nature photography | At Home with Tech

April 7, 2024

What Do an Earthquake, the Solar Eclipse and a Spring Flower have in Common?

These tree blossoms represent something much larger, which we can barely understand… if at all. Happily, you can still take a picture.

The big news this week was supposed to be the solar eclipse. But the New Jersey earthquake that affected much of the northeast stole the headlines three days before the big celestial event.

Having always lived on the East Coast, I didn’t really know how to process this sudden experience of our entire house vibrating. (I first thought our washing machine in the basement had badly malfunctioned during the peak of its spin cycle.)

Fortunately, it was not a big earthquake… just a taste of nature’s raw power.

Puny Humans
We are certainly not the center of our universe. A little earthquake or a total solar eclipse will quickly remind anyone of that often-terrifying truth.

We are tiny.

Mother Earth and its moon. The sun and its solar system. Our galaxy and its place in the universe. It’s barely possible for us to even comprehend.

It’s not Just a Flower
When spring shows up in the Northern Hemisphere, and the cycle of life is on full display, it’s just another example of forces much larger than us.

Sure, clipping a pretty daffodil from your backyard and popping it into a small vase on your dining room table is enjoyable. But perhaps it’s also good to remember what powered that flower’s creation. (I know one can take this in more than one direction. But that won’t change my point.)

Clarity
So this year, while I walked about my neighborhood with camera in hand to greet spring, I did it with something of a more evolved perspective. (My early-April photo exercises have become an annual tradition: 2022 and 2023)

Sometimes it just takes a little earthquake or a massive solar eclipse to put it all in perspective.

December 31, 2023

My Biggest Discoveries I Blogged About over the Past Year

Here’s my At Home with Tech year in review. Below are the links to my key learnings and tech discoveries.

So yes, these next few weeks can all be about looking forward. The fresh start. The resolutions. The turning over a new leaf. But I like to think of this time of year as the next chapter that builds on the past. It’s not so much ‘the new’… as ‘the next.’

I try to carry it forward. That way, I can greet these annual cycles with the perspective of my past years’ experiences. Said another way, it’s important to look back as you look forward. Otherwise, a lot can get lost across the years.

That’s why I think it’s critical to package up the story of your past year in an organized photo collection (digital or book) or perhaps an edited video-clips overview.

You might also want to perform a mental review and acknowledgement of your other notable actions and learnings.

Take it in. Then lock it in, or let it go if need be.

At Home with Tech Year in Review

As you know, I document my thoughts on technology and family life each week. So, I’ll follow my own advice and offer this summary of my blog posts that reflect my big learnings across the past year. Please check out the links below that most interest you!

My Growth as a Parent

Working in our Post-Pandemic World

My Journey as the Family Photographer

My Role as the Family Archivist

How a tiny film-to-digital converter brought new life to my father’s old analog slides
How to quickly turn a scanned negative into a positive image on a Mac
How to use SmugMug as a family photo archiving tool
How to prevent your family’s identity from being washed away by time

Maximizing your Family Video Clips

My Family Vacation Tips

Best Practices for your iPhone

My Evolving Understanding of Apple Computers

Here’s to a Prosperous 2024
As always, thank you for reading my blog. I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the year to come.

Happy New Year!

November 16, 2023

How to Spend 30 Minutes to Take the Edge Off a Work Trip

If you’re online at sunrise, don’t forget to turn around and appreciate the sunrise outside your hotel window.

Work trips can be stressful. Even if you appreciate the opportunity, working long hours for consecutive days in a different time zone can wear on even the most experienced traveler.

So often, I hear stories from colleagues who have returned from their travels, and they lament that they never were able to escape from their work environment and appreciate the location they’ve visited.

I say there’s always an opportunity to squeeze in a few minutes to get outside and smell the roses. You just need to be planful and allow yourself a little time to pull away from the gravity of your work requirements.

Take a Half Hour to Refuel
Thirty minutes is all you really need to walk about and see your environment. Really experience it.

Do it during lunch. Take a break. Perhaps start your day a little earlier. If you can’t find 30 minutes… or the time to take two 15-minute breaks, then there’s likely another issue to address.

If you want to maximize these moments, you might want to take a few pictures along the way. You certainly don’t have to, but if you like searching for cool photos during your day-to-day, your walk might reveal exactly that.

The Healing Properties of a Micro Excursion
Whether you want to connect with your space, take a photo or just clear your head, carving out 30 minutes for a ‘micro excursion’ is one of the best ways to feed your sense of well-being.

It can make all the difference.

Here’s what I spotted during my own stroll in Palm Desert, California during a recent work trip. I used my iPhone 15 Pro Max for close ups and my Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200D for the zoom.