Category: General

The topics covered here didn't fall into one of my usual categories.

Sunday Paper

Pastor Drew Downs asks whether we could build a wall around the United States.

We’ve already built a wall. Not the best wall. Not a wall another country has paid for. We haven’t built a literal wall.
We’ve built our wall of isolation. Entrenched ourselves, and dug in for perpetual war.
We took a moment of terror and became the bull in a china shop stung by a bee. And we take the wrath of God to the rest of the world as we see fit.
We’ve built a wall.
- CAN WE BUILD A WALL? REFUGEES, IMMIGRATION, AND HOSPITALITY

Chase Jarvis finally reveals what happened behind the scenes with Best Camera and the lessons learned from his experience.

What it comes down to is this: The first time you do something, it’s super hard. You’ll probably eff it up. The second or third time, you may be able to get it right on the first try. That’s just reality. It’s practice. Repetition breeds skill. Repetition breeds skill. Repetition breeds skill. So when you do inevitably faceplant, pick yourself up, brush off the dirt, and don’t make the same mistake twice.
- Chase Jarvis

John Kanabay, 2016 ISKA World Breaking Champion

John Kanabay is the Founder of Kickside Martial Arts, Co-Founder of NJMAA, International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Breaking Champion 2016, and North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA) World Top 10 Black Belt 2015 in Martial Arts. I met John Kanabay over 11 years ago when my kids signed up for Tae Kwon Do classes at his school in Skillman. The kids had seen him and some of his students perform at the Orchard Hill Elementary School cultural night. It seemed like it took forever, but both kids achieved black belt status.

All of these images were shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 camera body and Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens I rented from Lensrentals. The Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR lens is a fast-aperture normal range zoom for Fuji X-mount mirrorless cameras. I rented the camera for a weekend to take some photographs during the 2016 Montgomery FunFest. It was also a great way to field test the Fujifilm X-T2 and Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR.

Fujifilm X-T2 | Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 36.5mm | ISO 320 | 1/2500s | ƒ/4 | 25 September, 2016

John Kanabay. Founder of Kickside Martial Arts, Co-Founder of NJMAA, ISKA World Breaking Champion 2016, NASKA World Top 10 Black Belt 2015 in Martial Arts.

The Fujifilm X-T2 is a brand new and very modern mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC). I had read the reviews but wanted to experience the camera for myself and compare this iteration of the camera to the Fujifilm X-T1 I rented a few years ago. I knew from reading many reviews that it had a faster frame speed and viewfinder but an article may not capture the experience of using the camera. The camera performed better than I expected.

I set the shutter speed to 1/2500, fixed the aperture at f/8, but let the camera adjust ISO as needed. I thought settings for auto ISO mode were in the menu system and searched for it in vain only to discover that this is set via the ISO knob. I knew from the previous night shooting the high school football game that high ISO images are good on the X-T2. The camera captured 8 frames per second. It can go up to 14 frames per second but I didn't know how to change the setting.

Fujifilm X-T2 | Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 48.5mm | ISO 640 | 1/2500s | ƒ/4 | 25 September, 2016

The Fuji felt more robust but is 50g lighter (without lens) than my Nikon D5100. It's much thinner too. The camera reminds me of how it feels to use my Pentax P3 or my father's Asahi Optical Co. Pentax Spotmatic II. It has the look and feels of a classic film camera. I enjoyed operating the knobs. I had to fiddle with menus only a few times when setting up the focus points.

Fujifilm X-T2 | Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 48.5mm | ISO 640 | 1/2500s | ƒ/4 | 25 September, 2016

You can see a slow-motion action of these events on John Kanabay's Facebook page.

Fujifilm X-T2 | Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 36.5mm | ISO 640 | 1/2500s | ƒ/4 | 25 September, 2016

Imagine if that was your head?

Friday Night Lights at Montgomery High School

There is a best-selling book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, about this uniquely American pastime that occurs in many towns and communities. There is also a movie ,Friday Night Lights, based on the book, and an NBC television show based on the movie. H.G. Bissinger must be getting some fat royalty cheques.

A few weeks ago I attend one of the Montgomery High School football "Friday Night" lights games. I don't remember who the opposing team was but I was not there to watch the game. My daughter is in the high school marching band. This is her second year in the marching band. The band performs in the fall during the halftime of each football game. My wife and I are not into football. It's just not our thing. We've attended only a few games. To support our daughter we attend as many home games as we can tolerate.

One thing I don't get about American sports is cheerleaders. I asked one of the band parents about this. I was told that they cheer for the team. Oh, ok. Then what are the people -- the fans -- in the stands doing?

I talked to my friend Frank Veronsky who suggested that I get out from behind the fence and get near the sidelines for some action shots. It was also a great way to field test the Fuji X-T2 and Fuji XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens I rented from Lensrentals. The Fuji X-T2 is a brand new and very popular mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC). I had read the reviews but wanted to experience the camera for myself.

I was amazed at how well the Fuji X-T2 performed in the lighting on the field. I fiddled with the controls to set the ISO to auto but I had only had only just received the camera from Lenrentals.com that afternoon. I did not have much time to learn the controls before coming to the game. At least I was able to set the frame rate to a high of 8 frames per second.

Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 51.6mm , ISO 12800 , 1/400s , ƒ/5

Kiran usually hates it when I take photos of her. I have tried getting pictures of her with her bandmates but she often puts her hair across her face or covers the lens with her hands. This can be annoying for a parent who just wants a photo of the grand-daughter in her band uniform to share the grandparents. My efforts are usually thwarted.

Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 53.3mm ,ISO 12800 ,1/500s , ƒ/5
Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 55mm ,ISO 12800 ,1/500s , ƒ/5
Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 55mm ,ISO 12800 ,1/500s , ƒ/5

Not this time! I stood on the sidelines and captured images of the band performing, and I got some great shots to share with my mom and dad. Mission accomplished.

Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 55mm ,ISO 12800 ,1/1000s , ƒ/2.8
Fuji X-T2 + Fujinon XF16-55mm R LM WR @ 55mm ,ISO 12800 ,1/1000s , ƒ/2.8