Tag Archives: Fuji X100s

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

Barsik The Cat and Andre’ the Fuji X100s Face Winter

January 15, 2015 streetshooter 12 Comments

Don’t worry, Walker the Sony RX100M3 was there also. See, I don’t really like winter. It’s not just the cold, or the lack of warm sunlight. It’s not that I have to wear 200 lbs of clothes and still be cold, nah.. not any one of those. It’s not even getting lectured how I’ll be cold if I don’t wear the proper protection against the cold, nope not that either.

It’s not just the cold on the cameras that makes my hands cold because I’m not wearing the gloves that Tanya told me to wear so I wouldn’t have cold hands and I know that cause it’s been that way since I was a kid and I still ain’t learned to listen.

No it’s not any one of those things I hate about winter, it’s the whole damn package. All of the above and more are problems for me. So, what to do?

Well, first make sure your batteries are fully charged as cold makes them get uptight too and they drain faster. Keep your lens and all glass surfaces clean. This is obvious right, don’t believe it.

The thing is for me… winter makes me aware how precious life is. I mean I see my beautiful garden covered in snow and the remains of all the work and all the love in a frozen state. I see the cold all over the world I live in and it effects my energy, my vision both internal and external. So I guess I’m stuck in a mode of not stagnant but kinda like slo mo forward with a lot of looking back. I mean winter is a slow down time. It’s a most important time and I look forward to it every year. Why? Well I slow down and smell the dead frozen roses.

It’s a time for reflection, a time for cleaning the memory banks and deleting those things recorded that make us complacent. It’s a time to dream about the warm weather and the body loosening up and how we can’t wait ti get out and really work.

Winter is a reality check for Lightroom. Oh yeah, I got the balls to say it. Time to work the catalogs, just ask Judy, she knows. Time to organize everything. Time to drink Kona in the morning and Spatlese at night.

I’m not the only one waiting for warm weather. All the birds in the world come to my birdbath. Now they just sit and wait. No camera, no lightroom, no Kona or Spatlese.

Just sit and wait…… patiently and in the cold and wait… yup, just wait………….

Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Andre’ the Fuji X100s at the Mummers Parade

January 10, 2015 streetshooter 14 Comments

Well Little brother Walker the Sony RX100M3 was there too. Actually I started with the Rx100M3 and after a few minutes wanted to get Andre’ the Fuji X100s warmed up. So I took andre’ out and like instantly, I woke up. I mean it’s like my old friend was glad to be with me and I was glad to be with him. He’s so much my partner that he preset the exposure to 1/250 f5.6 with auto ISO. There’s the possibility that I set that before I put him away last time but I know he was happy to be with me making photos and set my starting exposure for me. Yes, I believe in magic also.

See for me, making photos is the is the culmination of my life experiences at the exact second of release. I guess that the experience and the resulting images are the mark of awareness that I am alive and present in the here and now. Andre’ has a way of getting me focused to the awareness of life that no other camera ever did, except my Leica M4’s. It’s an intuitive process that makes me be in the Zone. The Zone is about the here and now and the awareness of the Eye, Heart and Mind.

Some may ask, why is it important, I just wanna make photos. Well, if your not in the here and now, where exactly are you? What is so interesting there that you aren’t in the here and now? If you are in the here and now, are you aware that you are or are you drifting aimlessly to no destination? Ya think this will have an effect on your photos, on your life, the heck with photography.

So what do I do as a shooter? Good question. My old buddy, Paul McGuirk many decades ago told me, “Don, you are a very keen observer. You observe with your heart not only your eyes.” I have a pain in my soul and he will never know how much I love and miss him.

So my photos are my observations of life. In the future and I hope a long ways out there too, I want people to know what the world looked like while I lived in it.

I may not be at one with the people in my life and I may not be at one with the world. I may not even be at one with myself.

I know one observation. I am at one with Andre’ the Fuji X100s and that makes me at one with myself when he’s with me.

Have a blessed journey my friends.

shooter out………………………………………………….>

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

Nov 25th … Fuji X100s … Enlightenment! … Opens My Mind for the Street

November 25, 2014 streetshooter 22 Comments

Twas the night before the 25th and all thru the house, not a camera was stirring, not even, hey shooter, what the heck are you doing? It’s November silly. sheeeesh XMAS is a month away.

The winter is arriving soon. I’m told that I should expect this to happen soon. Actually, I love the change of seasons. Temperature changes and it gets colder…yeah…yeah… the light, yup the light gets clean and bright. The air is cold and moist and chills my bones all the way thru… yeah… yup. My hands get so cold I can’t feel my camera. Yeah… I love the friggin winter.

So what does happen is that the complacency of seeing the same things all the time really wakes up the mind. Andre’ the Fuji X100s is the perfect companion all the time because he allows me to work the way I choose and yet he opens my mind to other possibilities also. Gently but he does. See, cameras have the ability to intrude on your vision. What I mean is you decide to make a photo and the camera either supports that or it doesn’t. Sometimes with Andre’ I find myself needing the EVF and when that happens, and it happens fast, it makes me feel that the camera is helping me make the photo. Beings a really big advocate for the screen, Andre’ has that too.

What this means is not megapixel, screen brightness, grip, anything like that at all. It’s about opening your mind and having a camera that can assist in that process.

Making photos should be about what YOU see and feel in life, not what others put upon you. So maybe we should be more selfish making photos because we only need to satisfy ourselves. Sometimes we satisfy others too and that’s very nice but should not be the motivator or goal of your intent. So it’s good to make photos of things you normally don’t make photos of. It helps to remove the guilt of doing something you fell is not up to your standards. It also helps to reshape your preconceptions and alter your mind and vision. This gets you to see things differently and helps to stop getting complacent.

There’s a beauty in the ugliness of the world. Then there is an ugliness in the beauty of the world. If we approach everything as if it’s the last time we’ll see it, maybe it’s possible to live with both. What’s important is to not pre-judge yourself or anything around you. Pre-judging is kinda like being really close minded as you seek your images. It’s ok because it’s another way of being selective. This may or may not be good. You have to decide. This pre-judging happens before exposure because it’s a process of selection of subject matter.

The danger of course, is that one gets kinda boxed in the frame and can’t see outside of ones self’s frame. Probably many photos are lost at this point.

Preconceptions are pre-judgements that have anchored into our images after exposure and that have a direct impact on the viewer of the images. An example is a title. Many but not all titles can limit what your viewer gets from the image because you may have anchored a preconception to the entrance to the image. The same is true with cameras and lenses.

I could very easily say the Andre’ the Fuji X100s can’t do many things on the street or anywhere’s for that matter because he limits me to 35mm FOV. I could say that and it may be true but I won’t say that because it’s not true but it is sometimes but it’s just how I look at things and not always how I thinks about things si it maybe true and maybe not.

There was a Doctor named, Dr Murray Banks. He was a shrink. He told a story about 2 kids. One was an optimist and the other was a pessimist. Each was placed in a room filled with horse manure. The pessimist started complaining like.. get me out of here, there’s manure everywhere.

The optimist was digging around the manure and said, where’s theres manure, there’s gotta be a horse.

I’m gonna ride that horse and take Andre’ the Fuji X100s with me and hopefully I may find some things to look at that I never paid attention to before. If not, I’ll try to make photos of things that I may never see again.

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

Color, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Photography, Streetshooter

Andre’ The Fuji X100s … Rises To The Call

November 23, 2014 streetshooter 16 Comments

Life has been providing me with many things to occupy my time. Even Mother Light has given me cameras to test and decide the fate of the beloved camera shelf.

Well, I was sitting at my desk and looking at my shelf where some cameras are sleeping and then, then without warning, without any warning at all, I had a total Momentary Lapse of Reason. What the hell youse thinking huh? sheeeesh…. I had Pink Floyd playing on the Mac. Well, things were going good and I was feeling chipper ’cause the music had me just being relaxed and then,,,, OMG.. a voice. I heard a “Click” sound that was kinda familiar but long ago forgotten. It was in my memory but I can’t remember what I forgot. So I closed my eyes and listened to Pink Floyd and then, very quietly I could hear a gentle faint voice.

I thought to myself, self… we know that voice don’t we? I answered myself and said, yeah, we know that voice.

See, my VA Dr likes this kinda thing. It’s not that there is i voice, see that’s normal in un-normal situations. Nah… that’s not it…. it’s the We thing that gets ya. I mean if I’m talking to my self, who the hell is the other guy that makes us a we? And why the hell is he bothering me and invading my conversation. The I had a Momentary unLapse of Reason. See, if I’m having a conversation with my self, I need another me so that I can talk and answer me other wise I might be seen as nutz. Imagine that.

Look, it’s ok to talk to yourself. It’s even ok to answer yourself. As long as you know who is doing the talking and the answering, your ok. If you think it;s someone else, well, my doctor had=s a very comfortable couch.

Why did I write this? Well, see I heard this faint voice and it was Andre’ the Fuji X100s and he was saying he wanted off of the shelf and wanted to make photos.

Well, after I realized the voice was Andre’, I took him in my hand and we walked around the house looking for some photos. As it turned out, the bathroom was the most interesting. Barsik thought so too and he was doing something in the toilet that I used to do when I was young and got pissed. But Barsik was drinking water and I was uh…uh…working on un-processed food removal procedures, accompanied by alcohol ignition ejection systems.

The light has shined on me once again and I made these two photos because I am blessed with sight and love the process of photography.

The thing is, I am madly in love with perhaps the finest camera ever designed and produced, The Fuji X100s. Tomorrow… tales from the street.

Be blessed my friends………………………………………………….

Black & White, Color, Dreamcatcher, Garden, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

August 6th, 2014 … Fuji X100s Proves Jimi Hendrix Wrong (more ramblings from the street)

August 6, 2014 streetshooter 34 Comments

Now we all know that Jimi had many things right. I mean a generation of people learned a new and brilliant way of thinking. Well, Jimi said one thing that I find as an untruth. “….ain’t no life nowhere….”. Well, here in Philly with Andre’ the Fuji X100s, if you look around “….there’s life everywhere….”.

When I was younger and had more innocence, hmmmmmm well innocence for sure, I would see the world as interesting place photographically. I adopted a premise for my work while in VietNam. See, I was surrounded by life of all forms but in a fraction of a second, the world was transformed to a place where nightmares are real and not dreams, friends I talked with and ate with and smokes with were no longer a part of this world and now they would be memories that would haunt me to my elderly age and still live inside my soul and mind.

The point of this is, that as many are taught to “See as if seeing for the first time”. There’s such a beautiful innocence in that statement and method of working, seeing.

I envy those that can live in a world like that and make photos.

For me it’s a different approach. I have no choice in how I work. I don’t want a choice either. I am doing everything wrong in my work and because of that, I am doing everything right in my work. I don’t ask opinions about my work and I don’t want or need them either. This work is my death, not yours.

For me, I works as if…”seeing something for the last time….”.

What’s the Fuji X100s have to do with all this? Think about it and then come back and continue reading. If I feel this way about my work, I need a camera that feels that way to. Ok, so the camera might not feel but it should let me feel, right. Well, that’s what Andre’ the Fuji X100s has to do with this. Andre’ lets me experience and photograph life as if I will never see the subject again. Try as hard as you will, you will never see the subject the exact same as you do right now. All things change in the blink of an eye or the beat of a heart.

Sound like sentimental bullshit. Ok, go look at photos of you family that passed on. I’ll wait for a min……………………………………………….. C’mon, dry the tears, we all have that emotional feeling for the lost moment. We all lost friends, family, pets, everything we get attached to or not attached to.

The assumption of seeing for the first time means that we can be arrogant enough in our work to think we have a power that if we blow the photo this first time, we can always get another later, better and more important… yeah, it’ll be better next time around.

I wish I had THE LORD tell me that my time is going to run for many, many decades and all be healthy years. I could go thru life not worrying about anything, not paying attention to anything around me and then the process of making photos would be different.

I do pray every night. I don’t pray for more time, more money, isn’t that being selfish? My prayers are my business but the point again is, I never got those messages from THE LORD or anyone else for that matter. So I figure that my time on the planet will run out someday I know this, I am ready but not yet. Doesn’t it make sense for me to make photos that are kinda like memories.?

So, If I photograph as if I’m seeing something for the last time, then when I look at the photos, they will have almost a private loneliness about them. lonely becaue I miss that moment right now and I will always miss that moment.

I wonder if that moment will miss me?

So I decided this summer I would just make photos because I can and because I want to. That’s what I’m doing and I’m doing most with my FujiX100s because that camera is a gas to work with. This of course doesn’t mean I can get away with bullshit because I can’t. I won’t let myself anyway. I will let myself work in a manner that pleases my soul and my heart.

Sometimes I wish I was the shooter that hated the camera being used. I mean, “this damn Leica, Nikon, Canon, Olympus camera never does what it’s supposed to do. I can’t get a shot right with this crappy camera.

Man o’ man.. lucky to be that shooter.

See, if I’m having problems out there finding my photos, it’s not the FujiX 100s at fault, it’s my fault. So I can’t blame anyone or anything but myself. I do that a lot too, ask my VA Shrink.

I’ll be back tomorrow my friends.

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

July 23rd, 2014 … Fuji X100s… Dedicated To The Souls Lost In Flight MH17

July 23, 2014 streetshooter 19 Comments

Well, if your a regular follower of this blog, you’ve noticed that I haven’t posted too much in the last few weeks. No excuses either. No, I’ve been making some photos, not many but some. Nah. Not really sick, The VA with all the bad press, takes good care of me. We’ll i do have a passing but recurring illness. It’s a case of Igotlazytopostontheblogitis.

Olivier was no help during this time of perpetual laziness. He just kept telling what needed to be done and the deadline. Ya know what I need from the world at this point of time is not photography and it’s not my intent to say everything is just a pretty picture.

I am and have always been a CNN addict. That just means that I want to know what is going on in the world. The new effects me in different ways. For example, I am near to the Cold War in the Home front. Tanya and I don’t see eye to eye on the Ukrainian War. What does this have to do with photography? If you even need to ask this question, well… there’s other blogs you should visit. See, I have friends from almost every country in the world. I care about my friends. I get concerned about how things are effecting them. So just because something isn’t happening in your back yard, doesn’t mean that you get away unaffected, you don’t. No one is that lucky to just be safe and comfortable and not feel what the world is doing to people.

So I look at myself and think that maybe I am lucky and then realize, no one gets off without feeling for others. No one is immune to the world. I remember my friend/brother Paul McGuirk saying to me back in the early 1970’s….”Most people look at the World thru Rose Colored Glasses. I look at a Rose thru World Colored Glasses.”

So in a time of what seems to be numbness, maybe it’s just a time of self reflection. I mean I’m extremely effected by the Human Condition. I can’t escape it and actually don’t want to. The camera is an interesting friend for me. Andre’ keeps me in touch with myself better than any living being alive or dead. See, Andre’ keeps me in the here and now and because of that, with all the just going on in the Human Condition, I am at peace. Maybe it’s just a brief passing dream but when I’m making photos, the world and all the crap seems to dissipate and just lets me be at one with mother light and just work.

The illusion of peacefulness plays deep in my Eye, Heart and Mind. I am attracted to the people and things that are inside my head. I mean, I don’t make a photo unless I feel it. Maybe it’s not gonna be a masterpiece but I know one thing for sure. It’s my photo and it represents my time in the here and now while I walked upon the Earth.

And just when ya think your alone and feeling kinda desperate and lost, ya come across a gentle soul that looks at you for the comfort you are looking for.

This Post is dedicated to all those souls effected in The Horror of Flight MH17. May you all find Eternal Peace in the Hereafter and your souls be forever blessed by THE LORD. Amen

Black & White, Color, Dreamcatcher, Garden, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

June 26th, 2014 … The Fuji X100s Saga Continues

June 26, 2014 streetshooter 14 Comments

It was January 1970. I was a grunt in VietNam. I carried an M16 like everyone and also 45ACP because I could hit anything at 100 yds. I also carried a Leica M4 with a 35mm Summicron. I met a Photojournalist from Australia and he took a liking to me and told me to use his Nikon F with a 200mm f/4 lens. He told me it was safer because I could be further from any action. I really appreciated his well wishes for me but my friends were up front so that’s where I was gonna be. My photos were at the front and not at a safe distance.

……move forward in time until now and things haven’t changed for me. I’ve spent a lot of time on the streets, I guess it’s life more than street but there are those amongst that need to label so I’ll humor them by being a streetshooter. Anyway, The Fuji X100s has the ability to transform your way of working and thinking to more of a cerebral experience. It’s the way the camera frees me up and let’s me work without intrusion. See, I kinda get into a zone or region that isn’t maybe so safe sometimes in different ways but the camera stays with me and supports what I get into.

Not all cameras can do this and many shooters aren’t aware that any camera could do this. Really, I mean if you use cameras that cause issues and after a while you kinda get complacent about those issues, if you used a real friendly camera, you may not notice how friendly it really is. We get conditioned by the marketing people and in order to break away, we need to de-hypnotize ourselves. Not easy, especially if you don’t know your hypnotized. What wakes me up most times is the camera. Yup, it’s true. See, I walked around the streets of Center City Philadelphia almost every day for decades and always found images to make. Sometimes I would walk and not see a lot of interesting things because I was over saturated by the places I’ve been to a million times. Well, Andre’ The Fuji X100s tells me, “Listen kiddo, you don’t get to be bored. lazy or complacent…I’ll kick your ass if you don’t keep working”. Now listen, anytime a camera tells me it’s gonna kick my ass… I listen. So even tho I have seen the places, light, views etc all these times, I have just begun to see them with Andre’. He’s challenging and helps me to see something as if it’s the last time I’m seeing it.

So I walk the same streets I’ve walked for all these years and I’ know the light bouncing off the buildings and I even see many of the same people I’ve seen and met many times over but how to do this?

If no two seconds of life are ever the same and there is a constant movement thru the universe and closer, the movement thru life, how is it possible to get bored making photos?

I’ll bet it has something to do with your outlook in life. If you have the outlook that you want to find yourself out in the world, and feel your presence pushing air and moving light and you want to breathe images, your a photographer, what could be better than that?

Only one thing is more important than being a photographer. Only one thing is better than being a photographer.

Be a Human Being with a camera, that’s what’s better and My friend Andre’ the Fuji X100s helps me be a better Human Being.

Black & White, Color, Dreamcatcher, Garden, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

June 19th, 2014 … Fuji X100s is a Streetshooter’s Dream

June 19, 2014 streetshooter 8 Comments

Sometimes there comes a moment when I just FEEL an energy trying to grab me. This energy is very delicate and if I try to do anything but make a photo, it just vanishes like a leaf in the wind. At this point, I need my camera to do what is demanded buy this energy and just capture the image. I’m glad I’m using the X100s because it can capture a leaf flying in the wind.

For me there exist no Decisive Moment. There never was, it’a the decisive fraction of a heartbeat. It’s when you know your alive and that your photos need to be borne by you. These photos are fractions of a second at times but have the beat of your heart and the knowledge of your mind and the vision of your eye. This is your intent and your intent is brought to life by the photos you give birth too. Your mate must be your camera because neither of you can do it by yourself.

Sometimes we seek interaction from others to validate out time on the earth. The photographer validates his time on the earth by the photos he makes. Photographers record what the planet looked like during their visit. We are all tourist thru life, no one gets a permanent Visa.

The beauty of making photos is the beauty of making photos.

The X100s is an amazing camera and I am coming to terms with myself working with it….Peace……..

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

June 17th, 2014 … Fuji X100s … Free Your Vision and Thoughts

June 17, 2014 streetshooter 17 Comments

To start with, my Fuji X100s finally has a name. I had no choice but to name him Andre’. I know, I know.. but Kertesz is probably the single most important photographer in the history of the medium and I decided, that’s the name. I’ve always had a camera named Andre’ so the tradition continues.

Now Andre’ told me that he thinks I’m having an Inverse Square Law issue and he was upset. So, being open minded, I asked him what he meant. Andre’ said, ” listen kid, it’s nice to shoot a lot of pictures but you get very little satisfaction from the work.” Hmmm I thought to myself… I wonder if Andre’ knows something that I know but he remembers what I thought I know but maybe I forgot…..hmmmm. So, I asked Andre’ what I should do? Andre’ said…”I shouldn’t tell you this but your a good kid but who likes kids? Your are going to spend time on the street and shoot less and you will see kiddo that your satisfaction will rise and you’ll be happy.”

Well this idea I teach at my workshops and sessions and stuff. I mean sometimes you have to relearn what you all ready know. The thing that gets me is, how the heck does Andre’ know this stuff? I’ll have to ask my shrink, he’s more inside my head than I am..lol.

So Andre’ and I came to a compromise. We decided that we would only make around a dozen (12) exposures on a shoot. That way I would be guilty of not getting the shot and not Andre’.

There’s something to be said about the Inverse Square Law. The way I’m doing it, is the way I need to do it. See, the idea is not to find what to shoot…no..no..no but to be aware of what not to shoot. Not shooting is a very difficult task because it’s easier to just shoot away. If your paying attention to what your not shooting, then you’ll see more of what you should be shooting.

I’ve been shooting this way for decades actually but I want Andre’ to think he’s teaching the kid something new. I can say this because he doesn’t read my blog but he loves Flickr. Go figure.

My hit rate with the X100s, Andre, is substantially stronger and higher than any camera I have ever used including more than a dozen Leicas. Why, simple. Because the camera just does what it’s supposed to do and does not create an intrusion of any sort at any time. That’s easier said than done.

It’s not just what the camera sees or how it works, it’s how the FujiX100s FREES my vision. See, there are many great cameras out there, we all know that but we each need to find the camera that frees up our thoughts and vision and allows us to achieve the potential we strive for in our work. The idea of a synergism between shooter and camera seems strange to many. In fact my Shrink thinks I’m crazy, imagine that. Why would he think that I mean after all I talk to my camera..sooo.

I explained this to my Shrink…Doc.. it’s ok to talk to yourself, it’s even ok to answer yourself… as long as you know who’s talking and answering, no problem, when you think someone else is answering… he cut me off abruptly and said.. Mr Springer, that’s why your here. hmmmmm?

There’s a lot to talk about with this camera and I will no doubt be doing so for a while.

Until tomorrow, have a safe journey and may you all be BLESSED……………………..end transmission………………………………………..

Black & White, Color, Dreamcatcher, Garden, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

June 2nd, 2014 … The Fuji X100s – xxx version Cont’d

June 2, 2014 streetshooter 6 Comments

Tanya……….. What’s the matter with your neck? Go to the VA Hospital so they can see what’s wrong. (me) Tanya do ya really think I should go…oooouch? (her) Just go, that’s what they are there for right? (me) Ok…geeze if you insist, I’ll make the trek down there. (her) She says, take your new camera in case you have to wait, you can make photos.

Ok, at this point I think I’m dreaming. The bus to the VA is about a 45 minute ride. I ran it is 7.5 minutes and hardly a breath missed. I walk in to the waiting area and there’s around 4500 vets sitting all over rubbing their necks, their heads, backs…legs, feet anything that will require care. Hmmm, I thought. Look at these disgusting vets, I mean they came her just to see Dr Shioko. Terrible… I sat down and played with the menu on the X100s and it’s easy to configure anything. I cleaned the unnamed Fuji X100s so that it would be nice for Shioko to look at again.

….a half hour goes by and the security team had dragged 7 guys out of her office….the guys were screaming…NO, NO I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE….NO NO! I thought, how childish of these grown men…geeze…..

……… then, the sounds from HEAVEN like the call of an Angel….”Mr Springer”..please step this way. Well, I was in the office before she finished calling my name. I also had the hospital gown on before she sat down….c’mon..I wasn’t in the least bit anxious…. Shioko says…how are you today? I replied, still a lot of stiffness..(XXX) Doc and pain all over.

Shioko ask me to lay on the table and she would check the tension in my muscles…(XXX). I see that you are still very stiff (XXX) and that there is still nor relaxation to the muscles. I;m sorry Doc….really, but what can I do? (the mind is a wonderful thing and my imagination as a photographer allows me to go to extremes in thinking and at this point..I have set a new benchmark)….

So Shioko starts to rub the muscles and she is right. I can feel her hands but I really can’t feel the muscles softening. So Shioko says to me…Mr Springer, there is a technique that I learned as a student and it is very effective, I would like to try it on you. I asked what technique…(at this point I couldn’t care anyway)…. She says, I would like to use my feet on your body and that may have an effect on the muscles. hmmmm, she probably weighs in a t 80 lbs…about 5’2 hgt…. what could she do anyway….

Of course Doc…what ever you think would work. She says, I will tell you when to move your arms and legs. This way we can get all the muscles to respond….(XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

There are no words in the English language to express this situation. So Shioko climbs on the table and slowly steps on my back, She moves her feet and it feels like her hands but ore pressure. I’m thinking, this ain’t gonna do squat. She ask me…are you ok? I said sure…why? She said, Im ready to start…hmmm I thought..start..what was the last few minutes…and then….OMG.

Her feet started digging into my muscles. I mean like with heavy weight. How the heck can she have that kind of weight on me? Well, she’s walking and digging her feet, her toes into my back, my legs, my neck. Here she does something different…she uses the sole of her feet to massage the neck and shoulder muscles. (G) rated because it’s actually very relaxing and really does feel good. So around 20 minutes goes by and she asked me..How do you feel? I replied, actually better but far from perfect. I probably need more sessions. She says absolutely but we aren’s finished yet…..Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (open for interpretation..use your own imagination, after all this is a group mission)

Shioko then says to me… Please turn over Mr Springer, I have to work the muscles from both sides.

( this my friends is about as amazing as things gets for a Nam Vet in a VA hospital. You have to visualize the scene. Maria my friend and all the woman followers, please forgive me on this….well, the hospital gown is like really lite cotton. The ones we have here are closed back,,,that’s good. The issue is this..guys will understand. I got this very lite cotton gown on and it’s down to about just above the knees. Thats not the problem. The problem is liftoff procedures. Jockey shorts have a built in restraining mechanism so that even with a lite gown, you are safe. Well, I wear boxers most times and especially now. Boxer shorts do not have uh..hmmm uh restraining mechanisms built in at all. )

So I roll over onto my back and Shioko stands on the table again and ask if I’m oh….I smile….of course, I trust you. She starts to walk on my calves and massaging them with her souls and toes. Im looking up at her and well…above all, (Maria) I am the gentleman. She ask me, does this feel to strong…(There’s a pain in my legs that comes from the depths of hell…it’s like the DEVIL pulling me to him all from an 80lb Japanese woman Doctor. I’m fine I sais as I try to hold back the tears…not from ecstasy or the thought of it but from the she witch beating me yo with her feet….

Shioko moves up to my thighs..(see here’s where ignition and takeoff are an issue, I will dream about the next few minutes for a thousand eternities….) Her feet feel like a weapon thats attacking my thighs but for some reason, it feels like something is happening. (ok..here’s where you have to use your imagination or better yet…run to your wife or husband, lover, whatever and make mad passionate love to that person or persons….) me, I’m on the table an I an’t going anywhere.

Shioko ask me to lay still and she walks to my chest and starts to do the dance on my neck and shoulders and chest….(YO DOC..YOU FORGOT SOMETHING….) I’m looking up at her and..sigh…sigh…I wonder how her husband is? Does he appreciate her and her gift? Does he treat her the way a man should treat a woman, all woman?

Well, Shioko works on me for around 20 more minutes and I actually started to fall asleep. She climbs off the table and says, we need to work the muscles again. Yes’m I said.

Shioko says, Mr Springer, I like working with you, you have an open mind and you will let me try anything..(here, I was just praying, maybe it’s all just a dream, maybe it’s just all here to really make you aware that there exist forces besides the ones you have around you that can feed you and feed off of you.)

Maybe it’s like photography. There is an energy that the shooter can tap into and find the images needing to be borne. Maybe becoming aware of this energy from inside ourselves, helps not only us but those around us. Perhaps, we are all really lost and we really want to reach out to others so that we will feel a part of something more than ourselves. Maybe if we do reach out, just maybe someone will be there to answer the call.

Isn’t this what life should be like? Isn’t life the force that drives each of us forward? If photography is about life, shouldn’t we all just reach out instead of holding back and just letting the moment pass by and fall into the vision of others. It;s great to support others but we must support ourselves first and define what our essence is before we can share ourselves with others….

So, Mr Springer, will you make the next appointment? I said Doc…I have struggled Piggyslots thru war, I have battled the DEVIL on more than one occasion, I didn’t lose and he didn’t win so come hell or high water, I’ll be here. Shioko says, your my favorite patient…and smiles..seeya Wednesday Mr Springer.

Well, the emergency crew resuscitated me and told me to just relax..you’ll be ok…(ok, sheesh..her favorite patient…I’m all good….)

Seeya’s Wednesday……….

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer