Linda working the floor. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 wide open.
A few days ago I was at the Red Hut Diner in south Carson City for breakfast. I had The Usual and it was quite good. This lady is one of my favorite servers ever. She is so outgoing and so fun. She also makes a good image.
Test shot of berries on some landscape shrubbery. Shot with the Sony A7Sii and a Fujinon 55mm f/3.5 Macro lens at f/8.
On Monday I carried the Sony A7Sii with an old Fujinon 55mm f/3.5 Macro affixed to the camera. It was a test run with a lens my buddy Jimmy loaned me. I made a few captures on walkies and shared one of a yellow jacket and rose a couple of days ago.
On our circuit through Carson City to the Station 51 park and back, we came across a shrub (“Bring me a shrubbery!”) covered in orange berries. I doubt they are edible or the birds would have carried them off. But, the color made for an interesting capture with a macro lens.
The Girl sniffed around a bit as I worked the subject. It was a quiet day on the Nevada DOT grounds. The overcast made the orange really pop.
The subject worked, The Girl and I made our way home to get on with our day — she a long drink from her bowl and a nap… me with a dry shirt and a push on some paying work.
It was a good day. Time spent with The Girl is time well spent. Life is good.
I found this on walkies this morning, a yellow jacket working a rose. Shot with Sony A7Sii and a Fujinon 55mm f/3.5 macro at f/8. Post in PhotoLab to make some minor adjustments.
After working part of the morning, The Girl and I got out for walkies here in Carson City. I had stuff to do and a meeting at 1300h, so I did not want to drive up to Spooner for a hike. So, we walked in town.
The weather broke this weekend and it was about 50ºF outdoors. (And it was cool in the house as well.) I wore a cover and took just the Sony A7Sii fitted with a legacy Fujinon 55mm f/3.5 macro lens. It is a new to me lens, but Fujinon glass has always been good. So, I had high expectations.
The light was mediocre, but we did get a little sunlight mixed in with the overcast. The Girl really wanted to chase the plethora of ground squirrels near the rose hedge at the old flume. But I was afraid to let her go as there are sometimes other dogs and poorly mannered handlers.
When we got close to the hedge, I could tell it was clear (of dogs and poor handlers), so I let her sniff about for the dreaded bushytail.
I made a few images of the roses, mostly to test the lens until I saw a yellow jacket working one of the flowers.
“There it is!” I thought. I made a couple captures and the one above is the best.
The remainder of the walk was good and uneventful. My 1300h meeting was cancelled. I worked a bit until mid-afternoon, then The Girl and I took a nap.
She is doing much better. In fact, I think she is back to 100%. This is good. It makes me happy.
It was a good day. I am grateful. Life is good. Really, it is.
While walking my downtown route last weekend, I noticed a walker in front of the Capitol Building. Capture with Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 at f/8. Post in PhotoLab to Tri-X Film Simulation.
Although I have been around the Internet since my last remainders post, apparently I did not capture a lot of the sites and include them here. Hmmm…
Hugin is an open source panorama stitcher for landscape photographers.
Howard Merklinger is an author of a book on focusing in general and a second on focusing the view camera. They are quite technical, but very good.
The Brewery is another local restaurant that is pretty darned good. Shot with Sony A7Sii and a Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 Planar at f/8. Post in PhotoLab with a Ilford FP4+ film simulation.
After a pretty full day yesterday, I ended up at Garibaldi’s Italian Restaurant front door, waiting for them to open. While I waited, I got out the Sony A7Sii, which was fitted with a Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 Planar lens, and made a few images.
Of the group, I like this one quite a lot. I was facing into the Sun and the clarity of the shot is a testimony to the quality of the lens. There are a few small Sunstars visible.
The Girl is recovering nicely. After spending the morning in the Nevada Emergency Operations Center radio room, we came home, I got a bite to eat, and then we walked a few miles in town. It was warm, but not too hot.
A treat was our encounter with Timber and Lisa. The Girl recognized them and rushed over to engage. She loves her peeps! I had a nice, but short, visit and they were back off to work and we back on our walk.
I did what I said I would do. I even got a bit of work done given there was nothing to do in the radio room. It was a good day. I am grateful.
This place is a Carson City landmark. There are many images of it, particularly at night. Shot with the Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 at f/8 and rendered to a Tri-X 400 Film Simulation in-camera. SOOC.
It was a busy day and is not quite over yet. I am working on a hydrology report for a client that I need to get out. Then there is another hydrologic analysis that needs my attention. I am called to staff the radio room at the NV EOC tomorrow morning. The EOC was stood up this week in response to the Davis Fire south from Reno and north from Washoe Lake in Washoe County. That is just north of me about ten miles.
Next week and the week following are field work. So I am busy this month. Busy is good.
I checked Facebook this afternoon, briefly, to post a music video I came across from one of my blog posts. It was good when I posted it and is still good. So I decided to share.
After posting the link to YouTube with a smile and small chuckle, I noticed a PM waiting. I opened it and it was from my friend Sandy. Then I nearly hit the floor. My old friend Jim M. died Monday. I have no other knowledge than he is gone.
Just. Like. That.
I felt that heart-hit that comes with such news. I wept, openly. Jim and I knew each other since back in the 90s when I came across his weblog, long idle and soon to be long gone. His love of photography and words match my own and we became friends. I still remember Sunday Morning Coffee with Jim. We would type back and forth on AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) for an hour or so every Sunday morning.
He was there for me during my clinical depression. He was there for me when Wife died.
I do not carry much regret, but I carry this one — I was close enough to visit earlier this year. I did not take the time. Now, that time has passed.
Now his wife Sandy has a long row to hoe. Her griefwork will be different than mine, but yet it will be the same in that it has to be done.
I have a few more thoughts, probably. But they need to rattle around in this brain of mine before I can make sense of them.
Vaya con Dios, my friend. You are missed.
The image? Well, with The Girl sick I walked from the house and made a few circuits through downtown Carson City. Old Cactus Jack is still there, beckoning the tourists to come in and spend a dime, or a dollar. I saw the setup and made the capture.
I stopped for food on my way home Monday. Captured with iPhone 13 Pro Max using the standard camera app and no post processing.
The Fox Brewpub has become a favorite restaurant here in Carson City. It is local and the food is better than decent. I have not tried everything on the menu (yet), but have already found a few favorites.
She’s always looking at her phone. Captured with MPro app on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
I am working my way through Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. I picked it up again after I quit reading again a few weeks ago. But it is an important book for me to read. I want to finish it. I want to learn from Newport’s thoughts and experience. I want to spend less time on technology and more time doing things that nourish my soul.
The latter is something that has been in focus for a few weeks/months now. I took a sabbatical from Instagram several months ago, went back, caught myself doomscrolling, and deleted that IG app again. After my first IG sabbatical, I found and started reading Digital Minimalism and got to the point I was convinced that there are certain appetites I should not indulge1. I also deleted the Reuters news app from my iPhone, but left it on my iPad.
I check FB once or twice a day. I want to see if my kids posted anything, commented on one of my postings (I cross-post my weblog entries there), or if I received any DMs that need a response. Then I close the browser window.
This addiction is designed by the tech companies that produce the devices and the software that runs on them. IG, FB, X, and the others are all designed to provide that temptation to keep on scrolling. (Ooohhhhh… a sparkly!)
I now see that I will likely need to limit my YouTube access as well. I do not want to do away with YT; it is too valuable a resource to eliminate entirely. But I need to eliminate my use of it to occupy my mind with a nearly endless supply of fluff. It is not exactly doomscrolling, but it is close enough that I do not want to do it.
I usually check the Reuters news app on my iPad before I sleep. I spend a few minutes scanning the headlines and then reading a little if I want to know more. But I do not spend a lot of time on it.
I started noticing this addiction to our devices a couple-three years ago (maybe a bit more). Everywhere I went, I see people glued to the little glowing screen. They notice nothing of what is going on around them and see none of the beauty in the world. They are looking for that next dopamine hit, that “like” on a post or comment on a FB page.
When I visit my kids I see them doing the same thing. We sit in the living room, the three of us focused on the little glowing screen. I stopped much of that the last time I was there.
Instead, I got out my Kindle and worked on reading. I have a couple of books going on, usually. One will be a novel and the other something to learn from.
The Kindle has its own issues. There are too many books on my Kindle. I collect lots of samples of books I want (or think I want) to read. I usually push finished titles back to the cloud.
Yet, there are still too many books on my Kindle. I sometimes get stuck in a loop trying to decide what to read.
That is not a good thing.
I might need to go through my Kindle and delete the bulk of the content there. But that is another problem and another topic. At least I do not doomscroll through the Kindle. At least, I do not do that yet.
I made the capture Sunday afternoon at the restaurant in Bodine’s Casino. I went there after The Girl and I had a great hike out at Silver Saddle Ranch. I was hungry and could not decide whether I wanted a bar-burger or a Reuben sandwich.
The Reuben won the decision. Bodine’s has a decent sandwich. So we drove out there. I parked the rig in the sun and cracked the windows for The Girl. I went into the restaurant.
Yes, I had my iPhone with me. I did a quick check of email and then checked my open search lists on fleaBay. I then set my phone down on top of my hat. I decided not to use the phone as a distraction.
I noticed the people around me. There were several of us singletons there for a late lunch or early supper. I watched a couple in a window booth taking to each other. A woman across the aisle from me was working on her meal. Then I noticed the woman sitting alone in a window booth. She was fixated on her smartphone.
She made one of the captures I shot with the MPro app on my iPhone. The MPro app is a black and white camera application that only makes black and white images. It also produces high quality TIFF files as its output.
As I watched her, I thought about my own struggle with the digital black hole. I think I need to start carrying a small kit that has my Kindle, my journal (and a couple of pens), and a camera in it. The iPhone can serve as a decent camera, but I prefer a purpose-built tool for photography. But the iPhone will do in a pinch.
In the end, I believe that such a strong connection to a smartphone is not healthy. It takes us away from being present in the moment and in the place. It denies us the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings and the breath of life.
I think there is nothing morally or ethically wrong with use of the devices. But I think they present a risk to intellectual and spiritual health. I have decided to be less connected to my device and spend that time on things that nourish my soul, such as reading, looking around when I am outdoors, interacting with The Girl, and my inner spiritual life.
The iPhone will be there. But it is the servant, not the master.
Sera overlooking the Mexican Ditch on Silver Saddle Ranch. Shot with the Fujifilm X100V 23mm f/2 at f/8 using Reggie’s Portra-400 film simulation.
The week was busy with work and recovery from being in the field so long. Yes, I am still recovering from that. My other work is so far behind that I am only beginning to catch up. But I should be caught up in a couple more weeks.
The Girl and I were walking Thursday about noon. We had a little rain and that softened the sand burrs that plague her on the trails at Silver Saddle Ranch. So she is enjoying the walks more.
Her toe is healing, although she still messes with it too much. I might decide to call her Sera of the three toes when I am feeling a bit ornery. She does not care1. We are also taking a little longer path that adds a quarter mile to our walk. Both of us need the exercise.
I also like to cross the ditch at one of the irrigation structures and walk along the ditch to Mexican Dam. If I time it right, or the weather is less appealing, there is little traffic on the Mexican Ditch Trail and we can get more than three miles in. Plus I get to shoot the Dam.
It was a good hike and a good day. Life is good.
1I often call her Sera Sue because I like the alliteration and rhythm.
While walking a morning or two ago, Sera posed for me on overwatch. Shot with the Fuji X100V 23mm f/2 at f/8 using the Portra film simulation.
It has been a minute or two. After six weeks in the field overseeing a construction project, I am no longer leaving the house at 0-dark-early and returning at 1700h. That was a string of long days and a lot of physical activity.
I am recovering and resting. The last couple of days were spent catching up with things left undone. I still have a lot to do. There is also a slug of analytical work to get done and that will take a few weeks.
It is good, though. The work is good. Then I might catch a break before the next batch of projects start up. Or it might be that work slows for awhile as the consulting business has an ebb and flow.
Anyway, The Girl and I are enjoying the cooler weather. With the cool weather the risk of snakes is much reduced. Soon they will all be in their winter dens and will be of no concern until the weather warms in the spring.
I am carrying a camera again. I have a few images that need review and processing. I have a couple of new lenses to try. I want to get out and do some radio as well.