I'm sure that you've noticed, dogs are (can be) territorial. At the dog-walking park or the Sunday afternoon Petsmart trip you often see dogs sniffing each others' butts if given the opportunity. You know, to check each other out. I'm really unsure of what information is exchanged in the event but I would imagine it goes something like this:
*sniff* gender determined
*sniff* indoor / or outdoor pet
*sniff* approximate age determined
et cetera..
Well, photography enthusiasts can be territorial too. Except, I mean, they don't usually do the butt thing. (Although I read about this one unforunate event in New Orleans... but I digress)
I'm serious on the territorial thing, though. Take your camera to a local oft-photographed spot and be aware of the eyes on you from passerby'ers or other photographers.
Thar be some judgin' goin' on Matey.
I mean, if you just rolled up with your fancy new 6D to the Fairhope pier for sunset shots, you don't want to be showed up by that one show off with the 1D X. You won't win the cool kid vote anymore. When we talk about cameras, their capabilities, specifications and attributes, there is an x-factor I think we often overlook or fail to discuss. What does your camera (and lenses) look like and what do you look like when using?
The person with a carbon fiber-legged tripod and gigantic precision head with the dials and markings of a Davinci contraption with that 8lb DSLR perched atop like a pissed off-Raven: That's a professional.
The person with the itty-bitty point-and-shoot-looking camera? Pay them no mind. Santa put that under the tree and they are taking it for a whirl. Move along, nothing to see here. /Amateur!
Since I've been shooting mirrorless for awhile, I've had a tendency to use the mirrorless cameras as my Harry Potter invisibility cloak. If I could spare the trade-off by using my APS-C sized glass, I'd go incognito mirrorless camera and no one would mind me any attention whatsoever. I could shoot in peace without folks commenting on gear. If I had the have the full-frame lense, then I'd carry my own pissed-off looking Raven (Nikon in my case, usually) amongst it's shiny gi-normous tripod.
You bet the comments come. "Wow, you must be some sort of pro-feshunal!" :)
Because, in photography we've been taught that bigger is always better. More length on the lens, more aperture, more megapixels, more ISO always means better gear, right?
I will admit, too, that if I were to pull up and shoot a wedding with a mirrorless camera, there would be some amateur-hour comments under the judgy breaths of attendees, regardless of the capability. Bring that D4 and that noise gets shut down with a quickness.
At any rate, my last 2,000 shutter actuations have been with a full-frame mirrorless camera and I'm almost invisible while using it. So far, not one butt-sniff and I'm okay with that. ;)
It's a brave new world where maybe smaller is just-as-good and I appreciate Sony's spirit of innovation bringing Full frame into the Alpha Mirrorless line. I'm not sure if the value will hold on the camera, not sure if it'll hold up to 200k clicks like my last 4 camera bodies but today, at least.. I don't care b/c I'm sure having fun with it.
Tomorrow morning we're headed out for Disney for a few days. If the internet mojo is good I plan to post some shots while there. Wish us luck! :)
Jena keeps asking me, "When are the Bananas going to be ready??" All I can say is, it is a great and fortunate matter that we do not have to survive on the growth of our own food. :)
Being Bald has some advantages... :)
Buying & selling stuff on Craigslist and eBay sort of scares me, in a thrilling / adventurous way. You meet all of these people that you maybe normally wouldn't. I'll be honest, many of them are complete fruitcakes. In fact, I've often wondered that given the cross-section of humanity I've experienced buying and selling old stuff on Craigslist, what sort of relationships can be built from those people-seeking-people ads. Just know, I'm not besmirching genuine mental-illness, so keep that dramatic hatemail to yourself.
I should also pre-face this that I apparently possess a force-of-attraction for crazy. in Example: A friend and I were having lunch in Gulf Shores a couple years back. This guy comes up to him (we are seated) -
"That is a NICE jacket. Really nice. (Long, lingering pause.....Like..a full minute... then points to his truck) Can I have it? My dog is cold."
Jared looks at me, completely baffled. My response. "Yeah, sorry man. It's me. Happens to be all of the time. I attract them, apparently."
So, in honor of the parade of Fruitcakes that I've met buying and selling stuff on Craigslist, I thought I'd compile a list of my favorite nuttiness for your reading pleasure.
__
"My uncle was a co-founder of Kodak. He invented the darkroom enlarger and has patents for most parts of camera internal mechanisms. "
<- I asked his uncle's name..... He didn't know. Witness protection, perhaps? ;)
"I used to work in a secret government facility, experimenting with alternative energy during the Carter Administration. We had devices that could generate 50kw of electricity per hour just by processing the water in the air. I can't show you the plans because I'm under a federal gag order and they are watching me."
"I was in Nagasaki when the bomb hit, taking pictures. I used a Canon AE-1 Program."
<- He was less than 50 years old in 2013. The AE-1 program came out in 1981. Math, mkay. :|
"Sorry, I can't pay you more than $400, KEH underpaid me for my gear."
<- was wearing a $15k gold watch, $300 shoes, driving a beamer, wearing a freshly pressed San Destin shirt, bragging plenty about his uber-succesful career
"When I grew up, my dad was friends with the Shah of Iran, he had a place in Summerdale, we went over to his house all of the time."
"I'm a journalist and I found Pablo Escobar in Columbia in 199x. He's after me now."
"I actually created Pac-man. The Japanese stole it from me b/c my daddy flew in the Dolittle raids during WW2."
"Stephen Nodine was actually framed, it is a Neo-Nazi conspiracy because he had a falling-out with the leadership in Elberta."
__
At least these fellow travelers in the adventure of life aren't boring. :)
This just in, the results of a multi-year government-funded study has discovered that water is, in fact, wet.
Mind (equal) Blown
Well, I finally did it. I made the move to Full Frame Mirrorless.
..and I'm never going back.
It isn't like shutter mirrors have been a particular inconvenience to me. I've never had one fail, even after doubling the expected shutter actuations on my D7000 and handily exceeding it on my D90 before that. My D800 has been a trooper. The file sizes don't bother me, the images looked great, the workflow was fine.
I just wanted something.. else.. (and I found it)
As a user of the Sony NEX 3, NEX 5, NEX -7, whose APS-C sensors have done very well, I've been seriously impressed with what Sony Alpha (ahem, Minolta) has been doing there. The A77 was a nice feeling camera and I liked it.
The NEX-7 solved a lot of problems for me. It was a super portable, awesome camera with interchangeable lenses. Light enough to attach to a telescope, versatile enough to throw in the car with very good performance in most cases. (Except, that I still am annoyed by hot shoes and I wanted it to be full frame)
When the A7r was announced I tried to not take in the media, knowing it would interest me and I'd probably buy it. I held off, until recently.
The catalyst is, I found myself at a crossroads. I liked the 36 megapixel images of the D800 but found the size and bulk of it and the 14-24mm to be somewhat limiting, in that I very often didn't just grab it as I went out the door... I also wanted a D4. A camera for landscapes and stuff (the D800) and a camera for people, recitals, (the D4) - something that could take photos in a dark room with usable results.
The upcoming A7S solves it for me. I can't really share how I know but I will just say this..
The A7s will be a game changer.
So, this week I finally resigned that I'm done with Nikon. Not that I don't like them or that I'm unhappy with them, this camera has been like my third child. It is just that it makes sense (for me) to replace the D800 with the A7R and go with the A7S when it comes out as my D4 alt. One set of glass, boom.
So, I've been playing with the A7R for a bit and I'll just one line it and say:
I'm impressed!
If you want to find a review on a Sony A7R or Sony A7S, I'm sure can Google it up and find one. Just don't have time to commit to writing one for the A7R (plus there are millions out there) but I may write one for the A7S when it comes.
Sure, I don't think anyone will stop me at Disney, recognizing my gigantic Nikon and complimenting me on it (or hating me for it) and I'm sure people will be off-put by it's lack of professional-looking-ness.
To that I say, most respectfully, pffft.
.. In case I haven't talked you out of the world of mirror-flippy cameras, here is mine, for sale on eBay:
www.ebay.com/itm/181425356979?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&a...
www.ebay.com/itm/181425368309?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&a...
www.ebay.com/itm/181425369026?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&a...
and here's the craigslist ad:
mobile.craigslist.org/pho/4491024961.html
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It is a sad day, in a way but new toys and tools are always fun!
So, this shot was taken with the SEL18200 on the A7R, in FF mode so it had plenty of barreling that I then cropped out. It was shot RAW, indoors at 400 ISO, manual focus. I used a handheld flashlight to bring some light in but couldn't achieve much faster shutter with anything on hand / didn't feel up to bringing out the Bees (and I was actually washing dishes at the time, this is my burger - grill plate under the faucet in my kitchen sink :)
Well, my eyes were bigger than my muscles. I was only able to get about 14 of these in the ground (and two pallets of sod, half a pallet of mulch) before I ran out of time and muscle this weekend, to celebrate Mother's Day!
Much respect to the folks out there that do landscaping for a living!
(and lets try for a minute to be optimistic that these won't be slaughtered in a freeze like the last ones) :/
Two bad puns in one week. I'm on a roll! :)
Wishing you a Happy Easter. Join me in my spring tradition and wherever you are if tomorrow's weather permits, go Fly a Kite with people you love. :)
I had a chance over the weekend to finally catch 'The Lego Movie' with my kids. It was a fun movie, my kids really enjoyed it. Lots of creatively block-styled animation and tongue in cheek humor of the characters poking fun at their personas.
Though, I was struck that I'm a little like the Villain in the movie. A dad-figure who wants everything in it's place, and thus commits plans to use Krazy Glue to permanently affix legos in their built form. I've totally threatened to do that. I guess, the completely built Lego X-Wing is way more interesting to me than the pile of legos said x-wing can quickly be distilled down to.. :)
But, I digress.
So, in the movie there were these not-so-subtle jabs at social conformity. Everyone watches the same pointless TV Sitcom, everyone is known for "one thing" in the way we often build simplified stereotypes of those around us. Everyone listened to the same song, ostensibly called, "Everything is awesome!!" that spread the virtues of teamwork and conformity. Sadly, that two-verse song is stuck in my head now.
Though, at least when sitting on a mostly abandoned beach watching the sun fall below the horizon in blazing spectacles of color and sounds of gulls laughing and waves lapping: Everything is pretty awesome.
