Sheds of Summer
Some random summer evening shots around the neighborhood.
Out on walks, I noticed a surprising number of barn-shaped sheds. The light around 7:30 PM hit just right.
Coyoacán
As opposed to Roma, a more modern neighborhood, Coyoacán is pure history to the south of Mexico City.
A few coworkers took us down to explore the markets and chapel and walk the streets to Frida’s house. I also had the best popsicle I’ve ever had: pure, frozen lime juice with a bit of sugar. Amazing. I should’ve bought two.
This place felt like a classic Mexican neighborhood, filled with history and culture. Alive and ancient at the same time.
And just in case anything was stolen, I brought my classic Canon EOS M, paired with the 22mm f/2. She still runs like a champ.
Roma
My Mexican co-workers said I had a “Mexican heart.”
But maybe like anyone thrown into a new situation, new culture, new locale – it’s easy to fall in love with the “newness” of it all.
This is my second time in Mexico city in under a year. My employer has a corporate office in Mexico City, and I traveled there in mid May for a few days. I flew in a day early to walk around the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City – the posh, hip borough with lots of trendy shops and tons of Americans walking around. This is the “cool” part of the city now.
Roma gave me a chance to explore something new with my camera, and as before, Mexico City didn’t disappoint.
Web Power
I believe in the power of the web.
The second half of my career is based on websites: social media management, website building, email communications, and newsletters. Even my digital photography is mostly on the web.
Often, I see non-profits or companies (especially small, local mom-and-pop shops) without websites. I feel bad for them. They might be building their digital presence on sand.
Just yesterday I found out Workplace, the work-based social media management platform, is closing. It sucks for us companies that use it. But it also reinforces the stability, the always-thereness, of the web.
So many of these platforms and social sites have shuttered over the years. It’s enough to make one lose trust in anything other than the web.
Don’t Apologize
So you haven’t made anything in a while.
Maybe you broke a habit, or a long streak of productivity. Perhaps you haven’t taken your camera out in months. It could be you have nothing to share.
It’s fine. Don’t apologize. When it comes back – whatever it is for you – do it, share it, and keep going.
When you’re ready, we’re ready.
Spring Break in Chicago
Chilly, but always worth it.
Shot with my new Canon M200 and a few different lenses.
New Go-To: Canon M200 Review
Quick update: I switched! I’m now using the Canon M6 instead of the M200 – read that review here.
My original Canon M has been my go-to camera for 12 years. It goes almost everywhere I go: trips, family events, walks around the neighborhood. Its small size and stellar image quality, paired with the EF-M 22mm f/2, made it my everyday gear for more than a decade.
Right before the holidays, though, it started to show its age. In a few cases, I would go to turn it on, and it took a few extra seconds to wheeze into operation. When it did limp to life, it glitched or randomly powered off.
I don’t blame it! It’s worked very hard for a long time, taking tons of abuse at birthday parties and Lake Michigan beaches. It has never focused or shuttered quickly. And I know there have been a few rough bumps and drops that helped shorten its lifespan.
Seeing what was coming, I started shopping for a replacement camera. Even though it’s been discontinued, I have enjoyed the Canon M series for its punch-above-its-weight quality. These cameras are well-built, solid machines that deliver excellent image quality. Even if Canon never releases another M series body or lens, I felt that my investment in the system meant I could keep using it for another decade or longer.
My first pick, the Canon M6 Mark II, seemed like a solid unit—the best of the M series and the grand finale of the line. But it is more expensive and harder to find brand new than some of the more budget-friendly models.
Twelve years ago, I grabbed the Canon M during a fire sale, and have more than gotten my value out of that kit. Similarly, this time I opted for the budget camera – good enough is good enough. My choice: the M200 kit.
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- Canon M on the left, M200 on the right.
The Canon M200 is aimed at beginners and bloggers. There aren’t many buttons or options, it’s not the toughest model, and you don’t have the in-the-hand control you have on a more advanced camera. But coming from the original M, the M200 felt at home in my hands.
By buying the kit lens, I also went from two lenses (22mm and 32mm) to three, with a convenient zoom lens perfect for travel. I’ve never been a big zoom lens user, but the kit price was right.
Last weekend, on a sunny, freezing February morning, I took the M200 out to a local baseball field to catch the colors and sunrise. The sparse button layout and mostly touch-screen controls were much the same as the OG M, and I mostly set my M to P mode or AV mode and auto ISO to focus on shooting. That’s what I did here, playing around with focal lengths and testing the image quality.
The M200 has a handy flip-up screen for selfies, or flipping it up 90 degrees and looking down, twin-reflex style, to focus and recompose. It’s also great if you want to record video of yourself – set it up on a tripod, flip the screen, and you can see exactly what the camera is recording.
This is a stock feature for most cameras nowadays, but it’s a nice upgrade from the M’s frustrating touchscreen limitations.
A few other quick hits:
- One feature I do miss from the M is that you could hit the physical “delete” button to send the focus point back to the center on the touch screen. That was convenient. The M200 has a dedicated touch-screen button for this feature, but I miss the feel of hitting that physical button to re-center the focal point.
- Another feature I miss from the M: the ridge on the front of the camera that acted like a small handhold. The M200 is almost completely flat except for a thumb groove on the back, in the upper right.
- The M200 feels much lighter in hand. The M was a dense brick of a camera.
- The M200 comes with a built-in, pop-out flash. This might come in handy for family photos is dark situations.
- The button layout is taking some getting used to after 12 years of muscle memory. The on/off switch is now inside the top setting dial, where the M had a dedicated on/off button. More settings seem to be moved to the touchscreen, which isn’t my preference, but not unexpected on this consumer-friendly model.
- This could be the zoom lens I’ve been testing out, but the colors are different. Not bad, but not what I’m used to. I’ll have to try the ol’ trusty 22mm f/2, which is not only a perfect lens, but produces perfect colors, too, especially in skin tones – the classic Canon Look™.
Other than that, I like what I like, and for my needs, the M200 was a great choice. Time will tell how long it holds up or if it reaches 12 years’ worth of use like the M (Update: it didn’t). Until then, this affordable, easy-to-find mirrorless camera is all I need every day I need it.
Another World
Also on our California itinerary: Joshua Tree National Park, a long car ride on our last day so I could introduce the family to the desert.
“It’s like another planet,” my wife said, driving through the limestone boulders, washed clean by ancient floods.
Those were the exact thoughts I had 17 years ago, driving through New Mexico, Arizona, and eastern California. Another world.
Ray of Sunshine
We don’t get much sunlight in the Michigan winters. We don’t get much snow or freezing cold either, but it’s the lack of sunshine that’s killer.
This year, instead of taking our bi-annual trip to Disney World in Florida, we did something new and flew out to Disneyland in California. Three days in the park, but then three days doing other West Coast things, like driving up the Pacific Coast Highway and taking a road trip to Joshua Tree National Park.
It wasn’t exactly warm in California – warmer than home, which was hit by a major winter storm the day we flew out of Detroit – but there was sunshine.
Coming back home, and now a few weeks later, I can feel the difference a little bit of sunlight can make. I feel energized, almost manic, like I want to get all the things done.
And so I have. Everything from cleaning around the house, getting more things done at work, even picking up my exercise routine after the holidays…California helped.
Now I’m taking that feeling and running as fast as I can with it. I know it might not last forever – just like that trip up U.S. Highway 1.
Trees Most Lovely
Gwinn’s Christmas Tree Farm in Horton, Michigan.
Have a great holiday season, everyone.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
We’ve always been a musical family, but we officially became a musical theatre family this fall.
The women in our group all joined the cast of Center Stage Jackson‘s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – my daughter Madelyn taking a lead role as Jemima, Riley as one of the ensemble kids, and Jaime as the wicked baroness.
That meant lots of light nights, back and forth trips to rehearsal, and tired kiddos who aren’t used to staying up late for practice. But the last two weekends, it all came together.
The show’s director, Lisa, is a close family friend, and she let me hang out back stage for some behind the scenes photography.
Supporting the local arts in our communities means showing up, and lending talents where needed.
A Cider a Day
This time of year is busy: it’s apple season, and that means lots of picking, juicing, and fermenting apples.
Each fall, I’ve looked for and picked apples wherever I can find them. Family trees, random trees in the park, and this year, I met a neighbor who had a half dozen McIntosh trees. So we went one early Saturday morning and picked apples.
The McIntosh apples, a half bucket of sweet yellow apples from my father-in-law’s yard, and a collection of bright red crabapples from our own backyard helped create about eight gallons of unfiltered apple juice.
From there, I split up those eight gallons into a few batches of hard cider.
The bright red juice is from the crabapples, which helps create a cider with a kick – a little something extra. When you ferment all the sugar out of juice during cider making, you have to have a little personality, and the crabs – with their acid and bitter tannins – helped add complexity.
From here, I stick a bit of yeast into a fermenter, sit the juice in a dark, cool spot, and let is sit for a few months. In the juice, the yeast turn all the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
And I had a bit of juice left over to enjoy with the kids – some “family-friendly” sweet cider, like what you buy at the orchard.
I officially started making hard cider in the fall of 2019, but this really became my pandemic project. I practiced, made hard cider out of store-bought juice, added other fruits and flavors to it. Now, I have it down pretty pat, and have even started making mead (fermented honey) and cyser (fermented apple juice mixed with honey).
There are lots of guides out there on how to make cider, but my favorites come from the folks at City Steading Brews – here’s a good starter recipe. Just know you’ll have to invest in some equipment and supplies: fermenting jugs, funnels, sanitizer, yeast.
But the juice? That’s the fun part. You can do like I do: pick and juice your own, using a standard home juicer. Or you can pick up a simple gallon of cider from your local orchard (just make sure it has no preservatives in it – ascorbic acid is okay), bring it home, and have it start bubbling into hard cider in no time.
Much like photography, the process is just as fun as the final results – except with cider, you get to drink it.
Ferry Tale
While I don’t use Instagram as much as I did years ago, every once in a while I find a photographer whose work says, “yeah, that’s the good stuff.
Kristopher Shinn is one of those, sharing scenes from Pudget Sound ferries. It made me think of my recent summer vacation trip to Mackinac Island aboard Shepler’s Ferry.
The light is everything. We rode along at the perfect time of day, zipping along Lake Huron.
Pure Michigan
Swimming and hiking and bonfiring.
Drinking and s’more’ing and eating some more’ing.
Finding the nature therapy you’ve long needed. Spending time with family. Introducing places like Mackinac Island to the kids, and bringing back memories with you on the ferry ride across Lake Michigan.
Climbing to the top of a 10-story lighthouse along Lake Huron. Braving the pouring rain or the biting mosquitos.
Grabbing your camera and capturing the last remaining light of a busy day.
It’s more than a checklist. These are all the elements of a great summer vacation.
Summer at Sandhill
Lately, I’ve had the itch to get out and shoot more. Sometimes, hobbies can come and go in waves – often depending on what else is going on in life. Right now feels like a crest, where I want go make more photos.
Saturday evening at Sandhill Crane Vineyards was a good chance to shoot. It was a lovely summer evening, with off and on clouds, and the sun was popping in and out of the clouds. As soon as it popped out during sunset, I took a walk around their mini festival to see what I could see.
And something different: I strapped a EF 28mm f/1.8 to my Canon EOS M, using the EF-to-M adapter, for a ~42mm field of view. 40mm tends to be my comfort zone. Even though the camera felt a little front-heavy, the FOV was perfect.
So was the light, and the setting, and the music and drinks all around.
Love and Respect
This weekend, I lost a brother and a best friend. Rest in Peace, John Neff.
John seemed to be everyone’s big brother, really. He took care of people, was considerate, and tried to help whenever he could. He led our fraternity during difficult times. He provided invaluable counsel and wisdom. We always joked he was an old man, even in his early 20s – maybe “old soul” is more appropriate.
But for me, Neff really was my big brother. In our fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, he helped induct me. He taught me so much and got me out of more than one scrape. One time he even had to drive me to the hospital after a diabetic episode. Many other times, he rescued me from my own bad decisions. And with big life decisions, during and after college, he was there to lend an ear and some wisdom. He was the brother I never had.
Neff was a rabble-rouser, a lover of education, a trivia nut, and a music appreciator. A fellow Mac and photography enthusiast, it was Neff who sparked my joy of “fancy cameras.” We had so many adventures together taking photos – whether in freezing cold downtown Chicago, boiling hot downtown Toledo, or in and around the Cleveland area.
Neff was the best man at my wedding. He was there a few days before Jaime and I got married, and sure enough, we took our cameras and explored a bit of Jackson County together. I was proud to have him by my side, acknowledging my special day, and joking around with the rest of the fraternity family we rarely saw. I was proud to be in his and Laura’s wedding too – long before I was ready for something as mature as marriage.
A few of us were lucky enough to take in one more ball game in Cleveland with Neff last summer. I’m so thankful we did. One last night at John and Laura’s house, one last big breakfast at a local diner together. And while we only saw each other every year or so, Neff and I talked constantly: fun, inappropriate text conversations, or a call to catch up. He was kind enough to check in, and each time we talked it was like we had never been apart.
It feels like he’s still there, just waiting to reply, “Oh, Dave” with that chuckle of his. An in-joke here, an Adrian College memory there. Now suddenly, he’s gone.
With Laura and his girls, Neff had a beautiful family. I feel so much for them, and I can’t imagine how much it hurts to lose a husband and a father. I love the entire Neff family. I loved John in the way that two people who share a bond as strong as right itself do.
It’s too soon, brother. There were still so many more memories to make.
Love and respect, Neff. Always and forever.
Step Outside
“Go touch grass” is such a meme these days. And for good reason – after almost three years of pandemic isolation, we could all use some fresh air. We probably spend too much time online, especially on social media, and it can affect our wellbeing.
This year, I’m trying my best to get outside more. During the pandemic, I made taking a walk at lunchtime a new habit to help my mental and physical health. But “outside” can also mean away from the internet, or away from your everyday. Now is always the best time to see or do something new.
And while you’re at it, grab your camera and capture what you experience.
Waking Up in Spring
April is our time to wake up and get outside. The birds are chirping, the leaves are sprouting, and the sun comes out to visit again.
Rethinking My Project Strategy
For my last two big portrait projects, Artists In Jackson and Musicians In Jackson, my goal was to interview and photograph local creatives and assemble those stories into a book. Prep, execute, deliver – all in one big thing.
I had the thought: what if, instead of treating them as projects, I treat them as platforms.
Instead of disappearing for a few months and coming out with a deliverable – like Moses carrying down a photo book carved in stone and delivered by divine inspiration – those projects become a channel that has regularly updated photos and stories. Instead of releasing a set of stories as a book, I keep releasing stories and never really finish.
Now, I could collect those stories and photos – say, every 20 – into something like a book. But the book isn’t the point. The doing is the point. It keeps building, more like a seasonal Netflix show than a daily newspaper.
This would relieve some of the pressure of feeling like I had to make a collection of something. As an alternative, I keep writing and making pictures and posting something when I have time. These projects become more like living, breathing websites than printed, finished books. The stories then become material for social media, newsletters, and website updates, rather than the reverse.
I’ve been collecting lists of creatives that I missed out on the first time around. By building and adding to that list, I can keep the stories coming – as long as I’m alive to tell them, potentially.
Not projects. Platforms.
Life In a Northern Town
We had a record ice storm hit Michigan last week. It swept across the U.S., but on Wednesday night, it struck the Great Lakes with particular fury.
That night, we listened anxiously while tree branches cracked and fell, breaking power lines all around us. We had an oak tree snap in half and block our street because of the weight of the ice. I braved falling branches the next morning to go around the yard and document everything sheathed in a clear coat. By the afternoon, all the ice had melted. The storm swept in and swept out quickly.
For two nights, we huddled in the basement as a family, wrapped in blankets while the temperature inside the house dipped to 47° F. We only got the power back on Saturday, and what a relief. But driving around town and seeing all the wreckage, we were lucky.
That’s life in a northern town.