So the time was running out in my mind to get really settled in with Andre’ the Fuji XP1 and his 23mm that acts like a 35mm. See, as much as I like the camera and lens, if it doesn’t respond to me in the manner I want and need….it can go to eBay and find someone else to work with. Fortunately for us, that is an impossibility. See, when I’m working…I don’t want a camera to disappear or be numb. I don’t want it poking my hand either or making stupid choices or worse, force me to make choices at the wrong time. Well, that’s called intrusions.

What’s an intrusion? Your sitting on the toilet, reading your ipod, iphone etc and no one is home. Then when it’s time and really important, you realize that there is no paper around. That my friends is an intrusion.

So Andre’ and I were walking for a few hours and covered the terrain we both know oh so well. The 23mm has now found it’s home on Andre’ and with me. We are at one. We are complete and we are content to forge ahead in the new world of seasons and find the hidden photos that we will bring to life together.

Andre’ was relaxing in my right hand with the Luigi Strap making him and I feel secure about not being separated. I felt a vibration start and I saw the light that Mother Nature provided to help us on our journey. I leaned over the railing of the lower courtyard of the Municipal Services Plaza and saw a shadow that looked like us. I thought…geeze, that’s odd. That shadow looks like us Andre’, what do you think about that?

See, here’s the thing. The Fujifilm X-PRO 1 is a camera that will either make or break a shooter. I am dead serious. I use Andre’ in AI mode of Manual. AI is a robot that is somewhere in time. Ok..OK….    Andre’ looked at the shadow and made me move a little so that the 23mm 35mmFOV lens could accommodate the scene. I was looking at them shadows I tell ya. I saw the making of a photo and kept looking at the shadow wondering how they looked like us.

Andre’ had enough and said..”Look at the man STUPID……that’s the shot. Of course he was right and  the 3 of us framed it and came home to our counterpart…the PC with Light Room …but that my friends is another story.

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……………………………………………..