I just took delivery of my latest new computer from my employer.  This time, instead of another run of the mill IBM compatible laptop or desktop it was a fancy new 17" MacBook Pro.  We're developing software which we're supporting in Safari using the Silverlight plugin and I needed to be able to develop and test in that native environment.

First, let me give you some background.  See, I'm an Apple geek from days of yore.  We're talking Mac II and Quadra days here.  I was raised around Apples because my father owned his own business in the desktop publishing industry.  Around 1996 or so, I started to defect to "the dark side" and use the Windows OS, and only a few short years later I started dabbling with Linux, which is my current OS of choice.

Now, I knew that OSX was BSD based, and I knew I'd like it.  I also knew that the Apple hardware was pretty stinkin' elegant.  But man…. I had no idea.  This feels all so new and exciting, but at the same time comfortable and familiar.  In the ~3hrs I've had it I've installed pretty much an entire Groovy/Grails development tool set as well as installing and configuring things I'll be using on a daily basis.

I'm discovering some things which require are requiring a bit of research, but once I find the answer it usually fits some pattern or concept that is very familiar.  I'll likely be blogging about a few of those items as I continue to "move in" to my new machine.

I've also been firing off my thoughts as I have them on Twitter, you can follow the stream below if you're interested.

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Okay, first..  This post/rant was inspired by a few tweets from Chase Jarvis.  That said, I’m not throwing stones, or trying to start a fight.  The topic just got me thinking and I wanted to share my train of thought.  Chase, and any other professional who shots tethered, I’m actually jealous.  I wish I could shoot tethered.

Read more after the break…

So, the gist of the tweet(s) was about shooting tethered with the Nikon D3x and Aperture on a MacBook.  At first I thought "curse you Chase and your justifiable budget for fancy gear cause you’re a professional".  But then I thought, isn’t this just the professional expensive version of chimping?  If you’ve not heard of chimping, wikipedia has the best description I’ve seen here.

See, since I got my dSLR I’ve been reading a lot around photography communities, forums, and the like.  In that time, I’ve been able to gather that "chimping" is considered a weakness, and that "real professionals" don’t do it.  I don’t really subscribe to this mentality, afterall the manufacturers put the LCD on the back for a reason right?

I’ve recently shut off the automatic review of photos on my Nikon D80, for a number of reasons.  For one, it’s distracting to have the LCD glowing into your eye when you’re shooting a lot of shots in a dark situation, like in our living room at night capturing something our son is doing.  Also, the dials on the camera change function when the LCD is on to move back and forth between photographs, and the info that’s overlaid.  So if you shoot a shot, and keep the viewfinder to your eye, but try to change the exposure it’s ineffective and you just scroll through the pictures.

That said, when I’m doing anything other than "snap shots" I find myself pushing the play button to see the shot I just took.  Needless to say I’d gladly shoot tethered.  At the moment I have nothing but Windows and Linux based systems, and I haven’t commited to software for a RAW workflow or other tools that would allow me to shoot tethered, but I can assure you when/if I have all the tools necessary I’ll probably do it too.

So, I say to the critics of chimping…  Is tethered shooting really just an expensive version of chimping?  Is it "OK" for a professional to shoot tethered, and if so why is it any different than us mere mortals looking at the LCD on the back of our camera?  I submit that you are just jealous, like I am so you fabricate reasons that this practice is "bad" and makes you "weak".

Comments?