Blog
Writing helps me think more clearly. This archive is longer posts; quick updates now live in notes.
Topics: AI, blogging, photography, programming, projects, Signboard
Recent Snowbirds – Fall 2019 Trudging through the first snows of the season to find small bird havens has been a delight. I managed to find a pile of grass clippings that a nearby grounds-keeper tries to hide away behind some evergreens – the birds love to pick through the pile for insects and seeds.
Jason Kottke: I decided that because I live in Vermont, there is nothing I can do about it being winter, so it was unhelpful for me to be upset about it. I stopped complaining about it getting cold and dark, I stopped dreading the arrival of snow. I told myself that I just wasn’t going to feel like…
Adrian (aows): An imperfect composition, a rather dark or bright image, and less than ideal conditions could be ingredients for a great image. His Instagram account is one of my favorites. It may not be everyone's cup of tea at first glance, but if you read his FAQ you'll see what his goal is for his photography. He…
Pano from 12 images f/22 ∙ 1/60sec ∙ 55mm ∙ ISO 400 f/16 ∙ 1/160sec ∙ 250mm ∙ ISO 400 Greenfield Road – October 2019 These images, and this audio, are from the very first episode of Photowalking with Colin. At the time of the recording I was experimenting with a new app, a setup, a process. I…
Lackawanna River American Mink – November 2019 This is a special episode. This is the first time I set out with a specific objective in mind (rather than just exploring or wandering) and I accomplished it! The animal in the first image is, I've now learned more accurately, an American Mink (not a Fisher or Skink as I…
Ryan Barrett: A few days ago, I unfollowed everyone on Twitter, added them all to a list, and I now read that list instead. It’s shockingly better. Only their own tweets and retweets, in order. No ads, no "liked by," no "people you may know," no engagement hacking crap. It’s glorious. I do not believe I'd be able…
iPhone 11 Pro Max ∙ f/1.8 ∙ 1/120sec ∙ 4.25mm – Live Photo iPhone 11 Pro Max ∙ f/1.8 ∙ 1/1000sec ∙ 4.25mm ∙ ISO 32 (Keenlake) f/4.5 ∙ 79mm ∙ 1/80sec ∙ ISO 1600 f/4.5 ∙ 55mm ∙ 1/15sec ∙ ISO 400 iPhone 11 Pro Max ∙ f/1.18 ∙ 1/75sec ∙ 4.25mm ∙ ISO 125 f/5.6 ∙…
Richard Bernabe, in an otherwise good interview on his photography, says this about Twitter: I like Twitter, even if it does represent both the best and worst the Internet has to offer. If you’re there to argue politics with other humans, it most certainly is a dystopian hellscape that will make your life a dark, dark place. Don’t…
The first few episodes of my new photography podcast have been a learning experience for me. How should I record, edit, distribute these episodes? With each episode I've been able to improve that process and make some decisions along the way. Me, on location While I'm hoping to continue to improve the audio quality, the speed at which…
Brent Simmons' blog has turned 20 years old. A fantastic milestone! But, it was this bit that I wanted to comment on: It‘s tempting to think that The Thing of my career has been NetNewsWire. And that’s kinda true. But the thing I’ve done the longest, love the most, and am most proud of is this blog. I've…
Testing the iPhone 11 Pro Max – November 2019 For behind-the-scenes audio of these photos please subscribe to Photowalking with Colin. In this post I was testing the iPhone 11 Pro Max's cameras while walking around Honesdale, PA at lunch time. I wish I had had more time on this day as I was just hitting my stride.
22mm ∙ f/22 ∙ 1/15s ∙ ISO 100 22mm ∙ f/20 ∙ 1/40s ∙ ISO 100 22mm ∙ f/20 ∙ 1/50s ∙ ISO 100 Culm dunes – October 2019 You can listen behind the scenes as I make these photographs in an episode of Photowalking with Colin titled Culm dunes. I'd been wanting to use the Monochrome picture…
Google: With .new, you can help people take action faster. We hope to see .new shortcuts for all the things people frequently do online. For instance, Playlist.new will create a new Spotify playlist for you. Docs.new will create a new Google Doc for you, etc. I don't think my younger self could have predicted that .new would be…
Microsoft: CaptionBot.ai is powered by machine learning technology that identifies and captions your photos. When you upload a photo, it is sent to Microsoft for image analysis to return a caption. We won’t store, publish, or let other people use your images. I uploaded a few images. It works pretty well. I'm unsure of this particular bot's purpose…
Nick Carver, in an interview by Cody Schultz in early 2018: Certain artworks I've seen throughout my life have had a powerful impact on me. When I look at a painting by Kenton Nelson or a sculpture by Michael Heizer, I feel something deep in my psyche that I can't put words to. I can't describe the feeling,…
Kentucky Bourbon Trail – October 2019 Earlier this month we visited Kentucky (just about 18-months since our last visit) with some friends to explore the Kentucky Bourbon Trail again. It was a fantastic week.
Colin Walker: Call it an inferiority complex, a belief that my life isn't interesting as I don't do that much. But, as Adam says, it's the ordinary lives, the "random glimpses into humanity" that pique your interest, not just the grand gestures. My favorite blogs tend to be those that are informal, unedited, and reflect the author's voice…
State Game Lands – October 2019 To get the story behind these photos, listen to the State Game Lands episode of Photowalking with Colin. Be sure to subscribe! I had an amazing evening capturing these photos.
Flying a drone at sunset – October 2019 This image is from my Flying a drone at sunset episode of Photowalking with Colin. You can listen to that episode above to get the whole story. Be sure to subscribe to the blog or the podcast to get future episodes delivered right to you.
I'm unsure of the best way to share the photos for each episode of my podcast. But for now, I'll create a post for each episode that I share photos from. Open to suggestions. Cow line Just one from this episode to share.
Prompton Lake – October 2019 I shot these photos while recording the Prompton Lake episode of my new podcast Photowalking with Colin. Be sure to find the podcast wherever you listen to them and subscribe. If you can’t find it, email me and I’ll send you the link. You can also listen to the episode right here on…
I'm pretty excited for Microsoft. I've been excited for what they've been doing as a company, on several fronts, for a few years now. I won't rehash all of the nice things I've been writing about them, but I can link to how I feel about Satya, the work they've been doing in open source and for developers,…
Alastair Humphreys, adventurer, blogger: I wrote my stories as I cycled around the world and updated my website intermittently whenever I found an internet connection stable enough to send a bunch of text. The screech of dial-up internet and being plunged into darkness by power cuts were regular accompaniments to my early days of blogging. I enjoyed two…
Recorded September 30, 2019 Have you already read the manual for a product you own? After you've used it for a while, I recommend reading it again.