Sony NEX-5: The Perfect Travel Camera
I’m not a professional photographer, but, like many, I am a dedicated amateur. Like most dedicated amateurs out there, I have a full-time career that helps support my photography habit. Luckily for me, I have the advantage in my everyday career to travel, both domestically and internationally. I don’t always have the space or weight to bring along my full DSLR and lenses with me on business trips.
I have heard time and time again that the best way to improve your photography is by shooting more. The number one way to take more pictures is to always carry your camera with you. While most phones today can take pictures, camera phones do not have the option to control the more technical aspects of your photography, which leaves three other options: 1) A point-and-shoot pocket camera; 2) Carry your DSLR camera everywhere you go; or 3) an electronic view interchangeable lens (EVIIL) camera.
The Photographer’s Bucket List
Feeling Free, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.
I'm not sure if I have a photography "bucket list," but, if I did, the shot above would have been on it. I'm not sure what else would be on my list, and I'm also not sure if it's important to have a list written down. The real importance of the bucket list is to keep me out shooting and looking for "that shot."
365 Photographs – 365 Days
During 2010 I did a Project 365. If you're not familiar with it, the quick rundown is to take and post a photograph a day for one year (or one shot a day for 365 days if you're unfamiliar with the Gregorian calendar). I wasn't convinced that it was something that I was interested in doing, but my wife Sherri wanted to do it and "persuaded" me to do it with her. It seemed like a good way to improve my photography and it seemed like it would be easy enough; after all, it's just pushing a button once a day, right?
Still Building the Dreamliner
Still Building the Dreamliner, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.
Despite the image and title, this post is not about the 787 but is instead a rant (so fair warning). First, I will point out that those of us in the aerospace industry are not surprised at all with the delays that have plagued Boeing's 787. Almost all new aircraft are late and one with so many new technologies is bound to have problems in development. But I have to say that I'm happy to see that Boeing has not adopted the modern electronic/software ethos to push items out the door and update them later. We have all experienced getting new products that require updates out of the box before you can use them. This drives me insane. I could just imagine during the first commercial flight of a new airplane and the pilots would have to connect to the internet to update the firmware if they planned to use the landing gear because the aircraft manufacturer wasn't ready when they shipped the first plane.
The Digital Valley
The Digital Valley, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.
Today we enter a new landscape for this blog, one that I hope will improve the number of posts found here. I spend much more time working on my photography than anything else outside of work. So I'm going to start making use of Flickr's blog integration to post pictures directly to this site. I will promise not to simply dump my photos directly here, as they can already be seen in that form on my Tumblr and my Flickr. With any luck and a bit of dedication from me Cymek will become a much more dynamic site.
Rich Dogs Breathe Easy
From my in-depth study of modern society—through TV reality shows—I know that it's the children of the rich that live the easiest lives with the most comfort. And now their pets get the safest travel (they are already getting the most luxurious travel). I've talked here about Pet Airways and asked if pets get oxygen in the event of the loss of cabin pressure, and they didn't. Now 4 Paws Aviation is offering supplemental oxygen hoods for dogs; well, dogs that fly on private jets anyway! These hoods still won't help my dogs who are down in the cargo area because you can only carry this onto a private jet at this point. Then, you would need to don it on the dog (after you have donned your own mask first) after a loss of cabin pressure. I've only flown with my dogs once in the cargo hold, but I still wish there was some way of ensuring that they would be able to continue to breathe in the event of a loss of cabin pressure.
Absolute Tyranny Over These Photographs
Don't bring your camera to capture your visit to "The Charters of Freedom" at the National Archive Building Rotunda. Recently, the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) has banned photography and videography for personal use at the exhibits of the National Archives Experience (NAE), which include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Now don't worry if you would like to take home a copy of the documents because the NARA has made all of them available on its site so everyone can have a copy. But, this overlooks the fact that most people take their pictures in front of the documents to document their visit to some of the most important documents in our country's history. The NARA states that it seeks "to ensure the necessary protection for the documents from the cumulative effects of photographic flash and to enhance the overall visitor experience."<1> Seems like it would be hard to argue with that line of reasoning, but I will.
787 First Flight and Mob Mentality
I know I'm about a week behind on this post as far as coverage of the first flight of The Boeing Company's 787, but I'm sure everyone has read enough and seen enough pictures of it already. I want to talk about the crowd and the fun of going to see the first flight. I had some what of a vested interest in seeing this plane fly because I have been working on parts for it for the better part of the last four years. I had fun watching it fly. My wife, Sherri, also came with me and she had fun, too, despite not being into aerospace. So what is it that can make watching an empty airplane take off in the cold drizzle so much fun? For me, it could easily have been that I am an aerospace nerd and had a vested interested in seeing it fly, but that doesn't explain why Sherri had a good time. It could have also been the incredible spot we got to watch it from. But, I think it really was the same reason people gather torches and storm the castle: good ol' fashioned mob mentality.
Do I Need Anticarbon to Offset Carbon?
I know I've linked to Anthony Watts' blog before, but this one just wants me to ask people why are so stupid. Mind you, not Anthony Watts, but the people using carbon offsets. In this post Watts discusses a new kiosk at SFO that will sell travelers carbon offsets for their flights. And, if that isn't stupid enough, the kiosk is charging 60 times the market value for carbon offsets. Here is my question: How the hell do you offset carbon? Can I just give $50 to someone who was going to fly to SFO to not fly to SFO so then I've successfully offset my own carbon? That is insane—the carbon has already been released—unless someone is removing the actual carbon or forcing anticarbon onto it and destroying it. If not, the carbon is still there. If I was correct on just giving someone else $50 to not fly when I fly, then I am now selling carbon offsets to people who may commute to work. And, seeing as how I work from home and do not drive into an office, I can offset their carbon by working from home. So, with that being said, please send me two times fair market value for my carbon offsets.....end rant.
What Type of Photographer am I?
I get this question a lot: "What do you like to take pictures of?" And I'm never sure how to answer it. I like to take pictures of all kinds of things: planes, dogs, architecture, and Shy Guy; really, I like to take pictures of anything. And I feel bad that I don't have that one thing that makes me a specific type of photographer. Am I supposed to be a particular type of photographer, but I haven't found my fit yet? Or is it something more simple than that, that I'm just a photographer? I don't know, and I don't know if I even care. To further the point, I can't even say why I like photography; maybe it's the fact that I can't draw, paint, or sculpt.
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