November 4th, 2013 ….. Brisk Cold Air and 2 Shots of Single Malt … Streetshooter Day!

11-13-0096The XE1 with the 15mm Heliar was the way for me to go today. I had the 21mm Skopar with me in a pocket. I moved thru the crowd like I was invisible. I felt that way. Yup…forgot the meds this morning. Ahhhh, the cameras are better for grounding anyway. So, in the near distance I see this person coming towards me and I raised the camera. See, with the Heliar at f/8  and the XE1 at 1/250 I have under 2 1/2′ to my friend  Pete over in the UK in focus. So I never worry about DOF with this combo. I am not anal about sharpness etc. I make photos and if sometimes sharpness has left me cold, so be it. This guy is getting closer and I am starting to feel that he sees thru my invisibility.

Lets keep in mind that with the Heliar, the camera sees as if it’s a 22.5 mm FOV. Well, here in Philly 22.5 mm is equal to 21mm. That means for all intent and purposes, one has to be comfortable getting close on the streets. This guy is less than 3 feet, well 1 Meter from me. I snapped the shutter as fast as I could feel the frame.

Here’s a side note. See, as a 64 year old guy that was a hippie, a soldier, divorced and married a few times, has many friends in the art community and is for all intent and purposes a straight male with straight friends and LGBT friends from all walks of life. Ya know, I believe everyone has the right to love and even marry who they choose. I’m open minded but, well…this guy wasn’t kissin’ me no matter what.  As the shutter clicked, just as the shutter clicked, I found out this guy is French…no offense implied to anyone but what am I, this straight Nam Vet to think?  I mean I know I’m a street shooting stud with very intense sex appeal but fact is and truth be known….. I kiss my wife, I might kiss my cat but that’s that!

11-13-0103Sometimes I see juxtapositions and make photos of them because I can and because I want to. Sometimes they work well and other times, well…..you decide.

11-13-0100Human Beings are really a special species. If you have some near you, I really think you should check them out. No, this is not one of those moments where I show my uh…uh..well…insanity. This is fact! See, all Human Beings are people but not all people are Human Beings. There used to be a term when I was a Hippie, Soul Mates. It meant someone very special that you would feel a kindred spirit with. Well, see…here in Philly and on Montour Street in the NE Section of the city…there lives a guy that use to think a Soul Mate existed. Yeah, he did…I did. What I found out is that Human Beings are Soul Mates. It ain’t about sex either, it’s about living and dying.

It’s about sharing time on the planet with others that appreciate your existence and you appreciate the existence of them. Some may be lovers, friends, enemies, partners and yeah, even wives. You carry the essence of the Souls with you at all times. How do I know this? I’ am blessed in the knowledge that if I do something it will have an effect on the Soul Mates of my life. There exist responsibility and accountability in life.

What does this have to do with photography? To find the answer, look in the mirror, then look at your photo catalog. See, I told ya…..

Your a Human Being Shooter….there ain’t nuttin’ like it on a Cold Brisk Day. Well, 2 shots of Fine Single Malt sure nuff will help!

11-13-0107There is always some watching someones back………!

10 thoughts on “November 4th, 2013 ….. Brisk Cold Air and 2 Shots of Single Malt … Streetshooter Day!”

      1. Have not been photographing much lately. Work at the college has been demanding, and the season for getting wild game into the freezer is on. hen I have picked up the camera it has been mostly the RX100.

        1. Nuff said Dan. My VA Doc won’t let me hunt anymore. My Ithaca Model 37 and side by side are lonely.
          Good hunting….,

  1. Crazy great shots! This from ONE FRIGGIN’ DAY?!??! Damn, Don. Impressive. Now, to comb through your blog lookin’ for posts about your post (process), and which of those spiffy presets to start with. I’m a uber noob in street photography — still looking for my style. This and the IE is great food for thought. Thanks!

      1. Currently evaluating (but not yet purchased) Ricoh GR (V), Olympus PEN5 with 17 and 45 primes and viewfinder, and planning to rent an EM1 and Fuji XE2 (I loved the X100s but can’t really afford it, and will ultimately want additional lenses. I have no legacy Leica or Zeiss, unfortunately. I also have an old Rebel with an old 70-200 L, and a bunch of Canon non L 1.8 primes: 28, 50, and 85. I’d loved my Canon, but it feels big (and loud) to take on the street, so I’ve been gravitating towards a smaller, lighter, less conspicuous system. There’s no perfect camera, so I’ve been thinking about finding a “single purpose” camera that’s best for given situations. That has me thinking that I like the Ricoh GR for street and a maybe a Canon for concerts, but that M43 world keeps pulling me. I’d love a Fuji, but they’re so $$$, and don’t really have long lenses yet, or focus speed for the other types of shooting I do.

        I’ve recently switched from Aperture to Lightroom 5 for my organizing and now for my editing because of the history capabilities and to keep storage down. I’d previously been using Nik and On One suites, but really like editing with LR presets. The Jack Davis course on LR5 editing on Creative Live really changed my workflow. I generally do a rough culling in Bridge to eliminate the obvious throw aways, then burn to disc for archive, then import into LR5 for editing.

        Thanks!

        1. PS: I’d previously owned the Sony NEX7, and never bonded with it. I loved the feature set and images I got out of it, but really hated the menu system, the non standard hot shoe, and the fact that I’d hoped it would be a “hybrid” (video capable) camera too, but found that it overheated the sensor after 8 minutes of video shooting. That coupled with a long wait for lenses turned me off. I dumped the whole system before getting into street shooting, which is a pity, because it probably would be a great rig for that — EVF and tilting LCD, small, great grip, but I also hated the “tri navi” controls. I really love Fuji’s retro take on buttons and dials for everything, just like in the film days. That’s one of the things that I like about the Oly EM1. I’m old school

          1. Old school, me too bro’. Check out the Panasonic LF-1.
            Great little compact and features galore including EVF.

            Don

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