November 4, 2022

From Gerald R. Lucas

First Friday Family Fun

What a week! As the semester wanes, I have begun to look toward the spring and my four-day-a-week, on-campus teaching schedule that apparently will not change. Why should I have a two-day teaching schedule when I can devote a couple of days to scholarship? Nah, it’s more important for me to show my face on campus for “increased faculty presence.” I’m glad Lipton’s is nearly finished, but this does not bode well for future scholarship. And let’s not even discuss the contract delays. I need a beer.

To decompress a bit, Autumn suggested attending First Friday downtown. I thought that was a great idea, so we headed down a bit early to chill the f— out. Of course, I brought along the Leica M8 wearing the Ultron 2/28. I have really grown to like this combination: the Ultron is a stunning lens—great size, color, sharpness, and bokeh—what more could I ask for?[1] I had the Skopar 21 with me, but I never put it on the M8. I know: I do have to start using it, but lack of frame lines makes it a bit of a challenge.

We had a lovely evening. Henry got to play a bit with the games set up in Third Street Park while I took a couple of photos. See them in the gallery. Capture One Pro has some excellent black and white templates built-in, and I’ve been using them more when I can’t get the colors quite right. The M8 files do make lovely black and whites.

We ended the evening with a meal at Kudzu. We were able to get an outside table. I think we all had some kind of shrimp—mine were on tacos. In all, a pretty good evening, and I certainly felt better by the end of it.



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  1. That said, I did just watch a video on the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1 that looks amazing, even if it is a big boy. It's pretty pricy, too; maybe the 40mm f/1.2 is worth another look?