Vagabond Jim

 "Asides" will be occasional series; my ramblings on subjects that are dear to me and of importance to the blog but not a destination.   Modern photography is amazing.  The computational stuff has made it VERY easy to get a stunning exposure. Whereas on used to have to think about how and how much light to let hit the film, no one needn't.  All.  The move away from chemicals to pixels made that not just possible but inevitable.  The old trade of was to choose between a fast burst through a wide opening (a small aperture (f-stop)  = large opening) or a long exposure (slow shutter speed). Short exposures with a wide open iris would stop motion - think sports. Tiny apertures with long exposures would create amazing depth of field (how much of the picture is in fine detail, moving along an axis away from the film) - think Ansel Adams.  (And his colleagues in the f/64 club.) Assuming that was done right, there was still room to screw up.  In the dark room.  I never played ther

I don't have a home.  No, that is absolutely neither a problem nor a complaint. I was born when Dad ("D") was working on his PhD.  We moved when he had a teaching position, I was 2.  At 10 we moved to greater Cincinnati (actually, Northern Kentucky.)  I left home at 17 and never really returned.  University in Cleveland.  Then I found a job in Chicago. In that period Mom ("M") and Dad moved a few miles to a much nicer house. The new house never had a "Jimmy's Room," as the previous one did.  The original one in KY did.  And one (each) for my sister ("S") and brother ("B").  The move meant I never returned to 'my room.'  Again, not a problem.  It's just a lack of an emotional anchor.  When I'd visit, I'd stay in what had been B's room.  It was never mine; it's still known as his.  S had a room but didn't spend much time there either -- to my knowledge it's referred to as "The Guest Room&qu