Tongfamily (Richtong.com Sync)

And here is Ming’s view of Ricoh’s quirks and other notes… Unique to Ricoh is the snap focus mode, where the lens will default to a certain distance setting if the shutter is jabbed straight down past the intermediate position and the camera isn’t given time to find focus.  …

Been spending a lot of time on composition lately (even reading!). Some good advice now that I’ve been shooting wide alot…   If you know how you want the composition of your frame to appear – specifically, the relative prominence of subjects and other supporting elements – then you’ll know…

Well,  here are some things I didn’t know: Mileage Plus Shopping If you go to the Mileageplusshopping.com, you can register up to five credit cards (it doesn’t have to be just a United card), then if you click through that site, you get to double dip by getting additional miles…

Now that we’ve had such fun with the Sony RX100, it’s time to think again about cameras. I was literally blown away by the quality of the RX100. It is to be sure a pretty amazing pocket camera and in good light has great resolution (F/3.2, ISO 125, 10.2mm focal…

OK, don’t really know where to put this, but socks are so key: Wrightsock Coolmesh II. These are great for short hikes and super comfortable. $8 from Amazon. Smartwool Outdoor PhD Medium. Top rated by Outdoorgearlab, but nearly impossible to find at the end of the season. Large fits 9-11…

Well there are quite a few choices in hiking and backpacking watches, but the core features seem to be an altimeter and a compass and for us lazy people solar powered so we don’t have to worry about batteries. I’ve had a Suunto Vector for years and thanks to Roanoke…

We’ve got the bug and here are some good books: Backpacking Washington: Overnight and Multi-Day Routes. A terrific book by Romano and from the great Mountaineers out here White Mountain Guide, 29th: AMC’s Comprehensive Guide to Hiking Trails in the White Mountain National Forest (Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain Guide).…

To use the maximum memory isn’t easy because you need to put in an older 1066MHz (aka DDR3-8500) part to get the cheaper 1333 Mhz (DDR3-12800) part to run, but just realized the way to do this is to get five DDR3-10800 and five DDR3-12500 and put one in each…

Lurking around, if you have a Visa Signature card: Offer valid 2/1/2012 – 11/2/2013 Get $5 off a $25 Fandango Gift Card, instantly redeemable for the movie of your choice. That’s $25 in movie tickets for only $20! Fandango Gift Cards can be used for tickets to any movie, any…

Well there are some things to look at and to be careful of which is mileage expiration and extending them if you plan to use them. Asia Miles. I don’t fly these guys much, so we had 80K miles and got a nice pair of sun glasses, a decent one…