fourpointedstar

There are days
When I wonder if I have done enough.
There are days
When I wonder if I can take any more.
There are days
When I want to tell my daughters that it will all be ok;
There are days
When I wonder if that is a lie.

There are days
When I want to crawl in a hole and hide.
There are days
When I am so angry that I lash out at others.
There are days
When I know that I can help someone else;
There are days
When I wonder if it matters.

There are days
When I can’t take any more “news”;
There are days
When I wonder how others can.
There are days
When I want to fight;
There are days
When I know that I can’t.

There are days
When I know that I can do better.
There are days
When I know that my actions matter.
There are days
When I know that others care.
There are days
When I know that a hug will make a difference.

This is one of those days.

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Every journey starts somewhere, and while I’d taken some baby steps, my photography journey started with Don Frisque. Way back in 2005, we spent many evenings together. I would teach him how to use his iMac, and he would teach me how to use my camera.

Don was a well regarded and award winning member of the Wisconsin PSA, and honestly, I owe much of my technical knowledge of photography to an excellent foundation that he set for me.

Don’s interest in photography did not wane even as his health did. Every few months, I’d get an email from one of his sons “my dad really likes seeing your photos” and there’s not really a better compliment than that.

That’s a life goal, right? …to make sure that the people that you spend time with know that you love who they’ve become.
Thanks Don.

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Film Scores are meant to make you feel a movie scene more deeply, to tie you into a character, emotion, moment, or plot point in a way that facial expressions and dialogue may fail. The best film scores can stand on their own without the movie, and I listen to film scores as my background noise during work and often while I drive.
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For years, I have wanted to travel to Europe to see Hans Zimmer conduct a concert live; he’s truly one of the best film composers of all time and perhaps can be compared to John Williams in influence.
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When Hans Zimmer announced his North American tour, Sarah said “let’s go see him for your birthday this year!” He was performing in Chicago, but we both noticed that his Seattle performance was on my birthday – and Sarah has wanted to take me to Seattle because she has enjoyed that town so much.
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I was giddy, and honestly, Seattle helped build my excitement; we had a fantastic time; I think I could spend a week in Pike Place Market just enjoying all of the vendors, and I could probably spend another two days photographing the Ghery designed Museum of Pop Culture. There’s no “opener” for Hans Zimmer, you sit in your seat waiting…
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I loved all of it, from the opening vocals from House Atreides, to the Wonder Woman suite, to the Pirates suite and everything in between; Hans has 30-50 different musicians on stage at a time to perform the various pieces. It’s part symphony orchestra, part vocal virtuosos, and part rock band – and each musician has been selected by Hans.
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…But as the Man of Steel suite played – it moved me. The intensity and build of that score and the climax was an emotional experience for me; I was almost in tears. It was simply incredible – in a way that I can only feel through music.
Oh, and the last performance (before the encore) is a Lion King medley. You have not experienced the Lion King until it is performed live by Lebo M with a chorus.
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(No, I don’t have a photo, no photo could hold a candle to the concert.)

Oh man, where to start? This was “the story” from this trip; I saw so many very cool waterfalls, but this one, this one was interesting to find. My only directions for this location were that you turned down this particular forestry/logging road, and then “when the road forks, take the right side; the left side is VERY muddy after it rains. Once you cross the bridge, there is a pull over on the right side…” Well, it had just rained, so as I started down the glorified two-tracker, I watched for the fork in the road.

As I drove along it got muddier and muddier, but my Traverse has all wheel drive, so I wasn’t too concerned. Then I crested a hill and there was a small pool of muddy water at the bottom. Since there were tire tracks through it already, I assumed that there wasn’t anything dangerous in the water and I proceeded down the hill, through the mud, and then up the hill. As I crested the other side, there was another depression with more mud but just a little bit wider with more mud. Over the next 3 or 4 hills, each mud hole was a bit deeper and a bit wider.

As I crossed the 6th or 7th hill, the valley below was less of a small pool or muddy water, and almost a pond. It was at this moment that it occurred to me; not only have I travelled farther then the guide indicated, but now I have to turn around and head back through all of those increasingly deep mud puddles that I just made ruts in. Using my genius intellect, I assumed that the best way to avoid being stuck was to go as fast as possible through the puddles. There was one puddle where I felt the rear wheels gripping, but not the front wheels; but in each mud puddle, the Traverse came through.

So how did I find the waterfall? As I drove back on the two-track, I saw the “bridge” … a series of railroad ties laid across the road that I’d missed because I was looking for the fork in the road first.

And yes, my wonderful white Traverse was a bit of a mess for the remainder of the trip. 🙂

Several years ago, I came across a map showing “all” of the waterfalls in Wisconsin – a simple PNG file with an accompanying table listing 90 or so dots in Wisconsin. I attended college in Marinette County and knew that there were several close by, but after seeing that map, I decided to visit all of the listed falls. While you can still find the map online, the accompanying table has been lost to the depths of the internet, and I haven’t been able to find a similarly detailed list online of Wisconsin’s waterfalls.

As for visiting all 90, children and moving to Illinois in 2008 derailed those plans; however, each time that we plan a trip we ask the question “are there waterfalls nearby? And as I visit and photograph each waterfall, it gets added to the map above.  (Each segment of thumbnail photos below represents a different state.)

Which of course, brings up the question “What would you consider a ‘waterfall’?” I have included everything from rapids where the water falls to completely artificial waterfalls over manmade damns. I’ve also included a guide to identify the “nature” of the waterfall: (A) – Artificial, not only was the waterfall manmade, but it uses artificial means to move the water up in order to come down. (M) – Manmade, while the water flowing over is from a naturally occurring stream or pond, the fall itself is over a manmade barrier or the stream was redirected to create the waterfall. (N) – Natural, as near as I can tell from research or observation, the waterfall is largely created by a stream’s path and natural erosion.

Lastly, Bob Schneider of Waterfalls Wisconsin lists more than 600 locations on his website and most of them are listed in his guide. From my searching, he has by far the most extensive list around for Wisconsin.

For this abstracted image, I tried a new technique. In the past, I have used a 50mm lens and swung my camera around, or I have adjusted the zoom or focus while the shutter was open. But I had the idea to hold the lens still using the zoom ring, and then rotate the camera body. I tried this a few times with an all white lights Christmas display, and then a few days later I found this solitary Christmas Tree to photograph. This technique has the potential to be one of my favorite abstract processes.

Using the information on lighthouse locations from LighthouseFriends.com, I’ve created a map of each lighthouse that I’ve visited and photographed.  (The numbers are listed in the order that I first visited each lighthouse, hence the wonky order; and, yes, I know that I need to make it back to a few of the lighthouses to do them justice.)

Loving music is one of the first things that brought Sarah and I together; and one band that we both love is the Foo Fighters.

We took the trip to London for the purpose of attending Taylor’s tribute concert, and since we were in London, we decided to visit the sights and why not Paris too? I’ve posted most of my photos from the trip, but here are the photos of us at most of the locations that we visited.

…to see the other photos, click on one of these links: Thursday (flight there), Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (Paris), Tuesday (Greenich), Wednesday (flight back)

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February 12, 1943 – October 9, 2021

My Dad passed away today, and I’m not sure how I feel about it, or even how I should feel about it. I remember some good times and good things that he did for our family and for me.  But I remember a whole lot more that was bad; moving state to state and school to school, religious rules without grace, his anger often specifically toward me, but mostly his lack of compassion.  I learned a lot from him; some good lessons, but mostly “don’t do it this way” lessons.  In some very distinct ways, he helped me learn about life – as you might have guessed, both good and bad.

And while I’m not sad that he’s gone (no one deserves to suffer through cancer) there was a part of me that thought that I wouldn’t miss him, that I’d already “dealt with his death”.  But I think I do miss him – there’s a part of my history and person that is missing now.  Dad helped me become who I am, and that impact will stay with me, for good and bad.

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Select “SEE MORE” in the white bar below for a few more images from “The Great Conjunction”.

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Select “SEE MORE” in the white bar below for an brief explanation of my editing process for this image.

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Select “SEE MORE” in the white bar below for an brief explanation of my editing process for this image.

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In late 2010, I started posting images to this site – a photo for each day. The first photo was of star trails – a photo that I’m proud of even today. As I ran out of photos that I had taken before, the daily photo became a challenge because I needed to shoot fresh images that I would be proud to post on my site.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve learned numerous lessons about photography, met many great friends, and shared my images with others. I’ve always shot photos for my own enjoyment as a way for me to relax, enjoy the moment later, and “create” something. My website became another way for me to create and remember the moments, and going out photographing with my friends became an enjoyable way to relax.

There are now almost 3,800 images on the site, from some of my first images in 2003 up to now. Even though there are mistakes and images that I no longer care for, I’m proud of the end result and I’m excited about adding more photos and making it better over the next years.

If you’d like to take a peek at the photos, choose one of the “Calendars” on the lower left – you’ll find at least 365 photos. 🙂

Last year in April I started posting images to my website again; a simple task – one image each day.  I’ve had a photo blog of some form since 2006, and the previous sites each succumbed to the same “life gets busy, and posting photos gets left behind” trap.  But for the past year, I’ve successfully posted each daily image – images that bring joy to my world and images that I’m proud to share.

I started www.fourpointedstar.com/gallery in late 2010 and modeled it after The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture. Along the way, I began posting images according to a theme for each week, but the Gallery fell by the wayside as life got busy.  I’m not certain what made me decide to begin posting images again, but over the past year, I’ve posted an image each day, and worked to fill in some of the missing images from the past – a total of more than 700 images posted over the year.

I’m most proud of each year’s calendar.  It is exceptionally gratifying to see a year’s worth of images displayed and remember each adventure that goes along with each photo. 2018 is the only year that is completed, but you can get a nice overview of most of the photos that I’ve posted by clicking on each year’s calendar below.

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A few more nerdy details: 

 – I’ve posted around 2,000 photos since 2010, and since 2013, the images have been scaled so that they look wonderful on high resolution displays and phones.

 – Each week’s images are consolidated into a summary post with thumbnails, and each month gets a “calendar view” post as well.  These are probably the more efficient ways to view the images, but “updated weekly” or “updated monthly” isn’t quite as exciting.

 – I use tagging quite a bit mostly for my benefit; in fact, while I obviously post my images on my website for everyone’s enjoyment, the site itself is mostly for my benefit.

 – I’m never quite sure how much information to include with each photo; like the tagging, I think it’s mostly for my benefit, but I have had a few fellow photographers who have used the technical or location information for their own photo.

 – I don’t try to sell my images, in fact, I shy away from it.  To me, the enjoyment is creating interesting images, attempting to create a business would only distract from that enjoyment.  (And, honestly, my life is already busy enough.)  Similarly, I don’t chase social media followers, likes, or even have comments on fourpointedstar.com; as I read recently “you don’t have to monetize your joy.”

 – I love talking about photography, locations, and technique with others; I will often introduce myself to other photographers to share the experience, and if they are new to photography or simply have questions, I try to share the knowledge and experience I’ve gained.  

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For me, photography is about the refreshing breath and the joy that it brings.  I hope that I can share just a little bit of my joy with the people who see my photography too.

One year ago I began posting photos to my website again.  It’s a simple concept really; one image per day with a theme for each week’s images.  I hadn’t consistently posted images on my website since 2014 which had frustrated me; so I’ve begun the process of uploading images from 2014 to 2017 too. In total, I’ve posted more than 630 images over the course of the past year, and you can see them right here: http://www.fourpointedstar.com/gallery/category/weeks/

For the past 8 years, I’ve used themes for each week of my images: a location, an event, or simply an idea.   But early in December, as I was reviewing my images from Warren Dunes, I decided to challenge myself with posting an entire month’s worth of themed images.

Around the same time, I was marveling at the simplicity of great black and white images: they can’t rely on colors to give life and interest to the image, leaving the photographer with only texture and composition.   I decided that I would post 28 black and white images in the month of February, and that I would also challenge myself to shooting and editing with black and white images in mind.

For the second full week of Black & White February, I decided to follow up on an idea that I’d had for a few months – to shoot light trails in Elgin.   I enjoy capturing long exposures, but the added challenge of capturing light trails in downtown Elgin instead of Chicago (where there’s more traffic) seemed challenging.  

While we were out in the bitter cold for the January Lunar Eclipse, I realized that Elgin’s parking garages would make a great vantage point for some light trail images.   I’d taken images from the top of the Spring Street garage, in fact, I’ve led photo walks in downtown Elgin and used the Spring Street garage as a vantage point.  

However, I decided to add one more aspect to the week’s photos: I would attempt to shoot 7 images and capture 7 photos that I was proud of…I didn’t quite make it.   Capturing light trails of traffic when there’s very little traffic turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected.   But I took 14 images, from 6 vantage points, and captured 7 images that I’m proud of.

In mid-December, I drove past the Indiana Dunes and stopped and took the first image; around this time, I’d decided that February would be all black & white images – more on that at the end of the month.  I invited a photographer friend to come along on a dedicated trip back to the dunes and took photos with the intention of creating a week’s worth of black & white images.

We had a fantastic day of photography and conversation, and I ended up with quite a few more than 7 images and some images with fantastic texture and composition.

Goodness, it was cold.  We stood on a parking garage roof in Elgin for 2 hours, stepping back into our cars in between photos to allow the soles of our feet to warm back up.  Luckily, the lunar eclipse didn’t happen during the “Polar Vortex” (that was the next week), but it was only 4° F (-15.5° C), and being 5 levels up meant there was nothing blocking the wind.

However, unlike the 2015 Lunar Eclipse and the 2017 Solar Eclipse, there wasn’t cloud cover.  I didn’t stay for the entire eclipse, but I’m pretty happy with the images that I did capture.

In October, I led a workshop on “Night photography & Light Painting” at Elgin Area Camera Club.  The only problem was the weeks leading up to my workshop; they were rainy, overcast, and generally not friendly to those kinds of photography.  Instead, Sarah and I purchased several different kinds of glow sticks and LED lights, and over the next week, we tried all sorts of photo experiments with the new toys.  

We enjoyed this so much that even after the workshop night, Sarah and I continued playing with the lights and having fun.

For those that are intesterested, we used regular white Christmas lights, Super Z Outlet Upgraded Light up Foam Sticks (link), Lumistick 12” Jumbo Glow Light Sticks (link), and SurLight 4 Piece Car 72 LED Strip Lights (Amazon no longer lists the items that we bought, but here’s a very similar link).

Cynthia, my oldest daughter, and I took a day trip down to Matthiessen State Park for our October birthdays.  The weather was perfect, and the colors were just starting to turn, so we enjoyed some yellow and just the hints of red that were just beginning.  In the fall it’s very unusual for there to be much water flowing, but when we walked north, toward Matthiessen Lake, there was some water flowing near the Giant’s Bathtub and then a small amount off of the Lake Falls.

Over this past month, I’ve given a lot of thought to consequences and redemption. The news if filled with women (and men) stepping forward with allegations and the accused releasing statements, denials and apologies.

Over the past few years, I’ve strived to live by a simple standard: “Be a better person today than I was yesterday” with the follow-up action “admit my mistakes and learn from them.” Admittedly, I’m not great at it, but this past month has forced me to consider a deep fear:

My past mistakes* have caused pain for others.

Each of us is flawed. Each of us has unintentionally (and sometimes, intentionally) left another person scarred, broken, or hurting by our actions. Those of us in positions of power have a greater probability of our actions causing another person’s pain. How can I endeavor to not cause future pain, and when confronted with my mistakes how will I react?

Realizing and reflecting on this deep fear has forced me to adjust my simple standard into 3 standards:

1. Be a better person today than I was yesterday.

2. Practice empathy and compassion toward everyone.

3. Listen to others and be willing to admit when I’m wrong.

By listening and trying to understand another person’s life and reasons, hopefully I can better understand how to avoid unintentionally causing another person’s pain.

But what happens when our mistakes are made public and those that we harmed confront us? I think it’s the same 3 rules with one important addition: After you have listened and admitted that you were wrong, had compassion for how you affected others, changed your actions – after all of that is said and done, accept the consequences of your own actions.

You may lose your position of power, you may never be forgiven, and you will bear the shame and guilt of your actions. The redemption comes in learning and becoming a better person, in not making the same mistake again.

* I know that the stories in the news are not “mistakes”, but rather egregious abuses of power, sexual and otherwise.

… a little note about my 2017 eclipse images…
Both of the above images were shot with the solar filter. Since it was overcast on and off during the entire eclipse, I switched between solar filter, ND8 filters, and using f/22 with a high shutter speed. I had both my D600 and my D7000, with my 80-200 f/2.8 and 70-300 f/4-5.6 with me. Although I’d only used the solar filter twice before, and despite my ignorance, the clouds, and my location far from totality, I’m quite happy with the images that I did capture.
Lastly – the D7000 is a crop frame, so it’s images appears much more zoomed in.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s often difficult to define why something is beautiful for one person and not for another.  However, I have found a few general principles that should help you build a better photo:

1.  Pick 1 object to focus on.  Find a single point of interest, and build your photo around that Subject.  If possible, frame your photo so that no other object competes with your chosen Subject.

2.  Place that Subject on one of the points described in the Rule of Thirds.  There are many fantastic descriptions of the Rule of Thirds, and it’s likely the more pervasive rule in photography.

3.  Use leading lines to point to the Subject, or to show motion for the Subject.  Leading lines help draw the viewer into the image and center their gaze on the Subject of your image.

4.  Fill the frame of your photo with the Subject and objects that compliment the Subject (like leading lines).  

Using the suggestions above won’t automatically produce a better image, and there are many times when you can ignore each of the suggestions.  Your photograph is an extension of your artistic taste, express yourself and don’t let someone else and their suggestions or rules define your art.

• Joshua L. Smith • November 2015 •

You’re stuck.  You like photography, and enjoy capturing the world around you, but you’re not sure how to get started or restarted.  Here’s a few tips that might help:

1. Go to a familiar place (town, park, or public building) and take photos that remind you of memories at that location.

2. Collect small objects (shells from the riverside, dry leaves, crayons or marbles) and arrange them.  I have quite a few interesting photos on my iPhone of a collection of seashells that I collected from the shore of the Fox River. My daughters enjoy photographing those shells as well.

3. Challenge yourself to take a photo each day that relates to a subject; black & white, bumpy, or ball – it doesn’t matter.  Get your creative juices flowing.

4. Choose a subject, location or object and photograph it repeatedly.  You could change the scenery, technique, perspective or style for each photo.  One of my friends took a photo  each month of a particular location in the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  Another takes photos of glow bracelets in different scenes.  I have a collection of photos of staircases that I’m working on, and with each photo of staircases that I take I learn just a little bit more.

5. Choose an area of personal interest (windmills, sports, children) and build a portfolio.  Here’s how I would build a portfolio:
a. Print your 3 best or favorite images from each photography activity.
b. Add them to your portfolio.
c. When your portfolio reaches 15-25 images, remove the weakest images, keeping your portfolio below 15-25 images.
d. Mentally note why those removed images are weaker; perhaps even write that reason down.
If you shoot one activity each month, in 6 months you’ll have a portfolio of your best images; and if you keep up this process, in a year or two, you can look back at the rejected images and see how much you’ve learned and grown.

6. Join a photography club.  A few years back, there were very few options for photography clubs, but now that excellent digital cameras are inexpensive and with the popularity of smartphones and Instagram, there are many options photography groups:
– a local Photographic Society of America chapter
– CACCA in the Chicago area (free to attend, pay to compete)
– Join a photography Meetup (most are free)
– Instameets (Instagram gatherings)
– your local library might have a photography club
– even national/state/county parks will often have a photo club
Some groups will focus on meetings and instructional information, some on competition and judging images, while other groups will focus on activities.  Try a few out and meet some local friendly photographers.

Photography involves picking up your camera and capturing the world around you; you don’t need to make it more complex than that.  So pick up your smartphone, pocket camera, or SLR and capture your world!

• Joshua L. Smith • November 2015 •

Elgin’s historic buildings set it apart.  Elgin was prosperous and large enough to support a booming downtown in the late 1800’s until the mid-1900’s.  The buildings that once housed dozens of downtown shops and the historic churches are just as impressive today as they were 100 years ago. As I’ve walked around downtown, these buildings have gathered my attention; and I wanted to document the names, brickwork, and cornerstones on a few of them … which then turned into this black & white poster.

Over the years my Mac apps have changed. Back in August 2009 I posted the apps that I used frequently; in the past three years, software has changed. Here’s my updated list:

:: from Apple

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

• Activity Monitor – I run this at all times hidden in my Dock.

• Font Book

• Image Capture – I use this to retrieve photos from our iPhones and place them in my photo folder structure. (…more on that at a later date)

• iTunes – the only way that I can keep my roughly 20K audio items organized. (…more on that at a later date)

• Mail – This is the best email software that I’ve used. And it’s still horrible.

• Preview – fastest PDF viewer in the West

• Safari – my quick search browser

• Time Machine – saved my butt a few times

Aperture – 6 years and 120K photos in and I still am in love with Aperture.

Final Cut Pro 7 – I know how to use this app; I just don’t enjoy editing video.

:: Paid Apps

• Adobe Bridge & Photoshop CS4 – I could probably replace Photoshop easier than I could replace Bridge. Although I do love Photoshop’s actions.

:: Free Apps

• CoRD – such a convenient to use remote desktop app

• Disk Inventory – very easily tell which files are using your drive’s space

• FireFox – I’ve come to rely upon FFX’s “app tabs” and save session feature.

:: Services

• Dropbox – file syncing for work

• SugarSync – personal file syncing

• Lowepro CompuDaypack • MacBook Pro 15in HD LCD, Core i5 2.4, 8gb RAM, 120gb SSD, 1tb HDD, 1tb FW800 HDD & accessories •

• Nikon D7000, 18-135mm f3.5-5.6, 70-300mm f4-5.6, 55mm f2.8 macro, 50mm f1.8, 20-35 f2.8 & 80-200mm f2.8 •

• iPhone 4s 32gb white, Olloclip, Glif, Belkin AAA charger, SD connection kit, etc. •

• M-Audio ProTools box • Verizon 4G MiFi •

• Bible, Moleskins, pens, 20gb of flash drives, LED flashlight, screwdrivers, steel snips, etc.•

A special thanks to Olloclip for mentioning my website on Twitter.  I’m thrilled to share my hobby, if you like the site or the photos please leave me a message @fourpointedstar

Welcome to all of the visitors from The Loop. I’m thrilled to share my hobby with you, leave a comment on my Twitter if you like: @fourpointedstar

To answer a few questions: I shoot merely for fun & relaxation, but I have sold a few large prints.  With the exception of the 5 family photos, each photo that is on this site is my own: capture, edit, & post. I claim no expertise, in fact I feel that this applies to my photography “If you can’t be proficient, be prolific.”

I post a photo each day, everything from Chicago skylines to insects in flight; come back in a week and there will be 7 more photos to enjoy.  Be sure to check out the archives too.  Enjoy.

Think Different

Stanford 2005, Commencement

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

I posted what goes in my bag; I think that my Mac’s apps are much more interesting:

Of course the usual culprits are on my Mac:

::  from Apple
Mac OS 10.5 Leopard
• Photobooth gets a workout – great fun with Cynthia
• Automator launches my chat apps on startup
• Font Book gets used often enough
• Image Capture – because I catalog my photos with Finder, then import into Aperture.
• Mail.app – for work’s Exchange
• Time Machine, iCal, QuickTime, Activity Monitor – obviously
iLife ’09
• iPhoto – for our iPhones
• iWeb – fourpointedstar.com
• don’t really use any of the other iLife apps
iWork ’09 – only really use Keynote
Aperture – Oh how I love this software!
Final Cut Express – like Final Cut … for notebooks

:: paid apps
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 – Aperture has replaced most of it’s use with my photo editing, but I tried to use Acorn, and I found that I still love PS because of its actions and familiarity.
• Microsoft Office 2008 – I only use Excel to create documents, I use Word and PowerPoint only when I need to read a document, and I refuse to use Entourage.
• I bought both NetNewsWire and OmniWeb before they were free; and I still use NNW for all of my RSS needs.

:: free apps
Connectivity
• Adium – it’s all in one client, even FaceBook (which I disabled)
• Chicken of the VNC – for all (1) of the Win2000 PCs on my network
• CoRD – all of my remote Windows connections in one window
• Cyberduck – free and easy to setup for FTP
• Google Notifier

Browsers
• FireFox with VertTabbar – only use FFX because I can put my tabs on the right side, ala OmniWeb
• OmniWeb – no longer use because it would lock up RAM and wasn’t likely to get the “remember session” feature
• Camino, Flock, Opera, Safari – all for logging into multiple accounts at once
• Stainless – because I have to use a crashy browser every once in a while

Etc.
• Disk Inventory X – it’s like SpaceMonger, but slower and uglier
• FileWrangler – for all my renaming needs
• Flip4Mac – .wmv on my Mac
• Google Earth – way too cool
• MacTracker – because I am a Mac nerd
• Picasa – because I am a photography nerd
• Quicksilver – my app launcher
• FLV player
• TextWrangler – editing html and css
• TinkerTool
• TwitterPod