Forty Thousand and One
Last Saturday (02/19) our Canon XT took its 40,000th photo. We purchased it in February 2006 in anticipation of Nate's birth that June. (This was our first digital SLR, but not our first digital camera.) Cliché, to be sure, but how life has changed since then!
After photographing Nate in the morning at a "Saturday Morning Science" event at his preschool, I knew I had only a few frames remaining before hitting that 40K mark. So I asked Nate to sit with Lily on his bed and shot the next few. At 40,000 Nate had his eyes closed, so here is 40,001. 
Nate and Lily in Nate's Room
As an aside, since buying our first digital camera we've taken ~91,400 digital photos. This doesn't include photos taken with others cameras nor does it include film photos that have been scanned. That's an average of 34 photos a day, every day, since Dec 1, 2003.
First Prints
My one photographic goal this year is to print. I enjoy sharing photos online, and I often browse our library with Picasa or Lightroom at home, but there's something to be said for going through the effort to print and frame a photo.
Part of my problem with taking that last step is the permanence of it. Or rather, the supposed permanence of it. A framed print is not inexpensive, especially a large one, even if you use Hobby Lobby's 50% sales. And what has always stymied me has been the thought of spending all that money and then, after a few years, realizing I don't like the photo as much as I had. Or that the photo is "dated" in some way.
But a frame (and glass) is not a single-use tool. A frame can be re-used over and over. Cutting a new mat is a trivial cost. We'll always have images that will match the frame style. Overcoming the hesitation to do this was the reason behind deciding 2011 will be the year of the print.
To that end, we've printed and had framed our first two large photos this year:
http://cetan.org/index.php?showimage=1231
and
http://cetan.org/index.php?showimage=1218
Hobby Lobby called last night and said they're ready for pickup. I'm very excited. No idea where we're going to hang them yet but we certainly have the wall-space. So, if you visit us this year, look for those spaces to fill.
Lily’s First Snow
It snowed this morning and there was enough sticking to go out and have a little fun. Nate got a couple rides on the sled and Lily either was in our arms or plopped on the lawn. She was interested and pretty happy with the whole affair.
Interestingly enough, our first snow of the year Nate was born was also Dec 1st, but then it was like 12" in 1 day. We didn't take Nate outside to experience it until Dec 7th:
http://helloheather.livejournal.com/404451.html
I makes me immensely happy to have photos of both kids in the same snowsuit.
compromises and photography (part 2)
Back in May of 2009, I wrote this post:
http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/2009/05/18/compromises-and-photography/
It is about the compromises one makes when choosing different camera formats, in particular a digital point and shoot.
In that post I talked about the new Sigma DP-series of cameras and the Panasonic/Olympus Micro-4/3rds format as possible bridges between a point-and-shoot and a traditional SLR-style camera.
Well, a lot has happened in a year-and-a-half.
Both Panasonic and Olympus have jumped feet-first into this market, producing a number of cameras. Some retain SLR styling albeit with electronic viewfinders, and some have used the digital point-and-shoot design as a launching point. Both have also introduced a number of lenses to support this format and seem to be the current market leaders.
But since then, a number of other manufacturers have joined in the fray:
Samsung has released two models into this market with sensors larger than the Micro-4/3rds models: the NX10 (an SLR-styled camera body) and NX100 (a point-and-shoot styled body). Both are interchangeable lens cameras that have abandoned the traditional mirror/viewfinder mechanism in favor of a smaller and more compact design.
edit: Samsung has announced the NX5, a NX10 "lite" but I've not seen much on it.
Sony too has joined in releasing the (similarly named) NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras (the NEX-3 being a few features shy of the NEX-5). Like Samsung, the sensors in these cameras are larger than Micro-4/3rds while the bodies are the smallest yet. Though, due to technical requirements, the lenses did not scale down quite as much which has lead to a fairly unbalanced "look" to the combos.
What has not come down substantially is price. These are not replacements for consumer point and shoot cameras. These are really alternatives to low-end DSLR cameras. They offer compactness of a point and shoot but not the low cost. These are more like stepping-stones into the world of interchangeable lens camera for those struggling with the idea of moving into a full-on DSLR experience.
Examples (with included kit lens): NX100: $600; NEX-5: $700; GF1: $680; G10: $450; E-PL1: $550;
Reviews, as always, are mixed and depend entirely on how you approach the idea of these cameras. As replacements for point and shoots they do very well, offering a lot of control, better image quality, and (for the most part) better response times. But they're not something you're going to slip into your shirt-pocket, nor are they available in blister packs on the end-caps in stores. This is a new market segment and things are still in flux.
Noticeably absent from the market are both Nikon and Canon. To that end, I finish this (long-winded) post.
I've been waiting to see what Canon will do (there are, of course, rumors of them entering the market) to see if our next "point and shoot" would be one of these new mirror-less interchangeable lens cameras. But in reality, waiting just for Canon is silly. In order to reduce the size of the camera body, Canon will likely have to re-design their lens mount. And with that assumed, any camera that Canon releases will require all new Canon lenses to work natively. Anyone wanting to use their existing EF or EF-S lenses will likely need an adapter (probably 2, one for each mount type) which would render the smaller camera design rather moot. A lens designed for a traditional (D)SLR will be big already; add an adapter and you might as well be using one of the small DSLR's like the Canon XS (which is very capable and is $500 w/ kit lens: less expensive than all but the Panasonic G10).
I don't know much about Nikon mounts, but I suspect a similar conundrum will present itself there too.
And so, in reality, you're free to choose from any of the manufacturers in this market segment. But you're "free" to spend a lot more money in order to utilize the functionality provided by an interchangeable lens mount in the first place.
(Yes, I'm lucky to have the chance to even contemplate such "problems," I realize this.)
So, I'm really glad to see that the market for these types of cameras appears to be growing and more companies are entering with compelling offerings. But I'm going to continue to wait until the costs start dropping (or until the used-market is sufficiently saturated!).
In the mean time, (and as a somewhat unrelated aside) I still will lust after the Canon 85mm f/1.8. I have become completely fixated on this lens. I rented one a couple weeks ago thinking I would rid myself of this irrationality. Unfortunately, it simply reinforced my desire to own one. I had so much fun shooting with it and was pleased with a number of my images...
Ah, the joys of photography.
Chicago Photography Project – 5 Years
Tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of my lunch hour photography/exercise project. I have added a few more areas to my map (which I still need to update) but for the most part I'm still just covering the same 2 mile radius, with occasional trips on the L to see where I can go during a lunch hour.
It continues to be a fun project, and this year I've spent most of the time carrying our DSLR. This has been both a challenge and a joy.
I've also had a banner month for being featured on WBEZ.org and GapersBlock.com
WBEZ:
http://wbez.org/Daily_Photo.aspx?photoID=1377 (today)
http://wbez.org/Daily_Photo.aspx?photoID=1369
http://wbez.org/Daily_Photo.aspx?photoID=1361
GapersBlock.com
http://gapersblock.com/rearview/archives/2010/10/22/
http://gapersblock.com/rearview/archives/2010/10/12/
I'll update the map later today and dig up all the links to featured photos when I get a chance. Just getting this blog post out there is progress enough these days.
Lillian Claire photos
Lillian Claire Bernhard
Born: April 2nd
Weight: 7lbs 14oz
Length: 19"
I'm working on a larger post about Lillian's birth but it's been slow going. I have, however, been able to upload photos from our stay in the hospital. No captions yet, but I'm working on those.
http://bernhard.us/photos/v/family/lillian/lillian-birth/
Vancouver 2010
Nate and 
helloheather and I have been having fun in the evenings watching the Olympics coverage.
I was catching up on my RSS feeds and came across this "Big Picture" post from Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/vancouver_2010_part_1_of_2.html
Absolutely stunning images.
familial update
We received very little of the big snow fall that came through the Chicago area. In part because a lot of it was due to lake effect and in part because the storm seems to have tracked further south. But even so, people on the south side of Crystal Lake got more snow than we did, so we must have been right on the edge of a snowy band.
Nate went through a growth spurt not too long ago, where he grew over an inch in just 2.5 weeks. He was hungry all the time (no wonder) but now the appetite is more normal, so I think things have slowed.
I made a ha-ha-lame joke last night about how it's better to be European than Europoopin' and then had to explain the joke to Nate. He loved it and I'm just such a great dad, right? (You should have seen the look helloheather gave me...)
Nate's time at his new preschool seems to be going very well. A small class of kids more his age was definitely a good change. Our school-art-on-display collection is growing again, which I love. Having stuff on the cabinets, doors, etc. is so cool. When helloheather cleaned house (we had completely run out of space to display stuff) it felt so empty and naked in the kitchen.
Child number two is rapidly approaching his or her birthday. We've changed doctors (yes, somewhat late in the game) but we're both very glad we have. The previous practice was not being supportive or informative. The new doctor also delivers at the hospital 5 minutes from our house rather than the one 25 minutes away. An added bonus.
My parents (and paternal grandfather) felt the 3.8 earthquake we had in northern Illinois on February 10th. They were only 5 miles away from the epicenter though. People as far away as Madison, WI felt the quake actually, but neither helloheather or I woke up.
We did have an addition to our family, photographically speaking, at Christmas. Thanks to a generous gift, we're now the owners of a Canon T1i Digital Rebel. It's a very good upgrade to the Rebel XT that we've been using since 2006. The auto-focus is faster, the ISO range expanded, a bigger and brighter viewfinder, the shutter is quieter, and it has a big and detailed LCD. Exciting stuff.
Gallery software upgrade
Though we've not really been using it that much over the past year, I finally decided it was time to upgrade our online photo gallery software.
http://bernhard.us/photos/main.php
The previous version of the software was not tied to a database and had almost zero anti-spam tools. It was something of a mess.
The new version is much easier to manage, seems to be faster, and certainly offers more features. It took a while for me to migrate everything over from the old gallery install but I believe I've done it without losing anything. I've even managed to figure out how to get redirects to work so all the old url's automatically forward to the correct album in the new install.
Now, I just need to get back into the habit of uploading albums starting with the backlog of family photos. That task is only slightly daunting.
Chicago Photography Project – 4 years
Well, I'm nearly two months late in celebrating this, but at least I'm recognizing it in 2009!
October 26th was the 4th anniversary of my lunch hour photography/exercise project. Not much has changed since last year. The map has grown only slightly, as I increasingly have to rely on either the El or the bus system to get me to unexplored locations.
I continue to submit photos to Chicago Public Radio and to Gapers Block for inclusion on their respective websites. Some I've been very happy with have made it, which is encouraging.
As with previous updates, no photobook is yet forthcoming. I find it increasingly difficult to come to any sort of definitive "theme" that would work well in a book. My latest thought was perhaps I simply select photos based on cardinal directions. There are just so many photos to go through...so many that I think are great but probably, as they say, won't play in Peoria. So, I continue to mull...
With respect to the walks, I'm certainly still getting in quite a few every week. I have been able to clock in some rather long treks (anything over 3 miles is pretty good in my book) in an hour to slightly-more-than-an-hour time period. Good stuff. My plan to do a half-day trip with swanksalot to visit Hot Doug's was thwarted by both weather and schedules. But mark my word, it will happen in 2010!
Into The Night
Check out this great time-lapsed video of Chicago along Lake Shore Drive.
Into the Night from kris.wm on Vimeo.
Another hit to (our) film photography
Whenever I shot film (which was quite a bit this summer, at least a dozen rolls) I would use our local Target store for developing. Their next-day service: develop the film and scan the negatives to CD all for about $3.70 including tax. This was great and let me populate my photoblog with some nice photos.
Recently I've given Nate one of my film cameras, an Olympic Stylus Epic, and set him up with a couple of rolls of black and white film. He's prefectly happy to just press and press and press the shutter button photographing nothing or photographing us. He was having a ton of fun and I was planning on freeing up some space in my film/beer storage fridge.
This weekend helloheather went to Target to shop and to drop off his first roll of Ilford XP2 only to discover that our Target store is no longer developing film. Now they only have a send out service and it takes 7-10 days. My experience with send-out services has been...less than pleasant. I'm expecting the scans to be pretty bad. I'm expecting the negatives to look like they've been walked over by a dozen people.
For better or worse, the world of film is certainly not doing well... I enjoyed using it this summer as it, once again, forced me to slow down a bit and consider the shot. It helped too that I was limiting myself to a single focal length (50mm). I enjoyed the color palette I was getting from (expired) Kodak UC 400. And yeah, I cleared out a little more space in that fridge. But I especially enjoyed the 1-day turn-around CD's for so little money at a location that was right on my route home from the train.
I guess if we want to shoot any more film we're going to have to go just a little bit further and pay a little bit more.
11 years
If for no other reason than for me to try and gain momentum on posting to the blog, I present:
I managed to catch my odometer rolling over 111111.1 miles. My Chevy Cavalier has been with me since Easter before graduating college. I put quite a few miles on it those first couple years (trips out east, down to the Carolina's, back and forth between Indy and Crystal Lake) but a majority of its life has been quite mundane: It travels between home and the train station and around town.
change
Film making is changing. This is no secret. But the acceleration of this change is rather profound.
Footage shot with 3 cameras: Red One, Canon 5D Mark II, and the Panasonic GH1. The latter is ~$1500 US with kit lens.
Amazing. Certainly worth watching large and in HD on Vimeo.com (click the link below the embedded file)
random webness
Photographer Mike Stimpson re-creates famous photos in Lego
A few minutes at Kuroshio Aquarium in Japan. Shot in HD with a Digital SLR (Canon 5D Mark II). Click though to Vimeo to see it in HD.
Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.
edit: links fixed.