Trophy Hunting

6FPS V1#5

Welcome to the new issue of 6FPS. Life seems to be setting back into a routine, and I hope to get 6FPS back on my planned schedule. As you read this, I'll be on the road for one last visit to Southern California for a few days for my sister's services and to say my final goodbyes to her.

I'll be honest, the last couple of months have been a bit of a struggle. My sister went from initial diagnosis to hospice to passing away in about seven weeks, which is both too sudden to sort it out in your head, and an eternity. I miss her greatly, but I'm very happy her suffering is over. Now, the focus is more on her partner and helping him get through things and start moving forward again.

I had a few weeks where it was a struggle to focus, which impacted work, which impacted my ability to write anything coherent, which impacted everything. I'm happy to note I just met some deadlines and work and shipped some new things out for review, which is why I'm celebrating by not working this weekend and getting this written and out to you. So slowly, things get back to normal.

It's November, which means it's refuge season in California, with the Sandhill Cranes and Geese here for the winter stay. I'm looking forward to making some trips out there and seeing what happens -- and in fact, as I've gone from here to Southern Cal and back on the I-5 tango, I've done some early season stops already.

Also, though, it's November, and the house remodel work I expected to be done by now I'm now looking at and thinking... Spring? Because am I crazy enough to try to do it during the holidays? That's something I have to get an updated plan and schedule around.

But it'll get figured out, and I'll grab the camera and take photos, and maybe some of them won't suck. We can always hope...

And so, without further delay then, on with the show! And thank you for being part of this.

This issue brought to you almost live, from a secret lair deep within a secret volcano in the bowels of Silicon Valley...

What's New?

Here are a few other things I thought you might find of interest:

  • The Challenge of Just Fine: I gripe about a trend I see in Apple Products, which is Apple's tendency to decide it's "good enough", which from Apple, isn't good enough.

  • Susan: my sister's fight with cancer is over, and she's out of pain.

  • What's in Chuq's "Go Bag" (2018 edition): I talk about the backpack I carry around and travel with, what's in it, and why.

  • Failed Experiments and a Thumbs Up or Three: not all experiments work, and a couple of pieces of gear I tried in updating my go bag just diidn't work as I wanted.

  • Selfies: I talk about the challenge of trying to take a picture of myself that doesn't make me want to throw my camera into a lake.

  • New Video: Geese and Cranes (Refuges in Winter): A fresh experiment in building things that show off my winter refuge work.

  • Hot Patches: On top of everything else going on right now, did I mention our water heater failed and we had to patch the house to have water heater until they could get the permanent replacement?

Trophy Hunting (Things Photographic)

There is a growing discussion happening the photographic community about the problem with trophy hunting and its impact on the locations that have become popular destinations. We seem to have created a generation of location collectors -- I can't really call them photographers -- who only want to go and get their own version of an iconic photo.

With Instagram and the ever-growing popularity of the online sharing culture, Being seen at these hip places is a big thing, but it brings crowds adn crowds bring challenges, from traffic to trash to people doing stupid or dangerous things to "get the shot".

A local photographer I've come to know, Richard Wong, has one of the best takes on this I've read.

One thing that makes me sad is that Yosemite, a favorite place of mine, basically no longer has an off-season. It's always full, and it's hard to enjoy being on the valley floor. That means I'm visiting it less often than I'd like to, because I just get tired of the crowds.

It's not alone. There was an article recently in a local paper about Bixby Bridge, the iconic bridge in Big Sur. It's be come the latest trophy location, which has caused big spikes in traffic, and it's making the locals crazy, and of course, brought with it the traffic and trash and bad behavior we see at these locations.

In many ways we are loving our favorite places to death with these mobs, and I don't know what we can do about this. I've reacted by mostly avoiding them, but that's not really a solution. I've wanted to get back to Yellowstone for a number of years, but the crowds have discouraged me, and even though the centennial celebration is over, they don't seem to be thinning out.

I'm not sure what the solution is, or if there is one. But it worries me because the misbehavior tends to create new rules and regulations that impact those of us who want to be able to bring a camera but aren't part of the problem; we are impacted by this as well. More importantly, these iconic locations are damaged and destroyed by people more interested in getting the shot than the thing they're shooting.

It's definitely something I keep thinking about, but I don't really have any answers to. But I think we need to discuss it and see what we can do to try to improve the situation through talking about it, teaching those around us, and maybe most importantly, setting good examples for others. Small things, but it's a start.

A few other good takes on this problem for you to consider:

One Thing: The Fuji X-T3

My Fuji X-T3 has arrived, and I've been able to take it out for a couple of quick rounds of shooting, just to start learning about the camera and its quirks. you can read about those and see images here;

  • First Experiences with the Fuji X-T3: My X-T3 arrives, I take it out of the box, and then I go out into mid-day, high-glare harsh light with the camera set to factory settings and try to take good photos. spoilers: I'm liking this camera.

  • First Impression: Fuji X-T3 and Bird Photography: Factory Settings in the read view mirror, I start trying to figure out how to bend the Fuji's processing systems to my will and start taking quality images with it. Spoilers: I'm really starting to really like this camera, really.

  • Fuji X-T3 and Capture One (Found a bug): There were a couple of quirks I noticed in my images coming out of the X-T3 in Lightroom. In an attempt to see if they're in the image, or artifacts of the rendering engine, I try a demo of Capture One to compare the results. And run into a really funky Capture One bug that ends this experiment for now.

My initial reaction to the X-T3 is quite positive; if you use an X-series camera from fuji it'll feel and act quite familiar, only better. The big enhancement I wanted to explore was Autofocus, and it seems faster, more accurate, and a lot more reliable in tough situations. You still need to adjust the AF system to help it understand how to interpret various situations, but with a bit of practice this becomes second nature and it's not terribly complicated: I have maybe three common setups, all things I can get to via the quick menu or the buttons on the body, so no deep diving into menus needed.

I'll talk more about it as I get comfortable with the system, and document how I configure and use it, but the early expectations are more than met, and I'm really loving the camera for stills. I haven't really worked with it in video, but everything I've read indicates it kicks some serious butt there.

For Your Consideration

Reviews

To start 2018 I gave myself a challenge to finish two books a month and get back to reading more. About half of my reading is actually listening, since I hit middle age and progressive lenses in my glasses, I've discovered the joy of audio books, and that's helped me keep up the rhythm.

My reading splits into two main categories: Science Fiction and Fantasy, and history/biography, especially military history non-fiction. I also end up reading a sprinkling of business type books. As of August 1, I've finished 26 titles, and here are a few recent reads I can suggest you might find interesting:

  • (this will return soon)

About 6FPS and Chuq

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

Coming out about every two weeks, 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.

See you in a couple of weeks


And with that, I'll see you in a couple of weeks 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

Copyright © 2018 Chuq Von Rospach, All rights reserved.