I love capable gear. Gear that can take abuse. And it has always been a fascinating thing to push gear to its limits. Sometimes this occurs with hacking software, firmware or hardware. My brother has long been a fan of the CHDK(Canon Hack Development Kit). On my Canon DSLR's I've used different iterations of the inimitable magiclatern hack as well as an amazing Russian hack that allowed HD video on the 50D. I've tweaked lenses and bodies and CF cards. Lots of exploring.
The most recent major hack that I did was one that I didn't even consider calling a hack. But it has influenced my photography in a major way.
I had my eyes lasered. I was somewhat nearsighted. The surgery was an outpatient procedure that lasted all of maybe ten minutes. Most of that was prep.
How did it affect my photography? It seems to me that removing the frames that defined my world since childhood would have been a big deal. Not so much. I'd used contacts in the past so that was nothing new. The new found clarity was a big deal. But really it is the ease with which I now see. Vision is no longer a challenge. Which seems to actually negatively affect my photography.
Why? Not sure. Perhaps I liked capturing scenes and things so that I could review them. Now that I see clearly and easily I can get a correct view the first time around. So I find myself looking for harder things to shoot. Not bothering if it is merely interesting or mundane.
Was the hack good? Bad? It has been very freeing in other parts of my life so overall it is positive.
It has been 5 months since the surgery and I will continue to see how it plays out.
Phothog
