Politics and Covid Free [mostly]

6FPS V2#10 - Photography and More
A Newsletter by Chuq Von Rospach
November 10, 2020

Editorial: Politics and Covid Free [mostly]

Welcome to the new issue of 6FPS.

As I write this, it is the Friday after the election here in the states. For me, it's been an interesting two weeks, with the week leading up to the election stressing me out to where I couldn't really write or focus, just doomscroll. And then starting the evening as the polls closed, I went to bed not at all feeling good about where things stood.

Today, while it's not final, it's pretty clear Biden/Harris is going to take over in January, and I feel better about things. That doesn't mean our problems are going to go away immediately, not at all -- but at least the repair and healing can start.

We still have big problems with Covid-19, which is surging, both in the states and worldwide. Pandemic fatigue has set in, and it's going to be a rough winter. Please be safe and take care of yourself and those you care about, and take precautions to protect those around you -- and you from those around you. Progress is being made on vaccines, but very unlikely until 2021 in any way you or I will have access to. So we have to keep at it.

And with that, the rest of this issue is entirely politics and covid free. We all need a break from seeing both of those dominating everything we look at.

Thinking about 2021

As you'll see from the blog posts I wrote last month (links below), I have bought an iPhone 12 Pro Max. My original thought was to hold onto the iPhone 11, but the improved camera capabilities (IBIS, ProRaw) sucked me back in.

Part of that was that in 2020 I started experimenting with using the iPhone more as my wide angle, 2nd body camera -- as opposed to carrying my X-T20 and my 24-70 or wider lenses. Much smaller kit, lower weight and less hassle -- often means I can head out without a bag, or with a tiny kit.

The Pro Max fixes the issues I had with that setup -- I think. the ProRAW especially, once available, should allow me to properly integrate iPhone images into Lightroom, once Adobe supports it. So sometime in 2021 I expect I won't need special workflow processing for iPhone photos. That really feels like a big win for what I want to do.

We'll see how well it pans out in reality, but I'm looking forward to it.

I've also talked about my starting to work more with video. The reality is, learning new skills like this takes time and energy, and I've been limited, so my progress is slow. I've finally backed off a bit and stopped trying to cram that into a single trip with my birding and photography, because it was stressing me out and everything was crap. But I do need to find ways to carve out time to do this as well, which probably means going out without my big camera at all.... So it's going slower than I'd hoped, but at the same time, I am making slow progress...

Another project that's been added to the list is that I've realized, in working on the photos for the eBook project, that I have really poor coverage of many species in my library overall, but it's especially bad for birds here in Santa Clara County. There are a few reasons for this -- one is I've been actively culling weaker images, which often means my older ones, and images with low pixel counts. The other is that I've spent a number of years heavily focused on the wildlife refuges, and that's caused me to reduce the amount of time I"m photographing in-county. In 2021, I intend to start fixing this by spending more time here in the county, and being much more aware of the need to capture the more common species and not always chase the rarities.

That's probably an overdue project to start, but the new project really brought home how badly I need to do it now that I've removed those poor images (hey, they used to be good, I'm not sure what happened).

A new eBook

As I just mentioned, I have a new project. If you look below, you'll see a posting where I discuss having started my 2nd eBook. I was actually making really good progress and I thought I might even have something to show for this issue a couple of weeks ago -- but things ground to a halt for various reasons. I still feel I'm on track to finish it by U.S. Thanksgiving and have things to show off next issue. Wish me luck.

2020 Continues

And without getting into topics I've promised I won't mention again this issue, let me just point out how my 2020 is going, and why I sincerely hope things get better in 2021:

Two weeks ago on a Friday as I write this, I was having dinner with Laurie and chewing on a nice piece of French Bread, and suddenly I bit on a rock. I shortly realized that the rock was actually a piece of one of my molars that had come loose.

I called my dentist, and they squeezed me in Monday for an evaluation, and again Tuesday morning for an hour or so of trying not to think about what was happening in my mouth, and I left with a temporary crown. I go back on the 17th for the permanent one.

On the way home from getting the crown, a truck kicked up a rock which hit the windshield, causing a fairly deep chip. I said a few words, but it was repairable. On Wednesday, I repaired the chip with a kit and things looked pretty good. On Thursday, since we seem to be having our first rain move in this weekend (finally), I went to swap in new wiper blades. While doing so, with the blade removed, the arm slipped out of my hand and fell down onto the windshield. I stood there watching three nice spider cracks appear in the windshield, very near to my recent (and still quite successful) repair. So on Monday, the day before this is sent to you, I'll spend a few hours at the repair place having the windshield replaced. Because, well, 2020.

The crown and the windshield will probably cost about the same out of pocket.

Thank you, 2020. Please go away soon.

Vacations in 2020

Vacations are one of those things that's taken a hit in 2020. Laurie and I both tend to take time away solo and also try to schedule a trip every year together; the solo trips enable our non-aligned interests -- and recognize that coordinating and paying for boarding Tatiana and the cats is a non-trivial undertaking (and circus). This year, it's all been about staying at home and being defensive and safe.

We still feel that way, but we've both decided we're comfortable taking a short trip just to unplug and unwind. For Laurie, we were able to get her a nice deal at the Yosemite Lodge in the park for a few days in December -- where as far as we can tell, their safety practices have worked rather well, and which is moving into a slower off-season mode.

Once she returns, I'll take off for a few days. Yosemite is an option for me as well, but I'm leaning towards grabbing an AirBnB in Morro Bay and crawling in a hole down there, birding and watching the otters and generally just sitting and staring at things. Yosemite in some ways makes me think I need to be trying to take "Yosemite class photos" and I just don't want to have that thought in the back of my head, where Morro Bay I can throw away all expectations and see what happens.

Other options for me include a stop up on the Oregon Coast, and part of me wants to haul up to Poulsbo and do some scouting, but both are in the direction of extended bad weather, and Poulsbo seems more like work and I really want the break. So it'll probably be Morro Bay. I haven't made a final reservation yet, but I will soon.

And maybe pictures will come out of it, and maybe not...

And with that, on with the show!

What's New from Chuq?

Introducing the Fuji X-S10

In the camera world, I've been waiting for a shoe to drop. Fuji has recently dropped it. They announced the Fuji X-S10 for availability sometime in November.

Fuji has traditionally done a "little brother" to their flagship cameras: the X-T20 for the X-T2 and the X-T30 for the X-T3. I've been waiting to see when the X-T40 was going to be released and what feature set it has. For more photographers, honestly, these lower-priced bodies are more than adequate for our needs.

Instead, Fuji released the X-S10, which I believe replaces the expected X-T40. The price and feature set is about what I'd have expected for that camera, but... It has some interesting tweaks.

For instance, it has IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization).

DP Review has an early overview of it, and DP Review TV's Chris Nicholls and Jordan Drake have a nice video about it on their YouTube channel.

I've been thinking about the X-T40 as a good camera to upgrade my venerable but aging X-T20. When I looked at the capabilities of this new unit, I also realized it seemed to make sense as an upgrade for Laurie's X-T2. After discussing it with her, we both see this as a worthy upgrade, so I think this will be the big christmas present to both of us.

My X-T20 has mostly been relegated to being my webcam for work, but I see the X-S10 as a camera that may well become my primary body given the IBIS. We'll see once I get to use it in the field a bit. it will definitely be a nice step forward for Laurie and her X-T2.

If there's a point my writing this to this for others to think about, it's that we can get fixated on the flagship (aka "most expensive") bodies as necessary parts of our kit. In reality, the more moderately priced cameras will many times do exactly what we need, even if they don't carry quite the ego power. I've loved my X-T20 -- although in comparison with these newer models it's not as capable in video and the sensor is good, but not as good as in the X-T4 or the X-S10. So there are upgrades to make this move. Compared to the X-T3, I expect to see somewhat better autofocus, definitely going to see video improvements, and I'm really going to be curious how IBIS holds up while trying to shoot flight shots and in poor light out in the field.

If you're considering a new camera, and maybe thinking now is the time to start a switch from Canon or Nikon to a new platform, The Fuji X-S10 should be a great, moderately priced camera to start that migration with. And remember: you don't have to make the change all at once: I started in 2013 by renting a Fuji X-Pro1 just to kick the tires, but I didn't sell my last piece of Canon gear until 2016. Buy a piece at a time, and sell your old gear to help pay for each incremental upgrade along the way, and the migration is a lot less painful.

And I expect the X-S10 will keep me from needing another camera upgrade for four years or so (which probably means 3). I'll let you know what I think once I have one in my hands...

Photo: Ring-Necked Duck

With fall here and migration happening and the winter birds arriving, I'm trying to get better at getting outside and get my exercise in -- while birding. I made a quick visit to Oka Lane Ponds (I've written about it) to see what was happening. It's early for that location, but it's a good winter spot to find a nice diversity of ducks.

The Buffleheads have arrived, which is nice, but this is the bird that caught my attention. I initially wondered if it was a Blue-Winged Teal, which would have been a really nice find. In fact, it's an early arriving Ring-Necked Duck. What initially threw me is this is a female that is still in Breeding Plumage and I don't normally see this plumage very often. It's one of the more reliable places to see this species in the county in the winter, but this one's arrived early, and when I saw it, was the only one of the species visible.

But it feels like it's a nice start to the winter birding season, which is much more fun here in Silicon Valley than summer to me.

For Your Consideration

Photography

Birds, Birding, and the Outdoors

Health and Fitness

Technology Nerdery

Fun Stuff

 

I wrote a book!

Download Now!



I'm thrilled to announce the results of a secret project I've been working on the last few weeks. I've written a book. The title is "... And the Geese Exploded" which if you read my blog was the title of a piece I wrote about this year's trip to Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and it was the thing that made me realize I needed to write this book.

This book is available for free -- no strings attached, not even an email address. The download is in PDF, which is easily readable on most computers and tablets (and it looks awesome on my iPad in the Books app, if I do say so myself), and also exists as a hardcover printed copy, but only one copy of it exists, I have it, and no, you can't buy it. But the ebook version is all yours to enjoy.

The book is a combination of a series of short essays about my birding life, how I feel so deeply for birdwatching, and some of the aspects of being a birdwatcher that mean so much to me. It also includes over 100 of my favorite photos that I've taken over the last decade here in the greater Bay Area, out in the central valley wildlife refuges, and here in the western coastal states in the U.S.

Interested? Head over to the download page where you can find out more about the book and how it came to be, and to grab a copy for your enjoyment. If you know of someone you think might enjoy this book, please share this with them, and pass this along through your social channels to help reach others that might want to have a copy.

See you Soon!

And with that, I'll see you in Jult with the next issue. I'd love feedback on this, what you like, what you want more of, what you want less of. And if you have something interesting you think I might want to talk about, please pass it along.Until then, take care, and have fun.

Chuq

About 6FPS and Chuq

6FPS (Six Frames Per Second) is a newsletter of interesting things and commentary from Chuq Von Rospach (chuqui@mac.com).

Coming out monthly on the 2nd Monday of the month, I will place in your inbox a few things I hope will inform and delight you. There is too much mediocre, forgettable stuff attacking your eyeballs every day you're online; this is my little way to help you cut through the noise to some interesting things you might otherwise not find.

Copyright © 2020 Chuq Von Rospach, All rights reserved.