Category: Slice of Life

A brief bit of sunlight

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"Morning Light" Austin, 2016
“Morning Light” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Today was another cold day, but it started out with clear skies and when I arrived at work, the sunlight was streaming in from the east side of the building. It looked so cool that I had to take a photo of it.

Lately I’ve been having a bit of wanderlust, since I enjoyed our road-trip so much and I’m looking forward to traveling more in the near future! We have a few trips planned, which reminded me of a bit of advice I heard last year… It was something like, “Always have something to look forward to.” I didn’t really know what it meant, but I think I am starting to see how it can be a nice way to keep yourself motivated.

Or maybe it’s not so much motivation, but just keeping yourself in a positive mindset. I’ve always thought that my days and years were spent trying to achieve a certain goal, and once I reached that goal, I could just coast. Kind of like I would dread doing my taxes, and I thought when I finished my taxes, then I could rest forever! But of course the next year’s taxes come again… and again.

So now as I get closer to 50 years old maybe I realize that it’s just an ongoing journey, and that it’s the journey itself that’s important, not the destination. Or maybe just shifting my thinking that the destination isn’t an endpoint, but more like a milestone and to look forward to the next milestone. And things do get easier, the more you go through.

Eh… I have no idea if that made any sense or not, but I’m pretty sure I am not articulating my thoughts well. But I’m not going to go back and edit this. You know, life’s too short to spend too much time going back to edit.

Anyways, I do think it’s good to have some things on the horizon to look forward to. Make some fun vacation plans and put them on the calendar!

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Tis the Season

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"Hat Shopping" Austin, 2016
“Hat Shopping” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going? Have a good Monday?

As you can see from today’s photos, Koa and I did a bit of holiday shopping. Specifically, we went out for Christmas hats that he and his percussion-mates will wear during their holiday concert in Chicago. 🎅

It seems that each section of the band is supposed to have matching hats so I took Koa to the party supply store to pick up hats for his section. It’s interesting (to me, at least) that Koa was able to take photos of the different hat choices, then share via group chat with his section-mates, and they all decided on the antlers and Rudolf nose in a matter of minutes. Kids and their technology!

I think it looks pretty good, and the nose actually lights up too. 😜

"Rudolf" Cedar Park, 2016
“Rudolf” Cedar Park, 2016

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Flash Sync

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When I was growing up, my parents had one of these Kodak cameras with the flashcube. I remember being fascinated by how the cube looked when it was all spent. It had a blurry, bluish discoloration.

But my main memory regarding flash was from my 6th grade year in 1980, when I competed in a trivia quiz-show at the high school. After the competition was over, all the parents were taking photos of us kids, but my mom had run out of flashcube, so she tried to time her shot with another parent’s camera flash. I don’t know if it worked or not, but I’d have to say that the chances were pretty slim that she could nail the timing. 📸

Back to work

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"Ride Buddy" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “Ride Buddy” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！Hi, how’s it going?

Here in the States, nearly everyone returned to work or school after a long weekend. For my family, we had nine days of vacation so I wasn’t looking forward to coming back to work. But it wasn’t so bad! I got my tasks organized in a few hours and have a reasonable workload set for the rest of the week. 😂

But what always happens to me after a vacation ends is that I wish I could go back in time to when my vacation just started. For instance, tonight a the dinner table I said to my family, “Exactly one week ago, at this time, we were eating dinner at the Reata restaurant.” I can’t believe a week can go by so quickly… it seems like we were just starting our vacation!

Anyways, here’s a photo of my lunch today. I rarely eat lunch (or breakfast) but Mariko offered to make a sandwich for me today, so I couldn’t refuse. Especially because the bread is freshly baked at home using good quality ingredients 🍞. It’s so yummy that it doesn’t matter so much what is inside the two slices of bread. 😍

"Simple Lunch" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO800
 “Simple Lunch” Austin, 2016

Today’s photo is of a stuffed animal that found its way to my motorbike. I’m not 100% sure where it came from or who put it there, but I suspect Mariko. Speaking of motorbikes 🏍, I saw a few “Adventure Bikes” at Big Bend, and I know they had a good time riding there. The scenery, weather, twisty roads, and gravel trails are heaven for dual-sport riders. I wish I could have ridden my F650 GS there, but wow, that is a long haul to get to Big Bend from our house! Perhaps someday, if I have a week to myself I will consider the trip… 😜

I hope you enjoyed your Monday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Photo editing using Snapseed for Android

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Hi all! It’s a couple days after we returned from a 6-day vacation, and during that trip I blogged every night, including photos that I took during the day. Since I didn’t have Lightroom with me, I did all my photo editing on my Android phone using the Snapseed app. I’m pleased with how the photos turned out, considering I used just the mobile app. And so I thought I would share how I edited my photos with you all! (If you use an iPhone, you can find the same/similar apps for that platform)

First, I take all my photos using my Fujifilm X100T in JPG mode, usually the Standard (Provia) color setting. Then, using the Fujifilm Camera Remote app, I transfer the photos via WiFi to my Motorola Moto G phone. I browse them using the QuickPic app, then when I find one I’d like to edit, I select Share, then choose Snapseed from the list:

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The image opens up in the Snapseed app and then I get down to business! I’ve found I like to start by using the Rotate tool to straighten things out (it will do its best to auto-straighten, which works surprisingly well!), then Crop. Next I will use the Tune Image tool, adjusting the Shadows, Saturation, and Exposure. Lastly, I might add a slight Vignette. For many photos, this is all I do.

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On other photos, I’ll go to the presets and play around more. I like to use the Tonal Contrast to give the photo a little more definition, the Drama presets to add a little punch, and the Grainy Film presets for a VSCO type feel. If I only want to add some grain, I will use a Grainy Film preset, but set the Style Strength to 0, and only use the grain adjustment. FYI, most people like to reduce grain for a super clean image, but I like the feel of grain, so that’s why I use the preset.

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After I am satisfied with my edits, I’ll click on Done and move on to the next image. When I have all my photos edited and ready for posting, I’ll select them all in QuickPic, and Share them with my WordPress app, which will add them to the WordPress Media library. And that’s it! They are ready to be added to my post when I type it out on my Chromebook.

Of course, there isn’t the same kind of control as you get with Lightroom, but I think it’s a great mobile solution, and it doesn’t take long at all. I hope this helps! Please take a look at the photos I edited using this technique below: