I will never, ever...

...wait in line for a stupid phone.  I just don't get the people who do wait in line.  Especially if you're paying $1999 pre tax for a maxed out Apple iPhone.  I will never pay that for a phone.  Regardless if it's, as Tim Cook says $30/monthly tab.  

I am always a generation or two behind on my phones.  iPhones are disposable products.  You get rid of them within 2 years once your contract is done.  I am currently sporting an Apple iPhone 8 Plus in a protective case.  My contract is up in May 2020.  Will I be getting another phone in May 2020.  Nope.  Why?  My contract will go down to $50 a month plus tax for 10GB of data.  I am not a zombie meaning I'm not stuck to my phone 24/7/365.  

My current phone does exactly what it's supposed to.  Make phone calls and take pictures.  I have the 64GB model which is enough storage for me to shoot 4k/60fps video and photos for the day or week if need be.  I also have iCloud storage of 50GB which I pay $1.49 a month for.

I honestly don't get why people wait for a freaking phone.  There is absolutely no reason.  A new phone is not relevant.  It does not make you look cool because a cell phone is so ubiquitous now.  Your grandmother has a phone.  Your friends have a phone. Everybody has a cell phone.  Need versus want is what I am saying.  You don't need a new phone.  You have more computing power in your current phone than what NASA had to put man on the moon.

Algonquin Radio Telescope

I had the privilege of staying the night at the Algonquin Radio Telescope in Algonquin Park, Ontario which is located just a 3 hour drive west of Ottawa, Ontario - Canada.  I've been to Algonquin Park on several occasions to camp and do some nature and landscape photography in the past.  I've heard of the Algonquin Radio Telescope a few years back.  But due to life getting in the way, I never had the chance to go up there to visit.

As it turns out, I finally had the chance on the Canada Day long weekend in 2016.  This was the first time visiting the site.  I got there at about 14:00 or so and checked into the house where the researchers stay.  I roamed the area around the house overlooking Traverse Lake.  It started out a beautiful, cool day with white, puffy clouds.  It was supposed to clear out for the night and no rain was expected.  

I asked one of the resident astro-physicists if I could access the telescope site to take some pictures and at 17:15 I was able to access the telescope site.  The 46 metre dish is something to behold on first sight.  It is a gigantic dish in the forest.

I first spent about 75 minutes walking and photographing the site from various angles.  What a sight to see.  I left the sight at about 18:30 to go get ready for a nicely prepared dinner of curried chicken and rice.  We were joined by Robbie who flew all the way from Ireland to see various Canadian sites.  After dinner, Robbie, a fellow photographer and I decided that we wanted to go photograph the dish at sunset.  Again an amazing sight to see.  Especially at dusk with no clouds and no moon.  It was just an awesome experience to see the site, meet new people and get some education in the process.

If you do decide to go, bring several small children to entertain the large amounts of mosquitos, horse flies and black flies.  I mean this in all seriousness.  The bugs took 2 pints of blood from me which were quickly refilled with some much needed Irish whiskey.

Another walk around the hill

Another nice day and another nice walk around Canada's Parliament Hill.  Photography seems to be the only thing that brings me joy.  Not just lately, but the last 5-6 years.  Considering I went through a battle with cancer and a divorce, you can imagine I was not in a very good place mentally.  The only thing that kept me going were my camera's.  I felt like I had no support anywhere else.  Everything seemed distant and remote.  Except for my cameras.

Night fall over the gulf

So I love shooting wide field landscape shots with my Canon EOS 6D and the Canon EF f2.8 L 16-35MM lens.

If you seriously want to get into photography, buy a decent body like the Canon EOS 80D, the 7D Mark II and buy the L series lenses.  Yes they're expensive but you get what you pay for.  You can see the quality of a good camera, a good lens and a half decent photographer here:  http://goo.gl/cdNR63

The 3rd Canon EOS 6D body and the moose

So I've been doing a lot of thinking the past couple of weeks with what I wanted to do with my photography and videography.  More specifically, what kind of photography and videography I wanted to do and what my current equipment was capable of.  Also in my thought process was what do I sell via the micro stock agencies I deal with.

Some time ago I bought a Sigma f5.0-6.3 150-500MM lens that I used to get various shots with for my wildlife photography.  I also use a Canon EF 70-200MM f2.8L II USM lens a lot as well.  I've been finding that the Canon 70-200MM far more often than any other lens just because of the build quality of said lens.  If you shoot on the Canon platform and do not use this lens because of the price, I suggest you start saving up to get this lens.  Simply the best lens out there.  Sharp, crystal clear and the colours are consistently amazing with no chromatic aberration at all or at least very, very little.  For my landscape photography I use the Canon EF 16-35MM II L USM lens along with the Canon EF L 24-70MM II USM lens.  For macro photography, I use the Canon f2.8 100MM L USM lens.  I also use the nifty fifty (Canon EF f1.8 STM).

I also shoot video for my stock agencies.  Currently I use the Canon Vixia HF R62 HD camcorder.  I had the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder.  Now, both shoot amazing video.  World class.  As much as I wanted to keep the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder, I could not sell 4k video at all.  1080p, plenty.   But of course not as many as I would like.  Sales are always good.

Today at lunch I went to my local camera shop that I always use to buy my equipment to sell some stuff and perhaps buy a new body.  A new body for me anyways.  A camera body that is.  So today at lunch I went and sold some equipment.  I sold the Sigma f5.0-6.3 150-500MM, the Sony FDR AX33 4k HD camcorder and the Sony RX100 Mark IV which by the way is an excellent pocket point and shoot camera which also shoots 4k video along with taking great pictures.  Plus it fits perfectly in the front jean pocket.

Depending on what I was going to get back for the equipment I was going to buy a cropped sensor body like the Canon EOS T6i or the Canon EOS 70D.  I was kind of hoping to get enough money back to get the Canon EOS 70D which is a steadier body with a few more features than the T6i.  Plus the T6i is an entry level camera.  Don't get me wrong, I think the Rebel series of cameras are great.  That's how I started in the photography business.  Actually I upgraded to the Canon EOS 350D from the Canon A95 which was a cool little point and shoot camera that, if I remember correctly required four double a batteries and shot at a maximum of 5MP.

Back on topic.  I had more than enough to buy the Canon EOS 70D body and battery grip.  But I was a bit short for the Canon EOS 6D.  I did a bit of budgeting for the next couple of weeks and figured, why not?  Spend less than $500 to get a full frame body.  My third Canon EOS 6D.  I got the Canon EOS 6D because I was so happy with the other two Canon EOS 6D cameras that I still use to this day to do my landscape and nature photography.

The only thing that bugs me about the Canon EOS 6D is the lack of focus points using only 11 and only 1 is cross type.  Otherwise it's an excellent camera body which works well in low light and other photographic situations.  So now I have three Canon EOS 6D bodies attached to Canon L series lenses except for the Macro and nifty fifty which are waiting for their own bodies.  Eventually I think I may get two mored bodies to finish off the set.  I also need to get a battery grip for the new addition to the Canon family as I find the body to be just a tad bit small for my hands.  The battery grip also helps when you're shooting vertical. I wonder if I can get Canon Canada to send me one for review.  Eh, Canon????