When Kate and I were married as the 80s came to a close, my brother gave us an amazing wedding gift — a brand new Nikon N4004s with a 50mm f1.8 lens and a classic Tamrac case. You see, I’d been using his Nikon EM for the past four or five years. I guess for…
The Nikon EM — my gateway camera…
When I was a kid, photography wasn’t something I was really into. I had a Kodak 110 camera that I took snapshots with, but that was pretty much it. That was, however, until I discovered my big brother’s Nikon EM camera. I began experimenting, not really knowing what I was doing, trying to create something…
A bag of holding — The Tamrac Velocity 3
I, like many of my photographer brethren and sisteren, am a bag horse. I have always been a sucker for a new camera bag, always on the lookout for the perfect way to carry my camera and gear. I’ve had holster bags, shoulder bags of all sizes, watertight cases, backpacks even inserts for briefcases. But…
The iPod Mini at 16 Gigs!
Meet Green Maureen. Green Maureen is an iPod mini from 2004. Originally, she was a 4GB. Today, she’s got four times the storage! I picked up this mini through GameStop; they sell “scratch and scuff” iPods along with better-condition refurbs. I didn’t get a choice of color (although I really wanted the green one anyway)…
The Bullet Tele gets “Dreamy…”
When I first picked up my Squier Bullet Tele (see “The $89 Tele Surprise“), I thought it to be a decent sounding instrument, fun to play, and worth every penny. I also thought it would be an excellent platform to try my hand at guitar modding. Well, the day finally came, and I’m glad I…
Nashville/High-Strung Tuning brings a sweet sound
After the D string on my 30-year-old Matrix acoustic broke, I realized it was time for a re-string. But instead of putting a set of my usual acoustic lights on it, I stumbled across something called Nashville, or High-Strung tuning. Essentially, you take the “high” octave strings from a 12-string set and use them for…
A view out my window
I’m a big fan of Boinx’s iStopMotion. I’ve had it for years and done a number of fun projects with it. In late October, I decided to try an “all-day” time lapse. The view from my office window provides a good look at clouds coming in from the west. This video shows what it would…
In praise of old digital cameras…
Many of the photos that appear on mikerophonography are the work of an ancient (well, it came out ten years ago!) Sony Cybershot DSC-S75. Why? Well, it’s the one that’s in the basement for one. Oh, and it takes smashing web photos! The DSC-S75 is a 3.2 megapixel camera with a 3x zoom (34-102mm equivalent)…
The $89 Tele surprise
Every couple of months, Guitar Center holds one of their “List” sales. During the weekend (usually over a holiday) they publish a listing of stuff they’re selling at lower than normal prices. I’ve fared well at past events (my POD 2.0 cost me $49) and often preview the lists before the sales actually start. Well,…
Striking while the light was golden…
It was a tough day at work, but a beautiful day outside. When the whistle blew, I decided to put the day and the gorgeous light to good use, so I packed my video camera and tripod and headed to one of my favorite spots — the Monocacy Creek park in Bethlehem. This place represents…