We had just finished a couple of rides and a “quick” breakfast in The Land section of Epcot. Jen was in the ladies room and I was outside on a bench waiting for her. I spent the first half of the morning playing with the film camera and I decided that switch to the digital.
I set the ISO super low (100) and started goofing around. I pointed at a garbage can near me with the aperture set to f8 for some reason. I set the shutter speed so that the light meter was right in the middle and took this picture.
The shutter speed was set to 1.6 seconds. This should have been a god awful blurry mess. Instead it’s almost clear. I knew that either the camera or the lens comes with image stabilization, or vibration reduction, or whatever it’s called, but I had no idea it would work this well with a shutter this slow.
Now if I could just get my film camera to respond like that, I’d really be cooking with gas!
I went out to run an errand today and I took my new camera with me. After everything was done I stopped at the Spicket Falls Dam because of course I did.
This is the first time I saw anyone on the walkway above the dam who wasn’t me!
123/365
On the way home, stoplight theater AND the clock. I put the camera in auto mode and took this through the windshield.
I have my first Z mount lens, my first prime lens that isn’t really my father’s, my first full frame lens, and my first lens with an aperture wide enough to do super sick blurry backgrounds like this!
And this!
Now that I have a full frame lens instead of a cropped lens I can use the full 24 megapixels that my new camera has to offer. The full sized images you see in this post are 6016 x 4016 and Oh My God That’s AWESOME!!!
I stepped outside for two seconds to conduct a super scientific blurry background test with the new camera. It was also a select-your-own-focus-point test. The first pic seems to have worked better than the second on the focus thing, but they both have blurry backgrounds. Nice.
120/365. It seems to have focused on the bird feeder further away, but the point I picked was actually the top of the closer bird feeder. Weird.
This post is basically meaningless. I took two pictures with my new camera that I kinda like and I’m just sharing them. This morning I had to go out to the drugstore before work. I stopped at a liquor store that’s right on the state line (I think it’s on the New Hampshire side, but who knows) and took a picture of their wall, which happens to be painted like The Green Monster. Fitting, as the NHL Winter Classic is going to be played in front of the real Green Monster on Tuesday.
119/365
The other picture was taken last night before everything went sideways. It’s yet another spinning vinyl record pic. I’ve done this with my DSLR, at least one of the film SLRs, and now with the new mirrorless. The spinning record is Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. I think there might be something wrong with the turn table’s motor because the record was spinning too fast. We’ll see.
I like this, but I gots to get me a full frame lens as the 10 megapixel crop is going to get to me eventually. Not complaining, I really like how this looks regardless of the resolution, I just want to use the whole image, you know?
It’s going to be a weird day. I’ve never had to deal with losing a pet before. Well, I did once but I was probably four years old or so. Fluffy getting hit by a car on route 38 doesn’t really count in this case.
I took that picture tonight just after work. We had ordered some dinner and I was sitting on the chair in the living room messing around with my camera. She came into the room for a second, I snapped a pic, she walked out.
A few minutes later Jen said she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She was wheezing a little and her sides were extended, almost swollen. She was purring, but it had a weird high pitched sound. Jen said she was walking a little sideways too. Clearly something was wrong.
We put her into the cat carrier and she didn’t fight us at all. That’s a clear sign that she wasn’t right. I took her to a veterinary hospital in Lawrence, at the spot on route 114 where the Showcase Cinema used to be. They took her right in while I stayed in the lobby filling out the paperwork, and then I just sat there waiting. Eventually they brought me into a room and I continued to wait until the doctor came in.
She told me Patches was having a bad time. Her chest was full of fluid and it was putting pressure on her heart and lungs which made it difficult to breath. She said they could try to do a few things that would ease the pressure, but there really wasn’t anything they could do to fix her. They could keep her alive but they couldn’t make her well, and that wouldn’t be much of a life for her.
I called Jen and we agreed that it would be better to let her go. I went home while Jen called the kids. They came to the house too and then we all went back to the hospital to say goodbye. They brought us to a cozy little room and then brought a very sedated Patches in with us. We spent a few minutes showering her with love and affection and then the doctor came in and gave her an injection. She fell asleep almost immediately and then was gone shortly after.
She will be cremated tomorrow. They will send us the ashes. I’m not sure what will happen after that. I am sure that I am going to miss that tiny little baby kitty, even more than I ever would have expected.
Rest in peace, Miss Patches. Panic Panache Patches. Lady Penelope Clearwater. Lady Pachelot of the Rhode Island Pachelots. What else did we call her… Oh yeah, Alexander Pachelton.
Inside the Red Head's Head 