I didn’t get why people include grain in their digital photos, thinking it is an anachronistic hipster thing. I’ve fully come around and find grain added by my camera can make photos seem sharper yet give blur and subjects more character. Photos feel better with grain.

Current Slate of Fujifilm Film Simulations

I’ve got a slate of six Film Simulations from Fuji X Weekly loaded on my X100V. Fuji X Weekly’s Film Recipes app is nice for a quick reference. Here’s what I’ll be working with for a while in hopes of greatly limiting RAW reprocessing with Straight-Out-Of-Camera (SOOC) JPEGs: General Purpose: Kodachrome 64 Fujicolor Reala 100 Landscape: The Rockwell Afga Vista 100 Fujicolor Superia 800 (if overcast) Street: Kodachrome II I figured out how to use Fujifilm X Raw Studio to save user settings to the camera.

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Closer look at a senescing apricot leaf compared to a still green leaf.

yellow heart shaped apricot leaf in front of a green leaf

Our apricot is almost ready to overwinter. The nectarine at the bottom left is being a bit stubborn. California wild rose at the bottom right is in full growth mode.

Perfect field weather today.

Sourdough biscuits for breakfast today. With the X100V, learning manual focus & judicious aperture settings are key for food. And willing use of the flash. The flash on this camera is good! But don’t use the Velvia Film Simulation with flash as shadows get a very blue cast.

biscuits with red paprika on a plate

We’ve got patty melts and a cat tonight, but no Aurora.

Oh hello there! 👋

upside down mantis in california buckwheat

I love not spending tons of time processing RAW by using Fujifilm X100V’s Film Simulations. These on-camera JPEGs look great and Fujifilm X Raw Studio makes slight tweaks using the original RAW a breeze. Definitely getting all value out of this fun camera.

Backyard scene with citrus trees against cedar bark and vivid blue skies with clouds

My current drip system is an aging hodgepodge with uneven tree watering. I just got a bunch of new drip stuff from dripdepot.com (20% sale). Will be converting compression fittings to perma-loc. That’s more flexible and fittings are, importantly, easily reusable.

Fridge water dispenser started leaking. Its valve refuses to completely close. This has been an on and off problem but now is permanent. I had to remove the water line junction because there’s no valve. Plumbing is the worst as I never trust that my connections are leak free🤞

water line junction to remove so as to disconnect the fridge water line going to the rightwater line junction removed from the under sink plumbing.

This little backyard lizard lives underneath that cinder block.

juvenile lizard sunning on a cinder block

Chocolate chip with walnut cookie connections.

Turkey taquitos. Fried. Meaning delicious.

browned fried taquitos on a grid rack

So much rain and soon far too much in too few days. 1” total so far this month.

water dripping off a silohette of grapes. water drops are reflecting things and are in focus.

This morning after 0.55” rain. The clouds cleared out astonishingly fast.

No rest for birds this time of the year. Here’s a Yellow Rumped Warbler (lower right) and Lesser Gold Finch (upper left) in our cultivated native grapes.

Yellow Rumped Warbler (lower right) and Lesser Gold Finch (upper left) in our cultivated native grapes.

We got the JJ Covid-19 vaccination very early this year so of course we just went and got Pfizer boosters 🙌

Our cat utilizing all her available space.

I don’t do sports but I have a backyard.

rainy day in a landscaped backyard