John Spahr

Hey, reader!  You may have noticed that my website has suddenly undergone some significant changes. In terms of styling, it's about the same as always, but the content is way different. For some context, this summer, I aim to start doing freelance photography. To reduce steps for potential clients, I want to make my homepage centered around this. That's not to say I'm abandoning the other projects on my site. Far from it. However, this will be my main focus for the next several months. Anyway, I hope this explains some of these changes. I'm super excited for this next chapter, and if you're nearby, you should totally hire me. ;) Until next time, John

Chromebooks have always been an interesting product category for me. Similar to cars, I'm interested in things that compromise features to make themselves more accessible to the masses. I love economy cars, and I love economy computers.  Being the owner of a 2023 MacBook Pro, maybe I'm a little warmer to these basic computers than I would be if I had to use one. But I do own a $300 Asus Chromebook tablet PC which I do a lot of writing on. I'm actually writing this post on it. So, when a lot of Dell Chromebook 3100s came up on eBay, I splurged. What I got was 4 C-grade Chromebooks that were totally functional. I immediately got to work. Many say that you cannot use alternative OSs on Chromebooks, at least not natively. And they're kind of right. Depending on your model and chip architecture, alternative firmware may not be available. Further, many operating systems do not have all the necessary drivers available for Chromebooks. Take Windows 10 for example. It does not s...

Hey folks! I wrote a short story last weekend that I just needed to share with all of you. I'm so sorry in advance. Enjoy! Everybody Hates Herbert  A short story John Spahr

Hi, folks! I have a (really) quick post for you today. I just got a Canon EOS 50D as a backup for my Rebel T7, and I'm highly impressed. Despite being pretty old, this DSLR pumps out some incredible pictures. Some cameras are timeless, and many of these old Canon digitals are shining examples of this. Eventually, I may cover the 50D in more detail. But for now, here are some of my favorite photos that I've taken with it. Enjoy!

Hey, everyone! Today, I got some pictures just outside of Galveston, IN. As usual, I took my trusty Canon Rebel T7. However, I decided to change things up with my lens of choice. Meet the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens , ideal for close-ups and portrait photography! It's not the most versatile, featuring a fixed focal length of 50mm, but it is still useful in many situations. So, here's what this compact yet powerful lens can produce: Pretty cool, right? I'm pleased. I made minimal edits to these photos, and I think they came out nicely.  Moving forward, I plan to start doing more edits to my photos and explore RAW photography. I've even secured a Creative License again! Stay tuned for that; it's going to be cool. That's about all for now, though. Thanks for reading and looking at my pics. Have a good one!

Hey, everyone! Merry Christmas! Crazy to think that we're basically a week from 2025. It's been quite a year. In truth, 2024 has by far been the most eventful year of my life. I graduated high school, bought myself a new (to me) car, started college, and much, much more. So many great things have happened, and I'm extremely grateful for my new experiences this year. But not everything has been perfect. I fell out of touch with one of my best friends, something that took a while to come to terms with. I fell in love and lost; I'm still moving on from the breakup. I fell into a rut that I'm still climbing out of. 2024 has been a mixed bag, but it's also been a year of firsts. I've been able to do so many new things this year. I've met loads of new people. But most importantly, compared to the person I was in January, I'm way different now. And that's not a bad thing. My hobbies and interests keep me going, and this blog continues to be my favorite ...