Interesting. I spent about four or five hours photographing in San Antonio on Sunday and managed to squeeze five blog posts from the photographs. It's fun when you just let go and make pictures for the joy of it.

The image just above is my favorite of that day. I've been watching an Irish photographer named Paul Reid make incredibly nice portraits with his small camera and its twenty-eight millimeter lens and I was inspired to go out and do the same. Intermixed of course with lots of color images of buildings, gorditas and the Alamo. Paul uses a Q2 Monochrome for a lot of his work. Or at least he did when he was making the work that I really liked. I don't have a monochrome camera but I'm pretty sure I can get a nice black and white file out of my conventional Q2 if I'm willing to pay attention to the process of both shooting and post processing the files the right way (for me). 

I've always been interested in what other photographers write about so I've been catching up on essays by Bill Jay and I find that there's a lot we share, idea-wise, about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and progressing as a photographer. I think it's symptomatic of being a photographer to spend a certain amount of time looking for the lost gold of Cortez...oops. I meant the magic camera that makes the ones who discover it much better at making riveting and exciting images that stand the ravages of time, and the changing tastes of our own civilizations. I know, intellectually, that such a camera doesn't exist. In the same way that I'm pretty sure various vitamins and supplements aren't going to stave off inevitable death, and strict diets won't do much more than make you sad and hungry. But it's human nature, I think, to never stop looking for the Fountain of Youth. Or the perfect street shooting camera. 

One of the things that Bill Jay and I agree on is the almost certain reality that you get better by doing whatever it is you want to do as frequently and with as much excitement as you can muster. Sitting at home reading about the Zone System or delving into arcane recipes for film development will only get one so far. Or not far at all. What really counts is being in a place, physically and mentally, where there is the potential for making photographs. Situations that provide the motivation to bring the camera up to your eye and nail the composition and all the other good stuff that makes photos sing. Sitting at home reading about photography is different than navigating the pavement and seeing actual stuff that you can actually photograph --- and maybe share with other people. 

There are some things that help get me out the door. Even on days when I'm inclined to lay around in bed and have servants bring me various coffee drinks and freshly baked pastries. One of those things is the realization that I have no servants and if I want a hot beverage or a snack I'd better crawl out of bed and get my ass in gear. Coffee is a big help when it comes to getting out to shoot. Not because coffee is good or bad but it is a ritual and a time honored way to start the day. The caffeine is a big help for those who require an extra push towards the door. Any additional momentum is welcome.

Just the right pair of shoes is an important part of street photography. Oh heck, good shoes are an important part of just about anything. And as I get older it seems that good shoes are ever more important. Those pads on the bottoms of my feet aren't getting any thicker.... You need light and airy shoes for hot days, good, enclosed hiking shoes for temperate days and probably a pair of insulated boots for those times when the temperature refuses to rise about the level required to keep frozen foods frozen. I'd recommend some brands and models of shoes but I've found that everyone's feet/taste/budgets are wildly different so you'll just have to rely on good ole trial and error. I do know that thick wool socks are a helpful addition when moving from sandal weather to Arctic blasts. 

Now that I find myself firmly ensconced in the Leica camp I understand that I need to take myself far too seriously and customize my chosen camera so it fits my taste while also looking just so professional and well decorated.  When I see most cameras out in the wild, be they Sony, Nikon or Canon, they are generally unadorned and not outfitted with pricy accessories which are meant to convey that the owner uses his camera so much and so well that he's discovered small additions that bolster his already fine camera up into some higher tier of camera existence. If only wishing made it so.

Having become a de facto Leica snob I can't resist festooning the various cameras with all nature of aftermarket junk meant to convey just how serious I think I am about capturing vital images in fast moving scenarios under tremendous pressure. Or, in reality, I can't resist adding things that help to keep the slippery cameras from sliding out of my hands and crashing to the pavement. Were that to happen the only thing I know how to do is to affect a look of nonchalant annoyance while all the while I would be holding back tears and tormented by my heady loss....

When I bought a Leica Q2 I thought for sure it would be a perfect camera to hand hold and shoot with. Oh, how wrong I was. Its rounded and slightly slippery front desperately needed a front grip to keep it from sliding out of my hands. There's a Leica branded grip for about $10,000 but there is also one made by Hoage for about $75 which works just fine. I bought that one --- having spent all my money on the initial camera purchase. I presumed this would help with the handling since Leica designed a little depression on the back of the camera which seems intended as a thumb rest. But after using the camera for a few days I realized that only a gorilla would have the thumb reach to make their fashionable thumb depression workable. Aftermarket to the rescue again. A JCC branded thumb grip that fits into the hotshoe works quite well. Sure, I could have bought the Leica branded thumb grip but I'm pretty sure they have it made by Hermés and costs about $1200 USD. The JCC version is great and it was only $45. Now I need to get a can of matte black spray paint so I can paint over the (non-Leica) logos on the two accessories so no one will know that I'm just a really cheap guy....

Here's what all the "hood scoops, spoilers and air dams and curb feelers" look like on my camera. Be advised that I have yet to apply black gaffers tape over the logo. I'm just too afraid the logo will come off with the tape when I go to remove it....

Laugh all you want but this is what it took to make the camera comfortable for me and now that it's all "customized" it's much more fun to take out and make photographs with. The one thing I haven't wanted to mess with is the leather strap that came in the box with the camera. It's pretty much perfect. So that's one thing I don't need to pay extra for. 

All kidding aside, of all the Leica stuff I've squandered my retirement money on the Leica Q2 is without a doubt the best bang for the buck. The color out of the camera is great. The lens is wildly sharp. The whole package is small and light enough to make a long day of shooting a pleasure and....it takes the same big batteries as three of my other camera bodies. So, I might never have to deal with running out of battery power. A big plus. 

While I was photographing in San Antonio I made frequent use of the crop mode. I was shooting Jpegs so the images showed up cropped in the review screen. And I like seeing the 35mm and 50mm frame lines in the EVF while lining up a shot. Reminds me of the old M cameras. I was happy with the crops. The 35mm creates a 30 megapixel file while the 50mm creates a 15 megapixel file. More than enough for images destined for the web. 

The important thing, regardless of the brand you've been suckered into buying, is that you like your camera, and its existence in your little nest of things helps to motivate you to get outside and play. We all take ourselves so seriously but in the end I measure the process and progress of taking photographs not by how perfect the images are but by how much fun I had taking them --- and subsequently sharing them. 

Perfection and flawless technique are traps. The best way to escape the traps is to grab a camera; any camera, with a fresh battery and make it out the front door. Do that and the momentum will hopefully carry you through. 

Sit on your butt and read about photography and two or three things will happen. Your butt will get bigger. Your desire for the newest gear will grow to overwhelm you. You will miss out on so much potential. Wonderful scenes, people and weirdness just waiting to be plucked. 

I went to swim practice this morning. The camera waited patiently for me in the car. I've now finished up this blog post and my ever patient camera is winking at me from the table behind my desk. Inviting me to go out and discover something new. Or something old that we can see together in a different way.

"But at my back I always hear 

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; 

And yonder all before us lie 

Deserts of vast eternity."

"To His Coy Mistress."  a poem by Andrew Marvell. 

A reminder that time is always short. Better not to put off real experiences. The past will take care of itself.