iPhone

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My favorite neighborhood tree in B&W. Why not.

I’m seeing the surgeon tomorrow for my all-clear on the thyroid surgery. 🤞🏻

Blog work today on Cliff538.com was just organizing and tidying up the Blog Roll page, plus some CSS tweaks.

Down in Stray Pixels, I tested the Apple Photos A.I. Extend feature. Interesting results. Not very good results, at least on one picture I tested. I won’t use it, since I take multiple pictures at different zooms when I like a subject. I say it’s better to shoot wide and crop in as needed. Plus, the results are poor at best. I’m sure other pictures would do better, and the feature will improve with age, assuredly.

Also, in my testing, it’s much better to “Extend” the original photo first, then process it or apply a filter after. Standard Photoshop technique. You can see in my shots below: I took the original, made it into B&W, then extended it, and you can clearly see the original framing lines in the grass. It’s a very obvious box.

I won’t use the feature; I forgot it existed until people on Masto mentioned it. I thought I’d test it. Not impressed.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

All photos in 48MP RAW • Description below each photo • iPhone 17 Pro Max

iPhone shot & processed

Nice sunrise this morning. Sitting outside with a coffee and a book, planning the day.

Another solid day of work on Cliff538.com and Simplify was the word of the day. I’ve been so absorbed in Cliff538Pixels that I’ve let Cliff538 languish with a long to-do list. It was time for some TLC:

• reduced my categories from 29 to 8. 29 categories were just bonkers.
• big update to the about page, more in line with what Cliff538Pixels has.
• reduced the number of top nav links and added some to the footer.
• CSS tweaks.
• archive page now has structure with headings and dates. It was a complete mess before.
• removed social links from footer and added to the About page.
• removed page hits from the footer and added them to the About page.
• subtle back-to-home link at the bottom of each page. Might be in tomorrow’s bucket.
• more tomorrow.

iPhone shot & processed

I also considered the title “Bearing Fruit”.

I read Florian’s new About Page, and I loved his statement that his blog isn’t his best work, but more of a visual diary (my paraphrasing). I loved that, because it puts into words what I’ve been feeling about this blog. I sometimes think of it more as an online journal or diary. I try to experiment with my photography and try new things, but it doesn’t always work out. Regardless, a photo gets posted every day.

Today included a nice morning walk, then I worked on the blogs for the rest of the day, cleaning up a lot of small changes I’ve wanted to make for a while. Most of the work was on Cliff538. I just haven’t been happy with the theme or how it looks on mobile. The big navigation rows at the top on mobile looked horrible. I noticed that most visitors are on mobile, which really surprised me. I personally really dislike looking at websites on my phone. I finally added a hamburger menu for phones. Looks so much better.

On the phone in vertical, you don’t see the sidebar, but in landscape you do now, and now there’s no side-to-side scrolling, which was really annoying. I changed the color theme to a simple light-and-dark mode that matches Cliff538Pixels for a little more continuity. Now I’m really debating the whole sidebar thing and whether I really need it. It’s funny how you go through phases; sometimes complex feels good, and other times it’s about simplifying as much as you can. Well, it’s a hobby, you know; half the fun is trying new things.

Oh, and my favorite part: a new logo across the top. My fondness for the circle with the scribble E in the middle was growing thin. That logo was from my original blog, titled Exposed To Want. Hence the E in the Cliff538 logo. I got rid of it and went with a nice serif font, big and bold across the top.

I hope the day was kind to you. Thank you for stopping by.

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Doctors, errands, chores, dogs, blood draws, mailing eBay sales, voting- sheesh, what a day.

Don’t forget to vote!

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Another walk this morning with storm clouds moving around and some glorious rain showers. I’ve photographed this tree so many times, but it’s my favorite in the neighborhood. The way the light hits it and how it gently leans away.

Got my haircut today. I’m always amazed at how good it feels to take off some hair. I was a month late this time due to life; it was greatly needed. I feel like a proper human now.

I hope the day was kind to you.

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Got out on my first 4-mile walk since the surgery. Felt good. We had lots of clouds and light rain; it was glorious.

Worked on the new photo blog for a few many hours, got a guestbook working (I think…needs some testing if you have time), and added a nice little touch for the primary film shots: a thin black line with the film name that sits right below them.

I hope the day treated you well.

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A look down my film scanning tunnel. I was checking for light leaks, borders, and placement.

Feeling much better, 6 days out of surgery now. Off all pain meds and feeling like it’s time to start exercising again.

It’s been fun having all this time at home to work on the blog and scan film.

I hope it’s been an awesome Sunday.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

iPhone shot & processed

Apologies, but it’s a reframing of yesterday’s shot with color. I never even left the house today.

The good news is I’m off the hardcore drugs, and I was able to shower today. Lots of swelling, but healing nicely. Oh, the life of post-op. Got some good work done on Cliff538Pixels, including a way to post pictures from the archive and make it clear they aren’t new. Got the first From The Archive test picture up.

I babbled a lot more than normal on Masto today; I blame the drugs.

Toast with me. To good health!

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Another day of healing and fighting off the fog of drugs and lack of sleep. Hours after the surgery, you think, “Oh, this isn’t bad at all; I feel pretty good,” then you wake up the next day feeling like you got hit by a semi-truck.

Good day, though, lots of reading, journaling, and behind-the-scenes work on the new blog. Working on the stats page and figuring out how to bring in film vs. digital. Went outside for a short walk to blow the stink off, as they say; got an iPhone shot I liked. Judging by how I walked, I definitely don’t need to be driving anywhere…

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Well, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I lived. LOL. Although missing 50% of my thyroid now. Tough way to lose weight. I’m really glad I did the surgery; I had a nodule that was growing 4mm every six months, and it was inconclusive on whether it was cancerous or not. So, it was either get it removed or do a fine-needle biopsy every 6 months, which is no fun. But while the doc was in there, he found a golf ball-sized mass pressing up against my windpipe!

I’ll find out soon if there was any cancer in there. The one bad thing about flying airplanes for over 40 years is the constant exposure to excessive amounts of radiation.

Anyway, no Stray Pixels today, because you don’t want to see the neck scar! I’ll have to come up with a good story about how I got it. Thyroid surgery is boring. I need a good knife-fight story or a caught an arrow in the neck drama!!

Pretty damn sore today, but glad it’s all over.

I pushed out the new blog today and had some good testing on it from my Mastodon friends. Thank you, everybody. You can read the details about it on the about page.

It’s been a really fun experience setting up and running a blog without a professional service. I’ve learned so much, and I know there is much more to learn. I’m not leaving Micro.blog or abandoning my other blogs; each serves its own purpose. I’ll have to see how things go with the new blog after I hopefully hit my 365-in-a-row posts on this blog. Should I keep posting daily photos, or just post when I want on the other blog? Time will tell. It’s always good to have options.

May we live in less interesting times!

I really appreciate you stopping by.

Thought I’d post a picture I took last night during sunset in case I’m too out of it after surgery.

Wherever this picture finds you, I hope it was a good day!

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It’s sure easier on vacation to get shots you like! Back to the daily grind, and it becomes harder to get good pictures.

Today was overcast and rainy all day, which is pretty nice and pretty unusual for the desert. I just loved it.

I worked on some film-developing flows and techniques and used a small aquarium pump in my tub water to get better temperature control. Made some good progress. I just need to finish off a roll of 120, then I can develop two or three rolls.

Appreciate you stopping by, and I hope you saw some beautiful and friendly smiles today.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

Hope it’s an outstanding day, everyone!

Gotta go…

Parking at work; got this from the parking garage.

It’s a working day today.

Almost nothing today.

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River has been getting all the love on the blog; gotta get Daisy in on the action.

Another slow day on the photography front. I seem to be in film develop-and-scan mode now, and I’m finding it hard to get out and shoot. It is still too hot outside; it will be until mid to late October. I have some shooting (picture-making) ideas but need a good kick in the pants to get out there and actually do it.

I have a thyroid surgery coming up soon, which I’m trying hard not to think about much. I’m hoping the recovery will be fairly short, and I’ll feel well enough to get out and take some pictures during recovery. If not, maybe develop some film.

That 120 film is still staring at me. I’ve watched a few videos on spooling it and sacrificed a roll to practice with. Almost ready.

I hope the day was good to you, and as always, thank you for stopping by.

I was so busy today cleaning everything up and putting stuff away that I forgot about pictures. I took 3 pictures today of River getting his post-vacation bath, and this was the best one. I cropped in heavily to keep the focus on him.

One of those days where I wished I had a better picture.

Cleaning up after a big road trip is so much work that I need another vacation!

Vacation Numbers and Thoughts:

• Photos Shot
  • Nikon Z8: 589
  • iPhone: 693
  • 3 rolls of 35mm on the Nikon F3
  • 2 rolls of 120 on the Pentax 67
  • Polaroid: 0

I did not do nearly as much film shooting as I thought I would. There just isn’t enough time in the day when photography isn’t the main focus.

I was happy with a lot of the shots, but I’m still thinking about those old road signs I had to pass by. Painful. Again, I gotta work on a photography road trip.

I brought my Polaroid SX-70 and did not take a single photo.

Books read: Five. Very happy about that. I had ample reading time this year and loved moving from one book right into the next. I truly love reading. Physical Books purchased: Eleven. Two magazines all about books and reading. Ten stickers. One Haida Collection stationery set by Clarence Mills and a 6-DVD set by The Great Courses on The Story of Human Language.

Somehow, I completely forgot to journal. Digital or analog. I’m not happy about this, and it shows my habit is not as ingrained as I thought. In fact, I don’t even remember thinking that I should journal. I didn’t bring my paper journal, which won’t happen again, but I could have journaled in Obsidian and never even opened it. Sad. It’s important to me to look back on things with pictures, but having a journal ties it all together when you can read what you did that day, where you went, what you ate, etc.

All in all, a great trip.

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Finally made it home.

Now the cleanup begins.

Just a few photos from the trip that I never posted down in Stray Pixels

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

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Long day driving, lots of wind, but a few great signs. I wish I had more time to capture them properly. I can really see a road trip where the whole mission is photographing old road signs.

May your hope be strong.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard —
And sore must be the storm —
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm —
I’ve heard it in the chillest land —
And on the strangest Sea —
Yet — never — in Extremity,
It asked a crumb — of me.
~ Emily Dickinson

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

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Eight hours of driving today, too much for me. Safely in Elko, NV. Woke up to the remnants of evening rain and dew.

I hope you had a beautiful day.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

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Can you smell it?

Hello from LaGrande, OR. Good day of traveling; really long day of driving tomorrow. Going to get some rest.

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Tomorrow we begin our journey South.

Today was a day of favorites: coffee shop, hike, stores, and fish & chips. Prepping for an early departure tomorrow. Filled up with diesel, which has become painful at $7.00+/gal.

Pictures from the road tomorrow.

I hope you are reading a good book. If not, start one today!

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

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Hikes, Bookstores, Farmers' Markets, Coffee shops. I’m in my happy place.

The farmers' market was amazing. Over 100 booths and a little bit of everything. We found a proper used bookstore that was bursting with books, on two levels, with stacks all over the floor- how it should be, in my opinion.

One of my favorite writers is Karl Ove Knausgaard, and I found a hardcover first-edition set of My Struggle. Sadly, it was missing volume 1, but that will give me something to search for.

All the extra little bits down in Stray Pixels

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. I hope you found some peace today in this hectic, out-of-control world we live in.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

All iPhone shot and processed

iPhone shot and processed

All film shooting today, so just a few iPhone shots to get the pic of the day.

Found our best halibut fish & chips place yet, just about perfect. Spent a few hours in the local bookstore, which was a delight. Will be back again to spend a few more hours. Purchased two books and two magazines that are dedicated to readers and books.

Explored the village of Fairhaven for a while and went to a local park for a hike. I could really get into this nice, simple lifestyle, LOL. Going to be hard to go back to work.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

All iPhone shot and processed

Nothing good down here, just mostly posted for the sake of memories.

iPhone shot and processed

I shot mostly film today, so just a few iPhone pics.

I love trying all the local coffee shops, and one here stands head and shoulders above the rest. Camber Coffee has my heart for their coffee, attention to detail, food quality, and atmosphere.

Someone smiles when they think about you.

👾Click for Stray Pixels👾

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It was nice to sleep in this morning and have leisurely coffee while researching a local hike. We found our hike, loaded up, and went to start the truck; click, click. Huh, that’s not right. Try again; click, click. The batteries are dead, real nice. ¹

I plugged in my portable jump-start battery, and it started to get hot and swell. Well, shit. That’s not good. Next, I’m going to have a runway lithium fire on my hands.

Luckily, we are in a small town with local maintenance shops. Called one up; they ran out and gave us a free jump-start. I drove over and had them replace both batteries to the tune of $600. This trip is getting expensive. ²

Off we went on a nice hike along the Yakima River, then had ice cream and a nice afternoon at camp, doing laundry, cleaning solar panels, and organizing.

Tomorrow we will be at the coast. The ocean is my happy place. There is no place I’d rather be than by the ocean. Someday, I’m going to live by the ocean again. Hopefully soon.

I appreciate you stopping by, and I hope it was a great day.

Click for Stray Pixels 👾👾👾👾

All iPhone shot and processed

I’m not much of a drinker; it decimates my sleep, my wife doesn’t drink at all, and it just does not make me feel very good. After a nice little buzz, I just don’t feel that good. So, it’s just not worth it to me these days. But there’s always a but, right? When I’m traveling, camping, or exploring, it is nice to have a local beer early in the day so it doesn’t affect my sleep. While on vacation, I’ll try and have my Beer of the Day post.

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1. The Phoenix heat is notoriously hard on batteries. I’ve lived in the desert off and on for 8 years. In my experience, you have to change your batteries at a minimum every 2 years. ↩︎

2. The air conditioner was $3500; diesel fuel, on average, has been over $5/gal. But on the bright side, I didn’t even get all pessimistic; it’s nice and cool here, and after the panic of the 115°F with no AC thing, this was easy-peasy. ↩︎

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Just a short 3-hour drive today to Ellensburg, WA. Set up camp and drove into town to check it out and take a walk around town. Wouldn’t you know it, it’s a super cute downtown with tons of historic signs and old buildings. Did Cliff bring his camera? Nope. So iPhone shots it was. I need to work on going back downtown with my camera for some proper photos.

I kicked myself for not bringing my camera and resigned myself to iPhone shots. I wasn’t expecting much to be photoworthy in town, and my main concern was food; I was starving. Learned another lesson today.

Taking two days here to take a break from driving. Planning a nice hike tomorrow and hopefully some photography time and reading.

Click for Stray Pixels 👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾

I took a picture of the community bulletin board because you can always get a good feel for the town by looking at what’s posted. I’m trying to snap a photo of every board I come across; I think it will be neat to look back in 20 years at what was posted. Now it’s on the internet forever.