I have decided to use Obsidian to build my blog as it is easier to maintain and I can have links between pages easier. I have also added a separate obsidian site for notes about the Shadowrun campaign that I am a part of. You can see it here, but be warned that it is in a constant state of construction, and that it is more notes for the people involved, rather than meant for outside eyes. That being said I am trying to narrate the action a bit, so that people can follow along.

I plan on taking some long exposure shots while on vacation later this year, so I'm doing some research into diffraction and such as it's been several years since I've done this type of photography.

What I've found so far has actually surprised me. I have always listened to the advice that when using micro four thirds, to never go below f/5.6 for maximum sharpness, as diffraction can seriously degrade the image quality below that.

While I'm sure there is some degree of image degradation, I'm not so sure it is enough to stop me from using the smaller aperture. For example, this post from the Micro 4/3rds Photography blog shows perfectly good results from f/11.

As far as the filter I will be purchasing, I'm looking at the "Gobe" brand on Amazon. It's one of the cheaper filters, but it seems to have good reviews. However, I have a bunch of square filters, so it may be worth looking into getting a square 10 stop filter to go with them instead. (Then again the square filters are annoying to use, which is why I never use them...)

I also have some welding glass pieces that I have played around with in the past, they may come in handy. They are rated 16 stops or thereabouts. They are however slightly smaller than the Olympus 12-40mm lens I plan on using, so I may have to use the Olympus 25mm instead. The big problem with the welding glass is that it has a severe green cast that is hard to get out. I'm also not sure what extent the welding glass degrades image quality, but it is certainly more than diffraction would, I'm sure. You can judge for yourself:

This color cast makes making the image monochrome pretty much the only option to get a usable image.

I have decided to grow a garden this year, this will be the first time that I've attempted more that one or two plants at a time. I will be documenting it on it's own page: Growing a Garden