Jack Baty, Director of Unspecified Services

Reading the Newspaper

Most Sunday mornings I grab a cup of coffee and my iPad to catch up on feeds and articles I've saved to Instapaper during the week. It's a ritual similar to that of reading the Sunday paper. 

One recent Sunday morning I found myself thinking about newspapers, so I stopped at a local gas station and picked up the giant Sunday edition of the local paper and sat down to read.

I very much enjoy the feel of reading the paper; the act of it. Sitting at the table with a giant spread of paper out before me is pretty neat. Lots to see at once and lots to take in. Unfortunately, my enjoyment was short-lived.

Reading through section after section, I realized that there wasn't much actual news in the newspaper. I found myself quickly turning pages and wishing there was more useful material and not just ads, junk sections, and uninteresting articles. 

It wasn't long before I'd decided that maybe I wouldn't miss reading the newspaper much after all. Of course the iPad doesn't wrap fish at all, so perhaps there's still room for both.


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The Filofax Experiment

Filofax "Malden"

Tweaking my systems is fun. Whether it's productivity tools, development methods, photography workflow, whatever. Today I find myself messing with my personal notetaking, todo, and calendar system(s). I have both a lifelong love affair with paper and a deskload of electronic gadgets. I don't consider this a contradiction. I call it using the best tool for the job. Except that's not always how I decide. And I sometimes change my mind.

Calendars, for example, are perfectly suited for electronic devices. iCal and Google Calendars make it trivial to communicate my schedule to others. They also conveniently remind me of upcoming events. This all sounds great, but I hate using them. I find them clumsy and prone to sync errors. Entering events on my iPhone is an exercise in frustration. I mean really, how long must the poor girl at the salon wait while I fumble around trying to enter my next appointment into the damn phone? I'm sure others have no problems at all, and good for them. 

I decided to look for something else, so I bought a Filofax. You know, one of those old "day planner" things no one uses any more.

I've always wanted a Filofax. I can't say why, as I'd never even seen one in person, but folks who use them seem to love them and keep them for years at a time. So, I got a personal-sized "Malden" in black leather. It does feel nice. I'll spend some time over the next few days learning my way around. It's already my calendar. With any luck, it will become something more. Of course the Filofax doesn't sync worth a damn either. At least it's not supposed to.

There are a surprising number of sites dedicated to Filofax specifically and paper planners in general. I started with the amazing philofaxy. Lots of stuff to take in there.

 I love trying stuff like this. Who knows how well it will work or how long it will last. Doesn't matter, it's an experiment.​​

And Speaking of New Things

I've been testing the new Squarespace 6 for a couple of months and have grown to like it. In fact, I like it so much that I've decided to start fresh with jackbaty.com right here. Like, completely fresh. All new.

Yes, I know this breaks everything. Sometimes that happens. I'll fix RSS feeds and the most popular former links as soon as I can.​

The old stuff is archived statically at http://archives.jackbaty.com/​

Onward!

Deciding Between the Old and the New

Fuji X-Pro1 (2012) and Leica M4 (1967)

I’m never going to “go completely digital” or “use only film” since I cannot completely give up either. Not that I haven’t tried. One day I convince myself the only thing that matters is film, and I buy the greatest film camera I can think of because that’s all I’ll ever need or use ever ever again. A week (or month) goes by and I decide I’m frustrated with scanning or whatever and I think I’d prefer something quick and easy, so I find some new hot digital camera that will solve all my problems.

It’s never going to end, I know that. But knowing doesn’t help.

For example, I recently had a disappointing week shooting film in low light. Tri-X shot at 1250 ISO and processed in Diafine does pretty well, but even that pushes shutter speeds down to 1/30th or so and inevitably motion blur ruins everything. Tired of fighting it, I looked to digital.

I “solved” the problem by buying a Fuji X-Pro1 and a couple of lenses. How does that solve the problem? Well, I love the hybrid viewfinder, analog controls, and of course the excellent high ISO performance. ISO 6400 is usable, and The Fujinon 35mm 1.4 is plenty fast. Boom! It’s like best of both worlds.

Except then I picked up my trusty Leica M4. There’s nothing like the feel of that camera. It’s visceral. Besides, what else does one need? No batteries or whizbang features to get in the way. Pure photography! And I have an awesome and under-utilized wet darkroom just begging for more film, so I start shopping again.

You see how it is? It’s a grand form of rationalization. Eventually, I’ll need to accept the fact that I really love the very old film process as well as the very newest digital wizardry. It’ll have to be both. There, that’s settled. Right?

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