Photos
Even More Changes
Hello friends. It has been a minute, as it often is. I don’t update here as often as I should and for that I’m profoundly sorry. I really want to, however . . .
I just don’t have that kind of free time anymore, especially now that virtual school is in session again. In short, that’s very time consuming . . . and I’ve only got the one kid. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for those of you who’ve got more than one. Crazy.
That said, I did want to drop in for a few and update you on some recent changes. No, it’s not just that Summer ended and the boy is back in school, it’s more than that. A bit more, at least.
The first is my favorite website, The Flickcast, has finally gotten a much-needed facelift and is looking great. Kudos to to the entire team for getting that up and running. And by the entire team I mean yours truly. As in, I did it all by myself (cue Jamie O’Neal).
I think it looks great. The Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages have also been updated to reflect the new look. As you do.
We’ve also started uploading the podcast to YouTube, although it’s just the audio at this point. No video yet. We are going to start video soon, however, so keep an eye out for that.
I’ve also made some changes to the Ullrich Media website (mostly moving off of Squarespace and onto our own server) so that’s gonna look a bit different and have less content until I get a chance to finish it up. Doing all the work on The Flickcast took a lot of time, so other things were reprioritized in favor if that.
There’s nothing wrong with Squarespace, by the way. They’re great. I just don’t need to be paying them when I already have a server of my own that can handle the content and traffic. Plus, these days I mostly upload photos to Instagram and Flickr (remember that?). So I don’t necessarily need a full portfolio website right now. Just a place to give out a bit of info.
Moving on. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve been playing a lot of D&D the last year or two, especially during the fun COVID times. Three times a week, currently. I mention this not to reinforce the fact that I’m a nerd. That’s a given and should require no further support of proof.
I mention it to showcase the fact I play on Twitch with a great group every Sunday night starting at 6PM Pacific. If you like D&D and enjoy watching people play it (just like the pros do on Critical Role) you should check out our stream. It’s pretty fun.
I’m sure I’ve got more things to talk about but this is already pretty long, so I think I’ll call it for now. But don’t worry, I’ll be back.
Until then, please get your shots and wear a mask. Don’t be an asshole. That’s not too much to ask, is it? I don’t think so.
Also, keep on being kind to each other. It helps. Thanks.
(Oh, I forgot to mention the above photo is one I took during my recent trip to Colorado and points West. It’s not really supposed to look that way but something happened while shooting and the film was exposed that way. But that’s fine, I think it looks kinda cool).
Review: The OneStep 2 Instant Camera from Polaroid Originals
The great people at Polaroid Originals, which used to be the Impossible Project, have come out with a new Polaroid camera called the OneStep 2 and new instant film to go along with it. I have one of the new OneStep 2 cameras and have been shooting with it for a couple weeks.
Now that I’ve had a change to check it out, I thought I’d do a review/first impressions article about it. This article will be relatively short, however, because I have almost all good things to say about the OneStep 2.
It’s easy to load and works right out of the box. Well, you do need to charge it first via the included USB cable, but then it works. You’ll also need film too, of course. You need to purchase that seperately.
Some More Recent Photos
I posted some of my film photography previously and thought now would be a good time to post some more. Most of these were shot with a Leica M6 or Nikon FM2n in 35mm. Some, however, were shot with a Polaroid camera, either the SX-70 or the new OneStep 2 from Polaroid Originals. Oh, I think there’s one shot with a Polaroid Land 250 camera too.
Speaking of the OneStep 2, I’ll have a review of that camera up shortly, now that I’ve had a chance to shoot with it for a few weeks.
If you want to see more of my photography, check out my website at UllrichMedia or my Instagram. Okay, here’s the photos.
Some of My Recent Photographs
I’ve decided to eschew digital photography and return to simpler times and shoot film. Yes, film. It’s still around. In fact, it’s around in a pretty big way.
Companies like Kodak and Ilford still make many different kinds of film. Actually, Kodak recently announced the return of the venerable Ektachrome and several other companies are coming out with new film stocks too. Plus, more and more pros, semi-pros and amateurs are shooting film again or trying it out for the first time.
It’s a great time to be a film lover.
No, I won’t be abandoning digital completely. I still scan my film after it’s developed (a process I often do myself) and take the occasional photograph with my Fuji X100T or iPhone. Digital isn’t going anywhere.
But for the last six months or so, I’ve used film pretty much exclusively. Black & White, 35mm film in particular. I just like the way it looks and I like the camera I’m currently using: the Leica M6.
Check out some more examples of my recent work after the break. Of course, that’s one of mine at the top of this post and another one as the header for this site.
For even more, take a look at my Instagram devoted to film photography.
iPhone vs. DSLR
I love photography. In fact, I’ve been taking pictures since I was given my first camera (an Olympus OM 1) in the sixth grade. Yes, that long.
Over the years I had a succession of film cameras but made the switch to digital about ten years ago. Since then I’ve pretty much had Nikon DSLRs and, on occassion, Canon point and shoots. I’ve captures thousands of images with those cameras . . . and some of them are even pretty good. Well, a few at least.
Then, the iPhone came along. It was a phone, a way to send text messages, a web browsing device and, amazingly enough, a pretty good camera.
And over the years the iPhone cameras have gotten better and better. Now, they’re really good.
Of course, people still use a DSLR. I do, especially when shooting Max. He moves pretty fast and the quick focus of a DSLR and Nikon lenses (especially the amazing 50mm 1.4) comes in handy. But most of the time, I find myself using the iPhone 6 to take photos.
I’m not alone. People are using the iPhone a lot more every day to take photos. But how do the DSLR and the iPhone compare? This handy infographic (made by the fine folks at Twenty 20) answers that question and more. Check it out below.
Scooby Doo Walking Dead
More often than not, you come across things on the Internets that are lame and not worth the time it took you to see them and decide they were lame. Things like that are a waste of time and that time is something you will never, ever get back.
But then, once in a while, you find something that is really cool, worth the time and makes you smile. That’s right kids, this is one of those times.
I won’t say too much more about these images, created by the very talented Jeff Zoet, except to say that I wish I’d thought of this. It’s really quite clever and makes perfect sense. Combining Scooby Doo with The Walking Dead (sorta) is a brilliant concept and a is deftly captured in these images.
Jeff has got plenty more great concepts, videos and photos at his website, so be sure and check them all out. Hey, maybe you’ll even hire him to do some work for you? That would be a nice thing to do. And no, before you ask, I don’t know Jeff at all.
I just like what I like.
Even An Alien Needs a Day Off Sometimes
Even though you’re an Alien from, you know, Alien you can’t spend all your time ripping arms off, crushing skulls with your explosively protruding jaw or impaling people with your barbed tail.
Sometimes, you just need to take a break. And heck, what better place to take that break than a nice park?
He likes the rides. How sweet.
While we’re on the subject of Alien, I want to mention how much I love this lamp. I love it for many reasons, one of which is it makes me laugh.
I will admit that it’s probably funnier if you’ve actually seen James Cameron’s movie Aliens. But if you haven’t, it’s still a cool lamp.
Although, you really should see Aliens too.
(h/t to Fashionably Geek for the Alien vacation photo)
Over 1000 Behind the Scenes Photos From the 'Star Wars' Trilogy
The internet can be home to some pretty amazing things. Sure, there’s also a lot of porn too. Fortunately, the worthwhile bits outnumber the naughty ones.
A prime example of this is Imgur user JoinYouInTheSun who’s taken the time and made the effort to assemble over 1000 behind the scenes photos from the original Star Wars trilogy. As someone who grew up with this first (and some say only) trilogy of movies, these images brought back a lot of wonderful memories and were great fun to look at.
In fact, I liked them so much I clicked through each and every one of them. Slowly.
If you’re a Star Wars geek like I am, you’ll understand.
Here’s a couple more. Head over to Imgur for the rest.
Random Saturday Pics
Two pictures, one Saturday. The first is where I would like to be right now. The second is what I would take with me. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which is which. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble.
Happy Weekend.
Come on, you know you want one.
Alison Brie as Captain America Works For Me
In keeping with the Avengers theme going this week, I saw this, courtesy of the fine folks at Fan Art Exhibit, and had to post it.
Alison Brie as Cap. I like it. Quite a bit. Probably a bit too much.
Oh well.
Some New Photos
Took these over the weekend. One more in my “California” series and one just because I thought it was funny. Taken with the iPhone 5 using Instagram.
Site Stuff, Photo Sharing and More
Looking at the archives list on the right of this page reminds me I’ve had this particular blog incarnation since mid 2004. That’s a good amount of time (almost 8 years) and I’m proud of myself for sticking with something that long.
I have actually been putting stuff online since before 2004 but alas, those articles and content have pretty much been lost after moves into and out of various blogging platforms over the years. I’m pretty sure I could probably locate them if I really tried and perhaps I will someday. But for the moment, I’m content to have this blog’s starting date be in June of 2004.
In the interest of fun, though, let’s step into the Wayback Machine and see what I was thinking on that first fateful Summer day in June of 2004. From that first post it seems like I was talking about a mix of tech and politics and also managed to throw in a quote from Chris Rock too. Not a bad bunch of content at all.
Although, I’m not sure why I felt the need to say “later” at the end of the post. It’s almost as if I didn’t know what I was doing then. So weird.
Anyway, now that I’ve evolved into the highly skilled professional that I am (hey, if you get or got paid to do it, you’re a pro) I can safely omit any of that kind of stuff and just talk directly to the audience. You know, you and you out there reading this.
Yes, there’s probably only two of you but that’s okay, we know something that others don’t know, right? We’re the cool kids now. Suck on that nerds. . .
But, I digress.
Nostalgia and self-affirmation is great but it doesn’t help me figure out if I should keep my Flickr Pro account or not. See that there, that’s what they call a transition. Although, it wasn’t a great one. No, not at all.
My Flickr Pro account expires later this month and my dilemma is that I haven’t been uploading photos to it at all. In fact, I haven’t used it for many months. Granted, it’s only about 25 bucks a year but if I don’t use it at all, why bother? Plus, maybe there’s something better out there with more features, more interaction and the like?
I’m also considering that I have pretty much unlimited bandwidth, space and server power with the Media Temple servers we use for The Flickcast and other sites (including this here blog) that I could just host my photos myself and skip the third party stuff. That’s why you now see a “Photos” tab up there at the top of the screen.
I’m trying out various photo gallery plugins for Wordpress to see which one looks the best. Right now, it’s one called NextGen Gallery and I kinda think it’s the best of the bunch. We also use it at The Flickcast so I’ve got some experience with it. I think I will leave it in place for now and see how it goes. I will add more photos I’ve already taken and perhaps some new ones soon too.
I also know that I’ve invested a lot of time and effort over the years to upload stuff to Flickr and it has a lot of photos of mine. It would be a lot of work to start completely over somewhere else. In fact, I’m not sure exactly how I would bulk download all the photos at Flickr and upload them somewhere else. I would need to look into that more.
Given the potential pain in the ass and time involved, I would instead probably want to have Flickr serve as an archive for my old photos and would start anywhere new, like SmugMug, from this point on. However, because of the large number of photos I have (too many for the free Flickr account) I would end up having to keep paying for the Pro version just to maintain the archive.
So I guess that pretty much answers my question, doesn’t it? Yahoo will be getting 25 bucks from me this month. They can probably use it.
Thanks for playing along. Always fun to see the decision making process at work, right?
The truth is no service, free or paid, is going to motivate me go out and take pictures. That motivation has to come from within.
Now where did I put my camera?
Friday Random Update
I’m pleased to tell you my new coffee machine (The amazing Moccamaster) arrived and I’ve had the chance to put it through its paces for that last couple days. The only word I can use to describe it and the coffee produced by it is: sublime.
That’s right, it works like a champ and every time I have some of that exceptional liquid, I’m more convinced I made the right choice. If you have the means, I definitely suggest acquiring one.
Also, as I’ve tried to do as often as I can, I’ve got a couple photos for you today. I’m including one of the new coffee machine in action in my very own kitchen. Yes, that’s not a granite counter top, get over it.
Two I took myself and one I found online and it made me laugh. That’s pretty much the only criteria for photos that I don’t take to go up here on Fridays. They need to make me laugh out loud or otherwise have some other type of emotional response.
I don’t think that’s too much to ask, do you? Here you go:
