Chinese Weiki or “Go” is complicated.

After a brief haitus and winter holiday break I am back to Micro.blog. I’m ready to engage like-minded and brilliant individuals again. Also for all the same reasons I mentioned when I first arrived. silverfox.micro.blog/2023/07/0…

@manton Question: Is there an option to pay per year or is it only month-to-month?

After recent price increases, subscription fatigue, privacy concerns and probably long overdue contentment, it’s time for a change. I’ll be withdrawing more from technology, technology blogs and restructuring everything to maximize privacy, reduce monthly subscription spending and pursuing avenues of personal interest.

I am heavily embedded into the Apple eco-system after decades of using Windows/Android. I have stuff scattered all over the internet, cloud storage and external hard drives with almost zero organization. That’s changing as of today.

First up, a new identity. I will no longer be using my personal name online. I don’t need to “brand myself” anymore since I am done playing the game. I created a new Apple ID that is generic and not personal. Then I created an iCloud account to go with it. Next, I purchased a new web domain (silverfox.website) and email address to match it and then made THAT one the new/updated Apple ID. The hard part is switching everything from contact information to businesses and services I use over to the new account. Sure, I’ll lose a lot of subscriptions, but I am pairing them down and prioritizing anyway.

With iCloud+ services such as Private Relay and “Hide My Email” I can create generic, disposable email addresses. Apple then allows me to use random, generic passwords and will even store them for me using their KeyChain.

When all of this is sorted I need to discipline myself to keep it organized, unlike my previous attempts. Maybe then I can get back to enjoying what I love in peace such as photography, reading and geocaching.

Pumpkin carved. Anyone else carving one this year?

In the previous post I’ve shown a Field Notes notebook in the photo which was the inspiration for this post. The analog notebook is used to document and organize my film notes such as dates, film used, ISO, and the event the film roll is used for. Example: “7/15-7/25 Kodak Ektar H35 camera. Ilford HP5+ B&W 35mm film. 36 exposures at 1/2 frame yielding 72 exposures. Black & White night shots and urban photography.”

Other practical applications for the field notes book will include lands well-scaped, a portable Dorian Gray, drawings drawn, erased and redrawn, camera obscura, sunsets witnessed, Polaroids shaken, urban canvassing strategies, concentric thoughts, personalized personalizations, portraits of personable persons, found objects, lost objects, broken things, beautiful things, ephemeral ephemera, scenic scenery, collected collections, eclectic electric expressions, memorable memories, and a whole lot of shitty captures meant to pass off as art.

I’ve just shot my last frame on the Kodak H35 camera using Ilford HP5+ BW film this morning. Now I am looking for a local developing lab. I want to have the roll developed, receive the negatives and a contact sheet and also to have them digitally scanned for the archives. Not an easy request in a smaller city and the demise of print labs everywhere. Up next, is the Lomochrome Metropolis 35mm film using the Pentax K1000 camera. Stay tuned.

On a previous post, silverfox.lol/2023/07/1… I indicated what I don’t like about film photography. So it is time list what I do like about film photography.

1. I like the science of film developing with the smell of chemicals in a darkroom.
2. I like the magic of film developing when your image appears like an apparition after being immersed in those chemicals.
3. I like the fact there are no storage cards, no cables, or complicated touch screen menus on your film camera.
4. I like the manufacturer’s branding on film packs the same way I enjoyed the VHS, cassettes and album covers.
5. I like the email notification that tells me “your prints are ready to view!”
6. I like the way I feel when I breathlessly open up that envelope containing my prints for the big reveal.
7. I like hearing the shutter click. I like feeling the tension in the spool when advancing to the next frame. 8. I like feeling the tension release when I’ve re-wound the spool to secure the roll.
8. I like the way that each frame on the roll can have its own unique exposure or grain or grit.
9. I like seeing the negative strip when held against the light. It is ethereal.
10. I like having a physical, tactile piece of chemical paper in my hand that has preserved a memory.

Took the Kodak out for a photo walk tonight at golden hour. Sure, I’ve worked this area before but with a new camera and film, it is an entirely new process. I had forgotten the discipline and patience required when it comes to analog. The wait and the anticipation of seeing the results is always a film photographer’s concern. Hopefully the results will pay off!

“We’re all so frightened by time, the way it moves on and the way things disappear. That’s why we’re photographers. We’re preservationists by nature. We take pictures to stop time, to commit moments to eternity. Human nature made tangible.

People are taking more pictures now than ever before, billions of them, but there are no slides, no prints. Just data. Electronic dust. Years from now when they dig us up there won’t be any pictures to find, no record of who we were or how we lived.”

• Ben Ryder, Kodachrome

1. I don’t like overpaying for film rolls. Film photography is not a niche market anymore. It is resurgent. Time for the prices to come down.

2. I don’t like the fact that I lose one roll due to loading issues inside the camera when the spool rejects the film. 

3. I don’t like wasting frames due to over/under exposure, composition, blur or, or, or…

4. I don’t like waiting for images to come back from the lab. 

5. I don’t like working out how to store all the prints and negatives. 

6. I don’t like the fact that I do not have a darkroom to develop and make prints at home. 

7. I don’t like film photography snobs and how they look down on digital photography.

8. I don’t like checking various websites for a good deal on film rolls and being disappointed.

9. I don’t like explaining to people that film photography is a thing and not a fad. 

10. I don’t like film photography. I LOVE it.  

With 35mm film costs rising like everything else, I thought I’d try the new Kodak Ektar H35- a new half frame camera. Instead of the standard 36 exposures I can get 72 out of one roll of film. Cannot wait to go out and shoot, then develop this test roll.

Interesting day on the way to the airport today… Shot with Hipstamatic.

After a 10-day trial here on Micro.blog, I think I am all in. The capability to have a painless long-form blogging experience coupled with short form micro-posts is appealing. Even better- no algorithms or adverts. The ability to connect and share ideas with others in this community takes me back to the good old days of web 1.0.

Leaving behind something that worked for awhile to pursue something different takes courage. It isn’t quitting. It is a pivot to something more beneficial. 

I have been an active user of the internet since 1995 and have left massive breadcrumbs to trace back to me this entire time. But what if I wanted to start over? How would I go about doing that? 

If I decide to do it all over again, I’d absolutely be more self-restrictive and private. I purchased a new web domain and email address that does not have my name attached to it. Nice and generic. I switched my Apple ID to this new domain as phase one. After that, and over time, I will slowly start redirecting all of my online transactions to this new address. 

But for now, I feel content that I made the right choice to subscribe to Micro.blog. I’m glad to be here.