10.28.2022
I've been testing out camera and lens combinations. I want to take one camera and one lens with me on vacation. Not a bag full of gear. Today was sadly revealing...
10.27.2022
OT: 67 year old enjoys morning swim practice. Looks forward to more photography.
As on just about any other day I dragged myself out of my warm, cozy bed, slipped on a sweatshirt and a well worn pair of pants and padded to the kitchen to make a cup of Irish breakfast tea and toast some super bread. I glanced at all the headlines and looked at the stock futures on Yahoo Finance. Did a quick search through the overnight emails. Rinsed my tea cup, brushed my teeth and headed out the door.
Destination: Swim practice.
We have three options for practices each day. There's the 7 a.m. workout for people who need to be at work by a certain time. They trend younger and more... driven...hardcore. There's the 8 a.m. workout which used to be a bit tamer but lately has had the ante raised up by a new coach. At 8 we talk less and swim further. And then there's the noon workout which is well coached but it's understood that some people might customize the workout presented on the board and relax a bit more...
I used to be a dyed in the wool 7 a.m.-er and during the early days of the pandemic, when we were trying to spread out attendance to manage proximity, I was an ardent 6 a.m. attendee. Lately, I've aimed for the middle ground and now am most likely to show up for the 8.
Today was a bit daunting. We started with about 1200 yards of warm up (48 pool lengths) and then hit the main set. It was written like this:
6 x 75 yards. 50 of those yards (two lengths) were butterfly and 25 were freestyle. These were on a 1:15 minute interval.
300 yard freestyle at 85% pace.
6 x 75 yards. 50 of those yards backstroke and 25 yards freestyle. Also on a 1:15 interval
300 yard freestyle at 90% pace. (descend completion time by 5 or 10 seconds).
6 x 75 yards. 50 of those yards breaststroke and 25 yards backstroke. Same interval.
300 yards freestyle attempting to descend the time from the last two 300s. (good luck!).
One fast 100 I.M. (a lap of each stroke)
200 yards of freestyle to warm down.
About 3500 yards (about 142 pool lengths, many flip turns, much hard breathing) of fast paced, multi-stroke swimming by 9 a.m. A great way to start the day out.
I'm thinking about going back for the noon workout, just because....
Later this afternoon B. and I are going over to the HRC to hear a talk by Laura Wilson and to get a copy of Wilson's new book. A great way to wrap up the day.
This is the first year in a long time that I've let a birthday slip by without getting a fun camera as a self-gift. But I'd never let a birthday week pass without lots of swimming. Gotta keep those priorities straight.
guilty admission. I do have a lens headed my way. It's a Voightlander 40mm f1.4 in the Leica M mount and I also have an M to L mount adapter coming with it. Trying it out over the weekend as a small, fast, light lens to match with the Sigma fp as a pared down travel kit. More words coming once I've put my hands on it.
Who has opinions about dive watches? I mean real dive watches. 20 ATM or better. Preferrably PADI certified...
10.26.2022
I spent one of my few remaining days being 66 working over at one of my favorite client's offices. It was a reminder that the business of photography can be fun.
But I did take time to go to Torchy's this morning for a breakfast taco, to the bank for buckets of cash to spend on my trip, and then to the pool for the noon workout with coach Jane. Swam 3,000 yards before lunch. Now heading out with a camera to enjoy the cool weather and bright sun. Thanks! KT
10.24.2022
Portrait of Rebecca L. An actor I met while photographing "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." This image done for fun, after the rehearsal shoots.
I loved watching Rebecca perform on stage. She had this really great energy that the very best performers seem to be able to channel into the roles they play. I asked her to pose for me one afternoon near the end of the run of the show.
We used one of the reception spaces at the Topfer Theater. I used several LED lights in big modifiers and mixed their light with the soft light coming in through a bank of windows.
The session only lasted fifteen or twenty minutes but it was enough to get a dozen or so "keepers" that we both liked. I reworked the post processing a little today, dropping the original saturation down a bit and adding some shadow contrast. I finally got the image exactly where I wanted it.
Camera: Sony A7RII
Lens: 135mm f2.0
Observation: Generally, the photographs you capture before or after the "official" or "assignment" images are the ones you want to keep. There's a different energy. It's a shared thing. And it's critical, if you can, to eliminate any other audience at your session.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a good English to Canadian phrase book?
10.23.2022
I updated Adobe Lightroom Classic to version 12.0 on Friday and I've been playing with it ever since. The new features are great.
We are in the middle of a weather change here. After two hot days (again...) we've got wind gusts moving through and rain on the way. Tomorrow evening we were scheduled to make an outdoor portrait of 16 surgeons with the downtown skyline in the background. You know, a classic sunset shot. But the strong prediction is for thunderstorms in the late afternoon. That's too bad because 5 or 5:30 p.m. would have been the perfect time to shoot. Now cancelled (or rescheduled).
10.22.2022
Auditioning camera and lens choices with travel in mind. I came across this particular atmospheric environmental expression this afternoon...
We are so "blessed" to have an additional 400,000 people in town this weekend for Formula One.
A whole different set of folks from the 140,000 or so that were here on the last two weekends for the Austin City Limits music festival.
What fresh hell awaits us next?
I have attended the F1 in Austin on two different years in the service of clients. Loud cars go around and around on a track. Some are faster than others. No matter where you sit you only see, at any one time, about 4% of each lap. About 12 seconds of car viewing per circuit.
Insanity is said to be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is obviously a text book case.
Did I mention the noise? I cannot imagine what possesses people to come from all over the globe for something like this. But just because I think car races are stupid doesn't mean it has no value for other people. To each their own.
At least, unlike ACL Fest, it's far enough away from my home not to inflict on us burdensome traffic, loud noise and crowds. If anything it has lightened traffic in my neighborhood. And local restaurants are less crowded.
Some silver linings; I guess.