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Nerding Out In My Free Time

I mentioned in a recent post that I rediscovered my camera collection when I was looking for a film camera to bring to Hocking Hills. That morphed into a side project to create a new version of the Cameras page I had in a previous iteration of my blog.

Thing is, my WordPress installation uses PHP as its programming language. I haven’t touched PHP since the last time I tried to customize my blog, which was many years ago. Granted, my job as a data nerd has meant I’ve gained some experience in other programming languages, but PHP is not one of them. Also, I haven’t had to touch CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for a Very Long Time, so I needed to refresh my knowledge of the possibilities there.

I managed to break my project into a bunch of bite-sized tasks that felt very Agile-esque.

  1. Create a custom tag page in WordPress.
  2. Retrieve the tag information.
    (Shoutout to Mobilize Cloud for their helpful post from 2016.)
  3. Display the tags as tiles, using an unordered list and some basic CSS.
  4. Link to each tag page.
  5. Display the number of posts for each tag.
  6. Display a photo of each camera (tag).
  7. Retrieve the date range a given tag was used.
    (This was the hard part, and required doing some research and flexing my SQL skillz.)
  8. Enter descriptions for each camera/tag in WordPress.

Next up is making sure my new page works as expected on mobile, uploading photos of all the cameras, and writing up descriptions. After that, I’m sure I’ll come up with some other bells and whistles I’d like to add….

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Hocking Hills: Cedar Falls and Conkle’s Hollow

When my mom suggested we go somewhere for a short trip this summer, the things most on her mind were 1.) a swimming pool and 2.) waterfalls. The waterfall requirement was the main reason that Cedar Falls was the first stop on our Hocking Hills nature adventure, despite me having already researched the local attractions and having decided that Conkle’s Hollow and Ash Cave would be our best bets for truly accessible hiking.

Pro tip: if your knees can’t tolerate stairs, hiking Cedar Falls may not be in your best interest.

  • Wide angle from the creek at Cedar Falls
  • King of the Falls
  • This Swallowtail landed on the stream bank and let several hikers photograph it close up
  • Grammy and Connor waited up on the trail for me to take pictures
  • View from the creek approaching Cedar Falls
  • All the tourists were photographing this turtle and the fish
  • Informational plaque at Cedar Falls
  • Family Selfie at Cedar Falls
  • Connor and Grammy at Cedar Falls
  • Now they tell us…
  • Grammy standing with her walking stick next to a wooden bridge. A sign next to her says "Accessible Trail" and shows icons of a hiker and the modern Wheelchair Symbol.
    Conkles Hollow looks much less strenuous
  • I didn’t use the selfie station as designed
  • The caves along the gorge are reminiscent of the ones farther north at Whipps Ledges back in Medina County
  • Sandstone cliffs of Conkles Hollow
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The Chalets in Hocking Hills

Rather than trying to find things to do around my Mom’s place this summer, she suggested that the three of us — she and Connor and myself — go on a trip and see some nature. I suggested Hocking Hills, since it’s only a few hours’ drive, and I decided to take a chance on romance and book an Airbnb for the first time. The Chalets in Hocking Hills were more expensive than a hotel would have been, but having an A-frame to ourselves was totally worth it.

  • Arrived at The Chalets in Hocking Hills
  • View of my mom from the loft
  • View of Connor in the loft
  • Connor on the bed in the loft
  • The kitchenette had everything we needed
  • Connor volunteered to load our cooler contents into the fridge
  • View from the comfy couch in the main living space
  • Grammy called this the paint-by-numbers deer
  • We didn’t spend as much time in the hot tub as we’d anticipated
  • Composition from the loft
  • Natural light streaming in through the window
  • The stairs up to the loft were very narrow
  • Connor enjoying some game time
  • Deer sighting from the car
  • The view from the balcony
  • Grammy thought I was just taking pictures of the trees
  • I see you!

We visited Cedar Falls and Conkle’s Hollow, enjoyed some local restaurants, and did a lot of driving. More photos to come, but for now I’ll sum up the trip by saying that we’ve already decided that this needs to be an annual tradition from now on.

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Ann Arbor Art Fairs 2024

Yesterday morning, we got out and about much earlier than usual for a Saturday. We hadn’t been to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs in years, and we were itching to get out of town and do something different — or, at least, Aaron and I were. Connor was just along for the ride.

Ready to embark
En route to State St.
Buy some art…
Future gift idea for a friend
Silliness at lunch
Boredom at lunch
Silly outtake from the bus

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Revisiting My Disused Collection of Film Cameras

The last time I loaded up a film camera to take out on a day trip was Spring Break of 2023, and it didn’t go well. My beloved HolgaMod had been idle for so long that the shutter seized up, and I had to try my hand at disassembling it and lubricating the moving parts to get it working again.

Today, we’re preparing to head out on a very similar day trip, and I’m contemplating which camera to bring (and whether to bring one at all). Film is a lot more expensive than it used to be, as is developing, but photography is still a hobby I enjoy.

Even if I kind of forgot that I enjoy photography.

Having my most recent irreplaceable parcel of undeveloped film get lost in the U.S. Postal System en route to California for processing really put a damper on my desire to keep shooting film. As I’ve been looking through my old blog posts of test rolls and film photography in general, though, I’m reminded of how much I do enjoy film photography.

I’m also reminded that I never did finish my analysis of which cameras in my collection need work, are good for selfies, are best for low light, et cetera. I may work on that, so that I can choose a proper axe more easily the next time we head out on a photo-worthy day trip.