Category Archives: Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography

December 29th, 2016 … Finding Your Place Amongst The Masses

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When we look over our work, it starts to become obvious about how we approach photography. I think it’s maybe time to rip into what we did for the year and seek a solution for our spot in the grand scheme of things. The masses I’m referring to are the masses of photos you made and fell in love with. I suppose this could be thought of as a way to organize ones work. Years ago I used to lay out my work and get answers to the riddle of my photography.

I would lay out about 12 prints on the floor in a horizontal line. Then try to make sense of what they were saying to me. Maybe take one out, add one whatever. The scrabble system. I would look at photos and try to find a belonging to one on the line. Then add this photo horizontally up or down in line where they fit together.after a while, it starts to become clear where my efforts were at.

We can’t do that digitally unless you make many prints. There is no software that does this either. So I needed to find another method. Ok, this is the hard core method and if you need less of  strong result, by all means change the numbers I lay out.

Here we go. Look in your catalog for the year and very carefully, select the very best images and just 1 per week. If you worked every week, you should have between 48-52 photos. If you worked less, just take one from every week as long as you feel it’s your best work. Open a collection in LR or whatever you use. Move the photos around to get them in a sequence that makes you happy and it makes sense. What you are looking for is the common denominator between photos. It may at first seem very random but trust me, and trust yourself, it’s not random at all.

Don’t remove anything from the catalog yet. In fact, go back over everything and pull one shot from each month and work them on the collection. By now you should be seeing photos that work together or look like a series, group, no matter hat you call it, just look and feel the photos.

Lets say you have 8 photos of the rain and umbrellas etc. Gather them together and open a new collection named “Rain” and put them in there. Ohhh you just discovered 9 photos of low light, so make a collection “Low Light” and put them in there. You get the idea. Now go back again and pull 1 photo for every other month. Sort them and place them in a collection.

After you feel you have all the really good photos that resonate with your eye, heart and mind…….close LR or whatever and forget about the stuff for at least a week. Go make photos and do not look at your collections. The reason is that the collections are looking at you.

After a week or so passes, open LR and look at the collections, 1 at a time. Do not edit anything out. Every image has the potential to push you against yourself and lead to a new direction or lay a solid foundation with what your doing now. When you study this work, you are studying all that you are as a human with a camera. Your thoughts, feelings, sensitivities and everything you are is here in front of you. It is said that every photo is part of a mosaic of the portrait of yourself. So, your looking at yourself. You also can see what attracts you, what trigger mechanisms etc are working with you.

Life is a passing dream but it doesn’t mean you have o be asleep to dream. The best dreams are the ones we have while we are awake in the here and now.

The point here for this method is to get you organized in the here and now and to understand how and why you work.

Be Blessed Everybody and have a Lovely Romantic Happy New Years.

shooter out……………………………………………………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street, Streetshooter

December 22nd, 2016 … In Between Time … 1979 –

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Well, I never claimed to be anything more than a collaborator with life and photography. So this way, when things aren’t exactly square, I also get to blame Life for the issues. Smaat huh. Well, I used to go to New York City a lot to make photos. I usually would have $ & 3 with me. (ok, before I found my sanity I still named my cameras. My Black Laq M4 was named 4. My Silver M3 was named 3. It took time for me to find the right names but it worked.) Anyway, 4 was the main shooter and one day I was near St Francis and I raised my camera and made a shot. I heard a familiar sound but not at the right moment. See, I was set to 1/250 f11. I’m using Tri-x rated around 640. Most Leica’s and a very unique sound around 1/15. It’s a ball dropping. Any one familiar with Leica’s knows that sound and also to check the drive train with that sound.

George Butler showed me this stuff. He would take the lens off and close his eyes and put his nose right to the mount. He was sniffing the smells from the camera. Of course I wanted to be like Geo and I smelled the cameras too. Even in Camera Barn, I would look very professional standing there in front of the sales person and closing my eyes and sniffing the camera. Truth be told, I never smelled anything special and Geo told me that’s why I’m a user and will never be a collector. I always thought it had something to do with money, go figure.

So anyway, I am making photos at 1/25 but I think I hear the ball dropping. Smaart as I am, I decide to just overlook it because if I acknowledge the sound, I must accept the fact that 4 is in trouble. I decide to be like so many before me and just say, I ain’t heard nuttin.

I’m on the train heading back to my home. The train does not stop at my home but not far away. I’m coo, I have 4 rolls to develop and the next day, I go to my darkroom in my basement and develop the film. I think I was using Rodinol @ 1:18 with little Sulphite. The idea was to punch contrast and the recoup in printing. So I run the film and hang the negs in the film dryer and the go up and see my wife and the kids.

All the while, I am having awake nightmares because I heard the ball @1/250. I don’t wanna hear it and I don’t wanna accept the fact that I did when I didn’t wanna, really…. shhhh 4 .

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Next day I go down to make contacts. Set the printing side up and get everything ready and am excited about a few frames. Ok, The Leica Enlarger is cooking. The bulb is nice and warm, or hot and should be stable. I cut the negs down and sleeve them. I always made 7 strips of 5 frames in the preservers. I think they are Negafile. It’s true with the and Perma Wash. Use them properly and they reach 50 years no contamination. Now I’m really hopped up cause this is the part I love. Foot switch, lights go off, time starts and the enlarger sheds light on the truth.

I take the paper and  hit foot switch 2 and now the room is ready to develop the prints. I was using a formula called the Winchester Developer. I hadn’t altered this yet. I’s great with Bromide paper. So, the paper is in the tray and I am rocking the tray is a very methodical manner. (See, every variable must be accounted for and analyzed and the adapted to the system, even a sound that isn’t at the right time.

So the paper is starting to show the magic. There, there in the tray is a sheet of paper that shows my efforts as a shooter. Paul started me on RC paper and I liked it for Contacts or press prints but not for finished work. I pulled the print ad rinsed it for a few seconds and then squeegee it off. Wow am I excited!

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I hit the foot switch and all white is on. I pick up the Schneider 4X Lupe and look thru it as it rest on the paper. At this point I must explain. I am a Viet Nam vet but we aren’t vets yet or humans at the point in time. I seen my share of stuff. I have survived the streets and all kinds of things. My eye looks at a frame and I get this clutching feeling around my chest that is getting tighter and tighter. In my mind I hear the sound of the ball dropping and I know with all my heart and soul that is not a good sound at 1/250. I now have proof that 4 has a virus or something and the Doctor is gonna be expensive. I clean up the darkroom. Then I try to sleep and all the sudden, it’s morning.

I have a number for Leica that Geo gave me and told me to ask for Ernie. Now this is the time that Steve Jobs hadn’t mad a real computer yet. So, I am living in an analog world and I call Leica. I figure I’ll be on the phone till my kids get out of High School. A woman answers and has the voice the is so pleasant that I instantly start to cool down. I explain that I want to talk with Ernie. She ask my name and I figure, that’s it…I’m cooked. Meanwhile 4 is on my lap and not crying but I hear sniffles and he’s not looking good.

The, then out of the world, a man answers with a very strong German Accent, and says, how may I help you sir? 4 could hear the voice on the other end of the phone and I can see, he’s excited. He’s wiggling on my lap and I hear him playing with his shutter speeds.  I explain everything to Ernie and he says, “Ok, send the Camera to me and I’ll fix it. I will have it back to you by Thursday. Now I’m an not a clock watcher usually but it’s Monday around 10:00 am est. Ernie says, anytime you have a problem with your cameras, call this number directly and ask for me.” I said yes sir and 4 was all jumping up and down…. he said to me… wanna go see daddy. Then Ernie said, have a good day Mr Springer and tell George I said hi. I never even mentioned George….hmmmm? I packed 4 really carefully and told him to behave. Sure enough, on Thursday, UPS delivered 4 and an invoice marked paid in full. Thank you for your service.

But this isn’t what the story is about. See I saw this blur across many photos. It was not intentional at all but a freak accident. I started to study photos from other shooters. I remember I had books my Duane Michals and started studying why he was doing this stuff. So, I made prints and in time I felt that these photos are about “In Between Time.” There are many in my catalog and after a while I started seeing deeper in some and that became the “DreamCatcher”.

I’ll do more shortly but this is a basic idea how I think and how the process of discovery is so important to us. It also shows that we need to be open with our heart and minds to move on with our work

Be Blessed all…………. I have been criticized about foul language and thought about it all day. He’s right and I openly apologize to all and will not do that again.

 

Dreamcatcher, Streetshooter

December 17th, 2016 … In Memory Of James … RIP Brother

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….our unit was to secure the area between the perimeter of Chu Lai and a neighboring Fire Base. James and I had been friends for a long time in Nam Life. He told me about his family, girl friend and I did likewise. Such chats were comforting because for a brief moment, you maintain your humanity. James was real short. He was to Deros (Date Enlisted Returns Over Seas. Something to that effect, I don’t give a shit anyway.) on December 21st. We set out to recon the area we are in charge of, Hot Zone. Friggin hot. I mean my M4 was cooking. My rifle and 45 were like fire. Never the less, we went. We are all edgy and trigger ready because we have all been in this neck of the woods before and know it to be sometimes hot. In fact, I can’t remember any time being here that it was not. I look around and see the faces turn to cold ice even in this heat. I’m snapping the M4 every so often. We are about 24 troops if I recall. see normally we are 15 but we have new recruits with us that may be replacements for those of us getting the fuck out of this shit hole, namely James.

So we teach the new guys 1st, how to stay alive, 2nd, how to keep your team mates alive, 3rd, how to do the mission. It goes in that order. Well, James was part Native American and in fact gave me a flute he made. He could see the grass move or hear the wind and know if we were safe or not gonna be. Most of us kinda just looked around but not James. He had the warrior thing going and was a true friend. He taught me how to feel my energy mix with the land and the air.

Any we sat for 30 min cause it’s too fucking hot to move and LT was getting nervous cause 1 mortar round would be devastating. So we all put the joints out. (joints were not Military issue but I think may be soon)  No one complained about smoking cause you get to a heightened state of awareness and 1000M out a blade of grass moves, we all see it. One fly across the ocean flaps it’s wings and we can zero in on it. It’s true I tellya it’s true.

So we all get up and one guy says he will take point. James says he will backup. Then we all follow in a staggered column at a good safe distance. About 10-15 min in, radio breaks silence and LT singles hands down and we all drop quickly. The 3 Sgt’s low crawl to LT and they all chat for a bit. Then they start coming back and single for a circle to chat and pass the info to us.  Fucking beautiful. A force of NVA are heading our way. We had info a few days before this and we are supposed to confirm. Yup, they are about 2000M in front

2 Clicks is 2000M. LT says Command wants us to lay a temp blockade so that the choppers can come and have clear shot. We can’t stop them but we will set the first line of fire and maybe make them think. If the NVA get fire from us and then see the air support from the choppers, they might think to go swimming and not deal with us. Well, wishful thinking and we all know, they will continue the assault until their kids and grandfathers arrive. No let up and we wanna get back to the base cause it’s gonna be a fucking nightmare. So we get low and find whatever cover we can and wait. not a sound from us. I have to say, the Vietnamese could smell a yank for a long distance. Then about dunno, time stopped for all of us including the NVA, They have wifes and kids and stuff and live here. We are all edgy and just want this the fucking over already. The suspense is over coming all of us.

Of course, I raise my head slightly to make photos. No light meter but 1/000 f/16 and still over exposed. Fuck it, my camera is a shield in a way and I am indebted to it for all my life. Sgt raises a hand slightly and the spotters see it and warn us all. We all pissed out pants but it will dry in minutes. I seem to recall 115F but cant swear to it. I don’t remember it being that cool at all. Now we can hear talk, don’t understand it so I know it’s not English, it’s Vietnamese. Damn. The shit is gonna fly any min. They are now less then 300M from us and many guys start to let it go. The sound is deafening and the smell of ammonia permeates the air,  now all are firing and I let the M4 fall to my chest. I get on my knee and let it rip and I change magazines so fast that I don’t know I am doing it.

4 guys  take off to the right to form a flank. We need to make the NVA feel that we are a large force of bad mother fuckers. Well, let me tellya, they don’t give a flying fuck and maybe we just need to feel it for our selves.

In about 15 min I think, the firing stops. I’m snapping photos. The NVA turned and what we thought was retreated. We all stand up and no one in sight. I am relieved. ( sorry ladies, my dick is like a fucking piece of iron cause we are bad fuckers and I feel hard core, we all do, we overcome an NVA force.) So LT gives the signal to regroup and we start a head count. We are like 6 short and someone yells out, to the flank. I felt ok then knowing Jame and the are on the flank. LT waves to me a signal to regroup the flank and get them here. I go with 2 guys, lock n loaded ready for the shit. We are calling lightly to the flank and no answer, maybe they don’t hear us… panic sets in cause now I realize a few who are missing, including James. We run which is a no non cause of mines. I don’t give a fuck, I wanna see the guys.

Then we get there and 3 guys on the ground. I gotta tell you, my heart and my mind and my eye were like dead. I felt nothing. I smelled that familiar scent of the dead. It ain’t fucking TV, it’s a stench that you never forget. There, face down I see on his back pack, the part of his Flute. I stopped breathing, went to him, rolled him over and cried. James was a mess. Apparently, the NVA got close and did things to his body I will never say. I lay next to him until support arrived. His chest was about empty and his penis was gone. We picked a up the bodies and got them back to the open field where we held our battle for a few fucking blades of grass…..sorry!

We were 2 short on the call and LT advised that we have 2 POW/MIA. He marked the coordinates an wrote the story down and named the 2. Meanwhile a few guys walked all over looking for remains, nothing.

James was to go home to his family on the 21st for Xmas and be out of the Army. Four days to go and he would not let us go without him. He did 3 tours here and went home 1 time and got his wife pregnant. They had a son and named him James. I wrote this because I’m told this is the time for giving. I never expected James to give so much and I won’t wanna take it either. I wrote a letter to his family and send the photos I had but not all.

This very mission is the one that got me involved in the POW/MIA issue. In my life, nothing is as important and when I go to wherever I am destined to be, I’ll look for all those courageous soldiers that this country still forgets.

Peace to all and be blessed my friends…………………………… shooter out

 

 

 

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

December 6th, 2016 … Reflections of a Shooter … Harry Callahan

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What I do have is over 50 years as a shooter. Uh oh, didn’t realize youse alls was here.  Anyway, to get ya’s caught up….we are discussing the reflections of my reflecting inner self. Oh, scuse me again. I should introduce who be having this chat. There’s yours truly, there’s my reflection and we are both reflecting on my inner self that comes out for photography.

It is said and I do believe that every photo is a self portrait of the shooter. It does not imply a selfie only as a self portrait. What i mean is that if we are awake and in touch with ourselves at exposure, then all that we were or all that we are is present at exposure and thus the photo is a reflection of the self. Whatever your thinking or feeling is present in the photo. Of course the old adage of …There are none so blind as those that will not see, applies always.

 

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We were heading to the McDowell Colony to see Harry Callahan. I was invited to make a Portrait of Harry. So Harry & I talked a little and I asked him to sit on the steps leading to the entrance to the  house. I set up my 8×10 Deardorff with the 420mm Red Dot Artar. I frame and focus, lock the camera, put in a film holder and start chatting with Harry. He looks at me and smiles holding fast in position as a shooter would. CLICK! I pull the holder out ant put it in my bag. All the sudden a voice of the Photography Angel, Anne Tucker says, Don your going to make  a few more exposures aren’t you?

Immediately Harry says, He’s got it, he knows what he’s doing. I pack the bag and Harry comes over to me, puts a hand on my shoulder and says, let’s walk and talk a little. We walk a little and Harry says, your a cocky fucker aren’t you? I said, you really think so? He smiles and says, nah… I’m the same fucking way. Harry says, if your not in it 100%, where are ya.

We go back to the porch and harrygoes into rest. In a minute, Barbara comes to me. Don, as you know, Dad always made portraits of Mom and me. He says he’s to old to do it with that camera and ask if you would make it for him?  It’s an honor to meet, chat & do a portrait of Harry. The to make a portrait of Elizabeth and Barbara is beyond comprehension.  Ya see, only Harry ever made a photo of his beloved Elizabeth and daughter Barbara. I make the photo with all that I am, all the attention and spirit I have.

Barbara gives me their address and ask me to send prints. Elizabeth comes to me and holds both my hands between hers. She says thank you. My Harry has never asked anyone to make this photo and please respect his wishes and not send them all over. I looked her in the eyes and said, it was never an issue my lady.

I made some portraits of Anne Tucker, Robin McNeil and some I may not mention. The platinum prints went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

As we were walking, Harry said some things. Don, I watched you work, make the photos, even pack Margaret away. ( My Deardorff is named Margaret) You have a focus that is all of you at once and that’s what’s required. Don, as serious as you are there is a mission you must undertake. Making photos is great but teaching is all the more important. You have to carry on the love and chart of being a photographer.

Harry and I looked at each other and both knew we would never be in each other’s company again. Harry turned around and lowered his head and walked to the house. I got in the car and everyone was excited but I was so sad. I felt I lost my dad again.

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Life without photography for me is suicide daily. Life with photography keeps me here. Photography & Life go hand in hand. Without one, the other ceases to exist.

Dreamcatcher, Street Photography

December 4th, 2016 … The Distance Between Us Is Growing … or Learning Your Notebook

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This is one more for Earl. Very strange image but I claim to be the maker or the whatever. It shows a collaboration between the here and now, photography and me plus some hot sauce and pepper. Truthfully when I made the photo, I did it by instinct and then when I processed it, I realized I wasn’t alone. So I tribute that to Earl and his shenanigans. For a young guy he had a way of looking at the world as an old guy would. I mean, if we take our place in time as the current center, we see our history behind us and our future in front of us. We always wish to see more future then history. This of course supports longer life. Well, at least as far as moving forward goes. Earl had a way of being in the place an elder is. Like seeing his history being longer then the future. That’s how elders see things me included. It’s oh for me cause of my age and life experiences, I shouldn’t be here anyway. But for a kids, in his early 20’s, very upsetting for him to have vision that way. Earl lived life as an elder even tho he was so young. He was a young black man that didn’t fit in this time and place, a young man with an old soul. But, we fit together, he was my friend and I miss him.

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At a meet the other day, I was asked how I managed to find my way around my work. Good question. So this is the gist of what I replied. Your work will provide the direction you seek. The main thing about photography is that it only ever shows the past, or your history. It never shows the present or future. What it can do is provide direction for the heart by studying the photos and learn from our efforts that are now behind us. This is crucial and like a compass, aides in the choice of direction.

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So, you never really stray from your eye, heart & mind. Maybe you feel your in uncharted territory but really, ideas and even preconceptions from the history are with you on your journey. You can’t shake them free but you don’t have to be at the mercy of repetition either.

For instance, working a series can be repetitions after repetition. This will be hard to break because we are working in a safe manner with ourselves. Usually the idea of a series or group of images comes from the mother shot. You are working and you make a photo and everyone in the world, even those not born yet want to love the photo and pay you for it. This is called the mother image. It’s called that because now you want to make many more photos that are inspired by momma shot.

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The momma photo will be the original benchmark photo for the work you do that it inspired you to continue. As you journey along the map of your work, the photos you make will be the pins to mark the time and place of where you were and how you felt and thought. Well, I reckon that there be your history. Image that.

I feel it’s very important to recognize the repetition in your work. It’s also mandatory that you embrace this repetition. There’s something called, variation on a theme. I use this device all the time. What appears to be repetition is sometimes a variation on a theme. It’s like in my stuff, I have a theme of tones and grit and then subject matter. A variation is the offspring of the mother shot and has a linked presence to it that is recognizable. So, as the subject matter changes, the variations keep my interest and thus maybe the interest of the viewer.

 

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I’m on the streets tomorrow and I’m sure I’ll have something to say. WTF, someone’s got to say it.

Dreamcatcher

November 30th, 2016 Tribute To Earl D* … 8/26/92 – 11/29/16

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Let me start by saying…I met Earl downtown Philly at the Reading Market. I was sitting at the counter waiting for my #8. This guy comes walking slowly and carefully with a stick and bumps into me and apologies. He says, “hey man, I bumped into you because you were the closest to me. I smiled. He say’s, could you lend me a few bucks so I can eat lunch? (Look, I know a con job when I see it and I also know a person that’s blind too. He’s neither, almost.) I said sure, how much ya need? About eight bucks for #2 & water. ( in Philly, 8 bucks is a few) So James introduces himself to me and we start to talk.  He’s from NE like me and not to far away. He tells me he has around 15% vision and not clear. He is legally blind and all in his life treat him as blind.

So Earl ask for my phone number cause when he’s around town and I am, he will let me buy him lunch again. A few months go by and we are eating at Sang Kee again and he tells me he loves my photos. (at this point, his lunch could get much nicer) Earl says, I have a camera but it doesn’t do what I want it to. And what is that I asked. I want to make photos that I can show to my family and friends so they can see how I see.

Oh my, what a challenge and even I don’t know how Earl see’s but I’m sure to find out quickly. He’s using a Ricoh Film camera, no model named. I told him, you must have a digital camera with an adjustable shutter speed and aperture. He asked why and I told him he needs to think about light as liquid and not as light. This was, the movement and focus can shift and distort the way he needs and the screen will show him the result. I hadn’t used my GRD3 in a long time… yes…. gave it to Earl and gave him lessons on using it. He loved that little camera.

He would make photos and he could see the shapes and blurs and was very excited. A year and a half later, Earl was awarded a medal of Excellence for his vision and images. Earl taught me many things especially about seeing what is in my heart and not my mind. One day I asked his mom how he got this way and she told me they were all sitting on the steps and a car drove by and fired a few rounds and Earl jumped in front of his mom and got a shot to the head. It grazed his head but did severe damage to his vision.  She said he was her hero. I said, we are all hero’s to someone. Then she said, you be a hero to my baby and I ain’t never forget that.

I wrote this because Earl is a hero to many including me. I feel human being a hero for him. He had a hell of a vision, even for 12” from his eyes.

Rest In Peace Little Brother and I’ll be looking for you when I get there, but not yet.

Mr Don out, Goodbye Earl

 

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

November 27th, 2016 … Dancing In The Moment With Andre’ the Fuji X100T

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We talk of “Being in the Moment” as if it was some metaphysical esoteric place to be. Well I suppose it is. For me it’s the coming together of the Here and Now and being aware of my place in it. Then feeling and breathing photography. I talked before about intrusions and we all agree that we don’t need them. I suppose the only ones we should and have to deal with are the ones out there where our subject matter is. Those are the only ones we need to be concerned with.

Well, ain’t I the lucky one, I have those intrusions all the time. When I taught workshops, I made it a point to make sure the members, (I don’t like students because I’m not a teacher) understood the importance of timing and the need to anticipate it. The shot above called me to be present with the Airstream. I was framing and moving around and I could sense something but not sure what. Andre’ the Fuji X100T as always is at the ready….I held my stance and ….CLICK!

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I have mentored, taught, guided many people about photography. There is one lady that still calls me to go out and work. Polly, the Japanese Heart Surgeon. She told me a few years ago that I don’t walk thru life with a camera but I dance thru life with a camera. That is one of the most special statements anyone has ever said to me. The photo above is me doing exactly that.

When I was a young lad, my mother used to put movies on and we would watch them with little interest but she was happy we were spending time together. There were many actors and actresses (proper term back then, considered politically correct) that I enjoyed watching. Gene Kelly. Singing In The Rain. That’s what I thought of when Polly told me I danced thru life. I was Gene Kelly with Andre’ the Fuji X100T.

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Ya know, I will miss Philly and the people and my family and my cameras and especially Andre’ the Fuji X100T when I’m dead. But I ain’t going anyplace yet my friends and I’m gonna make my photos my way and stand for them and not think about much else when I’m out there making photos.

At any rate, time for me to rest my weary legs and back cause tomorrow is a shoot day again and I’m excited.

………. end transmission…………..shooter out……….

 

 

Dreamcatcher, One Shot, Street Photography, Streetshooter

November 17, 2016 … Random Thoughts … Random Photos … Fuji X100T

9 Comments


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Just when ya think your ok, the gremlins knock at your door and let you know maybe your not. It’s so easy to take things for granted or to get complacent. Well, Andre the Fuji X100T doesn’t like me to be complacent. He is the image stimulator. As the country is in turmoil and disbelief and un-trusting to name a few things, that energy creeps into our creative energy. I guess it’s food for the photos and we all need that. Truthfully, with all the ruckus going on around me, I really don’t see much difference. I would like to but I am  blinded by the , hmmm…ummm… dare I say light? Nah…. something else. Don’t know what it is but I’m fighting it off really well without knowing what I’m fighting.

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What I do notice is the growing number of homeless on the streets. I also see many more shooters out there. I also notice nicer cameras that people are wearing. I said this was random thoughts and it is. I notice the temperature is higher then one would expect for this time of year. There’s a quality of light that just gets me intoxicated and I never have enough of it. It sculpts the land and the people in a way that adds an emotional dimension that is hard to describe but it’s lovely to live in it. The texture, the tone, the intensity, all just get me going.

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I think Garry nailed it when he said, he photographs things to see what they look like as a photograph. I been looking at this kind of scene for a while.. I ride Septa Bus and Elevated almost every weekday. Yes I have a car but I prefer being in life rather than driving thru it. Besides, this in Philly and there are 2 ppl that have a drivers license that they took the test for and I’m one of them. Many others seem to buy it at K-Mart or Pep Boys etc. Well, they drive that way. I think the time of the seasons doe have an effect as to what and how we tune into things.

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So Wouter has been posting few words and more photos on a weekly basis. I may do the same because I might just feel things better.

Be Blessed and C sharp and B natural.

 

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

November 7th, 2016 … Choosing a Camera Amid the Confusion

12 Comments

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Let me start off by stating that Septa, the local Transportation Authority has been on strike for a week …. and then of course it’s election time  here and that all kinda settles out tomorrow. Don’t forget Halloween and hiding some candy from Tanya to enjoy later but she knows all the hiding places I use and she took all the M&M’s and put a piece of garlic there and then I knew I was caught and well… more fodder for the non productive fishes.

So, anything to blame a period of non productivity on except maybe the real truth, and even that is subject to change.

To the point. Well, ever since I was a fetus in mom, I used a Leica M4 with a 35mm Cron. Wasn’t much subject matter in there so i mostly wrote on my Mac. One day, mom decided it was time to empty the fetus apartment and I came out to a world that wasn’t digital. Imagine that. I was breast fed and of course had my trusty M4 that only I had cause it wasn’t invented yet.

That part may be hard to believe but it’s truth as far as I remember. Of course, I don’t remember shit anymore but I remember this part even if I forgot it.

Well, I have always migrated to a M4 and 35mm either a Cron or a Lux. I felt the FOV was the most natural for me. I had many Leica lenses for my cameras and always struggled to bond to any other then my 35’s. It wasn’t the lenses that I had an issue with, it was the FOV.

Natural Field of View

Natural Field of View is when you spot a scene, frame it in your mind and then raise the camera to make the photo and the FOV of the lens on the camera sees the frame closest to what you envisioned. This is absolutely crucial to the failure or success of the “Decisive Moment”. For me it’s always been natural with a 35mm FOV. Then enter the acquired FOV. Acquired FOV happens when you use a lens that changes the FOV and you need to adjust for what it sees.

There are other factors involved such as. Let’s say the my Fuji X100T is my natural FOV because it sees 35mm, and it is. Then I decide sometimes against my will to take out my Ricoh GRII. Dang it, that camera sees 28mm FOV. Hmmmm, maybe I want to take out my Pen F and that camera really shakes things up. I have a variety  of lenses for Serendipity.

When I’m ready to go out to work, I have to decide which camera to take. I don’t like the decision making procedure. I really love my cameras to the point that I name them. Yo’, my shrink thinks it’s ok to do this. It establishes a connection. CONNECTION! Perhaps  a connection is what is needed for all shooters in the way of camera, mind, heart and subject matter.

I don’t know for sure but here in Northeast Philly, it’s thought to be true. There are truths and lies to the universe and then there is the undiscovered. The truth is that we are all in love with photography. The lies is that we don’t need more gear to mess things up.

The undiscovered is out there and waiting for you and your camera to make a photo. Go on, get out there and find it….that’s what I’m gonna do.

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Streetshooter

October 30th, 2016

9 Comments

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Pen F

The beauty here in Philly with the change of seasons has many facets to it. Perhaps most notably is the light. I just love how the light sometimes blows out the mid-tones and leaves us with light and shadows, deep and long.  It’s also how people respond to the color temperature and the intensity of the light. I’ll be seeking those magical glows in the highs and when I find them, wait for the world to respond and then Click!  I was walking breathing in the cool stinky air. You know the kind. It has buses, cars, garbage  and garbage trucks, ladies perfume, mens cologne, other things we need not go into. I crossed Chestnut St going North on the West side of Broad Street and stopped for a break. My knee is acting up and I rest once in a while to get my mind to jump over the pain.  Then, all the sudden, I mean I had an awareness, then when all was right in the stellar universe, I saw shadows but not anything or anyone to make them and thought, It’s Doc time at the VA and then, now get this, I see a man enter from my right and CLICK!

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I was walking South on Broad Street and near the, um..near some bldgs. I stopped and leaned against the wall of one and tried to get my knee to behave but it said…FghweoruhtughK you shooter. A woman came down the street, stopped dead in front of me and looked out upon the streets. I knew if I gave her $10.00 she’d pose for me but I didn’t have $10.00 and didn’t need her to pose cause I hate that shit anyway. I have the camera at the ready and then she….CLICK!

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I wonder how is it possible to have so many homeless on the streets. It’s starting to get cold again and I don’t think the city, state or federal govt’s do anything to really make a difference. They say they do and drive around in their pretty cars and live in their nice homes with heat and things like that. I imagine it’s a fact that many homeless are junkies or other druggie or some kind of addicted person. But this is the life on the street. We as photographers do our work and sometimes make photos of the forgotten. It’s a responsibility of all humans to care for all humans. So, I guess nothing will change on the streets once we have a new President in the USA,

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The silence amongst us is deafening. We all take solace in the escape from the injustices placed upon us and all. It feels so much easier to be a part of the nothingness and let all go by us and not thru us. I think shooters are plagued by the realization that there is no nothingness because we are out there searching for the something, the something that matters and the something that makes us matter. And that something makes our photos matter regardless of what style or genre’ we work.

I talked about baggage before. It means your sensitivities and sensibilities are filled with all sorts of things and when you go out and seek photos, they pollute the clean vision we all hope for and work for. For me, maybe the weather is kicking in but I can’t deal with the fact that people, kids for shits sake are living day to day on the streets. Then these fuckers that call themselves candidates for the White House spend over $400 million to try to get elected. They send $1.7 Billion to a country that hates us passionately.

I need some sort of emotional ideas that make these things possible all the while, people are homeless with no bight shining light in the future.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sometimes I need to get this shit off my chest cause it weighs me down and never lets me breathe freely. I walk the streets of life and see the progress man has made and the injustices that are legal and accepted by one and all. I am not a champion of anything anymore. I still make my photos of street people and slip the a few bucks. That doesn’t relieve me of responsibility I feel for my fellow members of mankind regardless of any stature.

We are all trapped in the cloud that perceive as real and yet, we all know that the upcoming election, who the fuck cares who wins…. won’t make a fucking bit of a difference to anyone but the assholes that forget.

Those fuckers forget about the POW/MIA issues also. Makes me sick that I want to write about photography and this is what comes out.

Well, like it or not, this is about photography.