When I purchased my Olympus OM-D E-M1 mirrorless interchangeable-lens compact (MILC) camera in September 2014, I said that I would not buy another camera ever again. Never say never!
I ordered a new camera on Sunday, March 3rd. My new camera is the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, which arrived this past Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 pm. See how exact I am about the arrival time?
My new camera has been around for awhile. It was released in November 2016, about 3 years after its predecessor. I am keeping my Olympus OM-D E-M1 — as a second body.
Here is a comparison between the two cameras.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 vs. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
My new camera has several improvements, compared to its predecessor.I am looking forward to photographing birds with my new camera.I should have more success with birds-in-flight, given the faster auto focus capability.
There is a ripple effect, when a new camera is purchased.Since purchasing the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, I also made the following purchases:
• the Kindle Edition of “Mastering the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II” by Darrell Young,
• a Lexar Professional 128GB Memory Card, and
• a second Olympus BLH-1 Rechargeable Battery
I anticipate the purchase of additional memory card(s).
I plan on my new camera being the last camera that I purchase in my lifetime. I won’t say never, though!
I started a new project today, as a result of Flickr changes that I discussed in my previous blog post.
The majority of the photographs in this blog are embedded Flickr images. If I delete the original Flickr images, the embedded Flickr photographs in my blog will be deleted as well. In essence my blog photographs are held hostage by Flickr! Recently I paid for an additional 1-year subscription to Flickr Pro; however, I do not wish to pay indefinitely for a Flickr Pro subscription.
My project, beginning today and continuing throughout 2019, is to download (and then delete) Flickr images embedded in my blog. I will upload the downloaded images into my blog in their proper place. Eventually my Flickr account will be devoid of all images, and I will either limit my photographs to 1,000 images or delete the account. Hopefully, I complete this project by November 1, 2019 — the day on which my Flickr Pro subscription would auto renew.
This project is a BIG undertaking! I have 1,474 blog posts to act upon!
I wish I had paid more attention to the little voice in my head, when I first started my blog. That little voice in my head kept asking “what if Flickr is no longer a viable hosting site for pictures in your blog, what then?”
On April 23rd I received an email announcing that Flickr has agreed to be acquired by SmugMug. I was informed that nothing would change immediately with regard to my Flickr account.
On September 19th I received an email notice that my 1 Year Flickr Pro subscription would renew on October 19th at the current price of $49.99 billed annually. I had been a Flickr Pro subscriber since October 2008 and had paid $24.95 annually for the subscription. The last time Flickr changed Pro pricing was when it re-introduced Flickr Pro at $49.99 in July 2015. At that time Flickr rewarded Pro members with a promise of a two-year protected price. The current subscription price of $49.99 is not an increase in price. Flickr is merely bringing grandfathered Flickr Pro members to the current Pro rate. It was nice, as a Flickr Pro customer for a number of years, to be grandfathered in 2015 for 2 years at the price I had been paying ($24.95).
As of September 19th a Flicker Pro account provided unlimited, full-resolution uploads; ad-free browsing for both myself and my visitors; advanced stats; industry discounts including 15% off Adobe Creative Cloud; the Flickr Auto-Uploader that allows me to automatically back up my photographs both on my computer and on my Apple devices.
A Flickr Free account at that time provided 1TB full-resolution uploads. In September I was using only .22 TB of storage. Once I reached the 1TB storage limit, there was nothing stopping me from opening another Flickr Free account and making use of the 1TB full-resolution uploads. A Flickr Free account did not include ad-Free browsing, advanced stats, an auto-uploaded or industry discounts. None of the limitations of a Flickr Free account bothered me. At first I thought the Adobe Creative Cloud discount of 30% would be useful. The discount is for the more expensive Adobe CC plan (approx. $50/month) that includes programs I have no use for.
I cancelled my Flickr Pro subscription on September 19th. I would get along fine with the Flickr Free account.
Not having a Flickr Pro subscription was short lived. On or about November 1st Flickr announced a change that would directly impact me. Beginning January 8, 2019, free accounts will be limited to 1,000 photos and videos. Flickr Pro will continue to provide unlimited storage. I have several thousands more pictures and videos than the 1000 picture limit of a Flickr Free account. Additionally the photographs contained in this blog are linked to Flickr. It would be an impossible task for me to remove thousands of pictures from Flickr and maintain my blog and Flickr connection.
I renewed my Flickr Pro subscription on November 1st. I am certain there will come a time when my blog will no longer exist. I can’t see myself (or my heirs) paying indefinitely for Flickr Pro and my WordPress blog. Until that time arrives, though, it is business as usual!
I obtained the following screen shots from Flickr.
We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the East Syracuse, NY area.
We checked out of the Best Western East Syracuse, after breakfast, on Monday July 3, and were on our way home shortly before 8:00 am.
On our way to East Syracuse on Saturday, we stopped at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped at the wildlife refuge once again on our way back home. I am so glad that we visited Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. I put my new camera lens to good use, as we drove around Wildlife Drive.
New camera lens, you ask? I just realized that I hadn’t shared on my blog that I purchased a new camera lens. I waited for well over 1-1/2 years to purchase this camera lens. At first the camera lens wasn’t in stock. Then I didn’t have the money available to purchase the lens. Finally, everything came together to make the purchase. I purchased an Olympus m.Zuiko ED 300mm f4.0 IS Pro lens, specifically for wildlife photography. Coupled with a 1.4x teleconverter, I have an effective focal length of 840mm! My new lens arrived on Friday, June 30, the day before we left on our weekend getaway. I need to use the lens more to increase my proficiency in its use, but I am very pleased with the images that I captured at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.
Sandpiper
Osprey in Flight, with Seaweed Attached to its Claw
Are these birds American Coot?
The highlight of our visit to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge was the sighting of two American Bald Eagles. One eagle flew off to parts unknown, but one eagle landed in a tree not far from where we were on Wildlife Drive.
Bob took this photograph of me, while photographing the eagle.
And to think I didn’t want a moon roof, when we were car shopping. I didn’t want to spend the extra money. The car on the lot that we liked came with a moon roof. I am glad that we got a moon roof, because it enabled me to capture a couple good photographs of the eagle!
American Bald Eagle
American Bald Eagle
My new camera lens is a keeper! These two eagle images are the best pictures I have ever taken of an eagle!
We sat and watched a group of Canada Geese farther along on Wildlife Drive.
Canada geese, quietly enjoying the pond
The quiet didn’t last for long!
Noisy Canada geese!
This duck had one of the Wildlife Drive ponds all to herself.
Great Blue Heron
We stopped once again to admire the newly installed eagle sculpture.
The eagle sculpture was built in honor of the 40th anniversary of New York State’s bald eagle reintroduction program, which largely happened at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.
The eagle sculpture is visible from Interstate 90.
Leaving Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, we drove to Mt. Morris, NY. We ate lunch at Brian’s USA Diner. We selected this restaurant for lunch, based on its positive reviews. Yes, as stated by reviewers, the service was quick and friendly. Bob ordered a Reuben sandwich with Onion Rings. I ordered pulled chicken in a hoagie bun with potato salad. The restaurant reviews indicated that the portions were large. I agree. My pulled chicken hoagie sandwich was huge! My potato salad was heaped high in a small bowl. At first, Bob’s Reuben sandwich looked average size. He said, though, that there was lots of meat in his sandwich, so much meat that he could barely taste the dressing. Reviewers raved about the taste of the food. The food tasted okay, nothing really to boast about. Nothing to complain about either.
After lunch, we drove to nearby Letchworth State Park. I will share details and photographs of Letchworth State Park in the next (and final) blog post I write about our East Syracuse NY weekend getaway.
This past Saturday (June 24) I photographed Brian and Deborah’s wedding. Brian is our friends’ Sheila and Doyle’s oldest son. The last wedding I photographed was in September 2014. I vowed then that it would be the last time I was the official photographer for a wedding. I was “retiring” from photographing weddings for family and friends. Well, after a little arm twisting by Sheila, I agreed to photograph Brian and Deborah’s wedding. Thank you, Brian and Deborah, for choosing me. It was an honor to serve as your wedding photographer.
I created a collage of some of the pictures that I took at the wedding.
Brian and Deborah had a beautiful wedding.
Congratulations Brian and Deborah! May all of your days together be as beautiful and cherished as your wedding day – here’s to your future together as Husband and Wife!
Late last month I discovered a iPhone/iPad app that adds new life to photographs that I have taken. The app is called PIP Camera-Selfie Cam&PIP Collage&Photo Editor. This app provides the ability to quickly and easily be creative with your photographs. The app includes an abundance of templates that allow you to do fun things with your photographs. My favorite template by far is the snow globe template. Here is a collection of some of my snow globe creations, using the PIP Camera app.
Snow Globe Creations
What are you waiting for? Install the app and have some fun!
A new booklet, which was published by the General Joseph Warren Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) of Warren, PA, contains photographs that I took.
I thank the local DAR chapter for asking for my participation in this project of documenting monuments that the General Joseph Warren Chapter DAR of Warren, PA have established over the years.
Snow Globe Creations
The Beauty Around Us 