We Went To The Zoo

by on November 23, 2015 with No Comments

During the summer we make it a point to visit at least one zoo. It’s just a lot of fun seeing all the animals. This year was nice since I had my K-50 with me to take some photos. I’m still really happy with the camera, it’s done everything I’ve asked of it and hasn’t had any issues with rain, snow, heat, cold, or dust. Just phenomenally durable. Read More

Three Months With My Pentax K-50

by on March 31, 2015 with No Comments

In early January I bought a new camera because I’d been wanting to play around with a “real” camera for a while and it seemed like a good time to do so. I ended up getting a Pentax K-50 from Amazon Warehouse deals because it was a really good price for a camera that has good reviews from all the relevant camera blogs and sites. Plus Pentax being the underdog in the market to Nikon and Canon makes it kind of fun.

I won’t go into a full review here since there’s many of them already out there from people much more knowledgeable than me. Some of my favorite features so far are that the body and kit lenses are weather sealed which lets me not have a heart attack every time they get a bit wet or muddy, it’s compatibility with every Pentax K-mount lens made which means I can pick up cheap manual focus primes, and that it’s image stabilization is in body so that even those old lenses benefit from it.

I’m constantly learning and getting better at choosing which photos to take (framing and positioning), the technical aspect of taking the photo (selecting the proper settings in camera), and post processing in Lightroom. If this continues I’ll look back at these pictures and notice all kinds of flaws and wish I’d taken them differently. But for now I’m happy with them and think they look pretty good.

My Phone Broke or Living With a $50 Phone: Lumia 635 Edition

by on March 30, 2015 with No Comments

The unthinkable happened this week. My cell phone stopped working. My beloved Nokia Lumia 920 finally kicked the bucket and I was left with a decision. Get a new flagship phone or go with something cheaper. Since I’m a fan of the Windows Phone OS and they haven’t released a flagship recently I decided to go with a less expensive device. I ended up picking up a Lumia 635 from Walmart for about $48 without a contract.

This is a phenomenally low price for the device I got. It’s obviously not going to astound with it’s specifications but it performs well especially when considering it’s cost. The processor is modest, it only has 512mb of RAM which limits its multitasking capabilities, and the screen doesn’t have a comparatively high resolution. However it does have nice color reproduction, MicroSD expandable storage, user replaceable battery, and a build quality that feels anything but budget.

That last bit is the part that impresses me the most. Both in it’s styling and material construction the Lumia 635 does not feel cheap. It’s thin with nicely tapered edges and there isn’t any plasticky give like you find with many devices in this price range. It almost reminds me of a tiny little Surface Pro 3 in it’s styling. That’s certainly impressive for a phone this inexpensive.

Initially I planned on using the 635 for a short period of time while I shopped around for a more premium device but now that I’ve used it for a few days I could see myself happily using the device much longer than that. I may just keep it until Microsoft releases it’s new flagships which are rumored to be coming in late Summer.

TL;DR: If you need a $50 phone without a contract you shouldn’t think twice about picking up the Lumia 635. For the money it’s likely the best device available.

Hello world!

by on February 6, 2015 with No Comments

I finally got around to switching my website from a static HTML portfolio/resume page to a more blog centric page. I feel like I’ll be able to get more use out of this since rather than sitting there and doing nothing I’ll be encouraged to write posts and play around with WordPress. Both of those should be helpful for my professional growth and frankly I find them to be fun.

For the sake of keeping the site looking correct I’ll have some filler posts until I post enough that they aren’t needed.

Feel free to point out any mistakes, bugs, or things you simply don’t like about the page. It’s a work in progress just like me.