Tag: photography gear

Cat Nap

192/365

The picture has nothing to do with the rest of the post. It’s just really cute when Lily sleeps. It’s also unusual to see her do anything other than chase Robin around and try to bite her head off.

I’m still feeling a little under the weather. The headache is lingering but it’s not too bad. I just feel sort of worn out after last night. These experiences take a lot out of me.

Jen is working on some hardware upgrades to her computer. Harry is asleep. I’m in the living room watching YouTube videos about camera gear. I can’t afford a good medium format film camera, but what about an ancient folding camera? That could be fun, right?

I’ve been thinking about camera gear over the last few days. Specifically, I have been thinking about Bellana’s graduation. We are not going to be able to sit close this time, unlike her high school graduation where they let the valedictorian’s family get right up to the front. Did I mention she was her high school class’ valedictorian? Anyway, I don’t have a zoom lens for my mirrorless camera. I should get one. I have a couple of zoom lenses for the film cameras. My Nikon has a 35-70 which would help a little, but it’s in pretty crappy shape. Dad has an 80-200 which would be really great, but it’s a pretty cheap, crappy lens so I’m a little afraid to put any faith in it. I am going to use it with the Pentax to Nikon adapter on the next roll of film I shoot on my Nikon to see how it goes. If it works okay and gives half decent results, then it will come to graduation for some film moments. Mostly I plan to go digital for the important things at graduation, so the question of a lens for the mirrorless camera still needs to be answered.

In the meantime though, I have a small project for myself. Photographically speaking, I need new places to shoot this year. I need to prep with Google. One project is lighthouses. I need to find them so I can visit them. Beyond that? Google: “hiking trails near Methuen, MA”. Think it will give me anything worthwhile? Here’s hoping.

For now though, I might go over to the eBay and search for Nikon lenses. I’ll let you know if I find anything.

Catching Up After a Couple of Off Days

The last couple of days have been weird, health-wise. First it was the headache issue on Tuesday, then it was stomach issues on Wednesday. Now here we are on Thursday and I am feeling a little like a wrung out face cloth. Here’s hoping today will be a quiet day.

We’re having some HVAC folks come and tell us what they need to do to replace the mini-split in the bedroom. We’ve had it serviced a couple of times this winter, but it’s just not working and we’re more or less unable to heat the bedroom without using a space heater as a supplement. They won’t actually replace it for another week or two, but they are coming for a fact finding mission.

So, television. Yesterday was the premier or season three of The Mandalorian and I could not be at a higher hype level. The first episode was excellent but… I think today’s third episode of season three of Picard might have been better. I did not see that coming, kids. I was just glued to the screen as I was getting this morning’s jogging (yogging) in. The captain vs admiral conflict seemed a little forced and out of character, but everything else? Fan-freakin-tastic. The bad guys behind the bad guy? Fan-freakin-tastic! I can’t wait for episode four. I also can’t wait for episode two of The Mandalorian, but that’s a given. In the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, I come down on the Star Wars side, generally, but only by a little bit. Regardless of which franchise you prefer, it’s a pretty good time to be a space opera fan, am I right?

For the first time in a year, I am suffering from guitar gear acquisition syndrome. There are two overdrive pedals that I really want to buy, and I also really want to buy an amplifier simulator that I can use as a plug in through GarageBand. Last year I finished the RPM Challenge with a plan to do their Record Every Month challenge throughout the rest of the year. I had a goal of two songs each month that I could pretend were a single. I failed completely. I didn’t write a single song over the 11 months between the 2022 RPM and the 2023 RPM (with the exception of a few failed attempts in November). I am going to try again, but I am probably not going to record guitars through my amplifier on a regular basis. I am thinking I can do direct input more often and I want a good amp sim that I can use consistently. The one I am looking at is only $40, but I just don’t want to spend any money. We have a mini-split to buy after all.

Speaking of gear acquisition syndrome, I also really want to buy a new lens for my new camera. I adore the 40mm lens we bought for Disney, but I’d like a little zoom option. Possibly because the cats are suffering from The Zoomies every night and it just sort of inspired me, you know? I also really really want to buy a 35mm film point and shoot and I don’t know why. I want to buy a 35mm film camera with autofocus functionality too, but that’s going to cost some dough, and I think I can get a point and shoot for pennies. I want to go Nikon, as usual, but decent Nikon point and shoots are stupidly expensive on ebay. I looked for Pentax options yesterday and saw some with the starting bid of $1.00… so yeah, that could be a better option. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll hit the thrift stores more often.

Okay, time to get breakfast and get my day started. I have a lot of meetings today and need to be ready for a long day at the home office. Wish me luck.