This panorama of Chicago (above us only sky) was taken with my iPhone, as I didn’t have my camera. I had no idea it could take fisheye-lens-like pictures. This was taken from Promontory Point, a bit of land that sticks out into the lake near my place, and it affords a great view of the city (lower left):
This photo, also shot with my iPhone (I much prefer my point-and-shoot Panasonic Lumix!) was taken at the Cubs/Nationals game on Saturday.(I had to adjust the exposure in iPhoto). Wrigley Field is a classic ballpark, and you can see its friendly confines. I was with my old friend Sarah, who was in town for a wedding. The photo is significant because the last time Sarah and I went to a ballgame together was a Yankees/Red Sox game in Fenway Park in 1973. And it was at that game when the botfly in my head (acquired in Costa Rica) began emerging from my skull. Sarah was there to see it pop out of my head later that evening.
You can hear the whole botfly tale, if you haven’t already, on Robert Krulwich’s NPR show RadioLab (link here, story starts at 44:05). Krulwich interviews me but, unbenownst to me, also talked to Sarah. You can hear us both.
She is a diehard Oakland A’s fan and is wearing their team hat:
I remember the botfly story but somehow didn’t realize it was you.
Was this anecdote swiped for an episode of Bones some months back?
The character Dr. Hodgins has a botfly larva in his neck and deliberately nurtures it until it hatches then writes some sort of report on the experience.
Jerry, can you claim to be the inspiration for this?
I don’t know what “Bones” is, and I have no idea where they got the botfly stuff from. My friends Ken Miyata and Adrian Forsyth wrote an account of my botfly tale in their wonderful book “Tropical Nature” (the chapter is called “Jerry’s Maggot.”
“Bones” is a TV show, the protagonist of which is a forensic anthropologist. She is nicknamed Bones unwillingly by her FBI agent partner.
A grad student acquaintance of mine from when I was an undergrad also picked up a bot fly maggot while she was in South America. She carried Bobby the bot fly to term, but he was stillborn (never eclosed from his puparium).
At first glance I thought this was about the paranormal and baseball. Maybe that’s exclusive to Wrigley Field.
Did you notice the big bird (gull, buzzard?) at the top left of the top photo?
That would be a gull.
When my Nana visited us from New Zealand, she couldn’t understand why we had seagulls when the ocean was nowhere. Then, I lived right near Lake Ontario so they were everywhere.
I suppose a botfly is the closest a bloke can come to having a baby…
A baby botfly! 41 year old congratulations!
That’s great. I was just in Chicago for the Endocrine Society meeting last week and finally got a chance to see a game at Wrigley Field for the first time. It’s so unique compared to the location and design of modern ball parks, and has incredible charm (also a great view of the game from pretty much everywhere).
And I wore my Phillies hat to the game.
Hi Sarah!
How were the ushers?
Ushers at Wrigley field are the strictest in all of baseball!
lol I was there last May of 2013.
Your ushers don’t let anyone get away with moving seats!
You can even get a small lens that clips to your iPhone called the Olloclip that gives you a few more options with the iPhone. There is even this Sony camera that attaches to the iPhone (or you can use it off of it as it connects via wifi). The whole camera is in what looks like the lens. I think it is a pain though because you can carry a p&s camera & the phone more easily. Sony makes different ones – there is a 10x version that is cheaper but bigger.
The iPhone is perfect for a camera-in-your-pocket never-go-anywhere-without-it sort of thing. And its quality is surprisingly good for that job.
For me, in any setting where the iPhone isn’t going to cut the mustard, I’m going to be going straight for the 5DIII.
I do, however, have ideas for adding an attachment doohickey to turn the iPhone into a spectrophotometer. How well it would work for what I have in mind is going to depend a lot on what kind of manual camera control iOS offers to developers….
b&
I usually keep the camera phone for regular snaps and I bring my Sony NEX for reach then for more serious stuff the 5D. In fact, last week, having been saddened at a missed photo opportunity with some grebes, I bought a super zoom, but was disappointed with the quality of the shots so I returned it for a lighter zoom lens for my Sony NEX 7. The Sony’s quality is good but I’m of course soiled by the 5D and have to remember the Sony’s limitations.
BTW I got the 40mm. I like it much more than my 50mm mostly because it is faster to focus and still nice and small.
Hahaha soiled = spoiled. I don’t lose bowel control over the camera. That would only happen with an expensive Hasselblad.
Used to be that the Plastic Fantastic belonged in every camera bag, as an emergency backup if nothing else.
Now, the Shorty McForty fills that role, except it goes in your pocket, not the bag, and its image quality is scary good….
b&
I have a LUMIX LX5 and I love it. Basically a tiny DSLR without: Changeable lenses, viewfinder with TTL. Shoots in RAW. Full controls.
Not quite truly pocketable but nearly. Terrific battery life and decent little manually-activated flash.
Goes more or less everywhere with me and allows some nice impromptu shots.
Nice! And nice shirt sir!
Unforgettable bot-fly story, Dr.C!
Sarah must have a lot of self-restraint. I’d have been sorely tempted to grab a scalpel and remove the larva from your head. But apparently, they can be squeezed out or carefully removed with a tweezer.
(Warning – this is gross!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4fozyjOgI
The A’s have the best record in the AL; but my Tigers just swept them! 😀
(I was born in Oakland; I should have divided loyalties…)
Oh, and BTW– I love that sky shot!