It was kind of funny to hop on my computer today and see that the Verge is nudging people to reconsider personal publishing again. I’ve personally felt the benefit of having my own OSS self hosted blog for years — I never have to worry about my platform disappearing, a service pivoting to another purpose, or a company changing for the sake of stakeholders. That’s really nice. I can post my NY post and it’ll still be here in years.

2022 is over and I feel the urge to do a quick recap of my year.

1. I traveled to DC for work multiple times finally, a change from pandemic employment. I’ve enjoyed exploring the city in my off hours.
2. We visited Hawaii and Italy this year. Two destinations short of our goal of four, but the 18 days in Italy felt like it was two trips in one. We also celebrated 10 years of being married — its been a wonderful 10 years.
3. I started a health program mid-year and have seen some great results. I’ve been really happy with the outcome of my physical changes.
4. My parents faced some serious medical challenges at the start of this year and it’s made me ask myself some questions about what I want my support for them to look like — that I want them to be close — and the practical aspects of those things.
5. My brother moved into his own house as a homeowner at the beginning of the year and it was great to watch him take that step.
6. I felt like my friend groups solidified a little bit over this past year – with the opportunity to hang out together again so much more after the pandemic.
7. All my little cousins are grown. Im amazed that they’re all young people.
8. My friendships transformed some this year. I have enjoyed getting closer with my closest, kindest friends in 2022.
9. I am learning new things at work — but I am also weighing what I want my career to look like for the next years. 2 years at the Fed just flew by — and I am feeling the desire for change again and I have some options for what that can look like.
10. I am so grateful for my family, my friends, and my health. I know 2022 was really tough for a lot of people and I am so grateful for the good things this year.

I hope and wish for everyone to have good things to look forward to and enjoy in 2023.

I really should update this site a little more! But today’s news is very good – I finally made the move to mirrorless. I picked up a Canon R5 this week and the differences between it and my other camera ( the 5D Mk IV ) were apparent right away. I needed to know the improvements weren’t just marginal but would change the success rate of my shots – so after loads of reading, pixel-peeping sample photos, looking at months of results from real world wedding photographers and landscape/macro photogs, I made the plunge!

I walked around my house to just test its capabilities. I’ll show you some photos and outline my favorite things from this first day of use.

One of the challenges I faced with the 5DIV was the screen on the back didn’t articulate. This meant I had to either guess how the photo would come out on low to the ground subjects – something I honestly got decent at with years of experience – but would need to take many photos to achieve a perfect frame or reliable subject focus. Those days are gone!!! With the new articulating screen, I can finally, easily, take great low height photos. I practiced on my King Quail.