Cassie, the time-exposure dog
Posted on January 26, 2007
Filed Under All, Photos, My Brain |
So, we’re headed up to UCSF this AM for a full day of procedures and a consult with my oncologist, Dr. Susan Chang. UCSF is a remarkable institution, and its fine, bright, knowledgeable and relentless doctors and other staff have brough great hope to me as I confront a strange and bewildering disease.
So, I don’t really mind going, even though my morning starts off with 90 minutes in a GE Signa 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine. You may recall that my claustrophobia is such that it took some weeks of cognitive therapy to even begin using an ‘open’ MRI. True, I have now done several 45-minute and a even a 90-minute back-to-back MRI and MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) in the closed Signas since then (this morning’s procedure is a MRI-MRS), and the information really helps my oncology team make the most informed decisions for treatment, but it’s still not my most enjoyable way to spend a morning.
So, Cassie and I decided to try out the new tripod we bought last night, after our hematology lab firedrill left us in downtown Menlo Park with time to kill before spouse Linda could arrive to shop and find dinner (we ate at Carpaccio, eventually). The Ritz Camera store was advertising various sales, and I came away with a nylon bag for the Lumix, and a very lightweight tripod - a Quantaray 7001 that cost $39.
In this digital era, tripods and time exposures are a whole new game compared to my days in press photography. Both cameras and tripods are so light that they are easy to carry and quick to set up, unlike the heavy, hulking Bogen I recently donated to my old school that used to hold a, say 600mm lens and a brass-and-steel motorized Nikon or even a 4×5 camera. The cable release is now a button on an electrical connection, not a mechanical gizmo: there seemed to be very little shake when I hit the switch.
So Cassie and I made our way on a 2.5 mile walk, the better for me to be calm and a little tired in the MRI, and snapped some time exposures along the way, including Oak Knoll School, on our block, above. The Quantaray tripod has a hand grip that makes it easy to carry with the Lumix attached, and it only took seconds to set up and shoot a dozen pix or so. Cassie is a great helper, and wrapped her lead around the tripod any number of times….
Comments
2 Responses to “Cassie, the time-exposure dog”
Leave a Reply
You are one lucky dog. Management at Adobe is Disneyland. If you had long term medical issues at any other Silicon Valley company, took tons of spontaneous days off, and didn’t have a management title, you’d be out the door. Then again, Adobe is still making money….
QSX 2001 was an excellent $20 tripod but short lived. Stripped the azimuth bolt on my QSX 2001 after only a year. $20 gone.
I am, as you say, one lucky dog. Adobe is the best…..