Tech

Bit the Bullet and Bought Canon T1i

June 27, 2009

I researched and obsessed, it’s true. After pulling the trigger, I have small amounts of buyer’s remorse, which is common for me with a high ticket item. Did I really NEED it? Will I really USE it? Is it as GOOD AS the Panasonic Lumix GH1 that I was set on? Time will tell. What it HASN’T done is get me off my fat ass and update my blog with tidbits of useful information and stunning photos. For that, I need to purchase an ASSISTANT (another high ticket item that I am NOT currently researching).

I think I knew this already, but buying a camera is a slippery slope comparable to what? Gambling? Drugs? By that, I don’t mean it’s addictive — tho I’m sure it can be — but EXPENSIVE. No sooner do you spend a cool thousand on a camera, than you want a new lens. And not just any lens, but a good one. A spendy one. Besides that, what do we learn makes a good photo? A tripod. But not just any tripod, but a CARBON FIBER tripod. Etc., etc. So far I have resisted most of these temptations. Well, that’s not entirely true. I DID buy Kelby’s book “The Digital Photography Book, v1” (where I learned about all the stuff I needed to buy) and I did buy a 50mm f2.8 lens for the whole blurry background thing, which is the reason I wanted a DSLR in the FIRST place. That’s not so bad, is it? Oh, wait. One more: NIK Software’s Color Efex Pro that I had been looking at for over a year now, but that was bought with birthday money, so it doesn’t count.

Anyway, like I said, I did it. I bought the camera and I’m trying to use it as much as I can. I’m in a blogging rut, having decided that nothing I have to say is really all that earth shattering or important, and therefore not worth the time it takes to do it. Surely this will shift and I will feel my worth again, regaling you all with blurbs of stunning alacrity and usefulness. However, until that time comes, here are some of my pretty pics from the new camera.

And for all you Lumix GH1 buyers, I don’t want to hear from you. I saved LOTS of money with the Canon, and even IT was still $899. It was a responsible decision that I am happy with.

I think…

TwipPhoto.com Contest – Winning Essay

March 17, 2009

by Jennie Menke

INT. DARK HOUSE – NIGHT

We move from the dark entry toward a light at the back of the house. Another, dimmer, light glows above us, from somewhere upstairs. We enter a warmly lit office & see three screens, two are lit. A blueish light slowly pulses at the bottom of the darkened screen.

JENNIE sits at desk in front of two bright screens, slouched in office chair. No makeup; pajama pants; sweatshirt.

She repetitively drags rectangular icons to corner of screen. QUIET HUM is occassionally broken by occassional loud, sharp CRINKLING NOISE – like violently crumpled paper. She appears to study a small number on screen. Then dragging resumes. It is monotonous. We watch her do this over and over.

DAVE
(yells from upstairs)
Are you coming up?

JENNIE
(exasperated. Overly loud reply)
YES. I’ll be up as soon as I’m done.

DAVE
Laughs (sarcasticly)

JENNIE suddenly sits taller; more decisively upright. She now stares fixedly at a blue bar as it moves slowly across screen. There is a FAINT TICKING barely audible. Blue bar stops and then disappears. She Slouches deeper. She wearily resumes dragging rectangles to corner.

CAMERA PANS SCREEN

SuperDuper:|11:10:51 PM|SVUclone: Error: Couldn’t create.Disk full.

UPSTAIRS LIGHT IS EXTINGUISHED.

I will use Drobo to enhance my love life. No more late nights in the office trashing large video files that I will, no doubt, later need, to make room on my back up drive. I will devote all my extra time to DAVE.

Fade to black.

The Ford Fiesta Movement – The Missing Demographic

March 7, 2009

“Jennie Menke takes Whit Scott’s challenge to enter and win the chance to drive a new Ford Fiesta. She describes herself as “the missing demographic” and laments the fact that — until now — she has been stuck driving a suburban.”

So goes the copy I quickly scribbled and posted for all the world to see (well, actually, only about 35 people so far) in my very first video post to youtube. After watching a handful of other entries, I suddenly realized this was the solution to my Suburban Saturation problem — a problem that doesn’t garner a lot of sympathy from anyone in my inner circle. I’ve been lobbying and crunching numbers now for over 2 years in an effort to convince Dave of the logic. This continued coveting of just about any subcompact car has started to cause tension in the familial circle…

Taking the bull by the horns I made a “quick” video and posted it. Now the hard work begins. Even if I don’t win the contest, at least it’s finally spurred me to taking the time to set up a blog and will get me thinking about all kinds of other stuff.

Course, buying the domain and sifting thru WordPress installation issues, then experiencing major log-in problems all added up to an entire day of angst. Here’s a clue to the solution: not “jennifermenke” as intended, but “jennNifermenke” instead. So the process wasn’t exactly painless. How often I have tried to figure out if all this online stuff enhances or detracts from our lives? Still. I’m an addict.

As an aside, my husband — who has had two naps so far today — had the audacity to ridicule me for my effort.

[UPDATE: I did not become a Ford Fiesta Agent. I could go on and on about the dreary days waiting for my phone call and then all the sad and bewildered days that followed. After my interview and some personal contact with the marketing people at Ford, I have to say now what I wouldn’t say then: I seriously thought I was a shoe-in! So what happened??

Well, I’ll tell you some scenarios that played out:

Me on chairlift: I wonder if it’s because we live in the boonies and they want people who live in cities…
Dave, in response: Or maybe it’s cuz you rolled out of bed in your sweats and made a video with no make up on…

(The rest of that vacation, Dave spent pretty much alone, by the way…)

Me: Maybe it’s cuz I really am out of the demographic.
Dad: Yeah. You are way older than the rest of the people they picked…

(I pretty much stopped speculating with other people, due to the affect it was having on my self esteem.)

And then I had an idea:

Me: Maybe it’s my driving record…
A friend who shall remain nameless: I’ll pull your record for you at work, but you can’t tell anyone…

(I hope this doesn’t count as telling anyone)

Guess what I found out?

I have a careless driving citation from our road trip to Montana in 2007 which is, apparently, a pretty serious ticket.

Nevermind the fact that I got the ticket by being on the inside of a semi that was turning right. He was in the middle lane and I was in the turn lane and didn’t see his signal. If that’s careless driving, then you can call me guilty!

So that, coupled with the video where I’m driving with my knee? I’m thinking it was a lethal combination. Which, in hindsight, is pretty funny, if you really think about it.

Besides, who really wanted to spend all that time editing video anyway. Bah!]