The point is to see if I can save money, so I wanted to use what I already had without having to buy any additional hardware. We live in an area where over the air broadcast would require a large and expensive antenna, so over the air broadcasts don’t work for me. I also don’t want to pay for a new Tivo or build a home theater PC to record and playback shows. That leaves me with only using online delivery providers like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or iTunes. I currently have a Roku but no AppleTV, so iTunes is out of the equation. Netflix doesn’t offer current programming, but we do watch a lot of  shows from their instant catalog. I’ve never looked into Hulu, but I don’t think I need to.

I found that I can get almost all of the shows I watch on Amazon. Here’s the breakdown:

The only current shows I can’t get are Person of Interest and Dexter. We already don’t get Dexter and wait for Netflix to have it, so nothing really changes there. Person of Interest I enjoy, but since I have more shows to watch than time to watch them I wouldn’t feel bad about waiting until that was available on Netflix or via Amazon (which I assume will happen at some point). All the others add up to a pretty good chunk of cash to lay out at one time, so I would probably not buy them all at once.

I currently pay just under $58 per month for DirectTV, or just under $700 a year. My savings would be substantial, well over $400 a year,  if I only purchased the shows I want instead of paying for a bunch of channels we never watch, but we would be making some sacrifices.

First, I wouldn’t get any live sports – no NFL, no SF Giants, nothing. I’m not a huge sports fan and honestly am disgusted by the egos of most players. If people put as much effort and energy into schools as they do into fantasy leagues, our kids would be doing amazing things. So I wouldn’t miss sports that much.

The other thing we would miss is the award shows. The only one I watch is the Oscars, but others in my house occasionally watch other award shows. I’m not all that impressed with Hollywood these days either. They put out crap and complain that no one goes to movies. I’d rather spend $30 on a season of the Amazing Race than $9 on some recycled story with overblown special effects, so my interest in the Oscars grows weaker every year. Besides, I have a lot of friends who have Oscar parties that I could attend.

So the bottom line is that I would be better off dropping DirectTV and just using Amazon and Netflix to provide my shows. I’ve been wanting à la carte programming for a while, turns out I can have it now and didn’t know it.

For the month of January (which is rapidly flying by) I’m shooting the color blue as part of the 2012 Photo Challenge. These are my first two shots.

From The World Outside

From Numbers

Taken with my Holga 120N, Kodak 120 TMAX 400 film, scanned on my HP C3150, film processed and printed by Marin Film Works

I can’t even remember what kind of camera I started taking pictures with, but it was a film camera. My first memories of photography are with a Polaroid and I owned a Kodak disc camera at around the age of 8 or 9. There’s something about the quality of film that digital cameras just can’t replicate. And then there’s the Holga, offering a unique qualities even beyond what traditional film cameras offer.

I got a Holga 120N mostly to experiment and see what I could come up with. I’ve actually had the camera for a long time, but have only developed two rolls of film. Developing costs almost as much as the camera. The first roll was a learning experience and the photos are nothing I care to share with the world. This shot is from the second roll which had a few good shots. I had the film developed last week and found shots from six months ago on the roll. The surprise of remembering what you shot is part of the appeal of film, you forget what shot until it’s developed and are pleasantly surprised when you see the prints.

I plan to get the next roll shot and processed in a much shorter time span, maybe a couple of months. I’m still learning and haven’t perfected the focusing technique (if it even exists). I do like the quality of the lens, I just need to work on the shot selection and composition. Exposure is what is, you don’t get a lot choice. I’ll probably try a couple of flash shots as well just to see what happens.

The prints are much better than the scans, probably because my scanner isn’t that great. I’m not sure paying the extra money for scanning during development is worth since I only had two or three “keepers” in this roll, but I do like the prints. There’s something magical about holding the image in your hand, even if the photo isn’t great.

Over the past year I pretty much abandon blogging, and to a large extent photography. I still took pictures of the family and while on vacation, but I didn’t spend much time just taking pictures. I tried to get into the August 2010 Photo Challenge, but only managed 19 shots. 2010 was an off year all around for me. This year I’m trying to get back into shooting more photos for myself. I was hoping www.photochallenge.org would have some good themes to keep me motivated, but it looks like the site is on hiatus. (I sincerely hope new challenges come up soon.)

I decided I needed to come up with my on themes and Numbers is one I’ll be working on all year. Numbers are all around us and define much of our lives. We see them in everywhere we go and in almost everything we do. I’ve decided to try to take photos of as many numbers as possible this year, focusing on numbers below 1000.  I came up with a few guidelines for myself:

• No addresses unless it’s a really compelling shot. It’s just too easy to get numbers from homes or businesses, and I want this to be a little challenging.
• No repeating the same subject. I could take a lot of number shots of speed limit signs, but that will get boring fast. Part of the challenge is to find different subjects as well as numbers.
• Don’t use the same number twice. So far this hasn’t been a problem, but I did add two shots of the number 4 to the set. One was taken long before I started this project, but was the kind of shot I want to do.
• Try to get just a number by itself, without other words or other numbers. For example, a keyboard has numbers, but it’s hard to get each number by itself, although it could make an interesting macro. I’m not to let this limit my shots, but the point is to focus on numbers.

So far I’ve taken nine shots for this project this year and have started a set on Flickr. I’ll add to it as much as possible throughout the year.

There’s something magical about Yosemite in the winter. It’s always awe inspiring, but a fresh dusting of snow adds another level of amazing to the valley. We spent a few days up there between Christmas and New Year’s just to relax and enjoy some time away. As usual, I left longing for more.

Yosemite is a photographers paradise. Everywhere you turn there is something to shoot, and usually a crowd of people taking the same picture. The challenge is avoiding crowds and finding an original shot (if that is even possible). I go into Yosemite knowing the best shots have already been taken and I won’t create a new masterpiece, but I might create my own masterpiece. I go there to take pictures that are mine. Even though a millions of people take the same picture of Half Dome, I still want to take my own. If I’m happy with the shots I take, then it was a good trip. I’ve put all the shots I thought were good enough to share in a set on Flickr.

My favorite places to shoot on this trip were:

• The meadow along Northside Drive, between Yosemite Village and the Ahwahnee Hotel. It has one of the best views of Half Dome.
• Tunnel View on Hwy 41, right before the Wawona Tunnel
• El Capitan meadow
• Along the Merced River between Swinging Bridge and Sentinel Bridge. (I don’t think you can walk in this area off trail except when there is snow on the ground. Stay on trails and help protect the grasses.)

My favorite places change with the seasons. My next trip later this year will include a hike to the top of Half Dome, so I expect that will be my favorite spot. If you’re planning a trip I highly recommend the Lonely Planet Yosemite National Park guide. It is a invaluable resource.

One bummer about the trip, I realized my Sigma 17-70mm lens is not auto focusing properly, especially for wide shots. It’s not off on every shoot, but enough that I don’t trust it. I’ll probably have it repaired at some point, but for now I’ll switch back to the Canon 17-55mm kit lens or go manual. It sucks to have a lens that’s only 18 months old break. I noticed the shots I took with my Canon 70-300mm were much sharper.

I’ve been so fascinated with my iPhone camera that I haven’t been using the DSLR nearly as much as I should. I’ve never had my own point and shot, so this filled a need for me. And the Best Camera app with built-in uploading to the Best Camera site makes sharing easy. You can also  send Twitter and Facebook updates when you upload to let your friends an followers know about your photos. My Best Camera photos are at http://bestc.am/photographers/4453.

The beauty of the Best Camera app is in its simplicity. It’s easy to apply and stack filters to images, then save and upload them. The one tool I would like is a crop tool, but the  Photoshop app has that so I can crop there and process and upload in Best Camera. Best Camera also tends to blow out the highlights, but again Photoshop can help with that. And it’s a cool effect sometimes. The app is well worth the $2.99. If you need convincing, just check out the winners feed of the best shots from Best Camera users.

At this point my iPhone has as much value to me as a photographer as my DSLR. I can’t imagine not having a camera that uploads directly to the web.

The truly funny thing is that 75% of the people that view this page end up buying the item for $1Million. I wish I could afford a VHS-C adapter. Not that I have a VCR anymore, but wouldn’t it be cool to show your friends at the next kegger. Those poor suckers that opted for the adapters under $20 just don’t understand the true value of this adapter. And there’s only one left, so you’d better buy it right away. Shipping is only $99, so it’s steal.

You might also consider the bundle that comes with a Super High-grade VHS-c Videocassette 4 pack and a Nickel Cadmium Camcorder Battery For Panasonic PV-BP18 for only $1,000,023.60.

This past weekend was the annual Tribute to American Graffiti car show in Petaluma. I’m not much of a car aficionado, but I love seeing all the old cars. I don’t get into the engines and mechanics of the cars, I just like the aesthetics of the old cars.  There’s something about the designs that car makers just can’t replicate in cars today. The car show takes over downtown with more cars than I could count, a couple hundred easily.

This year I went with my father-in-law who grew up in Detroit. He likes the classics to be original and stock. I tend to agree with him, but I appreciate the craftsmanship and originality that goes into some of the hot rods. As we walked by the cars he would say things like “My brother had this exact car” or “My uncle had this car”, and so on. His knowledge of the American cars pre-1970 is astonishing. It really added a lot to car show to hear stories of people who drove the same cars in everyday life.

I took a couple of hundred photos with over 60 that I liked. I’m still processing and uploading them to Flickr and Zooomr. I have a set on Flickr with shots from this year. There’s also shots from the 2008 car show in a separate set.

Netflix’s stated reason: “Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs” That is BS. I just checked the prices on Quantum of Solace at Amazon. The two-disc collector’s edition on Blu-Ray is $19.99 while the two-disc collector’s edition on DVD is $20.99. The Blu-Ray is actually cheaper! Maybe those are sale prices, but it shows the downward trend in Blu-Ray pricing. Then consider the fact that Netflix is buying in bulk and not paying anything near retail on a per disk basis. I’d like to know how much more Blu-Ray disks actually cost Netflix.

My Netflix account is $16.99 per month, with the new Blu-Ray charge it will be $20.99, about the cost of a Blu-Ray movie. The major difference is that I can go buy the Quantum of Solace Blu-Ray today, but I can’t get it from Netflix for a “very long” time.  Wait times for new release Blu-Ray titles are always “Very Long Wait”. So I get to pay more money for what is already an inferior service offering. Couple that with the fact that I rarely get  Blu-Ray movies from Netflix and this looks likes extortion. In the last year I’ve averaged about one Blu-Ray per month from Netflix, but now I’ll be paying a price that assumes all three of the rentals I have out are Blu-Ray. Even if I paid $1 per Blu-Ray, I’d still be paying less per year than the new price increase.

So what will I do? Vote with my wallet. Like many other Netflix customers, I’m dropping the Blu-Ray option. I’ve been keeping an eye on Twitter today, and from what I see people are pissed and aren’t going to pay the extra money. It’s not a lot of money, but money isn’t the point. It’s the idea that Netflix needs to charge extra for something that really doesn’t cost them that much, and the charge is not equitable based on usage. If every title I wanted to watch was available on Blu-Ray and I didn’t have to wait for them, I’d consider the extra charge. But that is not reality and the bulk of what I watch is not on Blu-Ray.

I’m joining the hordes of other Netflix subscribers and dropping the Blu-Ray option, and I’m reducing my DVD plan from 3 to 2 to save even more money. I think I’ll donate that $40+ year to a charity that could really use the money. Netflix seriously needs to reconsider this massive blunder.

I’m back to shooting for the 2009 Photo Challenge this week with this shot for the Curves theme.  We took a day trip to Bodega Bay to do some whale watching, but the wind was furious and the surf too wild to see anything.  Fortunately, the tide was low so the tide pools were easily accessible.

The wind was definitely a force of nature yesterday. The Sonoma Coast can get darn windy, but yesterday was something else. I was worried about sand blasting my camera so I kept it tucked into my jacket when I wasn’t shooting. The wind literally pushed my 6 year old backwards as she walked and our parked mini-van was shaking from the wind. We didn’t spend a lot of time out in the elements, but long enough for this shot of natural curves.

I took a dozen or so shots of these mussels trying to get the curves just right, but in the end none of the shots compared to how they look in nature. The patterns and colors were truly spectacular if you took the time to appreciate it. Most people gravitate to star fish or sea anemones, but these guys are worth a look.

I took last week of the 2009 Photo Challenge off.  I just couldn’t get into the theme – Emotion. Emotional shots to me can’t be planned. I knew there was no way I could take an honest emotional shot given that I work full time. I see a lot of joy and happiness in my kids, but I didn’t want to use them as subjects. I’m also not entirely comfortable taking pictures of strangers. That is an area I need to work on, but I don’t think the Photo Challenge is the right venue.