There was stormy weather in October but now things have cooled down and the AC units are off as we prepare for the "cold" weather. This is also the start of the dry period that goes until May to June - unless we get a steady flow of nor'westers.
Life continues as normal. Pirates week is finished and the next big thing is American thanksgiving then Christmas.
It was interesting to watch the stores once Halloween was over. They very next morning, the Halloween stuff was gone and the Christmas goodies were on display. I have remarked that by the time Christmas comes here, we are tired of the whole concept and just want it to be over! The desire for materialism that society currently chases is amazing.
One of the most interesting items is politics. We have our first Premier -Mr. McKeever Bush - who seems to think that if you are not agreeing with him, you are against him.
The Cayman Islands Government collects money, lots of money for an island this size due to the fees charged to companies and the duty placed on items shipped in. The biggest problem is Government wastage. For example, our local airlines, Cayman Airways opened up a route to Panama. The airfare for all the dignitaries and the hanger-ons was over $19K. Not including hotel, food and other expenses. The end result, was that the route was open for a couple months and then closed due to lack of interest. It makes one wonder about research and costing? Was it done? If so, the person/firm was not doing their job. I do not think that the money spent in launching the idea will ever be recovered.
Then we have missed opportunities to collect overdue fees. The Ritz Carlton was given certain concessions including a deferred payment of 6 million dollars for stamp duty. The owner defaulted on his payments and the building was put up for sale. Before the sale, the parent company contacted the Premier's office about the outstanding fees. 5 weeks later, after no response from the Preemier, the building was sold to a new owner. Our smart premier then says that the new owners are still responsible for the outstanding stamp duty and he is in negotiations with them. The new owners have responded that they have not heard from the premier at all. Who do we the populace believe? The report can be read at http://caymannewsservice.com/politics/2012/11/15/mac-denies-blowing-ritz-duty
Elections will be held in Cayman in May 2013. It will be interesting to see if the opposition (who are almost the same as the current party in power) will be given another go at the continuing screwing up these islands or if they will elect people who have some common sense and realize that you need to live within your means.
Another item is the police force. They are continually hiring more and more officers - increase of 12% over the last year bringing the total to 408 offices. One for every 136 people on the island. You would think that is a good thing - more officers out on patrol and a more visible presence everywhere.
BUT (or is it YET), during morning and evening rush hours and well as during the day, I have driven from one end of the island to the next and you cannot and will not find one office patrolling! Not one police car visible! Everyone is knowledgeable to that aspect and continue to speed, drive dangerously turn without signals, and break every other one can think of. Not to mention cars with straight pipe mufflers, tinting so dark that you cannot see inside the car at midday, people not wearing seat belts, etc. What is the use of paying them without having them work for their money? I need one of those jobs in addition to my regular one!
But for us normal, 9-5 job holders, life continues with its challenges and happy moments.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Getting behind again
I have been a bit busy the past couple months, and add to that the fact that I could not get into my blog because the local internet provider was blocking it somehow. But that is all in the past.
August came and went without much ado. Life continues as normal with work, photography, picture framing and tinkering using up much of my time.
I have been dabbling in lenses again - this time with 3 FD lenses (35mmF2, a 20mm F2.8 and a 17mmF4). They will be converted to EF mount at a later date. I have to finish the Vivitar 28mm F2.5 and the 20mm F2.8 that I started a couple months ago.
I also made the foray into Zeiss lenses with an 85mm F1.4, a 50mm F2 makro and a 35mm F2. Not their most expensive lenses (I would be sleeping in the chicken coop and alone if I did that) but enough to be able to try them out and see if it is addictive as they say.
My personal comparison between the Zeiss 85mm 1.4 and the Canon 84mm 1.8 places the Zeiss above the Canon. Same for the Zeiss 50mm make against the Canon 50mm F2.5. They might be manual focus, but the Zeiss images just plain look better right out of the camera.
If I was to keep the images under 8x10, their is mainly a difference in the colors and that can be readily rectified by a saturation increase in Photoshop. But go larger, and the Zeiss just plain looks better by my in-house testing family.
I also did a bit of traveling - the island fever thing. I went back to Grenada for almost 3 weeks in September taking lots of pictures. The one thing I noticed in that when comparing Cayman to Grenada (both are similar in size), there is so much variety down there and lots more photo opportunities - whether in the towns for the old French and early British architecture to the wildlife, flowers, birds, rivers and landscape. Living in a flat place is not always good!
I was also in Mexico this week for a seminar and took a few photos. Mainly of the ruins at Tulum. When you are in workshops from 8AM to 6PM, it leaves little opportunity to explore. But such is life!
Hurricane Sandy affected Cayman and Miami while I was away. I did catch the tail end of it in Miami but it was mainly rain and clouds. While it is not affecting us much, I am still monitoring it as it heads north wondering how it will affect the northeastern US.
The usual chickens, fruits and lawn care continue.
For gardening, I managed to get two shoots of a root crop called dasheen
which a relative of taro. The leaves (which are quite large) are used
to make callaloo soup which the wife likes and it tastes good too. They
like water so I am keeping them moist and they are growing. The plant is
considered toxic if eaten raw but edible when cooked.
Bye for now
August came and went without much ado. Life continues as normal with work, photography, picture framing and tinkering using up much of my time.
I have been dabbling in lenses again - this time with 3 FD lenses (35mmF2, a 20mm F2.8 and a 17mmF4). They will be converted to EF mount at a later date. I have to finish the Vivitar 28mm F2.5 and the 20mm F2.8 that I started a couple months ago.
I also made the foray into Zeiss lenses with an 85mm F1.4, a 50mm F2 makro and a 35mm F2. Not their most expensive lenses (I would be sleeping in the chicken coop and alone if I did that) but enough to be able to try them out and see if it is addictive as they say.
My personal comparison between the Zeiss 85mm 1.4 and the Canon 84mm 1.8 places the Zeiss above the Canon. Same for the Zeiss 50mm make against the Canon 50mm F2.5. They might be manual focus, but the Zeiss images just plain look better right out of the camera.
If I was to keep the images under 8x10, their is mainly a difference in the colors and that can be readily rectified by a saturation increase in Photoshop. But go larger, and the Zeiss just plain looks better by my in-house testing family.
I also did a bit of traveling - the island fever thing. I went back to Grenada for almost 3 weeks in September taking lots of pictures. The one thing I noticed in that when comparing Cayman to Grenada (both are similar in size), there is so much variety down there and lots more photo opportunities - whether in the towns for the old French and early British architecture to the wildlife, flowers, birds, rivers and landscape. Living in a flat place is not always good!
I was also in Mexico this week for a seminar and took a few photos. Mainly of the ruins at Tulum. When you are in workshops from 8AM to 6PM, it leaves little opportunity to explore. But such is life!
Hurricane Sandy affected Cayman and Miami while I was away. I did catch the tail end of it in Miami but it was mainly rain and clouds. While it is not affecting us much, I am still monitoring it as it heads north wondering how it will affect the northeastern US.
The usual chickens, fruits and lawn care continue.
For gardening, I managed to get two shoots of a root crop called dasheen
which a relative of taro. The leaves (which are quite large) are used
to make callaloo soup which the wife likes and it tastes good too. They
like water so I am keeping them moist and they are growing. The plant is
considered toxic if eaten raw but edible when cooked.Bye for now
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Full frame DSLR?
I am doing a bit of dabbling in the full photography to see if it is worth getting into. In many online reviews, they come across that if you have a full frame sensor, your images will be brighter, more contrast., nice depth of field, etc. I always wondered if it was just hype or real so when an older full frame camera became available locally, I bought it. For a total of $450, I managed to get a nice looking Canon 1DS Mk1. I knew the seller as I had bought a few items before from him as he upgraded to the newest and best. He could afford it while I have the budget goddess looking over my shoulder .... sometimes!
The 1DS originally sold for approx US$8K in late 2002. It had an 11 million pixel (MP) sensor which was the rage of that period. About 2 years later (and for the same price) one could get the 1DSMK2 which has a 16 MP sensor. These days, Nikon offers a 36 MP sensor for about $2K less money.
It came with everything that was bought with it including the original box, instruction manuals and CDs plus an additional battery. Some of the accessories had never been opened, like the AC adapter to power the camera from mains power. A shutter count revealed that the camera only had 5570 shots on it. These days, that is like a short test drive. Lots of life left in it.
The first thing that struck me upon lifting the camera is the weight. It's about double my 30D camera. The next thing was to charge up the batteries and start reading the manual. The major differences were how to access the functions and the location of the buttons to press.
I also ordered two replacement batteries from overseas as backups (no name brand) and began to take pictures. So far, I have added about 100 images and you can be sure more will come soon.
Overall impressions - the images are similar to the 30D. Yes, you get a wider image view due to the larger sensor but if you have the 10-22 lens (which is for the crop sensors and cannot be used on the 1D without modifications), you get the same coverage as a 16mm full frame lens. Pixel peeping, there is less noise at 100-400 ISO with the 1DS but this only shows up during low light imaging.
It is a better camera for portraits and landscapes but nothing earth shattering. Would I get a full frame - absolutely YES! I would love to get a 5DMk3...... but do I really need it?
Based on online reports, an 8MP camera will allow one to print an A3 image (11.5"x16.5"). I can agree with that as my 30D has done up to 13x19 with no visible loss in resolution. The 1DS should easily get to 13x19. To print anything larger, one can use a panorama mode. I recently took an image created with the 30D to Canada to get it printed on 40" wide paper (the cost was about 1/4 of what they charge down here). It was comprised of 9 raw images merged together (about 130Mb). The guy at the camera shop said he could print it about 14' wide with good image quality. Total final image size in jpg was about 10Mb.
In real life, it all boils down to the photographer - a professional could take a great image with the cheapest digital camera available while an amateur could have the top of the line everything and have nothing worth looking at.
I am starting a new blog on photography and picture framing to get information out to potential clients for my picture framing business. I am getting questions on why I do certain things and it is easier to direct them to a good explanation than try to condense 10 minutes into 1. It will be called "In the Frame" and the link is............ Aug 25 - still working on this. It seems that I can do all y normal blog posting and editing but cannot create a new blog! Checking in the blog forum and I find that another person from Norway is experiencing the same thing! Hmmmmmm!!!! What's going on Google?
Sept 8- finally got it figured out. You need to create a blog address name at the same time! In the create box, it said that you can add a blogspot address later and I was thinking that I could have left it blank. Well, live and learn.
So, the new picture framing blog address is.....http://intheframecayman.blogspot.com/. Have a look and see what I am up to!
The 1DS originally sold for approx US$8K in late 2002. It had an 11 million pixel (MP) sensor which was the rage of that period. About 2 years later (and for the same price) one could get the 1DSMK2 which has a 16 MP sensor. These days, Nikon offers a 36 MP sensor for about $2K less money.
It came with everything that was bought with it including the original box, instruction manuals and CDs plus an additional battery. Some of the accessories had never been opened, like the AC adapter to power the camera from mains power. A shutter count revealed that the camera only had 5570 shots on it. These days, that is like a short test drive. Lots of life left in it.
The first thing that struck me upon lifting the camera is the weight. It's about double my 30D camera. The next thing was to charge up the batteries and start reading the manual. The major differences were how to access the functions and the location of the buttons to press.
I also ordered two replacement batteries from overseas as backups (no name brand) and began to take pictures. So far, I have added about 100 images and you can be sure more will come soon.
Overall impressions - the images are similar to the 30D. Yes, you get a wider image view due to the larger sensor but if you have the 10-22 lens (which is for the crop sensors and cannot be used on the 1D without modifications), you get the same coverage as a 16mm full frame lens. Pixel peeping, there is less noise at 100-400 ISO with the 1DS but this only shows up during low light imaging.
It is a better camera for portraits and landscapes but nothing earth shattering. Would I get a full frame - absolutely YES! I would love to get a 5DMk3...... but do I really need it?
Based on online reports, an 8MP camera will allow one to print an A3 image (11.5"x16.5"). I can agree with that as my 30D has done up to 13x19 with no visible loss in resolution. The 1DS should easily get to 13x19. To print anything larger, one can use a panorama mode. I recently took an image created with the 30D to Canada to get it printed on 40" wide paper (the cost was about 1/4 of what they charge down here). It was comprised of 9 raw images merged together (about 130Mb). The guy at the camera shop said he could print it about 14' wide with good image quality. Total final image size in jpg was about 10Mb.
In real life, it all boils down to the photographer - a professional could take a great image with the cheapest digital camera available while an amateur could have the top of the line everything and have nothing worth looking at.
I am starting a new blog on photography and picture framing to get information out to potential clients for my picture framing business. I am getting questions on why I do certain things and it is easier to direct them to a good explanation than try to condense 10 minutes into 1. It will be called "In the Frame" and the link is............ Aug 25 - still working on this. It seems that I can do all y normal blog posting and editing but cannot create a new blog! Checking in the blog forum and I find that another person from Norway is experiencing the same thing! Hmmmmmm!!!! What's going on Google?
Sept 8- finally got it figured out. You need to create a blog address name at the same time! In the create box, it said that you can add a blogspot address later and I was thinking that I could have left it blank. Well, live and learn.
So, the new picture framing blog address is.....http://intheframecayman.blogspot.com/. Have a look and see what I am up to!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Summer time and OMOV
It is hot! And did I mention humid? And also hot and humid!
In 4 days time, the registered voters will have the opportunity of trying to change the voting system in Cayman. The current system allows voters in two districts to vote for 4 candidates, another gets three choices, one gets to vote for 2 and two get to vote for only 1 person. The current debate is whether this is a fair system or not? At one time, the number of votes was based on the voting population in the district (i.e. if a district had 4000 voters, they voted for 4 persons at once while another district with 1000 only got to cast one vote) - representation by population. It seems fair but there are some perceived problems about fairness by the single voters against the multi voters. The new propose system is that everyone gets one vote (One Man One Vote) and we go from 15 parliament members from 6 districts to 18 members from 18 districts!
The current Government has said that they will not accept that there is to be a change unless the votes against the current system are 50%+1. A strange way of doing things since in most voting systems, the majority is the winner whether everyone voted or not! Needless to say, the current Government is against the new system.
The other thing is that this small community will have one parliament member for every approximately every 900 voters. Way to high in my books.
But then I am no politician so let the people choose! Time will tell what the result is.
In my books, it a day off work with things to do around the house and other duties to attend to.
I have reverted back from the plastic bike panniers to my old nylon ones. It seems that the vibrations from the rack and riding are causing stress cracks on the pannier mounting points. I had anticipated something like this happening and used large fender washers when doing the original installation but the cracks are around the larger washers. The old panniers will last until later this year when hope to get some new Arkel Metropolitan panniers. They are bigger than my current bags, have a reinforced bottom (unlike my single layer unit) and hold a bit more.
Bye for now!
In 4 days time, the registered voters will have the opportunity of trying to change the voting system in Cayman. The current system allows voters in two districts to vote for 4 candidates, another gets three choices, one gets to vote for 2 and two get to vote for only 1 person. The current debate is whether this is a fair system or not? At one time, the number of votes was based on the voting population in the district (i.e. if a district had 4000 voters, they voted for 4 persons at once while another district with 1000 only got to cast one vote) - representation by population. It seems fair but there are some perceived problems about fairness by the single voters against the multi voters. The new propose system is that everyone gets one vote (One Man One Vote) and we go from 15 parliament members from 6 districts to 18 members from 18 districts!
The current Government has said that they will not accept that there is to be a change unless the votes against the current system are 50%+1. A strange way of doing things since in most voting systems, the majority is the winner whether everyone voted or not! Needless to say, the current Government is against the new system.
The other thing is that this small community will have one parliament member for every approximately every 900 voters. Way to high in my books.
But then I am no politician so let the people choose! Time will tell what the result is.
In my books, it a day off work with things to do around the house and other duties to attend to.
I have reverted back from the plastic bike panniers to my old nylon ones. It seems that the vibrations from the rack and riding are causing stress cracks on the pannier mounting points. I had anticipated something like this happening and used large fender washers when doing the original installation but the cracks are around the larger washers. The old panniers will last until later this year when hope to get some new Arkel Metropolitan panniers. They are bigger than my current bags, have a reinforced bottom (unlike my single layer unit) and hold a bit more.
Bye for now!
Monday, July 2, 2012
What trouble have I been up to?
Time continues to go by and I have been taking it easy.
In the past couple months, I have been doing a few things. From vacation to small projects, making picture frames to expanding the chicken coop. It seems that it never ends.
I am now the big 53! Where did all the time go? Looks like my next big step in life (should life continue) is to enjoy the fruits of my labors with retirement. The end comes soon and quickly.
The picture framing business is slow to get started but it is off the ground and work is being done. I am still learning (even though I know what to do) and will deliver the best product I can no matter how long it takes. Speed will come later. The client will be viewing my bad work after I am out of the picture. I want to make sure that he/she is happy now only when they get the frame from me, but in the years to come.
Most of my work right now is being done for myself and family. It allow me to practice for people who are willing to give me valuable feedback.
My usual projects are all ongoing - from chickens to riding my bike to work, photography to woodworking. Some much to do.
I was in the Toronto area for a week in June. It was the wife's birthday and we visited her family and old friends. I also took the opportunity to do some photography of rivers, streams, car shows and other items not to be found in Cayman.
Today is a holiday - Constitution Day - so it is off to undertake a few little projects around the home.
I leave with a picture of a little river that is about6 miles northwest of Alliston, Ontario. This would be a lovely place to be on a hot summer day. A shady spot with cool waters!
In the past couple months, I have been doing a few things. From vacation to small projects, making picture frames to expanding the chicken coop. It seems that it never ends.
I am now the big 53! Where did all the time go? Looks like my next big step in life (should life continue) is to enjoy the fruits of my labors with retirement. The end comes soon and quickly.
The picture framing business is slow to get started but it is off the ground and work is being done. I am still learning (even though I know what to do) and will deliver the best product I can no matter how long it takes. Speed will come later. The client will be viewing my bad work after I am out of the picture. I want to make sure that he/she is happy now only when they get the frame from me, but in the years to come.
Most of my work right now is being done for myself and family. It allow me to practice for people who are willing to give me valuable feedback.
My usual projects are all ongoing - from chickens to riding my bike to work, photography to woodworking. Some much to do.
I was in the Toronto area for a week in June. It was the wife's birthday and we visited her family and old friends. I also took the opportunity to do some photography of rivers, streams, car shows and other items not to be found in Cayman.
Today is a holiday - Constitution Day - so it is off to undertake a few little projects around the home.
I leave with a picture of a little river that is about6 miles northwest of Alliston, Ontario. This would be a lovely place to be on a hot summer day. A shady spot with cool waters!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Pictures, Images, etc
Well, 2012 is beginning to mean a year of some changes and new ventures.
As you know, I have been taking pictures for a very long time - my best guess puts it at close to 40 years! From home developing of black and white negatives to now digitally processing and printing color images. It has been a steady path of improvement and learning - from more modern cameras (although I am still 2 - 4 generations behind the current market) to better lenses, larger printer, experimentation, learning to process digital images (still lots of work to do on this) and more to be acquired in due time.
But things took a turn for the better earlier this year. I visited our local agricultural fair on Ash Wednesday where a gentleman named Ralph was offering to teach picture framing to to anyone interested. He had done some framing for me in the past with great results so I signed up for the course. Over a couple months, we framed a few pictures and while in discussions with the owner, found out that he wanted to sell the business and stock as he was retiring to Florida. Hmmmm.....
Needless to say, we signed an intention to purchase and I am now in the process of buying everything from him.
So, by May 1 (give or take a couple days, government red tape and any unforeseen paperwork) I will be the owner of a custom picture framing business called" In the frame". It is my second foray into the world of private business (a change in countries killed the first one) but his one will require less of my personal time and allow me to become a bit artistic.
It will enhance the photography side by allowing me to customize my pictures before selling them. So far, interest in Cayman has been very positive.
Below are a couple pictures I took this morning. Minimal processing was done.
The first is of course a bee making his rounds this morning to the various flowers.
Next, we have a guava flower taken from the tree in my front yard.
There are also a couple ideas I have about producing picture books. Should make interesting projects for this year and keep me out of trouble!
Bye for now!
As you know, I have been taking pictures for a very long time - my best guess puts it at close to 40 years! From home developing of black and white negatives to now digitally processing and printing color images. It has been a steady path of improvement and learning - from more modern cameras (although I am still 2 - 4 generations behind the current market) to better lenses, larger printer, experimentation, learning to process digital images (still lots of work to do on this) and more to be acquired in due time.
But things took a turn for the better earlier this year. I visited our local agricultural fair on Ash Wednesday where a gentleman named Ralph was offering to teach picture framing to to anyone interested. He had done some framing for me in the past with great results so I signed up for the course. Over a couple months, we framed a few pictures and while in discussions with the owner, found out that he wanted to sell the business and stock as he was retiring to Florida. Hmmmm.....
Needless to say, we signed an intention to purchase and I am now in the process of buying everything from him.
So, by May 1 (give or take a couple days, government red tape and any unforeseen paperwork) I will be the owner of a custom picture framing business called" In the frame". It is my second foray into the world of private business (a change in countries killed the first one) but his one will require less of my personal time and allow me to become a bit artistic.
It will enhance the photography side by allowing me to customize my pictures before selling them. So far, interest in Cayman has been very positive.
Below are a couple pictures I took this morning. Minimal processing was done.
The first is of course a bee making his rounds this morning to the various flowers.
Bye for now!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
2012 - the end of the world?
A belated HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. And this one started out with a bang!
Close to the end of 2011, my computer started acting up. It would fail to start windows when turned on, when put to sleep it would not awaken, explorer always crashing and other niggling things that just did not seem right! I ran virus scans, etc but no use. At the start of week 2 of 2012, it crashed. Nothing except looping into the start in safe mode screen.
I took it in and it seems I contracted a virus. How, I don't know. I am always careful not to visit questionable sites and my security rating is set to high!
Got the unit back yesterday and they had to wipe the hard drive clean. I now have to reinstall everything - only if I can find the installation discs and the @#%&*$# security codes!
But it's along weekend in Cayman so I will do the best I can.
And of course there is the end of the world scenario - if you believe the Mayans!
Just have to make my mind up if I am going to be a good boy this year or get in all sorts of trouble! :-)
Plans for this year are more traveling and photography. Complete a few house projects that have been started and do need finishing - including a new radio/electronics dungeon that it mine, all mine! Part of hurricane preparations and the ability to communicate with the outside world!
Close to the end of 2011, my computer started acting up. It would fail to start windows when turned on, when put to sleep it would not awaken, explorer always crashing and other niggling things that just did not seem right! I ran virus scans, etc but no use. At the start of week 2 of 2012, it crashed. Nothing except looping into the start in safe mode screen.
I took it in and it seems I contracted a virus. How, I don't know. I am always careful not to visit questionable sites and my security rating is set to high!
Got the unit back yesterday and they had to wipe the hard drive clean. I now have to reinstall everything - only if I can find the installation discs and the @#%&*$# security codes!
But it's along weekend in Cayman so I will do the best I can.
And of course there is the end of the world scenario - if you believe the Mayans!
Just have to make my mind up if I am going to be a good boy this year or get in all sorts of trouble! :-)
Plans for this year are more traveling and photography. Complete a few house projects that have been started and do need finishing - including a new radio/electronics dungeon that it mine, all mine! Part of hurricane preparations and the ability to communicate with the outside world!
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