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I almost stopped taking photographs.

Earlier this year, I was frustrated - I couldn’t think of anything cool or original to photograph in the dark and overcast days of winter and I had all this expensive equipment sitting around, unused, and every day I didn’t use it, I asked myself why I didn’t just sell it and then I would stop feeling guilty for letting it lay idle.

I almost did sell it all (incidentally, I have sold a lot of it - but only to fund replacements). Ironically, I was saved from selling by the very thing that made me want to sell: laziness.

Soon after, while visiting my mother, who lives a few blocks from the Willamette River in Lake Oswego, Oregon, I awoke early one morning to take photos along the river.

The conditions were outstanding, a light fog had trickled in, and nearly everywhere I looked there was an interesting composition.

The photos turned out great. I realized that I just needed to work at finding locations a little more, rely less on serendipity and more on research (even though having the light fog along the river certainly was serendipitous) . The only thing preventing good photographs was me.

There are no shortage of places to photograph, especially in the Pacific Northwest. I would just need to work a little (very little) to find them. And once found, go there and scout them in person (bringing a camera of course - but with the understanding that the best photos would come only after I became familiar with the traits of that specific location). I had certainly been guilty of thinking “Oh, I’ve already photographed there.” True - but not with the knowledge needed to get the best photographs. I needed to pay more attention, to the light (its direction, quality, and color), the season, the time of day, etc.

Since then, I have taken more photos this year than any other year, almost three times as much as the previous year. While quantity does not correlate to quality, it may correlate with effort. I have been finding more places to photograph.

There were also other significant “photography” events this year which got me off my ass and outside taking photos:

1) The addition of a macro lens. I purchased this lens after I had to send my 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens in for repair (due to self-inflicted water damage). This opened up a whole new set of opportunities that weren’t there before, and even better, they were easy to find: flowers and gardens are everywhere. The extreme magnification and narrow depth-of-field available with a macro lens, and the colors and sharpness with the specific model I purchased, made it very easy to take impressive photos, even on weekdays after work.

2) A larger memory card. Previously, I had a 2GB card, and then upgraded to an 8GB card. No - this shouldn’t matter. But it does. Especially for wildlife photography, but even for still subjects. Where I might not have taken a shot before for fear of taking a better one like it later, now I don’t care. I just shoot. There is more room for experimentation. That doesn’t mean that you should just fire at random and hope a few shots don’t suck. It does make it more likely for me to work a specific subject, and try different compositions and perspectives.

3) A new tripod head and L-plate. My previous tripod ballhead was good, but the quick release mechanism gave me no confidence that I could leave the camera on there while lugging the tripod over my shoulder. In fact, I had lost a lens once because it slipped (it can become loose when you don’t pay attention to it). That’s no longer a problem, this makes it a lot easier for me to hike around and quickly setup shots. The L-plate makes it a lot easier to switch between vertical and horizontal compositions (on the order of seconds instead of a minute, as with a normal ballhead, when you go from horizontal to vertical, you have to reset your composition, focus, etc.). Both the ballhead and the L-plate decrease the time between when the photo is conceived and the shutter is depressed. I also purchased a vest which allows me to attach lens and filter pouches, so I can switch them on the fly without having to open my backpack. A huge time-saver, and, where previously I would just leave the lens in the bag because it would take 1-2 minutes to swap lenses, it now only takes a few seconds, and I’m much more likely to switch from a wide-angle lens to a normal and back and forth.

4) Photoshop/Bridge CS3. Specifically, the new additions to Camera RAW and photo-stitching (for panoramas) that doesn’t suck. Photoshop is in its own class, and even though digital post-processing is not my strength, within Camera RAW I can do almost all the post-processing I need. Having photo-stitching that works made me actually seek out panoramic compositions (I’m not where I need to be on those yet, but I’m getting closer). I’d still like to learn and mess with HDR and some other techniques, but the time I spend in front of the computer is time I could be taking photos.

5) A new camera! I almost forgot this, but it’s important. I had a Canon EOS 20D, but sold it and replaced it with a Canon EOS 1D MIII. A larger view-finder (that displays ISO!), a specific button for changing the ISO, excellent low-noise performance at high ISO, a larger LCD screen, anti-dust system that actually works, and Live View - which I’ve found insanely useful, especially for landscape and low-light photography (or any other situation where I manually focus). I’ve also made other equipment purchases too, namely, a new wide angle lens (my previous 10-22 EF-S lens for my 20D doesn’t work, so I got a 16-35mm lens that’s even better). I’ve also become more familiar with my filters and when/how to use them.

So now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, I find myself perhaps taking too many photos, and feeling guilty about going to work when I could be out taking pictures. Whenever I encounter a photographic opportunity without a camera I get pissed.

This next year I plan on increasing my range even further, and probably camping at Mt. Rainier, the Olympics, and other locations (so I can more easily do landscape and wildlife photography when it should be done: the hours around sunset and sunrise). I also want to try some other types of photography that I haven’t really experimented with: street and portrait photography.

[Ed note: I realize, that by talking about my cat (and his medical condition, no less!) and showing his photo on my blog*, I could not possibly be more cliche, but I had to do something to push the "FUCK YOU" photo down one spot so as to not draw attention to it].

[Ed note II: I don't consider this a blog. Blogs have readers. Blogs have authors that care. Blogs are pretentious. I only meet one of the three criteria].

My 14-year-old cat, Pantera, had a urinary tract infection that (ultimately) required 4 weeks of antibiotics to treat. After the end of the prescription, I drove him to the vet at 7:30 AM for them to take a urine test to confirm that the infection had been eliminated.

Fortunately, he wasn’t forced to pee in a cup, but he did have to go in a box with a special type of litter.

I assumed that, by leaving him early in the morning, I would be able to pick him up in a few hours and then I would drive into work (meanwhile working remotely from home). At noon, with no word from the vet, I drove into work so that I wouldn’t miss a few meetings.

Afterward, in the early afternoon, I called the vet. No pee.

Five o’clock, called again, no pee.

I drove home.

7PM, called the vet. No pee.

7:30 PM, the vet calls me: We have pee!

I drove to pick Pantera up.

5 minutes later (although the proper measure of time here would be “15 minutes from home”), in the cat-carrier, in the passenger seat, in the car, we, too, had prodigal proliferation of pee (or as a friend would say, “A proverbial proliferation of pee”, despite not being able to reference the proverb in question when asked).

With the pee came a pissed off cat (pun not intended), and when I threw him in the bathtub at home to clean him up, his mood didn’t improve.

Why, when asked by Cudge (a character in Super Paper Mario) what my favorite word was, did I respond with this:

The answer is simple: “Fuck” was rejected because it was too short.

Cudge, bless his little hammering heart, got caught up in the excitement and decided that he liked the word too, as the above image undeniably demonstrates.

Six months ago, I was in the market for a new couch. After deciding on a model, a salesman offered to sell me some magical coating which would prevent stains, and noted, “It can even resist flames.”

“Sweet! Because, you know, I have a tendency to light my couches on fire.”

He didn’t laugh.

Last week, I bought some speakers for my TV. The salesman was attempting to sell me a high end set and noted that “the metal on these is bullet-proof.”

“Sweet! Because, you know, I have a tendency to shoot my speakers.”

He didn’t laugh either.

I have several camera lenses.

None of them are waterproof or even mildly water-resistant.

You may wonder, then, how I get pictures like this:

Or this:

The answer is simple: My lenses get wet.

That’s right: I look fate in the eye, and fate runs home crying, cowering in fear, never to return.

Or so I thought.

A sensible person would buy a rain cover. In that respect, I am a sensible person.

However, a sensible person would also use that rain cover, and that is where my divergence from sensibility begins. To be fair, the rain cover is painfully awkward and that awkwardness is only amplified when using a long zoom lens with manual focus.

So, the sensible choices are clear: use the awkward rain cover, or don’t shoot pictures in the rain.

And that’s why I shot pictures in the rain without a cover.

The rain was a good excuse to go the the zoo, both because the crowd would be small (it was), and because the shots of the animals would be more interesting (they were).

Under the misguided impression that my lens was more robust than my camera body, I kept the camera body under my slightly-opened coat for most of the trip. The lens, extended, was too big to easily fit under my coat, and, besides, the lens hood prevented rain from getting on the glass which is all that I cared about anyway. I used the same lens for the entire trip, my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS, which has been described as the perfect zoo lens, for good reason.

After a few hours of rain, I had shot the animals (and taken their pictures) multiple times. I packed up and went home.

The next day, I went to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, WA to shoot wildlife (of the native variety).

I arrived at 6:30 AM, just before sunrise, ensuring I would be there when the birds and animals were most active.

I took about 30 shots with my 100-400mm lens, and then walked around for about 15 minutes waiting for it to get a little brighter.

The next time I raised my eye to the viewfinder, I noticed it was a little foggy. I assumed that there was condensation on the outside of my lens, but there wasn’t. The fog didn’t go away, and in fact, only grew more opaque with time.

I soon realized that I was paying for the sins of the previous day.

I assumed that the water had gotten into the camera body or sensor. I walked the next few miles frustrated, not because I would have to get a new camera body (I have insurance if any of my equipment is stolen or damaged), but because I was missing out on a lot of good photo opportunities.

During this time, I still had the lens attached to the camera, hoping that the fog would clear up. It didn’t.

I put the lens back in my camera bag, and placed another lens on the camera just to verify that it was the camera and not the lens.

It was the lens, and not the camera.

So this was good news, at least I could salvage part of the trip, although I would be reduced to 10-105mm, not sufficient at all for wildlife but good for landscapes.

A few hours later I had completed the loop and tried the big lens again. It was worse than before.

When I got home I salvaged the three or four pictures that didn’t suck, some shot before the 100-400mm went opaque, and the others with a 10-22mm, and filed a contact with Canon to inquire about my options for repairing the lens.

“Options” gives the mistaken impression that there was more than one, there wasn’t. My option was to send the lens to Canon, they would inspect it, and then give me an estimate for repair. It was still under warranty (according to their website), but that warranty doesn’t cover massive exercises in indiscretion and stupidity (or as I call it, “normal use”).

After getting home from work the next day, I picked up the lens, and was about to head out the door to ship it. Before I did that, I had to test it out one more time, to see if was still an opaque nightmare.

It wasn’t! It was clear, and worked like normal.

Or so I thought.

A few days later, I noticed there was a decent sunset from my apartment window. I took about thirty shots, and then my camera responded with the dreaded “Err 99″ error.

I pulled out the memory card, battery, let it rest, tried various permutations of batteries, memory cards, and lenses, and concluded that my 100-400mm lens was truly screwed up (my camera body and other lenses were fine).

One of the possible causes for the error is debris on the lens contacts, so, per advice from Canon, I used a pencil eraser, procured (stolen?) the next day at work, to clean off the lens contacts.

I put the lens back on the camera, and it worked!

Or so I thought.

After 30 shots or so, “Err 99″ reared its ugly digital head once again.

The lens was toying with me. I felt like Charlie Brown kicking the football.

So, today, I shipped the lens for repair. The cost of the repair is likely to be no more than my insurance deductible (this figure isn’t based on any research, just my history with insurance). I’m secretly hoping that it will cost a lot more than the deductible so that finally, after all these years, I can file an insurance claim.

In the interim, I did what any normal person would do, and ordered a new lens (a macro, along with a flash) to play with for the week or so I’ll be without the 100-400mm.

The flower and bug shots will be arriving shortly.

You can’t see it in this picture, but this same tree had a large Eagle’s nest:

The other “huge” bird that’s common in Washington was also present, the Great Blue Heron:

There is a general off-topic mailing list at my work, the list is continually littered with various minutia, ramblings, bad puns, poor jokes, and, on rare occasion, useful information.

In other words, I’m a subscriber.

A member of the list forwarded the information about a problem-solving competition hosted by a well known software-company. One of the URLs in his e-mail referred to a location on said company’s internal network. When accessed from outside the network, it redirects to a low-class porn site.

One of the members of the list noticed this, and said “Whatever you do, don’t click on that link, it’s very NSFW (not safe for work)”.

I then responded with:

——————

That’s the equivalent of a “wet paint” sign — sure, you know you should trust the sign, but for some reason, you have to verify it yourself…

[And just in case anyone is wondering about this, the paint really is wet!]

——————

Which was immediately followed by half a dozen people saying that yes, it did in fact redirect to a porn site!

I just hope it was wet paint on their fingers and not something else.

Waiting a month would have been easier.

The last time I got excited over a video game console was with the Sega Dreamcast, which, at the time, had the most impressive array of hardware of any video game console (The competition at the time was Sony’s PS1 and Nintendo’s N64).

It also didn’t have any games, and was quickly discontinued.

Having been burnt by that experience, I began to avoid video game consoles. In my self-imposed exile, the PS1 begat the PS2, the N64 begat the GameCube, and Microsoft introduced the Xbox. Later, these each gave birth as well, to the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 respectfully.

The Xbox 360 and PS3, like my ill-fated Dreamcast, are both impressive pieces of hardware.

The lesson the Dreamcast taught me, besides don’t spend $250 when you don’t have any money, is this: the games matter.

This is why I went with the Wii over the Xbox 360 and PS3 (the former being made by Microsoft, and the latter costing $600 at retail and $1,200 on Ebay made the decision even easier). Those two consoles do have good games, but they’re more focused on first-person shooters, and online gameplay, neither of which are terribly important to me.

As a kid, my favorite games were the platform adventure games on the Nintendo NES and later SNES. The various Mario games (Super Mario Bros. 2 (”weed pulling” edition), Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World), as well as the Metroid games (Metroid and Super Metroid), and the Donkey Kong games (like Donkey Kong Country).

The Wii is able to play games from the NES, SNES, and N64 via its Virtual Console (along with Sega and TurboGraphx-16). Not every game is available, only those Nintendo makes available, and they do cost money, the N64 games are $10, games for other consoles are cheaper.

In addition, the Wii can play every GameCube game (you do need a GameCube controller for them).

So several generations worth of games are available, including several Mario and Metroid games I haven’t played yet.

The other novel concept with the Wii is the wireless remote (or controller), and the “nunchuk”, which connects to the remote. The remote can detect motion and acceleration, which offers a completely new method of gameplay. Games that would be boring before, are suddenly fun to play (the included Wii Sports features bowling and tennis games that are way more fun than they deserve to be). The remote is so seamlessly integrated with these games that people who typically would avoid playing games (i.e., parents) are able to play them.

So that’s why I went Wii.

Finding one was a different, longer, story. Read the rest of this entry »

As of two weeks ago, I no longer call Kent, WA my home.

Here’s a view from my new apartment, located in downtown Bellevue, WA (click the image for more photos):

It is oft-said that, “if it weren’t for our (USA’s) help in WWII, the French would be speaking German right now.”

But really, if it weren’t for the French help against the British in the Revolutionary war, we would all be speaking English right now.