Another great performance, and this time we were joined by Ginger’s parents, and Susan, Dennis, Matt, and Betsy.
This was the first time the Fuji has malfunctioned. Partly user error, partly something I’ve not got to the bottom of. My error was replacing the SD Card with an 8GB slow card. I have no idea why. It should have a 16GB or 32GB fast card. Once the buffer was full the camera shut down until it cleared – leaving several seconds when I couldn’t take pictures. I was running the camera in ‘stealth’ mode again. With the Liquid Crystal Display and the manual shutter turned off; rendering it invisible and silent. Twice during the performance, the back screen came on – showing what looked like a firmware update request. I was too busy watching the show and taking pictures to pay it any attention. Changing the SD card seemed to fix the lock-out problem, that is to say, I’ve not been able to reproduce it – or the firmware notice.
Lanie had an ensemble role in this year’s school musical – Big Fish. She had seven costumes and 14 costume changes, including appearing three times as a mermaid. I admit I’ve not tried to spot/count all the costumes and their various appearances.
As we’ve come to expect, the musical was excellent. The cast, crew, and musicians did a wonderful job. The lighting appeared to be more challenging (darker) than in other recent shows, and I wish wearing hats on stage was banned, as the resulting shadows are impossible to avoid. However, these technical issues are purely my own, based on trying to take pictures. The show was really good and I enjoyed it no-end. We enjoyed it so much, that after watching Saturday’s Matinee we rented the movie to see what the differences were.
These pictures are taken from the opening night, which also marks the first forage into the theater for my Fujifilm X-E2s camera. I remain very pleased with the Fuji, and it has the added bonus of being completely silent. I am impressed.
Regardless of the camera, shooting live theater isn’t easy. I’m just a dad, sitting in the theater, hand-holding the camera trying to take pictures in the dark. It doesn’t help that you’ve no clue of where the cast is going to move to next, and what the lighting technician is (or isn’t) going to do. There’s a lot of spray and pray involved. I do wish that Fuji would allow you to change the color of the framing graticule – and also provide an edge graticule. In the dark, it is often hard to determine if the image edge is dark or if you’ve cut something off.
Processing the pictures is a big job. I could limit myself to just taking pictures of Lanie. But, taking pictures of as much of the show as possible is one way in which I can contribute something. I want all the kids to have a chance of a decent memento of their time on stage, should they want them.
I really like the full frame version of this image, but I love how this close-in crop brings out what I call a ‘painterly rendering’ from the camera.
It is a completely different camera and sensor, but it manages to remind me of the way my Fujifilm F30 produced pictures. That little point and shoot camera was capable of out-shooting my Nikon DSLR at times.
Well I think that’s about as good as I’m going to get with a 135mm lens. The moon was too high in the sky to picture it against a background, so no helpful foreground features to give it scale.
I have to say it doesn’t look any bigger or brighter to my eye.
SupermoonThis came out a lot better than I expected and deserved. I might even be prompted to make a second attempt.
This Supermoon for some reason (unknown and not researched by me) is also known as a Beaver Moon. I took the picture solely for the boyish delight of being able to say “Nice Beaver.”
I don’t have a big telephoto lens, so I just used my 135mm lens to see what, if anything, I could capture. I didn’t bother focusing – I let the camera do its thing. However, I did set the exposure. The inset shows the original frame.
If I were to try again, I’d go for manual focusing and a range of f-stops to try and catch the lens’s sweet spot.
Of course, If I really wanted good pictures of the Moon, I’d buy a longer lens, or a telescope.
This is my ‘Every Day Carry’ journal. I made it small enough to go everywhere with me. It fits in (most of) my pants’ pockets. I included a wallet. Which means it has to go with me, as the wallet holds my ID which I am required to have with me at all times. It measures 4½” x 6¼” x 1¼” – my pockets are fairly large!
The contents of my journal are organized as follows; each section represents around ¼ of the journal’s total thickness:
My wallet insert holds a total of twelve ID / Credit / Debit / Membership cards and includes two pockets for cash. I would have preferred to have been able to fit 6 cards in a two-page spread, but with an A6 journal the pages are not tall enough.
I made the wallet with 100lb cardstock reinforced with sticky tape and glued with PVA glue. At first, I was concerned that my cards and ID would fall out, but in five months of everyday use, it seems to be holding up just fine.
Close-up showing how the contents of my journal are organized. Each section represents around ¼ of the journal’s total thickness of 1¼”.
Updates
After six months of use, I decided to drop the wallet section from my journal. The wallet made the journal too big for an Everyday Carry item, so I switched to this: Breakfast in America: Ridge Wallet and Journal.
After a year, I reviewed my journal use and decided to move the sketchbook and personal journal into a Breakfast in America: Making a Simple Leather Journal Cover. With the extra space in my everyday Carry Journal, I added a new notebook exclusively for ‘collections’ (a bullet journaling term for specific related content). That has meant that I can use much shorter Bullet Journal entries, much more in line with the original Bullet Journalling concept, and my notebooks last longer. Two wins!
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
We will remember them.
I felt moved to make some sort of public statement this Remembrance Day. Living in the US, I miss the silent pause and reflection that is observed in the UK on this day. The quote is taken from ‘For the Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), reproduced in full below.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
“don’t call me Swirly.”I saw the swirly bulb and light fitting, and felt compelled to take this picture. There is no more to it than that. Is this a harbinger of a photo-mojo revival?
Time to start zooming with my feet. I love my Fujinon 18-135mm OIS WR zoom lens with image stabilization. But it is big and heavy. A $100 price reduction saw this Fujinon 35mm F2.0 WR lens coming my way. It’s sooo tiny and cute. The camera and 35mm lens combined weigh less than the 18-135mm lens on its own.
Checking back through my pictures, 18mm, 35mm, 55mm, and 135mm seem to be my most popular focal lengths with the zoom. Maybe I’ll finally end up with four prime lenses. We’ll see I’ll settle for 18mm & 35mm for the moment.
However, there is a slight problem. I’ve been taking so many bread-and-butter, quickly taken, documentary-style pictures for work that I’ve lost my photo mojo (again). I need to get out and find that elusive creative spark and have some fun with the camera and this lens. I have to admit that this picture shows that there is still some life left in the eight-year-old Nikon D40x, which is the workhorse of Ginger’s studio.
Tubby (a.k.a. Rotters) was sitting on the end of the bed and I rather liked the back lighting. I thought I’d try a grab a picture.
Look carefully and you can see his strange eyes. The poor cat is blind in his left eye and his right eye is badly obscured. He frequently bumps into things now.
Luke – Cooling off in the James River, Springfield, Missouri
Drifting with the current on the James River
Feet Up, Taking a Break While Kayaking
Chilling On The River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Tree Down on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
James River Northeast of HWY 60
James River Northeast of HWY 60
Great Egret
Luke and Katie have been visiting Springfield for a few days. While Katie and Ginger hunkered down in Ginger’s studio, Luke and I spent several hours in Bass Pro, and on Thursday ventured out kayaking.
The put-in next to the Veterans’ Cemetery that we planned to use was closed. However, we didn’t let that deter us. We simply launched the kayaks from the bank. The put-in seems to be closed for some bridge construction work. There was no work taking place over the water so we took our chance and headed up-stream. We had an easy paddle in quite warm temps (96°F) We quit heading upstream when we encountered the second riffle – though we almost didn’t get that far as early on there was a tree down across the river. On closer inspection we discovered that there was a four foot gap right next to the bank – just enough room for us to paddle through.
When we got to the second riffle there was a nice amount of water running, and we beached the kayaks to take a look around. Luke got his feet wet, and I decided to go one better and had a short swim. It was refreshing and cooled me down nicely for the trip back down river to the put-in.
Getting ready for this afternoon’s trip was a tad harder than it should have been. The kayaks were covered in sawdust from my winter wood-working activities in the Garage. Luke vacuumed them out while I hunted high and low for missing Personal Flotation Devices and the brackets needed to carry the kayaks on the the roof of the van. The problem was I’d tidied the garage and hadn’t got a clue where I’d tidied them away to. It took me at least an hour of moving things around and opening boxes to finally locate them. Tidying is not such a good idea. I think I’ll not do it in future.
An oil lamp, my journal, and unusually for me, a rum and Coke. All by the chiminea.
I wanted to add some ribbons to use as bookmarks in my journal, but I couldn’t find any at a reasonable (low) cost. I bought some colored string instead, but it didn’t always stay in place. So I’ve added charms to the strings to weigh them down. It’s a bit too fancy for my liking.
Three strings – three sections. Bullet Journal, my personal journal, and a small sketch book.
I’ve now found a source of reasonably priced 1/8″ ribbon, so the charms will probably be gone soon.
Really I was just playing with the camera as I’ve not used it in the dark before. All these shots were hand-held.
Big Fish Matinee Performance, Saturday November 19, 2016. Glendale High School. www.breakfastinamerica.me | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
=
I’m pretty sure Lanie got that outfit to be a spooky clown at Halloween.
Lanie!
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie in – Big Fish. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Witches – Lanie frame right. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Laine the Mermaid. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Little Lambs from Alabama.Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie the Mermaid. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Curtain Call. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange and White Trails. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange and White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange and White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Hiking the Orange and White Trails. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Hiking the Orange and White Trails. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
It\’s difficult to tell but to the left is where the trail used to come up a very steep climb. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange and White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. An old liquid nitrogen tanker culvert on the Orange Trail. The culvert washed out quite quickly after it was installed in the seventies. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange and White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. Orange Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. White Trail. October 1, 2016 | www.ozarkswalkabout.com | Copyright © Gary Allman, all rights reserved
Luke – Cooling off in the James River, Springfield, Missouri
Drifting with the current on the James River
Feet Up, Taking a Break While Kayaking
Chilling On The River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
Tree Down on the James River
Drifting with the current on the James River
James River Northeast of HWY 60
James River Northeast of HWY 60
