iPad -- First Thoughts from a Mobile Photographer...

I'm going to jot a few notes down from my thoughts on the iPad's massively anticipated introduction today. Especially in the context of having just bought a Windows 7 Netbook...

Full disclosure - I'm editing this post a bit since when I posted it, I didn't have all the information available at my disposal. Apparently I missed the memo that there's an accessory that may mitigate my biggest beef:

No built-in USB input and no Card Reader = BAAAAAD! While there are other awesome potential uses for the iPad for the mobile photographer (think portfolio sharing, specifically, and as Scott Bourne points out -- opportunities for e-Newspaper photographers to continue to be employed), it seems apparent that you can't get photos onto the iPad without synchronizing it to your computer (a la an iTouch)*. I can kinda see not adding a camera -- it would be a bit unwieldy to use it as a camera like I do my iPhone, and even video conferencing would require some sort of stand -- but the fact that you can't get photos to the iPad (w/o synchronizing, I'm assuming) for editing/uploading via USB/Firewire/Card Reader really really disappoints me.

*Note that I made this comment before I saw they will be offering the "Camera Connection Kit" accessory. I'm suuuuper curious if the kit will work with the iPhone (after all, the iPad's OS is similar to iPhone OS, if not the exact same thing).

With a netbook, I can either use the USB port with a card reader, or if I'm shooting w/an SD card, I can just plug the card directly into the computer. Then I can copy an image or two to the netbook and open up some photo editing program (I'm going to test this more when my wife returns from her trip with the netbook). It's not something that would tear me away from using my desktop primarily, of course, but as a part-time freelance photojournalist, a Netbook might still be my best option for editing a few photos before uploading.

I'm a HUGE fan of having one device to shoot, edit, and upload photos. The iPhone has changed the way I do photography. The one frustrating thing about it for me is that I can't use it to upload photos I take on my other cameras without synchronizing it with my computer. What I wouldn't give for an app that allows me -- even via WiFi or BlueTooth -- to take a photo from my camera and get it on my iPhone for editing and uploading somehow. There are apps that turn the iPhone into a WiFi storage device, but as far as I've seen, you can't open any photos you may put on the iPhone using these apps in any of the photo editing apps.

I dream of the day when I can open a photo from my dSLR on something like the iPad and edit it with PhotoForge, Photoshop Mobile, BestCam, etc., and then upload it to the web. I love working with my Wacom on my desktop in Photoshop -- dodging/burning, cloning, etc.

If the Camera Connection Kit accessory being released for the iPad also works with the iPhone, then I'll make that a good start. Maybe after getting tired of editing pix on a small screen, I'll move to the "Arnold Scharz-iTouch"

Edited here to add more thoughts...

The iPad, though, does have some limitations that would cause me to really pause and think about buying one.

1) Like the iPhone and iTouch, it doesn't (except for iTunes of course) multi-task. No Pandora while editing photos. While I do have a decent iTunes collection, I often open Pandora to listen to music while on the computer. They have to fix this "feature" quickly, really.

2) Apparently still no Flash support. Huge mistake. Apple and Adobe need to find some sort of ground here. This is ridiculous!

3) The iPad/Feminine Hygiene Products jokes were lame and old before the official release. Yeah, yeah, be more creative people! There's plenty to rank on about it. This is low-hanging fruit and, really, not funny.

4) Even WITH the Camera Connection Kit option, there's still no way to access/use external storage on the device (without, of course, having to sync it to a computer). Being able to pull movies off an SD card or a Micro-SD card would be sweet! I get that it would cut into their pricing structure, but still...

And, I pretty much agree with everything on this list.

I'm overwhelmingly disappointed on the one hand at a few things - I thought it might be a direct competitor to Netbooks (I'm not sure it really is, but it will certainly cut a spot in that market) -- and genuinely excited on the other.

Bottom Line: I'd LOVE to be able to take this with me for photo editing and uploading when I'm on the road or in the press box. Having to lug around a laptop in addition to 50+ pounds of camera gear has proven challenging. A device like this or my Netbook would make it easier for me to choose whether or not to take a computer with me for editing/uploading. Provided, of course, the Camera Connection Kit wasn't too unwieldy or expensive...

Driving into the sunset (#26/365)

Driving into the sunset (#26/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I'm getting late posting these, but at least I'm posting before I go to bed (even though i go to bed after midnight, generally)...

Saw the sunset on the way home from work tonight, and I had all kinds of ideas for photos. But time wasn't on my side, and I couldn't exactly pull over. So I just grabbed my iPhone and shot through the windshield. If you pull the image up in Flickr (click the image), and then find the "all sizes button" you'll notice the street lights on the side of the highway.

I know there's a secondary cell phone law, but I'm not sure if there's a secondary camera law. I'm sure, however, even though I wasn't talking on my cell phone, the officer (had I been pulled over for, say, speeding) probably could've written me up. But who knows...

I don't, of course, advocate shooting photos and driving at the same time. Especially at highway speeds...

Self-portrait in C Major (#25/365)

Self-portrait in C Major (#25/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Many years ago when I was first getting into photography, I also happened to be into playing the piano. To kill some time one day back then, I did a series of shots with my film camera playing chords and doing different things on the keyboard. This time, it was hard to hold the camera steady (in this case, my iPhone) and I didn't have a flash to make things work like they did back then.

I tried taking a shot with my right hand playing some scales, but that didn't work for me. So I just stuck with a simple C chord. Then I put down the phone and played a tune.

I love playing the piano! I wish I had more time for it - I spend Thursday evenings and Sunday evenings at church playing keyboards for the Life Teen Mass. But it's never enough time -- and balancing my obligations and my hobbies has been a real challenge lately.

Highway Evangelist (#24/365)

Highway Evangelist (#24/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Kind of a busy day for me today. Actually, not "kind of" -- it was DEFINITELY busy. I slept in a bit as I'm wont to do on a Sunday, but got up later than I'd hoped since I knew it was going to be busy.

Made some coffee, grabbed a donut that I'd bought yesterday at the store, and then did a bunch of little things. After making and eating lunch quickly, we headed off to church for our son's First Communion class session. On our way to church, I saw this car driving on the freeway. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of it.

The sign said something like what the typical hardcore "repent!" evangelists like to say -- "Repent of your sins, or face judgment and terror when the Last Judgment comes!"

I guess that's one approach for sharing the Gospel. Doesn't sound like "Good News" to me...

Lookin like a Foo w/you Pants on the...Wall? (#23/365)

Lookin like a Foo w/you Pants on the...Wall? (#23/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

We went shopping yesterday, and I found a sale on a pair of corduroys so I took a couple different sizes into the dressing room with me. They really have a nice dressing room at the Eddie Bauer store! When I glanced at these pants hanging on the wall waiting for me to try them on, I thought the background and lighting was sort of fun. So I snapped 'em with my iPhone. I bought the pants -- figured it was best to go with the ones that were a little too big on me in case they shrank.

My wife thinks they'd like this shot for their ads, but I think it's just an OK shot, nothing special. Processed on my iPhone as usual...

Meters. (#22/365)

Meters. (#22/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I walk around and over these pretty much every day as I pick my son up from school. Their number and arrangement fascinate me every time. I've wanted to make a high-contrast black & white shot of this, since it felt so "industrial" to me, and I associate the stark black & white contrast w/industrial type scenery. I used my typical recipe:

1) Open the image in Photoshop Mobile
2) Apply the black & white conversion
3) Apply the "Vibrant" filter
4) Apply the "Vibrant" filter again
5) Save the file
6) Open the file in BestCamera
7) Apply the Vignette filter
8) Apply the Frame filter

Then I threw on one more Contrast filter for added pop. Voila! There's my "secret" recipe...

The way I've composed this, I'm reminded of the baseball diamond. It's abstracted a bit, sure. Or maybe it's only clear to me because I'm such a baseball nut.

Maybe later in the Project365 I'll explore this again...

Thursday. (#21/365)

Thursday. (#21/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Just a quick blog entry here to re-iterate what I put in the description field on the photo at Flickr.

This morning (Thursday morning, I mean - it's past midnight now, so technically it's Friday) was a griiind for me. Staying up late, being busy, has completely exhausted me. I've had commitments every night this week, and a pile of work to do on projects at home. Plus a few e-mails to catch up on and a whole bunch of other stuff.

So I'm tired. I'll be tired again in the morning, since I'll be up well past 1 a.m. yet again, and having to wake up when the alarm goes off in 5-6 hours.

I snapped this on my iPhone (typical) this morning just as I was arriving at work. I thought about putting my work building in the frame, but decided against it and tried to find a composition that worked. Actually this is probably the weaker of the two, but hey - once I select a Project365 shot, I'm not going to change it for better or worse.

It's all about light and texture here. I take a lot of these sorts of shots. Something intrigues me about bare tree branches in front of interesting skies.

And the sepia-tone reminds me of coffee. I'll certainly need my morning Starbucks tomorrow when I wake up. Likely another triple venti non-fat latte. Simple, yes, but when I stir in some cinnamon, it works. I don't really like syrups. So, tomorrow, at least I won't have to pretend I'm actually going to order something different. A V3N it will be.

In my personal cup...

No Parking, No Politics #2

No Parking, No Politics #2
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

So I missed posting the Project365 photo to the blog last night. It's nearly midnight again and that would make two in a row. Well - let me catch back up...

I knew I'd have some time to take a photo after work in the evening, but since I was heading out for a rare meeting at a local brewpub I figured I'd take a photo of something there. While I did shoot a photo of my beer, it was pretty boring (but the beer was fantastic!).

On the way home, I decided to hit my old stand by. Yeah, I take a lot of pictures here. Being a rare clear January winter night, the water when I first got there was mirror smooth. I snapped a few with my iPhone, but then realized that it'd be a good time to pull out more horsepower. So I pulled my G9 out of my belt bag.

I took several shots, not too much different from ones I've posted on Flickr before, with slight variation due to more clarity/mirror smoothness in the water. Then I tweaked the settings and figure out the self-timer well enough to be able to snag a few self portraits for my Facebook profile photo.

As I was walking back to the car, I saw something I'd never really seen before. I mean, photography, ultimately, is about seeing. The more and more hardcore professional photographers (especially the really creative, artistic ones) I read about and learn from the more clear that becomes to me. Yes, shooting snapshots is great for documenting moments. And it's easy at times to create a "pretty picture."

But it's really challenging to "see" art. To make a statement. To say something with a photograph that makes you remember it. Really, I've only got maybe a handful of these types of photos in my portfolio. I've got lots of "pretty pictures" but I'm still not sure I've fully accepted myself as an artist.

I could talk for months about the technical side of photography. I know a lot about cameras and lenses and archaic gear. That's fun for me to dig around with. However, it's really hard for me to call myself an artist. I think I'm getting there, but I'm not sure. Certainly as I re-explore the passion for photography that I set aside for ~15 years, I'm emerging more as an artist and growing in that side of things rather than the technology of it. Well, really, I'm pursuing both...

This photo is all about context. I'd bet that many people who didn't know already what the building in the background was, could still determine that it's a governmental building of some sort. And in case there was any doubt whatsoever, I hinted that context in the title.

But there's more context here, too. Without actually capturing some element of date in the image itself (yeah, you can look at the filespecs and see when the shot was taken and posted to Flickr) you wouldn't know what's happened recently. At a local level, it's "Leg" time (pronounced like "Ledge")! For us local Olympians that has a certain context to it.

On a national level, however, one of the most recent political stories is that thanks to Martha Coakley's loss to Republican Scott Brown, the seat formerly held by the recently deceased Senator Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts will now be occupied by a Republican.

I could go on and on and I had several directions that I was going to take this post. But I've plumb run out of time and will just say that I really don't get into politics that much. It's not my cup of tea by any means. I really should, considering where I live and what I do for a living, but it's something that I really actively try to avoid like the plague.

As I've posted on my Facebook profile, my political views are thus: "Too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives." I equally hate the Democrats as much as I hate the Republicans. I don't ascribe to a party. While I get their purpose and don't think democracy can survive without political parties, I just can't STAND what the two major parties in the U.S. have become.

One thing that particularly bothers me as a Christian is that I'm expected to follow the "pro life" candidates, which typically come from the Republican party. Sort of peer pressure, if you will, from my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm sorry, but I absolutely refuse to do this. I still exercise my right to vote, and I take it very seriously, but I refuse to vote on one issue. While I do tend to vote along certain party lines, sometimes, it's only because I feel like I'm forced between the lesser of two evils.

So, following this, I see a lot of my friends excited that a Republican has booted a Democrat. I, on the other hand, see this as a sign of democracy in action. Ted Kennedy was a senator for a very long time. There is good and bad that follows this. Isn't our government supposed to be FOR the people and BY the people? Well, someone who's parked in an incumbency may or may not be able to do that well. I'll leave it up to the people he served whether or not Ted specifically did that. I'm not well-enough informed to make that call (and he didn't represent me directly, so...).

Okay, I'm rambling again on a subject that I really don't like to talk about and this photo definitely isn't about that particular situation or Ted Kennedy or Massachusetts. I don't take too many political photos - or at least I don't try to. This one, however, is all about politics. I'll leave the full detailed interpretation up to the people who view this photo. It should serve, however, as a reminder to those people serving in public office that there's no job security.

There's No Parking in politics. I know senators and representatives and those other elected officials all know this very well. Or at least they think they do. But they definitely need a reminder every now and again.

Finally - I did post the iPhone version as my official Project365 shot on Flickr (and shared it on Twitter). But that was just a quick snapshot and a placeholder as I processed this photo taken with a camera I had more control over. It's not a technically-perfect photo, but that's not the point.

It makes a statement. I've explained it a little more here to provide some context.

While I didn't plan this photo, I did "see" it after stopping at a place I frequently cover with my cameras. And photography is about "seeing" and communicating. Even if you don't quite get all the context here that I had when I "saw" this shot, I think the message might well be communicated...

Tuesday Morning Sunrise (#19/365)

Tuesday Morning Sunrise (#19/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

This morning, I saw glimpses of pink in the sky just as I'd come downstairs to start making breakfast for my son. I ran upstairs to grab my D200 and slapped on my 55-200mm VR lens that I absolutely love.

Having lived in this house for almost a year an a half, I've seen several sunrises in my back yard. We live in a neighborhood where the houses aren't that close to each other and yards are comparatively large, which is what we were looking for when house shopping. Still, we only pretty much have a view of the neighbors yards and not much else.

I decided to grab the 55-200 to see if I could work with the sunrise, rather than complaining about not having the view we could've had if we'd bought one of the other houses with better views that we walked through when house shopping. I figured with the short telephoto I could isolate an element of the sky a little more and still capture the essence of the sunrise.

By shooting a vertical/portrait-oriented shot, I was able to isolate this small bit of sky hanging behind the trees, which I threw into silhouette. With the various shapes and sizes of the trees, I thought these elements were interesting enough to provide an anchor to the scene and perhaps a bit of scale.

I played around with a few angles, but this is the last shot I took and my favorite of the series. Maybe I'll post a few more, but this is my Project365 submission for today...

Equivalents, 2010 #1

Equivalents, 2010 #1
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

From my first roll of film through the Canon EOS-1 I just got. I really like this shot, but I'm going to have to re-scan the film. The haloing on the trees is just not right. Originally shot on Fuji X-Tra 400-speed color film, but I converted it to black & white in Photoshop.

I bought this camera to shoot wide-angle stuff. It's nice to have 22mm actually BE 22mm. Unfortunately the shot I took with my Nikon-mount 17mm lens is out-of-focus because in my haste I forgot to manually focus. The color's nice in that shot, and it does capture the sunrise. but this shot worked better for me and seemed like the best shot to post first from this camera...

A Final Portrait (#18/365)

A Final Portrait (#18/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I finally got the chance to list my broken Nikon F4S on eBay for parts only, before I left for church yesterday. In addition to setting a buy-it-now price, I set up the auction so that 10% of the price would go to the Red Cross.

I like good karma.

I'm hoping this old camera can be put to use to spare the life/lives of one or more Niikon F4S. Nikon isn't making parts for these anymore, and they can be really hard to find. I know I'm not the only nut out there who LOVES this camera. To me, this is the best film camera Nikon ever made.

And, even though it's a tiny amount, I'm hoping the Red Cross uses the money to make a tiny bit of difference in the world. I can and will donate more, but this camera has been a special part of me - even though I didn't put but one roll of film through it.

I can't wait until I can buy another one. Yes, my Canon EOS-1 is a temporary fill-in. While I do like the EOS-1 a lot (although I just submitted the first roll of film for development -- so I'm completely withholding final judgment until I get those photos back) it's no F4S.

Until we meet again...

Faaaaavvvrrre! (#17/365)

Faaaaavvvrrre! (#17/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I like watching NFL playoff games, but I'm really only ever rooting for the Seattle Seahawks. I've always admired Brett Favre, though. He had a heck of a game today against Dallas. So, this is just a snapshot for memory's sake.

I wonder if this card just went up in value a little bit...

Flowers for Grandma (#16/365)

Flowers for Grandma (#16/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Today we celebrated my wife's grandma's 90th birthday. I was enlisted to take photos of the event. It was a tough assignment due to the massive number of people and mirrors everywhere. But I grabbed a few decent shots, including this one of a bouquet of roses that a cousin brought.

WAKE UP!!! (#15/365)

WAKE UP!!! (#15/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Twas truly a rough Friday for me. I basically tried to get the Project365 shot out of the way early - in a rainstorm, I'm drawn to these canopies and how the raindrops and light dance around on them. I figured a nice bold color with some simple text that captures these rain drops would be worth shooting.

Then I woke up and realized that I definitely didn't deliver on what I was hoping to accomplish. So I submitted it to the "Passive Aggressive Comments..." group on Flickr for them to make me laugh about it.

I wonder what lemons do when they get lemons. Do they make lemonade?

Of course, after I'd already selected this for my Project365 shot, there happened to be a pretty amazing sunset. I thought about switching but then that would be cheating IMHO. But they're in my photostream now too...

Glazed Expressions (#14/365)

Glazed Expressions #3 (#14/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Stayed home from work today because I woke up not feeling so hot. Got some much needed rest - it's sleep I've really needed but have been too busy to find much of. Lots of projects at my feet...

Took an hour or so to mess around with this wine glass that I bought locally from the German/European Boutique "einmaleins." I didn't really have the space to set up hard-core lighting stuff so I got a little creative. Slapped on my DIY Beauty Dish and found the reflections quite interesting. There's a whole set of these on my Flickr account.

Nestled (#13/365)

Nestled (#13/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I don't know what it is that draws me to little micro-scenes such as these. Perhaps there's a bit of the red-green counterbalance in play, as well as the juxtaposition of a dead/decaying leaf within the clutches of life-breathing greenery. Perhaps, too, it's symbolic of how I've felt lately - feeling quite dead but needing to be alive and energetic. Relying on others a lot to prop me up. But I've also been the prop-er, so there's that too...

One of these days I'll use another camera on my Project 365 photos. But time has been verrrrry hard to come by lately, as has good non-downpour weather. On my iPhone, I can shoot, edit and upload the photo without having to take a whole lot of time. While the quality and control may be limited, it's still good enough for me to express and capture what I'm seeing/feeling via photographs.

No idea what will inspire me tomorrow. I guess that's sorta the fun part about a Project 365. Sometimes you can plan and other times you just look/create/react...

Homage to Frank Gehry (#12/365)

Homage to Frank Gehry (#12/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

For today's image, just before leaving for work I shot two photos of this white paper birch tree in front of my yard. I found the various layers interesting and the shapes therewith reminded me of the Experience Music Project building (and many other buildings) designed by Frank Gehry. Do you see it, too?

It Rained on my Coffee this Morning (#11/365)

It Rained on my Coffee this Morning (#11/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I'm not a big fan of Mondays. Nor am I a big fan of rain. Mix the two together and I really really need an extra dose of morning coffee. It rained on my coffee mug on the way into my office from my car.

It rained so hard and was so cloudy today that I actually tried posting this to Flickr from my phone several times but didn't have enough signal to do so.

Still have the lights up (#10/365)

Still have the lights up (#10/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Definitely just a snap tonight. Spent the whole day at church today, and had to go grocery shopping and grab dinner afterwards. I did unplug the main lights, but the room upstairs is too full of Legos and other things to step on, so I couldn't unplug those lights. My son will do it in the morning...

While I had the weather yesterday afternoon, I could've taken them down. But instead I chose to do yardwork before heading out with my film camera (and, of course, my G9 on my belt and iPhone in my pocket). I won't rehash yesterday's story, but I did buy a new battery for my "new" camera and that seemed to work. At $13 a pop, though, I'm going to try to find a better solution. I could get the grip and then use AA batteries. But that adds weight and bulk - which makes the decision border between using my 35mm film camera and the Mamiya a bit smaller...

Anyway - more of a documentary photo than a piece of artwork...

I Took a Walk Along the 4th Ave Bridge (#8/365)

I Took a Walk Along the 4th Ave Bridge (#8/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I finally got good weather and decent lighting to go out with my new-to-me film camera today. Wouldn't you know it - something is wrong with the camera and it didn't work. Battery seems to have a charge but the camera won't turn on. Story of my life...

Grrrrr...

So I took photos with my iPhone and G9 instead.

Which Way??? (#8/365)

Which Way??? (#8/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I was having problems deciding which photo to choose for my Project 365 today, so I posted to Twitter asking people to vote. Of course, people are busy on Friday nights and I haven't yet heard back from anyone. However, since I shot, edited and uploaded it on my iPhone, using Chase Jarvis's BestCam app for final tweaking and posting on BestCam and Twitter, it was submitted to the iPhone app for people to vote on as well. Since the folks who use the BestCam app voted a couple times, making it show up on the "best photos" list I decided to use this one today.

I'm tired of the rain. So so so tired of it this time of year especially. I'm not a fan of the post-Christmas winter here in the PNW. I've been putting up with it for over 35 years and I'm really tired of it. I don't travel much so I'm sure I'm taking it for granted, and I do know that the rain is what keeps Washington as The Evergreen State. I need to learn to appreciate it more, I guess.

Red Gem (#7/365)

Red Gem (#7/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Nothin' real special about today's photo. Sort of a "found industrial art" type shot. I actually shot pretty much the same photo yesterday but revisited the angle just slightly. I thought the object was interesting, and I blew the colors to oblivion just because I could. There actually wasn't much light on this subject since it was twilight up here in the dark-when-I-leave-for-work-and-dark-when-I-drive-home Pacific NW.

Decade's First Sunset. (#6/365)

Decade's First Sunset. (#6/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

So, two blogs today since I didn't get to post one yesterday (although I did take and post the photo)...

As I just commented on Flickr, it's blurry and a very unartistic photo. Pretty much a snapshot for today's Project365. I suppose I could put more work into it on PhotoForge on my iPhone (it's got a decent clone tool) but it's not really worth my time. Selected this one, though, because even though it's a crappy photo, it will remind me of the missed opportunity and challenge I had today -- I'd left my belt camera (Canon G9) at home, and I was REALLY having a hard time finding an interesting angle to shoot with my ultra-wide-angle iPhone lens. It was the first sunset I was able to see this year (due to the crappy weather we've been having around these parts) and I was really unable to do much about it since I only had my iPhone camera. I've been wanting to go out with my new-to-me EOS-1 film camera so badly but haven't been able to because of the rain (and work during the day). So, as I left work I had both hope that I could do that soon and frustration that I'd left my better camera at home...

Mariners Legends (#5/365)

Mariners Legends (#5/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I did post the photo but I ran out of time for yesterday's blog post...

I had a concept for the photo, but I was crazy busy yesterday having to eat dinner, satisfy my kid who wanted some daddy time, and then head off to hang out with some local photographers. I ran out of time to be able to find what I really wanted to shoot, but I did find these in the box of cards I pulled out.

What's funny is - the Edgar Martinez card shows him playing defense. Today, the official announcement came that he fell very shy of the minimum percentage for HOF enshrinement. More than one voter commented that he didn't do enough with the bat to overcome the fact that he was a career DH. While I do call that argument bullshit, I do understand that the sentiment is popular, since a lot of NL writers really never got to see Edgar play. Funny - he did play well over 4000 innings over 500+ games at 3rd base, and he was a solid defender there. But it's not enough for many voters.

I could go on and on about what a sham the HOF results were this year, but this is my photography blog...

I will say this, though. Randy Johnson is the best MLB pitcher I've ever met. I'll never forget his first no-hitter and breaking the ceiling lamp downstairs as I jumped up and down. And being at the 19-strikeout game in which Mark McGwire hit a darn-near-600-foot home run about 50 feet over from where I was sitting.

While I did get this picture, I'd hoped to take a picture of the pictures I have from that game...

Almost Cerulean... (4/365)

Almost Cerulean... (4/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

I was listening to The Ocean Blue's "Cerulean" (link is to a cover) today and it struck me how much I like that song. The imagery used in the simple lyrics seem to suggest simultaneously downward and upward looking. Imagery of heaven; imagery of sadness...

So I tried to take a picture of it. Of course, I could've turned this into a cyanotype, but I don't think the literal color is as important as the emotion is.

Out with the "Old", In with the "New" (#3/365)

Out with the "Old", In with the "New" (#3/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Still haven't run a roll of film through - the weather's been too crappy to go outside with it. But the more I play around with the EOS-1 the more I really like it. Feels a lot like my D200 with much more simplicity. My favorite feature? AE locking works such that you push the button and it stays on without needing to hold down an AE button. I LOOOOVE my now defunct F4S, but the EOS-1 may well be the first camera I ever use where I can operate it totally by feel. So simple and clean! Why can't all Canon SLRs be so ergonomic? And Nikons for that matter...

I'm still a manual-focus junkie so I don't really care that the EOS-1 had better AF than the Nikon F4 (causing many a pro to switch from Nikon to Canon). The F4S is still a better camera for me. But I can see why a lot of people switched back then...

Between Rainstorms (#2/365)

Between Rainstorms (#2/365)
Originally uploaded by PositivePaul

Day 2 of the Project365. For this shot, I happened to notice the rain droplets on some bushes in the back yard as I was getting ready to take the garbage out. Took the garbage out and then went out with my iPhone. It's really really hard to compose with the iPhone at times, and it's even HARDER to selectively focus. I had several iterations of this shot and several compositional angles. This one still has issues but it's the best of the bunch.

Project 365 - My 2010 New Year's Resolution...

No idea how I'm going to do this but my 2010 New Year's Resolution is to complete a Project 365, where I intend on taking and posting a photo a day. I pretty much do this anyway, but I'm going to be more complete and thorough to fulfill my resolution.

The Flickr set is here. Here's Photo #1/365 snapped right at midnight on 01/01/10: