Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Tell me more...

 

If you said, "A line from the song Summer Nights, in the musical Grease, 1978," you get 10 bonus points.  If you are hearing that song in your head right now, you are part of a great generation.

This morning, the lovely Blonde told me all about the differences between sweet potatoes and yams.  For a good 15 minutes.  No, I didn't ask.  I could sum it up with: "One, I don't like, and the other, I don't care for."

Apparently, the humor came through when I said, "Tell me more..."

Her retort: "I'll remind you of this the next time you tell me about bikes or cameras."

Touche'.

 

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Hot Tub Party...

 

You didn't get your invite?  It was a pretty small party.  I was out soaking this morning - Joan brought Murphy into the courtyard.  Our rule with Murphy in the yard is: someone has to keep an eye on him; we don't let him out there on his own.

The boy was quite intrigued with the hot tub...







 This may be the first he's seen anyone in it.  He has checked it out when I'm checking the PH or adding sanitizer.  "You actually get in this thing, huh?"

After cleaning up, Joan went to the store; I geared up and went for a ride.  My choice today was the Burgman scoot... it hasn't seen a lot of riding since I got the CTX out.  It was after noon that I got out today.  When we first got back from our summer trip, I had to get out first thing in the morning or it would be too hot.  Now, 2 months later, it is too chilly for me to get out on a bike at first light; it was 43º this morning at sunrise.  64º when I got out, and that still felt a bit nippy.

The riding was good, though - very little traffic, lots of sunshine.  My favorite outing: up South Mountain.  I did a few short 360 video clips - here are a couple stills from that...


 

It felt good to get out. 

A video from today's ride...



Sunday, November 17, 2024

Digital vs Analog...

 

I replied to a comment from Earl a couple days ago, regarding Hasselblad cameras.  From my perspective in the photo industry, Hasselblad cameras were the pinnacle.  I had to look it up: yep, Hasselblad is still making cameras, rethought for the digital age...

Apparently, they are still the pinnacle, capable of producing 100mg raw images.  That said, who needs 100 megabyte photo images?  I don't know who is actually using these.

I did try out a Hasselblad digital back right before we made the switch from film to going 100% digital.  It produced a 20mg file.  We had the latest Mac equipment at the time, and the files bogged down the computers.  Plus, the digital back had to be tethered to the computer, making it a hassle to use anywhere but in the studio.

Enter the Kodak Professional digital camera, based on a Nikon F5 (the 35mm pinnacle camera at the time)...


It was a beast of a camera that produced 6mg digital images raw.  Worked up in Photoshop, they became 18mb files.  We could use them in the studio, on location, and outdoors.  We bought two of them and started the transition to a full digital operation, including 3 printing stations, a Kodak "proofing" software suite (which meant we had to have a Microsoft OS computer to run it), and a wide format digital printer capable of producing up to 30x40 prints.

We were well ahead of the competition and the learning curve, since we had been doing all our own color printing from film in house.  What the digital lab brought: no mixing of chemicals, no need to work in the dark.  We used dye sublimation technology, giving us prints that were less prone to fading, like traditional photo paper.  With Photoshop, our retouching abilities were limited only by imagination, as opposed to retouching on a color negative.

Consumer digital cameras were crap.  Potential clients were suspicious of what a "digital portrait session" would produce.  Some people actually said to us, "We don't want digital - it looks bad."

To which we would reply, "Would you like something like the prints you see on display here?" pointing at the large prints on our walls.

"Yes."

"Those were all made with electronic imaging... digital."

"Ohhhh."

We used that phrase, "electronic imaging," instead of "digital."  There was no going back for us - we shut down our film and photo paper processing.  If someone needed an image from a file that we had shot on film, we had installed a color negative scanner to produce a quality digital file.  Our transition was complete.  It was not an inexpensive transition.  The digital cameras were more expensive than any film based Hasselblad.  The dye-sub paper was more expensive than silver-based photo paper.  All of our mounting, texturing, and print finishing was the same, so there was no learning curve there.  We went from printing paper proofs to putting "proof" images in a bound book.  Other early digital adopters were going "proofless," requiring people to come into the studio to make their selections from a computer.  It was another cost to make that proof book, but it allowed people to show their images to grandparents and other family and friends.  We felt it was worth the cost with larger orders.

Commercial clients quickly embraced the new technology - they no longer had to have a four color separation made from each image to have it printed - they could go right from the files we delivered to the printing process for catalogs or magazine ads.  (Yeah, there were scads of catalogs and magazines back then.)

And then the quality of consumer digital cameras improved while the cost dropped dramatically.  People quickly developed the attitude of "if that shot isn't good, take another - it doesn't cost anything!"  Quite different from the attitude when shooting film.  People figured out that they could copy almost any image in their home, with a scanner or their new digital camera.  We could see that it was going to be impossible to protect the ownership (copyright) of an image.

Crap digital imaging was becoming acceptable.  We decided it was time to retire.  We sold the studio and stayed on for 90 days to train the new owner's staff.  Unfortunately, he did not participate much in that process.  I suggested to him that he consider changing the business model: less emphasis on selling finished prints, and raising the price for the sessions to make up for it.  The retouching, printing, and finishing was labor intensive... I would average 2 hours shooting a session - proof printing, sales, image selection, retouching, printing, and delivery would take much longer than that.  It was my belief that the new business model for photography would be: image creation based rather than finished print based.

By that point (2006), we were out.  At one of the last seminars I did, I told the professional photographers there: "The next big change you will see in our industry will be high school seniors having a small device that will hold their senior portrait digital files, and they will be able to beam those files to their friends with similar devices.  Trading wallet-size photos will be a thing of the past."  Most of them scoffed.

And then came the first iPhone in 2007.  I was right on about "the device," but didn't see the demise of having professional portrait sessions done.  People were taking their own "senior portraits" with cheap digital cameras or these new smart phones.  Grandma didn't need to have actual photos of the grandkids to show her friends, when she could let them look at her phone.

Smart phones decimated the professional photography business.  And the film/camera industry.  There are a zillion "professional photographers" (self-proclaimed, they're all over social media), but very few actually making a living by creating images.

While I went through a period where I didn't care if I picked up a camera or not, I appreciate making images for my own enjoyment these days.  Whether it is the full moon, Murphy being cute, or shooting some video while out on one of the bikes. 

I remember when that first "Aha!" moment hit me regarding photography: first year in college, my (late) best bud Bill was showing me around the darkroom.  I watched an image come up on black and white photo paper while in the developer... I was amazed.  It was the beginning.  That first Hasselblad didn't come until years later.



Friday, November 15, 2024

Beaver Shot...

 

Yes, I am talking about these photos of the Full Beaver Moon I just took.  Tonight's full moon is the final supermoon of four consecutive supermoons of the year! This means that it will appear bigger and brighter than normal! 

Why the “Beaver” Moon? This is the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, having laid up sufficient food stores for the long winter ahead. During the fur trade in North America, it was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts. 

This evening, there was a cloud layer that was obscuring the moon.  I am patient.  At times.  Here's the progression...




And, this final "beaver shot" unobscured...




Thursday, November 14, 2024

I'm just tired of it...

 

Research.  No, not for something to benefit mankind... like: curing the heartbreak of flatulence.  I'm kidding - I don't suffer from flatulence... I quite enjoy it.  Oh, come on - like you didn't know that was coming??

I have been enthusiastic about photography for over 50 years.  Back in the early 70s, it was a passion that turned into a career.  And when we retired from that in 2006, I went several years where the only thing I took photos of was for the blog (and prior to that, a weekly travel newsletter).

And then I stumbled into shooting video... with action cameras (and 360 cameras).  Cameras so small and specialized that it didn't feel anything like the years of capturing portrait and commercial images with a Hasselblad.

I did get a couple Nikon DSLR cameras.  OK, and a couple Canons and a Lumix.  But none of that equipment stirred my soul like the Hasselblads of my past.  The little action cameras have been fun, but that is more about capturing riding (motorcycles and scooters) video.  The passion has been more about the riding than the video.  Oh, yeah, and a bunch of music videos, most done during the Covid years ("Stayin' at Home" videos).

Recently, I have found myself interested in shooting some video that isn't about riding.  Yes, a change of pace since getting the Roadtrek.  So, I have been looking at cameras that will be a good fit for travel videos... but still give me options for still photography.  I have it narrowed down to a couple, but my need isn't immediate.

Since 2006, buying something technical like a camera has changed... not many camera stores are left these days.  Probably because everybody shoots video and stills with their phones.  And the phone cameras are convenient.  But the form factor for creating images and videos is much better with a dedicated camera.  They just feel better in your hands.  Probably because a "real" camera doesn't need to fit in your pocket.

But the real change has been the proliferation of YouTube: if you want to buy a particular camera, there will be a seemingly endless flow of videos about that camera.  And comparing that camera to another.  And another.  Information overload.  I often wonder if there is a camera sold for each of those videos?  Oh, I get it: these "influencers" are trying to get an audience to subscribe to build up their YouTube channel so they can get paid to make these videos.  Many of these reviewers proudly proclaim, "I bought this with my own money, so you know this is an honest evaluation," while they secretly envy other reviewers who have been given equipment from the manufacturers so they can do more reviews, and help sell more cameras... all while saying, "Sony (or Canon, or insert a camera maker here) gave me this camera to review, but that doesn't mean I'm influenced by getting free stuff (bullshit - if they don't give a good review, the manufacturer isn't going to give them more stuff) - this is my own opinion and I'm going to tell the good AND the bad."  They all say it, almost like it is a script.  Since so many of them are saying essentially the same things about any particular camera, I think they must be watching each others' videos so they don't say something that doesn't jive with the rest of the reviewers.  It's a lot.

And if you haven't plunged into the YouTube universe, one video flows into the next, whether is is from the same reviewer with a different camera, or a different reviewer with the same camera.  Seriously, if the manufacturers are getting sales from people watching these reviews, they must be doing good.

I'll let you know if and when I get something, but I will be buying it with my own money, so you know I'll be giving you the honest facts... hahahahahahaha!


Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Touristing...

 

I was feeling the need... the need to get out in the Roadtrek for a day-trip.  Joan put a few snacks together, I put a couple cameras in a bag, and we headed out.  A general plan of "heading southeast towards Florence."  Because... we have never been to Florence.

We stayed off the main highways as we made our way through San Tan Village and other communities in the furthest southeast portion of the Valley of the Sun.  It was interesting just checking out the developments in that area.  An hour or so later, we rolled into Florence...





 It was a "drive through"... not for lunch, but we didn't get out of the van.  Next stop: Coolidge.  We were just enjoying being in the van...


As we made the turn towards Coolidge, there was a sign for the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument... "Shall we?"  We shall.  This time, we stopped and got out of the van...

I still smile when I can pull it into a normal parking spot.  :-)

It is, literally, just a couple blocks off the main road.  We walked through the Visitors Center...

A model of what the Main House looked like 1,000 years ago...

And then out through the ruins...



The shelter is built over it to help preserve it.  This was a 3 story structure when it was intact.




The Main House was being restored.  Those low level "lumps" you see just above the ground (4 photos above) are what's left of the individual family dwellings.  There were areas for a ball court, as well as communal food prep and art creation buildings.  No descendents to know for sure, but archeologists have pieced things together that make sense.  There are many interesting "communities" throughout the southwest, from these desert dwellings where they had irrigation systems 1,000+ years ago, to the cliff dwellings like Montezuma's Castle (between Phoenix and Flagstaff) and the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings near the 4 Corners area.  This was an interest visit.  We've driving by the sign on the Interstate many times, but this is the first time we have visited the ruins.

From there, we headed towards I-10 to the west.  Some interesting roads and terrain...


Driving north on I-10, heading back towards the Phoenix area, Joan pointed out "This is the first time we've been south of the Loop 202 on I-10 since we moved here a year ago."

We stopped at Outback Steak House for a late lunch, then a stop at Sam's Club to gas up the van... for $2.72/gal.  We saw gas as high as $3.69 on our travels today.  Someone will likely ask: between 15 and 16 miles per gallon on this fill-up.  We could have certainly taken the Equinox for this day trip, but I was wanting to get out in the van.  It was Joan's suggestion to go see Florence and Coolidge, I suggested the Casa Grande Ruins when I saw the sign.  Joan said, "Next trip out is your call."  I'm thinking there will be an overnight involved.


Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Homework...

 

You went back to school, Jim?  No but... you know.

I got together with my music buddies today.  I got a text from Mark - well, a group text - asking that each of us turn in 4 songs so he could make a set list.  It could be songs we already know or something one of us wants to work on.  Then, today, Mark came up with: pick a song from that list, let's play it, then guess who submitted that particular song.

It was entertaining and kept things flowing.  And, we worked up a couple new tunes.  Some interesting harmonies.  And, of course, Mark comes up with chords I've never seen before.