They say no plan survives first contact, but hopefully that’s not the case here. I feel like I’ve managed to think through all the potential snags, and even built-in a few redundancies. We’ll see on Thursday when I finally set all this up. It’s live broadcast, so *something* will go wrong, but hopefully it’s nothing catastrophic. I even built up my Artlist.io chill hop playlist to close to two hours, so it won’t get repetitive, and built an almost fully automated show start and show end, complete with opening music. It’s really kind of amazing how much a neurodivergent person can get done when it’s absolutely necessary. Too bad I can’t tap into this normally.

All packed up for the DC Shoot Off. I think my carry-ons are… full… (my checked bags are just as stuffed weight-wise)

One hour to go!

I picked up the Amaran Ray 120c, and I have to say, this is a killer light. Super bright, weather sealed, and lightweight….. or…. at least the light itself is. The light head is only about 600g, which is crazy for a light with a 120W light engine (140W max draw). That said, the stand adapter, AC cable, and AC adapter are a whopping 1,318g, more than double the weight of the light. What’s worse is that most of that weight is up by the head, making it a problem when booming with a lightweight stand. This light can run off of USB power though, so, a 140W GaN USB charger, a 10’ 240W USB cable (I have a 20’ one as well now), and a lightweight stand adapter, and I’ve now dropped that to 36% of the original accessories’ weight. My boom stand has gone from wobbly and probably needing a counterweight to being just fine as-is. *sigh* Amaran, do better. Btw, for those considering this light, know that a lot of your existing Bowens mount modifiers aren’t going to work. The mount is shallower, so a lot of them physically won’t fit despite being made by Aputure or Amaran and supposedly all being Bowens mount. I haven’t tried my Amaran Spotlight SE yet but the official compatibility guide says it’s not compatible, possibly due to the fact that the Spotlight SE is made for lights that place the COB further forward into the mount, creating a different backfocus. Honestly, if the light itself wasn’t so amazing, I’d say Amaran screwed up royally on this light. Great light, terrible included accessories and terrible compatibility with existing accessories.

I finally managed to get my entries in for the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards. Fingers crossed I at least get short-listed. Short list comes out in April but the awards don’t come out until September.

Air Force folks who shoot Sony! Do you like teal and orange looks but can’t use them with blue Air Force uniforms because it turns them green? I just made a modified version of the Sony Burano Teal and Orange LUT that skews the blues back to Air Force blue. It’s little less stylized but makes uniforms look right. The first image is the native Burano LUT; the second is my modified version. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ur9mm32xm4enztus367zl/Thunderbirds_Morse_-BuranoTealOr.cube?rlkey=05kt0qbpeq0go2ygrfgg41xwl&st=kzpeyqmk&dl=0

A little infrared serenity for y’all. some of us probably need it right now. (Sony A7 III full-spectrum modified, Sirui Saturn 50mm T2.9 1.6x anamorphic lens, Kolari Vision 590nm infrared pass filter, captured near Dugway, UT)

I made cupcake versions of my family’s carrot cake recipe to bring to work. So far they are getting great reviews.

I did a bunch of photography for the organizers and other vendors at Yorktown Swap this weekend. I really like how this one of Ishla Olson came out.