Hello and good morning you awesome war torn camera geeks! It’s been a helluva while hasn’t it? Well, I had a little time so I figured I’d write to keep you guys posted on recent events and what we’re currently doing. I’m going to delve into several topics so forgive me if it sounds like I’m rambling. I will divide the topics into titles for easier digestion 😂

The Passage Of Time

Last year I took a trip overseas to the Philippines and Thailand. It still feels like I just came back to the States yesterday. But it’s already been ten months! What the?!

I don’t want to just talk about myself so if you’re of a certain age, please let me know if you can relate to this…

It seemed not too long ago I was a teenager. Then I became a young man trying to find my way in my twenties. Then I got settled down in my thirties. Then the forties came and went. Now into my fifties, I still feel I haven’t accomplished much of anything. And I wonder how much time do I have left.

Listen, I hate to say this, but at the rate these years have been flying by, we’ll be done before we know it! Fifty years sounds like a long time but when you realize how fast one year goes by, is fifty, eighty, or a hundred even that long in reality?

People say grow old gracefully. I’m trying to do that but I don’t know how to. I mean, I still feel like 35 and sometimes even younger but I know I’m not.

People say the fifties are still young. Maybe in today’s world it is but as a younger man, I remember thinking 50, 60, 70, etc, that’s old! Now I’m in that first spot.

I know I sound like a Debbie Downer but on the positive side, I feel as if I can do almost anything I did at thirty but better ❤️ I’m more sure, I’m not as awkward.

But one profound difference I can see is the people who are younger than me, people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s see me as someone older or maybe even “old” in their eyes.

And it doesn’t help that physically more fine lines have appeared on my face. The skin sags a little more. The hairline is receding. This is aging.

My Mom once said you’ve got two choices. Either you grow old or you’re dead. Wise words! Yet somehow it doesn’t make me any more comfortable with the thought of aging.

To me as one ages, not only are changes in physical appearance inevitable but there’s also a very real, increased chances of some dreaded illness or disease coming your way. In the past four years, we have lost four beloved family members. That’s one a year!

Of course I try to eat healthy, try to get more rest, try not to stress too much. I need to exercise more. But honestly, there’s only so much one can do. When it’s your time it’s your time. But yes, I want to be around to see what my kids do with their lives, to help them whenever I can.

To me aging is like falling into a whirlpool that keeps pulling you towards that center and you can’t escape it.

How do you guys deal with it? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Perhaps it would help me deal with aging better. Thanks in advance 🙏🙏

One thing that’s been with me through all the decades is my love for cameras, lenses, and photography. That is the one singular constant I can think of 😍👍

THE YOUTUBE DILEMMA

As I mentioned to you guys a few years ago, I was writing less here in order to focus on building my YouTube channel. That was in 2018.

I can tell you right now, unless you can commit to doing it consistently, I wouldn’t recommend it.

I’m still not monetized but I’m close to meeting their requirements. I’d probably have gotten there sooner if I were posting more consistently but as a family man who has two growing kids and a day job, I just can’t. Instead, I just post whenever I can put something together. That’s not the formula for YouTube success.

So here’s what I’ve learned from my six years on YouTube. First you need a topic or subject. In this case, I have many! The channel is about cameras, lenses, and photography. I got this covered!

Second, you need good video quality. High quality video production counts on YouTube. I have the equipment to make better videos but I’m not a videographer and I’m lazy so I just use my phone most of the time. Count that as a strike against me 😪

Third you need to spend hours editing. This is the part I hate most! As a photography and camera review channel, I have to gather the necessary photos from the cameras/lenses being reviewed. Then I have to put them together and often narrate. Then I try to find some ear pleasing music to keep it flowing. After that, I have to edit all the parts together and make it into one cohesive video.

And the worst part? Sometimes I get decent views but often times I get very little views and since YouTube is not paying me yet, I feel very little motivation to continue but I push forward. I feel I’ve just scratched the surface of all the things I’d like to share with the good camera loving folks out there 😍

Anyway, YouTube and other social media like Instagram and Facebook are what has kept me from this blog for so long. Even though I’m an old school guy, I kinda feel that writing is passe 😂 I know I’m wrong, convince me that I’m wrong!

But yeah, until I can actually see the benefits I can’t really recommend doing YouTube.

RECENT PROJECTS

I’m pretty much doing the same thing I’ve been doing for years, that is I’m shooting with film and digital gear ❤️

I’ve been focusing a lot of my YouTube videos on digicams because that’s been a favorite of viewers of my channel and it so happens that I’ve been collecting old vintage digital cameras for a long time so it works out.

There’s a lot of film stuff I want to cover, but I feel that the channel doesn’t have enough traction yet to make these videos worth the effort.

Here’s a recent project I’m working on. It’s the original Rolleiflex from 1929. When I got it, the camera had only one working shutter speed which is 1/500, the rest were sticking. I fixed it up to where only the slowest speeds stick and I’m able to use the camera in the range I need. But today’s posting is not about the Rolleiflex, as fascinating as it is. I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress with this legendary camera

And here’s some recent film images…

Thank you guys so much for reading this today! If you made it this far I just wanted to thank you ❤️🙏❤️ The reason this post is so long is because we’ve got some catching up to do and I’m making up for lost time! Appreciate you guys, thank you!