9.20.2016
It's Photokina Week. I should be waking up thinking of cameras and lenses. But really, I mostly just thought about swimming.
The Fuji MF camera announcement was fun and interesting. The new Olympus EM-1 mk.2 looks like a really nice upgrade. The Sony a99-2 look promising but engenders some marketing confusion. It's all interesting to someone.
But when I woke up before my alarm clock this morning the dog looked at me incredulously then turned over and went right back to sleep. It was still quite dark outside; like, maybe minus 10 EV. But all I could think about was getting to the pool and jumping into the cold, clear water. I was anticipating the pure joy of fast paced swimming while watching the slow sunrise over the bathhouse and the first brush of the golden glint of fresh sun on the water.
My friends are pretty excited about the new photo stuff. They burrow down into their own system stories and geek out about things that I think are small evolutions. But I haven't touched a camera today and it's almost lunch time.
I've been working on finishing up some marketing postcards (real, physical, paper cards delivered by the post office), and doing the accounting for the state sales tax payment. Answering correspondence, responding to requests for bids on LinkedIn's Pro-Finder program and paying bills. All the stuff that goes on all the time in small businesses everywhere. The stuff we do when we don't have cameras in front of us.
This afternoon I'll address and stamp mailers. I might take a look and see if anyone has posted any breakthrough camera news. But then, at sunset, I'm heading back to the pool to work on some unhurried stroke mechanics. I'm finding that as we get older our technique has to get better and better in order for us to stay competitive.
It's exactly like photography. When we no longer have the advantages of youth, and the connections gained by age parity with art directors and assorted creatives, the thing we can bring to the table is polished vision and deep technique. The stuff you learn the hard way --- with the experience and the passage of time.
In the water, behind the camera, it's all the same. A perfected flip turn saves you time. Having lit a thousand portraits well also saves you time. Daily practice. Unwavering focus. Seems to pay off.
8 comments:
You "bought" about swimming? A little Freudian slip there maybe? :-)
Now correctly but probably quite Freudian. Thanks for the assist.
I'm monitoring Photokina butt-first. I mean, I think of what kind of camera will improve my work, within my budget, and then reject all that don't. So far, only the new Panasonic FZ2000 and the Nikon 24-500 look interesting. (Sorry, Sony, I shoot active kids, dancers, and speakers, which rules out the RX10 xx; and anyway, you charge too much.) Give me one of those great long-zoom all-in ones, plus my V1 with the endlessly useful high-quality 18-35mm equiv., and voila.
Great post on so many levels!
Keep'em coming.
How is ProFinder working for you?
Hi Kepano, I've been getting three or four requests for bids almost every day. Most are corporate people looking for in studio portraits but I have also bid on two multi-day events. I'm waiting to hear back on almost everything. Have done one of the portrait shoots and it went well.
For those out of the loop ProFinder is a (beta?) program of LinkedIn that matches up people who need creative services with people who provide them. You have to be on LinkedIn and I think the first round was by invitation but am not sure of the program statue now.
Thanks, Kirk. Yes, it looks like they've opened up ProFinder to LinkedIn members. Looks like it's worth the effort. Do you have to pay LinkedIn anything for the service? I don't see anything regarding fees.
To date there have not been any charges for the service. Who knows? It may change. But right now = free.
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