As the weather warms and the Crocus’s start to pop up, I get into the light load mode. Ok, ok…ain’t nothing to light with the XP1 & 23mm. It’s ok because it does the job as one could expect it to. So what is happening is that I am leaving things at home when I go out. Truthfully, I need Andre’ the XP1, a few batteries, lens pen, 23mm that has the vented hood on it. Did I forget anything….I think not. That’s it and hopefully till the fall sets in, unless there’s an assignment that requires a different lens.

This keeps me light, really light. Today on the way back from the VA Hospital, I walked 6.5 miles and stopped just once for a 5 minute break. I wasn’t tired but I have a Think Tank Turn Style 5 that was on the sling mode and my left shoulder started hurting. So I changed it to a waist pack and was off and walking again. The shot above was made on Chestnut Street and Broad Street. I did a few nudes on that lion a few years ago…yo…no! That lady starring me down was not the model.

Once I picked myself up from the ground after she whacked me with her cane, I continued on my way.

 I had to tie my bootlace and I knelt down. After a few seconds. Andre’ started acting up and as I looked up at what he was excited about, I made the exposure. I’m not crazy about the shot but Andre’ is proud that he saw it before me. So I put it in the post. I should state that I am not in full working mode yet as it’s too darn cold. I need to warm my blood and get sunshine burning into my eyes. Most of what I’ve been doing is really preparing for the Spring-Summer-Fall work.

There’s something really comforting when I work in my Natural Field Of View, 35mm. I mean I used to be able to see an image, move around, raise the camera and frame…it was all very natural. I am not there yet with the 23mm (35mm FOV) but I will be in a few more outings. What turns me on with Andre’ the XP1 is that there’s a feeling of confidence and quality that oozes from him that just keeps me working with him. It’s like he sets the mood for very serious work. I want that, I need that…sheeesh. I must have that!

I don’t play with my cameras, I don’t go out to play around. I go out to work and I do it with my friend Andre’. I suggest that if you don’t know me or what I’m about……stop reading right here. Look at your camera and if it has a name, continue reading this post, if it doesn’t and it’s a tool like a drill or hammer….we need to have a chat.

I have been using LCD screens since the start of them, way back. It’s a pleasure to have a finder like in the XP1. Yeah sure, the M cameras are perfect but here in Philly, all the junkies think so too. I’ve already had a few cameras and a iPhone ripped off on public transportation. Let me tell ya. If some stupid idiot tries to get Andre’ away from me….well, see…The XP1 is all metal as is the 23mm. I guess that takes care of that…..!

I’ve noticed that lately I’m doing selfies again. This is a sign that I’m finding my way and getting ready for real work. Besides, selfies are great to figure out the Parallax of the OVF. I don’t really have much of a problem with the parallax and I don’t use the screen, turned off and I don’t use the EVF too much either. There’s nothing wrong with either it’s just that I like to see THRU my subject and not look AT my subject.

So the whole time I’m adapting to my natural FOV and the workings of the camera and how we work together…well, I am also designing presets. This is a task and I spent 2 months working on a set and last week, I trashed the entire set. So I’ll start over and get what I want or trash them and start over and …….

I have a thing for images that are alive by them self. What I mean is this. I learned many moons ago that the process of photography has many aspects to it. We all know that, even Olivier. So, when I decide to make a photograph, my intent is to find the true meaning from inside me and inside the image. Ok, confused…here we go.

A few things to establish. The groundwork you could say. A photograph is a 2 dimensional representation of the subject you captured. As soon as you release the shutter, (actually on first sight) that subject no longer exist. What remains is the image you have on the card, in the computer etc. If you look at that image as a representation of the subject and not see the image as it’s own reality, you miss the truth and value of the photograph.

Now lets get something straight. What I say is for me as how I work. It’s not really the truth of a documentary shooter but yet it is. The realist shooter makes photos to represent a truth that must meet a demand for a purpose. Not always but a lot. When I photographed the war in Nam, did I make a real representation of the reality in front of me? Maybe I tried but I’m sure I failed as everyone else does.

The real dedicated shooters know that a photograph is only a truth of itself and not a truth of what was photographed.  So……when we process the image, do we try to find the truth of the image or the truth of what was photographed?  We of course seek the truth of the image and the truth of what we are in that image.

Burn a corner, raise the contrast, lower the DR, sharpen etc. The point is not to make yourself trapped in any conventions that are holding you back from self realization.

Find your photos out there, by the way..very easy with the Fuji XP1 and bring them home and process them as only you can. Find yourself in what you do and others will too. Hopefully at some point in the near future you can sit back and say, “I am very satisfied with what I’m doing and getting and I will continue to improve and carry on.”

Do not be one of those that say, I am not satisfied with what I’m doing…….

Everything I just wrote has all and everything to do with the XP1. Why? Well, it’s about process, from start to finish. All these thoughts and many more are shared by Andre’ and myself as we venture out on the streets to find the Magical, Mystical Ever Eluding Photographs.

I hope you enjoy what your doing as much as I am. It’s work but what the heck. You could be painting the bathroom.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate the responses I got on the comment list and in emails. The X20 has not been named yet but is close. It’s ok, it sits on the shelf next to Andre’ and Ding and Garry. I’m sure that in a day or two a naming party will take place and of course all of you are more than welcome to attend.

Alessandro gave me an awakening with his comment about the X20 being a compact and I should let it act that way. I knew this from a year ago but it’s nice to get a kick in the butt to get back on track.  I’m also working on presets again and the great thing about Lightroom over Nik is the HISTORY! I’ve written about that 100’s of times but now it was time to practice what I preached. I opened some files from my last X20 a year ago and low and behold….going to the history I could see the name of the preset and also the ability to save it. Unreal. Great news but…..I want to design a new set that works for every compact camera ever built or that will ever be built. White and my Meds gets me thinking like this…..yuch!

So when I got home today, my neighbor the cop grabbed me for a minute. Yo’ he said….check this out Don….. We are standing outside in the cold..it’s ok cause I gotz me long underwear on and I’m not cold but I have to release body fluids really bad…..he shows me a Fuji XT1 and a 23mm 1.4, 35mm 1.4, 56, 1.2 and 14mm. He’s got all this in a real nice Billingham Pro bag. Yeah, yeah, beautiful I said….nice…..(remember, he’s a married cop with kids…great guy but not a pro shooter…has no idea of street work other than busting the people I make photos of)….So he hands me the highly coveted XT1 with the 23mm on it. Well, 1st impressions are that I’m glad I have my XP1 and the XE1 and now the X20 and Rogers M240. I tried it out a little but I got this cramp in my lower bowels, no, not from holding back body fluid procedures….but that didn’t help…!

The XT1 is a fine TOOL for most people that are thinking about cameras as tools. For me, I am a visual poet and think of my cameras as friends, that’s why I name them and of course they named me also. So I instantly decided I would never get the XT1 butt!… I kinda have a hankering for that 23mm. I told him that the 23 was the worst lens in the Fuji lineup and that I’d gladly take it off his hands because a Cop with a wife and 2 kids deserves more than that. Well, he’s going for his inspectors test and kinda figured that I was trying to swindle him out of a really good lens. He said….I could cuff you for that but we’re tight…I said…can I use those cuffs tonight with Tanya…..after we both stopped laughing we parted company till the weekend cause I have to get these body fluids moving quickly.

I then left without the cuffs or the 23mm……………..

Sometimes people surprise me. I was walking on Market, of course and I saw a sight not yet recorded in the historical annuals of Philadelphia History. See, it’s a well known fact throughout the entire universe that Jersey Girls Have BIG HAIR! C’mon, even Bruce wrote songs about that…He knows, he’s from Jersey….so I’m walking with the not yet named X20 and there, there right in front of me was a sight never before recorded by the un named X20….a woman with BIG HAIR. At first I was nervous but then I saw a guy looking at me for the support I sought from him…..we both assed each other and with a grin, we both realized…Jersey Girls are planning to invade the streets of Philly, The City of Hopes.

FOV

I keep going back and forth with my “N at u r a l”  FOV. I mean I found out a long time ago that mine really was 35mm. Yet, in this time period I might be thinking that it has changed to 28mm. I say that because 28mm has dominated my cameras for a good period of time and I certainly FEEL that FOV. Most say that one should be able to work with any FON, of course it’s true but that doesn’t find your natural FOV.

How To Find Your Natural FOV

……… so we are walking and trying to find our lost photos…then something grabs at you and you know you just found one. You look at the scene and decide where the frame should be and you raise the camera…….as you look thru the finder or at the screen…..OH MY! the camera has framed way to much of the scene or maybe way to little of the scene. WHY?!

Because you haven’t found and utilized your Natural FOV. It’s not the fault of the scene, no…it’s not even the camera’s fault, no…it’s your fault. It’s your fault because you chose the scene and you even chose the lens but you didn’t know your natural FOV. When you look thru the finder or screen, that view should be as close as possible to the FOV the lens is seeing. For me, it’s now 28mm, used to be 35mm and probably still is making 28mm an adapted natural FOV. So what this means is that the lens is seeing about what your eyes are seeing from the same stance. Not having to move when the camera is at the ready because you and the camera/lens are on the same FOV. Of course you don’t have to believe me and you can do things the way you want, far be it from me to impose any restrictions on what you do but I guarantee if you take the time to discover your natural FOV then you will know what other lenses to work with because that FOV will present itself in your images.

Ok, back to the camera thing. Every camera has a duty that makes it the one for particular work. For me, the XP1 is about as good as it will ever be. The XE1 is a nice camera but our love affair is coming to an end…not yet but soon. The X20 is a Grit Machine as verified by many of my friends and some even pointed out in the comments region of this blog.  Roger’s Leica’s don’t interest me because of the financial value they maintain. Oh, don’t get it wrong…I love Leica and always did but the Streets are different now then back in the day of my younger years and it’s not safe for me to carry or use them on the streets or public transportation. So everything has it’s place in the order of Streetshooter World of Photography and I’m very content the way things are.

There’s only one pressing item to clear up and shortly at that. The International, Intercontinental, Intergalactic  official naming of the Fuji X20 here on Earth on Montour Street in Philadelphia.

So, please continue to submit your suggestions and by the end of the weekend, the name shall be selected BY VOTE if I can figure that out and the coveted Grand Prize of a preset pack thusly awarded to the winner. There was an executive decision made that awards all entrants a smaller version of the Coveted Preset Pack just for entering the contest.

Go in Peace and Pray for Peace in the parts of the World where there isn’t any!           ………………….end transmission…………………..

If you go back to last year on my blog post, you’ll see that I had an X20 and was very excited about it. I do remember developing a set of presets for it but alas…they are in digital oblivion. So I have to start all over again. Anyway, Olivier sent me the X20 because he could and John the DC Shooter sent me a package with goodies to finish the camera off.

So I took the X20 out for a walk and we ran into some photos I missed with my other cameras. I’ll post them on this post but have to improve the IQ to suit my needs.I remember the camera as being a GRIT Machine and that’s ok within reason but it’s important to be able to clean up the files also.

As a street camera the X20 opens up a few possibilities. First off of course is the addition of as Zoomie lens. It covers 28mm – 112mm. The interface is the usual Fuji layout. You don’t have to fight with the X20. It just works with you and supports what you are trying to do with it.

I haven’t names it yet but I’m thinking of Walker again. Of course Walker is after Walker Evans. Dunno, not sure but I am open for suggestions.

How’s this……: You the loyal faithful readers of this blog…if you post a name in the comments and it gets selected, then I’ll name the camera after the name you submitted and send you a real good set of presets. So, get that brain cell working and submit your name for the X20.

That solves that issue. The streets in Philly are cold, windy and in a state of numbness, not because of the weather directly but because of the weather indirectly. It’s taking a toll on me and the other Market Street Dwellers.

It’s not everyday in Philly you see a woman wearing a Leica 240 and a 35mm Cron. She wears it well but her choice of a hat is definitely not Leica. Tsk…Tsk….!

 Inspiration is not where you think it is or even should be. I used to love to teach workshops in the winter and then my DR at the VA said I was maybe crazier then they thought. After a few years, now I see the light and it ain’t the winter light either.

The responsibility of a teacher, mentor or friend to a shooter is to provide stimulation, inspiration, some answers and of course more questions. I now at 64 feel inadequate to fulfill this mission in the winter. It’s not the actual age that hinders me but the knowledge I’ve accumulated in those years. I know that I am more self inspired in the Spring, Summer and Fall. Notice the Winter is excluded…..! I have a hard time even doing my responsibilities at Flickr and forums. I try but I’m more withdrawn and feel that one should be as honest as possible when providing inspiration to another. Oh….sorry…the Fuji X20.

I think Olivier knew I was on a soft slide down. Oh, I do what I need to do for the Magazine but for myself, not much. He sends me the camera to inspire me and of course I’ll have to spend time making Presets and by the time it’s all satisfying…the weather will have changed and I’ll be off and running once again.

Don’t think fer a second that I’m depressed….no way….uh uh…ain’t nuttin like that! I just am tired of the weather dictating how and what I should wear, make photos of, spend my time on the street,etc…..

I’ll be back…….. Don’t forget to drop a name in the comment box and collect your set of presets…..

Peace………….all over ok……….!