I know, I know. I can hear you bringing thisup to me when I said “new year, no new gear.” After weeks of waiting, I finally have a new camera in my hands. I said goodbye to my fantastic but bulky Nikon D90 DSLR and lenses and traded all of those for this compact but powerful single-lens camera. See? It is a used camera and an even trade so that really doesn’t break the “no new gear” rule I set for myself now does it?
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The idea here is to minimize my load and workflow and I think I am there, finally.
Yes, it is an older, used camera but still younger than the Nikon. Sure, there are newer models of the Ricoh GR but those are currently $1k and I just don’t think it is worth it, so here was the compromise. In my mind, this is currently the best bang-for-the-buck digital camera for street photography. I love the compact size, the superb image quality and high-ISO performance, as well as the ergonomics and handling. Looking forward to putting it through the paces soon.
The big things worth noting in the Ricoh GR:
16MP APS-C sensor (a DSLR-sized crop sensor in a compact camera)
28mm f/2.8 lens
Ability to change from 28mm to “35mm crop mode”
No anti-aliasing filter (sharp images)
Solid magnesium alloy body underneath
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is still going to be my always-carry camera of course, and I still have a gifted-to-me Canon DSLR system in reserve as well. The other cameras in the arsenal are all analog film.
I usually take photos of urban landscapes, and street portraits, so this compact, but brilliant Ricoh GR is going to be perfect.
This new website has been designated as a repository for a small set of images to be stored online instead of an expensive third-party photo hosting site (see ya, Flickr!). The actual photo archives are numbered to almost 50,000 images, so only a select few are chosen to be represented on this site. While you are there, take a look around inside the archives!
This is an extension to my main portfolio website that can be clicked here or in the nav bar up top.
I have not yet begun to upload images to this photo archive site and will do so throughout the next week. Okay, maybe one or two of my favorite subject:
I decided to go for a walk and capture a view of downtown Tulsa this morning. I set the iPhone shutter to open for 3 seconds to capture light streaks and capture it in RAW. Then I decided to go without light streaks, for a straight scenic view:
24mm @ f/1.78 looking northwest from Peoria Ave and Hwy 51
I can’t tell you how many times in the past ten years that there was a desire to build and maintain a map as a photo gallery of places I have been and things I have seen in all of my travels. No, it’s more than one map. I have wanted to build my own map(s) displaying all the images of hidden and discovered geocaches across the country. A separate map showcasing all the neon signs I have documented from Miami to Portland and all points in between. Another map to display all the locations of documented wall art from New Orleans to Chicago, you know, up and down the length of the Mississippi River.
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“If you have no road map, you have to create your own.” – Jacqueline Woods
Thanks to careful documentation in the past, I tagged GPS coordinates on to images to look them up later. Then, with incoming new technology, GPS coordinates were built in to the EXIF data of every image, making it so much easier to locate. But what does one do with that information? Build a map to document your travels, of course.
Previously, I relied on Google’s “My Maps” which allows you to enter these in and attach photos to them, but I do not like Google. Unfortunately, they are one of the best, free sources (free as in they will hoover all of your data for their use, of course.) But I’ve always known there exists open-source mapping programs to help me build one myself. After all of this time, this may be a good opportunity to build and ship one out, allowing me to lovingly document these locations. You know, as a photo diary.
Just a few of my neon images attached inside Google My Maps
So, I downloaded Visual Studio Code, an IDE, installed Python inside and went to work creating a photo gallery that works with ArcGIS, a mapping software tool. Then created an account on GitHub to keep all of my code in the cloud and act as a virtual server, ready for me to pull requests down when needed. Well, I discovered that the costs to maintain these wouldn’t be a solution, especially ArcGIS (Geographic Information System.) Enter QGIS, an open-source tool that allows me to do this at zero cost.
Python code inside an integrated development environment
Then I went to work in Python, coding out the framework and processes to make these maps a reality…and then hit a brick wall. Do I really want to do this? I do, yes, but currently I can’t be arsed. It isn’t laziness, it is restlessness. What else could I be doing instead? But wait, I have the time to do this now because in the near future I may not.
So frustrating is this internal debate that I upload what little code I had to GitHub and then decide what to do with all of this…later. Maybe the reason is I just spent the last few weeks in code building this website and the Archive website and writing articles on here, and creating newsletters and podcasts and and and I just need a break. I’ve lost my way and my desire.
Speaking of breaks, I am going to relax and finish listening to this album that was playing in the background while typing this up:
A few more neon signs went up along Route 66 in Tulsa that I meant to capture before work travels and had forgotten. I was reminded by a recent drive-by and had to stop of course.
I just said goodbye to the $112 Adobe Lightroom annual subscription, again. Now I need to dismantle my Portfolio. I’ll let the $75 annual Flickr subscription lapse to and see which of the 47k+ images they’ll cull down to 1,000 on a free account.
This leaves me with nowhere to post my photos since I really do not want to do that on my blog. Not that it matters because no one sees them anyway.
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UPDATE 2024/02/27: I have decided to go with an inexpensive, self-hosting option on my server using the Piwigo template. Right now it is basic and barebones, but I will build it out over time. For now, here it is naked: http://www.photodenbow.com
Why bother with any of it?
However, I will save money and time by not futzing with any of it, regardless of how much enjoyment and utility I received from those services.
“Minnie” is all setup to host and share any number of photos, music, videos and documents to any of my (and Sweet T’s) iDevices. Even better, I will have the ability to retrieve these documents from anywhere in the world as long as I have access to an internet connection.
And now for the moment of truth…will it work?Of course it did(!), I am brilliant. And here is the setup configuration as seen from Minnie’s screen.Offsite backup? Yessss…
In the near future I will migrate all of my website code and documents on to Minnie and use it as a cheap, self-hosting website.
Time Machine back-ups of all of my hard disks, will be stored and easily retrieved if necessary. (Hopefully it won’t be necessary)
I will also be able to host and serve all of my own Podcast files as opposed to relying on a third-party file host that I pay for.
And then, I can run and publish other sites I need including my own RSS server.
All of this is designed for easy access, off-site backups/restoration, and file sharing with family/friends. Which reminds me, eventually I will allow access so family members can view/download our family’s images. “Hey Chris, do you have those pics from that 2012 Christmas party?” Yep, go fetch!
Last week I ventured out to celebrate the ancient “Chinese New Year”, and then realized that a majority of Asian nations also celebrate but collectively call it “Lunar New Year.”
Parade on the Avenida de Americas in downtown HoustonDragon + Lion dances through the paradeAsia Town/International District/Houston/TexasRed envelopes filled with small money bills are gifts to signify wealth & prosperity for the new yearAsia Town/International District/Houston/Texas
Now on to Houston’s Galleria District for indoor celebrations
All this walking and shooting had me ravenous for some wok pork and noodles. Washed down with Tsingtao beer of course.
While editing this article I was enjoying this soundtrack:
Next week I’ll share some highlights of the nearly 1000’s of murals decorating Houston.
