New Year New Insights

Haven't been here in what seems to be forever. Busy here and busier there. But the camera is always with me....

Brought into the Olympus digital system about two years ago - tis strange since in the past century I had a film Olympus camera: the ever-popular OM1 then later the OM2. It didn't last long though, before I swapped those out for a different camera. I cannot count on both hands and feet the numerous film cameras I've had, and now in this new digital era the story is the same: I cannot count on both hands nor feet the digital cameras I've gone though!

I currently have two EOS R5s with a few RF lens, and will be swapping those out for a single Sony A7c, replacing the Sony camera I picked up over a decade ago while in San Francisco, and now that A6000 is in Andalucia with my grandson Dylan. Hoping he'll enjoy it as much as I did!

The R5s were just too heavy to carry and I am NOT getting any younger! I need lighter and just as robust and capable, and liked the way it handled and the great sharp images it gave me!

It's raining in western New York (WNY) as I type. My leased Hybrid Kia Niro is now just a wee bit over a year and a half into a three-year lease, BUT if I could trade it in for an EV or another hybrid with a better range and eMPG at a price NOT in the clouds, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

Other news: today closed my only active site featuring my imagery for sale, and now have only this blog and a portfolio online now. I just had waaay too many websites and it's difficult to stay on top of everything. I do NOT know how others do it all, and are successful on their virtual platforms. I ditched facebook a few years ago, this time permanently. I was back on twitland for a few months, but I just closed that just minutes ago also. 

Now I'll have more time to "image-archive" which is changing also: now instead of archiving, I will just simply delete all my images.

I am not a famous well-known photographer and I don't didn't ever get a lot of visitors to my many image sites. You know what happens when one isn't getting the foot traffic to a physical store, and virtually it must be the same. I see no sense in populating a site with my imagery if few will even take the time to see my imagery let alone purchase one. It's a huge world out there, and with more people thinking they are master photographers which I never have been, to compete with....  well. It was just a matter of time that I closed up my shop. No one will miss my imagery. No one will miss me!

Hoping everyone is staying as possible. The wife and I still wear our masks at the ready - around our necks -while outdoors to wear so we try to keep ourselves and others as safe and healthy as possible.

Taking care during the Winter Months

 Well, here I am, in yet another month of a western New York (WNY) winter, and this time, though the snow hasn't been heavy nor as often as in previous years, the cold has been its usual bitterness. The wind chill here has been winter-cold freezing months before winter even started!

Of course, Sheila and I are out in all weather conditions. We have been out in cold, hot, high winds, rain, and every and anything in-between! Cold "doesn't" bother us, but now we are wary of the heat. I am getting rid of all my short sleeve shirts, replacing them with long sleeve shirts. I am not getting any younger, and my poor skin has been toasted enough in all the sunny, extreme hot areas I've been, and my skin is beginning to show the wear and tear of those climates.

Being photographers, we are almost always out, and for the first time in my life, I have exposed my skin and extremities to freezing temperatures without proper clothing and protection. I've previously worn thicker hiking boots - always - but after I had foot/toe problems with those thicker boots, I switched to lighter zero-type boots with no elevated heels. These are also made of lighter, thinner materials, and my first winter of wearing these thinner shoes has possibly resulted in some serious worries!

I think I've got frost-bitten toes on both feet! I have always had poor blood circulation in my legs and feet, and though I've hiked around in the snow of southern Norway and other cold spots without any problems in the past, I also had then my thicker boots, plus the winter humidity in Norway was minimal, while here in WNY the humidity is almost always higher. While hiking around in deep Norwegian snow for hours without the slightest sensation of cold, the WNY humidity is so high that even after five minutes the fingertips begin to tingle due to the cold!

I am not posting any pictures of my toes but it's not pretty, plus you can just surf the web to see images of others who have suffered from frost-bitten limbs and extremities, and many got it worst than me!! I already have an VA appointment to see a podiatrist in a few more weeks, but I think the diagnosis will be as I suspect. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

How to avoid frostbite

Wear thick shoes or boots, and clothing especially suited for cold weather. Stay advised of the weather conditions, wind chill factor, and wind direction of where you plan to be. Depending on where I am headed, I also have cleats that I can put on any shoes/boots I wear. You can also limit your time outdoors in cold, wet or/and windy weather, and dress in several layers of loose, warm clothing, including wearing a hat or headband that fully covers your ears, and using mittens rather than gloves for more warmth. I have USB-powered hand-warmers that we use while outdoors which have turned out to be very helpful. Be sure to wear socks and/or sock liners that fit well, wick moisture and provide adequate insulation for the temperatures you're going out into, and watch for any signs of tingling and/or pain, etc. which can be a warning sign of frostbite!

Most importantly, stay safe, be aware of your body and any signs of cold, and if it gets colder than you thought, get back to a warm shelter. Stay warm!!

Here's a scene from the ice at Lake Ontario!

Lakeside iced waves create an interesting pattern!

 

Sad Sign and Current State of the World

Social distancing works. Wearing masks while outside works. Stopping the spread only works if everyone is responsible enough to recognize the virus threat and take a personal stand to stop the spread with simple means any and everyone can do. 

Anyone who thinks it's funny to cough in public places as a joke, and to get together with friends and act as if nothing is happening on a global-scale, is not only fooling themselves, but is a serious threat to everyone, including their "friends" and themselves. 

Social distancing works ONLY if everyone practices it. If everyone stays disregards that contact distance, then it's not social distancing; it will be ineffective and will just give everyone in those groups a greater threat of infection.

You can laugh all you want, if and after you and your friends get infected. If you are wearing a mask but your partner, spouse or children are not wearing a facemask, what good is that? Is your life or the life of your children or loved ones so insignificant that you do not require them to use a facemask? 

You are outdoors. Perhaps at a store buying food, or in a public park. Somehow and unknowingly, you get infected. You do NOT know you are infected yet. You visit some friends and spend some time together. 

Your friends are now possibly infected. Each one of you and your friends go elsewhere - not knowing each have been exposed and possibly infected - and individually visit some other friends. 

Now each of you have possibly infected others!

How long will this cycle of seeing, visiting others, and possibly infecting still more people, before you actually begin feeling the symptoms and go to a hospital before it's confirmed you are infected, and now have possibly infected a huge group of people, who will continue to meet up with many others, and based on your initial infection, will expose others?

A lot to laugh about. What friend exposes others, strangers, family members, friends, and more with a very deadly virus, and laughs about it because they think it is all a joke?

What a great joke!

We are ALL in this together! Unless we ALL work to stop the spread, then we all will suffer in one way or another!

On the other hand, the skies are bluer, there are much LESS jet-trails above, and the streets aren't as crowded with cars as before!