Photographer goes nuts with a 28mm lens and an old, digital rangefinder camera. An afternoon stroll on a sunny day. Much squinting at the rear screen. Lots of guess work.

Yeah. It's tax season and I'll do just about anything to get out of sitting at the desk, going through receipts and bills and trying to make financial sense of what I did all last year. Can I write off coffee? Probably not. Does it matter? Will there be anyone left at the IRS to audit people? I guess I should err on the conservative side and just consider coffee to be something that is required for existence but not depreciable or deductible... The horror!

Actually, I don't have to worry about much of the decision making; I've got a CPA and a CFO who interpret the mess I affectionately call, "bookkeeping." I just have to transfer the funds when they deliver the bad news. But I guess this is old news about life for you, the reader. Probably been here dozens and dozens of times before.

So, after a morning swim and a long time sitting in a chair in front of a six foot long table filled with poorly sorted stacks of paper I thought it was long past time to escape, get in the car, go someplace less...paper-worky. As an afterthought I brought along one of the old rangefinder cameras that's been hanging around the studio. A sturdy, black paint Leica M240. It paired up nicely with a 28mm f2.8 Zeiss Biogon that saw some use earlier in the week. I finished out the kit with a nice, little optical finder (in the hot shoe) sourced from Ricoh and made for the GR series cameras. It's a fraction of the price of the Leica version and does a nice job showing me where the edges of my 28mm frames might be --- even with my eyeglasses on. 

Since it was a bright and color-rich day I felt certain it was a smart thing to proceed on the walk with the camera set to the black and white settings (or, for you elite photo workers = "monochrome"). I've just lately warmed up to 28mm lenses on full frame cameras. Not sure why but I'm not going to fight the urge to go wide. It appears so rarely. 

It was a warm afternoon filled with sunlight. People were out. Music was playing. I stopped by REI to buy a pair of the, "World's Most Comfortable Pants" (Duer's quote, not mine) at the store at 6th and Lamar. It's the first time I have owned $130 pants. Unless, I guess, you count the "trousers" that come with a nice suit. I decided to splurge because I had a member rebate that ate half the cost. And I have to admit that the pants are incredibly comfortable. So comfortable in fact that occasionally I have to glance down to make sure I am still wearing pants. I probably won't make a habit of upgrading my wardrobe with pricy pants but, at 69, I think I can splurge once in a while...

The walk went well. I saw fun stuff and then made it all black and white. 

I read an article on CNN about longevity. I'll be doing myself a favor, they say, by incorporating between 150-300 minutes a week of aerobic exercise. I did the math. An hour swim and a couple hours of walking in one day and I'm over the minimum threshold for the week. I guess I can just sit on the couch and eat bon bons for the next six days!!! 

There is currently a deal on the Panasonic S9 at one of my favorite online camera stores. I'm thinking of buying one. For the same price as a naked S9, for a limited time, I can get a free 20-60mm lens and an 85mm f1.8 lens --- both Panasonics. Seems like a fun addition for a light travel kit. We'll see how I feel about it after pondering the universe for the rest of the afternoon..... But hey. Gotta stay current. Or maybe not. With pants this good does it really matter?

https://shopduer.com/  Just for informational purposes. No affiliation, no special deal. No value back to me. That's a hell of a disclaimer. Just thought you'd want to see some pricy casual pants....

Contrasty, black and white prints below.