I Hold The Sky

Consolidated Lightroom Folders • March 26, 2026

After nearly two months of turmoil, I can finally say that my Adobe Lightroom photos and catalog (metadata & edits) are consolidated into one master dataset.

To do this, I first studied Lightroom catalog documentation – first at Adobe – then at The Lightroom Queen. Mainly, I relied on Victoria’s 700-page Adobe Lightroom Classic – The Missing FAQ, of which I own a copy.

I learned how to export a catalog subset – and then how to import that subset into my main catalog. This was something I had been planning to learn in retirement as I will be building a special, operational Portfolio subset of my 200k photos as standalone Lightroom catalog and photo folders. I simply have been forced to gain that knowledge sooner than expected.

So I created a standalone catalog of just PDXWLF 2026. I did not follow provided workflows to merge back into the current, main catalog because my photos always get transformed into .dng files on import. I didn’t want any weird transformations to happen on a new import of .dng files, so I manually moved folders of files into my master photos location, resync’d the subset catalog to the folders in the master Lightroom location, and then did the import of the subset catalog, telling the import process to just use the photos in their current location. Everything went without a hitch. Basically, I learned everything about export and import and developed my own variant of the merge process to make things work with my special photo files.

Automated backups of the consoldiated Lightroom master files will be completed tonight. All that is left is cleanup of obsolete/temporary catalogs and photo files. I’ll get around to doing this, but the timeframe is not critical. For all practical purposes, I can close this case.

As I reported more than Two Weeks Ago, my iPhone charging problems persisted – and in fact were getting worse. Last weekend the phone required much wriggling and jostling of the charging plug to get the phone to start charging – and then I had to be very, very careful setting the phone down – or it would stop charging. It took a few rounds to get charging to “stick.”

I thought that for the interim I’d have to get a MagSafe Charger (probably the longer $49 one over the short cord $39 one).

But I really didn’t want to go down that road. So I resigned myself to the fact that I should just get a new iPhone – even if only to tide me over until the iPhone 20 comes out in 2027. I had Monday commitments, and I thought that on Tuesday I might go to the Apple store and see how an iPhone 17 Pro felt in my hands. I never get a new phone mid-cycle, but it seemed I wouldn’t be able to hold off until this fall. And while I was there, I could check out the new MacBook Neo.

Nonetheless, I didn’t like how this was playing out.

Monday night I did one last desperate thing. I tried cleaning out the charging port with a wooden toothpick. This was recommended by a few online articles/forums. I didn’t expect much – and was quite surprised when my initial poke and pull extracted a small tuft of lint. I did it again and got another small fluff ball. And then a third. Net result was a surprising amount of lint on my desktop.

I tested charging the phone, and there were no issues. I put the Totallee thin case back on the phone and tried charging again. It worked fine – just like it always did. At bedtime, I did the usual routine – and had no issues charging. My iPhone 13 mini was back to normal!

I’ve never ever had to clean out a charging port before, so this was a completely new experience. At any rate, I’m very happy that my iPhone is operating normally, and my hopes for a replacement phone in 2027 have been restored.

Taking a Selfie Tom McCall Waterfront Park • Portland, Oregon March 21, 2026 Nikon Z8 • Minolta MD Tele Rokkor-X 135mm f/2.8 f/5.6 @ 135mm • 1/250s • ISO 200

My news sources indicated that the cherry trees on the waterfront were in bloom, so I made plans to visit and get some pictures. I had volunteer work commitment for my church that took my entire afternoon Friday, extending into this morning. Everything this morning ran late.

My plan was to use my vintage Minolta MD Tele Rokkor-X 135mm f/2.8 lens on my newest camera, the Nikon Z8. I had forgotten exactly what I did in 2023, when I ran this experiment on my Nikon Z6. I had to do some research. In the process, I configured the Z8 to use focus peaking with yellow highlights, like the Z6 does. I also configured the Z8 to recognize the Minolta lens. EXPEED 7 allows the camera to learn a name for the old, non-CPU lens, the focal length, and the maximum aperture. That information gets passed to the image EXIF data. Much nicer than the null fields that get supplied by the Z6.

( A Struggle to Get There )

( At the Waterfront )

Meier & Frank Garment Bags

I’ve been working in the garage, trying to identify old stuff to get rid of (to make space for other stuff). There was a box of garment bags, and I figured I didn’t need those bags anymore. And then I realized I might have a use for a couple of bags – so I opened the box. Old garment bags, indeed.

It was with a wave of nostalgia that I unfolded two Meier & Frank garment bags. These bags were provided for free when I bought some dresses at the department store. I think I still have the dresses, as well.

Meier & Frank was erased as a brand – and converted to Macy’s – in 2006. I can’t believe Meier & Frank vanished 20 years ago. Has it really been that long? I grew up with the department store and have a lot of fond memories. (Like... the air doors at the Lloyd Center... and the escalators at the flagship store downtown... plus the restaurants... and the Christmas displays.) I walk through Macy’s all the time – but I still miss Meier & Frank – a lot.

This is what it means to be an old Oregonian. (Yesterday, I was telling my friend Debbie about growing up with Miller Paint in Portland. I could go on and on... U.S National Bank of Oregon... Alpenrose Dairy... J. K. Gill... Hung Far Low...)

Can I really let go of these garment bags?

I’ve been using black mesh zip pouches of various sizes to organize my gear – tech gear, photography gear – and for traveling, makeup/beauty products, vitamin/supplement containers. These pouches are very handy. I had been buying them from Amazon, but it appears that Daiso has them, too. Anyway, I have quite the assortment.

The thing about using them for my photography gear is that the contents all look sort of similar, so one might have to spend a moment or two figuring out what exactly is in the pouch.

At this year’s Portland Winter Light Festival, there was one night (Day 5 Tuesday) where I was shooting a Nikon D810 and a Nikon Z8. I don’t think I’ve ever used both a DSLR and a mirrorless camera on the same night. While those cameras can use the same battery, they use very different memory cards. So I had two very similar black mesh pouches – differing only by memory card type. It’s a little hard to figure out which bag was which in the dark.

I wanted an easier way to identify the contents of the black pouches, and at Etsy, I found Custom Zipper Pulls by ThoughtfulColors. I built up a list of tags that I wanted and placed an order on March 4. The tags arrived today, and I affixed them to my photography zipper pouches. They are excellent!

Tagged black mesh zip bags for photography gear Zipper Pulls by ThoughtfulColors@Etsy.com

The black zipper pulls are one-sided and are for general organization in my studio or my luggage. The purple zipper pulls are two-sided (same text on both sides) and are for pouches I have in my photography field kit. The purple makes the labels stand out more for faster identification. Anyway, I’m very pleased with these tags – high quality materials, excellent workmanship – and high legibility.