Disqus - Latest Comments for chuqui

Re: The Awful Truth About Some Photography Workshops

chuqui — Tue, 17 May 2016 18:20:44 -0000

You should also inquire about their insurance, especially if you're doing any field work with them, doubly so if they're supplying transport. Make sure they're properly insured, and if they push back or they aren't, that's a big red flag that other parts of their business operations are probably sub-standard (at best) or flawed.

Also, if it's a field workshop, inquire about permits. Are they getting proper access permits for the locations, or are they trying to fly under the radar? Especially in places like national parks, too many workshops try to sneak in and don't follow the legal processes. If they aren't, you shouldn't patronize them, and you can have your workshop shut down and ruined if the rangers decide to visit.

There is a time and a place for lecture-style workshops, but you need to understand what to expect out of them. I've taken them with both Art Wolfe and George Lepp and found them both very informative, but in different ways than hands-on workshops. Also much, much cheaper, so they can be a nice value, but you need someone who's a skilled an experienced teacher (like Wolfe is).

Re: Predicting the next coach for the Sharks: Teal Sunglasses for May 11, 2015

chuqui — Mon, 11 May 2015 16:28:52 -0000

Interesting thought. In general I try to avoid putting anything on Facebook (for various reasons) but this might well make sense to do so. I'll think about it. It's an interesting idea.

Re: A quick brag….

chuqui — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 16:45:10 -0000

I've hit that first nirvana point, actually, where I can be fairly active and not hurt. Where I now feel that first "I'm feeling teh differences" thing. Now to keep pushing those boundaries...

Re: A quick brag….

chuqui — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 16:44:25 -0000

thank you!

Re: Working Notes: Breakthroughs

chuqui — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 16:44:16 -0000

thanks!

Re: Can the Sharks Make the Playoffs? — Teal Sunglasses for March 31, 2015

chuqui — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:17:44 -0000

I think the change is in process, and that can take a couple of years. The question is whether the changes are the right ones and whether the expectations are being set right.

I wouldn't replace McClellan. the team plays for him and listens to him, and it's not a coaching problem.

As big a fan of Doug Wilson as I've been, he's done some things in the last year I wonder and worry about. If a change needs to be made, I'd start here, and if I were the owner, I'd seriously ocnsider it. Maybe not fire Wilson, but promote him and move in a GM under him to get fresh ideas and eyes on the problem. Or maybe it's time for a completely new management (but in general I like the organization)

Not much you can do other than continue with the going younger -- unless you can convince Marleau to give up his no movement clause. I'm not sure whether he would at this point. I wouldn't move Joe Thornton, but the changes made around him last offseason are a part of the problems this season, since team leadership is conflicted. I think McLellan has minimized that where he could but it's a definite problem not easily solved at this point.

And there'll be new faces in the locker room in September. Just unsure who they'll be at this point.

Re: Can the Sharks Make the Playoffs? — Teal Sunglasses for March 31, 2015

chuqui — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:12:33 -0000

yeah, and I think back to thsoe games where the team came out ahead of them saying it was a key and must win thing, and then played flat, or onyl for 40 minutes.

even a few of those games having consistent intensity would be more than enough.

Re: Working Notes: WordPress Plugins

chuqui — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:05:58 -0000

I've never had big problems with it, but I've never stressed it and only use a few core modules. First thing I always do is turn all of the features off, and then only turn back on the ones I intend to use. Other than that, It's out of the box.

Re: Working Notes: Content editing

chuqui — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 23:44:52 -0000

Most of the older postings other than the hockey writing have very little value and don't really fit in to the purpose of the blog. They're mostly old bits of things that today most people would probably stuff on a tumblr site before getting bored and abandoning it... (grin).

But this is the issue I need to decide on before deleting anything; figure out what, if anything, has value or ought to be maintained for some reason. Just not sure where to draw those lines...

Re: Working Notes — starting on Phase II

chuqui — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 23:42:07 -0000

I've been meaning to document those, so thanks for the reminder. It'll go live on the site in the morning.

Re: The Sharks are not a Playoff Team — Teal Sunglasses for February 22, 2015

chuqui — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:19:42 -0000

Wingels is another one of those that has to be in the mix.

I guess the thing is that the team has a lot of players that could be Captain, but none has really made it clear (at least to me) they should be.

Re: The Sharks are not a Playoff Team — Teal Sunglasses for February 22, 2015

chuqui — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:18:50 -0000

I try to think of who might be a better coach for the Sharks. Hard to build a list beyond Babcock. Sometimes you simply need a different voice in charge, but I don't think we're at that point.

It's also hard to build a list of who might be a better GM than Doug Wilson, but I don't see how getting another set of eyes and opinions into the mix would hurt, hence my thoughts on promoting Wilson and bringing in a GM to work with him.

Re: Looking at myself through the best of collection

chuqui — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 14:45:18 -0000

yes, that should work.

Re: Looking at myself through the best of collection

chuqui — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 14:45:13 -0000

right now, the only way to support things is by buying through amazon from my affiliate links: http://photography.chuqui.c... -- the nice thing is it costs you nothing. amazon just carves a bit of the sale price out for me.

I've thought about doing something like Patreon but my ability to generate good content is still too inconsistent, and my sites still have too many blank spots where I get too busy. When I get that under control and I'm generating material I'm proud of reliably and consistently, then I'll consider it. Not until that happens; it's not fair otherwise.

Re: Looking at myself through the best of collection

chuqui — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 02:14:07 -0000

I believe that some times I take it too seriously, and that's not a good thing. that's one reason I'm trying to use the iPhone more to be more casual and why Im' starting to play with instagram with it.

I love your stuff and how personal and fun it is. That needs to be part of taking pictures, too...

Re: 2014 Favorite Photos of the Year

chuqui — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:38:12 -0000

I go there for the cranes and geese, but I love the ibis, too. I get out there a few times a year -- my favorite refuge. I'm headed up to Colusa/Sacto in a couple of weeks, but I'll make another trip or two out that way sometime before they all leav...

take care!

Re: 2014 Favorite Photos of the Year

chuqui — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:09:41 -0000

thank you, sarah! Much appreciated!

Re: Checkpoint: galleries.chuqui.com

chuqui — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:38:59 -0000

thanks. At this point, I've set up a process using export instead of publish and manual uploads. For the kind of thing I'll be doing, it's a bit more hassle but it'll work. when I have more cycles, I might go futzing with this further and try to make it work again.

Re: Checkpoint: galleries.chuqui.com

chuqui — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:19:36 -0000

when I did some initial testing I ran into it, and it reminded me of the problems that cropped up with Marsedit. What I saw was very similar to that. Here's a thread on it over in the Marsedit site:

http://www.red-sweater.com/...

I've got a setup that doesn't require the plug-in. to make it clear to everyone, no problems with the plug-in itself (why I didn't initially mention it); this is on the hosting service side.

Re: Checkpoint: galleries.chuqui.com

chuqui — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 13:44:48 -0000

It's a good plug-in, but it doesn't work reliably with my hosting service (dreamhost) because of some anti-spam setup they have. Mars edit has the same problem...

Re: Working Notes: The Gallery Front Page design and Rethinking Photoshelter

chuqui — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 12:48:18 -0000

Photos don't fit any CMS model very well. Or maybe I should say any CMS that tries to handle both text content and photos is a set of compromises -- a dedicated photo CMS (which is what sites like Photoshelter or Smugmug are) can focus on the special needs of images.

You can think of NextGen as a mini-CMS to organize images within the larger CMS of Wordpress. And then it depends on how much you like or dislike using it. I'm finding it a good choice but I'm also making some design decisions to make using NextGen easier for me... If I was writing this whole thing from scratch I'd do things differently, but I wouldn't be done for 18 months...

Re: Working Notes: The Gallery Front Page design and Rethinking Photoshelter

chuqui — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:44:35 -0000

I think Wordpress works nicely as a CMS if you use it in a way that leverages its design model, but it works horribly if you try to make it do things it's not really set up to do. I feel, for instance, that anything that depends on custom variables to make it work is asking for problems over time.

To be honest, my FYC site probably should be built in Drupal, and I could do that, but I'd rather stick with one platform (and support one platform) and put up with a little pain rather than go to two platforms for this project.

I think Wordpress can be made to work well for a large site, but I'd be careful trying to build a complex site in Wordpress. That's one reason this project is turning into three different wordpress sites: each one is relatively simple in design, even if they hold a lot of assets. Trying to do all three tasks in one wordpress instance would be a horror, IMHO, and hard to keep working well.

Re: Working Notes: The Gallery Front Page design and Rethinking Photoshelter

chuqui — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:29:52 -0000

yeah, I misjudged that. but that's why you validate your assumptions before you get too far down the commit path.

now building out on my wordpress site. Stay tuned...

Re: Checkpoint: galleries.chuqui.com

chuqui — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:32:47 -0000

I'll look at that image/gallery thing. I believe that's a config option. I want it the way you expect it myself.

on SEO, I still need to do some digging into the details of that with NextGen. What I have in there right now is literally "out of the box", I don't expect that to be what I end up with, but I'm doing the broad brush strokes now and not trying to get too detailed on one aspect too soon in the work...

Sort of like photo processing: global changes, then large area changes like graduated filters, then smaller changes like adjustments to a boulder via a filter, then tiny changes like clearing dust spots... work into the details, don't start with them...

Re: Three Dot Lounge for December 31, 2014

chuqui — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:02:17 -0000

I've long wondered if my dislike for open offices is because I'm an old fart and that I'm just out of date.

The data is coming in, and it seems to be showing I'm right. People think they multitask better than they do and that's being proven out. And in the office, we've gone from office walls to cubicle half walls to everyone sitting in a large group using noise canceling earphones to try to find a way to concentrate on their work...