We were going to go to Germany but Putin made that harder. Too hard. There are a million people trying to leave Russia and they are heading straight for the E.U. Oh, and I'm pretty sanguine about saber rattling but when you have a crazy person with the ability to deploy hundreds or thousands of short range, tactical nuclear weapons at a moment's notice I'm not anxious to roll the dice and see how it's all going to play out. Added to that I'm low on iodine tablets....
We'll save a trip to Berlin and environs for the Spring. Maybe the Russian people will have figured out how to replace leaders by then.
We switched plans and are now headed to Vancouver and B.C. at the last part of October and early November. I know it will be cold but realize that you're talking to a Texan who has just lived through the hottest Summer on record here in the central part of the state and the idea of being cold, or cold and wet, or just chilly seems enticing. Alluring. Luxurious. Reservations have been made. Plans solidified. Cameras not yet chosen. Might just turn into my first family vacation with nothing but an iPhone 14Pro as a camera...
Swimming continues apace. We've got three different coaches that are great at devising interesting and challenging workouts that keep the team continuously coming back for more. Lots of fast yards. Lots of inventive sets and cool, clean water to boot. Still trudging around town with a camera in my hands as well.
My fever seems to have broken as far as camera and gear acquisition goes. I cancelled an order for a camera last week and I've been indifferent to cameras ever since. We'll see how that plays out...
I was admonishing myself for buying a full set of Panasonic GH cameras last year and this year, including a GH6, but then one of my swim buddies called this week to see if I could produce some videos for his company's website and I was overjoyed to see that I had all the parts for great video work already in hand. Today I updated the GH6 firmware to version 2.2 which allows me to write files (photo and video) to a USB connected SSD drive. How fun!!!
I pulled out the Sennheiser wireless microphone gear this afternoon to refresh my knowledge and was thrilled to see that I'd removed the batteries before packing it all away last time I used it (around the Spring Break) so everything is still clean and working. No leaky battery issues.
Our shoot is a basic testimonial production for a geo-thermal product and we'll be doing it as a three camera scenario with a bunch of b-roll added. We have a scouting trip scheduled but we're still working on scheduling the principal videography and aiming for some time in the middle of the month. I'm heading out "street shooting" video with the GH6 for the next week or so just to get very familiar with the camera and the new capabilities. Might even shoot open gate in Pro Res. Exciting.
Pissed off about the stock market. I liked it better when I felt richer. If we were back in the recent heady days of the market I'd already have that Hasselblad X2D ordered but now I'm trying to find coupons for pumpkin spice waffles at Trader Joe's.
And wouldn't you know it? The minute I clicked on payment for our vacation flights and hotel my email started to blow up with requests to book projects right up until the day before we leave. It's the crazy universe.