3.09.2021
Finally got that appointment locked down. Also took a fun photo with "Willie Nelson." And friends. +Bonus: The SL2 does black and white...
3.08.2021
OT: In the waiting mode. Not where I want to be. The perils of decline.
My brother and I had a running joke about my parents. His take was that they retired so they'd have all the time they needed for doctors' appointments. Now that I'm over 60 I'm starting to understand that everything doesn't just run according to plan. We become more like older cars that need little (and larger) tweaks and repairs. Lately I feel like a half broken camera that needs an extra dose of duct tape.
I'm now getting platinum level frequent visitor miles from: My dentist, my dermatologist, and my general practitioner. Nothing is a big, dramatic life or death escapade but more along the lines of the car stereo going in and out of service, or the front alignment needing, well, alignment. Annoying and potentially dangerous, in turn.
About a month and a half ago I went to my G.P. to ask about a smallish spot on my face. He said, "I don't like the look of that one." and sent me along to my dermatologist who said, "hmmmm. we should do a biopsy. Hold still while I slice off part of your face and then cauterize it with some wicked tool." Not long after that he called back to say, "That's a squamous cell something or other and I'm sending you to a MOHS surgery specialist. You'll like him, he's funny. And very good." (I liked the MOHS surgeon; all three of his kids are competitive swimmers).
In the interim I had an ancient crown come off a back molar. Always an unsettling occurrence. So I got in touch with my dentist who looked at the mangled remains of the crown and announced that we'd be doing it over again. Since she is extremely good at dental science and also sings even better than Norah Jones when she does procedures I presented myself on the appointed day to get pierced with a sharp needle delivering numbness, and then drained off part of my checking account to pay for the procedure.
But none of these visits are a closed loop. They all require follow up of some sort or another. You have to go back a week or so later to have the new crown fitted which gives the dentist an opening to say, "Hey, we missed your last regular check up because of the pandemic. What day/date/time works for you?"
But in the meantime I've circled back to the MOHS surgeon for a follow up at which he had nothing but praise for his own good work. And I have to agree with him that I can barely, barely see the scar. Pretty amazing but nonetheless another adventure in meeting with a doctor. Another spell of answering the Covid-19 screening questions for bored receptionist in scrubs.
But, feeling lucky I signed up for the Moderna vaccine and got jabbed (the one English/U.K. slang I actually like) back on February 10th. I still think it was a good idea but now I'm waiting to hear this week when I will get my second harsh piercing. I pass the time waiting for my appointment to be announced by listening to my friends regale me with their stories of all their gruesome second dose side effects. The one I like least so far is the story of a full overnight session of vomiting.... The splitting headaches are a close second.
But here's the deal. I can't schedule stuff until I know when I'll get the second vaccine dose because I have no idea how I'll react to it. Could be tomorrow. Could be a few days later. But if we're into the middle of next week I'll have to delay it because I've booked a project and the wheels for that are already in motion.
But, intermixed in the time line was another trip to my G.P. to have him identify a bump behind my left earlobe. It's been there for a while but, hey, over 60 and ample time to visit with my doctor; right? And the bump probably won't go away on its own...
He took a look and then punted. I'm scheduled to go back and see my dermatologist on Thursday, at some ungodly hour in the morning. Certainly too early for coffee..... I can't predict what he might say but I hope it's more of a "let's burn this off with liquid nitrogen" and less of a "let me do a biopsy and then I'll probably send you back to the surgeon." You remember him. He's the guy with kids that swim...
So, I also had this appointment to circle back around to my dentist for that deep cleaning and check-up and wouldn't you know it! Their state of the art X-ray machine found something my ballad-humming tooth doctor didn't like and now I'm being referred to specialist who does root canals. But I can't schedule that right now since I'm in the holding pattern for the vaccine. Which may save my life if I happen to end up singing with my choir group in a crowded bar on Sixth St. while dancing with vigor and breathing hard. The governor says that's all okay now.
So, now that I've crested and progressed into the maw of my 60s I'm beginning to understand my parents a bit better.
Who will win? Will it be the vaccine appointment? Will it be the dermatologist with his torture tools? Will it be the root canal guy with the long novocaine needle? Or will I just settle for a nervous breakdown instead?
And no matter who ultimately wins they'd better schedule quickly because I've got stuff to do. And that photo project next Thursday is not going to get rescheduled. Too many people already committed. And which I want to do in order to feel relevant..
I'm sure I'm missing some other torment of aging right now but I think I've had my limit. I did get a t-shirt the other day. It said, "I worked hard all my life and the only thing I got to do in my retirement years was wear this T-Shirt and bitch about stuff."
One of my less delicate friends let me know that he feels all of this is just my karma for having bought another Leica. I tried to tell him that the fates couldn't be so cruel; after all, I passed on the Ferrari...
3.07.2021
West Texas Beckons.
3.06.2021
An interesting afternoon in which I walked around with a new (to me) zoom lens and took a lot of images. Mirrorless actually means "endless adaptations."
Keeping things square. Another photograph of a favorite collaborator.
We both laughed when we saw the final image of this pose. I think it's over the top cliché and thankfully so did she. But when it surfaced in a computer cleaning this week I looked at it again but from a different perspective; one of just being able to let go on any given day and have fun.
But the interesting thing about photographing people is that you go out with a plan in mind and your plan ends up being pure crap but all the stuff you shot on the way there and all the stuff you shot after you got the shot you thought you wanted ends up (many times) being where the good stuff is. This is one of the few "hard" direct flash in sunlight shots I was able to do with the little Sony Nex 7. The camera and me and the flash just didn't seem to often work in the same "language."
This was obviously done with the Sony Nex 7 but on this shot I used the much disparaged 18-55mm zoom lens. The little chrome finished one. It really wasn't bad at all. But once you get past f5.6 I guess every lens looks better and better.
The area behind Noellia is the spillway down stream from the actual pool. The spillway is where people go to get into the cold, clear water if they can't or won't pay the admission price for the actual pool. In Austin there always seems to be a workaround.
3.05.2021
Some purchases are just for fun. Some cars and cameras have the "street appeal" most are utilitarian.
People always say of photographs, "It's all about the light." But I think you need to have an interesting subject for the light to fall upon.
Noellia is an actor I met when an ad agency cast her for a print campaign for the Austin Chamber of Commerce. We had a fun time working together in the studio and it was a fun coincidence when I ran into her again, but this time at Zach Theatre where she was performing a kid's play called, "Suessical." (how topical). I hired her again to help illustrate lighting concepts in several of my books but we always had the most fun in impromptu photo shoots meant to help both of us build portfolios and goof off around Austin.
After she moved to New York and started really advancing in her acting career I was sad to think we wouldn't have the opportunity to work together as often but I was wrong. Every time she returned to Austin to visit her family for holidays or vacations she'd text me in advance and see if we could get our schedules to match for at least part of a day. She'd arrive at a chosen location with an arm full of wardrobe and I'd have the camera of the day with me.
This photograph was from the earlier days. I was using an interesting camera at the time and one of the few cameras I really wish I still had. It was the Sony Nex-7 which was one of the first to use an 24 megapixel, APS-C sensor. I used the little Sony 50mm f1.8 lens that was popular at the time.
I remember the day well because of the stifling heat. We started shooting over by Barton Springs Pool and finally made our way under the little railroad bridge at the intersection of the hike and bike trail and Barton Spring Rd. We ended up there for the shade and relative cool. While we were shedding some of the heat load we found time to make a few more images.
You photograph when you have the opportunity.
3.04.2021
Black and White or Color? Which would you choose?
The image started out in color (just above) but I kept "seeing" it in black and white. I still can't decide which one works for me...
Photographed with a G9 and the 40-150mm f2.8 Olympus Pro lens.
Added Friday afternoon: A fix by Mr. Judd:
Maybe, but I miss some of the surrounding colors. Good variation...Several Landscapes of Iceland Posted After Reading About 17,000+ Earthquakes in One Week. And the Prediction That a Volcanic Eruption Might Occur!
I am not a landscape photographer but I suppose I could play one on YouTube. I was reading the newspaper yesterday and came across an article about last week's dramatic increase of earthquakes in the Southern region of that county, not too far from Reykjavik which is where something like 90% of the country's population resides.
3.03.2021
I was filing photographs into folders by projects and I came across this. It was part of a model test to choose someone to work with on my LED book.
I needed a model to help me illustrate various lighting techniques for my fifth book, LED Lighting. I did a little casting call and Jana got in touch. We set up a test shoot making photos in the street and my favorite coffee shops. We scheduled the test for a Saturday afternoon and Jana, having never met me before, and being smart, brought along a friend to chaperone. We all ended up having a great time that day and, in the weeks following, I made lots of lovely images of Jana for the book.
Testing was a thing back then. Maybe it still is. Maybe it will be again.
I was shooting with a Canon 5D Mk2 at the time and almost all of our images that day were done with the 100mm f2.0 Canon lens. The fit and finish on the lens was nothing to write home about; a lot of plastic and a construction that felt....loose. But the image quality of the lens was right up my alley = sharp enough but not too sharp.
Everything I shot that day was as a raw file so I'm sure this test image started life in color but I kept seeing it (in my mind) in black and white. It's fun to look at older work as it reminds you that maybe, at one point, you actually had mastered the rudiments of both photography and also portraiture.
Last time I heard from Jana she was on her way to becoming a very good photographer. When I first met her she was a communications/advertising major. She was a first rate talent, for sure.
Photograph of B. Back when we knew how to focus by hand... & How to get back to work.
Austin is springing back into action and was ramping up even before our governor's rescinding of the statewide mask mandate. We've been hit here by a mini-wave of requests for bids and I'm spending some time trying to decide exactly how I'd like to respond.
By the middle of next week I should have my second dose of vaccine and a couple of weeks after that I should be reasonably safe, or at least fairly assured that I won't drop dead if I do catch Covid-19. But business ethics go far beyond whether or not the owner of the business will be safe. We have to think of the impact on family, on our clients and on the people who support our businesses; such as make-up artists and assistants. Being out and around also means we'll need to rely on front line workers for coffee and food when on locations, and every additional exposure could potentially up the virus load for each of them.
Until everyone in our family circle is vaccinated I'm not comfortable having people in the house. and since we use the living room, kitchen and bathrooms for clients during longer shoots in the studio I'll be using rental spaces in the interim. This means that most of the photographic jobs I accept will either be on location or in rented studio spaces. Precision Camera has a nice, large rental space so I'll start investigating that.
Most of the people who have come to the studio to be photographed recently are sent over from our major medical practice clients. Nearly all of them are doctors or nurses and all have been completely vaccinated. We'll continue to serve them in the space. Most of their appointments are for half hour time slots so the impact on the family is negligible.
Moving forward I'll negotiate with clients and my support teams to keep following CDC guidelines rather than relying on the insane proclamations of our psychopathic governor. That means always wearing a face mask (even if you've been vaccinated) and practicing social distancing. We'll still have hand sanitizer everywhere. If we learned anything in the past month it's that the machinations of a far right wing government can never, ever be relied on for one's personal safety!
It's early for this but here's the lesson I learned from buying a Leica SL2: The Panasonic S1 series is remarkably good and consistent. It's fun to have the Leica to play with, and the files are really great, but unless one wants to go "all in" and buy a bunch of Leica prime lenses there's really no advantage at all to just owning the camera. It's pretty. Guys over 50 always comment on it. But when it comes right down to evaluating images taken with both the S1R and the SL2 the differences are negligible to non-existent. Sure, there are differences in the choices each company made as far as Jpeg rendering but in raw? Nothing that the S1R can't emulate, and vice versa.
The differences in video have yet to be fully uncovered. I'll keep you posted.
I'm a slow learner but I can afford to make a few missteps.
And that's my take.