Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Race #39 – Head for the Cure 5K

I have a love/hate relationship with Forest Park.

I love that we have a place like Forest Park for events in St. Louis.  It’s the second largest public park in the US (behind Central Park in NY), and it seems like it’s almost always got some kind of big event taking place on the weekends.  And naturally, there are a lot of races that take place there, given that it can be blocked off and not foul up “regular” road traffic.

But there’s something about running in Forest Park that just brings out my average races.  Today was no exception.

I hadn’t originally had this race on my calendar.  I’ve supported this race financially in the past.  A co-worker of mine, Sandy Butler, contracted brain cancer some years ago, and succumbed to it just a year ago.  Sandy was a fun person, and happened to also be married to another co-worker of mine, Rick.

I’m in the office infrequently, and happened to see Rick on a recent visit.  He follows my crazy racing, and knew that I was chasing medals.  New for this year, he told me, was a finisher medal.

Done.

It’s a nice event, very reminiscent of the Undy, with teams supporting cancer victims, and keeping the memory alive of those folks no longer among us.  In the case of Sandy’s team, we were the third largest team, and the second largest fundraiser.  I was pretty proud to be a part of that.

The race course was familiar, using many segments I’d run on so many courses at Forest Park over the last three years, and as usual, I was sluggish in the park.  My first kilometer was smoking (for me) at about 8:30, but I think I used up my tank of fuel, and wound up sorta just chugging through the rest of the race.

Like last weekend, I kicked it in at end, and ran like a crazy person to the finish line.  I still love the response of the crowd when they see an old, fat guy kick it in turbo mode, and hustle across the finish line.  That definitely takes the edge off how tired I am at the end of a race, and is thrilling for me.

(Beneficiary:  Head for Cure Foundation.  From their website:  The Head for the Cure Foundation mission is to raise awareness and funding to inspire hope for the community of brain cancer patients, their families, friends, caregivers and other supporters, while celebrating their courage, spirit and energy.)

Race Course

Apple Existence, Geek-Speak, Uncategorized

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I decided to get an Apple iPhone 6 Plus. It’s arrived, and here’s some of my thoughts.  (Granted, there’s probably nothing earth-shatteringly new here, but sometimes, ya just gotta say stuff.)

First off, the device is big. Really big, and that’s something that’s probably important to some people. For me, the way I use my phone is more as an Internet terminal rather than a phone, so the larger size is not all that important. When I need to use my phone as a phone, I’m usually using it with the speaker phone function turned on, so that mammoth physical size is really not that big an issue.

And frankly, while the width and height are generous, the thing is really slim, and doesn’t seem to weigh a ton.  And yes, it does fit in your pocket nicely … at least in my jeans.  If you’re a painted-on skinny jeans person, first off, I’m jealous, and secondly, it probably ain’t gonna fit in your pocket nearly as well as me in my baggy 550’s.

I love the rounded corners.  I tend to vacillate on this quite a bit.  When the iPhone 5 came out, I wasn’t a huge fan of the sharp edges, but I grew to like ’em.  Now, the smooth contours of the iPhone 6 Plus have really seduced me.  It feels slick, curvaceous, and well molded for your hand.  I did buy a case (Spigen Thin Fit A), and while the case nicely fits the phone, and feels very protective, I really like the feel of the phone without it.  This case is small enough (but still sturdy!) that if you didn’t know the phone had a case on it, you might mistake it for part of the phone.  I’ve run with my phones both naked and covered, and this might be a phone that is prone to running around naked.  It’s just that nice.

iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 Plus

The new screen is gorgeous.  It’s full 1080, and watching HD video on it is a dream.  Star Trek: Into Darkness is my favorite film to show off the crisp new display.  It just rocks on this device.  Really, really sharp, clear images from a well-done HD film.

One of the factors that drove me to this model over the regular iPhone 6 was the optical image stabilization in the camera.  On paper, this sounds like a really good thing.  In practice, I’ve only shot once where I was rocking’ and rollin’ (in the Jeep, handheld, going over some rocks), and it seemed to make a difference.  That’s not very scientific though, and is something I should try in a little more controlled environment against something like a GoPro, that doesn’t have IS.

Battery life seems to be much nicer than my iPhone 5.  I’ve found that the Facebook really drained the battery on my iPhone 5, and that seems better with the iPhone 6 (and that was with running the new iOS on both phones).  On the iPhone 5, I’d drain out to about 30% across a day of normal usage (including Facebook).  On the iPhone 6 Plus, I might drain down to 70% or so across the day.

And I really like TouchId.  Being able to identify my via the “belly button” is awesome.  I love not having to key in a passcode to unlock, and now having some applications using that as authentication within the application just makes it more magical.  Very, very cool!

Now for the ugly… The buttons.

The case redesign moved the volume and power switch, and I’m just not a fan of where they landed.  I like the fact that the power button isn’t on top, but my muscle memory always goes to the right side of the phone for volume, and that’s where the power button was relocated.  So when I try to change volume when listening to music, I turn off the iPhone.  Boo.  It’s just retraining, and I get that, but for someone that relies on knowing how to use his tools without looking, I don’t like changes to where controls are.  That’s one of the reasons that I tend to stick with the same brand on my toys — Canon cameras, Taylor guitars, etc. — so there’s not much (if any) retraining of my old brain.  I’m sure there’s a reason the volume control was moved, but I think you could move the power switch without relocating the volume control too.

One more thing I’d mention is the camera lens.  I really don’t like that the lens protrudes beyond the back case.  I don’t think you could hurt it, but that’s another great reason to have a case on the thing.  It’ll definitely keep it flat on a table.

So… a whole lot of goodness, and just those silly button relocations as a negative for me.  YMMV!

 

Cancer, Uncategorized

Looking for Answers

I’d been mentally queuing up a post to talk about my cancer survivorship. It’s a tough road sometimes to have an “easy” cancer story: going from diagnosis to surgery to cured in just about a month. That’s just not the typical story, and while I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet, and that there’re lessons for folks in my message, there are times when I’m just smacked in the face with how unfair stupid cancer is.

Yesterday, a friend lost his just-turned fifteen year old daughter to a really nasty adolescent cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma. She went from diagnosis to passing in about fifteen pain-filled months.

Think of the future lost… school, career, husband, children, grandchildren. And all at fifteen.

And that’s why there are folks like me that question why they were dealt a relatively easy hand, while others are dealt the toughest fates there are. I mean, I’m an old guy who’s been around the bases a time or two, but she had a whole future ahead of her. Where’s the fairness in my still being here, and her being gone?

I’ll get past this question of “why me?” — I always do. After all, I know that God’s got a plan, and won’t put more in our hands than we can handle, even if we don’t understand it all. I can’t help but think about our friend and his family, though, knowing that I don’t have any frame of reference to understand their pain. I do have broad, strong shoulders though, and they’re welcome to them.

Uncategorized

Order Fulfillment

For the last three years, I’ve used Yessy to handle the sales of my photographs. I have just made the switch to Zenfolio. Here’s why.

Yessy handled the order side just fine. However, it was still up to me to fulfill the order — print, mat, frame, ship — and because there wasn’t a good way for a buyer to walk through a lot of assembly options for an image before purchasing it, it made my offerings pretty rigid, which I felt was somewhat constrictive.

Zenfolio partners with mPix, who can handle all elements of order fulfillment. Basically, it will save me a ton of time and effort, and gives my potential buyers so many more options than I could ever deliver any other way. You want one of my images printed on metallic paper? Done. Black aluminum frame? Done. Shipped to good ol’ Aunt Doris? Done. A fuzzy psychedelic mat? Well, maybe not so done.

I’m really excited about making this change, and have high hopes that it’ll make things easier for folks looking to hang some of my work on their walls. Give it a spin at http://colinwright.zenfolio.com, and let me know what you think.

Uncategorized

Welcome!

2 Comments

After over two years, it’s time to revamp the website — welcome to the new and improved site for Colin Wright Photography.

The biggest change is the move from RapidWeaver to WordPress.  Both platforms are impressive, and well-suited to doing almost anything someone might need, but my other sites are based on WordPress, and it just made sense to pull everything together in one platform.  While I’m working through the new formatting, the site may change appearance from time to time.  If you notice something that’s not working, just let me know.

Uncategorized

Welcome Photo Talk Radio Listeners!

Crystal

Crystal

This morning, Crystal garnered more accolades, this time from the folks at Photo Talk Radio. Howard Lipin, Michael A. Garcia and Gary Bernstein selected my image as the January HP & Photo Talk Radio Monthly Photo Contest, and brought me on the show this morning for a little interview. Crystal will be linked to from their site for a while, as will this site. 

I’d like to thank the three of them for seeing in this image the same magic that I saw when I shot it in December! 

So, to the listeners of Photo Talk Radio: Welcome to my site. Please look around, make yourself comfortable and if you have any questions, just ask!

Uncategorized

Purchase Through Yessy

I’ve established a presence on Yessy to handle the sales of prints of my work. You can access my gallery on Yessy through the “Purchase” link in the Links section of the sidebar menu. 

I don’t have everything out on Yessy yet, so if you see something in the gallery here that you’re interested in, please drop me an e-mail via the “Contact Me” link at the bottom of the page.