MichaelChang

<p>Dick, my father was known as Charlie Chang (Charles D. Chang) and my folks frequented CAT staff club events often. I grew up swimming at the staff club pool every summer and have very fond memories of exploring the bamboo forested area behind it, and those delicious 25-cent cheeseburgers. <br /><br />We lived in a small gated compound till I was about 10 years old which was located right beside an elementary school - you could have been one of our neighbors. We later moved to a house my parents built which was also an area populated by American servicemen. <br /><br />My father passed away a couple of years ago; he was 92. <br /><br />I've uploaded a few pictures of the staff club and of our family - mom, pop, sis and I in this folder which might jog your memory. :-) <br /><a href="/photodb/folder?folder_id=1093237">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=1093237</a><br> <br> Here's a picture I uploaded about 10 years ago of my folks:<br> <a href="/photo/3170336">http://www.photo.net/photo/3170336 </a><br> <br> Thanks for chiming in, Dick. I have such fond memories of those early days, and apologies to the gang - not intended to hijack the thread. </p>

<blockquote> <p><em> It is social media and should be without censorship</em>.</p> </blockquote> <p>I don't even know how to respond to that, Anders. :-) </p>

<blockquote> <p><em>Michael, you are much too easy on them younger folks...or do you have quite a few fb shares:)</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Leslie, I think people from very different backgrounds and life experiences will understandably have different reactions to any given event. </p> <p>I have felt significance to the Vietnam war because my father worked for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Air_Transport">Civil Air Transport</a> under CIA command with regular sorties out of Tainan airport flying covert missions over Vietnam. I was a kid at the time, but the connection is deeply felt. </p> <p>Someone born in the 80s will only know about the Vietnam war in the abstract or through movies, and if they're better informed, they'll know about iconic images which is really a Western symbolism of the war not necessarily universally shared. </p> <p>How many Facebook employees are over age 40? and how much are they required to know about the world and its history in order not to offend anyone? They made a blunder and it was quickly corrected, and they've learned from it - if I had a dollar for every blunder I've made, I'd probably have enough money to buy something at the Dollar Store. :-) </p>

<p>The Vietnam war is probably ancient history to most millennials or even those older, and a picture considered iconic to us is just a child-nude to them, so in a way I don't blame Facebook for the blunder or those who might have complained not knowing the significance of the picture. </p>

<blockquote> <p><em>Whatever. I see all of this as a waste of precious life minutes. Different strokes.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Indeed.</p> <p>Photo.net patrons will much prefer to waste precious life minutes here than on Facebook. </p>

<blockquote> <p><em> What is 'Facebook photography'?</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Facebook photography is probably nothing more than pictures to facilitate a few words to let friends know what's going on. </p> <p>I have a friend on Facebook whose daughter is in Africa doing humanitarian work after graduation, so she posts photos in order to keep us up to date. </p> <p>Another friend hosts a poetry reading night every first Monday of the month at a local restaurant - from time-to-time I'll be asked to take a few pictures of the event for her to post on Facebook so the gang can be updated if they can't attend, and for publicity to hopefully interest more people to participate. </p> <p>Those of us on PN know what real photography is for the most part and usually won't go on Facebook looking for it, so my attitude is, whatever others want to do on a social site will be just fine by me and is frankly none of my business, especially if I don't know them. </p> <p>As a spectator, as I am on YouTube, here, or a few other sites, I'm just glad people are posting content so I can pick and choose what to view or read that interests me. </p> <p> </p>

<p>We have a couple of (very) local newspapers each covering neighboring municipalities; half the paper are ads. </p> <p>Those papers will pay <em>anyone</em> for an "assignment" to cover a local event, write 50-100 or so words with a couple of pictures from any camera as long as it's "clear enough"; typical compensation for such an assignment - $35. Surprisingly, people lineup to take these jobs. </p> <p>Bigger newspapers might have a freelance (or staff) reporter with a digital recorder in one hand and a camera in the other; that's about the extent of "photojournalism" that I've been seeing. </p>

<p>Dieter, I also thought the V2.0 count reflected all views, but my rough calculation of total views on my posted images still fall short of the 1.6 million displayed on V2.0 by quite a wide margin.</p> <p>Maybe it's the sum of all-time views (including image views) since I joined in the year 2000 - it's still puzzling why this should be a mystery. </p>

<p>My front page shows "This page has been visited 23366 times since January 06, 2006". </p> <p>However, on the new site it's shown as some 1.6 million views.</p> <p>What accounts for this difference? And how are individual image views counted? </p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your contribution; now we know who the accumulators are. :) </p> <p>Now I'm faced with an annoying problem - somewhere in the house is a SB-24 strobe that I remember last seeing 8 years ago but now I have no idea where I might have placed it. It must be with the F801 camera which I can't find either. </p> <p>Good thing is, I found a bunch of goodies that I've entirely forgotten about, so they're now on the table with my brain spinning with all sort of possibilities on how I can use them. </p> <p>I know - first world problems. </p>

<p>I'm trying to take inventory of gear that I rarely or never use but felt the uncontrollable urge to own at the time of purchase.</p> <p>One glaring example is a 500mm/F8 lens that I'm sure many photographers own but rarely used, not counting old cameras and many manual lenses and accessories. </p> <p>So what's in your unused or rarely used collection, and are you still accumulating new stuff you'll never use? </p>

<blockquote> <p><em>"I threw some expletives her way in my usual, blunt manner."</em></p> </blockquote> <p><em><br /></em>Permission to be candid:</p> <p>Are you driven, hungry, thick skinned, willing to hustle and do what it takes to drum up business by knocking on potentially unfriendly doors? Because figuratively, and sometimes literally, that's what it will take to get established.</p> <p>These are the intangibles that no seminar or college course is going to give (or teach) you - you either have the fire in the belly or you don't.</p> <p>Maybe a good way to start is to write a business plan and identify markets you can serve - babies, pets, corporate/business portraits, even dreaded weddings - to get a clearer picture on the feasibility of operating a business in your geography and by clearly identifying competitors.</p> <p>There are many online guides and templates on how to write a business plan if you're not familiar with the process - I'd recommend spending an intensive week or month doing this; it's something you'll need to do at some point anyway or you'll be simply stabbing in the wind and hoping for the best. </p> <p>What you love (concert photography) is a luxury that not many get to indulge in as a living, rather it'll be more fruitful to look at the industry from the perspective of your training, capability, and the rest will simply be your desire to achieve in whatever way it takes. </p> <p>Often broad strokes on the general photography market won't apply to your unique location, so keep that in mind as well. For example, you can advertise photography classes for beginners or students since you're a credentialed professional - one of many possibilities. </p> <p>You're not alone and we see this quite often on photo.net, so do keep us posted. </p> <p> </p>

<blockquote> <p><em>"Brooks Institute had been struggling with declining enrollment, falling from 2,563 in 2005 to 350 students in 2016."</em></p> </blockquote> <p>I wonder if there's anything they could have done differently over the last 10 years to stem the tide.</p> <p>Perhaps they never saw it coming - 2005 was just after the coming of the affordable DSLR and photography was at full swing. It was also before YouTube, Facebook, and the full demise of print; maybe the signs were there in hindsight, but difficult to see in better times. </p>

<blockquote> <p><em>What would be the purpose of having 4 lenses?</em></p> </blockquote> Images from 4 lenses and 4 sensors can be stitched on the fly or individually manipulated to achieve the equivalent of a single lens and sensor, and be more cost effective. I'd love to see Canon make such a camera, and a CHDK firmware hack to expand its capabilities - imagine 6 of these to make 360 images or video at incredible resolution.

<blockquote> <p><em>"Seems to me that newer electrolytics die earlier than older ones. I have had some go bad in about a year."</em></p> </blockquote> <p>The vast majority of caps in a digicam are small SMD and the few aluminium electrolytics are usually of high quality from known brands - Nichicon , panasonic, etc. </p> <p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plaguehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague">electrolytic capacitor plague</a> of recent years are most prevalent in computers, monitors, and televisions - equipment that runs on higher current (and gets hot); low level electronics are generally unaffected. </p>

<p>Any camera can last (for all intents and purposes) indefinitely, or fail at any time without warning. </p> <p>However, given a well designed camera (such as yours), low(ish) usage (6,000 actuations a year), and is well cared for, it will skew the probability toward the camera lasting indefinitely. </p>

<p>Nothing deep - just something that makes me happy. </p>

<p>Go to any culinary site and people will never tell you how hard cooking is, in fact "anyone can do it" seems to be the mantra for many similar types of activities without it either diminishing their art or craft, or minimizing their respective practitioner's skill set.</p> <p>So in your opinion:</p> <ul> <li>Is photography hard or easy?</li> <li>How does either of these characterizations influence the way beginners approach photography?</li> <li>Should practitioners take offence if photography was said to be easy?</li> <li>Should we lean more toward "Photography is easy"? </li> </ul>

<p>Our local courthouse has its walls filled with framed paintings of past judges each with a plaque listing their notable achievements. </p> <p>The paintings might be artistic and an art form, but I certainly won't call it art, in the same way I wouldn't characterize mainstream wedding photography as art. </p> <p>However, decades or centuries from now, future generations may look back and see it as art worthy of preservation in the same way we now perceive common portrait paintings from centuries back. </p>

<p>I use a LED ring light on my D5100; not much point in having the pop-up flash on even if can work. </p>

<p>Given the choice between the two prime lenses, I'd choose the 35mm although the 18-55 zoom should work just fine.</p> <p>Lens choice aside and understanding the highly personal nature of the shoot, perhaps shooting video instead of stills will be more appreciated especially considering the SL1's video capability and the controlled environment of the shoot.</p> <p>Something to consider, and it doesn't preclude shooting stills also. </p>

<p>Tim, are you comparing stills to video? </p> <p>Shooting fireworks video is a bit different since the image stream is continuous so there's no need for long shutter speeds to "drag" the explosion trails. Otherwise it'd be similar to shooting stills typically on full manual settings.</p> <p>My Sony has 2 built-in ND filter settings, F1.4-F11, gain up to 18dB (instead of ISO), and shutter speed from 1/4S to 1/10,000 to facilitate dynamic range, so it's not that difficult to achieve respectable results by choosing the settings carefully.</p> <p>Also keep in mind that pro fireworks videos are shot on prime locations for that perfect composition and edited so you see the most spectacular segments (usually the grand finale). Similarly, the best fireworks photos are all about composition at the best locations. </p> <p>Montreal hosts an <a href="https://www.laronde.com/larondeen/linternational-des-feux/overview">annual fireworks competition</a> which is also the largest in the world - video footage from such a show is also going to be more spectacular than local fireworks on a tighter budget. </p> <p>I'll be attending a few shows of the competition held this month and will make some videos but it probably won't be at a prime location for video, but will be up close perfect for live viewing. </p>