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October 17th, 2013 Tis a Sad Day in Shooter’s Bag …. A Day Of Reflection

October 17, 2013 streetshooter 6 Comments

I found myself in a situation that demanded the immediate decision of what camera system I was going to commit to. The choices are the Sony Nex 6 and the Fuji X-E1.

I have to say that there was one deciding factor that made me make the move…..not yet, soon but not yet…then you’ll know. The Nex 6 is probably the finest camera for using M lenses, bar none. The focus peaking is way beyond what any other camera can do. The screen and EVF…about as good as it gets. The interface is very good and even the menu system is manageable.

The Fuji X-E1 has a certain Retro look about that I couldn’t care less but it’s nice. The peaking is so so but one gets used to it after a spell. As my Grandfather would say…well, he wouldn’t say it now cause he’s on the other side but when he was here physically he would say….“Ya get used to hanging if ya hang long enough”. The screen and EVF are very good and the refresh rate being a little slow doesn’t bother me in the least.

The Sony lenses, Zeiss 24mm, Sony 35mm 1.8 and even the 50mm 1.8 are actually way better than I ever expected. The Fuji lenses are very good but on par with the Sony. Truth is what one sees and then believes. This is my truth, don’t like it….go find your own.

So what do you think could be the deciding factor? It’s as simple as it always is with any camera I try and end up either keeping or moving away fro me.\

There is one feature that I will not tolerate in any camera for more than a few weeks. That’s when I get serious about keeping a camera and investing money, energy, time and my vision. If I want to shoot at 1/250 f/5.6 ….I don’t give a hill of doggie do do…I want the camera to say…we got that, here’s the ISO I will use with that…and how high should I limit the ISO? On the X-E1 I can do just that. I will never use a camera that can’t offer that feature. The Nex 6 will do that with a M Mount lens and using S Mode. (Shutter speed I can select, the aperture I can select, the camera meters the light and sets the ISO to keep the exposure proper. The Nex 6 can’t do that with it’s own lenses.

Bye, and I truly will miss you.

That was the deciding factor and it also killed the wonderful Ricoh GR. Crazy, the GRD4 does it easily. I guess Pentax got into the Ricoh coffee machine and the Ricoh engineers lost their minds…..I will really miss that Nex 6 because it’s an amazing camera.I would be forced to use something like A mode and that’s unacceptable do to no control over shutter speed. At any rate, The Fuji X system is up at bat. So far so good. http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Fujifilm-X-E1-X-Pro1-Pfirstinger/dp/1937538311/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381494821&sr=1-1&keywords=Fujifilm+XE-1

Rico’s book is a real nice read and I learned a lot about the Fuji Cameras. I don’t know if the link above works but you can figure out where to go.

I’ll be shooting the Fuji’s for a spell and I’ll post how things are getting along.

P.S. For Dan. I had to make a choice between the 2 systems due to financial needs. I am not dumping on the Nex 6, just so you know….if I could afford both, I wouldn’t be writing this.

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October 3rd, 2013 ….. Angels On The Street

October 3, 2013 streetshooter 9 Comments

It’s a very rare occasion that I use headphones and listen to music on the street. I love the sounds, the rhythm, the meter of life. I don’t want to cover that up with music. So I was walking around on Market St as usual but this time I had those Apple buds stuck in both my ears. I gotta tell ya…it’s not my favorite feeling on my head with those buds just itching my ears. There are about as much synergistic energy as doggie do do when you step in it.

The Fuji XE-1 and 27mm were ready for work. Ok….the music thing. There exist a piece of music that I LIVE and when I die, I want to hear it for eternity. I listened to this when I was a kid, I heard it in Viet Nam, I still am moved so much by it that I thought I’d share it with youse fine people.

Ralph Vaughan Williams “The Lark Ascending”. If there exist Angels on Earth, this is music for their ears as it is for our Souls. As a photographer, I am drawn to the energy that is around me all the time.

The woman above was standing there and people just ignored here and walked past like she didn’t matter, she didn’t exist. I walked close to her and was stunned, I couldn’t look anywhere else, I couldn’t hear a sound, I couldn’t move. I raised the camera and quickly made a photo. I wanted to be closer to her but I feared that I would break the spell. I clicked the shutter and the XE-1 did it’s job.

After a few seconds I started walking closer to her and she was walking to me. I looked her in the face and she turned to me and said……”Don’t ever stop, continue on the path”. I was actually set aback by her words and I walked maybe 20 feet further and turned around to see her once again. WHAT! She was gone. There’s no place to go, no doorways, stores, stairs nothing….just buildings all around.

I am not suggesting to anyone that you believe this or that you believe in a higher power or angels or anything. I do, I stand for it and am proud to state that I do.

Sometimes I feel that it’s my responsibility to make photos that question and attempt to answer the mysteries that surround us every day. Maybe I just make them for myself and that’s fine, that’s safer for sure as I would think many will assume I’m a little out there at this point. The thing is, I’m not, not at all.

I was still stunned by the Angel that whispered to me on 11th off Market. I walked in a semi-daze and headed to Love Park. I go there to think about Edmund Bacon and the things we talked about, the things we shared and understood together. I decided to go thru the Municipal Services Plaza. There’s sculpture and it’s a cool place to be. What I find very interesting is that at this location, this place of City Government, homeless people never get chased away. There’s usually around 10-15 but they rest in peace and comfort.

I walked and I was still in a daze…..the light was changing from bright to very bright. I guess it’s about a 3 stop difference. I enjoy the way people interact with the sculpture and I saw a woman in white and felt a calling. I stood on top of the domino piece and aimed the camera, I wanted her back against the bright concrete…..just as I aimed the camera and was ready to shoot…she turned to me and said…it’s your path, do it. To be honest, I trembled…I smiled at her and started to walk to the Love Park. I was so shaken again…I was afraid to turn around and look at her…….

I know one thing, I feel lucky, NO! I feel blessed, I feel blessed that in a single day, 2 Angels acknowledged my existence and guided me on my path. I can only hope that you at some point in your life will experience a similar situation.

Am I crazy, Yes…the Veterans Administration says I am. I know that as a Human Being I am open to the experiences that life presents to me. I also am smart enough to have a camera with me when it does…………

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Streetshooter’s camera and lenses had a union meeting…….

August 24, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

It’s a great thing to think of a camera as a tool. Man o’ man, I wish I could do that. Such a shame that I can’t……so the GXR has been pardoned and saved by Nex6. Oh yeah, I think they planned it all along.

See, I put the GXR M on eBay the other day because I wasn’t using it as much as I should because the GR was hoggin’ the limelight and the Nex6 was afraid to speak up. Well, low and behold it didn’t sell. The Nex6 told me to think about what I was doing…..hmmmm methinks I should listen to my cameras.

So I set up a meeting with the camera crew and of course the lenses wanted to have their say also. Well of course GR got nervous because she’s a one eyed camera. Look, she tried to convince all of us that she can see like 35mm and even 21mm if I wanted to. GXR M told her that GRD4 had that covered and was even better with grit than her…….I know she was pissed but she maintained her cool….

Well, here’s what they wanted me to think about and plan on doing. It was agreed by GXR M, Nex6 and GRD4 that GR was a bitch and had a bad attitude. GRD4 said that he needed a long earned break but not retirement, just some time off with pay. We all agreed and then GR told GRD4 that he was being replaced by a classier her….hmmmmmm I wonder about that…….

Well, Nex6 got pissed off at me and said that it wasn’t fair that he had to do all the lens crap I like to do. He said he wanted to choose which lens and when it would be used by him. Then Nex6 stated that GXR M could cover like he could but without a finder, could make me work differently. I thought about it for a spell and agreed to spend time this weekend to try this 2 camera thing out. Ya know, it’s so crazy…it just might work.

I asked the cameras which lens they wanted to use and they agreed that Nex6 would mount the 35mm 1.4 Nokton and GXR M would mount the 21mm Skopar. GR would just sleep in the bag and come to work only in an emergency. Of course Nex6 and GXR M and myself set out to prove that we could do it all and not need the GR bitch for the weekend. She smirked and took a nap in the camera bag. That’s another story and I’ll get into it tomorrow after I get back from the days shoot.

I told the cameras and lenses and bag that I was the president of the union, the treasurer and the shop steward so I decide what, when and who do what.

They all told me to F+++++ off and that they would get both computers, the iPhone 5 and LR5 on board with them if I didn’t watch myself.

So I don’t call my gear tools, first off I’m not allowed. That’s in clause 119 section 21 of the contract we all signed. I found out why the GXR M didn’t sell…… HP Envy sabotaged the listing so that it wouldn’t. This was Nex6’s idea and it worked.

Maybe you think I’m crazy and that’s a strong possibility but I love my cameras and gear and they love me back.

I’ll do another post here tomorrow and put some shots from the day…..

Thanks all…

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

Ricoh GR … Life on Philadelphia Streets Part 2

August 18, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

There comes periods of time for me when I just feel and enjoy what I’m doing photographically. I don’t care about the camera, the processing, the … well anything but the act of making photos. I am in one of those times right now. I don’t know how long it will last but I’ll work it until it’s done.

Funny thing is…. I notice thru the years that these periods come around the time I’m getting ready to teach a workshop. Hmmmm?

Well Olivier, you know that Duong chap from Florida…..he informs me that we are getting ready to go to New York and do some workshop things. Maybe that sparks some kind of energy in my brain. Maybe it gets my juices flowing…..nah! I’m ready to work anytime, never needed any inspiration or kick in the butt.

It’s times like this I don’t have to answer to anybody. I am free to just breathe my images.

One of them young bands that has all my respect sayz…….:

It’s Times Like This You Learn To Love Again……. I’m on the streets tomorrow morning and will report back with some new images…..

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Ricoh GR … Life on Philadelphia Streets

August 16, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

Sometimes a man just has to man up and know when to surrender. I did. I guess it’s just the passion and commitment to my work that won’t allow me to just read what everyone thinks about a camera and so, It’s taking me more to embrace the GR than any camera before it.

There’s a vibe on the street. It’s has a changing frequency just like life. It has a sense of humor, just like life. It has a sense of immediacy and with all this going on, the dedicated human with a camera breathes his images. Images come and go just like a breath of air…just like life.

The street is life. If you look close and pay attention you will notice that every little movement that appear insignificant to the untrained eye…is the very movement that causes the finger to hit the shutter. If your not seeing life that way, it’s time to slow down and start because you’ll miss much more than you see and that means many, many photos will never be borne…..

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The Camera’s Intent “Memory” for the Eye, Heart & Mind … Part 2

August 14, 2013 streetshooter 4 Comments

Here’s what’s going on with INTENT. There is the INTENT of MEMORY and the MEMORY of INTENT.

The intent of memory is like when you make a family snapshot. The photo above is of my daughter when she was around 7 years old, I no longer have the exact time in my memory and am thankful that this photo was made to remind me of her at such a young age. She will turn 40 on Sat 8/17/13. So this clearly shows the intent of memory. It means I wanted to make a photo of a certain person in a certain place in time. I wanted to make a record. In this case of someone that was/is a major part of my memory in this life experience.

So with this in mind, I made the photo fully aware that it shall outlive me and probably her. Our families of the future will see the photo and hold it special because it’s a record of existence for both of us. This is the INTENT of MEMORY. My INTENT was to make a lasting memory as a record for future family members.

Tanya made this with a cellphone. I don’t remember which one, her’s or mine nor do I care. The cat’s name is Barsik. It’s Barsik because Barsik is a good cat name for cats in Russia. The guy under the cat is me but I don’t remember my name nor do I care.

Her intent is very obvious. She wanted to make a photo of her family here in the house. Her INTENT was to make a lasting MEMORY. Thus, the intent of memory. She is not a shooter, she is a person that wanted to make a memory. In that respect, she has made a great photo. Think about this………. a little more………….ok, get it. Her intent was met and succeeded without all the hoopla that we shooters apply to our art.

The art of living should be met with as much respect by shooters as the art of knowledgeable image making. The two are inseparable to those that follow the path of the EYE, HEART and MIND.

Next…side two, the reverse but yet the same.

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The Camera’s Intent “Memory” for the Eye, Heart & Mind

August 13, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

All photographs since the very first to the last one that will ever be made, by Master and Student alike share one thing in common….”MEMORY”.

The intent of the camera is memory. This is the foundation of photography that all images are made. No matter what your subject matter is or where it is you, when you press the shutter, capture a memory. This happens every time. Quite an amazing experience.

The camera records your choice of subject matter and displays it’s place in the here and now at that moment of time. The genius of photography is that it does this process more than other genre’s of a clearer rendition of what represents the truth, as we perceive it.

Therein lies the problem. I’ll assume that all readers here know about Susan Sontag’s “On Photography.” Of course the mandatory reading for any Human Being using a camera is “Camera Lucida” by Roland Barthes. If not, please read them now and we’ll wait it out until you get caught up…….

So now we can move past this and get into making photos.

Here’s how I live it:

The elements of photography are as follows….

1. Eye

2. Heart

3. Mind

All 3 elements are tied into memory.

Eye:

When we work, the eye seems to be the first in order to get the info to make an image.Well, not really…not all the time. The shooter that’s aware of all 3 elements knows that paying attention to all three, will lead to a better understanding of what we are looking for out there. When I say out there…anytime you have a camera and are ready to use it…that’s out there.

The eye usually responds to trigger mechanisms faster and first. It sends the signal that something is about to happen or that we can make something happen. If you raise the camera and it does anything at all besides show you the subject matter, it’s intruding on your vision and or process. The camera can suggest settings, framing, FOV etc but not when it’s raised to the work position. All those things should be addressed before the camera is at the eye.

I like a screen on the rear of the camera because it shows me what’s out there and in two dimensions. The screen floats easy in our three dimension reality. It moves in and out, up and down, side to side etc. All the time it’s sending the image on itself, framing until the eye says yes. CLICK.

Bear with me here…… We are in a 3 dimensional reality. Photographs are a 2 dimensional reality. So, using the screen is the best representation we can get while working with the camera. We can frame with 2 eyes if we are so blessed. We see the photograph on the screen as it will appear in 2 dimensions. This is a very magical experience and at age hitting 64, still excites me as if I’m just seeing it for the first time.

The eye works very fast with the finger to seek and record the image. The finger is a very important part of the process and must be addressed in a very serious manner. We’ll get into that later.

The thing about artist and if your reading this….you are an artist …. is that most assemble their images in many different ways. Like so:

The Family Album. The humble snapshot takes on many meanings for the family as the shooter records those moments that should not ever be forgotten. You may shoot the streets for as long as you like, publish your work, maybe sell it and create a name that follows you all over the world. You did it…your a pillar of the photographic community.

You make family snaps and unfortunately someone has passed. You reach for the photos you made of that person and what value can now be placed upon the snapshots of them? The lowly snapshot now takes on an entirely different roll. It becomes the lasting memory of that persons existence and the memories you shared with them.

The point it, always treat every image with the respect above what you think it deserves. There is a teaching method as old as the hills….it states that a shooter should see things as if seeing them for the first time.

I believe that a shooter should see things as if seeing them for the last time……

More later or tomorrow……don

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

Tis a Sad Day Due to Technology & Word Press!

August 9, 2013 streetshooter 6 Comments

When I was younger I felt that the most important thing I could do was to make photos. I cherished the moments I was with a camera in hand or by my side. Even when I was on the streets with my M4’s I felt connected to the Street and Myself and ultimately, the images we made together.

I had a few light meters but it was a rare occasion that I would actually use one. I actually had a Gossen Luna Pro in the bag for a few years and when I opened it to change the battery, it was corroded. Geeze, I felt panic because my trusted meter was dead and not I couldn’t use it if I wanted to. I felt betrayed by technology.

This was a funny way for me to think because once I went to the darkroom, I was a very perfect technical worker. Of course I didn’t abandon my natural abilities for the technical ones but I managed to merge the two.

Years passed and I gave up more natural freedom and let the new technology take hold of my passions. When the Digital Revolution hit home, meaning photography, I dove in with abandon to all that I was as a natural photographer. I saw the cameras as a convenient way to make photos and then the Alpha on LR and I was good to go.

The circuit breaker panel is in the darkroom and sometimes we blow one. So I get to go into the sad darkroom that misses me and the work we did together. The smell of those lovely chemicals has long since faded.

Lets get to the present. I am well into Digigraphy. I love the process of making images. I love the cameras, the software etc. I even started to like my blog on Word Press. Well, for some time and in the present also, I can’t log into my WP account if I want to post on a friends blog.

Today is the last straw. I will no longer maintain my blog at WP and ptobably not use this one either. I’ll be on Flickr but otherwise, I’ll be out working.

Ya know…..when I go out now, I have to check my batteries, the iPhone 5 charge level, all this technology. It’s made me sick for the last time.

If I can’t feel like things are working with me, then they won’t…anymore….

Peace….don

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The Ricoh GR … Defining Your Vision Part 2

August 8, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

Don’t get me wrong on this stuff, ok…. I just want to show how I open my Eye, Heart and Mind. The constant in your work will be the eye, heart and mind. It’s what makes you unique in the world. So, if in fact…that’s true and it is….all of us who are street warriors should strive to keep those 3 elements as healthy as possible. We should also keep those elements working together in the here and now, especially while making photos.

Enter the camera. Enter the Ricoh GR. The GR operates at a very heightened state of awareness. It is most intuitive and extremely easy to float in the here and now. When it’s in your hand on a wrist strap, your eye, heart and mind are free to gaze upon the scene and move in and out without fear of the camera causing an intrusion. You concentrate on the subject matter in a way that most other camera strive to reach but mostly fail. When your trigger mechanism is activated, the GR immediately captures what you saw, the way you saw it. Your not struggling for focusing rings, settings etc because the camera is now a part of the process of Making the image, not outside of the process.

My definition of a Street Warrior is something like this. Most shooters, (I want to keep this related to photography)… will look at the world as a place to make photos. They count on the next photo to be better than the last. They move forward in time chasing the elusive butterfly, know as the great photos.

The Street Warrior moves forward thru time but sees the world as a passing journey. The street warrior is in tune with himself and seeks the next image not because it’s the elusive butterfly but because he counts back in time. Knowing that each and every image recorded may be the last or even close to the last, he is prepared to make the NEXT IMAGE the one that marks his place in time.

Keeping focused on the here and now with the eye, heart and mind does not allow a camera that will cause intrusion on the moment. I know this is crazy stuff because not many will read this and that’s a shame. If I wrote about GAS or a camera review, well……I won’t.

I hope youse understand what I just wrote. If you do, you’ll never have a camera issue again. If not, DPR has good reviews……

Gd’ nite……

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

The Ricoh GR …. Defining Your Vision, Part 1

August 7, 2013 streetshooter 6 Comments

…. any chance any of youse know that Olivier Duong guy? He’s got a blog and is semi-publisher of a magazine we do together called…The Inspired Eye. So we’re talking on the phone today and he’s going on about how the GRD4 is on it’s last leg and he needs a replacement compact camera. I suggested the Ricoh GR and he immediately stated that he wanted something different.

I’m going to explain in a series of post about how the camera makes you think and how it effects your vision and ultimately, your work.

First up is the GR. I have a few post about this camera already on the blog. If you look down there…..yeah, down there a few…that’s it….you’ll see that this is an ongoing train of thought.

The GR kinda floats in time and space…hereafter called the Here and Now. It’s a very responsive camera and allows absolute freedom to the shooter within it’s definition of a camera. It works very fast and gets the juices flowing. It’s very precise and supports a few ways of working. Of course, it also works well as a slower method and even macro but it’s designed to be a pocket-able, fast unobtrusive camera for the streets. It’s very intuitive and that’s just what it should be.

The GR produces very nice files that are elastic in both Color and B&W. It’s faster than the GRD4 and the files are way cleaner. This is a plus for pixelpeepershooters but the GRD4 has MOJO in it’s files that the GR has to have put into it’s files during PP. No issue at all because Presets are available to get the images anywhere you want.

Tomorrow, the philosophy of the Street and finding your way to it.

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer