Yeah, it’s true, it’s very true. The Fuji still has not found a name. Anyway, the weather is crappy so I left Andre’ the XP1 at home to rest and took my Noname Fuji X20 out to work. See, there comes a time in every cameras life that the call to duty comes and the camera must be prepared to rise to the occasion. Of course this means that your cameras must be selected and training must be finished so that you and your camera can work together to find the images that define you.

The X20 has a few things to pay attention to but the most important thing is the ZOOMIE lens. Now I ain’t a zoomie kinda guy. I’m more monogamous and like just one focal length. What the X20 does for me that’s most important is: it allows me to teach Natural Field Of View to those that take a workshop with me. It’s also about the best macro camera around. It focuses so close and the detail it captures is amazing and most beautiful. I love it for my garden and off-street work.

I was sitting on the Elevated train and decided I would add a shot to the Selfie series. Yeah, that’s me in the reflection….yup the guy with the POW/MIA hat. Imagine that!

This was done for the Dreamcatcher Series but it won’t be used. I don’t like it too much but I have to post it because sometimes I just do things like that. I just love my photos even when I don’t like them.

There is sometimes a moment that calls to us as a shooter but we are not always there or present. Oh, that has nothing to do with the shot above, I just wanted to state that. Obviously I am working on some presets and this is a sample of one in development. Almost, almost……The FOV issue popped up with the X20. See, I’ve used 28mm as a favorite FOV for years all the time knowing that my natural FOV is 35mm. So the X20 I use at 28mm but I have been using the 23mm, (35mm) FOV with Andre’ the Fuji XP1. I am getting almost comfortable with the 35mm FOV so of course like the idiot that I can be sometimes….I used the X20 at 28mm. I mean why do things the easy way when there are so many hard ways to do something?

But….the lesson learned to me is that I am almost back to my Natural FOV 35mm on the XP1 because if I cropped this image (THE HORROR!)…then I would see that I shot at 28mm but the 35mm FOV is tighter and stronger. Hey, I have faith and I take my own workshops I’ll have you know. I don’t offer myself any discounts either.

Another pre-preset. I’m working hard on these and when they are released well……something’s gonna happen.

My Fuji XE1, 27mm Voigtlander 15mm Heliar have found a new home in Sunny Florida. Olivier adopted them and that leaves me working with only the Native Fujifilm Lenses. It was a tough decision but the right one. For me, it’s never gonna get better than the Xp1, 18mm, 23mm, 35mm. That’s the trinity. I have never stayed in the world of just Manufacturers products…… NEVER!   First time digitally. It’s a big major step but I just want to work and right now, there’s no better way on the planet.

I’m not actually pushing the XP1 am I….darn right I am. I think for a REAL streetshooter, it’s the best way to go. The XP1 offers things no other camera can offer. Can it be improved upon, not mine. I use it just like it is and can go indefinitely this way. Why do I post this and this way? Well, I know many fine shooters that have the XP1 and they are considering the Dark Side. I won’t name the camera but it’s made by the same guys that made Andre’. The main point is that….GEAR is extremely important but only to the extent that you get comfortable with it and can find your photos out there with it.

So I use the XP1 and Olivier, well….he’s not impressed but he sure loves the camera once named Ding, XE1. Different things for different uh…how’d that go? hmmmm anyway…If ya can’t be with the camera ya love, love the one your with. betcha that could be a good hook in a hit song…………..nah!

shooter out…………………………………

I am at the point of no return. Well, of course there is always an escape clause but I choose to commit to the path that lay ahead and not deter from it. I go with open Eye, Heart and Mind and seek the images that reflect all three and my INTENT. What I’m talking about is the work that lay in front of me and being focused to follow the path. I plan on Andre’ the XP1 and the 23mm that acts like a 35mm to be the friends that walk hand in hand for the long haul.

So the photos I find and make and the stories that come about will be posted on this blog as a record of what I’m doing and how the camera and lens are working on a daily basis. I’m going into serious photography mode and my image rate will drop considerably. For the time being, it’s nice just to shoot and see how things are working.

What interest me here was that this girl is against the wall, in more ways than one, and her parents are making pictures like for a fashion shoot. Maybe they want the memory of their daughter as they try to remember what they lost in the past. I’m not sure but I like to thinks about things like this after I make the photo. Sometimes, even before I make the photo. Maybe mom and dad’s little girl will grow up to be a famous model or a movie star. Maybe she’ll grow up to be a waitress in a diner or just maybe gat married and have 3 kids that she wants’s to be models and movie stars. I hope that regardless of what life throws at them, they can maintain LOVE for each other and just except each other for who they are.

I know one thing. They will have no recollection of me making a photo of them.

I’m getting very used to the frame line parallax of the XP1. It doesn’t work the way my Leica’s do but then again I don’t need it to. The accuracy that I need from the camera is the accuracy I find the camera gives me.

I had a conversation with Andre’ the XP1. Of course this was right before I went to the VA Hospital. Anyway, Andre’ explained the XP1 law of OVF Physics. See, it works like this. If you look thru the OVE and see the frame lines move, that’s great but….remember that the frame lines always move the same way with the same lens attached ate any given focus distance.

So, there exist Parallax but there is 2 types of Parallax to deal with. First is the Parallax between the framelines and the lens. This means that you actually have a constant as a point of reference to work with. The framelines will move but never be exact as the lens sees. This is the single most important point tolook at between the Rangefinder vs the SLR cameras.

We all know this and those that decide to work either way, don’t miss the other system. Easy nuff! Now comes the second type of Parallax. This type is placing the blame on the shooter because the camera does things as a constant so the shooter must learn how to interact with the frameline Parallax. Luckily enough Fuji has made the learning chore much easier because they put the EVF in the camera also. So one could just flip the lever and see the difference between both finders and eventually learn to see what the camera is seeing, with more accuracy.

I put this part of the post up because a few have asked why I use the XP1 over any other camera. For me it’s about the process that I wrote about the other day. The XP1 is the kind of camera that works with you regardless of the situation. It will get the image if you know what and how to do your end. That’s a big reason why I named the camera Andre’. See, Kertesz was not loved by many rich and famous types for decades. Even later, he was never as famous or loved as he wanted to be or DESERVED to be.

What’s most interesting is that most famous photographers are known for the 1930’s and later work. Andre’ made DROP DEAD KILLER IMAGES at the turn of the last century. 30 years or so before that famous French fella. So I named my XP1 after Andre’ because it’s my way of paying respect for the ART that he passed on to us all.

I’m getting off or maybe not……. More stuff coming and it’s always about my XP1 that’s named Andre; and sometimes from my unnamed Fuji X20.

………………end transmission…………………………………………………….

I was in Kosmin’s Camera Exchange and it was 1968. Herman asked me what the problem was. I told him something was wrong with my eyes. “What the heck are you talking about?”

I explained that no matter what I do I can’t get that 50mm to work for me, it’s always too long. He smiled at the young streetshooter and said…”Take this camera home and try it out. You’ll find your FOV very fast.” The camera was a Nikon F and I had 3 lenses with it, 28mm, 35mm and a 50mm. So I did as he suggested and in no time flat, I realized that 35mm was it for me. I told him I learned a valuable lesson and he smiled and asked what I learned. He of course wanted to hear about my FOV issue being solved. Well, he almost hit the floor when I told him the lesson I learned was that I hated SLR cameras and also that 35mm was my vision.

All thru the years I felt at home with the 35mm FOV. The thing was, that most shooters used a 50 more than anything else. 50 was natural for them and the 35 was considered wide, I was actually upset because I felt I didn’t fit in. ——-> time warp about 35 years ahead………..Then the digital revolution came and hit me on the head and all the cameras I liked or used had 28mm FOV. This was most upsetting. Many even had the dreaded zoomie lens where I could really get lost in Multiple FOV Personality Camera Land. All right enough of the issues, finding resolution.

I fully adapted to 28mm to the point that is is as natural as could be. I even have to 18mm (27mm) for the XP1 and it works great. Enter my neighbor the cop and his Fuji camera and lens fiasco. As it turns out I made a trade for kitchen layout and design work that will save him around $6,500.00 on his new project. He bought the XT1 and sent it back, his XP1 will arrive today and I’ll give him help on use and setup. What did I get? Glad you asked…I got the brand new 23mm (35mm) lens. Nah, I’m not happy….sheeeeeesh!

So yesterday I took Andre’, the Fuji XP1 with his new eye out for a walk. I just wanted to see how I would do with my old friend, the 35mm FOV. I gotta tell ya, it’s gonna be work to get that back but Andre’ and the 35mm is up to the task and they are starting to Shine The Light To Home for me. The above photos are just FOV test for me. I don’t claim to be after the real stuff yet, I just have to get it together. I will say one thing. Andre’ and this lens are just about encroaching on the rather large size movement of cameras that have found their way to ebay. There is some heft to him but not yet a real problem. The use and photos that he is capable of finding is way above anything I could hope for. The good thing is, if anyone ever tried to steal him, well…..beings all metal and having some size and weight….it wouldn’t be a pretty picture of the person that got hit with Andre’. This is a key issue for being a street shooter, defense!

So the adventures will continue and the re-training of the 35mm FOV is underway….With Andre’ and the 23mm, we are off to a real good start.

………………………….end transmission……………………………………………..

Let me start by saying that some of this was written yesterday and some of it today. Eh…who cares….

I had to get my Dreamcatcher stuff posted first because of such high public demand. Just kidding but not really. These images sell more than anything else from my artsy fartsy collection. These were all made with the XP1 and the 35mm 1.4. It’s a chore for me because I don’t like the 50mm FOV but yet with the XP1….it’s very natural. I use the OVF 90% of the time and the screen the rest and of course somewhere in my demented mathematical equation, the EVF works in.

So there’s much talk about the new kid on the block. Oh yeah…it’s all over the net and all over the world. The Fuji XT1 is going to break records. I don’t know which records but I’m told big stuff…wait and see. Well….here in Northeast Philly on Montour Street, in the back room that’s converted to an office but nobody works in it just me and it ain’t work if you love it but anyway…..here…the XT1 will never make an entrance. It’s shunned and not allowed to make a presence. Andre’ the XP1 and Ding the XE1 have decided that …we doin’ need no stinking camera with a center mounted evf that looks like a SLR from the days long gone but they ain’t long gone cause many still like that form but here …. we don’t!

 The Form Factor

I don’t think the form factor of the XT1 is something I find attractive, in fact I know it isn’t. I’m not going to make a realtime comparison between the XT1 and XP1 but I do want to get a few things off my chest. I speak for my self and whoever else is in my head at the time of this writing but you may just find some stuff to think about. That hump on tomp of the body is something I find totally repulsive. Because of that, I can’t wrap my head around it.

It’s a know fact, at least here in Philly that photography is about seeing. More importantly, seeing at the precise moment of exposure…The Decisive Moment…ring a bell? Now this isn’t just about the moment of exposure but maybe a few seconds leading up to it. On the street, avenues, alleys etc, there are many puzzles to find and to try to put together to make your photos. Many elements work together in either positive or negative energy and many times both together that make up your photos.

The ability of the shooter to se these parts before and during exposure is something that has to be recognized as most important. So what happens is something like this: You spot something of interest and you feel a photo ready to be born. You look and then when you think things are either really close or are at it’s peak….you raise the camera to the eye…frame, then shoot. See, here’s where I take issue. With the XP1, this is how I most times do things: I raise the camera to the eye and…I can see my frameline and then I squint the right eye looking thru the finder and open the left eye…this immediately allows me to see the elements outside the frameline and decide if my crop is complete or I need to rethink the frame. Of course, this happens really fast and the hidden elements outside the frame are exposed and I can be more precise in the statement I am trying to make.

This is something every Leica M shooter knows about and probably does. This is not something that should be dismissed or taken for granted…it’s actually lifesaving at times. Yeah, yeah….what about that parallax thing shooter? So what! Things like that are not intrusions, they are things to keep the mind awake and to keep it off AP…(auto pilot). Now I’m not saying that the EVF isn’t a good thing, not at all I’m just saying that all things being equal, the OVF is better for me.

I gotta come back to this but I feel it’s like beating a dead horse. Many shooters understand this stuff and many haven’t a clue. It’s ok, I stated on the get go that the XP1 killed the XT1 for ME! Ya know….the difference between the OVF and the EVF is as strong as the EVF against the LCD screen……WHAT!!!!!!!

It’s the start of March and we here in Philly brace for yet another snow storm. This time the y predict about 12″. Now let it be known that I might be the only person in the Philly region that likes Spring and Summer, even Fall but Winter….well…I’ll leave that to the others, whosoever they be. I feel totally inspired to work but my mind and body don’t see things the same way. Non of the parts that make me are in agreement about Winter. Fact of the matter is…..I hate it, most of my parts do. I always did. I always will. The only thing that keeps me going is watching the weather and hoping for warmer weather but….and that’s a big BUTT! I still need to work and make photos just because that like breathing is something I have to do.

Winter brings slim pickens and I am grateful for what ever the XP1 can find. Luckily enough the XP1 has a good AF setup because I trust it as I can’t focus on anything. I guess that’s why I named it Andre’. Just because the camera can enlighten me when the darkness sets in. As long as I’m finding photos and making them, I feel somewhat productive. The doldrums of the cold and snow take it’s toll on my creative energy. I depend on Andre’ to find the light that will shed it’s warmth on my Eye, Heart and MInd.

He is a worthy companion and often presents me with photos that may not be representative of my finest hour but they sometimes don’t have to be, they just need to keep the spark of life breathing through the winter hibernation.

In Philly, some people are so lost from the cold that they just sit on chairs on the street in search of the beach that lives in their mind. It doesn’t matter as all Philadelphian’s understand that and are sympathetic to the cause. Shooters are sparse this time of the year. They find excuses not to go out and just work on their photos from past days and wait till the weather warms the concrete enough to start humping again. Andre’ the XP1 doesn’t really care about the weather. With the adjustable DR, he can adapt better than most to the sometimes harsh light and contrast. That’s why I let him lead me to the light because I can’t see where I am or even think about where I need to go let alone take control.

It’s the weekend here in Philly and I am already anticipating the new storm. No, not the Snow Storm but the Storm called Inspired Eye. Now that the current issue is released, it’s time to get to work on the next one. As time consuming as it is, I feel that it must continue and support the community. Anyway, I need more Kona and have to get on my way…where too, dunno but somewhere and of course Andre’ is all ready to show me the light.

………………shooter out……………………………….