France bound

Three days before our trip the packing process started. I think I changed my mind 4 times on what camera/lens to bring. We stuffed everything we could possibly think 0f bringing into our new luggages and went to bed a couple of hours before our alarms went off. Luckily traffic to SFO was light. We were greeted at our gate by the entire SFO gang. By the time we were to land in JFK we were hit with a VIP delay and had to circle in the air for 40 minutes. That meant we had only minutes to catch our connecting flight to Paris. Thankfully the vacation gods favored us and all were spared any heart attacks. The 6-hour flight to Paris was uneventful but we did have a nasty looking American Airlines breakfast. While it looked horrible I guess we were hungry because it was the best tasting croissant ever.

Burd Morning

Ran out to the backyard this morning after Sandy screamed we have ducklings.

Then I got distracted by a stupid Robin eating our Guava.

Then I got distracted by Humphrey hovering overhead in what looked like an assault on insects.

Back to the Ducks. We see this every year and it’s still hard to watch. Within 24 hrs of hatching the ducklings are led to the lagoon. As soon as Mother is spotted with her ducklings, the males attack her.

Without protection she has no other option but to fly. At this point it leaves her brood in peril. The other couple comes over and pushes her ducklings around. Pretty mild compared to what we’ve seen in the past.

Of course Mr Crow has to swoop by to take a closer look. The couple roughing up the ducklings are mistakenly seen as their protectors so the crow leaves the ducklings alone.

This beating and chasing/flying routine happens twice before Blondie is finally reunited with her brood.

Itz not the Kamera

I often get a question like, “which camera should I get?” or some sort of comment that I have a big camera so I must take better pictures than whomever. I always have to go through a long speech about how it just doesn’t matter. So I thought I would address it here…

1. Which camera should I get? Which is better, Nikon or Canon? It doesn’t matter; if one was clearly better than the other, we would all be using that one. Get any decent camera that you can afford and that gives you control.

2. I wanna upgrade to the latest blah blah camera. Is it worth it? Unfortunately the truth is it won’t make a difference for 90% of people.

Let me make this comparison: photography is like playing music. If you bought a $200,000 piano would your playing be on the level of Jon? No, you would have to study music theory, chords, scales, rhythm, etc. Practice for years and years. You can’t play music on a high level without that knowledge and experience. The same is true with photography. You have to learn the art & science, composition, light, exposure, strobe setups, etc. You can’t take high level photos without that knowledge and experience. If you fail to acquire this you’ll be throwing away your money or you will get frustrated and quit. The worse thing is thinking the camera upgrade will change everything, it won’t.

Yes the newest cameras do give us additional features which make certain tasks easier. But if you don’t learn how to use those features, well… you know.

The camera is stupid, it only does what you tell it to do just like a piano.

All of this venting does not mean that I am at the top of my game. Far from it, I have a long way to go. But I get those questions so frequently that I had to post this.

Traveling camera

Next month we are going on vacation and while Sandy is concerned about what she will wear, I’m always concerned about what camera equipment to bring. I’ve spent a bit of money on my big cam but can’t stand carrying it around because it’s so big and heavy. So I look for alternatives with the compacts. But then what is the use of having a high performance cam if it’s at home. It’s a constant irritation.

I think I’ll bring everything and two changes of clothes.