This is The Digital Story Podcast #930, Jan. 16, 2024. Today's theme is "Looking Back and More, Now 2024." I'm Derrick Story.
Opening Monologue
Every January I close out my personal photo library from the previous year and start fresh with an empty catalog. Not only is this a practical endeavor, it's also an opportunity to acknowledge the highlights of the previous year. Today, I share the benefits of this annual exercise. I hope you enjoy the show.
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Looking Back and More, Now 2024
Despite my trials and tribulations in the past with Apple's Aperture, I still create annual libraries and store the neatly bundled catalogs in my multi-level archival system.
Why? It's just the way my brain works. I measure my life's journey signpost by signpost, year by year. Plus, I've discovered some additional benefits to this practice, a few of which I'm going to share today.
The Technical Part
By way of review, I maintain two personal libraries. The first, Photos, is totally automatic. I take a picture with my iPhone, it's added to my Photos library, backed up in iCloud, and that's that.
But I also have a Capture One Catalog. Pictures from my OM-1, X100V, and Nikon Zf are stored and edited here. Compared to the iPhone catalog, these images are more measured, captured in RAW, edited with C1P's excellent adjustment tools, and organized using its catalog tools.
Often, there is some topic duplication between the catalogs. And this is a good thing. Let's take our workshop in Sedona, AZ for example. My iPhone pictures go directly into Photos, while the images from the OM-1 are stored in Capture One Pro.
If I want to locate a shoot from years past, I can rely on the A.I. object recognition tools in Photos to help me remember the month and year. Who knows, I might even have an image there that suits my needs.
But if I want the more "serious" shots, I know exactly which Capture One Catalog to open. It saves me a tremendous amount of time. And it allows me to rotate off my laptop drive those big image libraries from previous years.
The Fun Part
So the technical part is all good and well. Every one of us has our own system for managing and retrieving pictures. But I've discovered an added benefit too. One that I hadn't anticipated.
It's easy to forget how much cool stuff happens in just a single year. Sure, we may still be basking in the glow of an event from last week, or even last month. But a couple of seasons ago. Those can get buried beneath the rigors of day-to-day life.
This short stroll down memory lane reminds me that 2023 was a better year than I realized. And it helps me appreciate the good fortune of my life. Want to join me for a quick trip?
[review highlights from my 2023 catalog.]
As a result of this exercise, I have a much more complete memory of my past year. Sure it had its challenges. There's a substantial 8-week lull when I was laid up with my recovery from the total joint replacement in my hip. But I still managed to take pictures around the house to maintain my sanity.
We are so busy, so distracted, and at times, so frustrated with daily life. It's easy to lose perspective. But looking back on my past year in pictures adds balance to my view of 2023. And it helps me appreciate the good moments in life all the more.
The Camera Accessory That Saved My Workflow? Peak Design Tech Pouch Review
You can read the entire article on FStoppers.com
If you're like me, you have a whole bunch of small photography bits--cables, connectors, SD cards, batteries, and more--in your camera bag. If you were to use a different bag, you'd have to take all of them out and transfer them over. That's how I lived for the first couple of years of my career, and it was awful.
I would always be triple- and quadruple-checking to make sure I had everything, sometimes forgetting which pocket I had moved it to and having to dig around in a panic. That's when I had to find a better way. Enter the Peak Design Tech Pouch.
For months, I started looking at different tech organizers to ideally hold all the random bits that I had between my camera bags. At the time, there were fewer competitors to the tech pouch. What I saw with the others was that they were either more tech/note organizers for office workers carrying far fewer things at once, or they were full sling bags, and I really wasn't looking for either. All I wanted was a simple organizer with photographers in mind that could handle all my random crap and move it seamlessly between bags.
While it is larger than other tech organizers, I find the size just about perfect to fit in the extra space of a camera bag. It's not so big that it's in the way of other gear that you could be carrying. It's also not too small that it can't carry everything that you need it to.
Having used this for a few years now, I can confirm that it is built to last. I try to be gentle with my gear as I like it to last a while, but I definitely don't baby things. Through all the time of use, this bag hardly has a blemish on it, let alone any substantial damage. All the external and internal zips work great, and still keep things dry if it's a rainier day.
Spring in Sedona Photography Workshop
April 16-19, 2024 - TDS photographers return to the greater Sedona, AZ area, but this time during the Spring to view the landscape in a whole new way. We will explore iconic locations, picturesque landscapes, mysterious vortexes, and towns frozen in time from the mining days. What a great way to kick off our 2024 workshop season!
You can learn more and reserve your spot by clicking here. Hope to see you in April!
The 'Millennium Camera' Will Capture Arizona's Landscape for 1,000 Years
You can read the entire article on PetaPixel.com
An experiment organized by University of Arizona research associate and experimental philosopher Jonathan Keats, the Millennium Camera is meant to record an extremely long-exposure image that won't be complete for 100 decades.
The concept of the camera isn't too far removed from the beer can camera that Regina Valkenborgh set up at the Bayfordbury Observatory in the United Kingdom in 2012. In that case, the pinhole-style camera was in place for eight years and one month and captured what was at the time believed to be the longest exposure photo ever made.
If it works as planned, Keats' Millennium Camera will have that record beat by a lot more. It uses a similar pinhole design as Valkenborgh's beer can camera, but has elements made to extend the time the camera will operate. That pinhole leads to a thin sheet of 24-karat gold that will slowly let light through to a small copper cylinder mounted on top of a steel pole. Over the course of 1,000 years, the landscape in front of the pinhole camera will slowly fade a light-sensitive surface that is coated in thin layers of rose madder (an oil paint pigment), The University of Arizona explains.
In 100 decades, future humans will hopefully be able to open the Millennium Camera to reveal a long-exposure image of the area through all of the changes Tuscon will undergo. That is, of course, the hope anyway.
"One thousand years is a long time and there are so many reasons why this might not work," Keats says. "The camera might not even be around in a millennium. There are forces of nature and decisions people make, whether administrative or criminal, that could result in the camera not lasting."
If it does work, however, Keats says that the final image will likely show the longest-lasting features -- like mountains and rocks -- sharpest while the most dynamic parts such as the city itself will be softer. "Sharp" is also used loosely, as the land itself is not completely stable and will experience subtle motion over the extended exposure time.
The Millennium Camera is currently installed on Tumamoc Hill next to a bench that faces west over the Star Pass neighborhood of Tuscon. With it is a small plaque that encourages visitors to imagine what the future holds.
Virtual Camera Club News
The Nimble Photographer Newsletter is now publishing every Thursday. Readers will enjoy a variety of content spanning from short photo essays, to commentary on weekly events, to reviews of the latest and coolest photo gear.
TDS Workshops! - You can sign up for available workshops by visiting The Nimble Photographer. Inner Circle Members receive a 10-percent discount on all events.
Inner Circle Members: A big thanks to those who support our podcast and our efforts! We are having a blast at our new Inner Circle hangout, the private group I've set up at DerrickStoryOnline. We'd love it if you join us. You can become an Inner Circle Member by signing up at our Patreon site. You will automatically be added to the new hangout.
Great Photography Articles on Live View - If you check out our publication and appreciate what you see, be sure to follow us and clap for those authors. You can find us at medium.com/live-view.
If you're interested in writing for Live View, drop me a line at dstory@gmail.com.
The New Donation Kit for Carefree Shipping of Found Film Cameras - If you've discovered a film camera that's no longer being used, our new Donation Kit makes it easy to pack and ship. Just visit the Contact Form on thenimblephotographer.com, click the box next to Donating a Film Camera, and let me know what you have. In your note, be sure to include your shipping address.
Affiliate Links - The links to some products in this podcast contain an affiliate code that credits The Digital Story for any purchases made from B&H Photo and Amazon via that click-through. Depending on the purchase, we may receive some financial compensation.
Red River Paper - And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.
See you next week!
You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.
