The Old Armstrong with new lighting gear.

This month of June has keeping me incredibly busy lately so apologies for the lack of posting. I blame it on work which has taken up a lot of my energy and time this month. With what’s leftover, I’ve been helping the lady through her LSATs and spending time with some of my friends who are moving and transitioning into their next stage in life. Some are headed to New York this summer. Some are starting school again. It’s funny how quickly seasons can change. I definitely prefer being the one moving to being the one who has to watch friends move away. All that to say, I’m sad to see these people go.

A quick recap of June:

- My Dad was in town for a week. It’s always good having him visiting.
- Watched the NBA finals through Game 6 to see Boston win their 17th championship. Seeing Allen, Pierce, and Garnett get their first NBA championship rings was priceless.
- Ate at Burma in SF with 12 friends to celebrate the lady finishing her LSAT exam.
- Purchased more colored socks for the wardrobe. My pants and shoes are happy.
- Celebrated with my sister who finished her DAT exam (stop with the exams people).
- Purchased a strobist lighting kit and speedlight for the digital.
- Found the elusive MB-20 grip in the UK for my Nikon F4. Thank you Ebay.

You’ll be seeing more posts soon as this craziness dies down.

“Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts …” - Arthur Helps

Chihuly’s “The Sun” at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. See more of his work here.

This week was one of my busier weeks at work so I didn’t get the chance to post this. There was a blog post at Photoshelter this week that I’ve been thinking about ever since I read it. It’s worth reflecting about. Oftentimes we forget just how hard artists work to be good at their craft. It’s an invaluable reminder that we gain from what we put in. And in some fields, if not most, we all earn our dues.

An excerpt:

Picked up first camera at the age of 22, as research tool to aid paintings: a used Nikon FG with 50mm f1.8 and rubber lens hood. $250. All my money.

Intrigued with the alchemy of photography, began photo education with books. Taught myself Zone System with Ansel Adam’s “The Negative” and “The Print”. Begged and borrowed time in other photographer’s darkrooms to practice technique. Bought Minolta Digital Spot Meter F, brand new, to perfect Zone System. $500. All my money again.

I had a chance to catch the last day of the Anne Leibovitz exhibition at the Legion of Honor yesterday in San Francisco. This short post by Miguel Garcia-Guzman, the writer of blog Exposure Compensation, is a good follow up to my thoughts after the exhibition.

An excerpt:

The idea that anyone with a “digital” camera can take a photograph is quite true, but making a good photograph is as difficult today as it was 50 years ago. This reminds me of the pointless idea that the current large volume of digital images has changed in any way what makes a good photograph. Of course it hasn’t.

The Ipod and mp3 is inducting the CD into the archives of history. A royal f-u. Just as cassette tapes did to vinyl records.

I remember back in grade school and junior high that life was about who got the best recording on a cassette tape of the latest radio jams. That is, perfectly getting the song without the radio ads or the voice of the DJ and putting just the right gap between that song and the next. That was cool those days. So cool that the kid with the best cassette tape was king. All the other kids wanted to duplicate this mastered tape and if you weren’t in that circle, you weren’t part of the in-crowd. I secured my place early but didn’t have the schmoozing skills back then to really make it big.

Remember the revolutionary walkman? I never had a walkman myself and that was OK. Because instead of a walkman, I had a mini-stereo that I got for Christmas. While people were doing their jogs and bus rides with their ultraportable walkmans, I was doing these activities with a stereo.

These days, the cassette tape is a piece of nostalgia and history. But it used to be the heavy weight in the music industry in the 1980s, with mass production starting in 1964 in Germany where it was called the “musicassette”. In reality, cassettes weren’t just emblems of cool for musically-inclined kids in the 80s. Cassettes were used to overthrow the Shah regime in the Iranian revolution of 1979. As Time Magazine wrote, “… transistor radios and cassette tape recorders with messages relayed over telephone lines to some 9,000 mosques all over Iran allowed a 78-year-old holy man camped in a Paris suburb to direct a revolution 2,600 miles away like a company commander assaulting a hill.” Technology is powerful. It’s been true in history and it’s true today.

It goes without saying, history repeats itself. But every repeat still stands on its own as an important piece of the linear timeline. For now, the cassette tape culture lives on.