You know you go out less when the 🍺 🍻 emojis are no longer in your “Frequently Used” section.
Der Sandmann hat mich heute Abend unterhaltsam in Bett gebracht.
Been always blogging in the last few minutes of the day recently. It shouldn’t be that hard to pre-write a few posts and publish one of them each day, right? But I write just in time. And then it needs to be something I can write down rather quickly, instead of picking a topic from my to-write-about list. Makes me being annoyed with myself. But I’m sure I’ll get back on track eventually. 🤞😬
Missed the Düsseldorf Photo Weekend
This year, I missed out on the Düsseldorf Photo weekend. Usually I go, but this time I simply couldn’t find the time. The good things is, though, that most of the exhibitions run for longer. So, maybe I manage to visit one or two in the next couple of weeks – especially those that are at a venue I come by more or less frequently. Here are some that interest me:
next can return a value
Iterating through an array, I found myself wanting to collect an element as-is most times, and only in certain conditions modify the original element and collect the modification instead. So, I used next with a parameter to skip an element quickly and move on to the next one. And that parameter will be returned and still be collected.
Much simplified example:
[1,2,3,4,5,6].collect do |n|
next n if n%2 == 1
n*n
end
#=> [1, 4, 3, 16, 5, 36]
The whole family went to the swimming pool this morning. After being cold initially, Zoe warmed up quickly and visibly enjoyed playing in and around the pool.
In the afternoon, I went over to the new apartment and assembled most of the kitchen cupboards. I think I’m now able to assemble a METOD cupboard completely without instruction manual. Anyhow, this took me a while, and I only returned home in the evening.
Assembling a kitchen is quite the task. And the hard bits are yet to come.
March is strange. Everything is going right and wrong at the same time.
Ikea. Again!
Do I really have to write about Ikea again? Well, yes! Because this week I learned that Ikea has its own standards for things.
Their kitchen furniture for example, has a depth that is chosen so that you probably want to buy their worktops, too. Because a standard 60-centimetre top – the width you can buy in most other places – is too short. But their non-standard 63.5-cm-worktop fits just right.
Another example is their sink plumbing. When asking about plumbing/connecting possibilities, we were told that the water trap and all those other pieces only work with Ikea sinks. Both the sink and their pipes/connectors don’t work well with other standard parts you’d need for more custom plumbing.
For simpler logistics, our preferred solution was to get everything from Ikea – and we did. But it’s still interesting to learn that they do these little shenanigans. Which is not surprising, I guess.
But to end on a more positive note: the woman helping us finalising the kitchen was very friendly and her advice super helpful. She pointed out errors, made good suggestions and never tried to up-sell.
So, here’s what the final design looks like:
The parts will be delivered tomorrow and we plan to assemble and set it up the following weekend.
Been to Ikea today and bought the kitchen. 💪😎
The 35mm focal length
Continuing on yesterday’s topic, here’s why I find a 35 mm lens so fitting for my photography.
I currently mostly shoot documentary style and street photography. And I want my photos to convey a feeling of “having been there”. That’s why my lens should approximate the field of view I have as a human being. I find anything from 30 mm to 45 mm works1. But since the most common focal length for prime lenses that fit this range is 35 mm, that’s what I use.
I find 28 mm lenses a little too wide and 50 mm too long. But I’d prefer the former, if forced to choose. ↩︎
Fewer focal lengths
Over time, I’ve more and more reduced the number of lenses and focal lengths I use.
When I bought my first “serious” camera – a Nikon D40 in 2008 – I thought I needed more lenses to cover all the focal lengths. And so I bought more lenses. I had lenses to cover everything from 10mm (we’re talking APS-C here) all the way up to 200mm. Plus a fast 50mm-equivalent prime for low light.
But as the years went on, I stopped using most of these lenses and their camera systems. I simply increasingly came to know what I value about a camera system, what kind of photos I like to take, and what focal lengths suit me best.
So at the moment, I’m mainly using a Leica M with a 35mm lens. That’s all I need.
Moving update: kitchen planning
The new apartment got renovated prior to our tenancy. That means it’s completely empty. No blinds or curtains. No lamps. No bathroom mirror. And most crucially: no kitchen.
When we moved into a new place in the past, we’ve always been happy taking over most of these basic items from the previous tenant1. And we would have been fine with that option again. But this time, we need to plan and buy all those things ourselves.
We’re starting with the kitchen. And that’s actually kind of fun: arranging virtual furniture and appliances in a 3D model.
Not so much looking forward to making all those micro-decisions of materials, covers, knobs etc. or spending this money, but looking forward to having a kitchen.
Or it came furnished. ↩︎
I just came across this photo in an old draft post. Seen on El Teide, Tenerife. October 2014.
Does this count as writing? Hardly. But it has to do for today.
Why I love shooting film: The tangible experience
Unpacking the film. Loading it into the camera. Winding to the first frame. Shoot ⟲ Wind. Spooling the roll back into the canister. Taking it out. Labelling it.
Transfering the roll into the developing tank. Preparing the developer solution. Developing. Stop bath. Fixing. Opening the tank. Washing. Final rinse. Taking it out. Holding the whole strip against the light, checking the results. Hanging it to dry.
Cutting the roll up into individual strips. Inserting them into the negative sleeves. Labelling those.
This workflow with all it’s little steps and rituals, is what I enjoy about film. Not always, and not all parts equally, but most of them most times. It’s nice to be working with my hands, creating a unique, tangible object.
For the most part, this object will still be turned into digital files; and edited, processed, published and printed from there. But for me, it’s still very worthwhile going through these manual steps first. Plus, it gives me the option for making a print in the darkroom. Which is a topic for another post in this series.
Der Prüfer beim TÜV meinte, die Domlager müssten mal getauscht werden. Und wenn man dabei wäre, auch gleich die Anschlagpuffer. Denn wenn man schon die gesamte vordere Radmontur auseinander nimmt, solle man doch gleich beides zusammen erledigen.
Und die Hupe funktioniere auch nicht.
Aber immerhin hat das WoMo schonmal die AU und die Gasprüfung bestanden.