Tag Archives: Philly

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

January 30th, 2014 ….. Fuji XP1 & 18mm on Philly Streets

January 30, 2014 streetshooter 8 Comments

See that guy up there…yeah, yeah…the one in the photo. Well, he’s a Philly street shooter named Anthony. As it turns out we are Flickr friends and we met in reality by accident. See, I was walking west on Arch by 13th and he was stooping down like in the photo. I saw him but don’t think he saw me cause I’m like this stealth invisible camera toting shooter that no one can see until after the fact. Of course when I get home Tanya calls me an idiot and “Take the damn trash out”! So I raised the XP1 and knowing the 28mm focal length got into position. I clicked and Anthony looked at me. He didn’t know I was me and I didn’t know he was he. Imagine that.

I was across from City Hall and I saw this signboard and as I looked at it it kept changing it’s content. Now beings the smart shooter, xcusa me…streetshooter that I am I know that Mayor Nutter had street shooter distractions all over the city. See, we as a Nation of Universal Street Shooters abide by the rules and regulations set forth by the Universal Tribunal of Amalgamated Separatist C-Joined with camera in hand Street Shooters United in Cause to help the camera makers survive at out expense but to give us the cameras we need to bother Mayor Nutter and his staff when tourist complain about photographers running a muck but they never do anyway so this is all null and void but sometimes I just like to rant.

Anyway, the XP1 is a great camera but it really works with the 18mm. True nuff, the 18mm is the weakest link in the Fuji lineup but then the other lenses don’t offer that great FOV. It’s a catch 22 but luckily I’m not a real pixel-peeper. I am just a serious shooter but, that being said…when I have the cash, if ever, I’ll get the 23mm which converted to 35mm would be my natural FOV.

Listen, well…just read cause ya can’t listen unless ya take the meds a lot of vets take to find out who’s in the voices we hear…most times it’s Tanya but sometimes it’s somebody in my head…”Think,,,,Being John Malkovich”.

Have a blessed day….and night and for a long time to come too…..

shooter out………………………………………………………

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January 28th, 2014 ….. The Ricoh GRD4 … Perfect Off Street Camera

January 28, 2014 streetshooter 12 Comments

I know, I started a good thing yesterday about Street Shooting. Ya see, at my age which is now, they tell me 64…that’s the temperature in Fahrenheit that I like to be in. Well, someone thought to play a trick and try to tell me that I’m now 12 Years Old because it’s 12F outside.

See, a smart street shooter knows how to adapt to adversity and overcome and conquer. Beings that I’m kinda Smaart (Fredo from the Godfather)…..I found a way to control the environment. There’s this little box on the wall and it has a wheel thingy on it. If I get cold, I turn this wheel and whalla…I getz warm again.

Well, I turned the wheel and it got to 20F real fast and that’s nice. Why can’t they figure out how to install a wheel on the streets? So, vision is a product of seeing and adapting to your environment. The well tuned shooter can find photos under any circumstance and that should most definitely include Off Street.

I find the Ricoh GRD4 the perfect camera for anything but especially for off street, in da house stuff. It’s a very disarming camera. I need that with Mrs Shooter. See, there are Rules Of Engagement for the Shooter household.

1. Thou shalt not make photos of me in any circumstance unless so prompted by me and the results are subject to inspection and approval by me and me alone. (Obviously this is Mrs Shooters Rules)

2. You will adhere to the above stated rule to maintain harmony and peace in the Shooter household. You will not explain your findings on that 1st Amendment thing about Free Press , Free Speech etc etc as I am Russian and that does not apply to me.

Well, I’m a rebel and so as not to antagonize the powers that be, I us my special skills I learned in the army. I conquer and overcome but in a manner of little risk and chance of getting caught. I leave no trace materials of films, papers etc. I leave no trace of links to postings, Flickr etc.

This may seem very trite to you but I assure you, it’s all about being a healthy, informed Street Shooter. If in fact I am posting tomorrow, I didn’t get busted with this post on the blog etc. If I don’t someone else needs to carry on for the sanity of all street shooters that came before or that are here now or will ever come after.

End transmission……………….shooter out………………………………..

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January 27th, 2014 ….. Street Shooting with The Eye, Heart and Mind.

January 27, 2014 streetshooter Leave a comment

Regardless of how we think or even with what we try, we are polluted with the history of our very being. Don’t get me wrong….yeah you in the green jacket….be cool dude….the idea of personal history is a very cool concept if you know what it is and how to deal with it. When it comes to ex-wives, nah I can’t deal with it. When it comes to missing a camera I used many years ago, I can kinda deal with it.

These are not the history we need to discover and work with on the streets. Say we are walking down Market Street….go on say it…..ok…..

Maybe I’ll just explain how I do things and then if you want to figure out your own stuff, ya might get an idea from this post. Ya might not but then it’s your issue, not mine.

I’m walking down Market Street and it’s kinda funky light. In one area about 20′ in front of me it’s shade….then 20′ more and we have that harsh winter sun, ya know the kind that doesn’t even add warmth. So the issue of light has to be resolved. Of course light is what makes the exposure reading from the meter in the camera tell us what to adjust to get the photo recorded in proper exposure. Well, technically that’s kinda what happens but not for real street shooters.

See, street shooters are very fast in seeing because every one that has ever been borne or that will be borne is working at a super higher rate of consciousness then the people walking the streets without a camera. See, it’s because they, the camera toting people known as street shooters are in touch with their Eye, Heart & Mind.

A couple of pointers here. I use Auto ISO because I shoot in Manual Mode. This means I set the shutter speed and the aperture that I want and I trust my camera to set the proper ISO. Why do I trust the camera to do this and to do it well. Because I test my camera and the way it thinks. You can change the way a camera works but you can’t change the way it thinks. So what I am getting at is simply difficult. When we SEE something we want to make a photo of, at that point, there can be absolutely no intrusion from the camera. So we would get the camera at the ready and the exposure WE want is already set and the CAMERA will make the exposure work. If the photo works, it’s because we were in the EHM zone of photo awareness. If the photo doesn’t work, it’s because we were distracted by something and hopefully it’s not the camera.

Maybe for the casual shooter this stuff sounds boring and or to deep for what it is. For the serious shooter, especially on the streets….it’s just the beginning of understanding the journey and finding one’s way on the street.

I’ll do more tomorrow….. Make sure to grab a copy of the Inspired Eye Magazine….it’s a great issue.

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January 23rd, 2014 ….. A Muse, a Mentor and it’s Freakin’ Cold Out but the Fuji XP1 makes it WARM!

January 23, 2014 streetshooter 5 Comments

See that Kewl Kat…that’s Barsik. He’s not really cool at this moment, he’s warm. He’s my main Muse and when it comes to relaxing…he’s my Mentor. So I went upstairs and grabbed my XP1 and put the 35mm 1.4 on it. I came down and put the camera on the table and sipped some more Green Tea. Barsik looked at me with a grin. He knows when I want to make photos….like always. See, cats are easy to work with cause they just sit and try not to move. Barsik of course has a sense of humor and that is flavored heavily with a Russian taste. He will sit still until just before the shutter gets to release…..then right at that fraction of a second….he moves and sometimes changes position all together.

I know and appreciate the fact that he’s teaching me patience, framing, improvising at the spur of a moment….I get all that, I really do…what I don’t get is a good photo. Cats will only provide a good photo if an agreement is made for exchange. Food, brushing, lap holding, any number of things will do but it’s gonna be something or….no photos for you!

The above shot was a sneak attack and I used all my military training to sneak the shot. Luckily the XP1 has a good screen and even at odd angles, you can see and make the shot. I knew I had him…it was a sweet feeling, I mean I got the Barsik and he didn’t know…..Proud I was and happy with my trusty camera……then I looked at the file in LightRoom…..sure enuff…..sucker got his eye cracked open. Sheeeesh….just when ya think ya got it down……..!

I’m outside now, well not really now but then. This is my favorite Rose. We planted it this year and it did ok. I made many lovely photos of it and it’s friends all around the garden. See that last remains of the last rose just laying there all alone? Well that’s the hope of next season. It’s my favorite plant outside and we have a lot. This rose for me, especially at this time in these conditions is what survival and diligence is all about. I look at this rose every day and I get a lift to just move on and not be deterred from progress.

The temperature at exposure time was: 4F or -15.5C. Now this is Philadelphia and know for the City of Brotherly Love. Well, you can bet there’s a lot of lovin’ going just to stay warm. I wanted to make a few photos just because I could and I owe it to all this people, friends, shooters etc in Australia that are sweating it out….Tsk Tsk whatever shall they do…….

This is my bench in the back of the garden. It’s the safe spot for me when Tanya gets pissed off and I have to sit like a bad school boy. I actually don’t mind it at all. It provides a safe haven away from the ruckus in the neighborhood. Well, the snow likes the bench also. I asked it….Snow, when will you get the hell off my bench? Snow replied, it’s cold out and I have more snow friends coming in a few days. so get used to it.

I asked the bench,,,,,Bench, are you cold? The bench said to me….yo…I’m made of cement, I ain’t go no mouth, I gotz no ears…..what the hell are you doing talking to me stupid? I thought for a moment and decided that there exist no logical answer to this riddle. I also knew that if I mention this conversation to my Dr, I’ll get sent back to the factory.

So I just decided to mark the moment and make a photo. The XP1 turns me on more and more day after day. I’m hard on a camera. No I don’t mean banging it around….I mean application. I make all kinds of photos and if I find something the camera won’t or can’t do…..someone else gets to try. The Fuji XP1 so far has proven the most capable camera I have used since the start of the digital revolution. I won’t name names like Canon, Nikon, Leica, Blad, Olympus, Panasonic etc…..just know that if I’m still using a camera after a good period…..it’s a winner.

What makes me different than anyone else? I will not tolerate the slightest intrusion on my process at anytime whatsoever! I do not compromise with cameras.

Have a safe good day and night……

shooter out……………………………………….

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

January 21st, 2014 ….. Fuji Weatherproof X Camera in a Snow Storm

January 21, 2014 streetshooter 9 Comments

C’mom, you know the XT something isn’t released yet but the XP55 is a true weatherproof, waterproof drop proof camera that makes the drudgery of walking in the snow fun. I gotta tell ya, the snow was falling hard on the good city and people of Philly, on me too. The wind was a blowing and a howling and just making things less than enjoyable. I pulled out the trusty Fuji and started making photos. In no time flat, I was having a good time clicking away. I would have loved to stay and really do a shoot but Tanya is worried I’ll fall and won’t be found till I’m frozen solid.

At this point in the day we had around 5″s on the ground and it was just getting started. The buildings protect the pedestrians and the homeless from the wrath of the storm. You can see that the snow is very light on the ground here near the Reading Market. Of course I had to go to the Market to eat before I go to the hospital. I just needed prescription refills and anger management session.

By the time I got out…the snow in West Philly was hitting around 8″s and climbing. The buses. I didn’t make any photos on the trolley, train or bus. See, we all know that Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love. Everyone in the world knows that. What they don’t know is that in times of stress, duress,storms,rain, lack of toilet paper, cold weather, warm weather, hot weather, I’m fighting with my husband…if you breathe near me I will cook your heart for dinner…

See, in Philly if any of the above situations or any other situation…..the law of the City of Brotherly Love is null and void. That means that as I’m on the bus, trolley or elevated train, if I bring out a camera….well, it won’t be a pretty picture. So beings that I’m smaaart, I chose to just look at everyone and spare all of us the agony of seeing my camera.

On the street, people just think I’m an idiot. I like that cause I’m an idiot with a camera. They don’t know that I’m a very serious Pho….idiot! So this storm will pass and the VA Hospital will treat more Vets and I’ll continue working on the next Issue of the Inspired Eye Magazine.

So be smart, safe and find the courage to continue your work….without using GAS for a reason to do so.

On the sidebar you’ll see some blogs that I like and visit. Check it out and if you have a blog etc, I’ll be glad to set a link for ya…..

Till later…..

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

January 20th, 2014 ….. MLK Day ….. Was I even Thinking Today?

January 20, 2014 streetshooter 6 Comments

Sometimes I like to just walk the streets and not look for photos. I suppose it’s an exercise to see if I can not make photos. I have tried this many times and I fail almost all the time. Some may think it’s a good failure but I on the other hand, think it’s important to pass this test. I don’t like to get complacent with my surroundings etc. So, by not making photos…I am passing some trigger mechanisms and just letting them be.

Could I be just clicking photos because I am there and the camera is at the ready? Is it possible that I am taking things for granted, like my wife says I do with her? Not a real pretty thought I tell ya. At what point do I say about my photos, “I like this, it matters to me”? How easy is it to just make photos just because I can? At what level do I have to make a photo to be satisfied? Can I just be happy being an old shooter and not be thrown off because I feel that some works are beneath my standards I set for myself?

I know that youse do not share this problem and that’s why i ask these questions for you to ponder.

If I think an image in my mind at the time I see some stimulus and I compose and click the shutter….is it justifiable to the state of my craft?

Here’s what I think. I think it’s ok and important to just make photos because you are in love with the entire process. I think that the standards we set for ourselves are beneath what they should really be. It’s easier to succeed and harder to fail with a lower standard. I think that I am my own worst enemy to my life and my work.

It’s ok to slack off once in a while. It’s not ok to not know your slacking off. If you are aware of your work, and work in the here and now…it’s ok to drift for a spell as long as you know your drifting and more importantly….you know where to get back to.

Have a good day………

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

January 19th, 2014 ….. Observations With The Fuji XP1

January 19, 2014 streetshooter 11 Comments

It’s a very interesting observation using the XP1 against the XE1. I’m not saying one is better than the other, just different working with them. The XP1 by default for me draws me to the OVF. I’m not talking about settings, I’m talking about working with the camera. The XE1 for me, draws me to the screen. Yeah, yeah, they both have screens and they both have EVFs. It’s a fact that I prefer the screen on any camera because of the way it presents the image to me. I haven’t likes any viewfinder since the Leica M cameras.

This is the OVF with the 27mm (40mm). I’m close and the accuracy is very close to what I’m seeing even tho’ I’m close. C’mon man, we all know the EVF is closer…yeah but the OVF allows me to use both eyes open. The thing that turns me on is that I can use both eyes. Well, there has to be adjustments made due to Focal Length. So, like the M, we can see the AF patch and frame lines with the right eye and by either squinting and or opening and closing the left eye, see the scene without the frame lines etc.

I’m not posting the most amazing images but I am posting different ways I see and work with the XP1 and now the 27mm. Tomorrow I will try the combination of the 18mm and the 27mm. That’s the Ricoh dream.

I am not trying to do a review of these cameras. I feel that in order to get a firm grip on the camera and my photography, it’s only right to do so after using them for a good period of time and experience. Yeah, you can go to the hot blogs and read all about any camera and get all excited and then, after a week, the blogger is selling something else. I’m not writing about getting yours or my GAS in high gear. I’m writing about making photos with a well tested camera that I still use after 15 new models came and went.

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January 15th, 2014 ….. Fuji XP1 and 35mm 1.4 brought me home …..again

January 15, 2014 streetshooter 12 Comments

Well, time to go to the VA Hospital (Veterans Administration) once again so that they can tell me all the things that they want to fix so I can live longer and maybe find my way home. I appreciate everything they do and any issues are inside me and not because of them. You must know that they do the best they can with what they have to work with.

Now we all know that going thru Center City on the bus and the elevated train, well….it might just be an inspiring event. hmmmm, for me it certainly is. So I loaded a roll of TRI-x into the Fuji XP1…c’mon, we all know that it’s a digicam….darn good and ya know…I gotta, it’s one of the best I ever used.

It’s got the 35mm 1.4 on because I committed to finding my way with a 50mm FOV. I don’t push things but I do strive to get things done and I will. On the way back I decided to do my standard 3.5 mile walk and find these pesky photos that are hiding from us. I said to Andre’, “We gotta find something out here”. He agreed….oh…sorry, Andre’ is my XP1 and Ding is my XE1. I know that you also name your cameras and also talk to them….no question ….. right? We walked for about 2 hours and truthfully< I wasn’t seeing anything that floated my boat.

I was thinking all last night in bed and all this morning about Minor White. When I get into this brain using procedure, everything except auto functions disconnects. I remember sitting in a field of all this beautiful grass that I would never see again and Minor said to me….“Don, it will always be right in front of you. You may search far and wide but in the end, it will be right there, right there in front of your heart.” Ya see, I had another man give me insight to life also….his name was Dr Murray Banks.

Dr Banks said this….“As you go throughout your life, brother, whatever be your goal….keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole”.”

Photography SHOOTER….PHOTOGRAPHY! See, I walked all over town on the path I’ve taken and loved for well over 45 years. I really didn’t see anything that could break the thoughts going thru my mind. I finally got on the bus to ge home and just think about Minor and Ding because they are alive in my heart and my mind.

I’m sitting on the bus….just glancing and then…all the sudden, Andre’ (Andre’ Kertesz) started heating up….he was just trying to get my concentration…….I looked at the door at the rear of the bus and thought, ain’t no life nowhere….. I changed the f/stop and the shutter speed without looking at Andre’ and slowly raised the XP1 up and on the rear screen,

behold…a photo that has awaken my concentration and said to me…..

press the shutter stupid!

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January 14th, 2014 ….. Some Memories about Photography & Ding McNulty

January 14, 2014 streetshooter

When I was younger, I would go out and shoot with the goal being 5 rolls. See, my developing tank at the time held 5 rolls. If I actually made the 5 rolls I felt as if I achieved my daily goal. I mean shooting 3 rolls meant that I was wasting chemicals because the tank held 5 rolls anyway.

I would process the film and make contact prints and search for that photo that made the experience even more memorable.

So one day Ding, (Ding McNulty (Curator of Prints and Pictures at the Philadelphia Museum of Art) asked me to bring in my months contact prints so he could see how I was thinking. A few days later, I did just that. I think I had about 70 sheets all nice and printed very well and shiny and looking so fine.

I handed Ding the box and he kinda gasped…..in disbelief. I instantly got nervous and realized that the darkroom secrets meant only for me was now naked in front of a real important curator at a museum. After 5 minutes, Ding asked me what I was doing, my method of working.

I explained about the 5 roll rule I set for myself and I was sure every master adhered to this kind of rule.

He took a magic marker, I remember yellow but I’m a B&W guy so yellow could be wrong and he boxed 3 images and told me to print them and come back.

When I returned in about a week, Ding looked at the prints. He once again used that marker and made shapes on the photos and made little notes. He told me to print the way he made the marks. This was the most exciting thing to me but I really didn’t get any of this yet. I returned in about a week once again and hold on…..(look, I was a Nam vet, poor upbringing in many ways, never went to college and this man was mentoring me without me even understanding why)….. so I showed the prints to Ding. He sat back and just studied each print as if he were looking at something so valuable that it would hurt to remove his eyes from them. That was the most important lesson I ever learned or would ever learn.

He sat back, placed the prints on top of my box and we started to talk. After a few minutes of I guess lecturing he asked me a crucial question. He said to me, “Don, do you see these 3 photographs?” Of course I see them, I made them, sheeeesh. “Don, do you see the 70 rolls of film here?” ( at this point I was elated because he saw the work, efforts and passion I had to get this 70 rolls of film.) He again asked me a question that the answer would rock my world for all eternity! What has more value to you, the 70 rolls or the 3 prints? I thought about for a few good minutes, sitting back in the chair like Ding always did. I inhaled thru my nostrils like Ding always did when he was deep in thought.

For some reason, even tho I breathed like Ding and had his posture in the chair, I kinda knew that his mind was in a place that I would work to achieve all my life. (I’m really good at what I do but truth be told, I’m not a pimple on Ding’s butt.)

So I answered when I really felt the answer. I said, I am sure that the 3 prints are the most important things to me. Then he said to me, “How many times can you get 3 good photos on a roll of film?” I answered 11 because I get 35 frames and this gives me 11 xs with 2 shots to spare or waste or whatever.

Don, why do you need 70 rolls of film that you can’t afford so easily to make 3 photos? Don’t answer! Just think about a possible answer.

Well, it’s been around 40 years since I was asked that question. Ding no doubt is curating the greatest most important exhibition of all time in HEAVEN. I’m really praying that at some point, no hurry either, that I may contribute to that exhibition.

I search for that answer every time I have my camera in hand, every time I sit and look at LightRoom, every time I look at my friends work on Flickr etc.

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

January 13th, 2014 ….. Fuji XE1 and 27mm (The Fuji XE1 and 40mm teach an old shooter new tricks)

January 13, 2014 streetshooter 8 Comments

Let’s just get this straight from the get go. I don’t like to have fun with my cameras. I never did in over 50 years and I ain’t starting now. Well, The XE1 has a different way of looking at things and well….sometimes in our conversation, (you do talk to your cameras, right)…the XE1 tells me to just relax and we will work together to find the right images. Yo’ I ain’t no Fuji fanboy…in fact, I don’t know what that even is. What I am is a very serious shooter that needs a camera to be as serious as me and my work. The truth is, man I hate to say this and you didn’t get this from me….. I am having fun with this setup. There, I said it and hopefully it will not last for long. I know….but it’s fun nonetheless…..

So I had the 27mm on the camera. This lens is the sleeper of the line in Fuji glass. I was walking with Serge and we went into the portal, well tunnel for normal shooters but for me and my cameras, it’s an image portal. The light was just calling out and Ding, Ding McNulty, my XE1 is named after Ding McNulty who was the curator of Prints and Pictures at the Philadelphia Museum of Art….well, Ding started moving in my hand, he gets this nervous twitch and I must at that point be getting to the Here and Now because he’s ready.

So I stopped walking and got lost in the moment because this woman is standing there on the phone against the walls that have heard everything for over 150 years. I saw the walls get darker with those tones that just intoxicate you. I felt the presence of lives past echoing and bouncing around. Then I raised Ding to get position, I didn’t have to move very much at all because the XE1 named Ding has worked with me to find my stance. She didn’t know I was there and I knew that most shooters would wait for her to turn to them, it would be a good shot also BUT…..it’n not my shot. I framed the photo and just took a slow breath and the…CLICK!

See, I could do that with many cameras but I am using the Fuji’s because they work with me. No, not Fuji….because they don’t know me at all but I know them. I have spoken about the here and now and intrusions etc for centuries and most get it….some think I’m nuts, especially my shrink at the VA cause he sayz I should be using my Leica’s and he’s right for the past but the past is now the present and in the present, I’m happy with what I’m using.

Tomorrow is another day and I’m out again for a spell.

The next issue of The Inspired Eye Magazine is in production and should be published shortly.If you would like to submit work, there’s the reader gallery and also send me a note if you have an interesting idea….thanks, later ….. don

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer