SAY CHEESE

Nothing wrong with phone cameras these days. Under the right circumstances you can get some very good images. Most of us have heard the saying that the best camera is the one you have with you. Nevertheless, I'd rather have my Fujifilm at my side.

Getting everything ready for the eclipse run tomorrow. The weather looks great. St. Louis will get 98-99% totality but not good enough. We will drive about an hour and a half southeast, where totality will last four minutes. Got my -20 stop solar lens filter. Hope we can find a space.                 

CITY DAILY PHOTO APRIL THEME DAY - MY FAVORITE TOY

My tool, my partner, my art set, my outlet. The Fujifilm X-T5 is the best camera I've ever had. It is hard to tell from the photo but it is surprisingly small and light. Most Fujifilm cameras go full retro on the control dials and they can be hard to get used to if you are coming from, say, Canon, like I did. I love this thing as much as you can love an object.               

WHY I LOVE MY CAMERA (RED WING BLACKBIRD)

I got my first digital camera in late 1999, when the consumer models appeared. They were  what we now call point-and-shoots, Nikon then, until 2005 or 2006 when I made the plunge and got a DSLR, a Canon 5D. Then upgrades and a lot of high end glass. Unfortunately, I was getting older and my spine more crumbly. The weight of two Canon bodies and lenses on the street became too much.

Skipping some intermediate steps, I now shoot with a Fujifilm X-T3, smaller, lighter and cheaper than the Canons. The images are as good or better. I love it. This picture of a red wing blackbird, shot with a 18-55mm lens (1.5 crop factor), was taken in Forest Park yesterday. The crop is at least 90% and it stays sharp. FB does a poor job rendering it. On my computer, there is much more gradation in the blacks.

Where I Want To Live

Back to color, if only because I'm out of B&W stuff. It looks like this would be the perfect place for a shooter to hang out. Actually, it's a very small commercial street not far from my home, marked by the pointer on my car's nav system. No idea how it got the name - it doesn't have any photographic businesses.