Reflections

In This Issue:

• Why take photos?
• AUA (Ask Us Anything - a Gary and Tony video event)
• Seminars, the Next Generation
• Two new ebooks out!!
• 15 things about the Sony A1 you probably didn't know (even if you read all the online reviews)
• More!

Why Do We Take Pictures?

Vietnam, 2018

Well, I can tell you my story.  For most people, the reason is so we can have snapshots.  Snapshots jog a neuron in the person looking at it, and bring back a fond memory (but not to others who don't have the shared experience).

For me it’s a little different.   Like a lot of people, I grew up reading National Geographic and I fell in love with the idea that these photographers were out exploring the world and bringing back stories.  I had built the association in my mind that owning a camera somehow gave you that license to explore – to see places you’ve never seen, and meet people you’d never otherwise have a chance to meet.

My Last Post about the "Monster Adapter" (LA-EA4r)

The Monster adapter was originally mentioned in my blog post from July, 2020.  It is a printed circuit board designed to replace the one in Sony's LA-EA4 adapter, allowing your Sony and Minolta A-mount lenses to benefit from the new features (like tracking and Eye-AF) found in most modern E-mount bodies.  (The biggest benefit going to owners of the Minolta 500mm f/8).  I've been playing with this adapter since last July, essentially being a beta tester and keeping a private email list heavy on details to those who expressed interest early on.

The product has matured significantly since that time, and just recently I created a video comparing Sony's new LA-EA5 (which only works on 3 camera bodies - the A1, the A7R IV, and A6600) with the LA-EA4r "Monster Adapter" which works on most bodies having phase-detect AF baked into the sensor.  Which one is better?  And will I take on this product personally?

Geeking with Gary - Cloud Server on a Raspberry Pi

[Editor's note: This has little to do with photography.  I do this from time to time.]

Two Christmases ago someone gave me a Raspberry Pi.  You know, a full single-board computer which runs Linux and can pretty much do anything for a whopping $35 U.S. dollars.  “Hey, I’m a geek, and I hate that Dropbox' free account limits me to only three computers.  I have this single-board computer and a 2 TB hard drive lying around.  I’ll turn that little board into my own personal cloud server, so I can access my files from anywhere in the world - for free!  AND I can configure it to be my own personal Virtual Private Network (VPN) - also for free!  Muahahaha!!  What could possibly go wrong?”