Tools

2024/12/222024/12/22 ruminator

I need another coffee and a nap. My back hurts this morning, I think from the immunizations I received on Friday. It is not a significant pain; just the kind that is irritating enough to disturb rest and make its presence known.

I am in the process of selling things from my inventory to reduce my material load. I purchased a number of cameras over the last couple of years. They were all shot and all were bought on the recommendation of content creators I follow and trust. But, I can tell which are getting use by the dust accumulating on the top plates of those that are not seeing (pun intended) much use.

I intend to shoot the images for two bodies today, the Fujifilm X-E4 and the Olympus OM-D E-M10. They will then be offered on fleaBay so that they can find new homes and receive the love I am not giving them. The cash will go into savings to pay for Sera’s upcoming knee surgery.

She got into a kerfuffle with a coyote while we were hiking Thanksgiving afternoon. When she returned to me she was gassed, marked up, and lame in the port side aft leg. A trip to the Reno emergency vet clinic got her wounds cleaned and a preliminary diagnosis of a torn ACL. This was confirmed by her regular vet a few days later.

She is scheduled for knee surgery in January. In the meantime, she is on restricted duty and is walking on-leash only. She does not like the constraint, but she does not need to express her athleticism and cause more damage to the knee.

We are accommodating her injury.

This morning I am dealing with my discomfort, the interrupted sleep of several nights, and another dark, cold, gray day. We are accustomed to the Sun and I am definitely missing it. The cold does not bother me so long as the Sun is shining.

I spent some time this morning reading in my Bible, reading year-ago journal entries, writing a bit, and praying. These are all good things and are on my non-negotiable daily list. I am not always successful in my disciplines, but I am consistent. Sera’s walks are also on that list.

We will get a hike in today, God willing.

Now I think I need another mug of coffee. It is not going to make itself. The Girl is also asking to be fed. That will also not do itself. So, I better get after it.

Life is good.

Remainders: 21 December 2024

2024/12/212024/12/22 ruminator

Candles always remind me of Wife. No details were recorded or remembered. It is just a capture of my Christmas candle.

Dan Schimpf Software produces an excellent journaling/writing tool called MacJournal. When I was keeping an electronic journal, that was the preferred tool.
I am considering a knee brace for Sera. Animal Ortho Care makes custom braces.
My buddy got me started looking at watches because he knows I like mechanical things. The Caliber Corner has lots of data about watch movements.
Project Farm is one of my favorite YouTube content creators. He/they also maintain a website as well. He uses good practices to measure the performance of various tools and other useful items. They are not laboratory-grade tests, but they are based on good practice.
This Penco Drafting Pencil looks like a good addition to my EDC. I am not currently carrying a pencil and they can be handy.

End of the Week

2024/12/132024/12/13 ruminator

I made this capture with the Sony A7iii and a lovely Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS lens. Post processed in PhotoLab7.

Whew… it has been a week. I received a call early in the week for some help with a project. The question was whether (or not) an alternate outfall could be used for a proposed treatment/detention pond. I had limited data to work with.

So, I went to work to understand the existing system and assess whether there was sufficient capacity to accept outflow from the proposed pond. That lead down a rabbit hole of the existing system for which we do not have complete data.

I learned that we will need to do a more complete analysis of the system capacity and how much of it is currently used. So, I wrote up what I learned and forwarded it to my client yesterday.

Part of my current struggle is with The Girl. No, she is not a problem, but on Thanksgiving Day she got into a kerfuffle with a coyote (best I can tell — I never saw the fight or the animal). She was marked up a bit but of greater concern was that she was lame in the port rear leg. The incident caused us to make a trip to the 24/7 animal hospital in Reno for treatment. There it was identified that she likely tore her ACL in that leg.

I took her to her vet here in Carson for a follow up and she was healing nicely. This resulted in an ACL workup this week and the news is that she has a torn ACL. This is a common injury, particularly with athletic canines (she is) and requires surgery to repair.

The cost is not cheap but doable. The recovery will be three months or more. That is a lot of reduced activity time for a high-drive dog. But, we will do it.

This also puts me in the research mode to understand her injury and the various surgical (and recovery) approaches to treat it. That is what I need… another rabbit hole to go down.

I was up early this morning (just after midnight), rolled over, and could not go back to sleep. So I was up for a bit, reviewing YT videos of the surgical approaches and recovery regimens. I heard her shake, then she showed up in my workroom for some attention, which she got. She asked to go out, so out we went.

I noticed the sky was mottled with clouds and backlit by the Moon. So I returned to the house and retrieved the Sony A7iii and affixed a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens to it. I used the combination to make a series of captures of what I saw. The frame above is the one I liked best of the lot. I did a bit of post-processing in PhotoLab and might make another run at it to produce a black and white image.

I will figure out what to do for The Girl. She is not a pet; she is my companion on this walk through life. While I am sorry she got herself into trouble, I remain grateful for her presence in my life, grateful I have the resources to take care of the surgery, and am simply grateful. I remember my buddy and am grateful he was a part of my life. He was good for me. He is missed. And, life is still good.

Goodbye, Old Friend

2024/12/102025/01/05 ruminator

I shot this through my front screen door using a Nikon D800E and a Voigtlander 90mm f/2.8 Skopar at f/8.

I woke a few minutes ago¹, rolled over, and decided I wanted water. So I got up, emptied my bladder, and got some water. I then sat down at my worktable and noticed my open journal. At the bottom of the page I had written “Vaya con Diôs, mi hermano. I love you forever.” I then remembered that my best buddy in high school died Sunday night. A cancer got him.

I did not get south to Corpus Christi on my last trip east. I made it as far south as Lubbock for a few days before heading west and home. Work called me home. I thought I would get back east and make the leg south this year, but then the workload increased enough that I could not leave.

Then he posted he was sick. A week or two later he posted he could no longer deal with social media. That was the last I heard from him. My text message went unanswered. My intuition told me things were bad. They were.

I can only hope he passed peacefully without too much pain. He had enough pain in his life. I prayed for him once I learned of his illness. I prayed for healing and I prayed for his peace. The healing was selfish and the peace was all I knew to offer.

I met him over 50-years ago. My dad moved us to Missouri to follow his dream of working a farm. That was either brave or foolish of him, to leave a life in surburbia and a job as skilled labor (heavy equipment operator) working as an independent contractor to pursue a life in rural Missouri working a farm.

That took me from the California school system (high school) to a rural high school in a town of 2,500 souls. It made me the odd man out and most of the townie boys were either hostile to the new guy or indifferent. A few were more open minded and friendly and my buddy was one of them.

We spent a lot of time together in high school. After high school we went our separate ways… he to the service and me towards engineering. I did not hear from him for many years until I found him on Facebook. That reopened the connection and we stayed in touch.

I attended our 50-year high school reunion primarily because he said he would. I had a project in Corpus Christi, so I made it a point to stop by and see him for a few hours before I had to leave. We kept up via FB after that.

Now there is a void left behind. The loss is not as savage as some in my experience, but there is loss nonetheless. I use aphorisms, generally with some light humor about them, and one is that the thing about living is that you never get out of it alive. One of the lessons for me is to live it, to make sure that I do some of the things I love every day… be sure to tell my loved ones that I love them, often… be kind to those around me… pray, thanking God for all good things… interacting with The Girl, playing, walking, snuggling… the list continues, so induct.

It has been colder here, not that biting cold of deep winter, but below freezing in the morning and only a bit warmer during the day. But the Sun is shining and walking The Girl gives us a chance to absorb its generous heat in the cool air. The image above reminds me that just a few months ago it was a lot warmer and the Sun rose early. I miss it a little bit as we approach the Winter Solstice.

The Girl is lame in the port aft leg. I think she damaged her ACL and will need surgery. Her vet will do his workup on her today and then I will know the options for her treatment.

So i have to be careful with her so she does not damage it more. She will probably have surgery to repair it and then go through the healing process. So, we are in for a bit of work. But that is OK. I do not mind working with her at all. She is worth it.

And despite the loss of my friend, I remain grateful. I had time with him. He was my friend and brother from another mother. And life is still good.

¹I wrote this about 0200h.

Remainders: 07 December 2024

2024/12/072024/12/07 ruminator

The Mexican Ditch and Trail, shot with the Sony A7iii and the Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro, at f/8. Post processing with PhotoLab to clean up the image.

It is the first day of the week, Sunday 24 November 2024 and I am beginning this week’s (ha!) list of remainders.

MrLeica is a YT content creator and blogger who treats Leica cameras and glass, among other things.
Andrews Leatherworks makes some fine looking holsters.
After a couple of decades of being afraid to eat ham and bean soupr (DiL… “Oooh, that’s bad, Dad!”), I fond this recipe. I am going to try the the trick of using canned navy beans and washing them before making my soup to see if I can avoid a disaster (so to speak).
As part of their holiday sales event, Simpleshot (makers/purveyors of slingshots) did something I really do not care for — they shared my contact information with other small business in the outdoors market. I forgive them; it is easy enough to unsubscribe. One of the new vendors is Wazoo Gear. It made me chuckle when I free-associated “out the wazoo!”. Their offerings look OK to me. Simpleshot is recommended too.
Apple Music and its predecessor, iTunes, continues to lose the album art for my music collection. I have thought for a while now that I might want to disengage from the music connection to Apple. This list of music players might be an option.
Here is another set of iTunes alternatives. I think there might be a full entry on my love/hate relationship with iTunes and Apple Music.

River Road

2024/11/292024/11/29 ruminator

I made this test shot with the Sony A7iii and a new-to-me Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 manual focus lens, which is probably considered legacy glass.

A couple of days ago I carried the Sony A7iii and a new-to-me Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 manual focus lens. I seem to be using and writing about a lot of Nikon F-mount lenses of late. The Sony A7iii is getting a lot of work as well. My other cameras are languishing.

Test Shot Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 Macro

2024/11/262024/11/26 ruminator

The Silver Saddle Ranch compound, viewed from the south of the horse-working paddock. Shot with Sony A7iii and a Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro lens at f/8. Post processed with PhotoLab for black and white conversion and some cleanup.

The Girl and I got out Sunday for our daily walk. With the change in weather, we are walking Silver Saddle Ranch once again. The risk of snakes is abated but there remains a risk of other critters. I sometimes see a large coyote and there was a report of a mountain lion working a sheep ranch nearby.

I am reminded that life is inherently risky. The risk can be mitigated to some extent, but none of us get out of alive. There is no such thing as safe. But, I digress.

I found a Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro lens in my inventory. (I actually found a second sample and I have no idea how I got two. They were purchased long ago.) I carried it mounted to the Sony A7iii Saturday and Sunday and came away with a couple frames that are OK, by my estimation.

We had a great walk, except that Goofus, AKA The Girl, had too much energy and ran too hard. She limped around the house Sunday evening and Monday morning. So, I am going to have to mitigate that to some extent. With the coyote I saw yesterday and the mountain lion report, I need to keep her closer in anyway. She can still range out a bit, just not more than a few tens of feet.

The lens is quite good, especially given its age. It is plenty sharp, focuses quite close (and I have the extension that will let it focus to 1:1) without the extension, and the rendering is good. It was built by Tokina. Those lenses built by the Komine and Tokina companies were generally of higher quality than the run of the mill Vivitar glass.

The reputation of the Vivitar is that it produces a very nice background blur (bokeh) and renders an image well. It is useful for general photography when the focal length is appropriate.

So I made a few images as we walked. It is my way of rebuilding after focusing on problem solving. I give my mind a break from the analytical work and feed my soul.

When we came around to the northbound part of our trail, I noticed the scene of the ranch compound. The wave cloud over Mt. Scott added to the scene. It also begged to be in black and white, at least to me. I made the capture, while The Girl waited impatiently for me.

Because of the traffic, I put her on lead until we passed the compound. When I saw the way was clear, I released her from the lead but kept her close anyway.

As we approached the rig and the end of our outing, the Sun popped out from behind the clouds. I paused to make an image of the entry sign. I am working on a Silver Saddle Ranch gallery and the sign will make a nice theme photo.

When I reviewed the image, I noticed some chromatic aberration along the hard lines of the top of the stone. It is not prominent, but it is there. This is not unusual for vintage glass and is easy to correct in post processing. It also diminishes with an increase in f-number.

It was a good walk. Even with the overcast and cooler weather, I returned home refreshed. The Girl came home tired, and a tired dog is a happy dog.

Life is good. I am grateful.

Beginning a New Week

2024/11/242024/11/24 ruminator

The access road to Silver Saddle Ranch, not far from the main gate. Shot with Sony A7iii and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 probably wide open, but may f/2. Post processing in PhotoLab7.

Sunday is the first day of the week. Perhaps it should be called Sonday or maybe Son-day in honor of the Savior who rose on the third day. I have thought that for a long time and it bubbled up from my memory as I began to write.

Last week was too busy. This week might be the same. This is not a complaint, but an observation and simply part of the consultant’s life. Deadlines occur and I do my best to make them.

But, that kind of busy-ness leaves little time and energy for reflection, photography, or radio. I do set aside a few minutes in the morning to write in my paper journal, plan the day, and pray a little before the day goes out of control.

The holidays and the end of the year are soon upon us. I hope to take some time this year to reflect on and process the year behind and think about the year ahead. That did not happen last year because I was traveling to see my loved ones and dealing with a broken camper. I should not have a broken camper to deal with this year and I pray nothing else happens.

Aside: I heard my neighbors last night about 0230h. It sounded like there were tearing up the house, but probably they were just moving things around. There was nothing to indicate a domestic problem. But then I heard the sound of a woman screaming and it sounded outside. At first I thought it might be a television, but then Sera started barking. That got me up to investigate, but I heard nothing more and could not get a direction.

There were a couple of days last week when I did not even carry a camera. I needed to get The Girl (and myself) out for some exercise. I needed to just get it done. I could not afford the time to dawdle along at my usual pace. So I left my camera at home and thought that if something interesting was presented I could always just use my phone.

But one day I carried the Sony A7iii and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 that is in my inventory. I saw the frame above and decided to make a capture. I thought that the sign was the interest, so I placed myself such that I could isolate the sign from the background and then made the capture. I kept the aperture open so as to place the background out of focus.

Then I noticed that the dog-waste dispenser and waste bin were both in the focus plane. I like that.

The image is not portfolio grade, but tells an interesting story. At least, it does for me.

Now I think I need to get on with my day. The Girl will want a walk, even if she is limping a bit. I think she over did it Saturday.

I am grateful. Life is good.

Remainders: 23 November 2024

2024/11/232024/11/24 ruminator

The recipe for White Chicken Chili produced this result. Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max.

It is Sunday, 10 November 2024, as I begin to write this entry. I was working on my image library a bit ago and the topic of exiftool came up again. It is a tool used to read and write EXIF data store in image files. EXIF data are stored with the image and record the settings in-camera used to make the image. This provides a record of camera settings for the photographer to use for whatever purpose.

I used to write DOS batch files, a script of commands to be executed in sequence to accomplish more than one task that are repeated on one of more files. this list comprises the commands available for a Windows CMD shell.
Project Gutenberg belongs on everyone’s bookmark list. At least it should be if you read.
Satellite Map provides a real time display of Starlink, OneWeb, and GPS satellites.
Starlink has a new, small system called the Mini. It has all the performance of the larger units at a much smaller size and power requirement.
Warlander Enterprises makes some very nice blades.
The New American Standard Bible is one of my preferred translations. This Cambridge is very interesting.
New music arrived this week. One album, The Company You Keep by John Gorka, was part of the arrival. He is a favorite singer/songwriter and has been for a decade or more. The song Let Them In was written by him based on a poem. It was covered by David Wilcox, another old favorite, more than 20-years ago. I did not realize that Gorka wrote the song (but not the poem).
Quartzfest is coming soon!
LT Wright Knives hit my desktop a couple of years ago. They were recently promoted by SimpleShot, a slingshot (catapult) company that produces very nice slingshots. Both make excellent products.

Tokina 28–85mm f/4, Reprise

2024/11/192024/12/11 ruminator

Mount Scott and Slide Mountain, shot from Silver Saddle Ranch with the Sony A7iii and the Tokina 28–85mm f/4 zoom at 28mm and probably f/8. Post processing in DXO PhotoLab7 to boost the colors a bit and to remove the vignetting of the Tokina at 28mm.

Back in 2013 I was using a Sony NEX-5N mirrorless body and a Nikon D300 dSLR. I know this partly because I remember and partly because of this entry. Both of those cameras are crop-sensor cameras. Each has an APS-C size sensor. The lens that was the topic of the 2013 entry (and this entry) offers an image circle sufficient to cover a full-frame sensor.

I still have the D300, although it has not seen much use the last few years. I traded the NEX-5N to my buddy Jimmy years ago for some vintage glass and a little cash. The NEX-5N was replaced by the Fuji X-T1 when I dove in to the deep end on Fujifilm products.

I had a couple of full-frame (35mm) mirrorless cameras in my inventory until I recently them to fund an upgrade. The first was the original Sony A7S that I bought as an experiment (it was not the current version when I bought it). I used it to shoot old 35mm lenses so they would render as they were designed to do on a 35mm frame. A couple of years ago I decided to buy a little newer model (the A7Sii) so I would get the in-body image stabilization.

I recently sold both the A7S and A7Sii bodies, after buying a Sony A7iii. One of the reasons I sold my Sony A7S and A7Sii bodies is because most of my use for the full-frame body is to play around, literally, with old lenses. Old can mean anything from 30-years ago or more. Much of my collection is from the 1970s and some from earlier, back to the 1950s.

The A7Sii was an upgrade to the original A7S (in my case) simply to get the in-body image stabilization (IBIS). IBIS provides a usable image at low shutter speeds without a tripod. A couple of months ago I decided I did not use the extreme low-light capacity of the A7S bodies and had intended to sell the original A7S anyway. I bought a Sony A7iii because I still intend to work with my old camera lenses, but wanted a little more resolution and an updated camera experience.

OK, that is the backstory so back to the lens. Jimmy loaned me the Tokina back in 2013 for a test run. The performance I got from it justified the asking price, so I bought it. I used it a bit with the D300, but moved on to other things a few years later. Then last year I started working with my cameras more (the story has been told) and am working through my lens collection, sorting, testing, and deciding what to keep and what to sell.

Sunday morning I noticed the fat, squatty Tokina sitting on my Nikon shelf and picked it up. I am enjoying playing with non-standard focal lengths and I thought the 28–85mm range might be interesting on the full-frame sensor. I remembered shooting this lens with the D300 on a hike around the Marina with Jimmy and Ki up in Sparks one warm summer evening. (That was a good, good day!)

I pulled the images yesterday. There were only a few as I was distracted in the field. What I learned is slightly different from my experience with the crop-sensor bodies — there is some substantial vignetting at 28mm and f/4. It is not apparent in the upper image because vignetting is trivial to fix in post processing. There is a slider in PhotoLab and it takes only seconds to get it corrected.

The lens is reasonably sharp (for a zoom). The Sony colors are a little flat (in my opinion), but again that is trivial to fix in post processing. The range of focal lengths the Tokina provides is useful and I do not have a Nikkor zoom lens in that range. (That is a problem with a solution. I also have prime lenses that cover the focal length range.) So, although my thought was to sell the Tokina, I think I will keep it for now. If I can find a nice Nikkor or Tamron in that focal length range, then I might sell the Tokina. It would not be a good lens for a film camera unless one likes the vignetting.

The bottom shot is from the other end of the focal length range, 85mm. The light is not particularly good, but there was no vignetting and the lens is, again, reasonably sharp. It is certainly sharp enough for general photography.

In the end, my outing Sunday was good. The Girl and I got exercise. I chatted on the phone with my ham buddy, Dick, while walking. I made a few images, although none are portfolio grade. The captures gave me an idea for a post and that was tickled by the original post from 11-years ago.