This drone stuff is really exciting!  I still gave a lot to learn but I went out this morning for some practice and these are the resulting images!  Winter is tough, but I will keep practcing, will be in Aruba in early February, that should be exciting!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I promise to keep practiing!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

“We are, all of us, pilgrims, who struggle along different paths toward the same destination.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

 

I’m not sure how you check out lenses, but I test them, shoot real world images with them and, I admit, I read the test reports too!!!  That last thing has fooled me more  than once.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some very reputable places that test lenses and, for the most part, I think they accurately portray what they have discovered!

 

There are a few things they do not take into account.

 

1.  How well made is the lens?  Will it continue to perform several years later after heavy use as it did right out ot the box?  In my 48 year photo career I’ve only found three manufacturers that, to this very day, still make metal,. highy hand assmbled lenses that remain exeptional, even after years of use! Leitz, Carl Zeiss and Fujinon.  Early Nikon and Canon lenses would make this list too, but lenses made over the last 20 years have a great deal more plastic in them.

2.       All lenses are not created equal, even within the same model dsignation.  Let’s say you buy a Fujifilm 18-135 lens.  You may get a spectacular one, or a very good one, but rarely, but still sometimes, you could get one that is not as good as the average.  Fujifilm has an excellent quality control group, but it is enevitable that a dog still slips past every once in a great while. Should you worry about this?  No, but test your new lens and if you are convinced it is not up to speed, return it and get another copy. I have a great deal of respect for the testing done by photozone.de.  I have found their assesments to be spot on!  However they really panned the 18-135,  so I did my own tests, and I’m convinced they had a bad copy.  The images below was made with the 18-135, and I’ve made many others that are tack, tack sharp, so I still believe in that lens!

 

 

The bottom line is trust, but verify!

 

The image below was, by-the-way, my first still shot from the DJI Mavic Pro, makes me excited to get to some good locations!!!

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

I believe that the best way to stay sharp and keep our skills in great shape is practice, study and challange yourself with the new things to learn!!!   A few months back I was asked to shoot the new Fujifilm 80mm Macro for Fujifilm and I enjoyed shooting with  it, it was not the lens I had hoped for, in terms of focal length, I really wanted the previousy announced 120mm (180mm equiv.) but it was tack sharp and worked great.   I wrested with what to do, I already had a perfectly wonderful and much, much smaller Fujifilm 60mm Macro, which I love!

 

So, as usual,  I caved and ordered one through the company.  Well that was a long time ago and all my friends already have their’s, but mine has never arrived.  Don’t take this wrong, I was buying it, X-Photographers get a nice discount, but we often have to wait until all the regular orders get filled.  I’m sure they are still trying to get those to the people who ordered them early!  So, frustrated, and wanting to try something “completely different”,  I cancelled by order for a 80mm Macro and X-E3 and instead bought a drone!!!  I got the DJI Mavic Pro because it is very compact yet extremely capable of making great stills and 4K video.  As you can see below, if I trim up my still gear, it and the controller fit great in my Think Tank Advantage roller for trips where I have to fly, when in the car, I have a lot of ways to carry it including a supplied pelican type case that holds it all, (below).

 

 

The DJI controller is made to use your smart phone, but I upgraded to a new iPad Mini 4 128gb model so I can see what the camera on the drone is seeing, more clearly!

 

I’ve taken it our to the kids soccer field once and got a little flying in, It is a learning proccess but it is coming quickly and I can already tell I’m really going to enjoy this!!!  Now, I must learn Final Cut Pro X to edit some cinamatic video!  More info coming soon!  I promise to publish some results here when I have something worth showing!

 

In Him and blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

My daughter, Catherine, posted this on her facebook page, I love it, and it is pretty much what my father taught me growing up!!!  Who ever wrote it knew my father, I hope I learned well!!!!

 

Rules For Sons:

1. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.
2. There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs ain’t one.
3. The man at the grill is the closest thing we have to a king.
4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.
5. Act like you’ve been there before. Especially in the end zone.
6. Request the late check-out.
7. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.
8. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.
9. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.
10. Play with passion or not at all…
11. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look him in the eye.
12. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.
13. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.
14. Carry two handkerchiefs. The one in your back pocket is for you. The one in your breast pocket is for her.
15. You marry the girl, you marry her whole family.
16. Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.
17. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.
18. Never be afraid to ask out the best looking girl in the room.
19. Never turn down a breath mint.
20. In a game of HORSE, sometimes a simple free throw will get ’em.
21. A sport coat is worth 1000 words.
22. Try writing your own eulogy. Never stop revising.
23. Thank a veteran. And then make it up to him.
24. If you want to know what makes you unique, sit for a caricature.
25. Eat lunch with the new kid.
26. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.
27. Ask your mom to play. She won’t let you win.
28. See it on the big screen.
29. Give credit. Take the blame.
30. Write down your dreams.
31. Always protect your siblings (and teammates).
32. Be confident and humble at the same time.

Copy and paste. Post a picture of your son (sons).

 

Have a great weekend, and blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Why the Coca Cola image, my father was a manager of the local Coca Cola bottling plant when I was growing up.  I never see anything Coca Cola related that doesn’t remind me of him!