The Online Photographer

I'm only going to take one more day off, Wednesday. I felt much better today, about on schedule, but I'm very tired.

Back soon! Apologies again for these outages.

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Ray Hunter: "It isn't just the artery access healing (as if that was trivial), it's also the invasive nature of the procedure (running the tube into your body and injecting the dye). While it is no small miracle for modern science to achieve all this, your body will want plenty of time to recover from the stress of it all, including being strapped on a stretcher and given a joy ride in the ambulance. And the stress of waking to find angels at the foot of your bed! It all adds up. There isn't a test to accurately measure the stress, and only you will know when it has subsided."

Phil: "Mike, When I had my angiograph, they entered through a vein in my groin. When it was over, two nurses held a stainless steel 'egg' over the wound area for several hours, taking 15-minute turns. I had to stay on my back for two hours, which is hard to do, and they would make sure I didn't move. And I could not get up for I think it was 12 hours.

"I got even though. When I went back a week later to see the cardiologist, I fainted when the nurse was prepping me for a monitor. When I came to, I was surrounded by the doctor and about 10 nurses, on the floor in the doorway into the hallway. Each had a specific duty, one to watch my pulse, one on blood pressure, one checking my breathing, etc. I apologised for causing such a fuss, and the Dr. said, 'don't worry, we practice once a month for this, and this is great to have the real thing for a change.' They ended up calling an ambulance and taking me to a different hospital for another angiograph."

En route to Rochester in the snow. That's my nether half under the sheet.

I got home last night and I was able to sleep in my own bed. Here's the story....

But first, I’m in the first day of a four-day recovery, during which I am not supposed to type! Me, not supposed to type?! So I’m getting a little inventive with writing this post. I’m dictating it to my iPhone, and then I’m going to send it to myself, and then make corrections with my left hand—so I can both write a post and also follow nice nurse Kelly's photocopied orders. :-)

[UPDATE: The no typing thing is because of the pierced artery at the wrist that needs time to heal. I have a friend who had this procedure and unthinkingly flung open a heavy door at a gas station. His artery reopened and before he got back to the hospital he had lost so much blood it took him three months to fully recover. Sounded like a pretty scary situation. Typing this with my left hand.]

Yesterday I had a coronary catheterization, also known as an angiogram, something I imagine some of you are familiar with firsthand from one direction or the other. (My iPhone capitalized "One Direction." Hilarious.) They open an artery in your wrist and stick a little plastic tube up your arm to the upper chambers of your heart, inject some dye and then watch what happens—looking mainly for blood flow, leakage, and blocked arteries.

It's a "procedure," not a surgery, and it capped off two days in two hospitals, the result of a worrying 27-hour period of irregular heartbeat that left me feeling poorly. The technical name for it is atrial fibrillation or "a-fib." I called my regular doctor and explained my symptoms to the nurse, and she told me I had to go to the emergency room.

After a pause I said, “You mean today?”

I wish I could have a recording of the tone of her voice when she said “Yes, I mean today. I mean right now.” (My ability to grasp the obvious is usually greater than that of a 12-year-old.)

I’m actually kind of happy it all happened. Back in Wisconsin where my a-fib was first diagnosed, they were never able to observe it. I’ve experienced it many times over the intervening years, but it’s never been treated. Now I know two things. First is that my chest pain and shortness of breath was not a heart attack, which has to be good; the other is that I don’t have any blocked arteries. My heart is healthy; it's just a bad drummer. Can't keep time.

I’m betraying my current lonely single status here, but there was a nice silver lining to my odyssey among hospitals, which was that I got to spend two days surrounded by women. On Friday I woke up to find seven or eight official-looking doctors and nurses circling the end of my bed, all of whom happened to be female. I said, “Uh-oh. Should I be worried about this?"

One of the doctors quipped, “you’re probably just not used to waking up and finding this many women in your bedroom," and I said, “well—not for a long time at least!" and they laughed. At least they were in good moods. (A better joke might have been, "I just thought for a second I was in heaven," but I didn't think of it in time.)

That day I was taken by ambulance to Rochester, an hour and a half away, to the Cath Lab at Strong Memorial Hospital.

I know my brief circuit was utterly routine for all the medical professionals involved, but it was an exotic and new experience for me, so I get to mention that I'm thankful and appreciative for the attention and care I got from a number of friendly and efficient professionals—Christy and Suzanne, Dr. Prull, Greta, Julia, Sherry, Tracy, and Kelly are the names I recall, although I’m grateful to all. (Including the males!)

And my apologies to Holly, who had to talk me down when I suddenly became intent on going home in the middle of the night. My emotional age is usually more than 12. (That's my theme here and I'm stickin' to it.)

Finally, I'm never again going to say that I have nobody in this area I can count on. Special thanks to Pete, my neighbor, who took good care of my dogs on short notice; Dave and Eric, who came to visit in the hospital; Eric and Jerry, who drove all the way up to Rochester to retrieve me and bring me home; and Sarah, who gave me an excellent four-hour crash course in heart-healthy eating when I got home.

So now I’m not supposed to type until Tuesday or Wednesday. Really? We’ll see how that goes.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Tommy Brown: "Mike, You're very fortunate to have Strong to go to for care. As good as it gets!"

Geoffrey Meyer-van Voorthuijsen: Though I don't comment regularly, your blog has been an almost daily constant in my life for almost as long as you've been at it, so it is good to hear that your heart is generally healthy. Still it must have been a bit scary, and I hope treatment is successful and not too onerous."

Tex Andrews: "As others have expressed, glad you are OK! I'll add that for a thoughtful, quiet single guy out in the country, you sure do lead an exciting life...."

RubyT: "I am so relieved. I think I refreshed the page at least 100 times to see if you were back. When my father-in-law had similar symptoms he didn't want to go in, and my parents convinced him. They not only kept him overnight, he had an emergency quadruple bypass (it was a triple when they went in, but they found another one). That was in 2003, and he is still here. I'm glad to read it sounds like are, too, even if you have to refrain from typing for a few days."

Mike replies: Your father-in-law just became an inspiration. Whoops, I typed that.

John Berger: "I might be an 'advanced amateur' in photography but I am a seasoned professional when it comes to a-fib. Noticed first acute symptoms in my late 50s with very irregular heartbeat and a peculiar breathlessness, as if after running aggressively but just can't catch breath. Classic hospital bed scene, scurry and flurry of doctors, nurses, aides, equipment and distraught wife, with medical gel on the chest and paddles at the ready, ominous machine revving up with flashing status lights. Crazy doctor babble about STOPPING MY HEART AND THEN (hopefully) RESTARTING. I watched E.R. I know where this is going. But no, meds in IV feed seem to do the trick, and the crazy heart rhythm subsides, and crisis averted. Fifteen years later at age 73 I have a simple Rx of twice daily Metoprolol that somehow eliminates the erratic heartbeat, and now, since age 72, Eliquis to reduce risk of blood clots that can come from normal aging and that may be a result of any poor blood circulation efficiencies from possible a-fib flares.

"My prognosis is an active standard lifestyle, and no limits on activity except my own motivation. Other than the inconvenience of stocking and taking the Rx, there are no symptoms or indicators whatsoever. Unless I forget a couple of doses, and I feel that odd knocking about in my chest—I take my meds, and within just a few minutes, back in normal rhythm. Say what you like about life's adventures but a normal rhythm is pretty nice to have—realized when you have been without one for a while.

"So there you have it...soldier on and pay attention to your medical professionals, but be in charge of your own program. Of course, such an experience may lead to re-examining your past present and future in a different light, but that is not a bad thing. We were all worried about you, but with proper care and medication, you should soon be back to you normal routines. Good Luck and may the light be with you!"

Robert Fogt: "Looking at your ambulance photo reminded me of an event some few years ago, when I experienced an episode of 'transient global amnesia.' (First thought to be a TIA, or 'mini stroke.') Wouldn't leave home in that ambulance without my little Canon S95. In the ER, the nurse turned and asked, "Are you taking a picture of me?" And my wife explained simply, 'That's what he does.' Maybe it's a photographer's kind of whistling in the dark? Keep on the mend, Mike."

Speed: "Mike wrote in part, 'The no typing thing is because of the pierced artery at the wrist that needs time to heal.' When I worked in Cardiovascular Research, for our studies we inserted a tube into a patient's vein and pushed the tip into the heart. This is analogous to what Mike had done except that Mike's artery is a high-pressure tube (like a water pipe) and a vein is a low-pressure vessel (like a kitchen drain). We told our patients to rest and not use their arm (the one we poked) for at least 24 hours and for the most part that worked fine. In addition to patients, we did studies on normal (not-sick) volunteers—usually co-workers. They were also told to rest and not use their arm but since they weren't sick and had taken a couple of hours off work for the study they went right back to work. Occasionally they would come back the next day with pain and a huge swollen bruise where we had inserted the catheter. We changed our post-study instructions to make them more assertive. And scary."

Two news blips for ya: 1. Gordon Lewis has agreed to help me try out the Skype-interview-conversation mode for an audio file. We'll see if we can make it work. 2. There's a Sony A7III and Zeiss 55mm ƒ/1.8 ZA lens winging its way to me as we speak. I didn't request it; my contact at B&H, Izzy, asked me if I'd like to review an A7III and I said sure. Thanks Izzy. He's great.

Oh, and one more news blip: I finally found the picture I was missing for the Must-Be-Color Baker's Dozen. Finally remembered the guy's name and how to search for it. So that could actually happen this weekend. (I know it's already too late for the the people who were holding their breath.) It's your fault, though, people: I got something like 250 submissions and they're all good. My normal methods of editing aren't working as well as they usually do. Just too many good photographs.

Mike

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By the way, I should have added to the previous post that any postulated permanent podcast would be completely separate from TOP the written blog/website.

The service I'm looking at has a phone app that would have the podcast, links to B&H and Amazon, and (hopefully) updates about the latest posts on the website.

At this point I'm sort of imagining I might do a weekly podcast reading relevant sections of the posts from the week, plus some of the featured comments, and adding commentary to that.

Those of you who like the written posts needn't worry. That will always be the core of TOP and it's not in any danger (at all) of going away any time soon. (As Nelson Pass once pointed out, eventually the sun will expand, and after that the Universe will experience heat death. So I can't guarantee that TOP will always be there. But for the foreseeable, is what I'm saying.)

Mike

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Thursday Mar. 1 | Audio Version

Transcript

Hey everybody. This is Mike Johnston of the Online Photographer, coming to you from the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, in the USA. And this, believe it or not, is a podcast. Or maybe it's an Ur-podcast, or the zygote of a podcast or something. Or possibly I'm just playing around.

[Here's where the theme music would swell up if I had any idea what I was doing. You'll just have to imagine that. <—I forgot to read this line! Sorry.]

So, last week we were talking about video reviews of cameras, and most of the brilliant TOP Commentariat agreed with me that we prefer written reviews. That makes perfect sense, because I'm a writer and most of the people who read my words are people who read. So we all harrumphed happily together about the shortcomings of video reviews and the superiority of the written word. And I still agree with that.

So, cased closed? Maybe not quite. One commenter said something I thought was very astute, and as the next few days went by it stuck in my mind. His name's Jim. I don't have any other way of identifying him, because he didn't leave his email address. I'm going to read you what he wrote. I've edited this slightly, but here's what Jim had to say:

I second your comments re video vs. written reviews, and that from someone who has created over 100 highly technical videos, mostly lectures, that have over 2.5 million views. I have two 30-something techie kids, and I know other age groups, and I think the deal with video is 'CPA'—continuous partial attention. You cannot read an article and do much else, but you can watch a video with some attention and do other things.

The bane of our existence [Jim added] is the CPA on phone calls when you can hear the clicking of a keyboard in the background.

That last part made me laugh, because my brother Scott and I have a friend who does that. I think he knows who he is.

Well, the key phrase for me was that "CPA," continuous partial attention. And I think Jim's right about that. When you read, you have to sit in front of what you're reading and put your eyes on it. That means you have to give it your full attention, or something resembling your full attention. I can listen to music from my office on the porch when I cook, for instance, but I can't read while I cook. And I can listen to comedians on Comedy Central when I drive, but I can't read a novel when I drive. CPA or continuous partial attention is a real thing, I think, and, it seemed to me, that it's an actual advantage.

So I tried making a video of myself. I set my iPhone on the windowsill and read the post from February 20th from the computer screen while occasionally glancing at the camera lens. There were two problems with what I came up with. The first is that, from inside me, I'm 35 years old! But the camera somehow insists on showing a 61-year-old. Which happens to be my actual age, but that's not how I like to look at myself. If I made videos, I'm not sure I could stand to be reminded of the relentless march of time and my own mortality so remorselessly on such a regular basis. The other problem is stage fright. Stage fright is a funny thing. For instance, my personal experience of it is that I have no problem talking to fifteen students in a classroom, but I was borderline terrified of talking to 200 of the same students in an auditorium. I have no idea why that should be—it makes no logical sense—but that's the way it was. But stage fright doesn't just involve stages. Let me give you an example. Over the years I've invited several commenters to write posts for TOP—original posts—and in a couple of cases I've been surprised at how difficult it was for them. Their comments were casual, and relaxed, and confident, but when they tried to write whole posts their writing got stiff, and formal, and rigid. Something about the idea of writing formally for thousands of people gave them a version of stage fright. I would have a lot of trouble talking to two hundred of you in a room, but I have absolutely no problem writing for two thousand of you. Or twenty thousand. In fact, the more people there are out there reading, the better I like it. I would absolutely love to have a hundred thousand readers a day and I would have no trouble with that at all. The problem is that appearing in a video feels like the former to me, not the latter. It triggers my personal stage fright in a way that writing doesn't.

And then there's the issue of video production. I admire people who are good at video production, and I appreciate their work very much, but I just have no eagerness to learn it.

So anyway, the video experiment was pretty much a bust. It became clear to me quickly that I'm never going to learn how to produce TOP videos, and certainly not star in them, just as it's always been clear to me that I don't want to become a creative videographer. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

So I figured I'd experiment with a podcast version of The Online Photographer. My son Xander listens to podcasts on his way to work, and you could listen to TOP while you drive but you couldn't read TOP while you drive. So the news from here in the Finger Lakes this morning is that I've just unboxed my fancy new USB microphone—it's called a Blue Yeti—that came from B&H Photo yesterday, and I'm trying it out for the first time. This also might be the very first time in my life I've ever deliberately spoken into a microphone for any length of time, and I don't know yet how to make edits in GarageBand, so if this is going to become a regular occurrence, we will all just have to hope that I will get better at it as I go.

In the meantime, I'd like to hear what you think of the idea. The podcast, such as it is, if it ever comes to exist on a regular basis, will just be a spoken edition of what you can read for yourself on the site, so it would not replace most of the regular content. You'd still be able to come to the site and read it as normal. It would just be another way of getting the same information. But you could listen to it while you chop vegetables in the kitchen. And we all know how important it is not to be looking somewhere else while you energetically wield a razor sharp knife in close proximity to your fingertips. I don't know about you, but I'm clumsy, and when I chop vegetables I cut myself relatively easily.

Okay. So here is where you'll have to imagine my catchy sign-off, because I haven't come up with one yet. And...cue the imaginary music again. That's all.

Mike
(Thanks to Jim)

Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Len Salem: "Started listening to your podcast and had a shock! I've been following you since forever and always, always, in my head, you've had an English accent—in fact my own speaking voice. I realise that's pretty stupid, since I knew full well you must speak with what I call an American accent, not that I had ever given it any thought. So I wonder—does everybody read the written word in their own voice? Would an English speaking French person, for example, give you a French accent in their head?"

Mike replies: You just gave me a great idea for a prank, but it's too late. I should have read the first few paragraphs in a thick accent, to make people think that's the way I really talk, before letting them in on the joke. Rats! I wish I had thought of that!

...Many people don't like pranks, though. Maybe it's better I didn't.

Glen Rowe: "This is only my second time commenting on a TOP article, but I've been visiting almost daily for over five years. In fact, despite my primary interest in TOP being the photography articles, it was through Ctein's off-topic (OT) articles that I was inspired to become an aficionado of tea, and through your own OT articles that I started to follow professional snooker on YouTube. Thus, TOP has enriched my life in unexpected and much appreciated ways. Thanks for that! Today I am writing to let you know that I think your idea of doing an audio podcast version of each of your TOP articles is excellent, and you did a perfectly satisfactory and sufficient job of your first effort. To my mind, there is no need to make it any more sophisticated than it already is, unless you want to do so for your own interest."

Kenneth Tanaka: "Personally I'm not a fan of podcasts. They're background noise. People just blowing air out their...faces. I understand the attraction of people to produce them; they're easy and require no real thought or meaningful content, as listeners are almost certainly simultaneously doing something else. I do not listen to any podcasts and, sorry, would not listen to yours, either. I greatly prefer a more thoughtful, premeditated written presentation over intestinal gas."

Mike replies: Well, gee, Ken, I wrote out the script first, and then practiced reading it four times before I recorded it, revising the content and smoothing out the words as I went so they'd be easier to say. About the same degree of rewriting I do on any other post. Finally, I went over the text while listening to the recording—twice!—to make sure the two matched up. What's unpremeditated about that?

s. wolters: "Excellent Mike! If I only had read you proposal I probably would have reacted negatively. But you have a very good clear pleasant voice and you formulations are so good, that you could even present them in print.

"Interesting how things work and sometimes don’t. Laurel and Hardy were even better with sound than without. Chaplin was done.

"Some music is only good when playing it loud. Some music is good for background. Some music is for headphones. Only a few musicians are great at all levels. Grant Green is the first one that comes up. I can dream away with his playing or he can help me peeling the potatoes."

Dave Riedel: "A nice alternative and you have a pleasant speaking voice. I would enjoy future editions of the spoken TOP."

Jim Simmons: "I read TOP every day. I won't be listening to any TOP podcasts, as podcasts are outside my media consumption patterns."

Mike replies: You won't have to, Jim. I added an "addendum" post today that gives a little better idea of what I have in mind. I'm really not sure what, if anything, it will be—it's got to evolve naturally—but it won't replace the written posts.

Not THAT Ross Cameron: "Does this mean we have to post comments in kind?  :-)  "

Eric Rose: "Should we respond with audio files of our comments? Just joking."

Mike replies: Ross and Eric, I think Phil heard you:

Phil: "Hi Mike, Great idea. I have some observations and so I...recorded them. Cheers, 'Phil from Vancouver' P.S. Yes, this is very cheeky.  :-)  "

Bahi: "Loved this. You'd do really well on a podcast. Emailing you about doing one has been on my to-do list for years. Get guests on (using Skype). Thumbs up!"

John: "I hate podcasts even more than videos. There are bloggers I avidly read, but never listen to. Sorry, Mike."

M. Howard Edwards: "Mike—I have been reading you for nearly a hundred years. I do not need the podcast despite the melodious allure of your spoken voice."

Jamie Pillers: "I like it, I think. Lets have a few more, just to be sure.  :-)  "

JH: "I'm the 'Jim' who is behind that response. We have been doing tech lectures and seminars for close to 40 years and therefore have a reasonable knowledge of what makes an audience pay attention. I started doing videos for our tech customers over 30 years ago in the early VHS tape era. We've been using the Internet for video for about 15 years and YouTube for more than a decade.

"We have a big advantage over entertainment videos—our watchers are people who want to learn about some technical topic.

"Here are two examples: Fiber Optics 'Live' (90K views) and  How to 'Talk' Fiber Optics (65K views).

"We follow some very strict guidelines to developing one of these videos. We develop them as a seminar with PowerPoint slides and notes on each slide that is the script. We have several people who review it and help finalize it. Then we export PPT slides to JPEGs, import them into Apple iMovie along with any relevant video and overdub the narration on my Mac. All just like we would give a seminar. Then we export as a complete video and upload to YouTube.

"Part of our guidelines is one big issue—no talking heads! Most people hate looking at someone standing there talking, so we combine video and slides to provide relevant visuals. We do have a cartoon character we use in some of our videos—the guy on the title slide, and we've looked at animating him but even that seems lame.

"Do people pay attention to these videos? Well, I often have people come up to me at meetings and stare before interrupting and asking if I'm the guy in the FOA (Fiber Optic Association) videos. And many, many people have asked about our birds! We used to have a bunch of tropical birds in the house and in some of the videos you can hear them chirping happily in the background."

Eolake (partial comment): "Stagefright is indeed weird. I’ve given lectures, and appeared on radio programs with no problems at all, in fact it is tremendous fun. But once I phoned in to a radio program, and I almost seized up."

Neal: "You know what, Mike? Don't learn about editing. Just do podcasts like you did this one. When I read your posts, it feels like a conversation with a friend at a coffee shop. Nothing fancy, nothing formal, just casual chatting. That’s what we do when we chat, isn’t it? We choose a different word or phrase, mid word or phrase, we clear our throats, we just...well, chat. I get this feeling from Robin Wong, and I got it from Gordon Lewis when he wrote his Shutterfinger blog (and his occasional guest post here). I imagine if they did podcasts, they would sound like yours. Conversations with friends. The world could use more of them."

PaddyC: "TL;DR. Mind putting this in a video?"

Will Wright wrote:

What happened to the Baker's Dozen 'It Must Be Color?' did I miss something?

There are more than 200 entries to sort and sift. Sorry for the delay—I've been a bit sidelined by a surprisingly persistent virus that's been hanging on and on. A few days ago I had to take not one but two naps, and that after a good night's sleep! I've been in very good spirits, though, I must say.

Coming along sometime soon....

Mike

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Later this month, something new and unusual—the World Premiere of a brand-new, never-before-seen original film! I'm pleased and honored that my friend Bob Burnett has chosen The Online Photographer as the venue for the first public presentation of his new short film "Edward Hopper and Marshall's House."

You might recall that Bob wrote a post about Marshall's House here in 2015. After a working life creating short films for a far-flung clientele, this was a personal project for Bob.

Coming your way this month. Something to look forward to. (Let this also be the annual reminder to the forgetful amongst ye that Valentine's Day fast approacheth. "Forget it not.")

No comment
Speaking of comments, as I was in the previous post, yesterday we passed 200,000 of them. But that count doesn't include the featured comments, so it's low by one or two tens of thousands or so. A big blanket thank-you to everyone who has taken time to share their thoughtfulness with the rest of us across the years.

We had a lovely soft snowfall all day yesterday. However, you
should not shovel your driveway twice when you have the flu!

Finally, a further bit of housekeeping: I have been working (with TypePad's help) on transitioning to a mobile-friendly design. It will change the look of TOP and some of its features. But TOP is a great deep creaky edifice, a hodgepodge built helter-skelter. If, in the coming weeks, it disappears permanently, you'll know that we broke it and could not un-break it (and that Yr. Humbl. Ed., plunged into silence, is plummeting into penury with the velocity of a hawk falling on a rabbit). Keep your fingers crossed...that being as effective a hedge against disaster as anything.

Mike

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Yonatan K: "With the goal of increasing the comment count even further, I offer up this question...is the velocity of a hawk plunging on a rabbit the same as the velocity of a European sparrow tied to a coconut?"

Mike replies: It's the type of rabbit that's the problem. Some rabbits are no ordinary rabbits. They're the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodents you ever set eyes on.

...I've been sick for pretty much the last week. Classic, full-bore, multi-stage cold/flu, whatever it is (IANAD). Have not been at or near 100%.

I'm starting to feel better though. I'm at that aftermath stage where you have that lingering occasional cough, and residual congestion, and feel weak and tired. Right at this moment, I have a pretty strong urge to go lie down. At 10:19 in the morning. Even though I just got up three hours ago.

No biggie. I'll be fine real soon.

—Mike the Ed. of many hats

P.S. to the P.S.: On the good side, my voice was low and growly-smooth like Nat King Cole's for two or three days. That was fun. Still couldn't sing, of course.

I'm a terrible blogger. I'm feeling very sheepish about this morning's post. Here we are into the biggest shopping days of the year, and I'm linking to 42-year-old movies and an opaque, difficult-to-read book of essays on photography by a French post-Structuralist literary theorist. A deceased one, no less.

This would be pathetic if I weren't laughing at myself. It's like I haven't gotten the memo. Yeesh. If I go outta business, remember today....

Anyway, my links to shopping sites appear below, and if you wouldn't mind starting here for your virtual shopping jaunts, I'd be appreciative. Twelve years at this and Mikey still can't seem to focus.  :-\

(More coming up soon.)

Mike

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Dirk: "Well for what it's worth I enjoyed reading this morning's article and I just purchased an iMac through your link. So based off my sample size of one, I'd say you've got this nailed!"

Mike replies: That made me feel a little better. Thanks Dirk.

Manuel: "Aw c'mon, Camera Lucida is not that difficult to read. The central idea—should I cast a 'spoiler alert' here?—is that the photograph must have a subjective point of interest (in that it strikes you: the 'punctum') that's different from all objective considerations (the 'studium') in order to be significant to the viewer. The interest of the photograph is determined by that 'punctum,' which can be absent from highly regarded photographs and yet exist in banal family snapshots. It can be just a detail, as long as it grabs your sensitivity.

"I liked reading it—but then again I'm a complicated European man with an intricate frame of mind. And Barthes' choice of photographs is quite interesting: the book features photographs by Richard Avedon, August Sander, Andre Kertesz and, of course, William Klein. Besides, it's not everyday we have the privilege to read a book written by a philosopher who was run over by a laundry van. How existentialist is that?"

Michael Carrithers: "I lapped up the post about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I saw at noontime in a cinema in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India, which only redoubled the sainted weirdness. And I just bought a Fujinon 80mm macro lens for X cameras through your link, so I’m doing what a guy can to keep the fires burning. All best to you and yours at this tensely celebrating time of year."

Roger Bradbury: "You would think indeed that the writer of a photography blog would know how to focus, but what on?

"Going off on a tangent is good for the blog; your readers never know quite what to expect next, and this keeps the blog interesting. Rather that than a diet of predictable posts that are all very similar. I come here because that's exactly what I don't get. In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that you are not the only one round here who is easily distracted.  :-) "

I have gotten way behind on the comments. It's not entirely because I was slacking off—I should have caught up yesterday, but the site had some downtime and there were several back-end issues I had to contend with.

I will be working on catching up this morning and throughout the day. My apologies to all those whose comments have not appeared yet!  :-(  Please check the last several posts for new comments and Featured Comments as this beautiful day wears on.

—the Mike J. who's in charge of comment moderation

UPDATE: Just published seven new Featured Comments on the "Camera Nobody Makes (Digital TLR)" post.

UPDATE #2: Just added nine more Featured Comments in the "Future Christmas Presents" post.

I'm not ready with the new "Around the Web" feature yet, but it will be along ere long. Within the next week probably, the fortnight certainly. Sorry for the delay.

—Mike the slacker Ed.

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• Hate to say it, but being realistic I'm not going to get the Baker's Dozen post finished today. I didn't start working on it quite early enough. I will post it by tomorrow. It's a lot of work—just lots and lots of submissions and tough decisions. There were a lot of ways I could have gone with it. It's great, though. It was a blast for me to hear from so many readers and see so many quirky pictures.

• Just out of curiosity, did you enjoy Stephen's three-part GFX review? He's interested in maybe doing others. Not very many readers "reviewed his review." Tell me what you thought.

• Does anyone have any opinions about the Microsoft Surface Book 2 released today? I'm not used to this...M'soft products that make the Apple-y region of my brain go "uh-oh."

• Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Fall ended today here at TOP World HQ. We awoke to the first snow of the season. So beautiful. Sic transit....

Mike

Stephen Scharf responds @TOP readers:

Thanks, everyone, for the input on the reviews. I enjoyed writing it, so it was fun for me to do this 3-part review. I'd also like to thank Mike for serving as my editor; his suggestions, guidance and advice were invaluable in writing this series. Writing is a lot of work, so personally, I really appreciate the efforts our humble editor puts in every day for creating the quality of content at TOP that keeps so many of us coming back, day after day, year after year.

As a Six Sigma Black Belt professionally, I take all input, both positive and "constructively critical" as opportunities for continual improvement, or "kaizen" in Fujifilm terminology. The goal for me personally is to make some contribution, however small, to the wonderful community-at-large at TOP.

I'd be interested writing more reviews, and, in particular, I liked the suggestions from a number of folks of reviews of a camera that I've used for quite a while. I'm with everyone on the notion that the most useful reviews are ones based on real-world, long-term use.

Along those lines, I could write a review of the X-T2, which is a camera I've put through the ringer for over a year, including hard-core use for motorsports photojournalism. I know a number other TOP readers use the X-T2, so it would be fun to have them share their comments and experiences. Another camera I'm interested in reviewing is the (relatively new) Fuji X100F, comparing and contrasting it to the X100T, both of which I own.

Other ideas would be the Sony A9, A7R Mark III, Panasonic G9, etc. I would prefer not reviewing big, heavy, DSLRs, well, 'cause, I've been there, done that...13 years of shooting Canon 1D series was quite enough, thank you very much.

Maybe we could do a poll and the gang can vote on what they'd like to see next. If it's something I don't own, I'm happy to rent it and an appropriate lens.

Cheers, and thanks again for the input.

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Nick: "For me personally the GFX review was unnecessary. Plenty of review sites out there. I visit TOP for the non-review content."

Rob Stone: "Stephen’s review of the GFX was the most comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of this camera that I have read to date. His writing, informed by a background in R&D, manufacturing and marketing provides depth and insight to what this product has to offer the professional photographer. My wife and I are fine art photographers. We are finding it increasingly rare to find an equipment review that provides what we need to know when making a decision about whether or not this tool is the one that will do the job that we need to accomplish. This is journalism that is a value-added proposition for me as a reader and as a professional photographer when evaluating equipment that I require to deliver a finished product to our customers. I would definitely like to see more reviews of this caliber from Stephen."

Hi y'all, it's me in the present moment. Back again.

Coupla things: this Friday we'll publish the "Baker's Dozen." (if you've never heard the expression, a baker's dozen is 13 of something—from an old practice whereby if you bought a dozen of something, an extra was added for good measure. The term dates from the late 16th century and various origins are claimed for it. You can Google it and poke around in the various stories if you feel like learning more.)

This week our Baker's Dozen will be 13 JPEG representations of contact prints from 4x5-inch or larger sheet film, which I put out the call for on Monday the 16th. I'll just edit the ones that were sent to me and present 13 that I thought were interesting. (No judgement implied—so if yours doesn't appear, please don't think I'm saying it's not "good." As with the Featured Comments, I'll be picking representative submissions, not necessarily the "best" ones. But if you want yours picked, note that the quality of the illustration[s] is paramount.) This time I'll be giving precedence to people who make contact prints, since that was what was called for. If you scan your film, we'll get around to calling for that at some point as well, if we keep this up.

When I post the Baker's Dozen I'll include instructions as to how to put your own image into a Comment. So even if yours wasn't chosen you'll be able to contribute it to the discussion if you feel like it.

'Around the Web' every two weeks
Re "Around the Web": People seemed to like those. It might not look like it, but those are a lot of work to put together—it takes me all week to do it. So what I'll try this Fall is to publish an "Around the Web" post every other week on Friday, instead of every week. Having two weeks to build each of those posts will be easier and should make it possible to continue the practice regularly. Having been away, for instance, I haven't started on the next one yet, and there's no way I could pull a good one together between now and Friday.

Then, on the alternate Fridays, I'll present the Baker's Dozen—submissions from readers of a particular kind of work. I'll put out the call two weeks in advance to give you a chance to submit. I'll put out the next call for work in the post after this one.

I'll be trying my best to think up quirky categories. (I was going to list some samples, but I don't want people to jump the gun and send me things early.) I think I can come up with some quirky categories! Heh.

I think I'll also try to post a "Classic" older post or article on the weekend days. People seemed to like those, and a number of you suggested I do so.

All these plans are only that—plans. Everything on the Web is an experiment, spaghetti thrown at the wall to see what sticks. We'll try it; if it works, we'll keep going; if it doesn't, we'll move on. Never take anything as a promise. Well, until I become a mighty corporation with dozens of employees, that is, as a stepping stone to World Dominion.

Don't hold your breath on that.   :-)

Sincerely,

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...The "Around the Web" post on Friday? Those are a lot of work to put together, but I can do more if people enjoy them.

And to mention it again, I have to be off for Monday and Tuesday of next week, but I'll post a "classic" article on both days. Hopefully it will be something you haven't seen or enjoy rereading. (Comments will be open, but won't be posted until Wednesday.)

Mike

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