What.....?

As I was walking back to Penn Station yesterday, I turned the corner onto 57th Street and saw a woman facing away from me. Leopard skin hat, paisley jacket, striped pats suit - I had no idea what was in store for me when she turned around, but I knew it had to be interesting. I picked up the camera to compose the shot of her back, and just as I was ready to push the shutter she turned and looked right into the lens. I knew there's be no chance for a second shot so I pressed the shutter and prayed that the autofocus would click in. After I walked past her I was tempted to 'chimp' the shot (look at it on the LCD) but I knew if I'd missed it I'd feel terrible, and if I got it, I probably wouldn't pay attention for the rest of the walk back.  Her hands came up when she saw me with the camera almost in her face, as if to say 'What ......?'

Just another typical New Yorker.

Back At It

Finally, I'm getting back into my New York street peregrinations. I'm still not at 100%, but I was out this afternoon and it felt really good. I didn't see much, but that's not because it wasn't there to see. I'm still fuzzy headed. What I could shoot had some substance to it, but could have been done better technically. But still, it was fun.

I've pretty much got the hand grip and position of the X-Pro1 worked out. I'll be getting at thumb grip that fits into the hot shoe, and that should go a long way to getting my fat thumb out of the way of some buttons and controls. My focus timing still needs some work - I miss quite a few shots still - but it's coming along. 

What I really need most of all is a heavy dose of patience. That's the biggest hurdle for me to overcome with the XP1. Shooting with it is so different compared to the DSLR experience. Working with the XP1 is much like handling my Leica M6. That's a good thing for me. I fell into a trap with my D700, using it's technical speed and accuracy to replace my intention. The XP1 really forces me to think ahead and prepare the moment better. And that can only help to make me a better photographer.

As I was walking across West 57th street this afternoon, I passed these two girls. Something clicked in my head when I saw them, but I was thinking about a shot I'd just taken a few moments before and I was past them when it finally registered. Luckily I was still close enough to turn and catch up to them. I actually like this shot better than if I'd gotten their faces - which would have distracted from what originally caught my attention.

Say hello to the polka-dot sisters.

On The High Line

I went out for a walk on New York's High Line yesterday to get my walking legs back into shape after a layoff of two weeks. The High Line is an elevated rail line that was built after World War I so as to move freight between the New York Hudson River docks and manufacturing sites. The original tracks were at ground level, but there were so many accidents with pedestrians and other vehicles that the elevated tracks became a necessity. The elevated line runs between very narrow gaps of buildings. It's been made into a city park with interesting views of the city skyline and the Hudson River, and in the couple of years since it's beginning the trees and other horticulture has really begun to develop and grow. It's also an ideal spot for people watching and candid street shooting.

I continue to be surprised by the quality of the images the Fuji X-Pro1 is capable of producing. The camera's color renditions are strong and its ability to handle a wide exposure range makes it a match for any pro level dslr. Here's a color shot with very little processing to it, mostly white and black point adjustment. The camera registered the bright highlights of the clouds and the white building in the background, as well as the subtle differences in the white and yellow stripes of the girl's shirt, and still held detail in the shadows of the dark girl's shaded face. The details in the black hair and the knitted pattern of the girl's blue blouse give the image a real feeling of texture.

Back At It

After two weeks of no shooting I was back at it again today. During the two week layoff I acquired some rust. I think that no matter where I decided to go today, it would have been an uninspired walk. I was just too preoccupied with monitoring how I felt to be able to really see what was going on around me.

The walk, however, gave me a chance to experiment with a different camera strap. Up till now I'd been using the standard neck strap on my X-Pro1 which I liked because it was very lightweight and thin. I could hang the camera around my neck, over my shoulder, or wrap the strap around my wrist and carry the camera in my hand at my hip. But that presented some difficulty in taking vertical shots from chest level - that was my favorite position for the D700 while walking. I transferred the R-Strap, which I'd been using for three years, from the Nikon to the Fuji camera. At first it felt a little strange, because the XP1 is so light I felt as though there was nothing on the end of the strap. But it did the job. I could hold the camera in vertical orientation much more comfortably in the middle of my chest. I wish I had gotten some good shots to show you today, but I'm sure there will be another opportunity this week. For now, here's two horizontal shots from last month.

My Weekend of No Shooting

The weather was absolutely beautiful Saturday and Sunday. Both days perfect for a street walk in New York. But I decided to stay in and sleep the entire weekend away. Really.

It wasn't really my choice. Just not feeling too great. My enforced hibernation gave me a chance to dig through my work from the past several weeks of shooting with the XP1. As I look at the work now, I see that I've been getting the same ratio of keepers and outtakes that I got with the Nikon D700. So it seems I've really gotten comfortable with the camera and its quirks. I still have to work out some logistics issues with my fat thumbs pushing buttons without telling me - I think the solution to this will be a thumb grip device that was originally intended for the Leica M9. And I may have come up with a way to use my Black Rapid strap.  All good stuff, if I ever recover and get out and shoot again. Maybe this next week.

I love to work with windows and reflections. The 18mm f2 Fuji lens is the widest made for the camera for the time being. With the smaller APS-C sensor the effective focal length is 28mm which is a bit narrow for me. I thought it would be a hinderance, but now that I've gotten better adjusted to it, I can work with the focal length. I absolutely love the resolution of this lens. Word is that Fuji is planning to release a 14mm f2.8 lens later this year. That would make it effectively a 21mm lens. I'm looking forward to getting my grubby paws on that one.

Tex Logan Birthday Bash

When I was 19 years old, I and a few other local bluegrass musicians discovered that fiddle legend Tex Logan lived close by. We decided to pay him a visit and ask him to play in our band - oh yeah, we had chutzpah. Tex, besides being a monster fiddler, received his PhD. from MIT. He worked for Bell Labs many years. When I decided I wanted to learn bluegrass fiddle, Tex was an inspiration to me. 

When Bill Monroe was scheduled to play several college dates in the Northeast over the course of several months, Tex was asked to play fiddle but could play only one of the shows which was at Jordan Hall in Boston, Mass. He suggested to Bill Monroe that I play twin fiddle with him for that show, and then by myself for the other two shows. That gave me the opportunity to 'audition' with Monroe, and resulted in Monroe's invitation for me to come to Nashville to work for him.

Tex's daughter, Jody, threw a party for his 85th birthday and invited musicians from across the country to come and jam. I don't have much of an opportunity to play bluegrass fiddle these days. All the music I play is as a violinist in an orchestra or string quartet. I went to the party not so much to play as to take photos of the event - just personal shots of my friends and colleagues having fun together. 

Tex was a gracious host, and his mind is as sharp as it ever was. It was a joy to spend some time with him. I hope we can do it again for his 90th birthday party.  

Here's a shot of Tex thanking everyone for coming to celebrate with him.

I dug this photo out of my archives of memorabilia. I don't know who took it. It was backstage at Jordan Hall. On the left partially out of the frame is Peter Rowan playing guitar, that's me and Tex playing fiddle (I'm on the left) Bill Monroe is center between us, and Bill Keith is to the right of Tex.

Still Arguing about Film Vs. Digital

I read a blog post by Eric Kim here in which he talks about the experience of using film to shoot street work, and vows to never go  back to digital. Well, we'll see about that. To be sure there are esthetic reasons that film is beautiful to shoot for any type of photography. I will never sell my Leica M6 because I know there will be some time in the future when I just want to throw some Fuji Neopan 400 in there camera and have a fun day. All the advantages that Eric Kim poses for shooting film are true. But ......

1) He mentions that shooting film removes the impulse for immediate gratification he could get by looking at the lcd on the back of the camera, and it increases the joy of anticipation to see what was actually captured. So don't look, or better yet turn off the lcd - it will save battery power. Exercising discipline and restraint are key factors in growing as any kind of artist or creative person.

2) He says it forces him to give more consideration to his shots and work slower. It's not the camera's or medium's fault - again, discipline and restraint.

3) He points out that if someone were to ask you to delete an image, you can't because it's on a roll of film and you can't just delete one frame. But, if the person doing the asking is an angry 6'5", 250 lb. behemoth, I don't think that answer will wash. What's to stop her from grabbing the camera and ripping the whole roll of film out of it!

4) When you put a roll of ISO 400 film in a camera, that's what you have for 36 exposures. If you expect to shoot on the street, but find some dark alley with deep shadows you're out of luck - unless you want to rewind your film and replace it with a roll of ISO 1600 film.

5) If you have a roll of b/w film in the camera and just happen across a scene that screams to be produced in color (admittedly this happens very infrequently, but still .....) again, you're out of luck, see #3.

6) After you have shot your roll of film in lighting conditions that were consistent and you want to develop the film in a tank, whatever development you choose - water temperature, degree of agitation, length of development time - for any particular frame on that roll will be the same for every other frame. There's no way to control the development contrast for any particular image. This particular parameter was at the heart of the zone system which required separate development for each negative plate - sure there were many people who attempted to modify and adjust the zone system for 35mm photography, but none of those really worked out. Digitally, it's a piece of cake.

7) Lastly (for this particular blog post), while analog processing (as in - with chemicals) may have a certain nostalgic appeal for those who didn't come of age during a time in history when there was no other option, I, for one, don't miss the hassle of mixing chemicals, putting up with the smell and mess, or the expense of film and darkroom materials. I would certainly agree that software costs money too. But the flexibility offered by that software and digital processing far outweighs all the romantic nostalgia to which Kim espouses in his blog.

And by the way, have you ever started working on developing a digital image and been interrupted by a phone call, a call of nature, or needed to take a food break? Developing film? Forget about it.

Here's a shot from my most recent photo walk. It's not perfect by any means, the focus is a little soft. But I  just like the shot. The message on the woman's bag seems to me so contrary to the unfriendly look on her face.