On cameras

Out here we’ve been having a lot of fun watching the two babies. They both just turned one. They have really different personalities… not really surprising but it’s nice to see them become their own individuals.

I’ve had a Canon PowerShot camera for a long time. It’s not high end. I prefer buying mid-range devices.  Often my theory is to buy the second least expensive or second most expensive.

I never use my phone camera. For a long time I had it blinded until I wanted to take pictures of the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence at the library. I’m sensitive to privacy concerns and go to longer lengths than most people, thus the blind camera.

So, the real camera I have includes some nice properties that I like.  Some are on the phone but I haven’t used them consistently to know how to put them together with the phone.

I like being able to power the camera up in a moment’s notice.  The optical zoom is convenient for taking pictures with closeups, for example, of kids and an adult.

My sister is a professional photographer so she explained how to use features I didn’t know were there. I’ll get the real manual to learn more.

I like exploring the different options of a technology to see how they work. One feature I’d never used was changing the criteria for light metering. I wanted to take some pictures that were back lighted by a window.  Changing light metering and the manual option let those come out well. It looks like controlling the auto-focus and automatic light metering independently may not be possible.

It would be fun to write reviews for software or devices after becoming an advanced user. My first impression may being unnecessarily negative or undeservedly positive.

Another thing that is nice about the real camera is that I can hand it to someone else. They’ll know right away what to do. I don’t have to worry whether they’ve only used a Windows phone and won’t know how to use mine without some encouragement.

Almost everybody left a little bit ago so I won’t be taking many more pictures.

We’ll head home tomorrow.  First we’ll go to Indy and then Fort Wayne… not the direct route,  but my car is in Indy right now and my sister’s step-grandson needs to be in Indy as well.

This afternoon, my sister left for Cornell to do more research for her history PhD. Part of her studies are about disabilities rights and their evolution. It’s a challenging topic because personal autonomy and desires may not match the expectations of the majority. Most people have their own definition of what is a “valid” life. A doctor or legislator may demand a certain lifestyle as if it was the only one that is acceptable.  On one hand, it is desirable for a person to achieve all that they are capable of, and on the other, a person may choose for themselves to reject that expectation.

It’s so easy to look at a few specific examples of a life and generalize that it applies to everyone.  Life has infinite complexity, so deciding for someone else their needs uses broad brushstrokes. But that ignores the subtleties and nuances where the artist has used the lightest touch… where meaning resides.

Ohio

ThoughtsI’m on vacation with family at Lake Milton OH.  There’s lots of road construction between here and Indy.

Google maps suggested going on 670 In Columbus which is messy even without construction.  The Mazda GPS suggested 270 which is a lot easier. However the Mazda also suggested taking some non-existent roads near the lake.  Then we found out that there were “no outlet” streets that, if they went all the way would be correct.  lol

The house we’re renting is really nice for sixteen.  However I almost bashed my head flopping down into a bunk bed.

They arrested the person who caused the fire an Eckhart library last weekend.  It was incredibly stupid how the fire got started.  Totally unnecessary and something any person would say “no this is a bad idea” before they even started considering it.

I’m thinking off making a page that tells how many percent of your life is over as it dynamically counted down.  I’m not sure how fast that will end up being but it could be a little uncomfortable to watch your life time out in real time.

 

 

Beautiful day

We had a really beautiful day.

In the morning the trees were covered in a thick layer of snow and the sunlight lit them up.

It was cold, I’ll admit, so I’m glad I didn’t have to spend much time outside.

I’m looking forward to the holiday this week. I’ll be able to be with my family and enjoy some pumpkin pie and maybe some date pudding.

Tomorrow I’m getting my tires worked on. I’ve managed to replace them one by one over the past year. Hopefully I’m done with that for a while.

It was challenging driving to Fort Wayne in the snow yesterday. I wasn’t paying close enough attention and left an 3:15 to be at my destination at 4:00. I was amazed that I got there in time.

I went to a Thanksgiving group event last night. I got to see some people that I hadn’t seen for a long time. It’s nice that people come down to Fort Wayne to support the community.