Category Archives: Philosophy of Street

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

March 2nd, 2017 … Finding My Way … Fujifilm X100F

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Many think I’m crazy or weird or things I don’t even know. I guess they are right and I let it go. What I do know is: that I want to be me and know whom that it is. I don’t want to be a stranger to myself. I don’t want to sell myself out so that I win popularity polls or get lots of likes. I want to be me and confident and aware of that as much as I can. Photography was never foreign to me. I never felt out of place or felt the struggle. I’m not saying I don’t struggle, I’m just saying I don’t feel the struggle cause I LIVE photography. I will cease to exist without it. I mean it, really. I am 67 giving 68 a run for the money. I’m a Libra. The advantage I have over younger shooters is that I accept what do and constantly push the envelope.

So how does one assume a stance of identity and maintain it. What does this require anyway? Well, I have worked with a number of shooters and I’m proud to say many are well accomplished now and understand the inner self they live with. A voice yells out…. Shooter, what does this have to do with the Fujifilm X100F?  Relax voice, this is what I’m talking about.

The X100F is highly configurable. If you need good settings, check out Kevin Mullins. http://f16.click/gear/fujifilm-x100f-settings.html

Kevin does weddings, family and street and probably other things too. He’s an X-Shooter and had the camera  for a few months.

So youse can all figure out the setting and I won’t get to deep into that part. What I do is life on the streets. So I realize that once the camera is setup, very rarely do I need to change anything. When it comes to working, I do have preferences.  I use a base exposure outside of 1/250 f8. I use Auto ISO 99.99% of the time. That’s set from ISO 200 – 6400 and shutter speed @ 1/125. so on the streets usually I like Manual focus and set focus distance at 10.9′ but ya can’t get the .9′ so just a nudge past 10′. That’s about hyper-focal distance for this camera at f8. That means that anything from about 5′ to infinity is in acceptable focus. Bear in mind, that hyper-focal distance works but it’s also true that things in front of the near point of hyper-focal distance, it’s doesn’t just cut off. It’s a gradual decrease in sharpness. I also use f11 a lot and there we have focus point of 7.7′ and from somewhat more then 3.5′ to infinity will be in focus.

There’s another way to do this but maybe not as efficient. I have the AEL/AFL button to lock focus point. So, I could lock focus anytime at all and even set hyper-focal distance if I wanted to measure on the street to get the required distance. I use that button when I’m working and setting a scene and I lock focus so I can anticipate the shot. I’m  not concerned about distance here, just locking the focus until I’m ready to release. The major difference between this and hyper-focal is that with the button, your locked at a set distance and if someone move out of that range, poof. With hyper-focal, you have a zone of focus and is someone moves out of the exact focus point, they are sill in acceptable range of focus.

It’s imperative to understand and use Hyper-focal distance with any camera on the street. Fortunately for us, The X100F makes this procedure very quick, accurate and painless. There’s a focus scale and it’s very accurate as all Fujifilm cameras are. So, hyper-focal distance and Auto ISO are the most required parts of a camera for the street.  Something to pay attention to. When you set Hyper-Focal distance or any distance that locks the focus, the frame box locks also. So you may need to watch the frame as it doesn’t move but you can always use the EVF if your working close. That’s always accurate. The OVF is also but that box won’t move once you lock focus. Not a biggie but I always pay attention to my frame edges.

On the streets, I really like a screen. It’s thee most accurate way to work. The X100F has a great screen and you can set the brightness to where you want it. With the screen, your holding the camera out and seeing a 2 dimensional image surrounded by 3 dimensional reality. No, sorry, not the same using a finder. The screen allows both eyes open, if you have 2 and that’s a blessing. All that being said, I love the finder on this camera. I am not talking about any other camera I have, or ever used, just this camera named Andre’ the Fuji X100F.

I remember walking with Winogrand and we are talking and looking at ladies and he would take his camera up and out and never look at it, just at the subject. I asked him, “Garry, how can you make a photo like that and not see”? He said that it’s about eye contact. If the camera is at the eye, the subject will see it right away. If the subject glances at the camera and it’s off face, then they immediately draw to your eyes. I understood what he meant and even felt after I saw photos he made like that. I decided to forget about that but couldn’t. Now, the X100F makes that an easy task. Just leave the screen on and that’s it. You get to make photos that you can’t ever do if the camera is at the eye.

The finder on the X100F is nice because you have 2 coices of vision. Obviously the most accurate is the EVF. The OVF allows me to use 2 eyes when I’m working.

I like to see from my left and frame from my right. There is a scale difference from the left eye seeing vs the right eye seeing thru the camera. It’s not bad at all. Most will tell you that the OVF allows you to see around the frame. It’s true but with both eyes open, you see a lot more around the frame. Suzanna my friend is an Eye Surgeon and she uses both eyes even with the EVF. I can’t and she says cause I’m old and stubborn. Probably right.

I have my camera doing B&W Acros +r. That’s doing a JPEG. I always used RAW in LR but the more I use this camera, the more I don’t care about Raw. I just love the responsiveness the X100F gives me. It’s a very satisfying experience. Anyway, I’m done for now and will try to do some more over the weekend.

Peace to all………….shooter out…………………………………………..

 

 

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

February 28th, 2017 … Wants vs Needs … Fuji X100F

19 Comments

Thanks everyone for reading the blog and posting comments. I am honored and humbled that you would do that. The reason I’m doing the blog and now writing about the Fuji X100f is not about recognition. I know Fuji would never choose me as an X shooter. I also am not doing this for money or fame and fortune. I do it for love.  L O V E.  That’s a big word and even bigger feelings and thoughts. So where most approach writing about the camera from a work ethic or financial standpoint or a step to a higher level of fame, I am doing it because I love photography and I adore this camera.

So, let’s cut the crap out the X100F and get it out of the way. Dang it…. why didn’t Fuji put a tilt screen on it? Duh… it don’t need it. It’s not just a street camera but a camera that guides us in a way to think and a method of discovery of our subject. What I mean is, regardless of the task you are doing, the X100F becomes an ally or maybe it just bonds with you and forms a synergism that magically adds to the experience of making photos. Here in NE Philly on Montour Street, it’s called Mojo.

See, the idea about making photos is to always be in touch with yourself while working. Just being able to see, think and feel is the ZEN of life that is required to give life to your work. I’m not saying I can do it, I’m saying I understand it and try to maintain the stance so that it can happen at times and I can write about it. So, having the awareness that you are a part of something wonderful means you have to accept the mechanical things that get used in your work.

I was out for a walk with Andre’ the Fuji X100F and I bumped into Dude. Dude has a unnamed Silver Fuji X100F. We start talking and I’m feeling almost comfy because we share the streets together and we have the same camera and then…..OHHHH! Dud is complaining about the lack of a tilt screen. He doesn’t like the way the camera fits his hand. I’m starting to get fidgity.  Andre is in my hand and I feel him burning up. His battery is getting hot because Dude is basically insulting Andre’s sibling. Anyway Dude tells me about 7 things that he feels should be on the camera. Inside I need my shrink cause I’m laffin’ and afraid o let it come to the surface. So I said I had to go because life was calling me and I can’t stop life.

As I walked away, I had a kinda sick feeling in my gut. I mean, I’m feeling this camera perfectly as is and would rather go with positive energy. I realized that things are never perfect and I don’t want it perfect. I want to learn myself with this camera and see what we can find mutually.

Photography is about being an observer or a participant. I like to live as an observer most times and that means having a camera that will not intrude on my vision. That’s an absolute must. I know I’m crazy and I get random racing thoughts. I know that Andre’ is like my partner on a journey that I choose to live and must do to breath. So, here’s a few things I did. Mind you, normally I have the camera and an extra battery and a lens pen when I work.

Andre’ the Fuji X100F is sporting a neck strap, a soft release and a lens hood and a B&W UV filter. I have an ACMAXX on the screen for protection. I never use a hood. I never use a filter. I never use a soft release. I am in testing phase and bond so I will go crazy. Oh my, a lens hood.

This photo up top is worked on in LR. The idea was to see what the JPEGs can handle. It’s amazing how much I blew the highs and mids because that’s how I feel and see it. So I’m seriously considering not doing raw for a while. The JPEGs from this camera are the finest I’ve seen from any, bar none. It amazes me … look at the whites and they are not wasted. Even the shadows are holding details. Yeah, yeah, the original file is very nice but I want to see how far I can push the envelope.

I am getting a slew of emails etc and will answer each one as quick as possible.

Ok ya’ll….. seeya tomorrow. They are calling for rain here but I might get out anyway. Peace and be blessed…………………………………….

Black & White, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street

February 27th, 2017 … Mojo and Andre’ the Fujifilm X100F

21 Comments

Let me start off with saying this is not my best work. It’s not Andre’ the Fuji X100F’s fault. Most decide to blame the camera when they aren’t hitting well. I don’t I am accountable to myself first and foremost.

Restless sleep last night as always and with most Vets. But this was different. Instead of seeing bad dreams and visions, I was seeing Andre’ in my hand and around my neck and we were walking and just relaxing . We need to get to know each other. Now, I live in Philadelphia, USA, the home of Freedom and Liberty and even soft pretzels. So, walking down the streets talking to my camera may seem odd but it’s acceptable.

Anyone can buy and use a Fuji X100F or any of the Fuji cameras. It’s that simple…..but there exist a small esoteric group of believers in Magic, Love and MOJO. I am a proud member. I would rather be out looking for the photos that are looking for me. That means I need as little of intrusions as possible. Just like magic, intrusions will break the spell  of love.

Photography is about love. Love of being a human with a camera, seeing, the lovely sense of vision, the feeling of being an observer and trying to understand what lay in front of our lens. It’s about passion and the way that passion drives our heart to want to make photos. It’s about looking at our photos and just being so satisfied and not worrying about others think or feel.

Photography is about communication and the dialog we get with ourselves and with others. It’s about gear and if you don’t love your gear, it’s not right, get rid of it. If your not attached to your camera, poof! It’s about love, the love of seeing, the love of feeling, the love of living and the realization that we are merely visitors on the planet for an undefined  period of time. We as photographers have the gift and responsibility to show what life and the planet looked like while we lived.

I write about this because I have a passion for life and photography that never ceases to burn. So what does this have t do with the Fuji X100F? Ok, here’s the way it is for me. I am totally in love with photography. That means that I must be totally in love with my camera. It must love me in return. I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but trust me, at my age, I have seen a thing or two. Rumor has it that there are many shooters that think and feel of their camera as a tool. Shhhhhhh!

I can’t fathom that. I mean really. A camera is a tool. We all have our rights to think and do as we please. Even if that’s like some kind of detachment to things, it’s sad to me.

Andre’ the Fuji X100F is a fine camera and will be a close friend in a short period of time. For the time being, We need to shoot JPEGs because Adobe is taking their time. Affinity does the X100F raw files and works well. I hear Silkypix does also. The thing is, when I get into this situation and am forced to use JPEGs, I start to rethink things. Look at the photo above. This is bright sunlight. The dark tones in the windows holds detail easily.

The highs like the statue’s feet, there is detail. Maybe you can’t see it so well on the screen but I dang sure can on the original. This is SOOC. Amazing. I’m using Acros for these and will try Acros+r soon. Maybe I don’t need raw as much as I thought. I mean, this is better then fine. That’s really what I’m doing right now, testing the camera. I have to tell you, Andre’ is a champ.

It’s fitting Andre’ would make a photo like this. I uses M Focus mostly and at f11. I’m focused at 7.7′ and that gives me 3.8′ to infinity. Same as if I was using my M camera and a 35mm lens. The other thing is I use M Mode with auto ISO. The meter in the X100F is really tuned. It doesn’t get fooled but contrast range. Ya get 3 auto ids settings, plus L & H.

So, say you wanted to work in your own way. well normal people would kinda set the high limit to maybe 6400. Perhaps they would set the low limit to 200.

Well, what if you wanted to over expose you frame? I mean I do that all the time well not all the time but a lot of the time and it works. In Manual mode proper, you set 3 points of exposure. Aperture, shutter and ISO. Fuji put the Exp Comp on a dedicated dial and I never use it. I’d like that to be programmable. So, that’s like the purist way to use M Mode. Changing any one of the points will either make an under exposure or over exposure.

I like Auto ISO and the X100F does it very well. So, if I set the limits on Auto ISO in a way that would intentionally over or under expose, for me it’s more fulfilling. It allows me to think about exposure in a way that allows me to design the tonal range.

Above is also SOOC. Kinda scary to me because it’s all there. Her face is visible and that’s an achievement in itself. The shadow detail is utterly amazing. JPEG, out of camera, hmmmmm? Adobe better get their act together quickly. Look at the mid tones and even the highs. The detail is super. The X100F does exactly what I need a camera to do and then some.

I’m not selling these cameras, recommending this camera, just using it.

I am not a X Shooter or whatever they are labelled. I certainly have interviewed many X Shooters. It’s not about that, it’s about a camera for me that does what I need it to do, that creates a symbiotic love affair with me and that provides an internal satisfaction to live as a shooter.

There is a feeling of creative freedom that I must have or I don’t work. I watch CNN and get ranty. No good at all. I’m only a few days with Andre’ the Fuji X100F but I see the path ahead and it’s gonna be a pretty picture, I tellya. I did do some very low light stuff with AF and this camera is not the fastest and none are but it’s extremely accurate. Hey, look… if your in low light, what the heck is the big hurry?

I did some work on theis because I wanted to see if the tones would block up. Ya know how when ya lower the highs a lot they get that funky gray tones, This doesn’t. The shadows are all there and it seems that Fuji did a bang up jog on the X100F

What it comes down to is….. for me a camera is more then a tool. (The Horror!) My cameras are my friends, my companions, my collaborators in my creative life. I name my camera’s because they are a part of me and I am a part of them.

The Fujifilm X100F is a great friend. If you see it as a tool, be blessed and I hope someday you see fit to name your camera. If you don’t and it’s just a tool, good, it’s a great tool. For me, there are windmills out there and Andre’ the Fuji X100F and I are out to find them and conquer our fears of being a human Being.

I’ll do more in a day or so.

 

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

February 26th, 2017 … Fujifilm X100F … (but not only)

32 Comments

FujiFilm X100F jpg OOC

So, I am going backward but I think I have to. It was Friday and the weather was nice and I wanted to go and work. I got a note from Adorama that my camera has shipped and would arrive Friday.

So I told Tanya that I didn’t feel like going to the VA and I just wanted to sit on the couch. Not just on the couch but the precise spot where I can see the door and out the window when UPS arrives.  I had that kinda nervous twitch and also the look of fear on my face, nah… all over me in fear of missing the long awaited knock on the door. She looks at me and raises her eyebrow and just,,,, hmmmm. I think maybe she found out that I’m in the “waiting for my new camera so leave me alone to sweat and just let me breathe mode. She ask me if I want coffee and I said no because I’d be painting the walls and then cleaning the house nervously. No, I’ll sit this one out. Tanya walks to the kitchen, CNN is on and I’m just like in limbo but it’s not limbo because the frigging world is moving and I don’t have my camera! She say’s Donusha,( semi Russian for Donald. I made the name up and her family agrees that I am part Russian. Please don’t tell CNN or Congress or Pres Trump. ) She ask me what I’m waiting for? Uh oh, she knows the mode I’m in. I’m dead I tellya, it’s over, the wife finds out about a new camera and nothing for her move, it’s not pretty I tellya, it damn sure ain’t gonna be pretty. Then, harken, I hear the voice from an angel, an angel sent from mother Light and Father FujiFilm…. is this the new Andre’ camera’?

GASP! The Horror! Oh, you mean the camera I’m waiting for, sure, it’s the new X100F but hold on, I have to watch Jake Tapper.  I’m pushing 68 real hard but not yet, oh no…not yet. I remember when I was young when Mom got us all a present, well the feelings I had them followed my all thru these years.

I would be all excited and feeling special and loved, well that’s how I’m feeling now. So, now I know Mommy, er…Tanya won’t be mad at me for buying a new camera. All is well in the universe and I’m feeling….hey, wait a minute… where’s the damn UPS truck? Ya think he dares to make stops before he gets to me, nahhh, I don’t believe that for a minute. Tanya brings me a cup of black tea with lemon. I inhale it in .3 sec. I have not mover from this sit and wait for UPS spot in a few hours.

My face is sweating and I’m fighting my natural water waste removal system. she looks at me and smiles, would you like me to do the waiting duty while you go pee? I told you she was an angel and I smile and make it upstairs to the bathroom in .7 sec flat. A new record. I spend more time then I wanted doing the Lizard Draining Procedure. shake, wash hands and back on duty in less then 3 min.

So, I’m waiting and then, all the sudden FEDEX comes down the street. Sooo anti climatic. I pick up the iPad and look at messages from Olivier and some other ppls about things that I am normally concerned about but at this minute I don’t remember what planet I’m on and don’t care BECAUSE UPS IS HERE! The guy, like the Santa Clause of Photography hands me the box. This is the box from the never ever land of FujiFilm. This is the box that contains my beloved Andre’. Adorama as so many times is right on the money and they mad me happy again.

So I need to be cool right. I mean Mrs Shooter is sitting there looking at me and I have to restrain myself and act as this is no big deal. I sit on the couch and holding the box on my lap. Inside me is this teen boy that is looking at the most beautiful girl ever existed and she wants to kiss me. This is a metaphor and for real, don’t come close to my excitement about this camera.

So I just sit and then Tanya says, “aren’t you going to go upstairs and open the box”? Before the question was finished, I was upstairs in my office, had the box open and everything laid out neatly on the desk. There, there on the desk where all cameras from recent history have been given their name and birthday sits the still unnamed Fujifilm X100F.

I feel this familiar energy buzzing around my head and heart… it say’s, yo pop, let me go home already. Quickly I close the door to the office, Barsik the Cat is lying on the floor watching. I close the blinds on the window and then walk to the unnamed Fujifilm X100f and pick it up. I close my eyes and raise the camera to the sky and I chant, and then there was Andre’. The energy used as Andre’ transforms into the camera henceforth named, Andre’ the Fuji X100F is miraculous. I place Andre’ on the desk and look at the manual. He says, shooter, put a battery in and a card. Together we will make the path we follow without interference from manuals etc. I turn around and think, I’m  not crazy, my camera is.

So I realize Andre’ the Fuji X100F is right. Without looking at the manual, the camera is extremely intuitive. Well, I have had all the X100 series, XE models, X-Pro1 and some other things so maybe it’s learned intuition but regardless the X100F is very intuitive.

The first photo is with the X100F and a jpg OOC. Not by choice but by force from Adobe as there is no way to process Raw files yet. The others are from Serendipity the Oly Pen F.

If you’re looking for a technical review of this camera, I am not the one for you to read. If you believe in Don Quixote and the magic of love and photography and the love a shooter has for his cameras, your home my friends.

I’ll be working starting tomorrow heavily with Andre’ and using jpg, Acros. I’ll post during the week as things get interesting.

be blessed all………………………………………………………….

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

February 19th, 2017 … Not Passing the Passerby’s

12 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

Not passing the passerby’s. Maybe that sounds confusing and I am a good source for confusion material. Remember that thing about the Inverse Square Law. Well, here we go again, another round. This round we are dealing with the head mostly and the heart is active but on vacation.  I was always interested in the things I didn’t pay attention to. I mean why do they not interest me. Why is there no connection that gets me hyped? If there is a connection of sorts, why do I not make a photo of it? If there’s a connection and I don’t make a photo, why do I even remember the moment? That’s the thing, remembering the moments NOT recorded.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So I set out with the intent of finding the photos I pass by. I did this many times before but the way you get past hurdles, is not to get over them one time, but to get over them many times and then to recognize them before you have to get over them. I started thinking, shooter I said, what’s the reason you walked pass that photo and if in fact that was a photo, what was missing?

years ago, I taught vision by going to an area and making photos. I would do about 10 and from different points of view. I would take the class there and give them all the photos. Then set them free to find the photo on the print out on the street. This is easier said then done but, very worthwhile. Cultivating vision also means to be aware of what’s not the interest. Like in a garden, there are many beautiful plants growing but all around is weeds, grass etc. We need to WEED out the garden so that the flowers etc grow better.

That is the same as in making photos. We kinda weed out photos so that the photos we desire can bloom. This of course means an act of knowing what we are weeding out. Basically this is editing. So that’s the name they gave this.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

What if all the photos you don’t make are more important in some ways then the ones you do make. I don’t think it’s the value system working, I think it’s intentionally not paying attention. So I noticed a long time ago that I would walk past things, people etc and for a fraction of a second, glance at it and then continue on my journey. I get home and process and then sith to relax and let the images burn in my heart and mind. They will live there forever cause without them, I cease to exist.

All the sudden, some images pop into my mind and it’s of something I walked past and didn’t make a photo. Sometimes that image starts to burn and cause an itch in my butt. It gets to the point sometimes that I can’t erase the image at all.

So methinks that maybe, just maybe, these unborn photos are like lost messages that I didn’t get. Oh, I saw them but was to reluctant to make the image. Maybe these things are seemingly trite but to me, very intense. I want to understand my life as a photographer before I am not. I want to make the photos that mean something to me and never be that concerned by the thoughts of others that it shall effect me or detour me from the path I live with my cameras.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We all have a responsibility to ourselves. We need to satisfy the craving of photographic creativity and continue our work. Ya know, there is a duty that we all have, wanted or not, That duty is to support photography and Mother Light the best way we can. We as shooters, for the most part work for other shooters. To deny that fact is to deny yourself the reciprocal energy that your photos may bring.

So perhaps what I am really writing about is that maybe we see the big picture for ourselves and we walk by the things we don’t pay attention to. This kind of stuff makes me nuts and it’s why Olivier and I made the Inspired Eye. What if one of the things or…. that we pass by is a shooter struggling to find his/her way with photography. Perhaps you stop and offer assistance and maybe you think that this means little to you but to the one you helped, it’s a mountain that gets knocked to a dust pile and leads the way to the an open mind and heart.

I’m rambling but not really.

Good Light my friends……………..end transmission……………………

 

 

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street

February 12th, 2017 … Ricoh GRII

4 Comments

There are times that one, well me, or you must fight off the energy that tries to slow us down or even detract us from the reality of our work. I’m not talking about the internal stuff that we all have to address or even cameras and such. The thing is, even if people don’t chat about things, those things are alive anyway. Maybe we don’t address it but that does not negate the energy. So, the web is a blessing but also a monster in non-disguise. Now I’m not gonna talk about any of youse cause I know that youse all have it together, certainly more then me and I just need to air out my sane insanity.

So just think of this as entertainment and not like I’m passing on some learning’s. I can’t really pass on learning’s cause I forgot everything and can’t remember what I forgot so I don’t wanna bother my shrink so he can jar me poor brain and give it a restart. The hard drive is to old and don’t care anyway. Ok….

So instead of youse trying to learn or teach what I forgot or you forgot, I’ll keep this light, not light light but light light like weight but not really weight kinda thoughts weight. Sometimes, well alot lately when I make photos, I get excited as always but then I get into LR and start to select and work, things seem different then usual. I guess what I mean is that maybe I have stored preferences for photos. Well, don’t laff, we all do it’s just that I don’t know yours and I’m re-evaluating mine.  I kinda think these things become presets. On the shooting end, they are trigger mechanisms. Don’t get smug over there, every one has these. Oh yeah… for real. Then what happens is that when we get into post processing…. hold on. Whats pre processing? How can there be a post process without a pre-process. Where does the pre-process start and the post process start. If it’s post process, in my mind, that means after process. If it’s after process, when did I process.

All these things would drive normal people crazy. Luckily, for me, it’s all natural. I would like to chat with the pre, post process inventors so i have a clear understanding what cell they are in and make sure they don’t get out. Maybe this stuff doesn’t mean much to most and to the many, less then nothing. Well, I stand guilty about being a life long disciple of the entire photographic process.

To me, photography is not something I practice or aspire to do. Photography is life. Life is photography. I’m not judgemental about things. I just totally dismiss all those that are not serious and dedicated. Is that being judgemental? Don’t know, don’t care.

So, all these things and much more are living in my heart, soul and mind. These thoughts shed light on scenes and events that I want to make photos of. Some call this baggage and maybe, just maybe that’s correct. If that’s what you feel, I’m happy for you. It’s mot what I feel. I believe that photos come from inside and we seek to find them outside. Sure, maybe you go out and seek photos and look for inspiration out there, good… work on. The thing is, and I wrote something like this a while ago, that your work germinates inside and you look for it outside. Then you cultivate it it and reap the harvest.

The soil for your work is your eye, heart and mind. The energy for that soil is the life you have lived and how you wear that life. How you wear life is how you apply it to your existence. Your existence and all that ye shall be on ye planet Earth, will be summed up in your photos. Don’t believe me, I’m a crazy old shooter? Well, look at books, go to museums, study all that is in the past history. Those photos are what makes us believe that there is more to our life then living. What matters in the end is how others, yes those that follow your tracks, how they look back to what you planted for them.

Then, when it’s time…… Rest in peace my friends…. but not yet……………………………………………

 

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street

February 5th, 2017 … Passing Thru … Eye Contact … of Life and Death … Paul Strand

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My problem is that I read too much. It’s true I tell ya. I read Blogs all the time. I mean many bloggers are subscribed to me and I too them. It’s amuses me that some will be so steadfast on a position that it’s humorous without being funny at all. One of the things a guy I just read was about eye contact and how it was all important in street work. Well, maybe it is and maybe, just maybe there  is a point raised about what the eyes are seeing in this point of contact. Is eye contact about the subject peering into the camera and not realizing or realizing that a photo is or is not being made? If eye contact is about just seeing the subject peering at us from the photo, well I suppose I differ on opinion and maybe even the popular opinion I don’t do well with anyway.

I studied the photos of Paul Strand very intensely. When you look at his portraits whether candid as they say but he never did, or set up, one instantly FEELS the subject and Strand at the same time.  I saw unpublished photos that Paul made of Hazel, his wife and partner thru life and love. I would feel this warmth inside me and a longing that I couldn’t explain. I would ask Ding and he just looked at me and I knew he had the same feelings I was experiencing.

I didn’t understand how we could feel things from the photos and they were shared feelings. Then it dawned on me years later as I was making photos of my wife and kids. I had made a portrait of my mother in her apartment and it was stark with just a lamp over head. When I saw the print, I understood Paul Strands work as never before.

Strand wasn’t making portraits of people or Hazel that were superficial at all. Strand was making photos of LIFE and DEATH. He was aware the the moment would pass instantly from his view and Death would haunt him for his life. Some say I am infatuated with death and it comes across a lot in my feelings and thoughts. It’s true but if we don’t appreciate death and the totality of it’s birth upon us, we will never taste life that we have and just go thru living as if there is no tomorrow.

Strand saw Hazel in his photos and the fact that he saw destiny as they grow older and reach the end of life as we know it. He had the ability to see all of life in that manner. More then any photographer before him. It’s why it took a while or the 291 club and Stieglitz to understand Strand’s work and passion. The big reason is because as talented as the others were, Strand showed promise to be a loner and a leader in the future.

The understanding of what photography does most and best, is the recording of memories. Look at any photographer you admire and the observance of life and death will or should be in the work. It’s the single common denominator and yet, countless shooters will deny the power and reason for the intent of making memories. They will feel and believe that for as long as they are gifted not with their life but with the life of their loved ones.

Perhaps this is a good reason to learn to MAKE photos and not TAKE photos. So, the next time you make photos,  be aware that time will pass and things will change but the biggest change will be inside you. Paying attention to the change of seasons of our life will make us be alive not just be present.

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street

January 20th, 2017 … Thoughts on Inauguration Day … Fuji X100T

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I woke this morning for very big important changes about to set in. This is not something that happens often but when it does, the world changes. I see that there is a changing of the guard in the near future. I am excited for the new generation and feel sad about the generation about to leave.

C’mon, youse all know me, I couldn’t care about politics. The change I’m talking about is the new Fuji X100F being released in February. The old generation is Andre’ the Fuji X100T and his days are numbered. That in itself really saddens me. Andre’ has about 1000 shots on him in 10 months. He’s still like new and performs flawlessly. His replacement has some new features that I am anxious to experience. I started the X100 series on release of the 1st model, the X100. I was completely blown away by that camera and named him Andre’. At this time I was still doing some work with my Leica M6 and was noticing focus issues. Essential tremors were starting to take their toll on me and I knew shortly I would need AF. When the Fuji X100 came out I was relieved to say the least. I was an Admin at M43.com and using the Pen and Lumix cameras. I loved them, still love M43.

The X100 gave me the Leica experience again but with AF. Time went on and the X100s was released and once again, I was blown away. Andre’ did Astral Projection and moved into the new Fuji X100s. We worked together for a long time. I use other cameras and get deep with them but I am aware that Andre’ is the top dude. My young business partner Olivier came to my place March of last year. When he left, Andre the Fuji X100s went with him. Well, actually, the nameless Fuji X100s went, as Andre” is my companion. Within a week, I had the Fuji X100T and of course, Andre’ found his way home in there.

Why do I tell you all this? Well, for me it’s extremely important and emotional. I do love my cameras. My cameras are a pure metaphor for photography and my love of it. So I get attached to them. I have a synergism with my cameras which means I have a synergism with photography. I wish I had that with LIFE but I don’t. Life is a struggle for me but photography is a natural course of being and it moves thru me like a wave of fresh air. It doesn’t move me or stir anything, it just guides me from one breath to the next.

My cameras are the transport mechanism that I share the experience with. So, having to make a change soon is an emotional experience and not just for me but for my camera also. (I didn’t say his name now because I don’t want to shake him up).

I had a session about 16 months ago and a new guy came on board. We were 7 total and sitting at a table for a very early breakfast. I’m won’t mention names because most read my blog and contact me on a regular basis and I don’t want to embarrass anyone. So, I asked who named their camera and 5 said they did after understanding the connection. New Guy, herein called NG smiled and said I was nuts and he felt he was at the wrong place. So I told him, I’d gladly give him his money back and wanted to because I didn’t want him disrupting the energy of the group. He looked at me like a lost puppy. He completely turned around with just a few words I said to him.

So it’s time to pull prints out. I ask for this session, 10 of the best. We are going thru prints and everyone has an equal say and is to respect each other. Comments are going around and then nervously, NG pulls his prints out. Now, this group is no way a group of accomplished shooters but they have the desire, passion and knowledge to move forward and know the path. Susanna starts the comment flow and she states that NG is not connected to his work. NG is looking at his photos and wondering what everyone is talking about.

I ask him abruptly what the name of his camera is and he says that it’s crazy to name a camera and he doesn’t. I try to explain. The idea of naming your camera is to create a relationship with all of photography. It is a way of establishing the love that you have and the love you give and the love you get from photography. That love connects every step from thought to execution to print and maybe even exhibition etc. There exist not 1 inch of space to wander off from your passion. You need to focus on every single facet of your photographic life.

I told him that I can see he has an eye for making photos but no eye for the frame. Like many, he is center weighted like a light meter. He is not seeing the frame in the camera. He sees it as a box and makes everything nice and tidy in that box. I explained that he needs to see the frame in the camera as a window and not to confine his photo in the box but capture what he wants thru the window. We decided to meet again in a month and I wanted a head count and NG was eager to say he would be there. I gave him my phone number and told him to feel free to call. He was to name his camera and feel every thing he does and the connection that exist with or without him. That connection has no name and he was to do that.

A month later we meet and have coffee and I ask all to show current prints. NG brings his to the table and all are ohhhhhs and ahhhs.  I gotta say, NG is a really talented shooter with all the right things and I was hoping he was connected now. I asked him the name of his Camera and he said Robert after Robert Frank. He said, ya know, when I go to work, I can not only visualize the photo I am making but the process all the way thru. I feel different processing styles and It’s all a part of me.

I wrote this because if your not seeing out there what you want, maybe it’s because you don’t know where it will end up and thus, lost.

All this is important to me and that’s why upgrading my camera is such an emotional experience. Andre’ the Fuji X100T is a great partner and I look forward to upgrading him into the new Fuji X100F body. Sounds nice huh…. Andre’ the Fuji X100F.

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street

January 17th, 2017 … Getting What’s Inside to the Outside … Compromise With the World … Lesson from Ansel Adams

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Many times I have mentioned that I name my cameras. Some say it’s crazy and some just shrug it off. Well, I am if nothing, a very dedicated shooter. So, how things work are what interest me. Then I like to know why things work the way they do. I am alway testing myself and my reasons for anything I do or attempt to do. Life is a struggle and it is said that without the struggle, there is no fruits of the efforts you go after. Well, no one told me anything would be easy but I never expected so hard.

When it comes to photography, I don’t struggle as much. Sure I wrestle with my heart and mind but I am always able to find resolution. So when I met some people for breakfast  and we were doing our probing and trying to understand each other’s motives, when the question came up about visualization, of course I was put on the spot.

I tried to explain that Pre-visualization was similar but not the same as Ansel Adams taught. Ansel practiced a method of subject acquisition and print finalization. It was early 1973 when I grokked Ansel’s method. I understood the methodology and adopted it and breathed it. It was great for sheet film and for rolls, kinda limiting. I asked Ansel about roll film and the Zone System and he told me how to do it but he thought any serious Photographer was using Large Format. My daughter was borne August 17th, 1973 and we named her Bethany Ansel. When Ansel came back to Philly in March of 1974, I took a print to him I made when he was here in “73” and told him I named my daughter after him. He was very honored and happy and all was well.

By this time, I was steady on my Leica’s again doing the streets. I had worked out the Zone system for roll film but decided I’d rather develop according to how I felt and not to the method that could control me.

 

 

So visualization has circumnavigated for me from silver/platinum to now digital. Digital, long time here already. So what I believe as the truth of one’s vision, is the culmination of subject awareness all the way to final image. This may be the path to self satisfaction but it’s also the path that is easy to get lost on.

I always worked in a manner that was, awareness of the subject, capture and then processing. There are basically 2 phases to processing,. The first being negatives that supports positive energy because the awareness of the healthy negative is very comforting. The second is printing. Things kinda change in the digital realm of photography but not necessarily a very dramatic change.  I tend to keep things separate but together. Get to the street and work. Hunt for photos and then let photos find me. Great feeling to be alive with a camera in my hand. At the very moment of exposure I can have an idea of what the print will feel like.

Well for me, it has never really been about trying to capture a slice of reality and preserving it so that it resembles the reality that gave birth to it. Of course for work stuff, I do things that way but for my personal work, I don’t give a hoot about 3 dimensional reality. I make the image the way mother light and I want it to be. Life is a collaboration with a million things and photography is really the only collaboration with life I am concerned about. I’m sure family and friends etc sense a disconnect from me and always did. It’s true. Photography and I have a collaboration that I can’t live without and won’t.

So all these things run thru my heart and mind and camera. They feed the PC and LR and the hard drives. At the moment of exposure I am at last connected again. No, not to friends and family, but to the world and my life. It’s not about fame or fortune, it’s about finding a way to live with your heart. My photos are the culmination of everything I am at the precise moment of exposure.

I have found a way to communicate with the world and myself. My photos are out there and to be honest, it’s me naked to the world and I can’t succumb to the inspection, judging or anythings even positive reinforcement.

I make photos because I have to.

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

January 12th, 2017 … Magic of the Street … Being a Visual Alchemist

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Maybe I’m just to sensitive to things but the mood on the street at this time, in Philly is one of confused mixed emotions. I don’t mean politics or work, or financial issues, it’s more about the magic that is missing. Yeah, I know I’m crazy. See, life is a beautiful things and it’s good to live it. The thing for me is to have the magic and that makes living more special. Photography is based on visual magic. Seeing a scene and making a photo is magic. The idea of seeing, the idea of making a photo….nothing short of magic. When I was doing my darkroom for 40+ years, the alchemy turned me on to a high that no drug could ever match. For me, making the negs was the most exciting part of the processing part.

I mean, going out and working and then coming home to my darkroom, making negs, that proves that all went well so far. So if in fact that photography is magic then it seems to me that when I make a photo, and that is magic, how about the people in the photo? Do they see or feel magic? Do they even believe anymore in magic? Is the magic contagious? Where does the magic get it’s energy from?

Is it possible to share the magic? Does magic need to have people convinced that it exist? Don’t they know that just the fact that they exist means they live with and in magic? So, if we as shooters seek and fine magic and make a photo that has magic in it, does that mean we are magicians? Well, we are alchemist in the darkroom, much like Merlin, so perhaps we are magicians in a world that has lost the magic. I name all my cameras like I named my guitars. I don’t really talk to my cameras but if I did my Shrink needs to know about it.

We are given choices in life. One of the choices is how we see the world. I mean as shooters, how do we see the world. Do we just walk around aimlessly and wait for photos to find us and we can TAKE them? That’s a way many seem to work. Then there is the shooters that walk around and they are visual alchemist and they seek and find material to MAKE photos. It’s like there is a passive/aggressive method of working. I see it as either an observer or a participant. You can even be both at the same time. So really I suppose it’s a matter of stance again. How we feel about ourselves and our subject matter.

Harry Bertoia told me that I need to dance thru life. Life is a dance he said. As you dance thru it, sometimes the music is not to your liking but you just dance anyway because in time, the music of life will change to your liking. Just the very concept of what Harry said is magic. The magic in the dance of life, tat’s what I want to see and experience and make photos of.

So when we look at our work, we see the magic of life thru our lens. We experience life in a way that not everyone gets to do. We have a gift and we get to share it with other like minded people. The beauty of that experience is beyond words. For me, life with a camera is magic and life without the camera is almost unbearable….not almost, it is! I am at the age that I make my photos and the real magic for me now is that I need no reinforcement from anyone to make me feel better. My photos do that for me.

Enjoy my friends and love the magic and if you can’t find it, look at your photos and then you should see it.