Searching for the Perfect Compact, Ergonomically Sound Grab & Go Camera

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to set up a dedicated Facebook page for my photography. That’s done!

Another was to buy a new compact camera that I could grab and go for a daily walk or hike. There’s a wide range of options out there from single lens to zoom lens to interchangeable “smallish” bodies.

I did a fairly unscientific poll of a few photography Facebook Groups I belong to for recommendations and they came back with the following:

With these recommendations in mind, I also decided to check a few video reviews as well, including the following:

Fuji X100V: 5 Reasons I have to eat my words

Best camera for your pocket? Ricoh GR III, Sony RX100 VII, LUMIX LX100 II, Canon G5X

OFFICIAL Nikon Z50 Real World pREVIEW | a Mini Z6 / Z7?

OFFICIAL Sony RX100 VII Hands On PREVIEW | A MINI a9?! (vs RX100 VI vs a9)

After reviewing these videos, and reading as much as I could, I had my mind set on checking out the Fuji X100V and the Sony RX100 VII.

Fuji X100V

Sony RX100 VII

Aside from the specs and the reviews, it’s really important to get my hands on these cameras because ergonomics and the experience of using the camera are so important to me.

With that in mind, I headed out to my local camera shop, Looking Glass Photo.

Looking Glass Photo

With Covid precautions in full force (temp check, hand sanitizers, rubber gloves, customer limits), I headed up to their main counter and requested to see the Fuji and the Sony.

Fuji X100v

The first thing I was surprised about was just how big the camera actually is. (“How big is it!?”)

I knew it wasn’t quite pocketable, but at 5” x 3” x 2” and weighing in at a just over a pound, it was a pretty substantial camera. Definitely solid in the hands with durable, “hearty” controls.

I pulled the EVF up to my eye and tried to simulate a typical manual shooting scenario where I might be inclined to adjust aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

You’ve got the aperture control right on the lens dial where it should be, shutter control in a large top dial, and another dial which was defaulting to a repetitive shutter control. I can only assume and hope that the additional dial could be reprogrammed to ISO if I wanted.

I didn’t love the dedicated dial for shutter (see large dial above) as it didn’t quite “glide” as easily as I might like, but perhaps I could get used to it. The EVF was very nice, but the shutter sound (if one cares about that) was a bit feeble (others have commented on that in reviews as well).

With a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) pancake lens, the camera is still compact enough even if it wouldn’t easily fit in a pocket. I was hoping to check out the wide angle adapter to add on, but Looking Glass did not have it in stock (and it’s $350!) The Associate told me that the adapter itself is not that easy to get on and off like a normal lens so that might be a nuisance too.

Sony RX100 VII

The Sony RX100 VII is a different camera altogether. From it’s significantly smaller size 4 x 2.29 x 1.69" and weight 10.65oz, it’s smaller sensor (1” versus the APS-C in the Fuji), to it’s 24-200 zoom range, it’s not a true apples to apples comparison with the Fuji (ha! get it?), but many compare the two anyway.

What makes this camera attractive is its compact size for sure. I am looking for something I can grab and go with and this certainly fits that bill. One major quirk is the EVF itself - it’s not only much smaller than the Fuji, but you have to push a lever to have it pop-up like a flash in order to use it. I’d just as well have it be permanently up and sacrifice the sleekness of it being able to be drawn down.

Note the pop-up EVF. Doesn’t quite pop. You have to push a side switch to get it up.

Once I did play around with the controls, I was pleasantly surprised with the ability to control the aperture and shutter speed easily in manual mode. Again, there’s the question of which dial might be able to be programmed to change ISO as needed.

Is that a camera in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

The big drawback of this - and to a certain extent the Fuji - are the ergonomics. There’s just nothing to hold on to with the Sony at all. And many in reviews have talked about the possibility of dropping this small camera when on the go.

Comparison

There are so many different specs to compare with these two cameras. The Associate at Looking Glass felt like as much as you get great versatility in the Sony, the image quality in the Fuji, because of the larger sensor and prime lens, is going to be much better. On the other hand, the Sony does have image stabilization and the Fuji does not.

Here’s a quick comparison of the other specs in writing and in video below.

What about the Fuji XT-30? Nikon Z50?

The Associate then asked “What about the Fuji X-T30?” It’s about the same size (actually smaller and lighter) and price ($100 less) as the 100V but has interchangeable, mirrorless lenses (including a solid 18-55 kit lens). That’s pretty impressive.

Fuji X-T30

Being able to change lenses obviously provides more flexibility, but then we’re talking about an interchangeable lens camera - and is that really a grab and go? Not really. But apparently the Fuji does have sleek pancake primes, so maybe it’s worth a look?

Since I already have the Z6, I also thought “why not check out the Z50?”, the smaller interchangeable Nikon in this category. I checked that out in store, and of course, it felt great in my hands and familiar, but again, it’s not at all a pocketable, compact camera.

Decision?

So where does that leave me? Unfortunately, I’m not sure.

While my iPhone is getting me by, it’s not really a camera, so I am still committed to getting a smaller camera for on the go. B&H Photo and many of the other larger retailers do offer 30-45 day money back guarantees, so I might do a little try before I buy comparison…?

Here’s a good article outlining many more of the technical differences between the two.

What do you think?

Learn More

Fuji X100V

Sony RX100 VII

Fuji X-T30

Nikon Z50

Fujifilm X100V vs Sony RX100 VII Comparison

"Are You Still Going to Make a Calendar This Year?"

Fleming Point | Albany State Marine Reserve | Albany, CA

“Are you still going to make a calendar this year?” my Mom asked the other day. The question came from the assumption that Covid, and the lack of travel, would “prevent” me from pulling together my “best shots” from 2020.

Sure, trips to Europe, Tahoe, and Sonoma were all cancelled this year. There was no work-related travel. But we did indeed get to Florida in January, Park City in February, attended a concert in March (that may have been sketchy). And for a change of scenery, we spent the summer in San Diego, and took local trips in the Bay Area that did not require getting on a plane.

So yes, there will be a calendar.

In fact, I think I may have had a harder time this year compared to the past. It’s not easy narrowing down the best 13 to include in calendar (12 months plus the cover shot). In fact, I intend to write an additional “honorable mentions” blog post as I felt really bad for the photos that got “left behind” this year.

19 Years and Counting…

My 2003-2020 calendars.

Every year since 2003 I have been making a calendar of my “best of the best” photos. (I wasn’t sure what year I started this, so I needed to dig them all out!)

I give them to my family at the holidays and include all the birthdays and anniversaries and the like within them. Since I started this Web site last January, I have set a goal of trying to get all those photos on to the site…at some point.

Aside from tracking all those old photos down (I have been through a few computers since 2003, including a Dell Desktop and IBM laptop), it takes time to title, describe, and link to the places in the photos. But “re-telling” those stories of the photos adds a new element to them - and I’ll enjoy the walks down memory lanes. And with Lightroom, I may even “remaster” some of them.

So far, in addition to this year’s, I’ve only got 2020 and 2019 up, but I’ll get the remaining 16 up there by hook or by crook as my Mom likes to say. She’s probably one of my biggest fans of these calendars (of course).

What about you? Do you make annual calendars from your best shots? What’s your best shot from 2020?

Click on the 2021 Calendar below to see my best from 2020.

Nine Years to Find This Fabled Next Door Treasure

Literally 2.4 miles from our house. Can see it from our bedroom.

Well it only took us nine years to learn about - and visit - the wondrously eccentric and charming Albany Beach and Albany Bulb.

Despite living directly up the hill from it, somehow we never really realized it was there until our friend Dave told us about it while we were walking in César Chávez Park near the Berkeley Marina last month.

I can’t tell you how many hundreds of times we drove to the end of Buchanan Avenue in Albany to enter highway 80 without ever realizing that another 500 feet ahead was the entrance to the Albany State Marine Reserve. Here you can find such attractions as the Albany Beach, the Albany Waterfront Trail, and the famous Albany Bulb.

Fleming Point

My first foray to the marine reserve took place last Sunday night when I took the girls and my Z6 in search of some sunset photos. November and December are amazing sunset opportunities in the East Bay. The sun often sets close to, or right under, the Golden Gate Bridge.

I didn’t really know what we’d find when we got to the park (a parking space was NOT easily to be found), but I was hopeful there might be some rocky shorelines that might make for a good foreground for sunset photos. And Fleming Point, just south of Albany Beach and west of the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, did not disappoint!

I’m no expert at taking sunset photos. I came with no filters and no tripod (I need to buy a new one as part of it was stolen back in 2014 - long story, but open to tripod recommendations if you have them.) But I did come equipped with steady hands and some modest prowess for shooting manually. What I couldn’t get quite right in the camera onsite was easily corrected via the RAW files in Lightroom. Even learned to use the Lightroom linear gradient tool to knock up and down the exposure to create more highly dynamic images.

What’s amazing about these sunsets is that on any given night you’ll get something just a little different depending on the clouds, the weather, and the sun setting in a slightly different location.

I mentioned Albany Beach as well. It’s not that big, but people do indeed go there with beach chairs and hang out - or come with their dogs who frolic in the water. Here’s a quick video I shot on our way out near the beach (closer to Fleming Point) which gives you a sense of it.

Albany Bulb

On Tuesday, the family was committed to heading back to the reserve, this time for a morning hike to Albany Bulb. Just what is the Albany Bulb? And what makes it a bulb?

Well, to make a long story short, the Bulb is the site of a former landfill, replete with construction debris and other miscellaneous landfill, which was eventually shut down and turned into a natural reserve/park area. Former homeless people and/or artists have created sculptures, statues, and painted art all along the walkway giving it a very urban artist vibe. And all that broken concrete is now covered by the Bay marine fauna, mud, and slime making for a fascinating muddy and slippery walk at times.

So why a bulb? I believe because it’s shaped like a bulb. Beyond the name, there’s a long and controversial history about the removal of the people who once called this place home, documented in films like Bums’ Paradise and Where Do You Go When It Rains?

Shooting Raw with the Lightroom Camera App

This time I only brought my iPhone - which was a good thing, because I almost slipped into the water and mud a few times. But shooting with the Lightroom app camera is a godsend as you can shoot RAW and then process the files in Lightroom generously.

Here’s a glimpse of what life is like on the Albany Bulb.

As you can see, not only is the Bulb itself an amazing destination, but I’ll be sure to go back for another sunset shoot with the city, the Golden Gate, and Mount Tam behind it. If you want to see even more photos, check out the Lightroom album.

CHECK OUT

Albany Bulb Lightroom Album

Albany State Marine Reserve

Albany Bulb

Albany Beach

Albany Waterfront Trail

Bum’s Paradise

Where Do You Go When It Rains?

Adobe Lightroom Mobile App

Celebrating a Different Festival of Lights

Last Saturday we celebrated Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, by drawing rangoli at the noted Berkeley Indian eatery Vik’s Chaat.

For many of us, this was the first time we learned to draw the colorful paisleys, flowers, abstracts, and other patterns of rangoli. For the kids, it was another great way to have fun with colored chalk!

And while I was mostly focused on capturing the spirit of the morning, I did manage to put my camera down and create my own art as shown in the slideshow below.

Depth of Field and Exposure

Open Your Aperture to Me

One of the ongoing challenges I faced was choosing the right aperture for the moment. I’ve been “hanging out” at f/4-5 a lot to capture a shallow depth of field while blowing out the details in the background. But at times it’s too much - and I’m losing important details in the blurred foreground or background.

It’s a fine balance finding the right aperture. I’ll be experimenting more a few stops higher at f/6.3 and above to see how that goes under certain conditions. It might be easier to go f/8 and above, but I want my photos to have more of that artistic than snapshot look at higher apertures.

Mired in a Mirrorless Mirage

While my mirrorless Z6 allows me to get a live view of my exposure, what I see is not always what I get when I bring the raw file into Lightroom. What looked like good exposure in the live view, and on the LCD on the back of the camera, winds up being darker than I expected at times.

I can adjust the exposure in post production, but I believe better exposures in will lead to better photographs coming out. So I’ll need to play around with my ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds some more to see what’s happening when my photos are underexposed. There are so many variables at play with metering and the like that I’ll have to see what adjustments I’ll need to make moving forward.

In the meantime, check out the colors of Diwali and see the full gallery here.

While She Ran Calling Wildfire, I Ran Out and Got Myself This!

With a Five Minute Warning, What Would You Grab?

Life on Mars. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

As if Coronavirus and the election weren’t worrisome enough, we in the Bay Area, and all throughout California, suffered the worst wildfire season on record this summer/early fall. Day after day, we were trapped inside our stuffy homes with windows closed, air purifiers churning, and countless refreshes of airnow.gov for the latest AQI readings. You might have even heard of that infamous September 9th day when we woke up on Mars and the sun never shone..

We were very fortunate in the East Bay not to have fire come directly our way. That being said, we were warned to stay on high alert with our go bags ready and our keepsakes close at hand to evacuate if needed. And for me, that meant the possibility of needing to salvage my 1000’s of photographs that predate the digital era.

With 20 plus photo albums and several overflowing archival boxes of prints, there’s just no way I could escape with all of them on a moments notice. So now more than ever, it was time to invest in a “fast scanner” to digitize my old photographs. How old? We’re talking 20 years worth of prints, from 1981 - 2001, the year I got my first digital camera.

If You’re Looking for a Fast Scanner

Epson FastFoto FF-680W

You’d be surprised to learn that there are not that many fast scanners on the market. A fast scanner is one where you can “bulk load” photos into a document feeder versus scanning them the “old fashioned way” one by one on a flatbed surface. And so a little research revealed the Epson FastFoto-680W as a great option. It’s not cheap ($599), but it can scan photos up to 1200 dots per inch, and up to 36 photos at a time at 3 seconds per photo at 600 dpi. That’s good enough for the majority of my “snapshots.”

If I had to guestimate, I’d say I probably have around 6,000 or so photos I need to scan. So it’s going to be a long haul, but I am committed to doing it bit by bit. And as I have been scanning away, I’ve been sharing the newly created digital photo albums with all those folks who are showing up in the photos. At this point, it’s been lots of summer camp, high school, and early college year photos. People have really appreciated the walk down memory lane…

Making Them Even Better in Lightroom

Creating “order” from chaos!

To be fair, I am not getting amazing professional quality photos from these scans. Part of that has to do with the scanner (there are more professional level scanners that will give you significantly better results), but part of it has to do with the reality that many of these prints were not that high quality to begin with. We’re talking about some of the earlier photos being shot with a 110 camera, or at best an entry level Pentax 35mm point and shoot.

But one can make fairly good edits in Lightroom to enhance the contrast, saturation, and clarity of these scanned photos, if desired. I am not going to be tweaking all my photos, but here are just under 25 of my favorites to date that I did bring into Lightroom, each with a little backstory/context below. I’m only up to March of 1990, but I’m going to keep plugging away.

So what’s your plan for protecting your keepsakes? Let me know if you’ve done anything similar with your old photos.

Behind the Scenes of a Covid Holiday Card Shoot

OUR USUAL TRADITION IN AN UNUSUAL YEAR

Every year we eagerly anticipate our annual holiday card photo shoot. Well, at least my girls and I do - Minoo, not as much ;-) And this year was no different, even during Covid. Perhaps the only question was, masks or no masks?

I’ll cut to the chase: masks on when not in photos, masks off otherwise.

Since moving to California in 2011, we’ve engaged as many as 4 different holiday card photographers, but our favorite by far is Afra Pourdad. Last Sunday was the 6th time, and fourth time in a row, we’ve worked with Afra. What makes Afra so good? Taken straight from her Web site:

Family is truly the most beautiful gift of all. Because we feel honored to participate in the lives of our clients, we capture the magic and joy of childhood, relationships and family in the most authentic way--unobtrusively, honestly, joyfully.

Authentic, unobtrusive, honest, joyful. That says it all.

She has such a great rapport with the girls and makes it so easy and fun. There’s no awkward posing or staged photos, no light reflectors, tripods, or any other unnecessary photography gear. She shoots with two Canon bodies and two prime lenses - that’s all.

Behind the Scenes

For many years, during the photo shoots, I’ve had fun shooting “behind the scenes” videos with my iPhone. Here’s a “classic” that started it all from the 2014 shoot with Afra in Tilden Park’s Botanical Gardens.

This year we met up in the Eucalyptus Grove on the Cal Berkeley campus. This was the same location we shot at in 2013, so it’s been a while since we walked along the noted Grinnell Pathway. It’s a beautiful walkway leading onto the Cal campus, but perhaps not one to walk alone late at night (my Google search just revealed!)

So why do I feel the “need” to be shooting video during a photo shoot? For one, I think it keeps me away from taking photos of the girls. And second, I think it’s a nice addition to the memories we’ll receive once the amazing edited photos come back.

Video gives you another tangible sense of the moment while capturing the fun the girls are having during the shoot. You also get to see how much fun the photographer is having as well - and a little bit about how she works.

I’m still amazed at the quality of video you can get from an iPhone (I’ve got an 8 Plus). In the palm of my hand I can shoot HD video and easily edit it in minutes in iMovie. Here’s this year’s behind the scenes.

you’re making a Holiday Card? Mint!

The upshot of this all is sorting through all the wonderful photos we’ll receive and pulling together the holiday card itself. That’s no small feat. Not just in narrowing down the best ones to use, but also sorting through the scores of holiday card suppliers and designs.

For the past couple of years, I’ve used the pricey Minted. I often have a hard time finding a design I like, but Minted usually has the best designs and flexible options. Not sure if I’ll use them again this year, but here’s the design from last year’s card.

So are you shooting a holiday card this year? Will you hire a photographer? Which photo card company will you use? Would love to hear!

Additional Links

Afra Pourdad Photography - Flashback Gallery

Minted

Letting the Cat(s) Out of the Bag on Where I've Been

Pebbles & Midnight. Who’s who?

So this is my first post since April. Not because I haven’t wanted to write, and definitely not because I haven’t been taking photos.

I’ve got to blame it on something (can’t be the rain, it hasn’t rained here since April), so I’ll blame it on Covid and just generally being overwhelmed by trying to keep it all together with home schooling, work, wildfires, and this political climate.

So this morning I decided I will create my first post in six months. And, I also decided I can always go back in time and write (and post date) the posts I’ve been meaning to write, but haven’t.

So to start (that’s three paragraphs in a row starting with So), like many during this pandemic, we too decided to get a pet…or pets. Two kittens from Oakland Animal Services - Pebbles and Midnight. Can you guess who’s who? We got them back in mid-September at two months old, but they’ve already grown so much in the past month!

We’ve been taking LOTS of photos of these two, but for this post, I am going to limit it to ones I’ve taken with my Z6. And perhaps share the iPhone ones later.

So without further ado, here are our two newest family members. Enjoy!

2019 Calendar - A Glimpse of Life B.C.

It’s been almost a month since my last blog post and I didn’t want to leave April without getting at least one in. So much of the Coronavirus cultural talk is about all the free time people have to stream all their favorite shows. And while I did manage to get through all three seasons of Ozark in about 2 weeks time, I can’t say I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands.

Work has never been busier, and I am so appreciative of having a great job at a great company right now. But there’s definitely a part of me which hoped I’d be able to find the time to do some more of my backlogged photography projects. And one of those projects includes getting all my prior year photo calendars online.

A view from Salesforce Tower Ohana Floor

A view from Salesforce Tower Ohana Floor

Alas, I managed to squeeze in enough time to get through the 2019 calendar which features photos from 2018.

Remember 2018? It’s hard to remember 2019 and life B.C. (before the Coronavirus) let alone 2018. But it was great to go back through that calendar and briefly recount some of the stories and memories from the opening of the Salesforce Tower Ohana floor, to a spring break trip to Hawaii, and a few trips south of San Francisco to Kings Canyon and Avila Beach.

I’ve been creating these yearly calendars for close to twenty years - and am so happy to share the photos - and brief stories about the places we’ve been with all of you. If you ever want any recommendations about any of the places you see - or want to take a tour of the Salesforce Ohana floor, just give me a holler. Enjoy the photos!

Keen to See Keane at the Dawn of Coronavirus...Or Were We?

I’ve been meaning - and wanting - to write this blog post for weeks now, but the world turned upside down. Between work never being busier, working from home, helping my wife recover from surgery, and having the kids homeschooled to at least May, it’s been hard to find the time for creative outlets. But I am glad to get at least one post in this month - and judging from the length, this one’s like three!

Keen to See Keane

It was last September when I received an email from Bandsintown about Keane performing in Oakland in March. Minoo and I have always been fans of Keane going all the way back to 2007 when we asked our wedding band to learn how to play “Is It Any Wonder?” - which they did in fine fashion!

Maybe you’ve heard their other hit Somewhere Only We Know, which was featured in the 2009 star-studded, yet under-appreciated He’s Just Not That Into You. (P.S. He’s not.)

But I didn’t pull the trigger on it until late January, and by that time I had to resort to purchasing them on SeatGeek to get decent seats.

Just a few weeks later, during ski week in February in Park City, Minoo had an unfortunate skiing accident and tore her ACL. With the concert just over two weeks away from the time she tore her ACL, it seemed unlikely that we’d be able to go. But I wasn’t ready just yet to sell the tickets. I was thinking as long as Minoo could sit down and have a little bit of space for her legs, maybe she’d be okay?

The Dawn of Coronavirus

On the morning of March 1st, I received a text message from my boss. “Sorry to bother you on a Sunday morning, but I just sent you an urgent email…” It was the beginning of the end of business as usual - the beginning of Salesforce’s approach to managing through the Coronavirus (we were early adapters!)

With the uncertainty of the growing public health risk mounting just a week before the concert, it seemed less and less likely that we were going to go. We vacillated throughout the week, but by Thursday, just 4 days before the concert, there was so much fear and uncertainty about the threat that we decided we weren’t going to go. It was time to put the tickets up for sale.

 

Countdown is on

It’s never easy trying to sell tickets four days before a concert, but with the news of Coronavirus - and the fact that Keane is not necessarily a household name - the pressure was on.

First I went back to SeatGeek to list them at $200 for the pair. (We paid $229. Alright, maybe I was being a little ambitious.)

Next, I thought I could persuade some hip Salesforcers to get in on it as well on our For Sale (or Free) Chatter group.

Not even a single like.

As the weekend wore on, I lowered the price down to $63 per ticket (SeatGeek’s recommended price), but I was pretty convinced no one was buying. And then I wondered (Is it any wonder?), will the show even go on?

Coronavirus Cancellation?

So what does one do? Well here were my five ideas:

  1. I asked the Fox Theater in Oakland where they were at with the concert.

    They did respond with “Hey Robert! Keane concert tonight is occurring as scheduled” along with an extensive message about how they were monitoring the situation, all the precautions they were taking, and the precautions I should take.

  2. I posted on the Keane Facebook page which sparked a 31 comment debate about the virus and whether or not it was safe to go. Keane themselves did not reply.

  3. I asked SeatGeek if they’d refund the money. You can imagine where that went.

  4. I put in a disputed charge with American Express. That’s easy enough to do and believe it or not, Amex will often have your back.

  5. Finally, when all else fails, what do you do? You ask your Mom…via text.

 
 

Now I knew for sure what to do!

The Show Must Go On?

So now it’s Monday, March 9th, the morning of the concert. Salesforce has just announced we’re officially going to work from home and the Coronavirus concerns are still heating up. It’s actually the morning that the Coronavirus cruise ship docks into the Port of Oakland!

What to do? What to do?

In times of uncertainty, you have to look for guidance from your leaders…

“Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.”

Well there you go…

…one other problem though. It’s Minoo’s knee. Can she really sit in a Fox Theater mezzanine seat for hours and/or have to stand up to see the show over other fans? That’s not likely going to work.

No problem! Shoot off a quick email to the Fox Theater, and boom! We’ve got ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) seats!

So by 7:00pm, with Lysol wipes and Purell in hand, we headed out to the Fox Theater in Oakland.

Neither of us had been to the Fox before, and we were so pleasantly surprised at what a beautiful, classic venue it is. It was built in 1928 and was apparently a movie theater before it was transformed to a 2,800 seat concert facility in 2009.

From Fox Theater Website.

And the employees there was so helpful and nice. We went to the ADA liaison and they swapped out our Mezzanine seats for floor level ADA seating in standard chairs that allowed Minoo to stretch her legs and get up whenever she needed.

Check out the classic and unusual details…

KEANE

So what about the concert? In short, one of the best we’ve ever seen!

It had been a long time since we had listened to Keane, so we weren’t sure what to expect. But did they ever deliver!

Lead singer Tom Chaplin has a beautiful voice - and was just a delight and so gracious throughout the night.

Keane’s a British band that hit it big around 2004 with their Hopes and Fears album. You can hear influences from U2, Coldplay, Queen, and Meat Loaf - and one of the things I love about them is the diversity of their sound, lyrics, and vocals.

shooting video

There isn’t a concert anyone’s attending these days where you don’t see everyone holding up their iPhones in unison to capture some footage. I’m sure most are posting snippets on their social networks. Some, like myself, are trying to capture our favorite songs to potentially edit and watch later.

Here are some obvious, but often violated, tips for shooting great mobile phone video:

  1. Shoot in landscape. There’s a portrait orientation epidemic in this country which drives me crazy. There’s never a good reason to hold your phone upright when filming any videos. Do you watch any TV shows or movies with black bars on the sides? Take a look at your computer monitor and big screen TV - they all accommodate a landscape orientation. So turn that phone on its side and hold tight.

  2. Hold steady. It’s OK to pan side to side as needed, but try to do it in a smooth fashion as not to make your video too jumpy.

  3. Don’t zoom. It’s tempting to want to zoom to catch the lead singer bellowing the high notes. But unless your phone or camera has an optical zoom, you’re compromising resolution when you zoom. You can zoom and crop in post production when you edit your videos later.

  4. Shoot B-roll. What the hell is B-roll? It’s anything else that provides context and variety to your video. In this case, I shot the marquee outside the Fox Theater. I could have taken some video of the crowd or some other details of the theater to add that extra B-roll flare.

  5. Edit. That’s right, I said edit it. You can use iMovie, Davinci Resolve (it’s free!), or any other video editor. There are many you can use right on your phone as well. You can cut the waste, add text, transitions, crop, and zoom. On that last front, one of the things that can keep your viewers engaged is varying the crop and zoom throughout the video to replicate a change of camera angle.

So how do you decide just how much to capture? No easy answer. At this concert, there were a few favorites that I wanted to capture the entire song - and others at least the first verse and chorus run.

Here’s my edited video of the Keane concert. But there’s more to the story after it…

What about that Coronavirus?

So March 9th was pretty damn close to the Coronavirus becoming a pandemic. Keane had just performed shows in Portland on the 6th and, believe it or not, in Seattle on 7th at the height of the Coronavirus in that city! So they were quite aware of the Coronavirus risk as you can hear Tom Chaplin attest to here at the end of the night…

Lead singer Tom Chaplin talks about the Coronavirus cruise ship that docked in Oakland earlier that day. Check out drummer Richard Hughes reaction to this.

As it turned out, Keane traveled down to L.A. and performed at the Dolby Theater the next night. That would be their last show of North American tour. All told, they performed only 4 of the 15 shows scheduled.

And here’s the kicker from lead singer Tom Chaplin…

Can you believe it? He was never able to confirm for sure as apparently they would not test back in his home town in the UK unless you’re hospitalized.

Finally, here are some photos I grabbed during the show as well. One of the things I love about the iPhone is it’s fairly decent low light capabilities (iPhone 8 Plus) and the ability to take photos while shooting video.

In the End…

...was it worth it? Well, it’s been three weeks, so I am out of that Coronavirus incubation period. If I catch it now, it won’t have been from the concert. So what do you think? :-)

Even More

Keane, Live at the Dolby Theater. If you like what you heard, this guy recorded every song from the concert from almost the same perspective as me. I wondered how he got such great resolution when he zoomed. Turns out, he used this point and shoot camera (not his phone) which has a 10X optical zoom. Since it’s point and shoot, it doesn’t look like a professional camera - it blends in with the rest of people shooting on phones. Brilliant!

Rob’s Keane Spotify Playlist.

Can a GoPro Take Better Photos Than Your iPhone?

We all know GoPro cameras are great for capturing action packed videos, but did you know you can also take great 12 megapixel photos, even in RAW format with the Hero 8?…or can you?

I bought the GoPro Hero 8 because I thought it was ridiculous that I was holding my iPhone with my bare cold hands on the ski slopes while trying to take videos and photos. So a GoPro had to be better than my iPhone, no?

Last “ski week” I got another chance to test that out in Park City. Unfortunately, like my last ski trip, the voice activation is still buggy, not always turning on when you expect. And the same was/is true for the command “GoPro Take a Photo.”

“Why would you need to use voice activation to take a photo? Can’t you just press the shutter release like a normal camera?”

Yes, you can. But not so easily when you’ve got the camera strapped on to your “chesty” mount and it’s 10 degrees out and you don’t want to take off your gloves to press the shutter release. Or, when you’re actually skiing and you simply want to capture an action still.

Testy the Chesty

“Wait, what the hell’s a ‘chesty’?”

It’s that contraption you see me wearing on my chest in this ski lift shot below. Of course, in this photo, I have the GoPro on my “3-way” selfie stick.

To take photos like this, you could yell out “Go Pro Take a Photo” or, you could set the self-timer on the camera to 10, press the shutter release, get the camera in position, get your subjects all ready to go, and watch the countdown on the face of the camera go 10, 9, 8 until it clicks and you get the shot.

Family selfie shot with a GoPro 3-way mount using the 10 second timer. I felt more confident using my GoPro on the ski lift versus futzing with my iPhone and potentially dropping it down on the slopes below.

Voice Aggravation

But back to taking voice activated photos. As hopeful as I was at capturing some great “in action” shots, many times the voice activation failed. This could have been due to wind noise, the sound of the skis in the snow, or just a big miss by the camera mic.

Below you can see one time where the voice activation did work while skiing with the GoPro on the chesty mount. I believe this shot was taken in the wide angle setting.

You can see a fair amount of fish eye distortion (some like that effect) and an un-level horizon in the unedited, original version (I may have been skiing at an angle when the shot was taken.) With some cropping in the edited version you can see a level horizon and the action being brought closer.

Either way, I didn’t love the results of the in action shots from the chesty mount. It’s really an act of faith to be yelling out “Go Pro take a photo” and not be able to see what the camera will be shooting and/or even know if it took a picture.

So did I get any good pictures with the chesty mount? (“You like saying ‘chesty mount,’ don’t you Rob?)

Yes I did, and yes I do. With a catch…

I got the best results with the chesty mount when I was standing still.

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?”

Not necessarily. It was still pretty cool to be able to “hands free” say “GoPro take a photo” and have whatever was in front of me captured “on film.” Check out the great results below.

Point and Shoot

So what if you don’t want to wear that ridiculous mount on your chest? Or annoy your family with your insidious “GoPro do this, GoPro do that." Can you simply hold the little cam in your hand a press the button to take a photo?

Of course you can.

Here are some additional great photos taken via the 3-way mount and timer and/or by simply pressing the shutter…

Raw Deal

One “bug” or snafu I haven’t figured out yet was how to default the voice activated photo to shoot in my custom RAW setting. You can select many different custom photo settings (as you can for video too), but for some reason the camera defaulted to shooting JPEGs versus RAW files. I am sure there is a way to change/address that if I do a little research on it.

Better Than an iPhone?

So is the Hero8 better than using an iPhone on the slopes in these elements? To answer that question, we’ll have to take a look at those iPhone photos…in the next blog entry :-)

Useful Links

Park City Mountain Resort

The Eating Establishment - a great place to eat breakfast in downtown Park City

Low Light...Feels Right

Emcee and dancer Jason "Sensation" & DJ Astro kept all the 13 and 40-somethings moving 4 hours straight!

One of the big draws of spending big bucks on cameras and fast lenses these days is the ability to shoot in low and challenging light.

Well, I got to put my Z6 to the test MLK weekend down in L.A. while attending an amazing Bat Mitzvah Dance Party held at the “renown” Hungarian Cultural Alliance. That's right, all the cool kids know about the HCA.

All jokes aside, the HCA (my acronym) is an amazing hip bohemian space reminiscent of a New York City lower east side night club (as if I would know that?) The 500 square foot-ish dance floor and Boogie Nights atmosphere would make any 40-something - and of course 13 year old - want to put on their best polyester and platform shoes.

The dance floor with multicolored lasers, strobes, and disco balls brings unique challenges to capture images in low and ever changing light conditions…and moods. Trying to balance a high ISO with a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the dancing while still letting in enough light to minimize noise was no easy task.

I took a few shots in auto mode to see what the camera had to say and I landed on a high ISO of 12,800 and a shutter speed of 1/400th to attempt to freeze the action on the dance floor. Did it work? Well, let's just say...it's complicated.

Where It Worked

For starters, it worked extremely well when capturing DJ Astro and Emcee Jason “Sensation” on stage (and check out that first Instagram photo shown - it’s mine!) The multicolored lights and strobes were a bit challenging, but there was enough light to capture fairly sharp images of the action on the stage. And by god there was dancing on that stage! The Bat Mitzvah girl said she wanted dancing, and she got 4 non-stop hours of Jason’s high octane energy the whole night. He made for a “sensational” subject as you can tell from these images below.

It also worked extremely well in surprising fashion while shooting video in auto mode. I've yet to really experiment shooting video in manual on the Z6, but one feature I love is being able to grab photos while capturing video. You can't get raw files, but the JPEGs I got were quite sharp and well exposed.

It also worked well in other circumstances where the light was more stable like on stage, at the photo booth, and away from the dance floor.

Where It Came Up Short

Like most hip club atmospheres, there were definitely pockets where lighting was quite dim. Even with a high ISO, I just couldn't get a decent exposure. In Lightroom I was able to bring back some of the details, but the photos weren't sharp and had a lot of noise.

What I needed to do for sure was shoot longer exposures. For example, for the posed pictures and slower dancing, I should have slowed the shutter from 1/400th to perhaps 1/125th. In fact, many of the video JPEG stills were shot at 1/30th and came out sharp and bright enough at that shutter speed.

Note: If you haven’t caught on yet, no flash was used in the photography or filming of any of these images. The Z6 has no built in flash.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Off the dance floor, I had a lot of fun shooting around the club and trying to capture all the bohemian charm throughout the night.

"GoPro Start Recording..."

So while I continue to have angst over the Z6 versus Sony A7iii decision (with this Friday being the deadline for potentially returning the Nikon), one purchase I made back in December that I am feeling pretty, pretty good about is the GoPro Hero 8.

I’ve never owed an action camera before, but after surviving frostbite from bare handling my iPhone on the frozen tundra of the ski slope, I thought it would make sense to explore the action cam market.

I won’t bore you with all the details of the pros and cons of purchasing the Hero 8 versus the Hero 7 (in short, the Hero 7 has a replaceable lens (that’s good), the Hero 8 does not (that’s bad, but I can live with it given the upgraded functionality and improved UI.) Instead, I’ll share some initial thoughts of my first month+ of using it.

First Use Case - Sierra at Tahoe

Back in December, I took it with me to the slopes of Sierra at Tahoe, strapping in to myself on the “chesty mount” to gain that POV skiing angle that I’ve seen in so many great GoPro videos.

On day one, I used the wrong “buckle mount” which left me getting nothing but a POV of snow on the ground…and not much else . A big fail!

After attaching the right “J mount” at the right angle, I was able to get the POV footage I wanted as you can see from this video below.

Uploaded by robatpark10 on 2019-12-27.

One of the great enhancements of the Hero 8 is the new UI and ease of changing your video recording settings/pre-sets, including changing the quality/definition (4K, 2K, 1080p), the lens angle (narrow, linear, wide, superview) , and the frame rates (24, 30, 60, 120). For this video shown above, I shot in 4K wide at 24 frames per second for a cinematic style.

New GoPro Hero 8 Menu

On the other hand, one of the spotty features of the GoPro is the voice activation – and specifically being able to tell the Go Pro to “start recording” and “stop recording.”

When you’ve got the camera strapped to your body on the ski slopes, you don’t want to take your gloves off and fuss with the touchscreen of the camera to turn it on. So in theory, you should be able to yell out “GoPro start recording” when you want to start recording and “GoPro stop recording” to turn it off.

Trouble is, the GoPro doesn’t always “hear you” or turn on and off when you use the voice command. You are supposed to hear a “beep” when it turns on and off recording, but with your ski helmet on and the camera attached to your body, it’s not so easy to hear, even when the camera is set to its highest volume. That led to either missing video footage I wanted to capture (didn’t turn on), or recording more than I wanted (didn’t turn off).

What’s more, you sound like somewhat of an idiot constantly blabbering “GoPro start recording” and “GoPro stop recording” – and it will likely annoy others around you, and most definitely annoy your wife and kids who have to endure my saying it over and over again for a week. But it was worth it!

I’ll share more ski footage and what the camera can do with other mounts, including the handhelds and selfie grips when I have time to get around to editing those videos - and photos too (it can take some cool photos!)

second Use Case - underwater in florida

Next stop, Florida. We traveled to visit my parents earlier this month and I wanted to see what the camera was capable of in its waterproof casing.

Of course, my kids were really excited about the underwater opportunities for selfie shots, jumps into the pool, and other tumbling under water footage.

I was really amazed at the clarity! Below is a video I compiled for my daughter who had a “big share” project that she had to present yesterday to her classmates. She wanted to show off her stunts in the pool and photos of her ceramic trip to Picasso’s Creative Workshop in Lake Worth, Florida.

One important lesson we learned: do not remove the camera from its waterproof case to watch the video footage while at the pool. This led to condensation getting inside the case and fogging up the lens and compromising some of the footage.

Like the video footage you saw? I normally edit my videos using iMovie, but his time I challenged myself to use Davinci Resolve, a free, more professional platform for video editing. It was a relatively steep learning curve, and it probably has more functionality than I need at most times, but in time I can see the value in learning how to use it and leverage its editing power to create even better videos.

On the whole, I really enjoyed using the GoPro and see great potential for using it on ziplines, snorkeling, and of course for future ski trips.

Learn More

Want to learn more about purchasing and/or using a GoPro and/or the accessories? I recommend checking out the these two YouTube vloggers for great insights:

Is the Sony A7iii for Me?

Sony A7iii.jpg

So I did indeed rent the Sony A7iii this past weekend. As you may recall from my last post, I wondered if a weekend with the A7iii might put my mind at ease about which camera to keep moving forward - my Nikon Z6 or the Sony A7iii.

Do I now have the sense of clarity I need? Read on.

When it came to renting the camera, I wound up getting the “one day” weekend rental from Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley. While it costs $150 a day for the camera body and the lens, Looking Glass, like many good photography shops, will let you pick up the camera on a Friday and return it on Monday for the one day price.

One thing which immediately surprised me, and made my comparison to the Z6 tough, is that the rental came with f/2.8 24-70mm G Master lens. This is a faster, higher quality lens that what the Sony A7iii kit might come with (f/3.5-5.6 27-70mm OSS lens). So for sure the better glass is going to return better photos.

How good is the lens? Well, consider this G master lens runs $2,198 - while the camera body itself runs $1,998.

One of the major factors that originally drew me away from the Sony A7iii were its ergonomics. The camera “felt” more like a gadget than a traditional camera. And the grip is just a tad smaller than the Z6, making it difficult to find a “home” for your pinky. One can make up for this by purchasing the Sony $350 vertical grip, but I could not rent one for the weekend, unfortunately.

But the worst design element I found was the front and rear control dials which, among other things, control changes to the aperture and shutter speed. Instead of the big, substantial dials you find on the Z6, the Sony’s are thin, “Ritz-cracker-edged” dials that are functional, but not as obvious and easy to maneuver.

What’s worse, there’s an exposure compensation dial to the right of the rear control dial which is larger and more substantial than the rear control dials. They should have designed the control dials like this. And of course, I did indeed mistakenly change the exposure compensation when meaning to use the rear control dial.

OK enough about the bad ergonomics. What about my overall impressions?

Well, I couldn’t run the most scientific tests with the camera, so I shot it around the house and took it along for some errands over the weekend.

Pros

  • Fun to use. Indeed, despite the ergonomics, I did find the camera easy, and dare I say, fun to use. The camera was fast, responsive, and fairly intuitive.

  • Menu & Set Up. You’ll read that Sony’s menus are tedious or confusing. But I found them fairly intuitive, easy to scroll through, and once I set it up with Fro’s recommendations, didn’t need to bother much with the menu again.

  • Controls. And once I started using the camera, despite the ergonomics and poor dial design, I found it easy to control everything from aperture, shutter, ISO, release modes etc.

  • f2.8 24-70 GM lens. Obviously this was a great lens to take sharp photos. Of course it would be a big investment to get a pro lens like this, but the Z6 equivalent is actually $100 more than the Sony, so one will get what they (are willing to) pay for.

  • Eye auto focus. The Sony definitely shines here. Like everyone says, “it just works” - and works so well. It found my daughters eyes fast and maintained focus even as they moved around. It’s really remarkable. The Z6 can do eye auto focus, but not as fast and not as consistently.

  • Continuous shooting 10 frames per second. The Sony is impressively fast. I ran several tests where I had my daughter walking toward me and the Sony maintained focus for a majority the 30+ continuous shots. it just fires them off at a rate that seems significantly faster than the Nikon.

  • Sharp images. And of course, most importantly, the Sony shot great images. Were they less vibrant than what comes out of the Nikon raw? Perhaps, but that’s easily adjusted in post production.

Here are some photos shot at home, Whole Foods, and during lunch on Saturday with the Sony A7iii on the f2.8 24-70 G Master lens…

So what about the downsides?

Cons

  • Ergonomics. I already spoke about the ergonomics above. I believe the vertical grip addition would improve the feel, - and the dual batteries is a nice plus. But compared to the Nikon, the camera will never feel or look as good.

  • Dials. Again, the front and rear control dials and exposure control should be so much better. Get rid of the exposure control dial and make those control dials more substantial.

  • Input seals. I found the side input seals to feel cheap and flimsy compared to the Nikon. It’s a shame because if Sony could improve its overall ergonomics and get them right, I bet many Nikon users could be swayed over. And this is not an A7iii issue - the A7r and A9 are essentially the same body design. Don’t worry about saving on cost or being compact - just get the design right.

  • EVF & LCD. The electronic view finder and LCD screen are indeed not as nice as the Nikon, but I didn’t find that to be a deal breaker in and of itself. It would be nice if the LCD on the Sony was a touchscreen, but I didn’t find that to be a problem during the weekend. I think over time I am going to appreciate the touchscreen LCD of the Z6 even more.

What about video? Well, I found out the hard way that my existing SD card was not the right type for supporting 4K video (the Nikon uses the more obscure, but faster, sturdy, and more expensive XQD cards.)

I did shoot a short 1080p video on the Sony and I trust it can get the job done. I do like to shoot video quite a bit and I know the Nikon has excellent video capability - perhaps better than the Sony. So the video is not a deal breaker either way as both do quite well.

Decision

So….what am i going to do? Well, one thing I did do was go back and forth with the Sony and my Nikon to compare the auto focus capability and other functionality and feel. And while for sure the Sony is faster and more precise in its auto focus, the Nikon did OK on the whole to try to keep up.

I went back to re-read up some of the initial reviews on the Nikon Z6 (Jared Polin, Ditch Auto, Ditch Auto 2, Ken Rockwell) and then did some additional research on how to set up and use the camera (Ken Rockwell, Michael the Maven).

And by the end of the weekend, I am definitely leaning more towards keeping my Z6 and learning how to use it even better. There’s more to be learned about using it properly, more potential with better glass, and on the whole, more potential with my just learning to be a better photographer.

Was it worth renting the camera for the weekend? Absolutely! I do still have till the end of the month to make a final decision…

Cognitive Dissonance - Did I Make Z Right Choice?

Nikon+Z6.jpg

It’s been a little over a month since I purchased my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera, and as I mentioned in my inaugural post, I have been having issues with the continual focus. Come to think of it, I have issues with continual focus in the real world too!

Wait…what was I talking about?…

Continual focus – or more specifically “eye auto focus” (EAF) – is a relatively new auto-focus technology that ideally finds the subject’s eye(s) and locks in focus even as the subject is moving around. This is important when trying to capture moving subjects like say, my daughter at her dance recital – or my other daughter moving around the stage during her school play. Or, in the “real world” for a photo journalist who is trying to capture spontaneous moments where you can’t predict where your subject is going next.

EAF is one of the key differentiators of the Sony system – they created and perfected the technology – and everyone else, including Nikon is trying to catch up. You can see a comparison of the EAF in the tests run on the Sony A7iii versus the Nikon Z6 versus the Canon EOS R in this video by Jared Polin (“Fro Knows Photo”) below.

As Jared states, when it comes to EAF:

“Nikon is a newborn, or still in the womb, because they’re still trying to figure it all out, while the Sony is in college and is getting ready to graduate from college because it keeps getting better and better. Maybe it’s going for its Masters degree before it goes for its Doctorate. The Sony is by far better. The Nikon…it’s there. It’s starting to be useable.”

Beyond the EAF, the Sony A7iii also has two card slots (Z6 has one), an option to add a vertical grip (which makes the camera more ergonomically pleasing and allows you to have two batteries), and it allows for third party lenses from Sigma and Tamron which could be about half the price of native glass. All these Sony advantages come at about the same price I paid for the Nikon Z6.

So, I should just return my Nikon Z6 and go out and buy the Sony, right? (Yes, I do have the option to return the Z6 for a full refund). Well that’s where the cognitive dissonance sets in (link to song?). The reason I chose the Nikon to begin with is that it has a nicer electronic view finder (EVF) and LCD with a touchscreen. The colors coming out of the Nikon are more vibrant which suits my tastes. And the video capability of the Nikon might be better if I ever decide to get professionally serious about videography. It was a tough choice back in December and I sort of went with the “feel test” to make my decision at the time.

Earlier this week, I conducted an informal poll on the FroKnowPhoto Facebook group to ask their opinion and 60% said stick with the Z6, 10% said make the switch, and 10% said they don’t give a damn what I do (someone added that option in and people went for it.) Most recommended I get “better glass” which means buy more expensive/better lenses. The Z6 came with a 24-70 “kit lens” – the more expensive 24-70 f2.8 lens is about $2,200. (No, that’s not a misprint.)

Still undecided, I went to Samy’s Camera last night to get another feel of the Sony A7iii and to ask their experts what they think. Of course, they couldn’t provide a definitive recommendation. But they did say I could rent the Sony A7iii for the weekend if I want. So that’s something I’ll consider.

In the end, I just want one camera to have everything I want and need – and at the right price. And that probably doesn’t exist for a camera – or pretty much anything in life.

What do you think? What would you do?

2020 Calendar - The Year in Review

The Kodak DC 4800 - my first digital camera. Looks like it’s about $30 used online. Maybe I should buy it back?

Every year I look forward to making my annual photo calendar which highlights both my best photos of the year and our various travels. It’s a tradition that goes back as far as 2001 when I received my first digital camera, the Kodak DC4800 (which I still regret selling to this day - it was a great camera!)

Back then, I created my first calendar on Ofoto (remember them?) which then changed to Kodak Easyshare which was subsequently bought out by Shutterfly.

As I started to think about building my Web site, I thought it would be great to not only share those yearly calendar photos, but also tell the stories behind them. As I mentioned in my first post, a big highlight for me in 2019 was my trip to Venice - and a third of the photos from the 2020 calendar are indeed from the floating city.

So without further ado, I welcome you to check out and read about some of my best photos from 2019 in my 2020 calendar. And I look forward to adding prior years photos in the months to come. Enjoy!

Venice in August? Where is everyone? Patience is a virtue when trying to find yourself all alone in your own private canal. (August in the 2020 Calendar)

20/20 Photography Vision

It’s been seven hours and fifteen days…plus another eleven years since I last wrote a photography blog. And it’s been sixteen years between the time I bought my very first Canon Digital Rebel to my recent Cyber Monday purchase of a new Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera.

I wouldn’t call it a new year’s resolution per se, but I rediscovered my passion for photography last August on an amazing trip to Venice. Walking 20,000+ steps a day around the lagoon city with only my iPhone 8 Plus in hand made traveling light, but the quality and creativity are just not quite there with a camera phone. Don’t get me wrong, you can take some amazing photos and videos with an iPhone, but as a recent photographer blogger said, “an iPhone is not a camera.”

The colorful island of Burano in Venice. Shot with an iPhone 8 Plus in August 2019. So…is an iPhone a camera?

So after returning from Venice, I vowed to purchase my first new camera since 2003. My fellow Salesforce shutterbug Antonio had the great idea to set Black Friday as my goal to finally pull the trigger. After watching scores of YouTube reviews and holding the likes of the Sony A7 III and Nikon Z6 in my hands, I took a leap of faith and clicked to purchase from Adorama on Cyber Monday.

Did I make the right call? It’s been a little over a month and I’ve had limited time to get to know - and use - the camera to make a full fledged verdict. I’m definitely struggling to learn all the options for focusing. And my new best friend, Jared Polin, a.k.a. “The Fro” will tell you that Sony is the right decision over Nikon. But when I had both cameras in my hand, the ergonomics of the Nikon were so much better that I had a hard time imagining having fun holding and using the Sony. I’ll have more to say about this decision in another future blog post.

One of my best first shots using the Nikon Z6 at a Shawl Anderson dance performance in December 2019.

Did I say more blog posts? Yes! In addition to writing about photography, I’m also in the (somewhat painful) process of building a photography Website! I’ve decided to go with Squarespace based on it’s apparent ease and flexibility to build a site to suit your heart’s content. But I have not been content. I can’t quite get its gallery and navigation to work the way I want. But the customer service at Squarespace has been really impressive as they’ve been trying to help me along the way. So stay tuned for the launch of the site.

In the meantime, I plan to continue to fuel that photography passion which was reignited in Venice to make 2020 all about taking my photography to the next level. And I’m hoping you’ll accompany me on this journey along the way.