Tag Archives: Ricoh

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

The Ricoh GR …. My UN-Real Reality Check

June 27, 2013 streetshooter 6 Comments

There’s something that happens when you bond with your camera. This is serious poopy…. Ya see, if we have issues with our camera as a tool, then we assume like many that we need to learn the tool to get the desired result. That’s a safe assumption but that also makes way for the reality of our vision. As long as we are learning a camera and how the 2 of us see together, it’s easy to just snap away and not be too concerned about the results. I mean after all….the freaking camera won’t do what I ask it to do and all these crappy images are the cameras fault because I won’t be accountable for my actions……BULL>>>t!

It’s easy to blame the camera or anything but ourselves for faulty image capturing procedures. I mean who wants to be accountable for our stuff? Well, sorry folks…I do and I stand accountable for everything. I don’t blame the camera, computer, darkroom, chemicals, digital chemicals or anything for my failures and also I claim credit for my success, whatever that may be.

Case in point. I’m training 2 cameras at the same time. They are the Ricoh GR and the Nex 6. They both have similar file sizes and output. They are different but the same. We are a trio making our way to the Dream Land of Shooter Images.

Sometimes when I’m on the street working, I feel a longing for my other cameras that have found new friends and or homes. I guess because I’m working the streets that I have worked with many, many different cameras. I try to stay focused on the present but I drift more and more to the other side of reality.

Sometimes as I walk I feel very alone. I feel the camera in my hand and the guilt of not feeling those that passed before us.

I guess in the end, all my photos and all my cameras will outlive me and then the cameras can get together and bid me farewell and maybe even send me to eBay………..

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

The Ricoh GR …. To Snap or not to Snap ….That is the Question

June 25, 2013 streetshooter 4 Comments

As most of youse shooters know, I’ve been having issues of sorts with the GR. I think the biggest issue is/was my own expectations. So I decided to abandon the pre-conceptions I have from the Ricoh GRD4 and re-think the Ricoh GR. Probably the biggest reason that shooters respond to the GRD series is the Snap Mode. Yes, the GR has it also.

I have been having issues with the ISO in TAv and this is directly causing a problem in Snap Mode.

So I normally put Fn1 button to toggle AF/Snap. Then Fn2 gets to set the Snap Distance. It’s a very fast way to work but maybe that’s the problem. Maybe just maybe I don’t need to work that fast anymore. I ain’t no rookie out there on the streets. I like to SEE what I’m working on to make a photo. I also want the option to work fast if I need to and also again I might like to hang the camera on a strap around my neck and do chest shots etc. This creates a conundrum of sorts because my mind works faster then the camera because I take meds and the camera doesn’t but should because I think the Ricoh GR has a split personality.

So here’s what I came up with. Now you must understand that if I can’t resolve the issues I have with the GR, it’s gone. Here’s how I am working to resolve some issues.

The camera works best (for me) on TAv mode. I get to set the aperture, to control DOF and the Shutter Speed to control the amount of movement/blur I want in the photo. The camera will choose the ISO out to 25600 but I also get to set EV comp which I hardly ever do but will do because it’s available and Ray and Wouter and Craig and Jorge and…… think it’s a good idea.

At this point I would normally set my f/stop to the desired number to get the DOF I want. Ah hah….here’s the problem. By toggling Fn1, I can use Snap or AF at will. Ok…..but this is a 2 press procedure. I have to press Fn1 to get where I want and then release.

I am now using AF mode with Full Press Snap on. With the GR, the AF is very fast and accurate and the Full Press Snap is also. The difference is….. if I’m using AF because I want to get things focused the way I want and then decide that I have to work fast… I just have to hit the release all the way and BANG…the world of the GR is a safe place again.

This may sound like the obvious solution but as a shooter, we need to find the path of discovery by ourselves. Yeah yeah….bulldinky shooter…get to the darn point again….sheeeesh!

The point is this. In order to use the AF you need to look at the screen. If your looking at the screen and framing the photo, well that’s a great way to work. It’s not the only way but it’s a great way. Many things can happen. You could even face confrontation but you have to deal with these things or you’ll stay on the computer and play video games….yuch!

So now the GR and I are learning to communicate with each other again. I think at some point I’ll feel like a real photographer again. Until that time, about 30 minutes from now, I’ll just keep working to understand myself and my relationship to Tanya….not the camera…my wife…..

It’s freakin’ hot here and I gotta get off the computer….

see ya’s all soon…..

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

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

Your Cameras, Friends or Tools

June 23, 2013 streetshooter 4 Comments

Here’s how I operate and always did. I’m not saying that this will work for you but I’d be willing to be that it does. There are cameras for any number of reasons to have and hold a camera. I break it down to two.

1st. The camera as a tool. When I was younger and had more body strength and less brains…(Inverse Square Law again).. I used a Canon 5D with all the nice “L” lenses. Yes, I used this camera for anything until one day I said….enough. See I had used many digital cameras but for WORK, this was the TOOL.

When I picked up the 5D, my mind automatically started to think about work and everything that goes along with that word. It’s a great camera and somewhat elegant even but I never found that many images with it for my PERSONAL work. Sure there were some but few and far between.

These photos are not from the 5D, I just wanted to post them so don’t even think about it…….

I made money with the 5D and I did a lot of work including for the Mural Arts Program here in Philly. I felt that I had the perfect tool for the task at hand. I was right.

2nd. The Friend. The camera that is your friend it the one that provides a few things. It makes you think about what your doing and not what it’s doing. (BIG DIFFERENCE). It feels like you are with a buddy, friend, brother, sister etc when you go out together. There is a closeness that can only be felt and not verbally described because it’s more than just a feeling….

When the time is now to go and MAKE images, you get your friend and go to WORK. There’s a difference in the definition of the word WORK. I’m sure you get this. Here we are working for the very essence of our being. Too heavy? No it’s not….

My wife Tanya, not the GR but the GR is named after her because I have to keep peace and harmony in the home front because she takes care of me and keeps me from going overboard and crappy stuff like that so I do her honor as a life partner and name the Ricoh GR after her.

Anyway…I’m back…..when I was working…for money,in business, I would come to the kitchen door and she made me take my shoes off immediately. Then she gave me a pair of soft slippers. Of course a hug follows, maybe a kiss but not too much, we don’t want to start any bad habits….

One day I asked her a question. I asked her why she made me change my shoes to slippers almost immediately. She looked at me ad said…”American’s, you know nothing about life”. When you come into the house, you must change your psychology. Changing your shoes is the start. Leave your work stuff on the job and enjoy being home and with me. Ya know, no one has ever explained anything close to that to me and kept it so simple and direct. Of course now, I don’t question that ritual or others anymore, I just GROK the meaning and live it.

GET TO THE POINT SHOOTER!

When I go to do a shoot for work or business, I pick up my working camera and immediately I am in the frame of mind for the task at hand. My INTENT is clear.

When I go out to do my personal work, I pick up a friend and my INTENT once again is clear. There are a few things to work out here and I’ll explained what I learned and pass it on to you. Take it with a shot, a beer orr lemonade I don’t care just think about the next few things.

GAS is a problem many have and there’s only one cure….depleted bank account…Oh, one more A RUSSIAN WIFE. It’s easier to deal with the bank account then the …well…you get it.

One of the feeding factors for GAS is fining the right camera etc. Is there a cure for that? Heck ya, easy. If you can define the purpose of your cameras then you can find a STOP for GAS. Not a cure but a real reason to not enter the GAS arena.

I am assuming if your reading this that your more serious about your photography than the ones not reading this. Try to arrange your thoughts about your INTENT and what camera leads to that fulfillment.

I have one camera that I consider Transitional and that’s the NEX 6. Oh, hold on…. The Nex is a close trusted friend but I could do work with it because it’s an AZZ kicking camera. All the photos on the post were born from the NEX 6 and the OM 24mm 2.8.

I gotta run cause it’s Russian Tea Time…I must oblige because Tanya watches WWE and she’s learned some good moves and I’m not into loosing a match.

More tomorrow…..later friends……don

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh Gr …. Has to Learn From the GRD4!

June 20, 2013 streetshooter 18 Comments

I really like the GR and I want our relationship to go further but I’m not sure. No, I ain’t ditching anything and I’m not talking bad about the camera I’m just expressing what I am missing from my work and I guess the GR.

I like surprises for meals, maybe for friends calling or showing up….., maybe even the surprise of a photo that tells me do it in color…..These things and more mind you are acceptable surprises.

What I don’t like is the surprise that the GR with it’s sense of humor provides because the Ricoh engineers started dancing with the Pentax engineers and so as not to be rude with each other and make a more perfect union in their eyes but not in the users eyes because the camera doesn’t do what we WANT OR NEED it to do creates a surprise that will eventually cost them most Ricoh users because like me they will sell the camera because we doin’ need no sense of humor from our camera when we’re working.

Youse peoples know me….I am very much into my photography and it is my life’s work. Fact it, many of youse all’s are in the same boat. The issue for me is this. I want to be able to set my shutter speed and aperture and TRUST the camera to set the ISO. This has to be done without me being FORCED to look at the screen to guess what the camera is doing.

There is a mode on the camera, GR, that is called TAv. It’s on the mode dial…yeah, that one up there. TAv is almost the perfect mode for any camera but it isn’t yet. Here’s why.

As stated I have shown my preferences for exposure. I always test my cameras so that I know how the ISO will effect the image.

TAv gives us this… We get Shutter Speed and Aperture. We also get EV adjustment. We even get Auto ISO BUTT!!!!!

On the Auto ISO we don’t get to set a limit. I’d like to limit the high ISO to 4000. Ray goes to 6400. I want the option to set that upper limit on the fly…well on the walkabout. The problem is that we can’t set the upper limit on ISO in this mode.

Now I am the first to confess that “The United International Intergalactic Amalgamated Organization of Confederate and Non-Confederate Pixel Peepers” has a hit on me for making photos without due respect to the sensor, ISO, Lens and what the heck whatever it is that they or I do.

I am guilty of per-suing my vision with whatever means available to me to create the image that I see and feel. This means that by all rights, I should not mind the camera destroying my images because I might do it myself anyway by raising the ISO to to the region that no mane has gone before.

I’m damn sure not Cap’t Kirk. I don’t mind throwing the ISO up high but I WANT TO BE IN CONTROL OF THAT!

The GR will shoot the ISO up to 25600. Let me tell ya right here and now. It darn sure ain’t no pretty pictures living up there and that’s from me the guy that, the group is after.

Ray suggested I use A mode and for over a week I have done so. It works…..but not for me. I’m getting to many blurred photos. Don’t even thing about that…… I know what is causing the problem….In A mode I can’t set the Speed.

The thing is this. The GRD4, the best street camera ever published does it like this. In “M” Mode….you set the Shutter Speed, the Aperture and the ISO to Auto. I set the high limit to 3200. I set the camera to say….ohhhh uh…. 1/250 F/5.6…Auto ISO

So no matter what I do, I can just work and not have to look at the screen for those numbers and flashing lights and all kinds of things that distract my mind and create the INTRUSION I will not tolerate in any camera!

The GRD4 will just let you work. Check this out. We know the GRD4 is clean to 800. When I say clean i mean it’s gritty but clean for details. So If I want to, I could adjust my exposure, say speed from 1/250 to 1/1000 and the ISO will push to the max. I know that I want that look for this image aso I have the control in the camera because I trust the camera to do what we as a team set up.

So far, the GR does not do this. I know why too. It’s the new kid on the block. So of course it’s flexing it’s muscles and spreading it’s wings. I started to leave the GR on the shelf with the GRD4 by themselves. See the GRD4 is the MOTHER of the GR and my hopes are that she will teach her, the GR to behave and do what she is capable of doing and leaving her mark in the History of Ricoh.

The White GRD4’s name is Andre’, don’t ask…I think the GRD4 is Bi and that’s ok with me. I’m open minded but my wife Tanya is from Russia so she thinks I’m crazy telling youse that my camera is Bi. She’s very happy that I go to the VA Hospital and talk to the nice Doctors there.

There’s a few threads at DPR and Ricoh Forum that are an interesting read. Many are trying to come up with a workaround but…only the Ricoh/Pentax engineers can do it. I’m told that they are heavily medicated and locked in a room discussing things like firmware….can you imagine….

All kidding aside, this is a major setback for the GR and hopefully it can be resolved.
…..later…..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh GR is a Part of My Work

June 18, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

I don’t really like surprises when I’m working. It actually annoys me and breaks my concentration. Well I was heading to Independence Mall going East on Market Street. I hit 6th Street and the GR, (Tanya from here on) started shaking in my hand. What is it I asked Tanya. Well, ya gotta understand that where I’m standing there’s more Federal Marshall’s, Police and guys dressed in black because this is the location of the Federal Court House. I probably looked stupid standing there talking to my camera let alone calling it’s name Tanya….

Tanya is in my right hand and she’s pulling hard right. Just like a woman, she’s gotta have her way. Ok, I won’t fight anymore. I looked right and low and behold….there’s a poster staring me right in the face and the light is calling to me.

~~~~Shooter come hither Shooter~~~ well, how could I resist, actually how could I not obey. Oh yeah….I love that word OBEY! I’m looking across the street at this little girls eyes and I start to walk over to her. There’s a bench under a roof for the bus stop. I sit down and rest a second and the little girls eyes just pierced my heart to my soul. I sat as I watched people going about their business. The buses came, taxis drove by, cars, firetrucks, police cars and I wondered why no one stopped to read the words on the ad for fighting Cancer. I felt like she was all alone and not a single person cared about her or her plight.

Then a bus slowly started to come into the REFLECTION and I saw the wheels like her eyes and then this man walked right into the frame not even aware of this little girl. Tanya got pissed off and fired a shot. She told me not to put the words in the frame because if people don’t get the message from the little girls eyes…then nothing would ever wake them up anyway…..

So the photo above is going Viral at Flickr because people at Flickr and all the members gotz class….. Below is a shot Ray Sachs made of me the other day …..oh yeah, that’s Tanya around my neck……

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh GR Has a Sense of Humor

June 17, 2013 streetshooter 2 Comments

Ya know, sometimes I wish the GR had a better sense of humor. Don’t get it wrong now. If I screw up, it’s the first one around to laugh at me but if the camera screws up….it blames it on me. So I said to the GR…(Tanya from here out)..Tanya, lets go find some photos. Well, Tanya is always good with that beings that shes firmly attached to me by a strap.

So we’re walking along, actually I’m walking and she’s along for the ride. I saw this background and I liked the way it looked and in the near distance I saw this woman moving towards us. So I used my thumb, without taking my eyes off the woman and background and pressed to Snap Distance.

I was now ready but the timing had to be perfect….it always has to be perfect and you have to release at that exact second to get what your after……Come’on….that’s why we use Ricoh’s right…..as she approached I saw the photo in my head and then in reality…..CLICK!

We started walking again and came upon Market East. Tanya twitched my hand and I looked right. This girl was just standing there. I mean I stopped, looked for a minute easy and she never moved, not a muscle. By this time Tanya was shaking her IS off to get me to go to work. I walked over and made a photo and actually, it’s Tanya’s shot I was just there along for the ride.

It seemed like color day to me and Tanya knew I was upset that we didn’t make any b&w shots. Well, the commitment to the image is at exposure so yes, we do our conversions on the street at exposure before getting to the computer. This is a harden steadfast rule that I can break at will whenever. It’s the best kind of rule to have.

So I wanted some coffee and Tanya wanted to rest in the pocket. As we walked to the Reading Market, I saw a photo that I thought could be interesting…….CLICK!

Sometimes people look at Tanya and I get kinda jealous. This guy was looking right at her eye. I mean he stared right at her, never seeing me. I don’t know what he was thinking but this being Philly, we made our getaway quickly.

Tanya doesn’t like photos like this. I told her it’s because she’s not Human but just a camera. She smiled, like f/2.8 wide open and said to me….

Listen buster….you think I’m just a camera but when people look at my photos, they think I’m more HUMAN than you are…….

Don’t sweat friends, she’s a lady and has a ladies prerogative to think the way she wants…

See ya’s tomorrow if my Doc lets me out of the Hospital……..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh GR and I have found our way together.

June 16, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

I had to run this again as it went viral at Flickr. She’s had almost 4400 views so far and still climbing. I’m just going to post some photos and I’ll write a better word post tomorrow…..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh Gr is saved by Ray Sachs

June 14, 2013 streetshooter 10 Comments

That’s Ray up above with the Nikon Coolpix A. Nice camera, great guy. To the story…..

As you all know I’ve been struggling with the Gr because there are certain things it doesn’t do. I like the camera but we haven’t bonded to the point that I can say, it’s my camera. I talked with Ray on the phone…(it’s a real analog voice thing) a few times last week for hours and he explained to me how he adapted to the camera.

Here’s my scenario. I get many request to edit work, teach workshops on Street etc, help a shooter out, male and or female etc. It’s nice to be trusted with this. So I really don’t ask anyone about my work because I’m at the point of self realization. I’m not bragging, I’m just living in a very comfortable zone with my lifes work.

So Ray advised me to try Av instead of TAv. Well, I spent years using A Mode with different cameras and I was very famliar with it. I really liked the idea of TAv because it reminded me of M mode on the GRD4. On the GRD4, we can choose…shutter speed, aperture and I used Auto ISO. I trusted the camera to use an ISO up to a limit I could set.

This means I just work with the subject matter and the LIGHT. The camera works ISO to make things right. even if I screw it up.

Well, the Ricoh Pentax engineers decided to screw that up real nice. If your in TAv mode, you can choose the Aperture and the Shutter Speed. You even get to use EV BUT!….the camera sets ISO and you CAN’T set a high limit. Ok, ok…I know…I am the destroyer of PIXELS in a image. It’s my choice to do that, I don’t want the camera making choices I don’t know about and sending the ISO up to 25600.

Ray told me on the phone to try A mode. I sat back, did a shot of single malt that I have hidden from the Russian CZAR Tanya because she doesn’t want me to drink and tells me so as she sips some wine and tells me that I’m too old to drink alcohol!

Out of camera straight using the street settings I use with A mode. I went in and poped the shutter. Amazing how the GR adapts on the spur of the moment.

The Nikon Coolpix A helping Ray do a shot. I didn’t want to touch it and Ray asked me if I wanted to used a card and try it out. I knew it could be trouble.

So if I’m the guy some people call to help with images etc, what about me? I have friends that are all experts in different areas of photography and life. I had planned to shoot on Friday and the weather wouldn’t stop me. Even in bad rain, I could work underground.

Then Ray said he would like to meet on Friday. I jumped at the chance because Ray is #1 on my list of trusted people with the STREET knowledge of cameras.

So I knew that as a gentleman I would have to be using the suggestions Ray prompted me to use. I spent a few hours Thursday practicing the Av mode on the GR. I was ready. If Ray looked at my camera, sheeeeet…he’d see it set on Av mode. I had no intention of ever using that on the GR. Then all the sudden, after the 2nd shot of Single Malt on Thursday……something hit me in the head.

I figured it was the scotch but it was the camera. Eureka! I have seen the light. Now I just had to really test it on the street.

So the moral of the story, the moral of the song…is that one should never be where one does not belong….

I thank Ray from the bottom of my heart for guiding me to the light. My GR thanks him more than that because it was going to eBay this evening. It’s great to be a photographer and it’s great to have a few cameras that do what you want them to do with you. It’s a blessing to have friends. It’s a blessed gift to have friends that can shed light on something that is so important to you and grant you the freedom to continue your work.

So the GR ain’t going anywhere but out with me…Now if I could just get my nice Luigi’s strap to work on it…….hmmmmm

Have a great weekend my friends and make photos. Later………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The Ricoh Gr is like Josey Wales…….

June 13, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

Well, rain, rain, rain. I can’t get to the street until tomorrow and I’ll be there regardless of weather. So I said to myself….Self…you gotta work this here camera and find yer images with it. Tis a good thing sometimes to be trapped in a familiar place with a not so unfamiliar camera.

I know that i try very hard never to get complacent with my surroundings. The garden is the exact place to feel refreshed. I was just testing the Snap Focus Distances at different apertures so that I have a similar understanding as I have with my GRD4.

Of course, there exist a different dof due to the sensor size in the cameras.

At any rate….I looked at the grill that doesn’t work anymore because my friend wanted to fix it even tho it wasn’t broken so now it is and it’s a fine plant holder kinda thing taking up space and reminding me of how pissed I get when I can’t grill a friggin steak that I can’t eat because Tanya says it’s bad for me……

So that fond memory of forgotten memories that I don’t want to remember prompted the above photo. I like the photo but can do without those memories.

The GR is a fine camera. There are a few things with it that I don’t like and I’m sure that Ricoh will not fix those few things in a firmware update. I have learned to accept all things that pass by and thru my life as if it were a part of me for a few seconds. There’s things living inside my body that I don’t like and I have to accept that so I can deal with the Ricoh GR.

Tomorrow I’ll be working the streets. Well, making photos, the young girls will be making money….Yeah…young boys too…this is Philly.

I’ll definitely make a post about the camera and images. I’ll try to be more serious but to be honest, I really won’t be able to do that. There are a few things I need to work out and tomorrow is the Day of Reckoning. Until then, no doubt I’ll be talking to our flowers. I get sad when they show up and grace our lives with their presence… and then die and preserve life for the next generation.

I only hope that next season Tanya and I will be here to greet them…..

….all things are created equal and a like….those veins give me life just like the stems give the plants and flowers life……

The GR will give my images life…………..There is strength in your words Josey Wales………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Off Street, Photography, Street, Street Photography, Street Presets, Streetshooter, Uncategorized

The GR as a Street Camera and Not Just Any Street…..

June 12, 2013 streetshooter Leave a comment

So I get my cup of Kona ready and of course I have to hide the Bokum because Tanya thinks I don’t need caffeine because I’m getting older and that stuff is for Olivier cause he’s younger and can control the energy.

I walk out to the garden to sip the first cup of Kona and then sneak the second cup because I can. As I’m standing there I can see a mass of critters looking at me.

The rabbits are on the left with the squirrels. The Groundhog is center stage. He’s the biggest but the meekest also……then all the birds in the world converge on my garden and I then realized….this is a shared garden. There’s slugs crawling around, worms digging holes, ants that take care of the Peony’s and some other things…like eat leftovers and such…..

The said to me….Yo’ dude…like this is a shared space and we let you use it to garden stuff in it. We have rights and….I then cut the speech off and said….Look….if this is a shared garden, why are Tanya and I doing all the hard labor and paying for everything?

The groundhog was the spokesman and said…we let you eat everything we don’t want…we never criticize where you put things so…….

We want to negotiate a contract. We want the garden to be as important to you as the street is. THIS IS OUR STREET and you don’t pay enuff attention to it.

I tried to negotiate a clause to ban the mosquitoes but no go…..something about they keep me in check…..

Here’s a few from Garden Street…….

It takes all kinds of critters to make a world….even a street….

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer