Lines in the Sand

I grew up in a very.. lets say.. adversarial.. household.   Doing so definitely develops a set of conflict resolution skills.

How do you handle conflicts?

Growing up..  it wasn't uncommon for the whole family to get into yelling and fussing matches.  The picture of the 1980's dysfunctional family.   But, we managed to turn our dysfunction into something more functional.

Now that I'm a dad..  our house is a little more like Zen Garden.   We try to keep things chill, mellow.   We understand that words can leave bruises and we tend to err more on the side of touchy-feely.   Everyone tells everyone else they love them, often too much.   Aside from kids fighting or the rare occasion of a child reaching for something that could harm them, we don't really allow yelling.

Sounds almost Gene Roddenberry utopian, right?

Still, I wonder, as is sometimes the case, when I'm reintroduced into some adversarial situation, if I would have handled those as well without the 17 years of practice.   

Today, a rather insistent person saw the bright yellow "D800" strap and was quite determined that I would "sell" it to them.   I refused.. repeatedly .. and the situation seemed as if it could, potentially grow physical.   Fortunately for all-involved, it didn't.

So, I learned too lessons.   1) time to use a more discrete strap.  2) Thanks, mom and dad -- for the practice.

I fear my kids will be less practiced in those arts but hey, I'm okay with that.

It is a pier. It is wet. The colors are slightly muted.

A Play Date with the D800

Some more first experiences with the D800..

I'm working today but Dina and the kids are on spring break.    She took the D800 for its inaugural kid-capture-a-thon.  

She's a great photographer -- has a natural talent for seeing a shot.   The kind of thing some of us work and study to try to emulate.     

This is straight out of the camera.  (90% jpeg quality on export/upload via Lightroom)

I have to say, the clarity at distance of this shot with the extreme resolution to bring it out, draws me into the previously mentioned D800 reality distortion field.  Pretty awesome.   More to come...

A Photo Outing Invitation

 

I'm planning a trip, weather permit on April 17th @ 8am to go to the Pensacola Lighthouse in Pensacola, FL to see the Blue Angels Practice. Admission is limited - there are 12 slots available, admission is $15.00

Attendees would need to be of reasonably good health, capable of climbing the stairwell to the top of the lighthouse.

If you've never been to the Lighthouse, it has some amazing views. If you've never seen the Blue Angels Practice, it is pretty epic. If you've never seen the Blue Angels Practice from the Lighthouse, you're in for a real treat.

Please RSVP if you care to attend and I will make the reservation. 

The Most Realistic D800 "first impressions" you'll ever read...

So, today around dinner time, the big brown van pulled up and delivered this little guy.

I'll post a more complete review in a week or so after I get some time with the camera.    Running outside to snap a DSC_0001 of the ol' trusty rose bush beside my house, just doesn't seem comprehensive.

First impressions?   The D800 is little.   I'm thankful I have little-tiny-midget-like fingers.   The camera grips well in my hand.    If you are a recent draft pick for the NBA or NFL..  The grip may be a touch too small for you.

The autofocus and metering is pretty fantastic.  The shutter sound is.. different.  Not as crisp and "toned" as some crop sensor Nikons and Sonys that I've shot.  Power up time is fast.   Button layout is good, albeit not really creative or much of a design departure for any other Nikon.

In fact... that leads to the only bad thing I can say about the camera, as of yet..  After reading reviews and expectations, first impressions and dialogs of speculation, I half expected to be more blown away.   The box didn't unwrap itself.  Food still tastes, pretty much the same.   My car still gets similar gas mileage.   My hair has still fallen out.  I, so far, seem unaffected by the reality distortion field surrounding this camera.  

Given the hoopla of the D800,.. I half expected a beer commercial-like scene to somehow take place around me after opening it.    Bikini models would bring me a Guinness and children would ask for my autograph.  The President would call for congratulatory advice and I would broker a deal for world peace.

Apparently, the D800 is just a camera, after all.  ..and from my first experiences... a pretty darned good one.

In a Sea of Clouds

Prehistoric

Standing Beneath the Spanish Moss, you can't help but feel that you've been transported through time, to an era dominated by giant Iguanas and featherless birds..

With my D800 not arriving until Monday and my A77 still in the shop, I considered renting a camera body for the ESCC Photo Walk.   I also considered picking up another "cheap" Micro 4:3's camera for the event.  

Instead, I took my Nikon N90S 35mm Film Camera.  I'm so glad that I did.   Shooting with film again, really made me focus on technique and camera handling.. It forced me to be more thoughtful in shots, light, my surroundings and composition.  I only went through two rolls (one B&W and one Color) but I'm pretty sure something good will come back from the North Coast Process and Scan Service.

I had a blast today at the Eastern Shore Camera Club - "Brody Bunch" - Photo walk @ Blakeley.

It was really great to get to see everyone, especially since I haven't been able to make the last two meetings.  

It was super-cool to get to finally meet www.flickr.com/photos/bamboosage  in real life and hang out a bit!

This, was taken with a 3rd Generation iPad.   It is composed of two shots that were stitched together in photoshop and some various de-coloring stages in Nik.. 

Dreams Take Flight

Ah, to be a child again.    

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I think the answer to that question says alot about a social unit.

An Astronaut, a Firefighter, Police Officer or Doctor?

Some kids may say "President of the United States" but I'm willing to bet no children will say "A politician."

How many children, for that matter, say that they wish to be a Democrat or Republican when they grow up?

It is a shame, really.. that we adults get so wrapped into the everyone-looses, no-compromise partisanship currently in play.  I would encourage my children otherwise.  Paraphrasing Einstein, Arts & Sciences are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but arts and sciences are something for eternity.

Me?  I wanted to be an inventor.   Maybe it could still happen. :)

Time Travel

(This shot from inside the Great Movie Ride, last year on vacation)
If you could time travel to any era -- what era would you choose?

I would love to see America in the 50's or 60's.  Something about the style, the simplicity and promise of the era.

Happy Thursday! 

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Almost

As I was working this image... I kept feeling inclined to correct the geometric distortion. I decided it added character and decided to leave it :)

The De-Evolutionary Ladder

I ended up working in Orange Beach today, working from The Stargazer.  It's my thinking spot.

The Wharf Marina was all a-buzz with activity, cleaners and various maintenance people running about.  In prep for great weather and the upcoming boat show..

I found it rather amusing as I took my dingy, by dock cart, to the car, a guy, presumably a boat-service worker of some fashion, sat near the dock burning a bowl-pipe of  weed.  

Right out in the open, for all to see. I admire the moxy but question the judgement...

Speaking of...judgement.. have you ever noticed that the internet is all full of adults acting like bickering grade-schoolers?  Nothing has underlined this more than the events surrounding my decision to invest in a full-frame DSLR.

I started out in research mode.   Considering the D4, D3x, D800, D700, Canon 5DMk2 and the 5Dmk3.

The forums and posts and blogs about these very different cameras are filled with slews of people being rude to one-another.  Paraphrased...

"36 megapixels is too much for anyone.  Only 4 frames per second???? Like GOSH! That's terri-bad, I'll take a D4 any day!!"

"16.2 Megapixels for a D4??!   In my day we shot with a VGA CMOS, up hill - in the snow -- and LIKED IT, I say!"

"D4?  Pukesville man.   Canon totally roxors and you Nikon people are smelly ape-beings for liking that junktastic weaksauce."

.....

Amazing how every discussion about the strengths of one camera would always turn very one sided.    Some know-it-all would jump in with absolutisms like "You CAN'T be a serious sports-wedding-bowling-league-hotdog-eating-contest photographer without a 6 fps body, $12k in lenses and 6 alien bees." or "Only 16 megapixels...  GOSH!  My Windows Phone has a better camera than that and has instagram!!  I needz 128 megapixels for squirrel portraits or for photos collected around the nation of biblical figures' faces occurring in random objects for my upcoming photoblog "Jesus Toast."

Amidst my work-day today, it occurred to me. "Oh yeah, my D800 preorder had a shipping date for today, I'll check that.."   The check let me to NikonRumors.com, this post:  http://nikonrumors.com/2012/03/19/nikon-d800-to-start-shipping-this-week.aspx/

I like that site and respect it as a journalistic source but the comment threads show more schoolyard numbskulls..

Droves and droves of, 

"OMG, LOL I just about peed my pants with excitement waiting for this camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

to the pouty-pants posters:

"Grumble Grumble.  Frowny Face.   There's no way I'm getting the camera tomorrow.      If amazon doesn't deliver tomorrow,  I'm canceling my order!!!!  That'll show em''' those... evil ... japanese capitalists, HA!!"

Sure.. getting new gear is exciting.  Learning and using new gear is even more exciting.  But, do we all have to turn into pre-adolescent weenies in the wake of, or anticipation of, a product release?

If you create mental images of the people behind the keyboards, typing the things we read..  when I read these comments I see little Bobby Baker, in the lunchroom, shooting spitballs as little Suzie Richards.  Suzie acuses
Bobby of having cooties and Bobby calls her something witty like "Puke face."

...and I just.. can't for the life of me...  Envision Bobby and Suzie as career-level pro-or-semi-pro's with the expendable income to support a $4k+ camera setup.

..they must have been skimming off their lunch money for a long time..

One Particular Harbor

Cutting grass this afternoon, I definitely found myself in a Jimmy Buffet sort of music mode.   Given the scenes afforded by our region, it's no wonder the carefree-beach-themed musician originated in our area.

An Open Letter to the Electronics Industry

Dear Electronics Industry, (sans Apple)

I love you.   You know that.   We've had some good times, you and I.  Remember those long walks with the Walkman?  Those first days of moving from VHS to DVD…   Those dreamy nights with you, me and my family…  on the couch, eating popcorn and enjoying your services. 

I feel that we've grown close enough that I can tell you anything - and in a way, that's what makes this so hard.  If I had a friend partaking in a dangerous addiction or plagued by unhealthy habits, I'd have to step in - to intervene.  To help.

That's why I'm writing you today.

I have good news and bad news.  

Decorum dictates that bad news goes first, so here goes:  You suck at customer satisfaction, especially where repairs or service are concerned.   

Nikon, about 2 years ago I had a camera from you with some "first-batch" issues.   Autofocus would focus at an incorrect distance and required some tweaking.  The autofocus ring on the camera was also loose, causing the camera to drop into manual focus, often inopportunely.

The issue was prolific.   Forums abound with others sharing the same problem.   Entire websites dedicated to it, in fact.   So, I called you for a warranty repair.   Even though you had made the repair 1,000's of times, you had no ability to provide me with a time and materials estimate.   Your answer?   Mail the camera to me and I'll see.

This was, of course, after dozens of back-and-fourth, "try this, send me samples" through your ticket system.

I did mail, at considerable personal expense, the camera to you for repair.   Nearly a month later you returned it, without warning.  At least the issue was repaired.   At least the warranty was honored.

What's that -- SONY?  You think you are better?  Oh, no.  I recently scratched the LCD on my SLT-A77 camera.  I could work around the issue but my annoying tendency to try to keep everything I own, "as new" stepped in.    

I contacted your support department and expressed that I would like to have the LCD replaced.   That I understood such a repair would not be covered by the warranty.  How long would such a repair take?  How much would it cost?

Your answer.. "Send it to us, we'll have to see."

Three days after overnighting the package, I receive a poorly formatted automated email around midnight stating you've received my package.  The email includes a phone number and an "Event ID."

I call the number… Here is my call.

Traverse the automated call system… (For Consumer electronics dial…  for Alpha DSLR's dial… please hold)… (5 minutes, no hold music, no clicks.. just silence.)

Sony Repair Dude.. "Hello?"

Me.."Hi, my name is Bill Dodd and I have a camera in for Service.  I'd like to check the status of that please."

Sony Repair Dude.."What is your ticket number?"

Me.."Would that be my "event ID"? 

Sony Repair Dude.."Sure."

Me.."0079…."

Sony Repair Dude.."Please wait while I look it up."

5 more minutes.. no hold music.. just silence..

Sony Repair Dude.."Found you.  Bill Dodd, right?"

Me.."yep."  thought:  (..isn't that what I said?)

Sony Repair Dude.."how may I help you?"

Me.."Looking for status of the repair or estimate, please."

Sony Repair Dude.."You would like to know the status of your repair?"

Me.."Yes, Please."

Sony Repair Dude.."Please wait while I look it up…"

(7 minutes.. just silence)

Sony Repair Dude.."Hello?"

Me.."yes?"

Sony Repair Dude.."You wanted the status of the repair?"

Me.."Yes, please."

Sony Repair Dude.."Hold please."

(4 minutes…)

Sony Repair Dude.."Hello?"

Me.."Yes?"

Sony Repair Dude.."You were looking for the status of the repair for your camera?"

Me.."Yes please.  "

Sony Repair Dude.."It is In Production."

Me.."So.. no part problems… you have the LCD in stock, you are fixing it under warranty?"

Sony Repair Dude.."So far.."

Me.."Can I know when to expect the repair to be complete?"

Sony Repair Dude.."7-12 business days."

Me.."from… what date?"

Sony Repair Dude.."excuse me?"

Me.."7-12 days from today or 7-12 days from receipt."

Sony Repair Dude.."yes."

Me.."Yes?  Which one is it?  "

Sony Repair Dude.."7-12 business days."

Me.."Thank you."

Sony Repair Dude.."Can I help you with anything else today?"

Me.."You could answer my question."

Sony Repair Dude.."What question, sir?"

Me.."Will the camera be repaired within 7-12 days from today or 7-12 days starting the date you received it 7 days ago?"

Sony Repair Dude.."It will usually take 7-12 business days."

Me.."Thanks for your time, have a great day."

Sony Repair Dude.."Anything else I can help you with, sir?"

Me.."Nope, I've had enough -- thanks!"

…

If this call was monitored for the sake of improving customer service, some people need to be fired, like today.  

Now, the good news!  The solution to your problem has already been implemented.. by Apple.  Just copy them and it will all work itself out. 

1 month ago, my Macbook pro freezes.  Dead hard drive.   I recover the data manually and then go to Apple's support site.   I enter my serial number, it tells me I have 3 days left in warranty and has an option to "call me."

I enter my number and the site tells me to expect a call in two minutes.   It was 1 minute.

The rep asked me what the problem is, asks me the steps I've tried and agrees the hard drive, is indeed broken.   Has time and materials costs on hand and assures me my situation is covered under warranty.    Because no Apple store is near me, they send out a pre-paid Fedex overnight box with stupid-simple boxing instructions.

I return the notebook.

A day later, I receive a nice email stating the laptop has been received and is in queue for repair.   A day later I receive a repair status update saying the notebook is repaired.  A day after that, Fedex rings my door with a repaired notebook.

Regardless of how you personally feel about Apple.  If you like them or hate them.. if you can't stand macs or if you think iPhones are dumbed down phones.  If you love macs and think the iPhone is the only premier phone offering… it doesn't matter… You have to admit.. based on stock price, consumer satisfaction, cash on hand and mindshare, Apple is KILLING these other electronics retailers at their own game.

I can't help but think this example customer service difference is part of that…

Whether you ship software or silicon, build houses or mow grass, make portraits or cheeseburgers… a customer service experience is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to cultivate a relationship to your customer, gather feedback and exceed expectations. 

Building awesome, shiny widgets isn't enough.   If these other manufacters are to succeed against the likes of Apple, they will have to adopt new levels of quality across all disciplines, especially those customer-facing.  The current initiatives for promoting quality in a company ARE NOT WORKING.   Apple isn't pushing Six Sigma.   Apple isn't following Disney guidelines and practices.   Apple doesn't follow.  They lead.  Right now, Apple is leading us all to expect more from companies and they do it by promoting ownership and responsibility at the individual level within their company.  Quality isn't learned. Quality is practiced.  Quality is woven through the organization.  This is the legacy that Steve Jobs left, not just for Apple to follow but for all of us to embrace.

I still love my Nikon and Sony cameras.   I love my Android phone and Samsung TV.   But, God help Nikon & Sony if Apple ever decides to make a real camera and help the rest if they ever decide to make TVs…  Apple has the fundamentals DOWN.  Design, supply chain, fulfillment, retail and support.   If they enter your market and decide to compete against you, they will eat your lunch.

Learn and adapt now or we consumers will truly have few options in the future. 

Epic Weather Returns

It seems like we didn't even have a winter, here on the Gulf Coast. 
Sure, the grass died and leaves fell. We had a few cool nights.

But, it never got cold and stayed that way. I never bothered to winterize anything and at the end of the season, I hopped on the lawnmower and turned the key, it started right up.
Not even cold enough to zap a battery charge?

With one 80 degree weekend down and another around the corner.. it looks like it's going to be a pretty season here on the Gulf Coast!

What is Art?

There is this theme in Software technology that is often picked up by Hollywood.  The idea of free information exchange.   Tron, Hackers, Sneakers, Antitrust.   All the movies that take place in the "computer universe" seem to wrestle with this notion.

A free thinking protagonist struggles to arrest the intellectual property from an antagonist with unlimited resources, often a government agency or multi-billion dollar corporation.

One of the treatises behind nesting dolls in ancient cultures was that a person is actually a community of "individuals" -- each very different and often contending for control.  

Since I've found myself exploring this "artistic" side of photography, it has led me to, for the first time, count myself, at least partly, as an artist.  This is at odds with my engineer self.

Recently, I went with a friend to pick up a piece of art he bid on during the a recent Arts Festival.  It was a hand-blown glass figure and he was thrilled to get it.   While he was picking up his new acquisition, I meandered the gallery appreciating the displays from a multitude of art forms along the walls.

For the first time, in my life, it occurred to me that some of my work could in fact qualify to be displayed in such a way, so I inquired as to what that process was like.

The work is submitted, then juried by a panel of judges in that specific art form.

Cool. Whatever, I may make a few prints and have a go at it.

But, as we drove off I thought a lot about what constitutes art.  On the extreme edges there are successful and sought-after artists creating paintings and incorporating their own DNA.   Taking their labors and "blood, sweat and tears" concept to a whole new meaning.

On the more boring end of things there are people like me.   Weekenders armed with a camera and a touch too many hours behind the computer.  Sculptors, painters, poets and writers.  Musicians & Dancers.  They .. could .. all be art.

More so, what qualifies a person to be the "judge" of anthers' art?   

I see art in the soft curve of an full sail and the hard lines of a Kimber 1911 Pistol.   I also see art in the gentle slopes of dunes and rolling arches of waves. 

I wish the world of art was a bit more like the free-reign hackers of those movies.. All information being equal and open to be consumed by others.. No judges. No contest.

I hope that the zeal of emerging photographers, designers, painters, musicians and other artists aren't easily squashed by the likes of a "juror."   Having received a healthy dose of coldly-worded rejection letters from Stock Photography aggregators and other "judges" for my art form, I hope that others are as thick-skinned as I can be.

If you enjoy doing it..  Judges and Jurors be damned.  It's your art.

Seeking Definition

 As he sat, at sunset beside a pier in Fairhope, Alabama, he reflected on his life.  He graduated High School "middle" of his class, just another kid destined to work in the train yards.  He fought a few tours in the war, yet those experiences didn't define him.

He settled down with a pretty young lady from his home town in Indiana and they were married.   A good looking couple, they bought a modest home near the River.  He did work in the train yards in the region.  He worked hard and saved what he could.   Yet, his career didn't define him, either.

They had three children, who, in turn, grew up to give them 5 grandchildren.   He and his wife loved their son and daughters and loved the grandchildren.

They vacationed in Florida, often in an RV.  Family would come and they would drink beer, shuck oysters and cook on an open fire.

As his grandchildren started to creep into adulthood the affects of time on his body could be felt.  His hands, rough from a lifetime of back-breaking work and his eyes, still the sharp reflections of his thoughtful 18-year old self.   One morning, he lost his wife to old age.   The loss was more than he could tolerate and the memory of her absence sting'd in the day-to-day moments to turn to recollection.  The pain of her loss didn't define him either.

He watched as his kids began to age, his grandchildren began to marry.   He took parts in the joy of their marriages and helped with the road bumps still being encountered by his own children.    Yet, fatherhood, did not define him.

He struggled with diagnosis codes and Dr visits, hospital stays and financial planning.   His health and strength began to leave him.   One daughter estranged.  One son, took time nearly every day to come visit and talk with him.  

Grandchildren began to act as caretakers and the visits… began to feel less frequent from the family in whole.  Work schedules, school schedules, daycare and Dr's visits of their own… The man's children had developed their own lives.   

They still visited.   They loved him, appreciated him and showed it. 

But, in the time between visits, his own failing health began to become more and more unbearable.   The thought of growing infirm and weak and worse -- the thought of being a burden on his family wore so heavy on his mind, that one afternoon, he laid in bed with his .38 and took his own life.

The grandchildren who found him were forever marked by the sight.   I was at work, 600 miles away when I received word of his passing from this Earth.   I remember what I was doing and I remember the longer-than-usual trip back to Indiana.

All of us remember him in our own way.   

Is that what defines his life?    

I remember, the strong and experienced, hard-handed and soft-eyed man, sitting beside the water and I thought of him, when I captured this photo of a stranger in Fairhope.

Join us Saturday, 3/24 for a Spring Photo Walk

Epic Weather is here and Spring has certainly sprung on the Gulf Coast.  Come join us for a photo walk at Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama from 9:30am to 12:30pm CST on Saturday March 24, 2012. Organized by the Eastern Shore Camera Club and led by Flickrite, all-around nice guy and nature photography Extraordinaire, Brody J.

It'll be "loose and fun".  Stay with the group or do your own thing, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for photographic goodness along the nature trails and the Mobile Bay Delta.

Event page on the face space intarwebs:  http://www.facebook.com/events/206787166090018/

http://www.blakeleypark.com/

I'll definitely be there.   You don't need a high dollar camera to attend..  I may or may not have a camera with me.  I'm at the mercy of Sony's Laredo Repair Center and Amazon.com.    If no camera materializes this week, I'll just use a Camera Phone or iPad.

Speaking of iPad..  Being camera-less, I stepped out and snapped this with the iPad.   Looks as if they have the camera significantly improved in this iteration!

On a Chilly Morning, the Sun Went Nova..

A Portait of Nothing In Particular..

One morning, I was "still up" from a night of programming things.   Decided brisk, cool morning sunset was more inviting than my pillow and made it down to Gulf Shores for some solitude and camera time.

On the way back home, I decided to pop into this small nature trail I've always noticed but never stopped to traverse.    The trail wasn't as large as I thought but I snapped this shot towards Lake Shelby... A shot of nothing in particular but I liked the leading lines generated by the trees leading back to the condos..

The Ferry Door Greeter

I took a ferry ride on the way back from a visit to the sailmaker.   (How's that for a Jimmy Buffet songline?)  ..   As the ferry approached the Ft. Morgan landing and I was getting back into my car, I snapped this shot.