Listening to the Voices in my Head

It wasn't *too* bad

Yesterday was the first time I had been out on photoshoot since Sydney trip. I managed it well enough, was rather tired and sore, but not overly so.

Not until this morning. Creak, crack, wince, hobbled my way to the TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN ROOM. After about 10 mins of imitating a centenarian, I was a lot less stiff. Still kind of achey, but overall, not too bad.

Australian Dart – a variety of fishing bird/cormarant. 5D4, 100-400mkII, 1.4x teleconverter

Love my bank's fraud protection

I got a text message from my bank, saying there was an odd charge to my credit card, and did I recognize it.

I looked, then searched, and nope, no clue, so I texted back NO.

Got a phone call from the bank, three step verification, so it was legit. It seems that the unknown charge was a 'feeler' to see if the account was active, because almost immediately afterward, there was a $1000+ charge on my card for a hotel in Paris, France!

Since I'm nowhere near Paris, that was squashed/denied, my current card canceled (just got through shredding it, too, just to be safe), and a new one will be issued.

And to the fuqwit that tried to commit fraud, I hope they catch your sorry ass.

Better than I expected

Don't get me wrong, I loved my Tamron 24-70 f/2.8, fast to focus, and the image quality was excellent, but I kept finding myself trying to zoom past the 70mm mark. It didn't quite have the reach. So, instead of ruining the lens by accidentally over torquing the zoom ring, it was time to get lens with longer reach.

At PhotoExpoLive2017, I purchased the 24-105mkII. One of the things I was concerned about was losing that one stop. Well, I didn’t have to worry because the bokeh even at f/4 on the 5D4 was great.

Canon 5DmkIV, 24-105mkII, ISO 1600, f/4, 1/60exp.  No noise reduction, edited in On1PhotoRaw 2017

In with the new, out with the old

Attended the #PhotoLiveExpo2017 at Novatel, in Perth, yesterday. Bought a new lens at a discounted price. Wing had a bit of a snit about it until I told him I was selling my Tamron 24-70 to fund the purchase.

Went to #CameraElectronic to pick up the new camera batteries we bought at the event discount prices. Got a small bag to carry a 50mm lens that's large enough to hold the 24-105mkII when I want to swap. Told Sam I was selling the Tamron (which I just picked up after a scheduled thorough cleaning). I had a price in mind, and Sam's offer was right in that ballpark. So, instead of the hassle and problems of having to deal with idiots trying to lowball me on the price, or mansplain as to why I should sell it to them for less, I got a CE store credit.

Problem solved.

Follow up with Dr S

First off, ow. The exam to see if the 2nd SynVisc injection is working hurts like hell. Pull, push, bend, flex. Check to see if there is side to side movement. Even with the swelling I had on Sunday (furniture seats are 'fashionably' low to the floor. Kind of feels like squatting, instead of sitting.

Dr S said swelling is down, side to side movement is reduced. I told him how I sit when the knee starts feeling spongey (that means there is fluid building up again). And I've stopped trying to keep up with people who can walk faster. I can walk faster, for a while, but then I will pay for it big time the following week.

I go back and see Dr S in a month for another follow up.

Again, the art of the politely worded complaint

8 weeks ago, I purchased the full version of DFX Audio Enhancer. I really liked the plug-in I had gotten with DIVX years ago, and wanted to use its features with all my audio/video programs.

Turn the clock to 8 weeks later, they announce they have a NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION! And yes, was vastly improved. They offered a discount for those who registered previous versions.

My issue was this: 8 weeks after my initial purchase, they came out with this. 10 Days AFTER I could have gotten refund for buying the now defunct version, and repurchase the new one. Oh, they offered a discount, but for me, it wasn't a discount, it was paying double!

Their support staff agreed and gave me new license/key for the new version.

Old fashioned treatment, but it works

I stubbed my toe last week, but that isn't the problem. The problem was I couldn't find the toenail clipper and impatiently tried to use fingernail clipper. It didn't cut the nail, but it did twist it, causing a lifting of the toenail from the nail bed.

I noticed (well, Keito noticed) my big toe was a bit..to protect the squeamish, icky.

Old fashioned remedy: Large enough container to hold hot water enough to cover my food. Regular table salt, about a 1/2 cup. Immerse foot. VERY gently, started from base of toenail, press. Gradually work your way to top of toenail. Don't be surprised if you see air bubbles. Repeat. Empty pan of water, refill, and do it again, but this time the 1st time you press, you shouldn't see air bubbles. BUT it will sting like hell! When water is cooler than your foot, take foot out, empty water. Dry foot with clean cloth/towel.

Feels better already.

There are definitely more fish in the sea.

You know, everyone goes on and on ad nauseum about Adobe Products. Why? It's not like they are the end all be all of image development/editing. 'Industry standard'? Adobe itself labeled themselves that, and it stuck.

Here is a list of equal, if not better, programs to use. True, not all the Adobe plugins work with them, but many do (mostly the ones that were made to be used on more than one photo editing program)

Affinity - Non-destructive (you know, technically, as long as you don't SAVE the image, overwriting the original, they are all non-destructive) editing program, has both Mac and Windows version. Has features that you have to buy plugins to get the same result. Mixed bag on plugins made for Adobe products (ie Nik tools, they work but with cavaets) Full on camera raw editing, updated by Serif when new raw formats are available. You do have to make a new 'pixel layer' when you want to do multiple edits on different layers, as Affinity doesn't do it automatically.

TopazStudio - Fully featured, non-destructive, camera raw editing. Has a free and a pro version. Works perfectly with TopazLabs plugins, as you would expect. TopazLaps and StudioPro isn't free, BUT you buy it once, and all your updates are free, even to new versions.

Alienskin Exposure X2 - again, non-destructive camera raw editor (I donated 5Ds, 5D4, 7D2 raw files to during development) Fully featured, and again works flawlessly with Alienskin Plugins.

TwistedBrush Pro Studio - Not only an excellent art program, but a much underrated photo editing software. Again, I helped by testing and donating CR2/ORF/RAW files to improve the camera raw edits. You can use some adobe compatible plugins, but alas only 32bit. Because of that 32bit limit, file size can cause the program to crash. Ken Carlino is looking into getting a 64bit version written.

ON1 Photo RAW 2017 - Crammed packed with features. Not only a raw editor, but great as a stand along photo processing/editing program. With layers, brushes, gradient tools, filters and presets, even a way to make your own custom presets and filters, you could use On1 as a plugin for Photoshop, or use it as a stand alone. It's latest version even has lens profiles to correct for aberrations and distortions, BUT unlike DxO Optics, you can choose to not apply the lens correction (DxO forces correction for fisheye lenses) You can, if you choose, do all your edits and effects, and punt a high res JPG to a different photo edition if you want to use a specific plugin in a photo editing program.

Capture One - Also a fully loaded editor that until the latest version was so so slow. Again, non-destructive layer editing, and as great as CO is, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Corel PaintShop Pro X9 - Non destructive layer editing, but you do have to make new layer as it doesn't make them automatically. (import image, duplicate layer, use a plugin. Duplicate result on another layer to keep doing other edits) Many of the plugins made for Adobe will work with PSPX9, but again, with a few cavaets. As with Affinity, you can use plugins that were made for generally any photo editing programs.

I know I've left a few out, but that was because I had iffy results, or that they decided to go the Adobe "rent me" method.

"Selfie-Centered"

Street Photography, Perth W.A. Canon 5DmkIV, Tamron 24-70

Almost 8 years worth

I have 8 years worth of emails, photos, correspondence from my dad. I never delete anything from family. I might have lost a few due to hard drive failures, and caught between back ups, but I have most of them. I have been going through them, and it's a sad/happy/sad feeling because as much as many of them make me smile, I know there will be no more, and then the grief comes.

The distance, and not having the daily seeing of someone, lessened the initial grief, but I have found the last few days it's hit me in larger and larger waves.