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Dischord (Style) Photos

I was recently given a Samsung PL200 digital camera, which was released in 2010, making it 14 years old. I’ve had a number of digital cameras over the years and I started shooting with DSLRs at work around 2007 and got a Nikon D40 around 2008 or 2009 so I don’t think I’ve owned a simple “point and shoot” digital camera after 2010 because I was probably using an iPhone for point and shoot stuff by then.

So Maks gave me this 2010 Samsung PL200 with no charger but I found one on eBay for $9 USD and figured it was worth grabbing one to get the camera working. My thought was that I’d toss it in the bike bag for rides since my phone is mounted to the handlebars while riding so it’s not the easiest thing to use for a quick snapshot.

So these photos do not show off the capabilities of this 14 year old 14 megapixel camera, but they do something different…

I was thinking back to 1988 or so, when I was hanging out with an old bandmate Ricky and he had just got some album from Dischord, and one of the photos was this black and white soft focus sort of blurry image. I remember we talked about the image, and we wondered if they put Vaseline on the lens, or plastic (“Saran”) wrap, or something else…

I should note that around the same time period is when I would have just started shooting on 35mm film at UWM using my sister’s SLR camera. (Thanks, Carol!) I do still have some of those prints and should scan them in one day. Anyway…

So yeah, I threw the camera in my bag along with some plastic wrap and biked up to Mount Mary. I got a few shots of the buildings and then one more of a street in Wauwatosa on the way home. The only editing I did for these digital photos was to convert them to black and white, otherwise no filters (as the kids say) and I sort of like how they turned out.

The process of shooting while out, then getting home, transferring the photos to the computer, converting them, and saving them… all before uploading them to this post is something some people have probably never experienced. I’m going to assume there’s a whole generation who just uses a photo to snap a photo and posts it online immediately, with no regard to the (old?) process. I’m not sure why I’m mentioning this but I’m going to ponder it a bit.

I think there’s sort of an ethereal quality to them, and they look like they could have been shot on film. I seem to be on a weird camera / photography kick lately and I’m totally fine with that.

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6 Button MIDI Controller

I was recently asked to build a 6 button MIDI controller. This will be used with a Midas M32R Digital Console by someone who runs sound production. They wanted (up to) six mute groups, so the MIDI Controller LC was a little short with only four buttons.

I ended up modifying the LC enclosure to fit two more buttons, and you’ll notice there’s actually a 5 Pin DIN MIDI output port on both ends. That was a request from the client, and fairly easy to do. Like most other MIDI controllers I build this one is powered via a Micro USB port. The nice thing about this is we can do USB MIDI output (if plugged into a computer) as well as standard MIDI out via the 5 Pin DIN ports. Alternately you can just power it via a standard USB wall wart power supply instead of a computer.

For the programming the client asked for something special as well. Instead of just sending a single MIDI command, it toggles between two different commands. I think the M32R expects one thing for mute and another for unmute. That was pretty easy to implement.

The bottom cover is removable in case the client ever needs a firmware update. Some of the devices I build have enclosures with small holes in the bottom to load the firmware without opening them up via access to a reset button. Not all devices have that, and it’s actually pretty rare that I do need to provide firmware updates, but it’s there if needed.

The client wanted all red buttons, though when I was sending in-progress shots I threw a bunch of other colors in for a quick photo.

As always, if you need some custom built MIDI or USB controller, get in touch!

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Kenilworth Portraits

Remember when I got the Kids Camera Instant Print which I now just refer to as toy camera most of the time?

Well last month I went to Kenilworth Square East to see work by UWM PSOA students (including my daughter) so I brought the toy camera along and shot portraits of people. When you are holding a toy camera that looks like a pink kitty, people tend to let you shoot their portrait. Then when you hand them a receipt with their photo printed on it they smile even more!

So here’s a bunch of photos from the evening. I set the camera to print after each shot and tore off the print and handed it to the person (or people) in the shot. It was a ton of fun being able to share like that!

I took most of the photos but the one of me (and a few others) were shot by my daughter Madeline, who is also a photographer, and actually had work on display at the event.

When I got home I printed a second copy of each photo so I could use them for this blog post…

I also started a new photo album called Toy Camera to upload more of these shots…

The metadata says they were shot with an iPhone, which is sort of true, since I took a photo of each photo with an iPhone. Weird, right? It seemed like the easiest way to digitize them…

I originally messed around with a desktop scanner, but wanted a faster process.

Oh, there’s also a device to assist with taking the photos of the photos, and I’ll write more about that in another post.

For now, just enjoy these photos!

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Bike Bag (Top Tube)

I recently asked about bike bags on Mastodon and enough people responded to help me make a decision. I ended up getting a “top tube” bag, a ROCKBROS Top Tube Bike Bag to be precise. So here’s a mini review.

Since it fits giant mobile phones I figured it would be good enough for whatever I wanted to put in there. Probably gloves, maybe granola bars or other snacks, keys, etc.

When I got it the first thing I did was try fitting the toy camera in it. It fit well enough. I can zip it completely closed, but I can also just zip it half way (up to the camera’s ear) and it’s in there pretty snug.

I found I could easily remove my gloves and shove them in the bag while riding, and even pull them out and put them on. Yeah, riding in spring can still be a bit cold in the morning. Hopefully I won’t need gloves in the summer!

There’s also the elastic thing on the side you can shove things into… like gloves. It’s not as great as sticking them inside, but it’s there if needed.

Overall I’m fairly pleased with the bag, which was under $20, and it’s easily removable with just three hook & look straps holding it in place. I’m not a huge fan of the ROCKBROS text on the side and considered blacking it out, but it appears to be reflective material so for the sake of safely I’ve left it as-is.

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Furniture Sketch

Fugazi released the Furniture EP in 2001. The song “Furniture” is actually a song that was first performed in 1987. It’s one of my favorite Fugazi songs.

I actually didn’t really like Fugazi at first. I think because they were so popular at the time. In On The Kill Taker was probably their first release I really loved. Red Medicine and End Hits were great, but The Argument just didn’t grab me the same as the previous releases did. Even on the Furniture release, I love the title track but the other two not as much.

Besides my own taste in Fugazi releases the band cannot be denied for what they created, musically, politically, and socially. The world is a better place because of Fugazi.

(Also, I remain to this day thankful that Grant and I did not run over Fugazi at the Waukesha Expo Center with a van when the opportunity was presented to us in the early 1990s.)

This chair sketch was inspired by Fugazi, and created using an Apple Pencil on an iPad with Procreate. I actually started to play around with different techniques for adding texture to this one, and I like it. Also, check out the Illustration page to see more fun sketches!

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