Just checking...

So...  I got my replacement lens today, for my damaged 18-55mm...  (post on the old lens).  I decided to make sure it had the latest firmware (it did) and decided to check the firmware revisions on the rest of my Fujifilm stuff (2 bodies, 2 other lenses).  All needed updated, which I expected (since I don't remember the last time I looked firmware).

Of course, updating the firware meant remembering HOW to check the firmware, and how to do the updates.  But it's quite easy, and everything seems to still work!

Above is one of the test sots I did, that's the Fujifilm XT-3 with the 55-200mm lens.  Just something shot out the front door.

 

2021 My Year In Photography - Part 2

 As noted last Sunday, I decided to do a series of videos, showing all of my images from 2021 that received some sort of recognition.  Last week was part 1, which covered photos from January, 2021.  Today is Part 2, covering February 2021 (plus a couple of  January leftovers).

Click for Video (Youtube)

My critea were:\

Photos at 356project that were recognized as Popular or Trending.

Photos at BetterPhoto that received Editor's Pick, Staff Favorite, Finalist, or Winner (2nd place, 1st place).

As always, comments welcome!

Bummer

So, we managed to get the whole family together for a Christmas celebration (on 12/26/21).  The wife and I, all 3 kids, 2 spouses and 2 grandkids.  That's the first time in 2+ years that we've had everyone in one spot.  So I made ture to take my camera, and a tripod, so we could do some group photos.

When I pulled them up on my computer screen, I noticed a distinct blurriness on the left side of the screen.  My son in law was out of focus!  Now, as much as I'd like to blame him, it was pretty obviously a problem with the image.

Closer examination revealed that my 18-55mm lens was sitting crooked on the camera.  Bummer Bummer BUMMER.  I was able to confirm that it is the lens, not the mount, and there's no issue with other lenses.  So At least there's that.  I recall a recent outing where I had to make a sudden stop with the camera sitting on the passenger seat, and it launched to the floorboard.  I'm presuming that was when it happened.  The lens is 3 years old, and out of warranty.

 

Turns out Fujifilm only has 2 US repair centers, one in NY and 1 in NJ.  I reached out to one and got a quote for repair.  Which is estimated at about 50% of replacement cost, plus shipping to NJ.  And whatever time is involved in that.  I checked the local camera shop (well, more local that NJ!), and their web site shows they have an upgraded version in stock, for almost double the replacement cost.

So, a week later, I still haven't decided what to do.

1)  Send the lens to NJ for repair, hope it turns out to be less than the estimate, and hope it doesn't take too long.

2)  Buy a direct replacement.  I'd prefer to buy local (or local-ish), but they don't seem to have it in stock (and Amazon says they do).

3)  Turn the problem into an opportunity to upgrade to a higher specced version.  Which I can buy locally (as soon as I can spare a few hours to make the trek to the store).

I guess I need to make a decision and move forward....

Till then I'm stuck with my telephoto or wide angle lens.  Or my iPhone.  

New Cover Photo at LawheadPhoto.com

 I've been pretty good at keeping the cover photo updated over at LawheadPhoto.com.  My Goal is to change it every Sunday, I've slipped to Monday a couple of times, but have only missed one week out of the last 14.  Not bad with the holidays, work and other "life" intrusions.  Along with the cover photo, I've been adding an "Article" with a short discussion about each cover photo.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it up through 2022.  

Check out the Home Page

And the Article

Thanks for noticin' me - Eeyore.

First Photo, 2022

 

I didn't take a single pgoto on 1/1/22.  Sometimes life is like that.  This is an iPhone photo taken 1/2/22/   Just a little something from the iPhone, processed with Snapseed (on the iPad).

But I'm not stressing about it, the "real" cameras will break out soon enough.  I actually like the spontaneity one can get with the iPhone, and the challenge of it's limited adjustability.  I took a few shots today while waiting for the vet to finish evaluating my old dog (since only one persone could go in the building, and that was my wife).  Look for a couple of those images to show up eventually.

2021 My Year In Photography - Part 1

 

I decided to do a video, showing all of my images from 2021 that received some sort of recognition.  As I got into it, I decided to break it up into segments that would run <5 minutes.  So here's Part 1, which covers January 2021.

My critea were:\

Photos at 356project that were recognized as Popular or Trending.

Photos at BetterPhoto that received Editor's Pick, Staff Favorite, Finalist, or Winner (2nd place, 1st place).

As always, comments welcome!

1971 - Last Look

 Over the last year, I posted monthly summaries of what was happening in the music Top 40.  You can review the series HERE.  It's been a fun project, and 1971 was a great year for music.  And 1972 was also a great year, maybe I'll keep it up.

Looking back over my data, I figued to add a few last observation:

A total of 718 songs spent time in Billboard's Hot 100 during 1971, and 290 songs made the coveted Top 40.  That's a lot of great music.

19 Songs topped the charts, listed here (in chronological order)

• My Sweet Lord - George Harrison (3 weeks)
• Knock Three Times - Dawn (3 Weeks)
• One Bad Apple - The Osmonds (5 weeks)
• Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (2 weeks)
• Just My Imagination - The Temptations (2 weeks)
• Joy To The World - Three Dog Night (6 weeks)
• Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones (2 weeks)
• Want Ads - The Honey Cone (1 week)
• It's Too Late - Carole King (5 weeks)
• Indian Reservation - The Raiders (1 week)
• You've Got A Friend - James Taylor (1 week)
• How Can You Mend A Broken Heart - Bee Gees (4 weeks)
• Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney (1 week)
• Go Away Little Girl - Donny Osmond (3 weeks)
• Maggie May - Rod Stewart (5 weeks)
• Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves - Cher (2 weeks)
• Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes (2 weeks)
• Family Affair - Sly and The Family Stone (2 weeks)
• Brand New Key - Melanie (1 week)

That's a great little playlist right there.

Meanwhile, there were some really great songs that made the charts, but fell short of the Top 40.  Here's 20 of my favorites, with peak position noted:

• Marianne - Stephen Stills (42)
• Cry Baby - Janis Joplin (42)
• Change Partners - Stephen Stills (43)
• Apeman - The Kinks (45)
• Lucky Man - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (48)
• Walk Away - The James Gang (51)
• Ride With Me - Steppenwolf (52)
• House At Pooh Corner - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (53)
• Freedom - Jimi Hendrix (59) 
• Truckin' - Grateful Dead (64) 
• Black Night - Deep Purple (66)
• Black Dog - Led Zeppelin (67)
• Life Is A Carnival - The Band (68)
• C'mon - Poco (69)
• Military Madness - Graham Nash (73) 
• Hymn 43 - Jethro Tull (91)
• Revival - The Allman Brothers Band (92)
• Carey - Joni Mitchell (93)
• When You Dance I Can Really Love - Neil Young (93)
• Caught In A Dream - Alice Cooper (94)

So that's it.  Hope y'all liked it, we'll see if I stay inspired as we move into 2022.

Instagram Top 9 for 2021

 I've seen quite a few "Top 9" posts on my Instagram feed, so I decided to do one myself.  So here you go, my Top 9 posts based on Likes *with Reach as tie-breaker).

Of course, my Instagram is kind of pitiful, with a mere 3,806 "Likes" on  posts.  But then again, I have less than 150 followers.  It does seem to be growing though.

Check it out @lsqrd42

Front Porch

 

This house has certainly seen better days, and nothing but worse days in its future. It sits along the approach to the Old Chain Of Rocks Bridge, which carried Rout 66 across the Mississippi River from 1929-1968. This place is very overgrown, hard to see even with the trees and bushes bare. ..

This is specifically located just east of the levee that runs along the Chain Of Rocks Canal.  Maybe 1/4 mile before the start of the bridge.  I wonder about the history of the place, Anybody know anything??

December 1971

Finishing 1971, here's the final edition of my ongoing series of reviewing the Top 40 songs from 50 years ago.  I haven't always been on time (my goal was mid-month), but I have managed to make every month.  Which is better than previous years.  

So what was December like?

There were 4 weeks of December '71, and there were 54 songs that spent time in the Top 40. As usual, lots of great stuff.  Overall,  1971 was an outstanding year, with 718 songs spending time in the Hot 100, and 290 songs making the coveted Top 40.

Over the 4 weeks in December '71, only 2 songs topped the charts:  Sly and the Family Stone owned the first 3 weeks with "Family Affair", and gave way to Melanie with "Brand New Key" for the last week of the month (and the year).  

Moving on:  Here's the top 10 songs of the month, ranked by average chart position over the 4 weeks of the month:

• Family Affair - Sly and The Family Stone - 1.25
• Have You Seen Her - The Chi-lites - 4
• Got To Be There - Michael Jackson - 5
• An Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night - 5
• Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes - 6.5
• Baby I'm - A Want You - Bread - 6.75
• Brand New Key - Melanie - 6.75
• All I Ever Need Is You - Sonny and Cher - 8.5
• Cherish - David Cassidy - 10.75
• Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves - Cher - 12

Twenty (20) songs made their Top 40 debut, a couple of notable songs.  Here they are (listed by entering position):

• One Monkey Don't Stop No Show Part I - The Honey Cone - 30
• I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) - The Hillside Singers - 31
• Sugar Daddy - Jackson 5 - 31
• Hey Girl/I Knew You When - Donny Osmond - 32
• Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright - 32
• American Pie (Parts I & II) - Don McLean - 34
• Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards - 36
• An American Trilogy - Mickey Newbury - 37
• Drowning In The Sea Of Love - Joe Simon - 37
• Behind Blue Eyes - The Who - 38
• Let's Stay Together - Al Green - 38
• Hey Big Brother - Rare Earth - 38
• George Jackson - Bob Dylan - 38
• I'm A Greedy Man - Part I - James Brown - 39
• Hallelujah - Sweathog - 39
• Can I Get A Witness - Lee Michaels - 39
• Day After Day - Badfinger - 39
• Kiss An Angel Good Mornin' - Charley Pride - 40
• Your Move (I've Seen All Good People) - Yes - 40
• White Lies, Blue Eyes - Bullet - 40

Updated Cover at LawheadPhoto.com

 

I try to update my cover photo weekly, preferably on Sunday, but sometimes on Monday.  And add a (generally) short article talking about the selected image.  

Check out the web site, I'd love to hear comments / suggestions.  Either here, or at the site.

Giving Thanks

 Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope everyone has a great day!

Kind of nice to be home this year, for a change. Of course we were supposed to be in Pittsburgh, but a sick dog scrapped that plan. We've been on the road 7 of the previous Thanksgivings, following family: Raleigh NC, Pittsburgh PA, Atlanta GA, Sanford FL, Winston Salem NC, Springfield IL, Flagstaff AZ....

Here's a few Throwback photos for Thanksgiving Thursday:

Thanksgiving 11/22/2012, Flagstaff AZ (and surrounding area). We took a drive to Sedona on Thanksgiving day:

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/27/2014, Winston Salem, NC. Walking in the Moravian Cemetary at Old Salem, where several of my relatives are interred.

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/24/2016, Sanford, Florida. Old pier on Lake Monroe

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/23/2017, Alpharetta, GA. Not sure why, but I took a photo of our Thanksgiving Breakfast leftovers, in the hotel room:

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/22/2018, Pittsburgh, PA. The photo is from 11/23, the day after Thanksgiving. West End Bridge, across the Ohio River.

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/28/2019, We didn't travel in 2019, but did see Poco at the Wildey Theater the day after Thanksgiving:

- - -

Thanksgiving 11/26/2020, Raleigh, NC. The photo is from the day before Thanksgiving...

November 1971

 Winding down 1971, here's the penultimate edition of my ongoing series of reviewing the Top 40 songs from 50 years ago.  So what was November1971 like?

There were 4 weeks of November '71, and there were 57 songs that spent time in the Top 40. As usual, lots of great stuff, but a few that I'd thankfully forgotten.  Still,  1971 was a pretty outstanding year!

Over the 4 weeks in November '71, 2 songs topped the charts:  Cher's Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves was #1 over the first 2 weeks, and Isaac Hayes' Theme From Shaft was peak over the last 2 days.

Moving on:  Here's the top 10 songs of the month, ranked by average chart position over the 4 weeks of the month:

• Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes - 1.5
• Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves - Cher - 1.5
• Imagine - John Lennon - 4
• Maggie May - Rod Stewart - 6
• Peace Train - Cat Stevens - 7.25
• Have You Seen Her - The Chi-lites - 7.75
• Yo-Yo - The Osmonds - 9
• Baby I'm - A Want You - Bread - 10
• Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye - 13
• Superstar - Carpenters - 13.25

Nineteen (19) songs made their Top 40 debut, a couple of notable songs.  Here they are (listed by entering position):

• Family Affair - Sly and The Family Stone - 21
• Baby I'm - A Want You - Bread - 22
• Stones - Neil Diamond - 23
• Where Did Our Love Go - Donnie Elbert - 30
• Theme From "Summer Of '42" - Peter Nero - 31
• Superstar - The Temptations - 32
• All I Ever Need Is You - Sonny and Cher - 33
• Brand New Key - Melanie - 33
• Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin - 34
• You Are Everything - The Stylistics - 35
• Wild Night - Van Morrison - 36
• Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers - 37
• Scorpio - Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band - 38
• (I Know) I'm Losing You - Rod Stewart With Faces - 38
• Got To Be There - Michael Jackson - 39
• She's All I Got - Freddie North - 39
• An Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night - 39
• I'd Love To Change The World - Ten Years After - 40
• Charity Ball - Fanny - 40

Current Cover, LawheadPhoto.com

 I've been trying to change out the cover image over at my Web Site.  And adding an article to the site with a little bit of backstory.  

Here's the text from the article:

Not quite a throwback, but an oldie, from November 2017. Back then (November2017) there was a thing floating around Facebook: a challenge to post 7 Days of black and white images.  The guidelines seem to vary but as presented to me: Seven days, seven black and white photos of your life. No people, no explanations. Well, that's pretty much right in my wheelhouse, so I was happy when my oldest daughter challenged me. I did add a couple of personal twists. All of the images were shot with my humble iPhone 7. All (well, 7 of 8) were processed on my iPhone. And all feature minimal adjustments. I spent the week in a B&W mood, even though it spanned a business trip to St. Paul, Minnesota. And this was actually NOT used as one of my 7 photos, but remains one of my favorites. You can see the 7 photos at my LsquaredImaging blog: 

I'm always interested in feedback on the web site, by the way.  Comment here, or there!

Fork

New cover photo at Lawheadphoto.com:

 One of the photo sites I frequent (365pjoject.org) does ongoing themes or challenges, which can be fun, and sometimes inspiring.  This was is the Mundane challenge, the goal to try to think of interesting ways to shoot what may otherwise be rather boring objects.  This round’s topic was “fork”.  Quite a challenge, for me, at least.  How to you take an interesting photo of a fork?  And have at least a tiny bit of originality… 

I ended up trying several close ups, focusing on the tines, and shadows…  Parallel lines in 2D, with curves…  Anyway, I didn’t hate what I came up with.  And Lo and Behold, it just won a 2nd Place badge at BetterPhoto.com, in September’s Contest (in the “Man Made” category).