compromise

Last night Ryan pretty much told me that walking with me when I have my camera out is kind of like walking a dog that needs to stop to take a shit every couple of minutes. I was a little upset by this but who am I kidding - I won't deny it - it's true. I'm annoying to be with when I pull out my camera. "Wait, what's that black spot?! is that on my lens?" (stops in the middle of the sidewalk in -20 degree weather and starts inspecting the lens) "I can't see it on the lens?! [takes off filter] maybe it's inside?! oh no! what am I going to do?! maybe it's just on the viewfinder?"... "oh wait, that was completely out of focus"... Takes 20 different pictures of the same thing... etc, etc... Ok. So yeah, I can understand that it would be annoying for anyone who's with me.

Anyway... The point of this post is just to say that I was talking to a friend last night that was planning on going to Paris the week before I am going. [Yes, this is related to the diarrhea dog.] She recently discovered that she may not have a place to stay while she's in Paris (we were supposed to stay with our friend but the situation has recently changed and now we're out on the streets with nowhere to go.) I was originally planning on probably staying in a hostel if I could find one that was cheap enough (60$ for a hostel!? That seems a little ridiculous when I can book a hotel room for that price!) My friend doesn't think she can afford a hotel by herself and the thought of staying in a hostel alone scares her (she's never traveled by herself and has never been to Europe so doesn't know what to expect really.) So... I offered that she comes with me and that I would pay for her hotel if I were staying in a hotel or that we could share a private hostel room and I would pay for most of it.

This of course is completely changing all of my plans for Paris. I don't think I would make it to Berlin (she can't afford that... but she did sound interested in possibly going down to Marseille - I could settle for going to Marseille if it's not too expensive... just by doing quick searches I think going to Berlin might be cheaper so that may also be out.) It would also mean... that this wouldn't be a photography trip (which I was kind of hoping it would be...) I would have to respect the fact that she won't want to stand around waiting for me to get the (not-so) perfect shot... I thought about it quite a bit and talked it over with Ryan (that's when he told me I was annoying) before I offered it to her. It's taking my trip and completely changing it - I was hoping for some alone time in Paris and Berlin, with my camera... and now... I would be her tour guide and entertainer for a week and I would have to be very selective about my photo-taking.

I would feel bad if she couldn't go to France because she can't afford to stay in a hotel. She's been planning this trip for months - longer than I have and really seems disappointed with the way things are going. If I'm already paying for a room or a bed somewhere and it's not too much more expensive for her to stay with me, I really don't mind. I'm willing to give up my plans to try to help her make it to Paris...

So now... I wait... I've left it up to her to decide. We'll see what happens.



I went out with my 50mm 1.8 (manual) lens yesterday. It was fun. I could've probably spent the whole morning out if I were alone. The light was just right. The sun is low in the sky here during the winter so there are nice shadows everywhere. I didn't get any fantastic shots (it's quite hard to get anything in focus with a manual lens at 1.8) and I was kind of rushed - Ryan was with me and was getting annoyed waiting for me. [Not sure about the editing on this one...]