Tag Archives: Inspired Eye

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 33 … Ricoh GRII

November 20, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

So, I was feeling some kinda way and I decided to take a well-deserved break from making photos. I thought about poisoning my mind with CNN and BBC and just lay on the couch. I would watch everything carefully and sit Organic Green Tea and when Tanya came into the room, I would act sleeping. See, she doesn’t care if I just lay around, as long as I fix the wall, (2 years already) or do the dishes or clean the basement. She’s my wife and she does anything for me and takes care of me constantly. Well, her mind and my mind think differently. I have the mindsetthat I’m watching the news and she feels that I am a lazy shit.

Knock, knock. The front door. Who could that be. 45ACP in back of my belt. I open the door. Mail person says I have to sigh for the package. I didn’t order anything. I yells out…TANYA, I have to go to the toilet. Grab the package and run up to the bathroom.

To be perfectly honest, I have no clue what’s in this package but I damn sure wanna find out. So I sit myself on the toilet seat. The safest seat in the house for me. I open the package with no expectations and there, there wrapped in bubble wrap, there in the middle is Roger’s Ricoh GRII.

See Roger is in Japan renovating a bldg he bought with Mary. Well, he didn’t get the bldg with Mary, he’s just married to Mary and maybe that means he did get the bldg with Mary. The point is that Roger has the GRII but had a problem with it that Ricoh fixed. I will not mention the problem because I love Ricoh cameras and the millions and millions of readers of this blog will panic and cause a financial disaster for Ricoh and the entire Japanese economy. I decide to withhold the problem to save Ricoh and Japan from certain disaster.

So I’m in the perfect place to open this box and see the GRII. So I charge the battery and set the camera down. I call Roger and let the phone ring 1 time. Well, he’s not there so I may as well test this out. Damn, I forgot to leave a message. Roger will never know I have his GRII here. Imagine that.

So I set out to hit the streets of Center City Philly and see what I can find. I gotta tellya, I always said that the Ricoh GRD4 was a camera killer. What I mean is that when I use it, I forget all about other cameras. Well, the GRII has a similar quality. It’s not as intuitive as the GRD4 but it has a nice way about it. Don’t get it wrong. I had the original GR and along with Wouter and Craig. We figure it out quickly and I had that dust issue and got rid of it.

Anyway, I’m telling Roger that I wanna keep this one. This is one fine camera and if I chat with my shrink, I might be able to forget about the past dust issues.

Yes, I love cameras. I see differently with each one. Why, because I have an open mind and heart. I am pre-naming this camera after Mom. Ruth. That’s assuming that I get to keep it and I trust Roger to allow that to happen. He insist that I use the M240 and 35mm Cron but truthfully, I do better with the X100s. Why of course, the Leica is a great camera and I have a few film M’s but at 66 with my essential tremors, I need AF. The Fuji gives me that and the M doesn’t.

I don’t know what the Ricoh GRII will give me but I know one thing. It’s great to be out with my Mom again.

shooter out…………….end transmission……………….

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 31 … Street … Ricoh GRD4

November 12, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

I friggin’ hate that crap. I mean ya got a groove going with a camera. It’s sweet man, I mean your are on a roll and happy with everything. Then ya stop and take a break, and of course that’s the worst time to do this. If ya got that magic groove going, what the hell ya need a break from? Take a break from a creative groove and go back to the nothingness that haunts each and every one of us?

Well, yours truly did exactly that. Oh yeah. I’m the king of messing myself up. I guess I thrive on it cause I do it so much. Look, easy for me to say that I do it because I want to challenge the creative energy. I could say that I did it to make myself see new again and not be complacent. Those and more are excellent ideas but not the truth this time. Noooo, noooo! I fucked up. (I don’t like to curse and I apologize to Tina and Olivier and anyone else that’s offended by me using the fuck word.) But that’s what I did. See. I got this sexi little camera on the shelf. She’s all dressed in white looking very pretty. Her name is Penelope.

She’s a devil in disguise. Whoooah shooter, what the heck does this camera stuff have to do with anything? Ya know, that’s a damn good question. Well, I go against the tide here. Even against the masters. All wrong and I will prove it. Infact, I’m a gonna prove it right now.

Weel, the idea is that a good shooter can work with anything and get a good photo. Well, ok, I give that but what does that mean anyway. People tell me that the camera doesn’t mean anything or not much in the process. Bullshit! You think you can do yourwork with any camera? Bullshit!

Go get an 8×10 Deardorff and a Ries tripod, carry a few film holders, darkcloth, meter, level, cable release etc. Now go out and shoot the streets at rush hour. Ok, ok…. take your blad and go into the night and hand hold it in very low light. Take a Leica M and put a visoflex on it and well, it ain’t pretty. Put some tri-x in you Fuji X100s.

The smart ones reading this are understanding. The ones that think it’s bullshit, are calling B&H for a Ries Tripod. The point is, the camera and any other thing you use to make your work, better be your friend. We don’t get to be complacent with our gear or ourselves.

Penelope the Ricoh GRD4 does just that for me. She puts me in a place where I accept the world as it is and realize that while I’m here, I get to make photos. I get to do that because I live photography. The beauty in art is in the simplicity of design.

Go back a few years and see the cave drawings from our ancestors. A rock or newlt discovered charcoal and they made drawings. Millions of years later and we look at them and stand in awe. Why? Because it proves we will go on and we will continue to believe that. We as photographers make photos because we want them to outlive us. Oh, they will but the value of those photos won’t be seen by us but by our future ancestors related to us or not.

While we are here, we have the responsibility to ourselves and to the ones that follow us to forge a path that is interesting, informative and filled with the love of life we instill in our work.

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

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 29 … Street … Breathe … Ricoh GRD 4

November 2, 2015 streetshooter 14 Comments

There’s something about Penelope that just takes me and gives me a sense of freedom that no other camera can do. I have been known to call the Ricoh GRD 4 a camera killer and it very well could be. Penelope is intoxicating. I have this feel of freedom and I just enjoy making photos and don’t really get too concerned about if they work for others or not. Of course, she can really nail it also but for right now I am enjoying just being with and spending time with her.

Look, I love my other cameras too but Penelope hasn’t been out in a while and she’s upset. She’s the only female camera I have and I do feel bad that I haven’t been paying attention to her.

The Fall is here in Philly and now the light gets interesting, people start to bundle up a little more, things are getting ready for the upcoming holiday’s. For me, it’s a good time to work cause I love the change of seasons. I guess that’s why I am out withPenelope, the change is needed and welcomed.

I’m looking forward to the next few days to see what the GRD 4 brings me. I know one thing. When I bought her I had the choice of Black or White. I ordered Black and then it hit me, White will let me be more like a tourist so I changed the order to White. I love being a tourist and looking like a tourist. We are all tourist thru life, no one gets a permanent visa.

I feel glad to be alive. I feel glad to have a full stomach. I feel glad to have a few bucks in my wallet. I am even glad to have some bucks to spread around the homeless people. I love photography.

I love Penelope the Ricoh GRD 4 and the relationship we have together.

Well, gotta continue the journey and hopefully I will not forget an extra battery…..

I bow to youse all fine peoples and thank you for being here and reading this stuff…..

enough mushy shit…. go make photos, see ya’s tomorrow

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 27 … Street … Camera Bag Syndrome Pt1 … Fuji X100s

October 28, 2015 streetshooter 2 Comments

It’s starting to get cold here in the City of Brotherly Love. I mean will still have lots of warm weather but the fall brings with it, the fall ing light. There’s a noticeable change in the general attitude of people. I notice a change in my mindset also. I try to sort things out before I have to see my shrink at the VA. Ok, time for me to fess up……

I am an addict. I been since I was in my early 20’s. Yes, true and I hide it really well. Oh no, no, no my friends…not Smack, known as heroin, no no, no alcohol, and not maryhoonie even the medical kind. My addiction is for camera bags. Camera bags of all kinds, all types, colors, sizes, makes any camera bag has the potential to satisfy my addiction…well for a little bit.

Ok here goes…… this time of year is exciting for me but not only because of the delicious light and shadows, but because of the fact I wear a jacket. Wearing a jacket is like having a very nice camera bag all over you. Pockets baby. I love pockets. I love the freedom of having a camera, extra battery and a lens pen and that’s it.

Of course this does not take into conssideration how the cameras in the cabinet feel. They start to get itchy about getting out in the Fall light. This starts the Camera Bag Carrying Syndrome. Yeah, c’mon, if your a shooter, you get this and don’t hide behind the door and pretend you don’t. I recently did a survey and it seems that most shooters between the age of 16 and 90 have more camera bags then lenses. What does this tell us, not much I suppose but it’s interesting to do surveys like this.

See, during the cooler months a good camera bag is essential. I tell myself this because I want to justify having all these nice bags. I also want to justify having all these nice cameras. It’s Fall and time to get a bag together and get some cameras off the shelf into that bag.

The thing for me is, that when I use a bag, I want to carry more then I need to make photos. Oh yeah, don’t kid yourself, that’s an issue. For decades I used an M camera with a 35mm lens. I traveled and never felt inadequate with just one lens. That’s the reason for the Fuji X100s. One lens, 35mm, perfect with 3 methods of seeing. How does all this camera switching stuff affect vision. Well, it has a great effect on the finished image. It’s not just perspective that changes as the camera moves, it’s the idea of the image and the emotional impact that is changing also. I don’t believe what others say about not rattling the cage. I believe that our cages need to be rattled as much as possible.

EP-5

I think changing cameras, lenses BAGS etc is all very healthy and creative. We as shooters need the challenge of defeating complacency on a daily basis. We don’t always win but we must continue to struggle and fight so that we survive the vast desert of boredom and complacency. Changing a lens, camera whatever open the heart and mind to a new way of thinking. The eye starts to see differently and this is all good for the common cause of creativity. A camera bag is crucial. It is your best friend for new vision. It makes you want to fill it and use different things in your quest for the next photo.

Yeah sure, it’s great to be free of the extra stuff and just use a camera and a lens. I did it for most of my 66 years but! The truth is that when I get to a point that I’d rather paint the bathroom, that’s the time to load the bag with some cameras, hit the streets and open my Eye, Heart and Mind.

……………shooter out……………………………………………….

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

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 26 … Street … Finding Direction … Fuji X100s

October 21, 2015 streetshooter 9 Comments

Did you ever notice that if you look at a map, you have your starting point and your ending point? Yes, shooter how you gonna screw this up? Good question and I’m a gonna tell ya right now. The points in between the start and finish are the most important points. They are the anchor points and they give us a fixed idea of what the journey is about. We all start the journey of life different, but we all end up the same. The beauty is not in the destination but in the journey itself. That means to be in the here and now.

Points along the way

So we know that the map of our photography has a start point and hopefully a destination and that we reach that destination in good health. But if the journey is more important than the destination, what about the journey? Well, I see it like this. During our travels thru a life with photography, certain milestones or markers make themselves evident. These are points of inspiration or interest that we are drawn to. We see these being borne in our photos.

Here’re a few points that I have in my photography.

Icons, Shadows, Reflecting, Walk/Drive by Shootings, Light/Shadows, Dreamcatcher, Public Transportation, Human Condition, Isolation, Juxtaposition. Now of course any and all are sometimes working together. The point is, I have a set of guidelines that help me work. You could call these series. I certainly have spent my life so far tinkering with all of these. Why is this important and most important to recognize?

Well, we have enough bullshit distractions going on that we need a lifeline to hold us into the light. You can do as you damn well please but I’d bet there isn’t one photographer from all of time and won’t be for all of time that doesn’t do this. The issue is to be aware of the fact that you are doing it. This doesn’t guarantee you anything but peace of mind especially when you are lost with what you’re doing. We all get lost, tired of the same stuff, bored…but WHALLA!

If you take thetime to discover what you are doing naturally without realizing you are doing it and make an effort to discover the points in your photographic journey, you will never be bored again. You have a system of working. Looks, it ain’t playtime out there. If you are a camera player and that’s what you do, leave my blog and never come back. The serious readers and shooters here have no time for that shit. They are busy getting shit from me but at least, I have an idea of what I’m talking about.

So, next time you have some time, go into your catalog and especially the processed and published photos. Then look for similar thoughts, feelings whatever. Group them together. Be a hard ass with yourself. This is your life! Respect it, honor it and get it together. Then when the galleries and museums start to call and want an exhibition from you, your organized and dammit…….

grab your camera, open your eyes, smell the exhaust, get your butt out there, your a Street Shooter, is there anything better………..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 25 … Street … Memories of Future Past … Fuji X100s

October 20, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

Photography is one of the seductive means of making memories. So I wonder why many aren’t aware that they are making memories. Let’s face it, photography has many purposes and we can never meet all of them at any given time. So I guess it’s wise to get a grasp on what we are doing in the here and now and focus our attention and energy on what we are doing with our camera. We normally don’t think in terms of any specific intent other than making photos.

Well, photojournalist and wedding shooters are photographers and yet they have a different intent than a street shooter has. Well, for the moment right? Street shooters have a different intent than say, a portrait shooter. A portrait shooter gas a different intent than a landscape shooter. All are photographers and all have a different intent for what they are doing. The thing is…………:

There are common denominators with all. Well, cameras are common to all. Yet, that is not specific enough.

Surely there must be something that all not only have in common but that they may or may not be aware of what it is that is in common. Well, I think the single most important thing that all have in common is……:

……..the simple fact that photography does an excellent job of,……….. recording memories. Oh yeah, let’s just take that for granted, I mean after all.. I’m a street shooter and what the hell do I care about being aware that I am recording memories? If I’m making memories, fine…leave me the hell alone and let me do my work. If you wanna see memories in my work, go ahead but don’t bother me with this bullshit.

See, our brains have a really great filing system. It works flawlessly unless it is swimming in alcohol or breathing medicinal pot. Otherwise, it works well most of the time unless it goes on vacation. Mine does that more as I get older. Now at my age, I don’t need it too much anyway.

So we get clobbered with info from the world and then our subject matter and then the brain tells the mind to process everything and make a photo. So let’s say you are on the street and your making photos. Then an accident happens. You make some photos. You think your making photos because you see an interesting subject. What’s really going on is that you are making memories and maybe just maybe those photos will have importance to someone.

When I was in Nam, I carried my M4 and 35 Cron on a neck strap always. I photographed everything I could. In the morning for example, I would do some portraits of the guys. We might be on a fire base or whatever. Then maybe shit hit and we did our job and I made photos when I could. First duty was the M16 or 45. Then the Leica, usually for the aftermath.

Then I would get my Negs and small prints back and look at them. I’d hand out the photos to the guys and then…hmmmm I might have a photo of a troop that didn’t make it.

I became acutely aware that photography is about memories. It’s about other shit too, but memories are the main source of image information transference. I have many photos of what Nam was about. Many soldiers I made photos of are on the wall in DC and other places. I have been asked many times to publish a book of the photos.

See, they are not just my memories. Those soldiers that I made photos of lying dead, they are sons and brothers and everything to family. I won’t do anything with these photos. It’s disrespectful and too painful for the families. When I’m dead, but no hurry, then my daughter will have rights to them and she can do as she pleases. By then all will be forgotten of these warrior heroes that gave me life. All will be forgotten about a war in a foreign land that no one wins. All will be forgotten of the pain that still hurts 45 years later.

the photos, well… they are just memories…………..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 24 … Street … Beating Complacency … Fuji X100s

October 17, 2015 streetshooter 15 Comments

Ok, if youse didn’t know this, I might just coulda be just a little bit but not over the edge crazy. That’s what my shrink at the VA says. Ya gotta know something about shrinks. They gotta be crazy too otherwise they can’t see their patients craziness. Why did I mention this on a photo blog? Well, it’s about how I’m feeling about what’s going on and what’s going on in my camera cabinet. When I was younger I was in a monogamous relationship with my Leica M cameras. That statement in itself is a contradiction of terms. The reason is that I had and used more then a few Leica M’s.

Flash to the present and I am no longer in a monogamous camera relationship. Yes, it’s true. I cheat on my cameras all the time. The only one that I don’t feel like I’m cheating with is Andre’ the Fuji X100s. See, Andre’ soothes my soul when we are together. He is very responsive to me and my needs. Unfortunately, Walker the Olympus Pen EP-5 does the same thing, but different. And Garry the Olympus Pen EP-5 does the same too. So my my confusion?

I spent decades using my M camera and most times a 35mm Cron or Lux.

So here’s why I’m writing this blog post. It seems to me that what happens to many and not discounting me, as I am the worst of the lot is: there are time that I get kinda lost in the moment. I mean that I’m a nutcase that walks the same general region over and over day after day. So I sometimes find it hard to find my next photo. Ohhh, I know what to do. Take a different lens or camera and everything changes. Cool beans.

Well surprise, surprise. Seems the only things that changed is the camera or lens. Imagine that. So maybe the subject matter changes slightly and the environment also but how does that affect the feelings and the vision? I don’t think the camera or lens will have much impact on this at all. I think it’s about the frame of mind and the opening of the eye, heart and mind to make adjustments. The camera can assist in this but it’s up to us to take control of the wheel.

I know this may sound simplistic and boring but the single most thing shooters fight all the time is what realtors live by also. Location, location, location. It’s the search to end the doldrums of shooting the same area all the time. Some say, look as if your seeing it for the first time. Bullshit, ain’t gonna happen. We aren’t talking about traveling, we are talking about working on the homefront.

My Uncle Birney showed me something many years ago. He had a tree in front of his house, small Japanese Maple. He told me he would bury a million dollars right near that tree and it was mine except one condition. If I looked at the tree and only saw that, I could have the money. Then Birney told me that there is a teddy bear in front of that tree. He told me that every time I looked at that tree I would see the teddy bear. I couldn’t get the money if I didn’t see just the tree. If I saw the bear, it was a dead end.

Well, for years I would be at his house and every damn time I looked at that tree, I would see that stupid teddy bear. I think that’s about mental conditioning. Maybe when we are out on the street, we are programmed to see that teddy bear.

So the idea is not to think that our programming can be altered or changed by a camera or even a different location. The hard part of seeing and living is to be able to do it in the most common of places, our home ground. Here’s in NE Philly we call that being Complacent. As my daughter Bethany says, “It’s not alright”.

The above photos are all made in the area known here as Market East. It’s an area that I have been working for over 40 years. It’s harder and harder for me to get photos that I like because that stupid teddy bear keeps jumping in front of my camera.

I fight that damn Teddy Bear on a daily babsis. Do you know your Teddy Bear and are you fighting it?

……end transmission…..

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 22 … Street … Auto ISO … On Seeing

September 23, 2015 streetshooter 31 Comments

So I be explaining to Linda about the ZEN of Photography but really the Zen of Street. This does not apply to everyone and I am just explaining how I do things and how right it is. Photography is about light. This means that LIGHT is the main thing shooters need to be able to respond to and more importantly, understand. The way we feel and interpret light is what makes each of us different with the same tools and same things.

Back in the last Century I used mostly Leica M cameras and didn’t use a Light Meter too often. I just looked and felt the light and then set my exposure. I had many light meters but I prided myself on feeling my exposure. Some of my friends would test me when we were out shooting and ask me what the exposure was. I would quickly call back my interpretation of the exposure. 90% of the time i was within 1/2 stop.

This ability is ever so important now in the digital world. It’s very easy to get consumed by the ease and convenience of digi-cams. Even the lowest priced offers things that high end film cameras didn’t back then. The point is that feeling the light and making the exposure the way you experience it is a birth right to all shooters. The Auto-ISO feature supports this in a way that is more then anyone could think back in the day.

I was asked by some friends here to explain more about M Mode and I will with the next post. But for now, back to Linda and her quest. It seems her brothers filled her head with as much shit as anyone could and she was almost consumed by it all. She insisted she wanted to make photos the way she wanted to and not by the guidelines her brothers instilled in her.

So I realized the her creativity and more were encapsulated in a shell that I would have to find a way to crack open so she could emerge into her own being.

It seems that we all at one time or another suffer the same symptoms as Linda. Just meandering thru the world in a way that we feel lost or disconnected from the well-being of ourselves. We lose our individuality, our self worth and even out independent personality. We become a number and are forced to accept that as it is placed upon us. For photographers this is especially life threatening. We have the ability to record what is in front of us and that should keep us awake. The luxury of vision is share with other photographers and we see their work and that adds to the comfort and discomfort of our world.

In time we come up with a starting point for the definition of ourselves and seek to find it thru our work. It keeps us humble, sometimes and rattles our cage when we get to cocky and think what we do is all important. We continue on a life long journey of finding the self and we record and make photos along the way.

For me this process is one I hold Holy because in the end, I want my photos to survive me and to give a glimpse of what the world looked like thru my mind, heart and eye while I was here. Will those photos speak truth. No, it will be the truth as I have presented it to be from my reactions to and from my love of life and death. They will just be photos from another fucked up shooter that made his life’s work to entertain others. I think that’s a damn fine way to end it all.

I work as if the end is coming….but not yet my friends, not yet.

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 14

August 26, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

Ok, laffing is not polite and supportive to anyone except the patients in the Loony Bin. Well let me start by saying I have more camera bags in every imaginable configuration as every invented. I’m serious. Ok which one of you admits to NOT having the Perfect camera bag for every occasion syndrome. Damn right no one. So I decide that I wanna have Andre’ the Fuji X100s and Walker the Olympus Pen 5 together and have them in a bag. Now of course this is an impossibility because one of the 2 will be working and either in my hand or around my neck. The other one will be resting and absorbing the input from the street ready to process it into me poor brain.

So, I ask you, does this mean I need a small bag for one camera because I would never have both in the bag at the same time UNLESS! AHAA! unless I carried a 3rd camera. See, it’s confusing and leads to camera bag acquisition syndrome. Luckily I have enough in the closet that I shop in there and usually find what I need. Ya know, I saw this sexi azz bag on eBay….nah… forget, da wifey is home.

Market Street is a source of life for me. I used to be inspired just walking and looking around. Id make photos at anyplace I saw fit and usually be happy. I used to look at ppl sitting against a wall, standing on a corner, leaning against a fireplug, everything and was always nice to see them. For years I would see guys on the short wall at Burlington Coat Store.

Ya know I used to think, what are these people doing here all the time. Many familiar faces at the same places. I mean it was amazing, year after year I’d see these people. The other day I saw a few guys dealing their stuff and walked by and I recognized them. The been there for years. One tall guy looked at me and said, “What’s up shooter, peace brother.” Then I got to 12th street and a guy in a wheel chair said to me….”hey shooter, ya got that buck you said you’d have for me next time?” I walked over and handed him the buck.

I had a realization that hit hard to me. I realized that I am as much a part of the scene as they are. I mean they see me almost every day making photos and I’m just shooter making photos like they are Dennis dealing his stuff. Amazing realization to me.

It was maybe 30 years ago and I met a guy named Jeff. He was connected at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He talked about photographs like I hadn’t heard since Ding McNulty. He had photos of Paul Strand and of Michael Hoffman cleaning Strands feet. He had photos of many famous shooters and I new some but most were from the turn of the century. He asked to see my work and I was excited because he knew what was going on. I never went to school and anytime I got some help I felt that was my education.

….anyway, I brought down many prints and he told me he was surprised because I had a real presentation. So we chatted and he asked me if I trusted him. Dude, Paul Strand trusted you man, fucking A diddly I trust you. (Sorry Tina) So then he took my matted prints that were so perfectly presented and so precious and tore the prints from the matt. (breathing heavy, panting, holding myself back from a place I never want to be again)

Jeff says… Don, you need to focus on this… hands me a print and not this hands me a matt. I said immediately, why can’t I focus on both? Because no one can, it’s impossible. He told me to leave and if I wanted to come back for a session again to call him. I asked him when do we meet again? Tomorrow 6:00pm for dinner, your buying. Ok man, see ya then. he hands me the 30 matts and keeps the prints.

The thing about ART is… Art is the Human. The fact that you created ssomething like photos gives them value maybe just to you but that’s the value that’s most important. The heart and soul live in your work. If others adopt a love of your images, that doesn’t change the value of you and your work, it just adds to the intrinsic value associated to you and your work. The basic core of love and acceptance is and should always be yourself. If this sounds like egotistical so what, fuckit… it’s your stuff and you better love it.

I will tell ya about Jeff and the Gambe’ Game my next post.

Till then…. don’t forget an extra battery and to always format your card… of course get the photos off it first……

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

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

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 13 “Hit The Road Jack… and “

August 17, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

OMG Shooter, get off it dude, ya been whining for long enough. Get yer ass back to work and stop this simple shit. Ok, ok, cut me a break aight. That’s how Walker the Pen 5 treats me. No time to slow down and no pity. So, the shooter bluez are “Hit the road Jack and don’t ya come back no more, no more”. Hey youse all know I name my cameras and have conversations with them so when I get the bluez, they are called Jack, what else?

So I am rediscovering the 50mm FOV. I had a desire to work with it as my primary lens at the turn of the century. Well, it only took 15 years and I am trying hard to adapt to the 50. Youse can think I’m crazy as a loon but I don’t really care. I know that adapting to another FOV can happen 2 ways. The first is to just use it and have fun, nah, not me, I ain’t looking for fun, I’m working, it’s my life’s work ya know. I like to have the FOV become my natural FOV. Right now and for decades it’s been 35mm.

Here’s what this means. You walking and see something that you want to make into a photo. You look and raise the camera and at this precise moment, you will make or break your image. If you raise the camera and see the frame is way off, if you think you can just zoom by feet you are wrong. Many teachers say to just move in or out but this is wrong. What attracted you to the frame is the subject and the perspective. If you move when you get to the frame, you change perspective. That is controlled by CAMERA POSITION. So ideally, when the camera is at the ready, your framing is very close to what you visualize in the image is what you get.

I was on Market Street and I saw this family walking hand in hand. I thought it so beautiful to see this connection in the city where there is very little connection. Maybe I made the photo because I loved seeing hat connection and maybe it woke me up and I realize that it is my issues out there, I lost the connection. Simple huh, bullshit. I now know what I lost and now I seek to find it again even if it takes a new form.

So shooter is out there again and going strong.

Be blessed my friends…………………….end transmission……………………………………………

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer