A random SXSW attendee walks in front of a pillar of ads...
The first "big" event of SXSW, which started yesterday, was over at the Porsche pavilion on Congress Ave. They are doing a tie-in with the release of #7 in the family of "Transformer" movies. The movie features giant robot "Beasts" and I'm sure it will be an action movie to rival all action movies. To kick everything off the assembled crowd got to "meet" (from the other side of the rope and security...) the new stars. There is Dominique Fishback, just below and then, just below that she is standing next to the other new star, Anthony Ramos. It was the usual media crush but with HBO and their affiliates' photographers and videographers being the only people "inside" the ropes and the rest of the curious audience looking in from the other side. It was fun though.
Dominique Fishback at the Porsche Pavilion.
A "press" event.
Dominique Fishback and Anthony Ramos stare, captivated, into the lens on my
Leica SL camera. The real "star" of my afternoon downtown.
The fella on the right with the beard is the director of "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts".
His name is Steven Caples, Jr.
Here is the current condition of photography in our time. A horde of cellphones and a tiny handful of "real" cameras. And it's not for want of budget. Most of these folks have paid full pop for SXSW badges, hotel accommodations and pricey, downtown food.... they just prefer to shoot with....cellphones.
This guy on the left is working for the film production company or their PR arm. His stationary camera was set up to record quick interviews with the actors and director as well as representatives from Porsche.
I decided to take a walk downtown after meeting once again with my refrigerator repair person. He comes with the warranty... Progress was made. He replaced a burned out light in the freezer compartment of my almost brand new $2500 fridge. He listened to the appliance for a few minutes and decided that it probably needs a new master control board so he ordered one. It comes to me via Fedex tomorrow. With any luck he'll be back on Monday to install this part and put an end to the drama and trauma of modern, 21st Century appliance ownership. If this doesn't work more drama and lawyers to follow.
But the walk is a great way to ignore the trials and tribulations of food preservation thermodynamics and get back in touch with "real life." I went with the "mixed grill" of gear yesterday. I wanted the cold, hard comfort of my favorite Leica SL but I wanted to some focal length wiggle room so I opted for a 24-105mm zoom from Panasonic on the front. I needed to take the lens out for a spin anyway since I just updated the lens firmware to 1.2 from 1.0 and wanted to see if it really did make the image stabilization more magic.
It was a great combo for walking the streets and looking for fun SXSW vignettes. I broke with my odd tradition of using great cameras and lenses in conjunction with Jpeg files. I went full-on RAW yesterday and have to say that it really does look great when you take the time to squeeze more happiness out of the files in post. I'm planning to go back downtown this afternoon to shoot more but first I'm waiting for out yard guy/landscaper to show up so I can write him a check and show him a few things we need done to make our yard better after the ravages of the last ice storm. We also need to talk about having some stonework done in some of the terracing. But as soon as we've had our conference and $$ transfer I'm free and mobile for the rest of the day.
What camera will I take today? I may end up sticking the big Leica zoom on a tiny Leica CL. That seems about right for this kind of day. Big and overkill combined with light and discreet for a package that's neither.
On another note Michael Johnston writes that he came up short with topics to write about and would like some suggestions. I wrote him my usual 6000+ word recommendations but thought you might want to chime in and give him some new ideas/pick his brain. It's here: https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2023/03/ask-mike.html
If you've always wanted to quiz Mike on something photographic here's an opportunity to help guide his site for at least a few posts.
Me, I'm deciding and packing. And dreaming about Tuesday when my refrigerator might once again serve me instead of the other way around. No dialog about swimming today. It was fine. Nothing earth shattering. Have fun out there. It's Spring Break 2023 !!!
Yeah. Optimus Prime doesn't look so big and tough in real life....
Sorry to hear about your refrigeration troubles but I’m not sure I understand why they cause you such drama — I thought real Texans could live on bacon and beans, at least that’s what I learned from the movies ㋡.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing raw conversion in camera recently, fuji interface is fairly usable, something nice when out and about
ReplyDeleteThis will be a dumb movie, but doubtless attractive to the SXSW crowd.
ReplyDeleteOne of my relations, Brian Redman, has driven many Porsches over the years, including the 917, etc..
ReplyDeleteIn the photo of the folks holding up phones, the dark-haired lady on the left is holding hers horizontally. Imagine if your photo goes viral and inadvertently starts a worldwide movement that ends vertical photos/videos.
ReplyDeleteAnother augury of that was a short advertisement video I saw 2-3 days ago (but lost the link). It was for a grip that attaches to your phone to enable easier horizontal holding while taking photos. The combo ended up looking just like a point & shoot, except you could text with it and maybe other stuff.
Yes but if you zom in n the phoo she is taking, its vertical perspective. As she has a black bar cutting off the right side and a hand on the left. She would have been better off holding her phone vertically, to get the Optimus prime photo.
DeletePhones seem to be the camrras of the future.