Category Archives: Off Street

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh GR Saga

June 3, 2013 streetshooter 9 Comments

Yeah, yeah….it’s color. Here’s why….if your gonna be a B&W shooter, you must have an understanding of color and it’s conversion into b&w. Yo’ don’t get it wrong…this ain’t no technical session on color to b&w. In fact, that’s enough of that.

The GR is a unique camera in the fact that it has no history. No, it’s not an upgraded GRD4. It gets much of it’s intuitiveness from the GRD’s but after that, it’s a whole new experience. The image quality is a challenge and I’m real good at seeing and finding my images whether from the camera or from the processing.

I haven’t found it yet. This is because the files are so clean and sharp that they are almost to digital. Almost I said. I am not the easy guy to please but I am having some things happening that are showing me the way ahead……

Visually I’m still as focused as ever. The issue is in the back end. Backend is a term Pro’s use to mean the processing etc. I’m a hard core Pro….about not being a Pro.

The photo above is a part of my vision. The face, the hand…then the reflection, the buildings swallowing up humanity….it’s there…the camera did it’s job flawlessly. In LR4, I am still searching for my processing vision to meet my capture vision and find harmony together.

I’m getting close but that really means to SEE the images from this camera without pre-conceptions from everything that I’ve done before because that’s the way I like things to be because sometimes I think I’m a good control freak and in reality I’m just a streetshooter.

Let me say this before I end this post. The GRD4 is an amazing friend. We have done a lot together and we have been thru war on the streets and in the household. Yes, I’m a married streetshooter.

The new GR should be seen as a new camera because it is. If your familiar with the GRD series, you’ll have no problem setting the camera up and get it going.

My cameras are not tools. They are my friends and always have been. I go for walks with my friends. There’s a new friend on the shelf. Her name is Tanya. The GR’s female. She likes to go out for walks and have me put my hand all over her…not her lens tho’. She responds very fast but….she doesn’t like to be judged by any other camera before.

As soon as I really learn that, we’ll be dancing together….

More tomorrow after a walk on Market Street with Tanya. A few of my friends have this camera and are writing about it. I think between all of us…you’ll be more confused then if you just get the camera and use it. Please visit… Wouter @ http://wouter28mm.wordpress.com/ and Jorge @ http://ledesmaphotography.wordpress.com/

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A Streetshooter off Street is still a Streetshooter

May 31, 2013 streetshooter 3 Comments

Ya know…. I never get bored with photography. I never feel that there’s nothing to make photos of. If I’m not on the Street, I’m off Street. It’s more dangerous around the house then around junkies, hookers, cops, he men, she men whatever. Around the house is a cat that is all to used to having a camera shoved in his face….there’s this woman that resembles my wife but if I make a photo of her or even poit the camera anywhere near her airspace…well….it sure as heck ain’t pretty.

This photo is considered…Illegal photographic procedures. This photo means I order pizza for dinner and probably lunch the next day.

This is the photo that was presented upon the photographic inquisition. I explained that I didn’t make a photo of her and that this is what I did. See me in the mirror…well that’s what my camera and I looked liked before the camera was shoved down my throat.

The camera down your wind pipe is capable of doing very interesting Macro stuff but the flash won’t pop out because the camera is jammed against your lung or whatever they put inside of us.

So to make peace until the next episode, I always make a few garden photos. This keeps Barsik the Cat and the Russian Conquistador happy and I get to make photos in LR and post them because I’m stupid and I think she will never read my blog because it’s a waist of time and we could be doing something else more important like shopping…..

So I guess I’ll sign off because Barsik the Cat is hot and I have to sweat all day until he needs the Air Conditioner.

Life is grand…..hey…Is that a new camera?………….uh oh….later……

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

Ricoh GRD4 …. is in the Pocket

May 29, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

Making images that reflect your intent and that brings forth your inner vision is what it’s all about. Not everyone is into photography this deep and to those I say, next post will be easier. I’m not a fancy technician at all and I’m just a guy that knows what he wants and finds a way to get it.

This is the DNG exported with nothing done to it.

This is the Ricoh JPG direct from the camera

This is what was in my minds eye at time of framing and release. This processed in LR 4.4 and using my Presets. The Preset is Brownie R. This one is designed to give the appearance of my Portriga prints in my own Brown Developer.

I think that’s Minor White’s shadow but he left before I could make a positive identification. The idea here is to see what everyone else sees with the camera and then to find your visual interpretation of what you are making images of.

This is the DNG file out of the camera. I knew there was a photo happening but had to see it to make it…..

This is the Ricoh JPEG out of the camera. Most would stop here or maybe play a little bit either in or out of the camera.

This is my interpretation of the scene. It’s the same preset as above. No additional work was done other then a pres on the preset name. I’ve worked very hard to get my images to look and feel and breathe the way I want. I’m not trying to sell you presets or anything. I’m only trying to show how to expand your mind to find what lives beyond the surface of your vision.

Don

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Cellograph Journal …. Page 6

May 28, 2013 streetshooter 2 Comments

There’s a very interesting observation I’m checking out. If your out with your camera, your focused on making photos. I mean, the camera has your attention and your looking to find elements to make your next photo.

With the phone, it’s not always that way. Maybe the phone rings. Maybe your checking email, websites, forums, shopping, texting etc…there are many things at your disposal that can steer attention away from photography. This is because the cellphone is a multi purpose device. So, you may be working the street or anything and if the phone rings….that’s the end. Unless you turn off sounds and vibrate like I do. I’m sure there’s other ways to do this but I don’t know them. What I do know is that the phone can be a major intrusion.

Maybe I’m too serious with the cellphone. Maybe I should just see it as others do. The mother above. I wonder if she’s being serious. I wonder if she’s taking a photo of her daughter or is she making a photo as a lasting memory of a moment in time that she and her daughter will share for the rest of their lives.

Obviously she’s a talented street shooter and has taken my workshop because she has the right stance as a tourist and has the smile to break down negative energy on the spot. She is creating the perfect illusion and everyone around her including me knows she’s just a mother taking a snap. Of course we know different. We know she’s working for the NY Times and is a very talented photojournalist.

After walking 1000 miles in the mall with Tanya and watching the master shooter take snaps, I got tired. I wanted to sit on one of those massage chairs. For a buck ya get 4 minutes of mechanical hands massaging your back and legs. Ya can drink coffee as you get the royal treatment. We walked over and I have about 5 bucks ready. Tanya walked into Boscov’s to shop, well window shop. Of course that means around 2 hours.

I watched these 2 kids as their eyes rolled back in their heads as they got the massage. Then they put more money in…..and then more money…..and then more……I made this photo so I could remember what it’s like to be distracted by the iPhone for 2 hours as Tanya goes into Boscov’s too shop and buy nothing and I want a massage too but the kids won’t get out of the dang chairs……

I figured that on Memorial Day…I got what I deserved. I got the understanding again of why we do the things we do. I understand that as good as the iPhone is as a camera, it’s a great device to forget about making photos and seeing what is happening on the other side of the lens.

Sometimes we need that….just to see the other side…..

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Cellograph Journal …. Page 5

May 26, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

What I am starting to like about the cellograph camera is that there’s no neck strap. The camera is in your hand. To be discreet with this is not such an easy task. remember that everyone has one and is educated enough to know when your using it as a camera… or are they.

People don’t take you too serious. I guess that’s a good thing or there would be more tension on the streets than there is already.

Funny, I am completely in tune with the iPhone 5 focal length. It’s the only camera I have that’s dedicated to my Natural Field Of View….35mm. Hmmmm, that is interesting, isn’t it?

All in all I feel that this iPhone thing is not a passing fancy. I thought I’d just use it and write about it just to make an article for the Inspired Eye magazine. It seems that is far from the truth. I see myself checking out what other shooters are doing with it. Of course some of those are well beyond the casual cellograph shooter. I will invite some for the issue and do an interview with them.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend and all my Patriot brothers and sisters are out on the bikes. I’ll be out tomorrow on the bus and el but at the end of the day, it’s the same thing. Besides, once I get home, I can drink a beer, put the news on, call Olivier from my uh..uh..camera phone and then let my little buddy Barsik check out the pics on the phone……

Till later…..later….shooter out………………………………………………………………….

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Cellograph Journal …. Page 4

May 24, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

If your a serious shooter, regardless of what camera you use…you still need to process it the best way to present your intent.

Yeah, yeah I know…Snapseed…bulldinky. The thing is, to process the image you captured on the phone with the phone is a fast lazy way to work. I know that I’ll catch static posting this but , I don’t care anyway.

Ya got yer snapseeders, ya got yer instagram crowd, then there’s the Facebook groups and many more. I’m dealing with the shooters that want to really get their images and use a phone as the camera.

I’m doing an article in the Inspired Eye magazine coming up soon. If your a cellshooter and would like to be featured in it, please contact me and we’ll have a chat. Look, I love my cameras, I really do. Fact is the iPhone 5 has the best screen of all of them. Then there’s that color thing….

It’s Memorial Day Weekend here in the Colony. I’ll be around but I have Cemetery’s and Graves to visit. Have a safe and productive weekend.

Cheers….don

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Fuji X20 may not be an … iPhone … but it’s a heck of a Camera

May 23, 2013 streetshooter

It’s late here in Philly and I’m fixin to hit the sack, as they say. There’s a lot to say but it’s late. Maybe my thoughts will reach you thru these few photos……

iPhone5, Fuji X20, Pen3, GRD4, M’s…it’s all the same to me.

Till tomorrow…….

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Cellograph Journal …. Page 3

May 22, 2013 streetshooter 1 Comment

The important thing with any camera is that it not intrude on your vision. The camera should be with you but in a quiet way.

The iPhone 5 has done exactly that. It has just been here in my hand and not created any intrusion at all…well, except when it rings. My subject matter hasn’t really changed nor has my approach. My stance has adjusted to the phone. There’s definitely a sense of intimacy that crawls up your back working with a phone.

Here’s a shooters observation and I’m sure a very obvious one but not to me. Most people on the street don’t have a traditional camera with them. So when one pops up, it’s easy to figure out what is going to happen.

The thing with a phone is that everybody has one and everybody knows you have a camera and everybody else does too. So it’s not easy to be discreet. It’s not easy to be relaxed and just in the zone of awareness. You can get there but there’s an edge that comes along for the ride.

So I ask myself a question and have not found the complete answer. If the phone is very much like a camera and it has the inhibitions surrounding it like any other camera, why then not just use a camera? Well, the phone is a camera. It’s a great device and it’s light, compact, fast, unobtrusive and the list goes on…..

I will continue the quest for a complete answer tomorrow, well maybe this evening as the phone is always on me……

later my friends……..don

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The Inspired Eye, Issue 2 Published

May 19, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

Issue # 1

http://www.theinspiredeye.net/store-presets-magazine-ebooks/photography-magazine/issue-1/

Issue # 2

http://www.theinspiredeye.net/store-presets-magazine-ebooks/photography-magazine/issue-2/

Please let me know what you think of these. Your opinion matters deeply to me.

Don

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter

Cellograph Journal …. page 2

May 18, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

there’s a freedom working with a cellphone. Compact…well, it don’t get much more compact than a phone. With the freedom the phone offers comes another kind of freedom that the shooter must come to terms with. That freedom is IQ. Of course the phone can’t compete in the IQ arena against traditional cameras but then again…the phone offers a freedom from that dreaded PIXEL PEEPING syndrome.

What this means is…the shooter now has nothing to do but make the best photo of his/her intent without the restrictions of the limiting IQ factor. Oh…don’t get it wrong. A good photo is still the goal it’s just that now the cell shooter is no longer burdened with weight etc.

A long time ago I sat back with a Pen 1 in my hand and I felt that I missed working with my Leica’s and missed my beautiful darkroom. I missed the winding of the film, the smell of fixer on my hands, the camera bag with the bodies, lenses and film. I was all digital and I had moved on. I remained focused on my images and my intent and after a short period of time, I found them once again in the digital world.

I was on the bus coming home and I was checking out the riders as I always do. I turned the camera on and everything else off. I turn off the apps because it conserves power but more importantly, it visually turns off everything I’m doing except the camera.

I aimed the camera….my thumb pressed the release….I waited, waited…framed as we hit bumps……..

I realized I had a very good camera in my hand and then…….CLICK!

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer