My last post about this year’s “paper system” neglected to mention which pen(s) I use. Most people don’t care about pens, but I do. Assorted writing instruments and notebooks For me, the right pen to use depends upon what and where I’m writing. There are three “modes” in which I write things down. Each requires a different pen. Ok, “requires” might be a bit ridiculous, but still. Jotting things down while out and about If someone at the local pub mentions a great book they just read, I whip out my trusty Field Notes notebook, which is always at the ready in my back pocket.

I tend to start a new blog so I can try blogging software. There’s nothing wrong with that other than I’ve ended up with many places to write but not enough to say. I suppose I should just pick a venue already and be done with it, but I can’t seem to decide where I want to “live” online. There’s here at baty.net. This site is built using my favorite software, Tinderbox, and is statically generated.

I’m a little discouraged to hear that Dave Winer is losing Kyle Shank as a developer at Small Picture. Dave says that Fargo development will continue, and that’s great news. Fargo is a terrific outliner, and the first web-based writing tool that feels “right” to me. Unfortunately, it looks like Trex, the server component that makes blogging with Fargo possible, is headed for the back burner. I’ve been happily blogging with Fargo for a few weeks now and it’s been great.

I'm tired of having a blog. Or more accurately, I'm tired of figuring out what content goes here, on Twitter, my Facebook page, Flickr, etc. <p> Maybe I'll give this site a rest for a bit. </p> </div> </div> </div>

This weekend a Canon EOS-1V showed up on Craigslist for $300. No one in their right mind would pass up the chance at Canon’s ultimate film SLR at that price, right? Right? I certainly didn’t. It’s out of control. I now have a Nikon F6 and a Canon 1V. The F6 is technically for sale, but still. Last week it was a new-ish Leica lens for the M7 (one of 3 Leica bodies).

Saul Leiter passed away this week. I've always liked his photographs.  <blockquote> <p> <!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?--> <span>"I’m a person who likes to postpone things. I see no reason for being in a rush. When you consider many of the things that people treat very seriously, you realize that they don’t deserve to be treated that seriously. And that many of the things people worry about aren’t worth worrying about.

I posted this photo in April 2007. Just took this one today. People make fun of me for changing my “system” all the time but the reality is I only take temporary detours. Analog always wins in the end.

I bought a little Leica IIIf on a whim a year ago and have become rather attached to it. It’s tiny, beautiful, and I like how it handles. Leica IIIf I went for a walk with it this morning and after developing the roll I discovered that its shutter has begun “capping”, which means the second curtain isn’t behaving correctly. You can see the results in the examples below. Notice how the right side of the images are darker than the left.

For a time I thought I wanted to "build an audience" for this blog. I thought that if I kept to one topic, photography, more people might be interested in stopping by here regularly. That never happened, probably because I don't care enough about "followers". Good thing, since I get almost zero traffic here. That's OK. <p> I've always used this space as a place to get things off my chest or share things I'm interested in, whatever the topic.

<div> <div> <div> <p> A couple years ago I was fatter so <a href="http://archives.jackbaty.com/2011/12/ben-brooks-on-the-fitbit/">I bought a Fitbit</a> to help track my activity. I hoped it would trick me into being more active. It did, and as part of a diet-and-exercise plan I lost some weight and was certainly healthier. The novelty wore off eventually. I disliked having it in my pocket all the time, so I stopped using it.

I hadn’t shot a deliberate photo in a week, so I grabbed the M3 off the shelf, loaded it up with some HP5 and started walking. The goal was to keep going until the roll was used up. I was thinking of it as more of a sketchbook of my walk, so I underexposed and overdeveloped a bit. Then boosted the contrast even more, just to prove a point. I like the results and it was a great exercise – in more ways than one.

My recent foray into large format has made me consider abandoning 35mm film. This started years ago when I began shooting medium format, but I’ve never really come close to giving up on the smaller format until recently. <p> The idea is that for "real" photography I'd use medium or large format film and for everyday snapshots I would use the X100 or even the iPhone.