Tag Archives: Fuji X-E2

A Touch of Spring

Springtime at South Mountains State Park

Here in the Piedmont of NC spring has been springing for several weeks, and we are almost into early summer.  The dogwood have been out for a week and the hardwoods are unfurling their new leaves.

Springtime at South Mountains State Park

Several weeks ago Kathy & I visited South Mountains State Park for a little hiking and sightseeing.  The park is west of Charlotte, about halfway to the “real” mountains, and a slightly higher elevation, so spring was a couple of weeks behind us here.

Springtime at South Mountains State Park

One thing I love about spring is looking through the woods and seeing just the hint of green.  I think that “Spring Green” is a shade of color unique to new growth leaves, and to me it speaks as much about the seasons as the fall colors do about fall.  Coupled with redbud and the occasional other early bloomers, they make for a hopeful sight after the gray of winter.

Springtime at South Mountains State Park

These photos won’t do much to show off my nature photography skills, but they do a reasonable job of showing the spring that we saw as we explored the park.

Springtime at South Mountains State Park

Printer Update

Waynesville, North Carolina

In my Computer Update post I noted that the one remaining item (and unexpected expense) from my recent computer conversion was the decision to replace my aging printer.  This past weekend I received and set up my new printer – a Canon Pixma Pro 100.  It has a lot going for it – most notably the price.  With a $200 rebate the net cost to me was under $200, and it came with $50 worth of free paper.  And I sold my old iMac to Gazelle for $150, so the out of pocket cost is practically $0!  Of course I immediately reinvested some of that savings in a second set of ink, but at $125 for the new printer instead of $900 for ink for my old printer, it was an expense that is far more easily digested.

Waynesville, North Carolina

Some would say that it was foolish to get rid of a functioning printer just because I didn’t want to spend the money on consumables.  In some respects those comments would be correct, and that was something I seriously considered in weighing my decision.  The cost of said consumables was substantial, especially for a printer that got only occasional use.  Every time I turned that thing on, it had to go through a long startup and cleaning cycle, and it felt like I was replacing an ink cartridge (at $75 each!) every time.  Certainly the cost of ink is less per drop (or milliliter or however one chooses to measure ink cost) for a larger printer than a small printer.  And the cost of roll paper is less than the cost of sheets.  Regardless of those factors, it was hard to ignore the low initial and operating costs of the smaller printer.  That, combined with a smaller footprint in my office, the promise of improved technology and a newer generation ink set made it a no-brainer.

Waynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville, North Carolina

The negatives are few, but include the fact that this printer uses die inks instead of pigment inks.  Die inks are traditionally thought of as being less archival than pigment inks – they might only last 100 years…gasp!  But pigment inks are generally thought of as being more prone to clogging than die inks, and for a printer that doesn’t see daily use, that was somewhat important to me.  Importantly, color accuracy is similar between the two ink types as long as they are set up properly, and I think I’ve just about got that nailed.

Waynesville, North Carolina

The ability to use the Soft Proof function in Lightroom has been a welcome addition and has been leading to more accurate results without wasting a lot of paper.  Since I wasn’t able to print from my computer when it was impersonating a Mac I never had a chance to use Soft Proofing.  But now that I can use it from Windows, that improvement alone was worth the cost and effort of the change.

Waynesville, North Carolina

The fact of the matter is that my needs have changed since I bought the large printer.  I rarely need to print anything larger than 13×19, and more often than not I would need to print larger than the old printer could print and would have to send the file to an outside print lab anyway.  I have a couple of excellent choices for outside printing, so as long as I know I have an accurate file I have no problem sending the file to someone else to print.  The smaller printer gives me a “good enough” proof for those purposes.  For my own use, I have a lot less wall space now than I used to have, so I don’t do as much printing for my own use.  Most of what I print for myself is for décor purposes, and printed on wood, canvas or metal.  So I’m sending that work out anyway.

Waynesville, North Carolina

Probably the biggest challenge was figuring out how to get rid of the old printer.  No one wanted it, for the same reasons I didn’t want it.  I could take it to the county recycling center, but it weighed 120 pounds and wasn’t something that Kathy & I were going to move ourselves.  I could have asked the kids to help me but decided against it.  As it turns out I called one of the “Junk Hauling” companies, and two guys and a truck came on Saturday morning and hauled it away for under $100.  It probably made our neighbors curious but was well worth the cost.  Done and gone!

Waynesville, North Carolina

So there you have it.  I think the transition can be called a success, and I am still way ahead of that $3,000 bill that I would have had with a new Mac.  And I didn’t have to buy all those dongles!

Shelby, North Carolina

Ni Fen Bistro in downtown Shelby, North Carolina

Shelby, NC is a town about an hour or so west of Charlotte along I-85.  While I knew a little bit about the town and it’s history, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that in all the time we’ve lived here I mostly regarded Shelby as someplace to get through on the way to or from the mountains.

Cleveland County Court House, Shelby, North Carolina

Friends of ours recently moved to Shelby, and we spent a recent afternoon and evening walking around downtown, having dinner and listening to some live music.  The downtown area is a far cry from the Shelby I previously knew, and as the county seat for Cleveland County is quite a bustling place.

One of many record album sculptures in tribute to songwriter Don Gibson in Shelby, North Carolina
One of many record album sculptures in tribute to songwriter Don Gibson in Shelby, North Carolina

Shelby is the birthplace of a number of famous people, including country songwriter Don Gibson, legendary banjo player Earl Scruggs, and country music singer Patty Loveless.  Throughout town are a number of statues in the form of record albums that commemorate a number of Gibson’s more famous creations.

Shelby Cafe in downtown Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby Cafe in downtown Shelby, North Carolina

No small town would be complete without a number of interesting restaurants.  We only tried one, but plan to return often to try some more.

Shadows, Shelby, North Carolina
Shadows, Shelby, North Carolina

Sharing

Church Street Craft Festival in Waynesville, North Carolina
Sharing

“A government ought to contain in itself every power requisite to the full accomplishment of the objects committed to its care, and to the complete execution of the trusts for which it is responsible, free from every other control but a regard to the public good and to the sense of the people.”

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 31, January 1, 1788

Photo and quotation are unrelated.  I recently finished reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton and have been reading some of his writings.

DIY Photo Walk

Window and shadows in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina
Window and shadows in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina

My photo buddy Paul Lester and I got together earlier this month for an impromptu photo walk.  We don’t do this often enough, but when we do it’s a real blast.  There’s nothing like wandering around with a camera to exercise the creative muscles a bit.

Glass sculpture at a park in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
Glass sculpture at a park in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
Mirrored mosaic in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina
Mirrored mosaic in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina

While there are meetup groups and photowalks staged and sponsored by “celebrity” photographers, those are often large group activities.  Paul & I are alike in that too many people makes it more of a cat herding competition than a photography activity.  I’d say that 4-5 people would be the max for me.

Cemetery at Fourth Ward Park, Charlotte, North Carolina
Cemetery at Fourth Ward Park, Charlotte, North Carolina
Shadow photos in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina
Shadow photos in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina

Paul lives on the south end of the county and I am at the north end. We met for breakfast down his way then drove to the light rail station for a ride into town.  We ended up disembarking in South End, which is a neighborhood 1-2 miles south of “Uptown” then walked the rest of the way.  After a few hours of wandering we boarded the train for the ride back to our respective cars.

Sculpture made of old tires in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
Sculpture made of old tires in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
Aboard the CATS Blue Line light rail in Charlotte, North Carolinia
Aboard the CATS Blue Line light rail in Charlotte, North Carolinia

Paul has already posted an article about our walk on his own blog, and it’s always interesting to see what he saw and compare it to what I saw.  I’m purposely leaving out photos that are from the same places as Paul’s, although I certainly have a few that look at lot like his!  Instead I’m showing some photos that are things that he may have seen but that he hasn’t posted (yet!).

Colorful painting in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina
Colorful painting in the South End area of Charlotte, North Carolina

Time Flies

Reflection at LaBella Pizza, Washington, North Carolina
Reflection at LaBella Pizza, Washington, North Carolina

Kathy & I took a quick jaunt over Easter to visit some of our friends in Belhaven and Washington, NC.  It was a quick trip and we didn’t see everyone, but we did manage to buy some wine from our favorite Wine Guy, and I was able to take a few photos.  We’re planning a return in July and will be sure to look up the rest (SN).

Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina

A couple of weeks ago I was able to take advantage of a “clearance” sale on the Fuji E-X2 and picked one up as a backup to my X-T1.  I don’t do a lot of events, but when I do I know it is prudent to have a spare camera, just in case.  Adorama had the E-X2 body and the wonderful 18-55 zoom lens on sale for what amounted to $200 for the body.  As much as I would love to have an X-Pro 2, and as aware as I am that the X-T2 is right around the corner, I have placed a self-imposed moratorium on the upgrade cycle and am planning to stand firm for a while.  But I still don’t have all the lenses, so…. 😉

Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina

So here is a little sampler of photos taken with my “backup” kit.  No slouch for sure, especially with a nice lens.  Looking forward to using it some more.

Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Bath, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina
Springtime in Belhaven, North Carolina