Yesterday Smugmug announced that it was buying Flickr. I’ve been using Flickr for over 13 years and have loved it this whole time, mostly as a paying “Pro” user. The photo above was my first upload to Flickr, back in 2005. I took the photo with a Holga camera using 120 film.
Through all the years, and many cameras, I’ve often wondered why people have been so damning of Flickr. Sure, it hasn’t been the most cutting-edge service, and the mobile experience is not very compelling, but for a desktop/laptop user it’s been a consistently solid place to share photos and have discussions in different groups. I’m hoping that never changes.
Anyways, I wanted to mention how fun it is when a photo gets chosen to be on Flickr’s Explore page. When that happens (and it’s a mystery how a photo gets chosen) your email inbox suddenly starts getting a ton of notifications and you can watch the number of photo-views skyrocket. It’s lots of fun!
Just yesterday, the sunset photo that Koa took got “Explored” and the views and favorites took off. I thought it was a nice coincidence that it happened on the day Flickr was bought by Smugmug. 😀
As an amateur photographer, I love Instagram on my phone, but I’ll probably always be a Flickr user. 😄
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/90 sec, ISO3200 “Grey Limes” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
One thing I really liked about my Sony a77 dSLR was its articulating screen. I could flip it out and have an instant waist-level camera, which is an interesting way/angle to shoot. Now that I have Mariko’s old Fujifilm X-T10, which also has an articulating screen, I have started using it in the same manner. It’s really fun!
I also enjoy using the Fujinon 35mm F/2 lens. It’s compact, focuses quickly and silently, and produces some wonderful bokeh. It’s what I would call a “Bokeh Monster”.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO1250 “Pen Case” Cedar Park, 2018
I like the Fujifilm X-T10, but I don’t love it like I do the X100T. I only wish my X100T had the articulating screen. Then it would be close to perfection.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/60 sec, ISO1600 “Bokeh” Cedar Park, 2018
I’ve kept my camera in “stealth” mode, with black gaffers tape covering the white logos and the soft-shutter release was a plain black version. But I took the tape off and am enjoying having the cool logo exposed. The blue soft-shutter release button looks pretty sharp, against the black body. It’s a millimeter smaller in diameter than the black button and sits a little higher as well. I would prefer if it was lower, but I like the smaller size.
I think the soft-shutter release button makes the camera better. For me, it helps reduce camera shake when I press it as compared to the regular button. Definitely a must-have for me!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/9 sec, ISO640 “Fujifilm X-T10” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
My wife bought a new camera, an Olympus E-PL9, to replace her Fujifilm X-T10. Her first ILC (Interchangeable Lens Camera) was an Olympus E-PL1 so this is a bit of a homecoming for her.
She liked the Fujifilm X-T10, but it was a little too big (even though it’s tiny compared to a DSLR), and perhaps a little too complicated. The E-PL9 is smaller, and the excellent 14-42 EZ kit lens is small enough to be considered by some to be a pancake lens. I think for her style of shooting, the Olympus will be a better camera.
But now we have an extra Fujifilm X-T10, with the excellent 35mm f/2 lens. I really like the camera, so I’ll be using it as my backup, or the camera I use when I need to use a focal length other than the 23mm that my beloved Fujifilm X100T provides. Besides the 35mm (52mm equiv.), we also have the wonderful 18-55mm (27-82mm equiv.) which is probably the lens I’d use most on the X-T10.
While the Fujifilm X-T10 is a great camera and reminds me of my Minolta X-700 both in size and looks, the advantages of the X100T still apply when comparing the two. I prefer the rangefinder-style body, single focal length, the non-detachable lens for zero decision-making, silent leaf-shutter, optical viewfinder, and discreet color/size. If I were to ever replace my X100T, it would be with another X100-series camera.
So, does the X-T10 really fit in with my camera collection? I think it does. But it only makes sense if I use it to replace my DSLR set-up. I guess I’ll put my Sony a77 and lenses on the market and try to get some money. 😄
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO1250 “Ticket Stub” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
This morning I was planning on seeing the 8:50 am showing of Paddington 2, but I woke up at 8:30 and had to rush rush rush! Luckily the theater is only 10 minutes away, so after brushing my teeth, throwing on some clothes, and tidying up a bit, it was off to the movies! And when I arrived, I noticed that the movie time had changed to 9 am. Whew!
The movie itself was fantastic. I heard it was good, but I wasn’t expecting to be so impressed. The entire cast is wonderful, but Hugh Grant really stole the show. So funny, especially the dog food commercial. And I loved the scene where the Browns were talking about how actors were despicable and that they lie for a living. It was a meta moment seeing actors talking about actors!
The special effects were amazing as well, with the pop-up book montage being truly breathtaking. On the other hand, the animation of Paddington himself was completely seamless and looked very natural. I never once had a “That looks so fake!” moment.
Lastly, the jokes were clever and refreshing and didn’t resort to cheap bathroom humor. The trailers before the movie, on the other hand, had a total of 3 fart jokes. I mean, come on!
I’d have to say that Paddington 2 is the best movie that I have seen this year (so far). I’m not surprised that it has a “100% Fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
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In other news, I fired up the grill this evening and made burgers for the family. What made these special was that we also had bacon, avocado, and egg! Actually, Mariko and Bay had egg burgers, which made for a messy affair. But it did look damned tasty. Anyways, all the burgers were yummy, although I overcooked the patties just a bit.
“Koa’s Burger” Cedar Park, 2018
“Bay’s Burger” Cedar Park, 2018
“Big Buns” Cedar Park, 2018
“Burger with Egg” Cedar Park, 2018
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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO4000 “Shattered” Cedar Park, 2018
Lastly, Mariko couldn’t get the lens cap off of one of her lenses and asked if I could do it, but when I looked at it, the cap was stuck on as if someone super-glued it. And I could hear a strange sound coming from it… It turns out that Mariko had dropped her bag (which had her camera in it) and it must have impacted the edge of the lens. I had to use pliers to remove the cap, which revealed a shattered filter. Using the pliers again, I was able to unscrew the filter, then used a soft paintbrush to clear out all of the shattered glass. Thankfully the lens is undamaged, but we’ll have to get another filter. I guess that’s one example of when using a protective filter showed its worth.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO3200 “Glasses and Watch” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
For a while now (maybe a couple years?) I’ve been posting to the blog every day, and also taking a photo which is included in the post. But sometimes I don’t get around to taking a photo until late in the day. Amongst people doing a 365 project, these are called 11:59pm photos.
That’s kind of what happened with this photo, although it was 10:50pm, not 11:59. (hey, I was getting sleepy!) I originally planned on posting post a photo from Koa’s evening band concert performance but the photos were all blurry and I just couldn’t use them. However, I quite like my 11:59 photo because the Fujifilm X100T‘s lens is really good and produces some (I think) unique-looking images. It makes even the most mundane subject matter look decent. 😆 Just another reason why the Fujifilm X100T is my favorite camera. 📸
