My name is Eric DeRitis. Over a pretty fantastic 30 year career in communications, I’ve amassed enough experience, mileage, and money to finally say “F**k it all.”
I started as a journalist in Washington, D.C., before becoming a corporate communications leader and speechwriter in Silicon Valley. It has been the best of all worlds in many ways. This journey has allowed me to be creative, earn a great living, and enjoy some extraordinary experiences. Many people can’t say that, so I consider myself fortunate.
These days I’m happy to consult, but full-time corporate work is firmly in my past. We only have a short time on this Earth. My plan is to enjoy the hell out the time I have left by channeling my energy into what truly excites me right now: Travel, fitness, and storytelling through photography.
As I hovered over my camera try to compose a really fantastic shot that was just distant enough to likely be useless, I couldn’t help but feel déjà vu. It wasn’t until later that I realized photography and writing are two sides of the same creative coin. This revelation caught me off guard, even as someone who spent decades making a living with words.
Although writing has been my bread and butter all my adult life, as my LinkedIn profile attests, I’ve left that career behind, in favor of pursuing photography as a pastime, as well as a possible business. I always had a good eye for photo composition, but not having really explored this art in any significant way, it feels like a fresh canvas—truly new, exciting, and fun.
Yes, obviously writing is still part of who I am — this is a blog, afterall. But after several decades of writing, it’s feeling kind of stale. Photography is a new way to tell a story for me. Which brings me back to my headline up there. I am finding that writing and photography are much more similar in terms of creative process than I would have guessed. For instance:
Story and subject In writing, you might craft a vivid character or narrative; in photography, a single well-lit subject can convey just as much emotion. Both require patience and vision to identify the perfect subject and bring its story to life.
Rewrite, edit, tighten focus Editing a paragraph until it sings isn’t so different from cropping and tweaking a photo to perfection.
Touch up and refine In my writing career, I often spent more time refining words than drafting them. Photography is no different—capturing the shot is just the beginning. Processing it into its final form can take hours or even days.
The process never ends As a professional writer, I was always striving to “make it better.” In that sense, I never saw any of the work I delivered (even the stuff I’m most proud of) as finished. Photography is the same. I often revisit photos, rethinking how to crop or process them, starting over several times.
Consider these two images below. As I mentioned above, this scene felt too distant to capture its vibrancy (as you can see from the first image). I really needed a telephoto lens, which I do not have. But after zooming in to my 70mm limit, and experimenting with the crop and exposure, vibrant layers of gold and green emerged, creating a striking contrast against the muted, overcast surroundings. Since my new (to me) Nikon D750 has a 24MP sensor, I don’t lose any noticable resolution from cropping.
Original shot
Post-process
Ultimately, what I have learned is that whether through words or images, storytelling is universal. Each medium has its challenges and rewards, but the joy of shaping a narrative—whether for the page or the frame—remains constant.
Equipment: Nikon D750 camera, Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8 DG EX HSM Full Frame Lens Settings: 70mm, f/2.8, 1/640
Strength training and CrossFit have been the centerpieces of my fitness regimen for the last 10 years. Before that, I was primarily focused on cycling. As I’ve gotten older, a more well-rounded routine has become more appealing.
Over the years, I’ve learned from personal experience that shoes are a big deal when it comes to fitness and training. Years ago, I’d buy whatever sneakers looked great and fit well—bonus points if they were on sale. That’s no longer the case.
This week, I made the switch from what I thought were excellent training shoes, the Adidas Dropset, to the Xero Prio zero-drop, barefoot-style shoe—which I found at REI for an incredible $53 (practically free for this kind of shoe).
So what do I think? It’s been less than a week, but so far, I love them. Though I have one caveat, which I’ll get to in a bit. Otherwise, I cannot recommend these highly enough.
Why Did I Scrap My Adidas Dropset?
I didn’t scrap them so much as demote them. After three years of heavy workouts, my Dropsets are showing their age. The material in the upper and the soles, which are pretty strong, is finally starting to fray. The shoe’s overall structure is also losing integrity—occasionally causing some mild bunion pain. Otherwise, I can’t complain. They have been great, strong, extremely stable, and grippy shoes, which is exactly what I needed when I replaced my Nike Metcon 3s (which, in my opinion, are lousy shoes despite being well-built and stable).
My old Adidas DropsetsMy new Xero Prios
Why Xero?
I’m a big fan of Dr. Peter Attia’s podcast, The Drive. While I really like his book, Outlive, his podcast, in my opinion, is better and more immediately useful. In episode 296, Peter interviewed Courtney Conley, a specialist in foot health, strength, and mobility. It’s a great episode that I won’t recap here. Suffice to say, it sent me on a week-long research journey into the relationship between foot health and shoes, or as Peter outlines in his show notes, “the importance of prioritizing footwear that promotes natural foot movement and strength while considering individual comfort and foot health needs.”
While there are a variety of highly-rated zero-drop, barefoot-style shoes out there, I kept coming back to the Xeros based on what I’d read. I happened to see the Xero Prio on sale at REI several days ago and decided to try them out. And I’m really, really happy with them!
Why I Already Love the Xero Prios
In sum, as I’ve already said, I’m impressed.
First, they are amazingly soft and comfortable. The sole has enough cushioning to feel great while maintaining the overall zero drop design—that is, there is no difference in the distance from the bottom of your foot to the surface you’re walking on, from the back to the front of the shoe. In contrast, most training and running shoes have a noticeable drop from heel to toe, meaning your heel is elevated into an unnatural position.
Second, the shoe is extremely light and flexible. Wearing the Xero Prio for a workout genuinely feels like being barefoot, yet protected at the same time. As you can see in the accompanying photos, the material is extremely breathable, too. Xero’s promotional materials show how this shoe can be twisted and flexed like a piece of rubber, allowing your foot to move and flex naturally without resistance. In comparison, the Nike Metcons feel like having your feet thrown into solitary confinement. Amazingly, Nike even recommends buying a size larger than normal because their shoes run small, which makes me wonder why they don’t just change their sizing scale to accommodate, you know, everyone. The Adidas Dropsets are more comfortable than the Nike Metcons, with a wider toebox and a generally better overall fit. However, the Dropsets are still pretty rigid—and not always in a good way.
Third, speaking of the toebox… Xero advertises its shoes as having a wider toebox that allows your toes move and splay the way they were meant to. So far, I’ve found this to be true. It’s also a major reason why these shoes feel so good. Good cushioning and protection, and total freedom of foot movement without constriction.
Finally, they are superbly grippy. During a CrossFit class today at my gym, floor grip was off the charts. It was really nice. Yes, the Nikes and Adidas models are pretty grippy, but I’ve experienced the odd slip with both brands. So far, that doesn’t even seem possible with the Xeros. Time will tell.
The One Thing I Don’t Like: They’re Not Good for Cycling
Now, for my one rather ironic complaint. The Xero Prios are terrible for cycling, both indoors and outdoors. Wearing these shoes on a bike is like riding barefoot, which is uncomfortable and inefficient. Cycling requires a stiff sole that acts as a solid platform, allowing you to transmit a lot of leg muscle energy to the road. With the Prios, just like riding barefoot, a lot of that leg energy is lost because your foot muscles are working overtime to compensate for the overly flexed position biking requires of them. This is actually a compliment, because it’s precisely what Xero is striving to accomplish—designing and selling shoes that make it feel like you’re not wearing anything.
While I expect this to be a minor issue for most people, it’s the main reason why I’ll probably keep my Adidas Dropsets—they have a relatively stiff sole that makes them well-suited for biking. And if your are an avid cycler, these are not the shoes for you.
Otherwise, as of right now, Xeros are my new workout shoes. They are amazingly comfortable, even for intense CrossFit work. They give my feet and toes all the room they need to move naturally, they are extremely lightweight, they are well-ventilated, they appear to be well-made (though some reviewers have suggested otherwise), and they are incredibly affordable right now—which is probably due to the launch of Xero’s latest model, the 360. By all accounts the 360 is a stellar shoe that significantly improves on the Prio.
I’ll follow-up with a longer-term review down the road.
I’ve always had a good eye for visuals. I get that from my father, who passed away in June 2023. I’ve always had a knack for basic photographic framing. There is a certain balance to photographs that a lot of people don’t seem to understand. For example, when taking a picture (portrait, really) of someone, too many people try to show where they are… and they end up with the picture that shows a tiny head from the chin up with a huge background. If you’re going to take a portrait, take a portrait. If you are going to take a landscape, take a landscape. If you’re going to blend the two, do it in a way that makes sense.
The best equipment is the equipment you have. This is where my photography journey starts. An old, but still impressive, Nikon D80. And my trusty iPhone 12 Pro, which takes marvelous pictures, including most of the shots on this site (so far).
My dad was a great photographer. It’s been a minor hobby of mine most of my life (and I do mean minor!) But now, it’s time to dive in and learn all I can about the basics of creative photography. I’m taking a course at our local community college. And I’m also taking some of the free classes Apple offers at its HQ, which is just two miles away. Meantime, what you see here are some of the pics I have taken over the years that I like from a compositional perspective. I expect to add more and better pics as I learn the ropes and study. Click below to see more.
To set the baseline, you can take some great pictures with the iPhone. And I have. But nothing beats the lens quality and power of a DSLR – particularly Nikons. There is a richness to the pics from my Nikon D80, thanks to its excellent lens options and 10MP CCD, that you can’t capture with a phone camera. You also have much more control with a DSLR. Of course, I don’t know an F-Stop from a Shortstop yet. But I am learning – beginning with the Exposure Triangle.
Below are some comparative examples. What’s interesting is the first shot is from my D80 and looks underexposed and dark. But looks can be decieving. Because it was shot in RAW format, it contains a ton of data, allowing me to process it in just a couple of minutes into the second image. Because of the exposure settings I used on the Nikon, you can see the rich red patterns on the flower petals. The automatic settings on the Nikon produced rich yellow, but the patterns on the petals were not visible and the green background was less rich.
The iPhone 12 Pro is now considered an outdated phone. That said, the camera quality is excellent and the automatic adjustments the iPhone makes are impressive. The image quality is on par with the Nikon. However, the iPhone image is about 2.6 MB, while the Nikon D80 image is 7.8 MB — exactly 3X larger. Meaning the Nikon gives me 3X more data to work with, allowing me to process it into great picture with rich greens in the background and really good detail in the foregrond. I can process the iPhone picture too, but I won’t get the same results. And reall, there is no need.
The iPhone and Nikon are both really great cameras. Keep in mind that the Nikon D80 is 20 years old and the iPhone 12 Pro is only about 4-5 years old.
Original DSLR shot at F9, 1/250 exposure, ISO 100, in RAW. Dark, but it includes a ton of data.The same DSLR shot adjusted for shadow brightness and more in Pixelmator Pro.Similar shot with iPhone 12 Pro on automatic. Looks great, but harder to process and therefor limiting.
