Foggy

Woke up this morning, looked outside and could barely see across the backyard because of the thick layer of fog that silently rolled in while we slept, cool! Commuting to work was more of the same and I was diggin' it. Living in an area that has all 4 seasons as well as foggy mornings in the winter and summer, crazy rain downpours, hail storms and awesome lightening displays reminds me how lucky we are to experience it all throughout the year.

Photography

Being that it was my day to be the passenger on our commute to work I had 2 free hands that would normally be playing a game or going through emails. Not today, today I was snapping as many photos out the window as I could, trying to capture the fog. It's really frustrating how hard, actually - nearly impossible it is to use a consumer level camera, or an iPhone 5 camera as I was, to pick up something like fog or low thin clouds as I tried countless times in the Caribbean. Because of this I decided to go with a black and white photo. Doing so allowed the fog to show-up much better than any of the color photos I had taken. The fog still looks distant, when in reality it was just outside the car window,  thick enough so that you could not see cars more than 1 car length in front of us, yet invisible to my camera phone. I think this one turned out pretty cool though, sort of Ansel Adams 'ish, no?

A professional photographer and most camera geeks in-between would scowl at my photo and school me on the things I could have and should have done better. Offer countless reasons as to why photos like should never be attempted by an amateur, especially one wielding a camera phone. Don't get me wrong, I would actually welcome any lessons as I tend to enjoy learning anything and everything.

Trust me, there have been several times in the past where I have considered getting into a really nice camera-back and an arsenal of lenses. Problem is, I tend to have a bit of an addictive personality with these types of things, they are cool electronic gadgets after-all so it would get expensive rather quickly. Not to mention I am a motorsports enthusiast so I would want need crazy fast equipment for action shots and the ability to zoom-in so close and wide that you would nearly be on the other side. 

All of this aside, how do you not miss the awesome shots that are everywhere? I guess you would have to carry the camera around with you everywhere you went? Nah, I think at least for now, I will stick with the convenience of my camera phone, it does just fine for me and it is with me everywhere that I go each and everyday. I have to remind myself that for me, it's much more important to remember the day or the event. I am not looking to win awards for my stellar photography. Although, if you are interested lemme know your monetary offer <wink>.

Sound Bar
I have been looking into getting some sort of a sound bar for my entertainment system and may do more research on it this weekend, just depends. I never really thought about these as an option and always sort of came to terms that I would be without anything other than the audio from the TV because of the way my house is setup. Now that I have looked into several sound bars and various brands of 'em I am really starting to like the idea more and more. My first choice are the pedestal type, but because of the niche that my TV sits in I am limited and need to find one that is 3" tall or less. Not as easy as it sounds to do.

So far, and with only minimal research, I am finding that most are 3" to 5" tall so they are a no-go. I am also finding that there are many models that have built-in Bluetooth which allows streaming from a iPhone, iPad and related to the speaker system. Bluetooth is another feature I never really gave much thought to and always assumed I would need a separate set-up for. Now that I am aware of it, it is something, in addition to a few other things, I have added to my "features list".

Ahh, too many variables, all of which require additional research. I will save that for a future post should I pull the trigger on one. Back in the day I was really into audio, mostly car audio and spent more money than I care to share or admit while trying to obtain a near "perfect" set-up. Spending truckloads of money is not hard to do when it comes to audio gear. Actually, in my experience, it's not hard to do when it comes to most hobbies that are of interest to me.

Until Later

Enough for today. It's Friday, the second one of the week and I am thankful for that. It has been a really long, "short week" so I am looking forward to the weekend and attempting to get my mind, body and soul back into the normal day-to-day vs. the holiday broken up weeks. Until then, have a great weekend and do something geeky!

Photo: Foggy Commute