Wrapping up 2024. What's ahead and what's behind.

Dominique Ansel, creator of the "Cronut" assembles my just desserts...

I woke up exactly at 6:59 a.m. Seconds before my alarm was set to go off. It's something I've done nearly every day for this entire year. It's almost like a game with the universe. I set an alarm for 7 a.m. to get up for swim practice. Every morning I wake up five, ten or even one minute before the alarm goes off and I turn it off; preemptively. Don't know why.

I dragged myself down the long hallway in our house to the kitchen and set water on the path to boiling. I rinse my coffee cup and the ceramic cone that holds a filter and the coffee grounds. I rinse the ceramic components in hot water to raise their temperature from the chilly 68° house temperature so the coffee I make in them doesn't get too cold too quickly. Then I grab the bag of coffee beans, measure out the same portion that I did yesterday, and a couple of hundred days before, and put the beans in my manual coffee grinder. And I grind them. Once complete the fresh coffee grounds are poured into the #4 filter. I try to time all of this to coincide with the water coming to a boil. It usually works out just fine. 

I pull the water off the boil and let it sit for a minute or two before wetting the grounds, waiting and then slowly pouring more water over the grounds, going around in a circle pattern to keep the grounds from sticking to the sides of the filter as each measure of hot water recedes. 

As the water and coffee meld together I stick a hearty slice of fresh bread into my toaster. It cooks while I tend to the coffee,  then dropping the soggy, ground filled filter into the kitchen trash can and rinsing off the filter holder. 

When the toast pops up, golden brown, I slather it with peanut butter and apricot jam (always apricot for some unknowable reason) and bring the toast and coffee to the dining room table. I savor the coffee and the toast while I check the news, the stocks, and the (mostly non-existent) blog comments on the laptop computer I keep on a shelf near the dining room. The computer is like a centerpiece on my breakfast table. 

At 7:30 I rinse my coffee cup and put it on a shelf next to the sink. I use the same cup for a week and then I put it into our dishwasher and select another one for the upcoming week. If the cup gets too grungy during the week I toss in some dishwashing detergent and wash it by hand. Usually a rinse with hot water is all it needs... I use a new plate for toast every day so that plate goes into the dishwasher.

After I've used the toilet, washed my face, brushed my teeth and rolled up a towel to take with me I exit the house and make my way to my current favorite car. I play something by ColdPlay or Elvis Costello as I warm up the car. I've read that turbochargers like to be gently warmed up before one goes nuts and starts driving like a teenaged boy. A minute later I'm backing out of the long drive way and heading to the pool. A drive of three minutes on quiet holidays. Five to ten minutes on school days coinciding with rush hour.

The pool sits in the middle of a very desirable neighborhood. It is surrounded by a few acres of lush landscaping. A fence surrounds the facility separating it from an adjacent, public park. I head into the men's changing area and stuff my clothes into one of several dozen open-faced cubicles. I have been doing this for over 25 years. I leave my wallet, my car keys, and occasionally a Leica rangefinder in the cubicle and to my knowledge we've had nothing go missing at the club in all the years I've been going to swim workouts there. It's a private club. People have to sign in. There's a gate attendant.  I guess that's a good deterrent. That, and the fact that there is no obvious signage related to the club. No indication that there's anything to conveniently pillage.

I change into an appropriate swim suit, grab my training fins, hand paddles, goggles and a weathered, discolored pull buoy and head to the pool deck. If I've timed my arrival correctly the folks from the seven o'clock workout are just finishing up and starting to exit the lanes. In cooler weather it's nice to stand on the deck for a few minutes to let your skin temperature drop. Then, when you hit the water it feels a bit warm. My training partners and I usually swim in lane five... it's a tradition.

Today's workout, the last of 2024, was grueling. The coach got carried away and wrote a workout that clocked in at 3,600 yards. One really has to keep moving to complete all the sets in a one hour time frame. Most of what we seem to do these days falls under the idea of HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Mixed distances with lots of shorter distance, all out, sprinting. For example we might do a cruise-y set of three 200 yard swims, then some faster 50 yard swims and cap it off with a full sprint 100 yards before starting the next set. The idea is to swim the sprints hard enough to get to your maximal heart rate and to use the longer distances as cardio recovery.

The temperature in the water today was 81°. The temperature on the deck, with a nice breeze, was in the fifties. Perfectly clear, sunny skies above and small flocks of far away birds coasting by. My lane mates and I have swum together for so many years we hardly need to talk during the sets. We agree on an interval time and we fall into a circle swim pattern (up on the right side, flip turn, back on the right side...like driving) with just the right spacing between us. Five seconds between send offs...

When the workout is over and we've run out the clock we thank our coach for braving the chilly wind and then head to the changing rooms to savor a hot shower, and the usual chatter that seems to follow any activity that raises one's dopamine levels. Then it's home for second breakfast. 

I plan on doing this six times a week, every week in 2025. Because...why would you not want to be in the best physical shape you can manage to achieve? Toss in a daily walk and some weight training and you'll feel at least 20 years younger than what's indicated on your drivers license. Exercise and teeth flossing; the two miracle procedures that seem to almost ensure longevity. Ah, the luxury of being a 69 year old adolescent. (Implied maturity level).

I don't have anything today that I think would require "New Year's Resolutions" for 2025. If I did find something lacking in my life I think I would have fixed it by now or sought out help for it. Most resolutions made at the end of one year or the beginning of the next seem to involve either the desire to lose weight or the (related) desire to exercise more. Or to eat healthier. Since I haven't gained or lost weight in at least a decade and I exercise with gusto nearly every day those resolutions have no relevance for me. I'm not a procrastinator so there's no requirement for improvement there. I guess I could resolve not to buy as many lenses this year but it's easy to write that once you own all the lenses you ever wanted...

So, that's how this year wraps up. I took some photographs over the last 12 months. Some you've seen here and many you'll only see in client advertising. We stayed in the black. Financially. Easier to do when the house is paid for and your kid is through with college and well launched. No loftier financial goals for next year. 

I've enjoyed taking photographs this year. I like my remaining clients. I'm happy to have jettisoned the ones I was less satisfied with. And to have done so on my own initiative. I'm happy having fun cameras to play with. I'm happy with my home town. I guess that, and a happy family, are all one can really wish for.

On my wish list for 2025? Nothing I can control comes to mind. Hope 2025 is a quiet and happy year. For everyone.

Tomorrow we have a special, New Years Day workout at the pool. Instead of our usual 7 and 8 o'clock, one hour workouts, we're going to have a combined practice from 10 - 11:30 in the morning. Same coach as today so we can count on a lot of yards sandwiched in with a lot of speed work. What a treat!!!

Moving right along. Ciao! 2024. 

 

Just thinking about cheese right now...

the highest and best use of mold....

 

Go to Amazon. Buy David Hobby's incredibly good book about travel photography. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It's the best book written about the practice of photography in the last ten years.

 Here is what I wrote in my review of David's book on Amazon:

I loved David Hobby's blog called "Strobist.com" He gave photographers so much valuable information about lighting and you could always sense his joy at photographic problem solving and lighting mastery. And now he's written a great book about the actual processes and best practices of making wonderful and engaging photographs while traveling the world. A couple things to know. There are no photographs in the book and that's fine. There is very little coverage of cameras brands, lens brands, or any push to buy new stuff in order to do your work. Rather, the book is an amazingly well written blueprint for learning how to meet strangers, make them into friends, and then make great portraits of them. It's an explanation of how a very experienced photojournalist actually works. It's worlds different than the dumb stuff and stolen shots you see from most "street photography" videos you see on Youtube. He teaches genuine engagement and a deeper, more compelling way to make photographs that are more interesting and quite visually rich.

I have to confess that I've been an advertising photographer for more than 40 years, have written five books about photography (sadly, mostly about gear) and am jealous of David's ability to cut through all the mythology and false facades about photography in a way that had me cheering and considering taking a workshop from him. The book is that good. So is the philosophy behind it.

This is a great book for people just starting out on a photographer's journey. But, at the same time, there is so much older, more experienced photographers can harvest from this book. It was both a "refresher course" and a source of new inspiration for me. I can't wait to get back out with a camera and consciously work in as many of David's "secrets" as I can to my own practice. You wanna be a better photographer? Forget upgrading the hardware. Upgrade the software between your ears with this book. It's that good.

Here's what I wrote about the book on a different blog post: 

Here's a book recommendation: David Hobby, of the Strobist.com fame, wrote a book that was published this year. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It is by far the best book I've read on the subject and you can be sure that it's not just a self-serving vehicle used to print a portfolio of greatest hits because there are no photos in the entire book. Just great writing (not weird, overly fraught academic pablum) and lot of great information. I learned a ton.... and I thought I already knew everything about photography (smile emoji goes here....). I'd buy this book again in a heartbeat. David walks the walk (actually makes a living taking photographs) and talks the talk (well, I guess writes the writing....). Whatever. Just go over to Amazon and buy a copy. If you don't like it a lot then you might just be a landscape photographer ---- or an odd duck who doesn't at least think about traveling. And photographing. 

No hidden agenda here. No links to David's book. No cash in my hands.

I re-read the chapters about fine-tuning color again today and learned even more...

Wealth of knowledge. Well delivered. 

Low cost learning....

I kid myself that I never shoot for posterity but sometimes it ends up happening anyway.

If you've followed my blog you've no doubt seen photos of this complex of old, industrial buildings many times over the years. They occupy a couple acres of premium, downtown land and they have been there since before I moved to Austin in 1974. From what I can tell the buildings are or were part of an iron works and metal fabrication facility. The brick building, which adjoins the corrugated metal-clad buildings has been more or less vacant for as long as I've been aware of it and walking by it. About twenty years. 

On the other side of the fence, to the left of the building in the bottom frame, are railroad tracks and just on the other side of the railroad tracks is our small, quiet Amtrak station. The plot of real estate is just to the West of Lamar Blvd. and just north of Lady Bird Lake. It's in an area that used to be a quiet, close-in to the Capital, residential area but it's now a red hot development target. Four and five story "mixed use" projects are going up all around.

When I first started walking through this area with my camera it was sleepy quiet. The front of the brick building is located on a low traffic street that came to a stop at a dead end for two way traffic and maintained a bike lane and a little used, one way, car lane instead. I'd walk through this area on many business days without seeing a single person. And I don't know why, other than the fact that the buildings are so different from all the new, aimed at the affluent professionals, cookie cutter buildings. And the idea that, at least once upon a time, a thriving business existed here that was centered around skilled labor and craftsmanship but not high end retail sshopping.

I was happy enough to walk by and snap a few frames on my way from my favorite parking spot into the heart of Austin's downtown but about a month ago, when walking by, I found a sign on a small wooden post declaring that imminent demolition had been applied for. This piqued my interest as I somehow have convinced myself that the simplicity and tenor of the existing structures resonates with a collective memory of what Austin was like, what it was about, before our rush to excess affluence started to change everything. Now I am motivated to at least preserve it in photographs. As I did about a decade ago with the decommissioning of the Seaholm Power Plant that existed since the dawn of time in the middle of downtown. (Now a mixed use retail/residence project).

I've been in touch with the owners to gain legal access to the property and am awaiting a reply. I proposed spending a couple different days documenting every square inch of the exterior and then at least a day to wander through the guts of the space with a bag full of wide angle lenses, a stout tripod and a high resolution camera. We'll see what happens. I don't know all the particulars but I hope I not racing against some sort of unmovable deadline for the eradication of this little, out of the way and barely noticed piece of old Austin. 

The images shown here were done in passing with a Leica rangefinder camera and the 50mm f2.0 Zeiss ZM lens. Hardly the optimal choice for a wide-ranging architectural documentation. But something had to light the fire under my feet and get the process rolling and the shots done in passing, over time, seem to have had a cumulative effect. 

When (and if) I finish the project I'll also interview the owners to find the history and backstory of the business there and the evolution of it. I'll offer the whole package to the Austin History Center for their use. It's not the kind of content that I usually do for myself but I'm curious enough about the whole place to pursue this. And if parts are still functioning I might even be able to make some good portraits. 

That's what I'm working on between work and swimming. The schedule is filling up. 

Don't need any A.I. for this one....

50mm Happiness. Or maybe it's just the time spent walking. And a bit about media of the future. Hmmm. A.I. videos are now a thing.

I find it hard to separate the years of looking at other people's images with the act of making of my own. The references get so tangled. The red truck above is one of my ripostes at the endless adoration of William Eggleston's color work. Homage to banality. But once you see the red trike it's hard to forget the power of something new. I'm also a sucker for deck plate. That's the pattern on the metal utility cover show below. I love deck plate. I like industrial stuff. I'd happy for days in some sort of SteamPunk clock factory, just snapping away.

And...by the way....

Have you seen the "Steampunk" A.I. videos all over YouTube these days? I find them fascinating. And in a few years we'll collectively probably stop making TV shows and movies with real actors and flood the market with A.I. constructions. Interesting to know that the reason home video players took off in the 1980s was all down to the pornography industry. (The link here doesn't fall under that category....). But the video I'm linking sure makes use of my love for complex, mechanical, brass constructions as well as beautiful women. 

Mike will hate this "new" media because it's not pure. Not handmade by humans. But it is the future of mass media whether you play along or not. And it's going to displace something....

Go see for yourself and make up your own mind. It's okay if you disagree but I'm not sure these short videos are anything more than proof of concept. Mini-portfolios as it were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6VikmWKPw

Sure. We can all talk a good game about how A.I. will never replace: fill in the blank but if you sit down and look at what is already out there, and out there in a really short amount of time, you'll have to admit that the potential of the new technologies is more or less only limited by one's imagination. Finally, a reason for 8K monitors? Or you can dismiss it as did many critics of the original iPhone...

Not that I'm planning on melting down all my Leica gear and buying a bigger monitor and an easy chair, but I think it behooves both the people who are into photography as an art, as well as people who are into photography as a commercial business, to take off the blinders, ignore the Luddites and see what's out there for ourselves. Then, if you want to scurry back to your analog darkroom and unload those sheet film holders you can aptly label yourself as a contrarian or a keeper of the flame(s). 

My take is that mass media is going to go in one direction and people in my generation will publicly rail about it ad infinitum but will also be sneaking another peek. You know, just for research...

 

I left my camera at home for Christmas. It was the right thing to do...

I've carried a camera with me everywhere now for a long time. At times I feel like Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons. He is always depicted with his "security" blanket. His constant source of self-comfort. There are people who love fashion and clothes and who spend lots of time going through their closets and standing in front of mirrors trying, each day, to pick out the perfect outfit. And I can feel the resemblance as I go through a filing cabinet drawer trying to pick out what I feel will be just the right camera for an outing. Only, it never really is. I always end up somewhere wishing I'd made a different choice. 

So, this year I was heading down to San Antonio to have Christmas dinner with an extended group of in-laws, my wife and my son. At the last minute I decided that the way to make the perfect choice of camera would be to not make a choice. Not bring a camera. Instead of being an "observer" at the evening's festivities I would instead be a more active participant. And I wouldn't have my "security" camera to hide behind, or speak to my long constructed identity. Instead, I'd be...part of the family. 

Everyone had a smart phone. Lots of photos were taken. The elementary aged kids of my niece were great and well documented by various camera happy phone shooters. There was a group shot done on a phone by a nephew's fiancée which was exemplary and shared via group text minutes later. We all look well fed, happy, congenial. The gear (an iPhone) and the person wielding the gear were more than competent to make us all look good. And she did it in the first shot. Which made me conscious of the times in the past when I've tortured a group by taking a bunch of shots in the pursuit of ever elusive perfection. 

Interesting to me was the fact that I never felt I was missing a chance to do a great photograph. There isn't always a reason to photograph. Not always a reason to document everything. In fact, the flan was delicious but visually? It's just a flan. More photos of wine bottles? Not needed. More photos of our 95 year old relative? She might have indulged my need to photograph but it might also have made her uncomfortable, and who needs to feel over-documented at a holiday dinner? 

We all had a lovely time. We exchanged gifts and stories and happy news. All without a leather strap over one of my shoulders or a camera bouncing around on my belly. We drove back late in the evening through a mix of fog, mist and light rain. When I walked into the house there was a lonely camera sitting on the edge of the dining room table. Waiting patiently for me to use it with complete attention --- but not as just a fashion accessory. Not a part of my uniform. All of which made me feel a bit chastened as I remembered all the times when I felt having a camera always at hand was somehow important. 

Life goes on whether we document it or not. We can choose the moments to be out enjoying photography but we can also, I think, develop the realization that so much of life is meant to be lived, enjoyed and participated in rather than always being the guy waiting on the sidelines for a potential picture to  present itself. Because....why?

Today I was back in Austin. Everyone was busy and engaged. I had the day to myself and I did feel like going for a walk, and also I felt like inviting a camera along for the time I'd be out on the streets, walking and looking at post holiday downtown. 

I brought along an M240 with a 50mm lens on it. A perfect choice for a quiet walk. Good company. And instead of becoming a distraction in the midst of a party I was merely a tourist in my own town, looking for the things that make my town fun. 

A few odds and ends came via Fedex today. Really small and simple stuff. A 43mm lens cap. The 43mm lens caps always seem to be the ones that get lost most frequently. They are small and I guess when I drop them they are good at rolling under big furniture and hiding there. I got a protection filter for a favorite 35mm lens that kept getting rain drops on the front element last time I was out. I broke with the tradition of buying the expensive filters and went a bit down market. Works just fine. 

I also bought a second honeycomb grid Attachment for a recently arrived LED panel. One of the Godox Compac 100s. I love the narrowed and more controlled beam that results so I can now have more control but with nearly the same soft light. At $50 it's a nice modifier to have at hand. More thrill with less spill.

At this juncture I am proud to say that I didn't drop another $7,000 to $14,000 to buy either a Leica Q3 - 4/3 or a Leica SL3, or both of them; even though I thought I really wanted each of them. Now having not bought them and resisting the lure of them I seem much happier to use the older M240 cameras. Interesting that such nice files can come from 12 year old cameras. Nice for me since I already have them to shoot with. But it feels odd to have gone through an entire year without spending on multiple cameras. I did pick up a Leica SL2-S, used. But I was able to rationalize that one as a "work" camera. I'm not sure I'd be able to believe my own rationalization process if I tried to trick myself into thinking that a Q3-something was needed for "work." 

We're heading into 2025. I'm not sure what to expect but I'm pretty certain it will all be both different; completely different, but also more of the same. 

More to come. Thanks for reading. Enjoy shooting with what you have. It might even be revelatory. It was for me this season. And this year. 

Fun with photography. Sorry, no deep dive into theory. No manifestos. Just the joy of being out and around.

The fellow on the right is David. We've known each other for years. Swell guy.

We keep running into each other at Jo's Coffee on S. Congress. He's always surrounded by friends. They even have a little "reserved" sign on their table. The only one I know about in the whole establishment. Their mission? Enjoy a beautiful, seasonally temperate day in Austin. With cameras.

This is revenge since David posted an image of me a week ago on Instagram.

And there is a diagonal to the frame. Oops. I forgot. No theory other than fun.

Being shy, quiet and introspective I wished David and his crew well

and then retreated to the courtyard at Hotel San José to enjoy 

the solitude and calmness of the space... Cappuccino at the ready.

Tourists line up to take photos of one another standing in front of a green wall on which, in red spray paint, is written: "I love you so much." It gets crowded there on weekends. So much love. 

My friend Christopher is a street photographer. Full time. Full stop. 

We ran into each other yesterday afternoon and roamed around the giant, outdoor

mall that is South Congress Avenue. Snapping and talking about photos.

The courtyard at the Austin Motel has a yearly Christmas tree extravaganza which is a 

contrasty counterpoint to the lovely, semi-erotic mosaics that dot the walls....

I love that the woman depicted in this mosaic is making a selfie with a cellphone.

At the boot shop called, Freebirds. 

Same. 

More of the same. But with flowers. 

Christmas decorated Eldorado. 

the crowd on the corner. In ....  "monochrome." 

Whippet Lunch #1

Whippet Lunch #2

Ah. Look. The next door neighbors got a Lamborghini...

How will I ever keep up? 

Life is good. Even better when you can run into multiple photographer friends in a short period of time. Although I'm thinking Christopher might be a bad influence since we ended up at "The Salty." The premier donut shop in all of central Texas.... where, mysteriously, I felt compelled to buy and consume a pistachio glazed donut. $5 for a donut? That's an Austin Style pastry...

I've been so happy just to take my Q2 with me everywhere. It's a great little camera. It's happy making black and white images. It's happy making color images. And the SCL-6 battery (the new ones) last just about forever. 

Tomorrow we'll have dinner with the kid. I spent some time this morning at Whole Foods shopping for just the right grass fed Ribeyes. And time this afternoon at the local wine shop searching for the perfect bottle of red wine to accompany. Life, in this moment, is so good. I'm having an APO Summilux sort of day.... Hope the same for you, dear reader.

 

End of year summary. Fun, weird, annoying 2024.

 

This year was about camera consolidation for me. I've long since passed the point at which the quality differences between "new camera A" and "old camera B" are at all visible to me; and certainly not to my clients, friends and family. Instead of panting over new cameras arriving on the scene this year I've spent the time using the stuff I already have. And, surprise, surprise! All the cameras I have spread around the studio work great for anything I press them to accomplish. And all the excess ones have been given away or sold.

I'm a firm believer that when we hit 24 megapixels of resolution we absolutely hit the sweet spot of imaging science. Across all the cameras I routinely play with 24 megapixels is the standard. I have two cameras that have higher megapixel counts (47.5) but I really can't see the difference between them and the lower res models unless I'm really, really pixel peeping and squinting really hard at images. Certainly, if I were routinely printing four foot by six foot panels for clients I might see a bigger difference but, stepping out of my generational role as a curmudgeon opposed to all digital progress, I have to admit that I'd probably get at least as much advantage just using one of the many powerful tools in PhotoShop to res up the files to match. The software for imaging has gotten so incredibly good that I think the availability of those post processing tools will really retard progress in getting newer and newer cameras into the market. Because...why?

If the old bugaboos of file noise and file size are the metrics most people still care about I have to say that A.I. DeNoise and Enhance Image in the Adobe apps match, in older camera files, what people are paying for in newly introduced cameras. So... why bother to buy more? And certainly, why upgrade?

I sold off my medium format digital equipment this year. It just wasn't as much fun to use as the full frame stuff. Sure, if I locked down the camera onto a tripod for every shot and used all the right techniques I might get strikingly better images from the larger sensors but that's a long way to go versus enjoying the more agile and haptic-ly mature handling of the 35mm sensor sized cameras. And the smaller lenses. And in the end, after using both systems in real jobs, the output just didn't match the investment. 

I have some predictions for the year(s) ahead. Now that camera makers have started putting big, high res sensors in smaller cameras I think the age of big, burly "pro" cameras is coming to an end. Leica's most popular camera is the Q3 --- and the Q3-43 variant. Not the big SL2 or slightly smaller SL3. I'd wager that the same is true across other brand's product lines as well. The resurgence of compact cameras; what we used to call "point and shoots" is a good thing. Nearly all photographs are headed to screens with no detours to a desktop printer or a printing lab. Sure, some people still get prints made but even there the high end compacts have more than enough image quality potential to deliver great results. 

Compacts originally died out because the sensors were small and the lenses were mostly slow. Big, fast sensors were too expensive for the compact price points, early on, but now Sony, Fuji and others have shown the way. It was surprising this year to see Leica join the compact camera circus with their D-Lux8 but I think that's a harbinger of what's to come across the product lines. And, from everyone I've talked to it's the advantages of handling the cameras that makes them a better choice for serious shooters than smartphones. 

People are also finally figuring out that a stolen phone can have dramatic implications for privacy, account security, identity theft and a raft of other issues that current compact cameras don't share. And not having to have a phone in one's hands out in the streets means less exposure to all kinds of non-material theft. A stolen camera? Yeah, you lose a few images and the cost of a camera. Stolen phone? Hacked Bluetooth? Hacked Wi-fi? Those things can result in thousands of dollars of loss from multiple financial accounts. We might even see a welcome regression in people's habitual use of phones to defer boredom... (wishful thinking). Do you turn off Bluetooth when you are out walking with your phone? Maybe you should...

Judging from my own experience and my attitude I am comfortable predicting that once the "newly retired" generation passes away home inkjet printing will quickly become a thing of the past. Like CD players and DVDs. If you need or want prints it's much more cost effective and convenient to send files to a high quality printing service and work instead on making sure your screen calibration matches that of your chosen output supplier. 

If I have services print stuff for shows or displays the minimum print size I'm looking for is usually 24x24 inches of live image surrounded by three or four  inches of white border. Home inkjet printers that can do this well are outrageously expensive to own, service, feed, etc. Like owning a Ferrari that you only drive for a couple days a year. If you are printing at home every day then more power to you but...what the heck are you doing with all those prints? And what are you getting that a good, custom printing service can't more reliably deliver? Head clogs?

Moving on. Let's discuss lighting. I was at the big, bricks and mortar camera store this month looking at lighting. I actually still do work that requires flash from time to time and while I didn't need any more flashes in the moment I was curious what the camera store might have. Five years ago their inventory was overflowing with Godox, Westscott, Profoto and other flash equipment. Things were moving more and more toward flash gear that used big, rechargeable lithium batteries to replace the cord to the wall socket but you could walk in and buy wonderfully small, pack and head systems as well as a range of monolight flashes that ranged from 100 watts seconds to at least 600 watt seconds. All over town I'd see wedding photographers, family photographers and wannabe fashion photographers out in the wild using these bigger flashes with umbrellas or soft boxes on them doing the good, old fill flash with sunlight. 

On my recent trip through the photographic candy store I found exactly three studio/pro flash units but the number and kinds of LED lights had taken over 95% of the shelf space. A non-stop embrace of continuous lighting. There has been a quick and profound change in people's lighting techniques. Big Flashes are now an occasional rental item and not the everyday tools that we considered them to be.

The same can be said for tripods. I can't give them away. Younger photographers look at me with a mystified, almost pity filled stare when I try to pass tripods on to them. One actually asked, "Do you not know about image stabilization in cameras?" Seems the only people with even a passing interest in tripods are videographers. And even there getting them to use a tripod instead of a gimbal requires the insistent demands of a client who really doesn't want pay for shaky "footage." 

I still use tripods. But when I use them in front of new, younger assistants I feel like a dinosaur. And not a predator dinosaur but more like prey. 

It's been a strange year. Clients still call but they've stopped asking for bids or estimates almost altogether. I still reflexively send along contracts with budgets embedded in them but most clients don't care. They have the money to spend. They know costs are rising...

It's been a strange year. I bought car I really didn't need and while I like it a lot I sometimes stop and wonder what the heck I was thinking. It's not a financial hardship but I'd have a hard time explaining a new car as an impulse purchase to my depression era parents; if they were still around...

It's a strange year. Every time I think about retiring completely I find myself being bored. And terrified of being bored. And every time I think about fully retiring my mail box starts to fill up with requests from existing and new clients to undertake more new projects. Maybe the marketing secret here is to just posture retirement and wait for the deluge of new work. 

It's a strange year in that we've once again voted in our own incipient hardship era. Well, not for wealthy stock holders but for the poor and the middle classes. If most of your money comes from dividends and wealth relentlessly being accrued in the markets even while you sleep you probably don't care. You can "posture" liberal but take advantage of the markets for your own gain. Ethically bankrupt but legally permissible. And don't get me started on the morality of our modern politics. On either side. Stay invested? Move to Switzerland? Huddle down and look for sales at the Dollar Stores? It's a mess. 

This seems to be the year (2024) when photography-oriented blogs just fell apart and collapsed. Old codgers wanna write about their golden years instead of anything contemporary and topical. I'm so bored with the blogs I used to love that when waiting for a tardy appointment to commence I find myself scrolling through my own archive of posts from this site to re-read. The fortunate thing about getting older and forgetting stuff is that some of the work here from ten years ago seems fresh and new to me when I read it again. Mostly I like it because it's relentlessly about cameras, lighting, jobs and photography --- which is the job. And not about the best weedwhacker for the money or how one blogger or another "deserves" to join the 1% while at the same time delivering mostly sunset content. 

Photography as my generation knew it is collapsing. But not to worry. The next generation and the next will breathe life into photography the way they like and value it. No more speed graphics! A lot more interactive sharing? And smaller cameras joined up with a lot more experiences. 

Why do I photograph? It's not to touch cameras and play with gear. I do it because I love the way people look when I photograph them. I love the experience of meeting people and making a lasting record of them. This is the opposite, I think, of wanting to "be" a photographer but not being at all sure of what it is you want to photograph. It's not enough to master the process. You have to have a passion for the subject that gets you out and working on stuff. But for me it's always the people component. Falling in love with my subjects over and over again. At some point the camera is just ancillary. 

Finally, this is the year that I realized that archiving the bulk of our work is a meaningless, ego driven activity that just sucks up time I can better use living and photographing for the fun of it. If you aren't a Magnum photographer or one of the collected fashion or editorial photographers who've made a name for themselves with museums and galleries the idea that anything beyond your 100 favorite photographs surviving after your inevitable demise is just an idea that serves to insulate you from the pain of mortality.  The more you throw away the happier your heirs will be. 

In spite of everything I've written here I still love photography, love heading out after swim practice to walk the streets, sit around drinking coffee, catching up with old and new friends, all while looking for fun new ways to photograph them, my city and my life. My tightest and most appreciative audience? Well, that would be me.

Young woman in a yellow Santa Claus outfit passing out candy canes for a clothing and jewelry boutique on trendy, South Congress Ave. Adorable.

Someone recently said that scanned black and white film can only be viewed authentically when printed on paper. Right.... I guess we'll shut down the internet....

 

The old idea that everything black and white has to be printed on traditional photographic paper to be legit is such hogwash. But I guess trying to change those minds... it's like teaching someone to swim who just can't let go of his or her arm floaties. Can't let go of the side of the pool. The fear of something new is just too strong... the ambiguity is paralyzing.

I wanted thousands of people to see this image of Lou but I couldn't afford (in either time or money) to print thousands of 16x20 inch, fiber, double weight Agfa Portriga Rapid prints to share. And the postage would have played havoc with my budget...if I had a budget.

We should all have three or four huge, major galleries dedicated to photography within a few miles of our homes; in every city and town in the country. And all of them should welcome new talent all the time. Right?

Dream on.

Understand that black and white images can be shared effectively on a good screen. 

In fact, for the last twenty years our careers have been predicated on that being true.

Film day at the office. A scan from a black and white negative.

I was going on and on about how easy and how high quality it is to "scan" older, medium format film with my current copy set-up. Basically just a camera, a lens, a copy stand and a light source. My mentor, Henry White, stopped me in my tracks. He said, "This is photography not performance art. Don't 'tell' me, show me!" 

I selected a 6cm by 6cm "monochrome" negative from a stack near the scanning table, cleaned it off and put it into the Negative Supply Company film holder, put that on the very well color corrected light source, focused my 70mm macro lens and shot a frame in one of my favorite cameras which was anchored on a copy stand. 

This was a bit of a  torture test for the whole system because the negative we chose was an Agfapan 25 APX film sample. It's a film that's inherently very contrasty. It's a very high resolution film and the way I developed it back in the day added to its overall contrast. All that being said, the scanning set up seems perfect for preserving highlight detail (if there is any) in black and white films. Even in the most egregious samples.

I brought the images into Lightroom Classic where I inverted the image from a negative to a positive and then created a curve for the file that would render skin tones exactly the way I wanted them. Dust spotting then ensued (some things never change....).

The distinquished Dr. White, a veteran of decades of work in darkrooms, and behind all manner of cameras, jumped out of his seat and yelled, "This is witchcraft. It's trickery. Digital copies of negatives are supposed to suck. This is supposed to be hard." But it was evident to him that "scanning" older black and white negatives in order to use them in the digital space could be both very high quality, cheap and quick. Choose any three. Oh hell, choose all three. 

And then it dawned on both of us that people called "bloggers" make everything seem much harder than it really is so they have something weighty and somewhat mysterious (to people who've never had to scan film before. Or people who have never shot film in their lives) in order to generate reams of dark magic folderol to write about. 

Later, in a parking lot at the nearest photo lab we did a ritual burning and sledgehammer destruction of several older film scanners. They were very much tools of oppression and unrewarding labor. 

As Mrs. Lovich, my creative writing about mathematics teacher always said: "Show your work!" 

Show your work indeed!

A note to writers: if you are discussing photography then show pictures or "it didn't happen." 

 

Just a few notes on stuff. A firmware update drops!

 

That company everyone loves? Leica? They've done a little holiday favor for SL2 owners/users. They dropped Firmware Update 6.1 on us. Now we can use the joystick on the back of the camera not only to move the cursor around but you can once again push said button and have instant, punch-in magnification. Don't know about you but I sure appreciate it. A lot. Don't know why it vanished in a previous update but we've been made whole again. 

The firmware 6.1 update fixes a few other things. Mostly speed improvements in AF. But for me the return of a vital control for manual focusing is splendid. 

Panasonic launched/announced a couple of new cameras yesterday. The one of interest to me is the G97. I won't be buying one but I had a G95 for while and it was a damn good entry level camera with lots of video features and tons of controls. It's coming mid-February and you'll be able to snag a kit with a 12-60mm Panasonic lens (24-120mm FF equivalent) for around $895. Might make a good travel camera. Especially if you also pick up a fast normal focal length for use in low light. 

Of all the compact cameras we've been pining for over the last few months it appears that the Leica DLux8 is showing the most inventory endurance. Last I checked it was still in stock at several Leica Stores. You can snag one before X-mas for the actual list price. The last time I checked America's biggest online retailer they had some X-100VI Fujis in stock----if you were willing to cough up nearly 50% over list. Not that hungry for another one. 

All the extra crap that had built up around the studio over the last few years got sold off. My friend sold it for me on FredMiranda.com. All without a snag. Anything that didn't go there got sent to MPB.com. We've already been paid for most of it so I'll be able to afford the good Champagne now. The recently discontinued Fuji GFX 50Sii sold so fast it made my head spin. There is apparently a high demand for used MF cameras and lenses out there in the wilderness. I must confess. Though I really liked the actual results from the Fuji MF I was never really happy (at all) with the  handling of that camera... And that's reason enough to ditch it. 

Yesterday I wrote about gearing up for the last commercial job of the year. I shouldn't make statements like that anymore because it seems to just jinx me. In the time since I wrote that I've gotten requests from two other clients for corporate portrait work. I might try putting them off till 2025. We'll see. 

We're closing in on that time again. It's just about time to upgrade office computers. My iMacPro hails from late 2017 and it's already outside my usual update schedule. Frankly, while Apple has great products across their line-up I really wanted them to come to market with a new iMacPro. The same 27 inch screen size. Whatever the fastest M4 processor happens to be. Lots of RAM and a big ass SSD. But so far, when it comes to an "all-in-one" package the only choice seems to be the regular iMac line-up. 

I guess I'll muddle around until I get it all figured out. No compelling reason to move quickly as the iMacPro in hand is still handling all the software updates without issue. Just makes me nervous to get too much of a bargain out of a machine... The iMacPro has been/is an amazing machine, even if it does use Intel Xeon processors...

Retirement notes. According to my fairly accurate paperwork I did about 125 different projects in 2018. In 2024 I saw that number drop to about 23. The actual number of days I worked this years hovers around 60. That gave me 305 days to swim, run, cook, write, read, walk, and relax. And swim. It's been a remarkably different year. But, I'm actually swimming faster and better than I have for the last ten years. I'm enjoying everything I am reading more and more. Maybe because I have ample time to process the writing.  

I am self-funding the difference in income from the big years with the idea of putting off taking Social Security until 70. Seems pretty easy to just chill out and spend my own money for a while. But I have actually made enough in billing in 2024 to keep the wheels turning, the lights on and the bills paid from those scant 60 days of work. Makes me wonder what the hell I was doing working all those "extra" days in the past. 

Swimming. Learned a brand new training secret = stretching. Not the arms so much but the ankles. Seems ankle flexibility is critical to fast and powerful kicking because the more flexible the ankles the better the "whip" effect of the kick. I started doing some ankle flexibility work on a daily basis a couple of weeks ago --- ten minutes at a time --- and I'm seeing freestyle and backstroke times dropping. Nice. If you are getting old and creaky it might be time to up your stretching. Flexibility is a good thing. 

Okay. Go do something fun. 

If you haven't, as a group, decided on what to get your favorite, acerbic blogger you might consider something radically different, like an M10 Monochrome. I promise not to join a monochrome cult...

In Praise of Street Photography. Which we used to just call....photography.

Nearly every study about health, remaining healthy, being healthy, reaching for longevity, etc. makes it very clear that a sedentary lifestyle (which means sitting on your ass all day long at work and then taking a "long" walk from your car to your couch for an extended evening of sitting in front of your TV, computer screen, etc.) takes years off your life expectancy. Full stop. Other implications are that being isolated in your office or home isolates you from the shared reality of existence. At a certain point, as you get more and more cloistered, your ideas about reality, society, wealth, and general healthiness become a distillation of whatever media you consume. And I was going to say, "For Better or Worse" but I think I'll go with "For worse or worser." And yeah, I know "worser" isn't a real word. 

The reliance on media for cues about society and the general condition of life is fraught with real peril. More media = more sadness. More isolation, and an increasingly narrow point of view. Social isolation robs one of the mental health guardrails that an engaged and vibrant embrace of life outside your door and into your community can provide. So, why are so many photographers seemingly content to sit at home and endlessly scroll through blogs, vlogs, videos and the like instead of tying those nice walking shoes (recommended by one influencer or another...), grabbing a cool camera (of which you have many; I am sure) and heading out the door into a vibrant cityscape in order to get exercise, visual inspiration, a better sense of who lives near us and with us and, as an extra bonus, to get some practice framing, exposing and capturing interesting images with your camera? 

Staying home. It's like a giant mental health breakdown...

Street photography is one enjoyable cure for cultural isolation. One can go to events and venues that cater to people who are different from the insulated and "safe" people who surround you in whatever bubble of comfort you've created for yourself. I try to go to events, public gatherings, farmers markets, parades, and sometimes just the day to day flow of life as often as I can. And not just in my own neighborhood, my own church, or nestled into my own social and economic demographic but in as wide a choice of experiences as I can find. 

Street photography is merely the practice of going outside, being among the public at large and getting comfortable documenting real life. Current life. Diverse cultures. New stuff. You can watch the news and get riled about isolated events, curated to make you feel sad, angry and aggrieve or you can step outside and see how actual people live day-to-day. It's different. I assure you. 

I went out to do a few errands this afternoon. I parked at the grocery store and walked the six or seven blocks to my bank in downtown to deposit a check. Sure, yes, Europeans, I know I can deposit a check from the comfort and "safety" of my home with a phone. And I know that checks have become a meaningless form of payment for most of the "first" world country dwellers. But have you considered that the physical act of depositing a  paper check at a non-virtual bank can provide you with a nice walk through the urban landscape? That you can stop and photograph things or people you didn't know existed but which suddenly present themselves in front of your eyes and your camera? That you can greet the bank tellers who, here in Austin at least, still exist? That you can walk back to the grocery store on a different route and see even more new things? That you can detour down an interesting street? That you can extend that walk for as long as you like?

And then you can head back to the grocery store. Yes, all my young GenZ friends, I know I can order groceries online and have them delivered to my house by someone trying to make a living. But I would miss an opportunity, an excuse, to get up from my chair in front of my computer and .... experience more shared, real life. And I get to look through the various pints of blackberries and choose the one I think is freshest. I can investigate the breads on offer and see which one best matches my habit of eating hearty toast with olive oil on the side before swim practice. And I can see what other people are buying, how they are dressing, how they are interacting and how they flow through their lives, which are different--- but the same as mine. 

I read about wealth distribution on a photo blog site yesterday. There are rich and poor people. But the whole exercise immediately reminded me of the sage saying that "comparison is the thief of happiness." 

There is an equalizing effect in walking together through the streets and down the sidewalks. A joint experience that's missing, really, in all these online media. The media create granular silos of thought and expectations that fly in the face of the idea that we're all going through life while trying to be as happy or as comfortable as we can be. Chasing love, companionship, belonging and joy. Belonging being the key to the rest.

On the street there is poverty but after the hurdle of poverty is overcome everyone else is more or less equal in the moment. And the camera is there to document that feeling of community. From documenting a random hug between old friends, a shared coffee with a small group out shopping together, families out sharing meals, and even the occasional documentation of budding love. It's all so life affirming. Such a great cure for a sedentary and lonely life...

Street photography is, in the moment, on the street,  a social equalizer. One afternoon I photographed billionaire, Michael Dell as he walked past me on the sidewalk near the Austin convention center. A few blocks away I stopped to talk to a person experiencing homelessness.  I didn't need to give the billionaire anything but a smile and a nod. I felt compelled to give what I had with me to the person living on the street because, well, in walking outside I've come to see him as an equal in the process of living, albeit one who needs a bit more help. There but for the grace of God go I.  I purposely bring along cash now when I'm out photographing just in case. But a donation of time and money is not just for someone down on their luck, it's also for me so I can understand better that we're all, in some way, connected. And there is always hope.

If more people in the comfortable middle class got up off the couch, out of their cars, and walked through the streets of their cities and met the people who live all around them and saw life as a breeze flowing in and around the individuals who surround us their understanding and compassion might grow. Their jealousy of people who have more might recede. Their compassion for those who have less might surge. And, in general, they might feel more comfortable about real life. Their real life. Instead of the lives of virtual strangers and the politics they get fed through their ever present screens.

Sadness, jealousy, rancor and division seem to be addictions. Just as strong and as destructive as alcohol or drugs. Maybe street photography is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things but every positive effort is somehow rewarding. Even if it's just an excuse to get outside your bubble and experience more of real life. With real people. And real scenes. Every smile and nod from a stranger is a connection...

Cameras can be more than toys or tools. They can be magic carpets that give us some insight to experience more. To see more deeply and intently. And to incorporate what we see as learning for ourselves. Just a thought.