I'm on the roll with the civvies
China Southern Cargo 777F De Icing 22/1/2017 and it was so cold outside but hey do you want the shot or not....
No idea if I did post this one already
One of my long time clients asked if I would shoot their 30 year anniversary celebration. They are a development company out of Australia and just a wonderful group of people to partner with. The founder decided to develop some interests "off-shore" in the 80's and his timing was exceptional because land and buildings were being repossessed by lenders, many of whom would eventually succumb to the collapse themselves, so he bough a bunch of land/partial developments for a song. Texas, always a strong place for business, didn't fall as far, and was an early recoverer from that mess, so their assets have expanded exponentially over the last three decades. Upper management has been extremely loyal to me over the years, and I to them, great partnership.
The event was held at "The Nasher Sculpture Center" in the arts district of Dallas. While I have to candidly admit to not getting the point of a large part of the sculpture thing, it was a beautiful and peaceful venue to hold the event. My clients insisted that I have dinner with them, normally I shoot like crazy all evening and slam down a Whataburger at midnight on the way home, but they were so insistent that it would have been rude not to accept. The food was art in itself, and that I could get
As is usually the case at events such as this, I think that I picked up several new clients.............oh to be 30 again, but smart this time.
Oh, and I have an addendum on the mirrorless front. I had a little time to get familiar with the Nikon Z7 yesterday afternoon and my supplier had put one back in case I wanted it, which was characteristically thoughtful of him. The Z7 most likely would be my choice if I was going to pull the trigger, but I'm not...yet. One thing that struck me instantly was how the digital viewfinder messed with my eye when looking through the camera, almost to the point of nausea in just a few minutes. I hadn't noticed that with the Canon, but only because I used the fold out viewfinder screen the entire time I fiddled with that camera. All the mirrorless cameras are a little boxy, not contoured smooth lines like we are familiar with, not a big deal, but something I don't care for. I'm out on the nausea thing, and if I used the eyepiece viewfinder regularly, it would definitely be a thing.
You know me, I'll drop cash on whatever I think will improve my product, or help me rise to the next level of technology, but I'm waiting this out until I can determine that it is actually going to do just that, and my other criteria is, a piece of gear needs to amortize itself within the first couple of uses or it's a no go.
That's interesting, Jim. I Googled "motion sickness from camera EVF" and found more than a few complaints. Seems like it has something to do with the refresh rate of the EVF.
It would be interesting to compare the Canon and Nikon EVF specs, but I don't know down to what level of detail they publish those.
Once again this year is dealing me a blow, although this one I expected to happen in the near future. I have a last vet appointment this afternoon for my dear sweet Taz, who always preferred sleeping on my husband. I haven't seen her eat anything in the last few days, but she had been drinking water. Yesterday, she wasn't even drinking from the water dish. Today I gave her some from an eye dropper, but still not getting to the bowl on her own. Gave her some half and half and she lapped at it a little bit. She's almost 18, my chest hurts, but from my heart breaking, not a heart attack. When she's gone, this will be the first time since 1987 that I've not had at least one black cat in my house.
Laura, It's never easy loosing a member of the family.
Speaking of loss>
I just learned of the passing of dear friend of the family, a guy that I have know since I was six years old. 91 years young. An interesting man, he built tunnels for nuclear testing in Nevada as an engineer for Sandia Labs, engineered water projects all over Texas and the southwest with the Corps of Engineers. Built his own home in the mountains of New Mexico, sculpted wood and rock for fun. He was a hunter, naturalist, hiker, historian and a father of three.
Hard headed and lovable, gruff and caring, fearless and patriotic. I'll miss him for sure.
I don't do 'people photography' (makes me feel somehow uncomfortable) but I'm sure glad I asked him for a photo while we sat talking in the sun on his front porch a couple of years ago.
Zane, certainly sounds like a great person to have as a friend.
Laura, sorry about your cat. We always had cats when I was growing up. Lately the desire to have one around has been growing. The weekend of 13-14 Oct there is a huge cat show in Cleveland at the IX center. There will be 40 different breeds at the show.
Jim, I'd be surprised if there were not some settings for the EVF that would minimize your uneasiness with them. I can't help but think the IBIS in the Nikon would be interesting with the older lenses without VR such as the tilt-shift lenses you like so much.
, I've learned to never assume... Jerry's got the answer while I was at work 
