pierces

Friday after Thanksgiving found us at Villian's Brewery in Anaheim for lunch with friends. It is a very nice venue with a large patio area shaded by trees and umbrellas. The weather was a near perfect 75°. The beer selection was excellent, and they had a list of surprisingly good hard seltzers as well. The lunch menu featured barbeque, including one of the better burgers I've had. The only fly in an otherwise soothing ointment was their unusual choice of rap music as background noise. The villain theme was interesting, and I had to give them high marks for the artwork on the rollup door featured in this week’s photo. If you are going to feature a villain theme, who else would you choose as the centerpiece image? (Other than the guy that chose the rap music.) Va-Door Dave

Typically, fogging is a problem when quickly going from a cool environment to a warm humid one, as in an air-conditioned cabin to tropical weather. Going the other way from a warm interior to a cold exterior is not a problem. I have spent a day on tour in Iceland in sub-freezing weather and had no fogging issues until I got back to the ship and the warm cabin. A lens warmer such as you described is most often used for astrophotography where exposures may be long enough for dew to form on the lens. Taking exposures of 30s to a minute really shouldn't be an issue, but if you plan on doing really long exposures, a warmer may be a good idea. Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, November 4 and Sunday, December 10. Major holidays abound! (As do photo-ops.) Take advantage of the season and share your photos. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

Pictures taken between Monday, November 27 and Sunday, December 3. December? Already? Post 'em if you got 'em. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

As a P.S. to my earlier post. I carried a compact camera everywhere since I went digital in late 2001 until early 2014 when I switched to a Nokia 929 Icon Windows phone. It had a camera module that produced very good images and eliminated a belt-mounted piece of equipment. After Microsoft decided the Windows Phone wasn't their best idea, I switched to a Pixel XL phone since Google made the camera module a major selling point (for good reason). Since then, I have stuck to the Pixel series and have upgraded only when they make a generational jump in the camera. I am currently using a pixel 8 Pro which is frankly amazing. It is no match for my mirrorless cameras in bottom-line image quality but as a go-anywhere option, it easily bests any compact I have ever owned. The best camera is the one you have with you when you want to take a picture and the picture you take is always better than the one you didn't. Dave

Ever since she was little, Daughter Tara has always assumed that she was welcome to try something on your plate that looked good and was missing from hers. This wasn't an issue at home since everyone almost always had the same food on their plate. At restaurants, it was a constant ocurrance that we eventually became resigned to. Recently her sister came across this elongated fork on some website or another and sent the link to Tara as a humorous reminder of her lifelong forced sharing ritual. Tara didn’t see it as a humorous dig at her past (and present) actions, but as a valuable tool that made plate sampling easier than ever and ordered one in time for our early Thanksgiving gathering. A good laugh almost always makes up for a missing bite or two. What the Fork? Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, November 20 and Sunday, November 26. Give thanks that you have a camera! Show it how much you appreciate it by using it to explore your world. Optional (but recommended): Post some of those photos here and share. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

The answer is a cellphone. There isn't really a market for a compact with editing options since cellphones have advanced so far as camera replacements. When I am not toting the mirrorless, I use my Pixel 8 Pro as my go-to compact camera. 105mm optical zoom to ultra-wide lens and powerful built-in editing. Apple and Samsung are options as well. Dave

It is maple and it is red. I will grant that closet doors are not your traditional source of fall colors, but since we live in Southern California, we take what we can get. The transformation of our spare bedroom into an actual guest bedroom began last year with a dumpster rental and the removal of many, many things that were “saved for later”. There was also a removal of clothes unworn for years and items packed for our move to Georgia in 2010 and returned home without being unpacked. The old closet and cupboards from the early ‘50s were torn out and repaced with a new framework. Then we got busy elsewhere and the new guest room closet remained doorless until last week. Only a couple small touches left to complete. Should be done soon... Fall Colors Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, November 13 and Sunday, November 19. Fall is in full swing. Amaze us with colorful photos of nature. (If you live in a non-fall state like I do, maybe document the disappointing lack of fall.) Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

Glad to hear you're ok and sorry for your loss. Family is so much farther up the list of things to take care of than a cruise board that you can hardly see it from down here. Take care of family business and yourself. We look forward to seeing you post when things settle down. Dave

This week's highlight was Hallowe'en. For years, we have gone to Daughter Kassi's neighborhood and done the sugar walk with her family. Her neighborhood is one of those that does over-the-top Hallowe’en and Christmas decorations and it draws hundreds, tf not thousands of visitors to see the sights and collect the treats. This year was a bit different. We volunteered to host a trunk for Son Dan’s church’s Trunk Or Treat aling with Kassi’s Family. It was 4 hours of controlled mayhem with over 7,500 visitors, not counting possible repeaters that looked suspiciously familiar. While it was still light, I took a moment to grab some photos, including this one of Jackie taken with the 11mm ultra-wide on the new Pixel phone. Night of the Walking Cuteness, right? All Hallow's Eve Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, November 6 and Sunday, November 12. Wow! A little busy. Sorry about the late post. Feel free to fill this week with posts to teach me a lesson! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

After 20-odd years, the camera industry has finally delivered the holy Grail of digital imaging, a full-frame global-shutter sensor. Sony has just released their A9 Mark III which can shoot 120 fps with full AF conducting calculations between each shot. It can take 192 shots of raw 14 bit imaging before the buffer pills up. That sounds pretty fantastic until you figure out that it's really only about a second and a half. Still, that is impressive. The global shutter is different than a regular CMOS sensor in that instead of offloading the exposure one line at a time (granted unloading very quickly one line at a time), a global shutter unloads the entire image in a single operation. This means the rolling video distortion while panning is eliminated. Global shutter sensors have been around for a while but have either been very small or suffered from limited dynamic range. The new sensor from Sony has the same dynamic range performance as its other sensors. The other benefit of the global shutter outside of video is that a completely eliminates the need need for a mechanical shutter. It also allows the camera to synchronize with a flash at a speed up to 1/80,000 of a second. This is very interesting to me on a technical level, but I have no need for a camera that shoots 120 frames per second. My A7rV covers all the bases for me and it won't be endangering my marriage by asking for another camera right now. I just thought I would post this because it is really cool technology. Now, the 300mm f/2.8 GM lens they introduced alongside it might be another story... Dave

Sunday was a long day of spectating. Between the compulsory and program performances, there was a five-hour gap. Fortunately, we live about 5 minutes from the local rink and the family spent the down time at our house eating Costco pizza and watching football. Our Tiny Dancer has progressed to the point where there are virtually no competitors at her age, and she typically competes with skaters nearly twice as old. The automatic first place finishes are gone but she still finishes in the top 50%. Not bad for someone who gives up a foot or more in height and 5 or 6 years of physical maturity to the competition. As you can see in this week’s photo, her spins aren’t the tip-toe steps of the past but smooth and fast enough to turn her bead skirt into a tutu. Centrifugal Tutu Dave

Pinging @zackiedawg Hoping all is well.

I've noticed his absence. I hope it's for a fun-filled adventure. He's been a welcome presence here for years. Dave

ILC has been used for a while. Interchangeable Lens Camera covers both SLR and Mirrorless and differentiates them from fixed-lens compacts and bridge cameras. The use of "ILC" is purely voluntary and not required. 😉 Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, October 30 and Sunday, November 5. Hallowe'en. 👻 'Nuff said. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

Apologies for the delay. Life has been a bit hectic, and I haven't had time to get out and give the phones the workout they deserve. Dave

Sometime a week or so ago, I received my new phone. I was very excited to take a bunch of photos, write a simple review and revel in its technological awesomeness. Instead, I spent most of my time in the workshop cutting, sanding, staining and staining a new set of closet doors for the guest room. Time spent with my phone was taken up by opening apps, looking up passwords and setting up biometrics. I came very close to not taking a shot of anything for the Picture-A-Week project for the first time in twelve years. This photo of our homage to the season was on my way to bed when I passed the display as the automation triggered the night mode for the house lights. The pumpkins were still lit and the new phone captured this in the darkness with amazing ease. Dark Magic Dave

After a hectic week with both work and home projects consuming all spare time, it suddenly occurred to me that it was Sunday afternoon, I was enjoying some down time and it had been years since I watched one of my favorite movies. Over-the-top is one way to describe Hudson Hawk, but I prefer "Classic". Improbable plot, complex and amusing dialog and Bruce Willis in his prime. The score is eclectic, and the rest of the cast is a wild mix of Who’s Who and Who’s That. Kim and I ate a simple meal of something forgettable and enjoyed laughing at all the same things we have laughed at every time we’ve watched it. With almost everything coming out lately being a remake, we are going to start watching more old faves. Bill & Ted or Blazing Saddles, maybe? Swinging on a Star Dave

Pictures taken between Monday, October 23 and Sunday, October 29. Last week before the predictable flood of postings with amazing or amusing Hallowe'en decorations. Photograph something interesting and post it to fill in the gap. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

Pictures taken between Monday, October 16 and Sunday, October 22. Second half of October! 10(ish) weeks left in the year. I'm not suggesting that we're short on time, but there are only 77 days of the year left to post your wonderful pictures of stuff that happened in 2023. Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

I'm not familiar with Apple, but on android, you can choose which folders to back up to cloud storage in both Google Photos and OneDrive. Look in settings for iCloud and see if Apple does this as well. Another method is to go to the folder on the iPad where you transferred the camera images to and see if you can Select All>Upload. Dave