Eric Santiago

On Peru, Perfection, and Procrastination

  2007-06-30_12-49-30 
  Originally uploaded by santiago_eric

I started college as a photography student in the days of film and darkrooms. A few changes in majors and years of working later, that creative spark was rekindled when I first learned ... wait for it ... Photoshop 4.0 (on Windows 3.1, no less). Finally, you could edit prints without emerging from hours spent in darkness; half-blind and woozy from the chemical fumes.

Fast forward several more years. The price of professional-level digital cameras has dropped within reach of the average consumer. Up to this point, I had been still shooting film and converting it to digital with a Nikon Coolscan 4000. Aside from the obvious disadvantages of shooting and carrying film, particularly in the remote foreign regions I like to visit, the post-production process was tiring. Scanning at high resolutions is not quick. Correcting for dust and grain is cumbersome. So, when that price-point dropped, I got on the digital bandwagon without hesitation.

Back in late June/early July, I hiked the Salkanty Trek to Macchu Picchu armed with my new Nikon D-50 and the highly coveted Nikon VR 18-200 lens (6 months on backorder). Wanting to pack light, I was glad that I wasn't bringing 20 rolls of film and that my 2gb SD cards weighed less than a single roll. Being able to preview your shots is the greatest thing ever. With the altitude and strong sun, my shots looked washed out on my LCD screen. Using the histogram, I was able to judge that I needed to underexpose most of my pictures. With film, I wouldn't have found that out till I got home. Another advantage is being able to change ISO on the fly. Often, I would switch to 1600 to avoid using the flash where it wasn't desirable; churches, candids, etc.

I did notice two interesting behaviors that carried over from my years with film. I rarely deleted a shot. With film this is impossible, of course, but with digital it's a common practice. I guess I was used to my "happy accidents", shots that turn out much better than expected, so that even with previewing, I let it be. On the reverse, I was very stingy with my shots. Accustomed to traveling in places where replacement film is not readily available, I made a habit of rationing my supply. Sadly, I returned from Peru only using one and a half of my three 2 GB cards (and I was shooting RAW).

So, it has been 2 months since my trip and where are the photos? Well what was intended to speed up my "digital workflow" has been impeded by a quest for perfection. A common flaw among technologists is that they will often choose the most efficient way of doing something over just getting it done. I'm certainly guilty of spending days writing code for a task that could have taken hours to do manually. As was the case here. Where friends seems to blithely send out links to photos of trips they're still on, I'm concerned with naming conventions, RAW conversions, and site evaluations. After much self-imposed stress, I finally let it all go, signed up for a Flickr pro account and dumped all my photos online. Geo-coding be damned. Ooooommmm.

Geek humor know no borders

My wife and I spent the winter holidays visiting her distant family in Madrid. On New Year's eve, we joined them for a massive feast. My Spanish is fine for ordering tapas and cervesas, but I'm not conversant. Plus, a room full of fast-talking Madrilenas with their lispy accents would be hard for any native speaker. At one point, I was introduced to someone's husband who I was told also worked in "Informaticas". He wanted to speak to me about IT in the states, but didn't speak much English. I smiled,and said in Spanish, "It's OK. We can talk in ones and zeros." and proceeded to do my best modem impression, "Hsssh, bong, bong, bong, crshhhh...".

He laughed so hard, he started coughing. My wife explained the joke to the others standing with us. They laughed politely.   

WiFi on Amtrak

I've traveled to Boston several times in the past few months and have tried both JetBlue's cheap fares and Amtrak's comparably priced Acela service. Coming from Manhattan, it a real toss up between the two. It's much easier to get to Penn Station for the train. There's no security hassle and I can actually get a comfortable seat and do some work. Unfortunately it takes longer. Getting out to JFK, costs $40 and by the time you get through security and settled (I mean crammed) in your seat you got about 20 minutes were you can turn on the laptop and get something done. Though, flying gets you there in half the time as the train.

Now is it just me, but if Amtrak offered WiFi service I wouldn't even bother with flying and all its hassles. I imagine most business travelers doing the Boston/Philadelphia/D.C. routes would make that choice as well. It's ridiculous that Amtrak goes into bankruptcy every few years, but can't capitalize on its advantages over the airlines when it comes to regional travel. It's not an issue of technology either. There are senior citizens driving around in RV's that use cellular or satellites for Internet access.

If Amtrak made the investment, they'd certainly see a return on it.