Earlier in the summer I posted about an old Ohio farmhouse. The house was expanded sometime during its life, but the original part dates from about the 1830s or so, long before plumbing and electricity and, apparently, bolts. In the original attic, you can see that wooden pegs were used to tie a horizontal beam to its vertical support.
Here's a closeup...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — 10 sec, f/20, ISO 320 — full exif
Wooden Pins
securing two huge beams to each other
It looks as if the wall and roof planks have been replaced over the years, but the huge beams seem original, still showing marks from having been made with, I think, an adze. Here's the same beam as before, but to the right of the pegs...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 20 mm — 13 sec, f/9, ISO 320 — full exif
Big Beam with Adze Marks
Most of the flooring area was covered with old carpet or something, but the area immediately in front of the window was clear, showing the old warn floorboards that are likely original. I thought it might make an interesting desktop background, so I tried to get a clean shot straight down....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — full exif
180-Year-Old Flooring
I took the shot with a desktop-background in mind. Over the years I've created and posted a bunch of desktop backgrounds ( desktop-background photostream · desktop-background posts ), although it may well be only me who thinks something like this would be interesting..... because I've yet to receive a single comment about someone else actually liking these.
Luckily, the person I write this blog for (me) likes them, so I'll continue. 😉 Links to various sizes / formats are above.
Getting this picture was comical. In order to get my feet out of frame, I had to lean waaaaaaay over, bracing myself against the sloping roof with one hand, trying to hold the camera steady with another, dripping sweat the whole time in the boilerroom that was this old farmhouse attic. Bonus points for not impaling my skull on one of the many roofing nails protruding from the ceiling.
The area was immediately in front of the window, which caused the boards to glow bright with reflected light, so I used a polarization filter to reduce the reflections and enhance the rich appearance of the wood's grain / patina.
Unfortunately, a polarization filter also acts to some extent like a mild neutral-density filter (e.g. a dimmer, like slightly smoked glass), so that increased the challenge of the shot. Despite being right by the window, there really wasn't that much light. The window was small, and once I got rid of the glare with the filter, it was actually pretty dark, photographically speaking. Note, for example, that the shot just before this one was a 13-second exposure.
In the end, I had to go to ISO1250, which is more than the Nikon D200 is really very good at. (Had I had my Nikon D700 at the time, this kind of shot would have been so much easier).
Last month I posted about a Surreal (and exceedingly unpleasant) PayPal Experience, and also about an Apple customer-service fiasco coincidentally related to PayPal, but unrelated to the first issue. The common theme among both unpleasant customer experiences was "policies that make no sense, combined with explanations that make no sense."
Through an almost serendipitous chain of events, I received a phone call today from Mike Vergara, Director of Account Protection at PayPal (featured in this article), who shed light on both experiences.
The summary for both situations is this: there is a reasonable basis for the policies I was running into, but the communication about them was, indeed, woefully bad.
About my PayPal experience, Mike explained the chain of events that led to PayPal wanting to further authenticate that I was who I claimed to be. It was a bit complex, but once explained, it made complete sense.
Had they explained this at the time, there would have been no problem and no ill feelings. The real problem, he readily offered, was that the communication from PayPal was horrible from the very start. He apologized for that, was embarrassed by it, and (this is what means the most to me) listed his “take away” points from having read my experiences. This means that someone who has a direct impact on how all customers are treated has learned something valuable from my specific experience. This will have no direct impact on me or my account, but wow, the feeling that someone at the top is clueful brings general hope. (Sad reality: those at the top are often not clueful.)
About my Apple experience, I had wondered why Apple required that my PayPal account be linked to a credit card before Apple would let me use that PayPal account to pay for iTunes purchases. My thought was that PayPal knows right at the time-of-sale whether I have the funds, and so Apple can decline the purchase if the funds are not there at the time of sale. Mike doesn't work for Apple, but was able to shed light on this as well...
It turns out that for business reasons that make complete fiscal sense, Apple does not necessarily instigate/complete the payment portion of a sale at the time of the sale. If I end up making several purchases over the course of an hour/day/week, Apple can save a non-trivial amount of financial overhead by processing the payment for the combined group, as opposed to processing each payment individually. The difference would not make a material difference if the per-item prices were large, but with prices as low as 99 cents, saving on the per-transaction charge is huge.
As an Apple shareholder, I appreciate this big savings. I'm sure it's difficult to strike a balance between policies that help the bottom line at the expense of increased hassles for some customers (and clearly, no one will ever be able to please everyone), but I think everyone would agree that the ridiculous customer-service exchange creates a no-win situation. Again, if they'd just communicate better, offering a clear rationale for their policies, so much hassle and ill will could be averted.
Perhaps not many people fall into my situation (wanting to make iTunes purchases without involving a credit card), but if Apple considers it a problem they'd like to solve, an easy way around everything would be to allow a PayPal customer to initiate a payment to Apple to create a credit balance in the customer's iTunes account. PayPal would charge a fee to Apple for this, which Apple would then pass along to the user, such that, for example, transferring $100 from PayPal would result in an iTunes credit balance of $96. It's a win for the customer that wants to go that route, and it's a win for Apple (because they can now make more sales, with less overhead). I'll be sure to mention this idea the next time Steve Jobs calls me for advice. 🙂
In any case, I very much appreciate Mike's unexpected call, his generosity with his time, and the reasonable explanation of the situation.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Equal Parts Fun and Terror
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
At The Brink of Greatness
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
In my previous post, about fun on our trip to Blumeの丘, I recounted how fun the go-carts were, but that the real fun had only begun. The real fun was a short hill covered with some slippery surface down which you could toboggan.
Toboggans could be rented at $3 for 20 minutes. We rented two for an hour, and had great fun.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Trip
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Race with Daddy
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Returning for Another Run
Each trip down the short hill took about 10 seconds.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rocketing
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Head Start
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying in Formation
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying Hair
We mixed and matched in every permutation....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Backwards
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Two-Man Run
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Backwards and Forwards
( Fumie ended this run with a spectacular crash, doing a backwards somersault at full speed )
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Headfirst
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Upside Down and Backwards
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Both Backwards
( they're receding from the camera in this shot )
I tried a number of runs where I went down backwards ahead of Anthony, facing him with the camera as he followed. It was bumpy and crazy, so for the most part I just kept my finger on the shutter rapidfire and hoped for the best.....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Start of a Run
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Increasing Speed, Increasing Fun
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Terminal Velocity!
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Slide Here
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 29 mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The End
I have no idea where the camera's focus was in that last shot, but the fun on Anthony's face is nevertheless wonderfully apparent.
We can't wait to go back.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Oh My! Ouch!!
Reacting to a magician's “knife through the neck” trick.
The outing that I mentioned yesterday (that produced the car at sunset advertisement-esque shot) was an hour's drive away, to the German-themed Blumeの丘, a name with German and Japan components that translates in English to “flower hill”. It's a park full of flowers, farms, restaurants, shops, and entertainment, that was pleasant, although as far as I could tell, the German theme extended only so far as the font used for signs, and the music played throughout the mini town mall.
We didn't really know what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised to find an enjoyable day. We went with the intent to try a BBQ restaurant that Fumie had read about, but as we arrived at the almost deserted park, Anthony's attention was drawn to a magic show that was going on.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wow, Did You See That!!??
The fuddy-duddy bumbling magician with no sense of showmanship was so bad that it was actually entertaining to witness. There's no way he could have faked how bad he was... it took years and years of practice, manually going through the same mechanical steps to the same gags day after day, decade after decade, until he could do them blindfolded and without regard to the audience. He had truly achieved the pinnacle of mediocrity.
But that made it fun; you couldn't help but laugh.
To kids, of course, it was all still magic, so it was wonderful to see Anthony be amazed and astonished. I tried to capture the look in the shots above and below, but it's hard to get.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thrusting in the Knives
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/100 sec, f/9, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Extracting the Knives
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony
( just a nice shot that I liked )
After dinner at a BBQ restaurant that could seat 100+ families (but had only two others besides us when we were there), we made our way to a go-cart area, where Anthony got to drive for the first time in his life...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting Out Tentatively
He couldn't reach the pedals, so I squished my legs inside and did that, while he did most of the steering.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
End of the First Lap
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
In Control
but still tentative
Each lap was a separate “ride” (at $7/ride) and took about two and a half minutes. By the end of the second lap, he knew what he was doing and felt much more comfortable....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
End of Second Lap
On the third lap, I tried to get a few shots with my iPhone, with marginal success...
I love the look on his face, though.
He also took one lap with Mommy, which was great fun...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Starting Out with Mommy
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony's Driving!
The real fun for the day, though, still awaited us, but I'll save that for a later post.... here.