Donald Sterling Stay Home

I'll be at the Clippers vs Warriors game at Oracle Arena on Thursday, May 1.

Hopefully Donald Sterling won't. In fact, by Thursday he should be suspended by the NBA.

My team, the Golden State Warriors, are deadlocked in a playoff battle with their foes from Southern CA. There's no love between the Clippers and Warriors, but there certainly is respect. And that's more than we can say about our feelings for their owner.

So in the short term, we have a series winner to determine. Over the long haul, we have to deal with a person in power who doesn't respect his own team as much as its opponents do. 

There's something very wrong with that. It will be dealt with.

In the meantime, I hope that both teams will be able to put their best effort on the floor over the next couple games, and especially Thursday night at Oracle.

And yes, we have our own message for Donald Sterling: "Stay home."

We don't want you in our house.

-Derrick

Dislocated

I was just reminded of how things can change in the blink of an eye.

The first time this happened to me, I was in San Francisco on a beautiful January day. This was years ago when MacWorld took over the entire city for a week. I was in Union Square, and I decided to cross Post street to visit a hot dog stand.

I was in the crosswalk and had a green light. About halfway through, a taxicab decided to turn in my direction. In fact, he was coming right at me. He accelerated. I dove out of the way and landed on my left shoulder. I immediately knew something was very wrong. I later found out that I had broke my scapula.

That week changed in a San Francisco minute. I tied a belt around my left arm so I could secure it to my body. Otherwise, walking was unbearable. I found an urgent care center. Two hours later, a doctor saw me.

Believe it or not, I didn't leave the city after treatment. I stayed for the show, high as a kite on OxyContin. I don't remember much from those few days.

The other night I came home after speaking at a user group. I took off my shoes at the front door and headed to the kitchen in my stocking feet. I was thirsty and hungry.

The wood floor had just been waxed, and my socks were very slippery. When I stepped off the rug on to the kitchen floor, my feet went straight up in the air. It was like I was on ice. This time I landed squarely on my right shoulder.

"Here I go again."

The good news is, this time I had family to help me to the emergency room. The pain was just as intense, but I wasn't alone on a street in San Francisco.

The other good news… my right shoulder is dislocated, Not broken. I should be OK in a couple weeks.

Interestingly enough, both incidents were initiated by my desire for something to eat.

Of all the crazy things I do, it turns out that the quest for nutrition has been the most dangerous.

-Derrick

Back in Time: The Contax SL 300R T* Camera

I had three Contax film SLRs in 2004 and was excited about the release of their compact digital camera, the SL 300R T*.

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Contax SL 300R T* compact digital camera - 2004

For me, it was the epitome of craftsmanship. At 4" wide and 1/2" thick, the SL 300R was constructed of high tech metal alloy, encased in fine leather. It featured an f/2.8 Carl Zeiss zoom lens (38-115mm 35mm) with T* coating and a 1.5" LCD screen. Its resolution with a mere 3 megapixels.

Imagine the delight of a budding nimble photographer who could carry such a precision tool in his shirt pocket. Even though the maximum ISO was only 400, the relatively fast lens allowed me to shoot pictures in most lighting conditions.

Unfortunately, Contax did not survive the transition to digital imaging. They did release the 400R, but it wasn't a huge success. Not long after, they stopped making cameras all together.

To this day, I miss shooting with Contax. For me, they were the affordable luxury cars of photography. (Unlike Leica, which I've never owned.)

It wasn't until years later, with the release of the Olympus OM-D, that I felt that flutter again.

Note: You can see more pictures of the Contax SL 300R T* in the new History section.

Why I'm Crazy About B&W

I can't stop staring at a print that just emerged from the Epson R2400.

I only print B&W with the R2400. That's what it does best, and has done so for nearly 10 years.

Unlike color printing, that I usually get right on the first or second try, B&W requires more patience. Since all I have is composition and tonality, it takes me longer to find the beauty trapped inside that image.

So what is it about monochrome that drive me crazy?

It's the grays. Yes, we need the blacks for punch. And the whites provide the sparkle. But the gradation of middle tones is what I find mesmerizing. The contours of the face, neck, and arms, rendered in gentle variations of gray, remind me of a beautiful sculpture.

If you've never printed in B&W, here's my suggestion. Pull out 10 sheets of a bright white matte paper, such as Red River's Polar White. Choose your favorite portrait, and convert it to monochrome. Then use all 10 sheets to craft the best image you can.

Buy a nice frame for your 10th print. Make sure there's a light to shine on it.

And here's the best part: The location where you hang that print... 

will become your favorite wall in the house.

-Derrick

Loose Ends

The hardest part of technology is fitting the pieces together.

I'm most familiar with this problem as it relates to photography. We have all of these tools - a digital camera, smartphone, computer, tablet, software apps, external hard drives, Cloud storage - how do we get them to work together?

I'm thinking about this now because I've presented for three user groups in the last week. The topic has been "The Nimble Photographer." The message was that by becoming more efficient and connecting our tools, we can lighten our load and increase our enjoyment.

By way of example, here's a basic scenario: I have my Mac, iPhone, and iPad connected to iCloud (Apple's online storage and sharing service.) When I take a picture with any of these devices, it is copied to Photo Stream (the pictures part of iCloud). Those images are automatically backed up to the Cloud, and are available on any of my devices. 

For long term storage, my Photo Stream is backed up on to my Mac via iPhoto, which is also connected to this workflow. Once set up, I don't have to think about it. Everything just happens. 

I take a picture with the iPhone, it is backed up to the Cloud, which then sends it to my iPhoto library on the computer.

I talk about many other scenarios, also, using different hardware and software.  And the questions afterward tend to focus on how audience members can adapt these techniques to their own photography.

If you have loose ends in your photography workflow, now is a good time to tie them up. Because when you really think about it, we're not just talking about pictures here.

These are also our memories. Our history.

And they're worth protecting. 

-Derrick