Despite the silence on this blog,
a lot has been going on around here. I've always heard that in your
thirties you're too busy. I certainly didn't setup my life that way,
yet it seems to be an inevitable thing. So here is what's been happening:
A whole new page for wedding photography.
Europe section of the River Directory was somehow missing a lot of links and is now fixed.
A little South Branch video.
I wrote this small bit for Canoe and Kayak Magazine, and made the included video, which is the most time I've ever spent editing a video.
On the photography side of things there has been a lot going on for me.
I've been juggling a few personal "projects" (the trendy term for an
idea) and finally sold off all my old Nikon lenses. Shooting them
alongside the Sony lenses is just too much with different focusing
directions. I tried once and came back, but have a feeling that for
this time it's for good. I can't resist having manual focus lenses
around, and love bargains. Perhaps too much. Not sure if I'll ever get
around to reviewing them but I picked up nine old Tamron Adaptall 2
lenses. That's nice for the cheap side of things. Despite constantly
swearing how you don't need great equipment to create great images, I
also bought the Sony Zeiss 16-35mm f/4 and 135 f/1.8 again. Third time
to own the 135mm f/1.8, and I think it's about time to hang onto it.
Sure the Samyang is sharper with less color fringing, but it's also
slower than the f stop would indicate and doesn't have great background
blur at longer distances. Such similar specifications and such
different looks to the images. With the 135mm lens it also made sense
to get the LA-EA4 again. I'd swear this one is faster focusing than
previous ones I've owned. Who knows though. That of course, opens up
legacy Minolta AF lenses, and I couldn't resist getting a 50mm macro
for $45 and a Tamron 200-400mm f/5.6 for $80. So far it's surprisingly
good.
On top of all that, I've been dealing with my Previa. Cars on a strict
budget are tough business. There is a lot I love about the Previa, yet
despite how good the engineering is, electrical and plastic parts just
don't do well on a car this old. On mine the Supercharger clutch does
not work, thus the supercharger does not work. Thus it's really slow
with kayaks on top. Not fun at all. It has too many other small issues
and I think it's time for it to go. I'm looking at 2004-2006
Nissan Quests. We shall see, they are overpriced in California.
Also on the fence about a trip to Taiwan for kayaking. From the
research done, it looks really cool and tickets are fairly cheap. Not
really the right time of year though, and quite the financial burden on
top of buying a new used car. First world problems right?
A lot of photo updates have been happening
on Instagram,
in fact the Pakistan story was retold there. I've been debating doing
another retrospective, but just don't have the time and energy at the
moment.
The Watchtower - Sequoia National Park
Sony A7, Sony Zeiss 135mm f/1.8
