Before and After

humor, personal, photograph, , , ,

Photo Souvenirs

This past year, we’ve had to halt a lot of our regular activities because of the Covid pandemic.

Among these is visiting salons to keep our hair under control.

With the availability of vaccines and by maintaining the recommended safety precautions, some of our family has been able to trim our long, difficult hair.

We decided that it would be fun to record our “looks” from 2020 and 2021. Below you can see the results.


For some of us, we resorted to cutting hair in the yard.

Maybe you’d like to keep souvenir photos like these for your posterity. Snap, snap, snap.

To Catch a Moose

equipment, humor, nature, techniques, video, , , , , , , ,

or any other creature on video

I understand that I need to keep the gate to the backyard closed otherwise unwanted animals might stray onto our property. I especially don’t want a moose coming into the yard; it would eat all of our newly planted vegetables.

I came across an article in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago that convinced me that I could make sure that neither a moose nor any other undesirable fauna would sneak into our yard.

And so I followed the advice and found an inexpensive device that I hope will alert us to potential invaders.

This trail camera package includes a strong metal case that protects it from the elements and external tampering.

Here the motion detector, four infrared beams and the lens are on top while a color viewing screen and control buttons are on the bottom of the camera.

Here is the camera with the cover over the screen and control buttons. It is decorated in a camouflage pattern.

My camera was in heavy rain for several days but has not been affected by the moisture. I feel comfortable positioning it on the ground.

The camera uses a set of six AA batteries. Having used it for three weeks and recorded 150 clips, the batteries are still 70% charged. The motion detector is said to be sensitive up to 80 feet although I have not confirmed this. Additionally, the nighttime infrared illumination is adjustable to 120 feet, another item I have not confirmed.

You can choose to record either still images or video clips. When set for still it can fire off up to sequential eight images. It can also make time lapse recordings.

I chose to record 10 second video clips. Clip duration is adjustable in increments up to 60 minutes. When the unit’s motion detector is tripped, recording begins. Optionally, you can choose to record a status line on the bottom of the images that have time, date, etc.

Here’s a couple of video clips of our first encounters with nature’s offerings. BTW, night images don’t appear in color, only day light when the IR illumination isn’t being used.

Well, we didn’t catch that moose on the video, just a hungry little rabbit. But I assure you that the trail camera is ready for whatever may invade our yard.

Nikon Equipment for Sale

equipment, personal, , , , , , ,

this article will be removed after the sale

Ready. Set. Go.

I’ve gone mirrorless, so I thought it was a time to clean out one of my closets that is full of Canon cameras, lenses and accessories. And now I have another closet of Nikon gear that I’m doing the same.

Here is the list of Nikon stuff that’s for sale. All items are in excellent to very good condition. This list and availability will be updated until all items are sold. You can see the photos of the equipment below.

SOLD – Nikon D600 body $400 24MP full frame, shutter actuations 4562
SOLD – Nikon D800 body $700 36MP full frame, shutter actuations: 9620
14-24mm f/2.8G $800
SOLD – 16mm f/2.8 $500 fisheye
24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 VR $250
SOLD – 28-70mm f/2.8D $350
50mm f/1.4 $225
SOLD – 70-200mm f/2.8G VR $700
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR $300
80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR $600
SOLD – 85mm f/1.8D $250
300mm f/4 $300
SB-600 speedlite $125
SB-800 speedlite $175
SOLD – Altura speedlite $ 50 Model AP-N1001

All items are available for only for local (Grand Rapids, Michigan), cash only transactions.

If you’re interested in any of these items, please contact me:

     


    Note: I may not have the boxes and instruction manuals for each lens
    Nikon D600 body with 24MP full frame sensor only 4600 shutter activations, pop-up flash
    Nikon D800 body with 36MP full frame sensor 9600 shutter activations, pop-up flash

    70-200mm f/2.8G VR and 300mm f/4
    80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR & 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR

    14-24mm f/2.8G and 28-70mm f/2.8D
    85mm f/1.8D and 16mm f/2.8D fisheye

    24-70mm f/3.5-4.5G and 50mm f/1.4D
    SB-800, SB-600 speedlite and AP-N1001 speedlites

    Canon Equipment for Sale

    equipment, personal, , , , , , , , , , , ,

    this article will be removed after the sale

    Over the years, I’ve accumulated a couple of closets full of cameras, lenses and accessories. Now it’s time for me to empty those closets and to downsize my photographic holdings.

    Here is my list of Canon equipment that I am selling. All items are in very good to excellent condition. I will keep this list up to date until all of the items are sold. Please see the photos of the equipment below.

    SOLD – Canon 5D Mark II body $400 full frame 21MP, shutter actuations 4248
    SOLD – Canon 6D body $600 full frame 26MP, shutter actuations 6100
    SOLD – 8-15mm f/4L $625 zoom fisheye
    SOLD – 17-40mm f/4L $400
    SOLD – 20mm f/1.8 $200 Sigma brand
    24mm f/3.5L TS-E $700 tilt/shift perspective control
    SOLD – 35mm f/2 $300
    50mm f/1.4 $200
    SOLD – 70-200mm f/2.8L IS $625
    SOLD – 75-300mm F4-5.6 IS $100
    SOLD – 85mm f/1.8 $200
    SOLD – 100mm f/2.8 $300 macro
    SOLD – 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS $650
    SOLD – 135mm f/2L $450
    Extender 1.4X $150
    SOLD – Extender 2X $200
    SOLD – TC-80N3 Remote $ 50 timer controller
    Angle Finder C $ 75 90 degree viewfinder
    SOLD – 580EX II Speedlite $200
    580EX II Speedlite $175
    Altura Speedlite $ 50 Model AP-C1001
    SOLD – Extension tube set $ 10 manual exposure
    SOLD – Metabones Adapter $175 to use Canon EF Lenses on Sony FE full frame body

    All items are available for only for local (Grand Rapids, Michigan), cash only transactions.

    If you’re interested in any of these items, please contact me:

       


      Note: I may not have the boxes and instruction manuals for each lens. All lenses are EF for full frame.
      Canon 5D MkII body with 21MP full frame sensor only 4300 shutter activations

      100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
      75-300mm f/4-5.6 VR and 135mm f/2L

      24mm f/3.5L TS-E and 17-40mm f/4L
      8-15mm F/4L fisheye and Sigma 20mm f/1.8

      50mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/2
      2X EF Extender and 1.4X EF Extender

      Angle Finder “C” and TC-80N3 Remote Timer
      Altura AP-C1001 and 2 580EX II speedlites

      100mm f/2.8 macro & 85mm f/1.8
      Extension tubes & Metabones EF to Sony FE body

      Lovely Combination

      informational, personal, , ,
      While rummaging through a box of “stuff” I found this device which I haven’t seen in years. My wife read the “combination” and started to play around with the dials.
      In a few minutes she had it opened. To the right are the handwritten notes to the Chinese writing that explains the combination.

       

      What a nice find. It’s refreshing how the words put meaning to the combination.

      Snapshots Too

      personal, photograph, ,
       

      I’ve taken an awful lot of photos over the years – some were for professional purposes, some were obligatory (family weddings, birthdays, etc.) and some (many, many, many) were for my own pleasure.

      This last category is a group that I consider fun photos. I’ve put a large number of them into my snapshot gallery and I’m happy to share them with you. Please click here and I’ll take you to see them.

      Argenta, NV

      informational, personal, travel, , , , , , ,

      Places that you may have never heard of

      Friends know that I’m a big fan of traveling and do so frequently by car. Whether I’m visiting relatives who live far away or I’m vacationing at distant places, it’s usually a cross country trek.

      Anyone who has traveled on our extensive road system has driven past signs denoting names of places of which they’ve never heard. Those places that especially stick out to me are ones that have colorful names. One of my “hobbies” is to note these names and later (sometimes weeks, sometimes months later) find out more about these places.

      One of these places is Argenta, Nevada and this is what I learned.

      Argenta is a ghost down in central Nevada. In the mid 1860’s prospectors discovered silver in the area. The town was planning to develop as a shipping center for the nearby mines and in Austin to the south. However, the town of Battle Mountain had stronger ties to the silver industry and by 1871 the entire town moved to Battle Mountain making Argenta effectively a mining ghost town.

      Argenta remained vacant until 1930 when barite was discovered nearby. This mine in Argenta Mountain was operated by the Baker Hughes Company until it closed in 2015.


      One of the Baker Hughes operations alongside a railroad siding and Interstate 80

      Well, that’s the short story about Argenta, NV.

      Yet curiosity remains high and I hope to report on other interesting names of places that are part of my hobby.

      Staying Clean

      equipment, health, informational, video, , , , , , , , ,

      Keeping Safe during the Covid Pandemic

      Many businesses that have been allowed to open during the Covid pandemic have had to follow strict guidelines to keep their employees and customers safe. This has been proven to be an especially challenging task.

      For the past year we’ve all been using some combination of face masks, shields, gloves, disinfectants, bleach, gowns, paper towels and hand sanitizer among other things all with the goal of keeping the virus away from our bodies.

      Like other establishments we were spending a considerable amount of time cleaning our facilities. We use spray bottles of sanitizer to clean tables, chairs and other surfaces and then wipe them dry. To save time and supplies, we purchased an electrostatic sprayer. They are different from conventional sprayers in that an electrostatic charge is applied to the disinfectant as it leaves the cone making miniscule droplets that are evenly dispersed. That the droplets are so small allows them to dry quickly.


      This employee is using a large electrostatic sprayer to clean a dining table.

      The cone on the end of the wand evenly distributes the disinfectant. The disinfectant dries in a few seconds and is safe to the touch.


      In this slow motion video the employee is using the wand to apply the disinfectant.

      This 3 gallon capacity sprayer has a rechargeable battery and can be worn as a backpack.

      This is a smaller sprayer comes with two rechargeable batteries. The unit weighs less than the orange one above. Instead of a wand, the nozzle is used to adjust the spray pattern of the disinfectant.

      The one gallon capacity tank for this sprayer has backpack straps for easier use. Two ounces of the concentrate are mixed with water to make a gallon of sanitizer. This brand of concentrate is confirmed to kill Covid germs.

      So far we’ve had good success with these sprayers. If you’re looking for a way to keep your facility clean you’ll want to consider an electrostatic sprayer.