You Must Have a Nice Camera

I used to be more out there showing people my photography and would occasionally get an quick response of, “Oh, you must have a nice camera.”

It used to sting, but now I see it in good faith. I know people without photography experience don’t have much grasp of what’s at play. No problemo. I fight blurting out, “OK, take my camera and make something half as good,” and instead give a cheery, “Yeah, I do. I have some pretty good lenses too!”

I’m having flashbacks to those moments again when sharing little bits of software. Occasionally I’ll get a, “Did you vibe code that?”

My lizard brain has a whole response ready, “Well, I mean I did use Claude Code but I also detailed some great specs, chose the right libraries for the task, tried my darndest to apply good security, named things carefully, and kept commits tight. I also had to deep dive this phone hardware issue…ah, never mind.” None of that needs to be said. I just smile and say, “Yeah, I did! I have some pretty big monitors too!”

It still stings a little, but I get it, and I see it in good faith. They don’t know the work required. And responding with “OK, you take Claude Code and try to build something half as good” isn’t productive.

I’m more and more proud of the software I’m building. I’m more confident as a developer.

I went through four or five different backend options for the product photography tooling. I’ve spent many hours with different architectures for the HVAC floor planner tool. I’m managing a flood of technician notes from my sister, who uses Garbs.net as her daily interaction point. The work is still there, and I’m enjoying the work even more.

All that said, I really do love me some good glass.