got around to recording the character creation for RingFit!

And…. I have to rerecord it because the TV’s backlight was on again. *headdesk* Maybe five minutes after I recorded decent footage for the Wii Fit U body test, at that, so either I got lucky with Wii Fit or the backlight switched itself back on between games and game systems. Hard to say; on the one hand, the idea of the backlight switching itself on just seems weird, but on the other hand, I want to lean towards that theory because the lighting for Wii Fit was much better than it was the first time around.

And since the nephew was over again, naturally on both days I have off, I didn’t get anything recorded until after he left for the night and therefore didn’t discover the error until I had to get ready for bed and the next round of work shifts.

On the plus side, I did discover a few things.

One: the leg strap does not work very well with jeans. Their design just makes them too loose, and the strap keeps sliding down my leg no matter how much I tighten it down. It probably won’t work with most of my pajamas either, though I might have one set that’s snug enough (by virtue of it technically being too small) to work. The whole thing is designed to wear with shorts or leggings, but it’s cold enough to make me hesitate on the one and I simply don’t own the other… unless, again, you count the pjs that are “technically too small.”

Two: check the backlight before every recording session; don’t just assume that it’s set to what I want it to. (Bleh.)

Three: I tried a couple of different recording angles including sitting the camera directly in front of the TV instead of to the side. While this position slightly blocks my view of the screen (I may want to drop the tripod a little), I think it makes for better footage. On a similar note, pointing the “camera” at the TV while rendering makes for better 360 footage, as the default position, which is the only position when the viewing device doesn’t support 360 (case in point, my cable box) will actually show something of the game instead of pointing vaguely to the side of the room. I still need to come up with my own thumbnails instead of relying on YouTube to suggest frames for me, but I think the footage looks better than it did the last time.

And once again, the Fitness games playlist if you’d like to keep an eye out for my other videos.

Zombies, Run!

The last two workouts of “week 3” in the couch-to-5K app… and I made it faster than before. Still without any actual running involved, and no major sciatica flare-up this time. Granted, the weather was decent most of the week, and the roads, even mine, had been cleared off before I set out to do my walk, so that made a considerable difference to both my speed and the lack of back pain, but I’m still amazed at those numbers.

Next up is “week 4,” which, for anyone new to the app will require either a paid Abel Runner’s Club membership that syncs with the main app (and which unlocks all missions in The Walk, while you’re at it) or a this-app-only payment to unlock the remaining missions.

Now if only they’d make a monthly version of the VIP so I can get the rest of the virtual races while still automating my Kasasa transactions….

Suggested products in use, Amazon Affiliate links included where possible:

• GoPro Fusion 360 degree camera
• Wii Fit U plus Fit Meter
• Wii Fit U digital version (there are different price points on Amazon but as much as I’d like to support secondary sellers I haven’t decided how I feel about buying a digital copy from them, though there’s always the option of just buying a Nintendo gift card and buying the game straight from the Nintendo shop)
• Wii Fit Balance Board plus Fit Meter (This is the bundle to get if you go straight for the digital version without owning hardware from the previous incarnations)
• Fit Meter (green) or Fit Meter (black) (the color is solely a matter of personal preference)
• Full Wii Fit U bundle (game, balance board, fit meter; I had hoped to link to a new version instead of a refurbished one, but the new one is one of the “Amazon Associate’s Excluded Items” and… well, commission-as-ulterior-motive, ya dig? 😉 In any case, I’ve yet to encounter a problem with Amazon renewed products, and this one is less pricey than the new new bundle.)