Has been a bit since TGIF appeared.
Time has been spent attempting to decide what's next. While always
"leaving the door open" to whatever might come thru, like to have a end in mind.
Planning includes not only the end
game but also the means to achieve it. As the medical issues are being
resolved, - and they are - I will certainly continue documenting the the
changing Midwestern cityscape. That project is very high on my to-do list of
photography tasks. Much of the previous work has been in presenting structures
- buildings - and objects - equipment. Time has come to investigate the people
that populate these locations. Individuals that remain and sustain the Midwest
are very important to understanding this region.
Photograph people. It is one thing
to say and another to do. They live and work there. I suddenly appear, and
enter their life. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Trust and
acceptance take time - often a lot of time. Time, not an easy problem to solve.
After many cups of coffee, looking
out the window and talking with Scout - the wonder dog - arrived at a couple of
solutions to the time problem.
Reviewing past photographic
"people projects" where I spent daily time with folks, trust and
acceptance were often gained by showing and giving photographic prints to the
subjects. Taking images, processing materials and giving prints took time with
and away from the involved people.
Earlier projects were accomplished
using photographic film. That meant that after exposure the film had to be
developed and the prints made. This implied that a darkroom and necessary
equipment were availble. The work flow in this case was: expose film, go to
darkroom, develope film, make prints, show and give prints. The darkroom was
off site which meant that I leave and later return. Not a problem as the
distance between site and darkroom was not too great - usually a few hours, at
most day.
That was then, this is now. That was analog, today
is digital. Working with people today still requires trust and acceptance. In
the past, photographic prints were used. Today, digital images can be used.
Digital cameras have viewing screens. Take a photograph, look at the camera
back and there is the image - small but there. Showing is immediate. No
darkroom needed. No leaving and returning. Giving? Today most have access to a
computer - public or private. Sending the image - e-mail, etc. - solves the
giving problem
Consider the way to achieve. Success
is dependent on gaining trust and acceptance, which is achieved digitally -
camera viewing screen. Can this be improved? This question has been my focus
for the past week. Answer - camera viewing screen; problem small and hard to
see. Answer - needs to be bigger and easier to view; problem - How? Answer -
use a laptop computer; problem - along with camera equipment, big and bulky.
Answer - viewing ability bigger but not too big.
Enter the IPad. After many, many hours of viewing web
pages with news releases -product PR, product reviews - who writes these? and
You Tube videos - who makes these?, settled on an IPad. Other tablets were considered, but the
Apple appeared to fulfill my needs.
Selection of an IPad was only the start. Several new problems
- wanting answers - surfaced. How to enter images that are recorded on a camera
card. Short answer use a card reader - of course made by Apple. Another piece
of equipment to carry along with camera, lenses, notebook and IPad. Long answer, use something wireless -
requires Wi-Fi - new problem that is not completely - at
this time - solved.
OK, the images are in the IPad. They can be viewed in the field but at
some point will wish to have them on a home computer in order to work on them.
Implies the IPad and computer need to
"talk" to each other. Turns out there is an app for that. In fact,
there are a lot of apps for that. Which one? Again - the usual drill - web
pages, reviews and You Tube lead to a solution, problem solved.
As of today, the wireless problem
remains. This is a twofold problem. First, while in the field, how to wirelessly transfer images from camera to IPad. Secondly, how, while in the field, to wirelessly obtain "live view". That
is, showing the image on a IPad
immediately after capture without removing the card from the camera.
The answer to these questions may
be at the front door. UPS just dropped off a package. Check back next TGIF.
Will leave with:
Eaton, Ohio.
