Everything Dies

ruminator4 Comments

During the last few weeks I followed the last travels of a Jeff Parker. Jeff was a BMW rider and was part of the internet BMW riding community. He’s well known to many of the long-time denizens of that eclectic and curmudgeonly group.

A few weeks ago, Parker announced he was diagnosed with Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is bad. Stage 3 means it’s time to bend over and kiss it goodbye. There is nothing to do but be comfortable and meet one’s end.

Parker elected to give things one last go. He decided to do a four-corners ride. That’s long-distance rider slang for the four corners of the lower 48 states of the U.S. It’s not a ride to be taken lightly. It’s certainly not a ride to be taken lightly when one is dying from pancreatic cancer.

But ride it he did. He posted to the list a couple-three times with updates on progress. A few days ago, somewhere in Arizona, he could not go on. The pain was sufficient that he was no longer fit to ride. He called a few folks from the BMW Anonymous Book (a publication with contact information of BMW riders but no names), met them for supper, and asked if any of them could/would help him finish the ride.

One of them could. So, Parker rode second seat the remainder of the way to the last corner of his ride. He then put his benefactor on an airplane, went home, and went under hospice care. He was comfortable and calm when he posted his last message to the IBMWR mailing list.

I don’t think anyone minded that there was not much of the obligatory BMW content. Parker wrote to say he finished his ride, literally and figuratively. It was his last post.

His daughter posted to the group yesterday late that Jeff Parker died from his cancer.

So what, one might think… people die everyday. It is true that everything dies, at least everything living. We all come to an end sometime.

The cancer is rather close to home. I lost Wife to cancer last January. But I am impressed by Parker’s approach. He saw his end coming and did something deliberate. He decided to go for a motorcycle ride. It wasn’t just any motorcycle ride, but a four-corners ride to all four corners of the continental U.S. It’s about a 10,000-mile ride.

It’s not something to be undertaken lightly. It’s physically and mentally challenging. Parker decided to do it while dying from pancreatic cancer. That’s both deliberate and ballsy.

He finished the ride before the cancer finished him. He had help at the end, but it still counts. He had the courage to take on a thing he wanted to do, but had not done. That courage speaks volumes to me and I hope to others.

Godspeed, Jeff Parker.

Christmas Lights

ruminator

Christmas LightsThanksgiving Day was a week late this year. Every few years, it falls in the last week of November and not the third week. It’s always a bit strange when that happens because then it seems that Christmas comes so quickly.

Young Son and I celebrated Thanksgiving this year as a family. Older Son and Daughter are far away and not here. Wife is gone. We roasted a turkey breast, baked some bread, made some mashed potatoes and added a salad. I couldn’t get the fixings for a pumpkin pie, so I bought a frozen pie to bake. I started late morning Thursday, baked the pie, and set it aside to cool. I prepared a baste for the turkey and put the breast in to roast just after noon.

The baste was a half cup of butter (real butter), a couple of tablespoons of Mrs. Dash, a bit of paprika, and a bit of salt. I melted the mass about an hour into the turkey’s cook cycle, applied the baste, and roasted it another half-hour, then reapplied the baste. By the end of the third hour, the turkey was ready and the remaining parts of our dinner were prepared.

We celebrated in memory of the folks who created the feast a couple-three hundred years ago. We celebrated in memory of Wife and the holidays she so loved. It was good and I’m glad we did it.

I spent much of my long weekend working about the house. I decided to donate some more books and am clearing some shelves so I have room to store my lenses and cameras. I also had a bit of photochemicals to put away to tidy up my house. My workroom is nearly clear now and I should be able to get the last few things off the floor, stowed, and I can then dust and vacuum my workroom. This is a good thing.

I also spent some time researching film scanners. I have a lot of slides and negatives I want to scan and the little scanner I purchased last year does not handle the film well. So, I think I will buy a Plustek OpticFilm 120 either later this month or the first part of 2014. It will handle 35mm and medium format films, has a good reputation, and the films are held in carriers so that transport works.

I suspect there will be an Epson 750 in my future as well. It will handle prints and films up to 5×7. There is a 4×5 field camera in my future. I don’t know if that will be in 2014 or not, but I’m going to move to large format photography sometime. That’s where the real magic is. There is no way any digital camera can capture the amount of detail and tones that a large format negative (or positive) can.

This morning I put up a few Christmas lights. Wife loved Christmas… it was her favorite holiday and favorite season. I have pictures of her playing Santa for the kids and grandkids and she was always so happy doing that. It was a joy to watch her and I’m blessed for having had that experience.

So, last month I bought a few strings of lights and decided to put them up in celebration of Wife as much as the season. I celebrate Christmas in my own way — by remembering the Gift and the reason for our celebration. I tried to convey that spirit to my children. Only time will tell if that lesson took.

Nonetheless, the lights are up. I called Young Son out a few minutes ago and plugged them in. We stood there for a few minutes thinking about Wife and reflecting on how she would be pleased.

Then my Girl reminded it (not too subtly I might add) that it was her suppertime. “Kibbles?” I asked.

She blinked with her ears forward in admonition as if to say “Well, duh!”

So I fed her and played with her. Now she’s snoozing on her mat under my worktable.

Remainders 2013-11-30

ruminator

Last day of the month. Hmmm…

  • An old favorite band is Mason Proffit.
  • While at the Carson Valley Memorial Hospital for some lab work last week, I came across a few prints posted by Steven Noble. He’s a local photographer and does some really nice work.
  • Only this morning I learned of Saul Leitner. Among the articles I read was this one, which is a poignant personal perspective of an artist and a man.
  • Another bit about Saul Leitner is here.

Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 Reprise

ruminator

After the unsatisfactory experience of test shooting the Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 manual focus telephoto lens in Nikon mount, I decided that the reputation of the lens was not illuminated (heh) with the particular sample I used. I happen to have a second sample in my stable, but in Olympus OM mount. That’s OK, because I have an Olympus adapter for my Sony NEX-5N handy.

So, I mounted the lens on the tripod and waited for the birds to appear one morning. Of course, with the lens mounted and ready, there were no birds for several days. I finally gave up and shot the empty tree. The first image is the lens shot wide open, f/5.6. (Excuse the beschwitz in the upper right of the images — there was a bit of dust on the sensor.) Although not tack sharp, it’s definitely useable at the aperture.

Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 at f/5.6

The second image is at f/8. It’s much better than wide open. I would not call this tack sharp (again), but it’s quite useable.

Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 at f/8

Although I shot all of the apertures down to f/22, I think one more at f/11 will suffice. Again, it’s a bit sharper than f/8 (not a lot) and completely useable.

Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 at f/11

So, my sample of the Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 in Nikon mount is going to the shop for a check-up. I think it’s a little sick. The Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 is capable of producing solid images and is a bargain at its price point.

My friend Jimmy told me he produced good images from the lens and was surprised by its poor performance. I’d like a 400mm telephoto in my Nikon kit because I like to shoot wildlife and sometimes the 500mm and 800mm lenses are just a bit too much.

Prospector Pete

ruminator

Prospector Pete

On my way to Reno Saturday, I elected to take the old U.S. 395 through Washoe City. There, next to the Chocolate Nugget (sounds nasty, doesn’t it?), resides Prospector Pete. He’s a very patient model and quietly posed for me while I worked the light.

The Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS is a great lens. It’s sharp and contrasty throughout its aperture range.

Vivitar Series 1 800mm f/11 Cat

ruminator

I don’t have a lot of use for an 800mm lens. But, now and again, it’s a useful tool to have when shooting wildlife, especially from long distances. It’s a catadioptric lens, meaning it’s a mirror lens. It’s an unusual piece in that the glass is one solid part. It was unusual and expensive when it was made, so not very many were sold. It’s also a decent piece of glass and can get the job done.

On my crop-sensor Nikon D300, it’s the equivalent of a 1,200mm lens. That’s a lot of reach. I have a Nikon 1.4x extender that I can use (and lose a stop), but there’s not much out there that needs to be shot that can’t be reached with an 1,800mm lens.

I made some minor adjustments to the image, mostly exposure and contrast, and added a bit of sharpening as a final step. Enjoy.

Little Buck

Vivitar 400/5.6 Testing

ruminator

After comments from my friend Griff, I decided to mount the Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 telephoto on a tripod and shoot a few frames with my Nikon D300. The D300 is a crop-sensor dSLR with an APS-C sensor size and a crop factor of about 1.5. So, the 400/5.6 is equivalent to a 600/5.6 on a full-frame camera. I shot the lens wide open, f/5.6 , stopped down one stops, f/8, and stopped down three stops, f/16. The first frame (follows) is at f/5.6 (wide open). It is not very sharp.

Vivitar 400/5.6 Test III

The next frame is the test shot at f/8. It’s better.

Vivitar 400/5.6 Test II

The final frame is the test shot at f/16. It’s reasonably sharp.

Vivitar 400/5.6 Test I

So, here’s my take-home lesson. The Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 telephoto lens is unacceptably soft wide open. It’s better at f/8 and good at f/16. That means if I need a large aperture because the light is failing, this is not the tool to use. If it’s reasonably bright (where Sunny-16 is good), then the lens is useable at f/16 (maybe f/11) and can produce decent images. But, don’t let your friends shoot one of these wide open. It’s irresponsible photography and will frustrate everyone.