New machine

I am sitting at my dining room table this morning where I have temporarily set up a new computer. I had not bought a new machine since 2018 but with Windows 10 support phasing out and my computer not really ready for Windows 11 I thought it was time. That was probably not the main reason for upgrading. Computers have gotten faster and bigger and I realized that I would enjoy working with something more modern. Most of what I do on the computer, or rather most of what I do that makes any real demands on the computer, is processing photographs. Over the last couple of years I have become reliant on new software features that are slow to run on the old machine. For example, to denoise a photo there could take 2 or 3 minutes. The new machine is a little better; it can denoise a photo in a few seconds. I take a lot of photos (on the theory that if you take many shots some of them will turn out) so this makes a big difference for me. As always it is a pain to move to a new machine. Some software is easy to move; some has issues and some just has to be replaced. Like its predecessor, this computer is physically large and heavy. Fortunately I have a wheeled cart in case I need to move it around. A sign of age. I like a good sized case because it permits expansion. This machine can theoretically hold up to 28 disk drives although it is starting off life with only 5. I hope it lasts me for 6 or 7 or more years so I have no idea what I will add or replace. I hope it serves me well. 

 Sail boat racing 2025 August 30.

I live in a town on the water and there are lots and lots of boats around here. I don't have one and have no realistic desire to have one but they are interesting to watch and photograph. This morning I watched the start of the Katie Gray Sail Boat Race. It starts in Belleville and runs down the Bay of Quinte to Picton. It is sponsored by the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club in Belleville and the Picton Yacht Club. Several dozen boats took part. 

I captured a few shots where the race was starting and then I moved a few miles further down the Bay to the Massassauga Point Conservation Area from where I could see the starting line and also be shooting with the sun behind me. Start of the race at Belleville

My pictures should not be taken as predicting who eventually will win the race, they are all from near the start of quite a long race. I tried to get shots including all of the sail boats in the race and hope I succeeded at that. I posted about 150 on my website. Photos

I photographed the start of this race to get some practice with sail boats after a conversation with someone from the Yacht Club about a regatta they are planning for their 150th anniversary next year. That will have several days of racing and I hope to get shots of some of it. I might even get to shoot from a boat.