Tickets to OCF 2009

Two DSLRs sharing two lenses, three batteries, and four memory cards... batteries and iPhone fully charged... sunglasses and sunblock... cash and tickets... drivers license and keys... I think my gear is in order, and I’m ready for the day in the sun at the 2009 Oregon Country Fair. I'm excited – doubly so since Jenni was able to get the day off as well! Now if only I could get enough sleep...

iPhone 3G S with invisibleSHIELD

Things are turning around; this week is starting to get better.

• Tonight I had a very nice dinner at Stanford’s with marichanlj and Ann who are visiting from the east coast.
• On my way home, Meiko received an invisibleSHIELD. I bought only a cover for the back. Installation was quick, the shield looks pretty nice, and the material is incredibly tough. It also adds a nice grippy feel.
• Also on the way home, I bought some inexpensive toys for one of my co-workers.
• When I got home, my new Steve Hanks art book was waiting for me. (^_^)
• In the mail was reimbursement for three months of parking, so I have some funds for my trip to OCF on Friday.

July 4 on the Ross Island Bridge Grainy, Low-light Photo by My iPhone

Some days everything goes a little bit wrong. I did not have a good day. Several technical issues prevented me from connecting to important applications at work. I prepared and sent out garbled communications. I was fat-fingering keys and accidentally executing arbitrary commands.

At home, I discovered that Lightroom had “lost” one of my large photo collections. (The folder is still on the hard drive, but the Lightroom catalog doesn’t show the folder.) I’m struggling with something related to a group art project. And I found out that several time-critical emails I sent over the last three weeks to a close friend did not reach her due to a spam filter. It seems that now we have only a slim chance to connect for an activity. I need to temper my hopes substantially.

After this day of miscues, I’m a bit glum. I really hope there’s a reversal in fortune tomorrow.

Before The Fireworks Portland From The Ross Island Bridge

Saturday evening I messed up in packing a complete set of gear and had to return home, aborting a stop in downtown Portland to take pictures. At home I unloaded everything and repacked for the second planned locale – the Ross Island Bridge.

This was the first time I’d tried to photograph fireworks, and I returned to the Ross Island Bridge because I was interested in how the scene I Photographed for SoFoBoMo 2009 would appear with the addition of fireworks. The results are so-so... but this was a first-time experiment, and maybe I learned some things. It didn’t help that we were downwind of the display. I’ll see if I can salvage something from the pile of images whenever I get around to processing them.

The bridge wasn’t crowded, although there were other fireworks watchers distributed along the length of the bridge. I wasn’t the only photographer with a DSLR and a tripod, but I got a good spot close to where I’d taken the photo for SoFoBoMo. This time around I had plenty of time to check my settings and take test shots. I rather liked the photos taken before the sky got completely dark.

A photographer I talked to on the bridge told me the setup – the fireworks are launched from a barge in the river. All the upstream boats are directed to back off to a line at the Marquam bridge (the double-decker bridge that is in the middle of the photo). Never having witnessed the event, I hadn’t even thought about there being a lot of boats in the river. Well, duh! The scene was pretty cool.

After a long, hot day, the brisk breeze in my face was refreshing – but I was concerned that my lens hood would act as a sail. The bridge vibrates and bounces with the roaring traffic, so I don’t think the camera is in a stable situation anyway. I wasn’t expecting sharp images with wind and the bouncing.

Processing the images from last night is low on my priority list. First I have to work on images from last week’s candlelight memorial and my church’s Strawberry Festival. And I won’t get to start on that work until mid-afternoon. I have a full slate today. Right now I'm dashing off to church.

Before I went outside Saturday morning to do yardwork, I kicked off a SuperDuper! backup of Makoto. When I returned 90 minutes later, the backup had stalled, and Ayu, Belldandy’s startup drive was completely filled. 0GB free space. Panic!

The SuperDuper! log was detailed but not helpful; the user manual provided no clues, and I finally had to send a note to Shirt Pocket support. A problem reporting assistant is built right into the SuperDuper! application, and full information was emailed to the support team.

In 10 minutes I had received an email reply with a diagnosis and recommended procedure. (Mai had somehow become unmounted during the backup, and SuperDuper started accumulating a data file on Ayu. The instructions told me how to locate and remove the hidden work file. 45GB suddenly became free. I sent a thank you to Shirt Pocket support. Fast and accurate support on a Saturday morning is much appreciated.

Upgraded Environment

Ayu was backed up on Friday; Makoto was archived on Saturday. I installed Mac OS X 10.5.7 without incident. (Now I can finally install the new copy of iLife ’09 which requires 10.5.6 or later – which means I’ll be able to make DVDs again.)

Yes, I know I need to setup a Time Machine automated backup. I’ll eventually get around to that.

With two copies of my working Lightroom catalog elsewhere, I’m free to repurpose Makoto for the Lightroom Select catalog. I won’t get to do that soon as I have a list of other things that need attention – including a backlog of unprocessed images from the last couple of weeks. Ayu will also get cleaned up; free space needs to be above 25% capacity. I’ve seen how badly Belldandy runs when Ayu's free space is 0% capacity. Let’s not go there again. o.O

John Edward Evans

I met an interesting gentleman this morning in downtown Portland. War veteran and self-proclaimed hippie John Edward Evans was cruising in his motorized wheelchair down SW Washington St. at 5:45 am, saw what I was doing, and said he’d pay me 50 cents to take his picture. I was caught so off guard by this that I didn’t initially have a coherent response. But eventually I did take a few photos while we had a conversation about his history, his girlfriend, and his beliefs. And then we went our separate ways.

I of course did not take any money from him.

And I definitely need to think faster when photographing on the street. My mind raced but I could not think of a good composition for the man in the wheelchair on a rather boring section of sidewalk on SW Washington St.

I walked a couple more blocks, took a few more pictures, then returned to my car and drove to work. Even with an impulsive 20-minute layover downtown, I still arrived at work by 6:15 am

Drinks at La Merde iPhone photo

The conversion to iPhone is going well. I’ve retired the four-handset cordless phone system in the house, the Nokia 6126, its AC charger and 12v charger, the HP 12c from my backpack – and am considering retiring my DayRunner. That’s a big load for the compact computer phone to carry.

I’m still figuring out how to use the phone and the companion Plantronics Bluetooth Headset I chose. Most people on the other end of the call have been impressed with the voice quality and noise cancelling abilities of the headset, and it works well on my end. The Voyager Pro is my first bluetooth headset, and I’m quite happy with it.

I’m using the iPhone so much that I do drain the battery. I have enough AC chargers between work, my home office, and bedroom – two are carryovers from my iPod Touch. I do have to get a new 12v Charger to replace the Nokia one.

Also, my old headphones died. I attempted to replace them with a modestly priced pair, but they ended up being uncomfortable. I should have known those wouldn’t work out as I really had my heart set on a cozy set of Bose On-ear Mobile Headphones, which I’d tried out in a store but didn’t want to spend the money for. Going cheap doesn’t usually work out for me, though. After the Sony fiasco, I dug into my savings and splurged on the Bose headphones at Fry’s. The headset is very nice – and I think it will be a good investment as I’ve been using them quite a bit in my cubicle at work.

It takes a while to set up an entire ecosystem around an iPhone. I wish there were a reasonable charging dock, but my research hasn’t yet uncovered any. I’ll keep looking. For now, I’m pleased with how nicely everything works.

Today is the last day of SoFoBoMo 2009. Nearly 900 people participated, and there will be over 200 books uploaded to the website. This will be quite a nice library that I can browse when I’m in the mood and have spare time. (ha!)

No longer an intimate community of photographers, the SoFoBoMo participants are great in number – and oddly that meant we each ended up operating more independently of one another. An online forum might have fostered some interaction and cooperation – but I’m thinking we are all too darned busy to be lurking around online forums. I wonder what the NaNoWriMo folks do? Writers and photographers may have similar tendencies towards introversion and independence.

I’ll return for 2010 because the project is both demanding and fun. And I want to get my SFBM 3-year merit badge. (^_~)

I perused through the third of the SoFoBoMo books I’d been waiting for – Urban Dreams II by Andreas Manessinger.

Urban Dreams Photograph by Andreas Manessinger

I love the photography of Andreas, but I’ll be candid and confess I was a shade disappointed in his book. In keeping with the Themes of his book, there was a subtle repetition of form, an unexpected sameness. In addition, the photos (particularly the portrait orientation ones) seemed small against an expanse of white space, taking away from their impact.

I know that sounded really negative, but here’s a perspective I offer... sunspots look dark, but in reality they are very bright – they are simply dark in comparison to the even brighter surface of the sun. And the thing is, I am spoiled daily to a rich variety of spectacular images at Andreas’ Blog. I’m used to seeing something stunningly different and beautiful each day. The radience of the blog puts his book in shadow. His book is like a teaser... a sampler. The real treasure is in the work Andreas does each day. Go to his blog and see if you agree.

In revisiting the work of Christine Rosamond, I was motivated to follow up with my favorite American artist, Steve Hanks. Wow. I think I’ve been living under a rock for two or three years. (In my defense, much of 2008 and the first part of 2009 comprise a lost year.) His online gallery is new (to me) and contains much work that I hadn’t seen.

I have a collection of Steve Hanks lithographs (many of which I received as gifts). I try not to buy any as I have limited funds. Out of all the prints currently available, there were only two that tempt me: Dancing on the Shore and Listening to the River.

Dancing on the Shore Watercolor Painting by Steve Hanks

I lean towards Dancing on the Shore. And, hey, it’s the Oregon coast!

But I will... I will try... I will work really hard to be a good girl and save my money. Art is a luxury. And I already own much more art than I can display. It’s that collector mentality, I guess.

In addition, I had absolutely no idea he had released a new book in 2007. You can bet I would have preordered one had I known. I have a copy of The Art of Steve Hanks: Poised Between Heartbeats, and it’s one of the treasures in my library. The sequel, Moving On: The Art of Steve Hanks, is a must have for me, and I placed an order for one of the four copies remaining at Amazon.

I’ll now retire to the bedroom and admire the framed print of Ashley and Clyde that hangs over my bed.

Friday evening was dedicated to Dan, a SMYRC youth who succumbed to bone cancer this month. A number of young Open Mic Night veterans returned to perform alongside the current generation of youth. Memories and stories, sadness and support, love and celebration... the center was filled with emotion... and the performances were heartfelt.

Candlelight Memorial for Dan

At 10:30 pm we held a candlelight memorial for Dan. Many, many wonderful stories were shared – solemn and uplifting at the same time. Dan in his short life obviously had made a strong, positive impact on many of the SMYRC youth.

At times like this, I wonder if I’ll make any lasting contribution to the lives of those around me. It’s something to think about.