Not All Who Wander Are Lost
So, here we are in Baltimore at our first convention. We’re having a great time meeting lots of interesting folks. I thought I’d shoot out a quick post showing you some of our new friends. Just some down to earth types that you could meet anywhere.
Note: this is short since I have to do this in the hotel lobby. What is it with top line hotels charging outrageous prices for Internet in your room? This is just cheap.
We all belong to multiple tribes to various degrees. Some of them are obvious, others more subtle, but we are tribal in nature whether we acknowledge it or not. Some tribes we belong to without choice. Our family springs to mind; you are joined together in a tribe, like it or not. I am a member of the tribe of folks that have experienced “cardiac events” and of the subset of those that have had the dubious pleasure of the heart bypass procedure. I certainly would not have chosen to belong but there’s no denying that I’m a member and that I feel a certain kinship with others in the same club. And, of course, there are the tribes that you choose to be a part of. My camping buddies, The Corbin Club, are a tribe of four. Tribes consisting of common interests are, in fact, probably the most common. Fans of bands, celebrities, movies, political movements, fetishes, cities, states, hobbies, teams, sports, whatever: all tribes.
So, you may well ask, what’s my point? Well, next weekend we are traveling to our hometown and spending four nights in a hotel full of members of one of our tribes. I can confidently state that we have never met any of these people before. We’re really looking forward to it. We’re attending the North American Discworld Convention.
I’m not sure I can describe what this is all about. I’m positive that however I do describe it won’t begin to do it justice. Discworld is a literary creation by Sir Terry Pratchett. One part fantasy, 2 parts comedy and completely full of political and social commentary, this series of books (39+ titles and more than 70 million copies sold) is one of those things you either love or don’t get. Put us in the former camp. We love his books and we can’t wait to snap up new ones as they come out.
Unfortunately, the chance to snap up new ones will be coming to an end sooner rather than later. Sir Terry has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease and has already made plans for his self administered departure when the time is appropriate. When we heard that Sir Terry was to be in Baltimore over the 4th of July weekend we decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up, so we’re off to a Convention. Expect to see some posts next weekend of some, well, interesting sights. And while we’re not into Cosplay (that’s NOT one of our tribes), I have no aversion to photographing those that are (as permitted). Should be interesting.
Now, since this is primarily a photography blog, here are some shots of some of our tribes.
The Corbin Club
Fort Valley, VA, 1/13/13
A temporary tribe:
SE&I Source Board
Washington, DC, 4/27/05
Little Feat
we definitely belong to this tribe
Outside Washington, DC, 7/24/05
The Sailing Tribe
Somewhere off Tortolla, BVI, 5/3/04
The Kennedy Space Center Tribe
Atlantis Final Roll
KSC, FL. 11/2/12
Family & Friends
All followers of the Minor Catastrophes blog
Bozeman, MT, 12/12/11
My most important tribe: A Tribe Of Two
Cane Garden Bay, BVI, 5/1/04
The Intrepid Pilot & his new toy.
Merritt Island, FL, 6/8/13
The other day a friend called and asked if I’d like to take a quick flight above Cocoa Beach. It seems he has a buddy that needed some photographs of his property. He knew I had expressed an interest in going up in his new (to him) plane so he gave me a call. Of course, I jumped all over that, so I found myself Saturday morning in a tiny plane taking off from the Merritt Island airport for a quick jaunt over the beach. It was a fun 45 minutes.
His new plane is a Liberty XL2, a two seater with exceptional visibility. It is a peppy little thing and fairly leaped off the runway. We were over south Cocoa Beach in just a couple of minutes. He pointed out the property of interest and circled it while I shot it from all four sides. He then asked to see one of the shots to ensure I had got the right building. I hadn’t. We made sure I had the right one and made a few more passes until I assured him that we were good. For real, that time.
We took a short hop up the beach…I shot our favorite watering hole, The Beach Shack, and got a few of Port Canaveral before we had to head back for other commitments. I had a great time and hope to head up again when he has more time. I also learned a few things about shooting from a small plane to apply next time. While I feel that there’s room for improvement in most of the shots I got, the ones we were after are “good enough” to answer the mail. Here’s a few that are OK.
(PS: If you are in the need for an air charter in or around the Florida region, drop me a line in the comments and I’ll hook you up with these fine folks.)
Beach Shack on the right, Coconuts On The Beach on the left
6/8/13
Cocoa Beach Golf Course
6/8/13
South Cocoa Beach, Patrick Air Force Base in the distance
6/8/13
Submarine pen at Port Canaveral, launch complexes in the distance
6/8/13
Cruise ships in Port Canaveral
6/8/13
The Intrepid Pilot, his S.O. & their roomier plane
Merritt Island, FL, 6/8/13
I spent most of 2005 in Washington, D.C., working at NASA HQ. While there I naturally took advantage of the chance to visit many of the iconic sites around the nation’s capital and, in late May, several days before the Memorial Day holiday, I went to Arlington National Cemetery. Turns out it was the day they placed flags at each and every grave. Sadly, there are a lot of graves. It was quite a moving experience.
They had a lot of flags to deploy.
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
They had a process, place foot against marker, push flag in against heel.
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
There were a lot of soldiers working at this on a very hot day.
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
Tomb Of The Unknowns
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
Tomb Of The Unknowns
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
Columbia Memorial
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
Challenger Memorial
Could this look any worse?
Arlington National Cemetery, 5/26/05
Edinburgh, Scotland, 6/7/10
Back in the summer of 2010 we went to Scotland. That trip was actually the catalyst for this blog; we posted from most of our stops throughout the trip. We had a blast and learned a lot about the country. We also learned a lot about Scotch, whisky without an “e” (whiskey everywhere else has an “e”). While we were in Edinburgh, our first stop, we went into the Royal Mile Whiskies shop in order to get advice and to procure some libations to both enjoy during the balance of our trip and to bring home. The very nice gentleman in the shop suggested we go to a bar down the street where we could enjoy a flight of Scotch (4 different kinds) then return and make an informed purchase. Which is what we did. We came back and told him the one we liked the best and he burst out laughing. We have expensive taste — it was $150. We didn’t buy it. We suggested our second choice, it may have been Glenmorangie, and he refused to sell it to us. He said we could buy it in the states and that it didn’t make sense to lug back a bottle we could buy at home. He was a sensible man. He sold us a bottle of Balblair 97 and we went away happy.
The first (but not the last) distillery we toured was Glenmorangie. It was interesting, we saw cool stuff and learned how Scotch is made, but the highlight was in the tasting room. We had taken the tour with four English gentlemen and while in the tasting room we got to talking. I taught them how American Bourbon is made and they, in return, taught us how to properly drink Scotch, specifically Single Malt Scotch. The secret is to drink it neat (which we knew) and add just a touch of water (which we didn’t). Not a lot is needed, just a few drops, but it’s amazing what a change it makes to the flavor of the dram.
Whisky Cheat Sheet, Edinburgh, Scotland, 6/7/10
Since then I have been enjoying the pleasures of Single Malt Whisky. Not all the time, and not a lot, but regularly. And I’ve started branching out. Up until recently I’ve been enjoying various types of Glenmorangie (which happens to be the best selling single malt in Scotland). If you’ll refer to the photo to the right, taken in the bar I mentioned in Edinburgh where we enjoyed that first flight, you’ll see that Glenmorangie generally falls into the lower right quadrant, Rich & Delicate. While in Scotland I recall enjoying the Talisker (another distillery we toured) and Oban, both of which fall in the opposite quadrant: Light & Smoky. And by Smoky they mean “Peaty” which needs to be experienced rather than described. With that in mind, recently I’ve been (really) enjoying the Laphroaig. Today I bought a bottle of the Ardbeg and thought I’d have a bit of a tasting (see the photo below). I’m not one to go all high-brow with the tastes (no “flavor of nuts with a hint of orange” for me)…it’s either I like it, it’s OK, or I don’t.
So, what’s the verdict? The Balblair was my least favorite, kind of bland to my taste. The Glenmorangie (a 12-year-old aged in part in Sherry casks) is good: light and not liable to overpower. The real winners in my eyes are the over-the-top smoky ones: the Laphroaig and Ardbeg. I’m not yet sure which I like best … I need to go try them again. Right now.
And I’ll be continuing my research in the years to come.
Note from the other drinker: John’s favorites are not mine. I do not like the smoky, peaty ones. At all. They taste, well, like liquid peat. If I have to drink Whisky, I prefer the Rich & Delicate flavors (or flavours, if you will). But really, just give me some rum.
The inspiration for this post, 5/11/13
Our English Tutors, Tain, Scotland, 6/10/10
Where the Magic Happens @ the Talisker Distillery, Skye, Scotland, 6/11/10
A pub in the middle of nowhere, Skye, Scotland, 6/13/10
The Oban Distillery, Oban, Scotland, 6/14/10
Everywhere we walked today, and we walked many miles, we saw flowers. Most of them were tulips, which came as a surprise to us. Our New York friends tell us that they are a common sight here since 9/11 when Denmark gifted them to the city. They certainly provide color to this city and a ready target for my camera.
So here we are in Manhattan enjoying the sights and showing the city to our friends who are here for the first time. The weather is beautiful and the people on the streets are, as always, interesting. I’ll be keeping this short because I’d rather be out and about than typing on an iPad, but here are some shots from yesterday that start to capture this place and the time we’re having.
Last time I talked about what I have. This time it’s how I use this stuff while we’re on the road. The type of trip we’re going to take obviously effects what I take and how I use it. A long weekend visiting family when I know it’s all about being social will usually involve the Point & Shoot and that’s it. If we decide to take a laptop along for other reasons then perhaps I’ll back the photos up to it, but I don’t consider that a requirement. Laptop means weight, as well as cables and chargers to hump around, so for a quick visit I just drop the P&S into the bag with (maybe) a spare battery. Easy-peasy.
For true vacations I bring more gear, both camera stuff and backup equipment. These usually fall into two categories. If we’re taking a car-based trip (like the trip last year to the Southwest or to Scotland a few years back), I’ll bring the 7D, most, if not all, of my lenses, miscellaneous crap and an appropriate bag to shlup it all around in. Sometimes I’ll bring the tripod or monopod if I can find the space in the luggage. I also bring the Garmin GPS. Every morning I start a new track on the Garmin and it’s off we go. I’ll shoot all day and, because we tend to go to “target rich environments,” I may take several hundred shots. When we finally end the day wherever we plan to lay our heads, I back this data up … and I’m a bit anal about this. My view is that we may only pass this way once so I want to ensure that I don’t lose anything. Historically we’ve taken a laptop, currently a Mac Air, along. This allows us the luxury of having a reliable storage location as well as serving as access to the web to update this blog. (Side note: this blog was started when we went to Scotland. Updating was easy pretty much everywhere we went.) I also back up the GPS track to the laptop, but this is a bit over the top, even for me. Once the data is on the laptop, I copy it to an external drive. I now have three copies of everything (originals, laptop, external drive) and I can sleep well that night.
We are currently experimenting with traveling MUCH lighter, particularly when heading to urban locations where we won’t have a car. In this case I take a much smaller bag with only the 10-22mm and 24-105mm lenses (and maybe the 50mm since it weighs next to nothing). Instead of the laptop, we take a mini-iPad which is nice for books and web access but, in my opinion, is woefully lacking for photo storage. I’ve solved this with the Sanho Colorspace Photo Storage Device (PSD). This little gadget rocks. It has card slots for both CF and SD cards. I just slide the cards in, hit a couple of buttons and the shots are sucked up and stored on the internal hard drive. It will even do incremental backups, so no duplicates are created. I can then attach my external drive and create a second copy (backup the backup). If I want to post some shots, I use the wireless dongle to transfer the selected shots to the iPad and use the mobile WordPress app to create a post. Light and compact. Sweet.
That’s the theory anyway. We’ll be testing this whole “travel light” scheme when we head to the island of Manhattan in the near future. Stay tuned for that.
Here are a couple of gratuitous shots, since this IS a photo blog. Concert shots.
RIP Richie Hayward, Little Feat
Orlando, FL, 3/5/06
Cesar Rosas & David Hidalgo, Los Lobos
Denver, CO, 11/2/06
The Nighthawks
Cocoa Beach, FL, 3/10/13
Coco Montoya
Indian Harbor Beach, FL, 2/25/07
My basic kit
Taken with my phone. When you’re taking pictures of your camera gear, you use what’s left over!
OK, so here’s the first in a series of posts that I’ve been meaning to do for awhile. To my wife’s relief, it will be a short series. I thought I’d post on a) what photo gear I travel with, b) how I deal with the photos I take while on the road and c) my process once I get home. See? Short series.
My main camera is the Canon 7D. If we’re going on what is potentially a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip this body is with me. Heavy? Yup. Worth it? Totally. It takes great pictures at a good pixel count and has all of the features that I could reasonably need, including a menu feature that allows me to change settings via the rear display. This feature is nice for this middle-aged photographer because the settings are displayed in a nice large font that does not require me to put on my glasses. It’s the little things in life.
I have finally arrived at what is, for me, a perfect set of lenses. I’m a firm believer in getting a good body and then investing in great glass. My basic walk-about lens is the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS. On the 7d the focal range translates to about 38-170mm, which is more than adequate for most situations. My long lens is the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS (effective focal length 112-320mm) and this thing takes gorgeous pictures. I love love love using it for portraits. It’s much lighter and smaller than its close relation, the 70-200f2.8L, but the image stabilization makes it a wash for me. I just wish it wasn’t white; it really stands out. For wide work, mostly landscapes, I use the Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 (effective focal range 16-35mm). Again, beautiful shots. I once rented this lens for an urban photo tour I was taking. When I received it, I took some test shots with it. As I brought them up on the computer Patti walked by, saw them and said “you need that lens.” She bought it for me for Christmas that year. Does she rock, or what? The last lens I own is known as the “nifty 50”: the Canon 50mm f/1.8. Best bang for the buck out there … it’s now about $125, I paid about $70. It’s fast, extremely light and takes nice shots, particularly in low light.
We have a couple of point-and-shoot cameras. We have an Olympus 720SW “waterproof,” which I’m shocked to discover you can still get from Amazon. It takes great photos, even under water. We’ve had it for years, treated it pretty roughly and it keeps on taking nice shots. I can strongly recommend this line of cameras. Last summer we bought the Canon S100 for our trip to the American Southwest. I wanted a P&S that I could have more control over and, after researching the issue, decided on this. Patti ended up taking 900+ shots (and several videos), many of which you simply can’t tell weren’t taken with the DSLR. While limited in many respects, it completely fills the niche I wanted it to.
Two more significant items to mention: the Garmin Dakota 10 GPS & the Sanho Colorspace UDMA 2 Photo Storage Device. I use the Garmin to record my daily movement while on the road and utilize the tracks to tag my photos when I get home. More on this in a later post. The Sanho is my latest addition, allowing me to back up my photos to its drive, to an external hard disk, or even to an iDevice. Again, more on this later.
The rest of the gear in the photo is basic miscellaneous stuff: the Canon 580EX flash, Manfrotto mono-pod, CF cards, spare batteries, filters, cleaning equipment, etc…. I should point out that I do NOT carry all of this crap on every trip. If we’re on a car-based trip, I may bring most, if not all (plus laptops). When we go lighter, to an urban area for example, I carry a subset of what you see.
That’s my stuff. Except for my camera bags. Don’t even get me started on bags.
Outside Bozeman, MT, 6/30/07
Canon 70-200@135mm, f/4@1/125
Bryce Canyon, UT, 7/30/12
Canon 10-22@19mm, f/16@1/320
Catacombs, Paris, Fr, 12/8/05
Canon 50mm, f/2.8@1/30
Departing Sub, Port Canaveral, 5/30/09
We spent three nights last weekend camping at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral. It may seem odd to go camping just 20 minutes or so from the house but it was a nice break from our normal routine and we actually got onto the beach for awhile. Although we live 7 miles as the crow flies from the ocean, we rarely actually walk on the beach, much less go in the water. Hey, we’re locals.
Jetty Park is the farthest north you can go on the beach before the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station/Kennedy Space Center complex. It is part of Port Canaveral and used to be a favorite spot for watching Space Shuttle launches. One of the “things to do” is to watch the traffic arrive and depart from the port. Commercial fishing boats and ocean-going cargo vessels are common sights. Just across the channel is a berth for submarines — boomers — that stage out of here when they utilize the missile test range off the coast. On a previous visit we saw one heading out to sea. However, a daily sight are the comings and goings of the cruise ships. Every afternoon, starting about 4:30 or 5:00, these huge floating pleasure palaces float on by with thousands of partiers on board. Or in the case of the Disney ships, a whole bunch of relaxing parents and wired kids. Whatever. A “thing to do” is to gather on the side of the channel to watch these hotels of the sea head out. It’s a bit of a party atmosphere. The impression you can’t help but take away is that damn, those things are HUGE!
Port Canaveral, FL, 3/9/13
The thought of spending a ton of money to cruise to nowhere while spending even more money every time we want an adult beverage is not our idea of a great time, but hey, whatever floats your boat (pun intended). Our idea of cruising is a week or two in the BVIs (or Tahiti, hint hint) on a catamaran that’s well stocked with rum. The photos included here are of the Carnival Dream heading out last Saturday evening. As I type this, the Carnival folks have just announced that they will gladly fly ALL of the passengers, 4300 of them, back home from St. Maarten where the vessel is currently docked. They had a generator failure and are stuck at the dock. Passengers are reportedly not being let off the boat despite reports of, um, “unsanitary” conditions aboard.
Good times.
Port Canaveral, FL, 3/9/13
Finally: below is my first ever youtube upload. It’s the view from the picnic table at our campsite. If you get bored, skip to 1:30, then go to 2:00. (And note the people in the tubular water slide.)
The World as We See It 