Photography provides photographers with so many opportunities to screw up. Just like today...

Mirror, mirror on the wall, reflecting the door on the restroom stall. 

It's a sunny day in Austin. The high today is predicted to be 82° Fahrenheit. T-shirt weather. Birkenstock weather. Rangefinder with 21mm weather! And that was my plan. I grabbed the same camera off the desk that I used on a different walk yesterday, got in the car and headed over to the UT campus to meander around, photograph and reminisce about my long years there as, first a student and then a Specialist Lecturer in the College of Fine Arts. I was looking forward to seeing the crowds of students crossing the streets with cellphones firmly in hand. The perfect landscaping of the University. So easy to do when budgets are infinite and local labor is cheap. I was also looking forward to having a nice coffee at Medici Caffé. Right there on the main drag. Just across from campus.

I parked my car at a metered space about a half mile from the epicenter of my destination, tossed my camera onto my shoulder and meandered through the side streets and into the campus flow. Then I saw a great scene appear in front of me. A majestic building with an unending line of students passing in front. I turned the camera on and looked at the rear screen for confirmation of life only to find the dreaded notice on the LCD: "Warning! No memory card inserted !!!" and just like that the air came out of the fun balloon of my afternoon. Hard to take photographs, even with a Leica, if there is no memory card plugged into the card slot. 

It wasn't the end of world. It wasn't a job. No one I can think of was depending on me to inject some sort of new brilliance into the world of photography. But I was crestfallen because, well, I like to get things right and I hate it when I screw up the basics. I usually recharge the battery of the camera when I get home from a walk or a shoot. I usually download from the memory card the images I've taken as soon as I get home. And, as soon as I download images (automatically  backed up to a second HD...) I re-format the card and stick it back in the camera for next time. But, yesterday we were in a rush to meet people for dinner at a favorite restaurant and I broke with habit. Now to my chagrin... and embarrassment.

I re-learn stuff all the time. After I wrote that last paragraph I scrounged around and found five or six slightly older 64 GB SDII cards, put them in an appropriate container and stuck them into the center console of the car. Now, if I'm willing to circle back to the car to correct this kind of oversight in the future, they will be there waiting for me.

It's a pretty safe bet that I'm not the first photographer to trip over my own lack of attention to details. And it's not the first time I've left the house and gone somewhere only to find that either the memory card or the extra battery for the camera didn't complete whatever journey I planned. Never came along for the ride. But it's rare enough that I'd say it only happens once every five years or so. 

The other potential oversight/stumble usually involves either camera batteries or flash batteries. Nothing like going out on a cold day with a digital camera, watching the battery level gauge drop minute by minute as the chill wind cuts through your thin, cheap, Texas gloves and  only then realizing that the poor battery in your camera is flying solo. Once it's done its best and given its all your shooting day is over. Done. Makes one long for the old days of film when many cameras ran on double "A" batteries or were so totally mechanical they could be used without batteries. One less point of failure. Of course, those were the "good old days" when we might have assumed that there was a fresh roll of 36 exposure film in our camera only to find, while seeing the most beautiful, potential image imaginable, that your camera's frame counter stopped counting about 50 frames ago ---- because there was no film n the camera. There's always something that can go wrong. 

While it's easy to get frustrated by these small roadblocks that the universe sometimes conjures up to keep us on our toes my response today was to shrug my shoulders and continue on to the coffee shop for that perfect latté. At that point I really did consider my Leica as just expensive jewelry.

Chateau somewhere just outside of Paris proper.

In full costumes to amuse the American corporate clients

that paid a king's ransom to party in style...

The Champagne and caviar flowed like...whatever. 

If you went to Paris with an Olympus Pen FT camera and your camera's 

meter battery died you could still shoot the 72 frames on your roll of film

without issue. All the better if you were shooting color negative film and 

you were smart enough to figure out ballpark exposures....

 Same in Mexico City or Venice. 

Louvre. Is that a spiral staircase or just 

swirly bokeh?

On the streets of Madrid. Across from the Prado. 

Boat racing in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

Question: It is "upgrading" if you are adding a new camera but not getting rid of your current camera?

Can one "upgrade" from a newer camera to an older one? 

Is it okay to just own both?

Rediscovery of an APS-C camera. Portrait of David.

A while back, when I was just putting a foot into the Leica digital waters, I bought a couple of their digital CL cameras. Sweet, compact, interchangeable lens cameras that used APS-C sensors to keep them small and easy to carry around. While Leica sold a small group of lenses for the CL, L mount partner, Sigma stepped in to supply faster, less expensive APS-C designed lenses for the system. The three I ended up holding onto were the 16mm f1.4, the 30mm f1.4 and, my favorite, the 56mm f1.4. The 56mm is equivalent to an 84-85mm field of view on a full frame camera. 

While initially overshadowed by subsequent purchases of newer, higher resolution, full frame cameras from the company I have found the Leica CLs to be great tools for those times when you either want to travel a lot lighter or when you need their smaller sensor size to supply greater reach in the telephoto range. Also, the greater depth of field for a given f-stop is helpful when you want to use fast, wide angle glass at near wide open apertures but still keep enough in focus to make a photo work well. I pulled out the CLs recently and put them back to work. They are quite fun to carry around while out walking with no agenda.

I was out walking on Sunday, a week ago, when I dropped by Jo's Coffee and ran into my friend (and fellow photographer) David. I made this casual portrait (above) as we were sitting and chatting. It seemed just right. The 56mm Sigma lens (Contemporary) kept the span from David's nose to the back of his hat in adequate focus at f2.8 but successfully blurred the background just as much as I wanted. 

While I understand that Leica is a smaller camera company than most and it's a stretch to think they have the comfortable bandwidth to serve up a number of different product lines concurrently, I really wish they had not pulled the plug on the CL (compact Leica) system. They left many users wishing and hoping for a CL-2 camera that never arrived. There are times when "small and light" but still highly capable is a nice option to have. While I like the various fixed lens compact cameras out on the market I always find myself wishing they offered the choice for a different lens instead of the focal lengths the herd demands (relentless 28mms). Leica was on the right path with the new Q3-43 but how nice it would be to have an even more compact Q variant with an APS-C sensor and a fast normal lens on the front; like the Q3-43 does in the full frame arena...

I thought about selling the CL cameras a while back but hesitated. Now, when I go and look for additional bodies I find that they are going back up in price on the used markets. Maybe Leica can look to those rising price trends as product demand research and come to the decision to re-launch that format. But...probably not. 

One of my friends took me to task when I originally bought the CLs  and an assortment of APS-C only lenses. He suggested that if the camera system was discontinued that the lenses would eventually become useless and would lose their value. I might have agreed had I not tried using the Sigma APS-C L mount lenses on a Leica SL2, with the camera set to shoot APS-C. The lenses work quite well when used that way and the camera provides image stabilization! You are still getting file sizes over 20 megapixels and, if Sigma follows other lens makers then APS-C lenses are designed to give a higher resolution with over 50% contrast to compensate for their intended use on a smaller, more densely packed imaging sensor.  All nicely bundled with auto focus and full lens automation.

In a pinch, at corporate events with speakers at far away podiums, I have resorted to using the APS-C mode on the SL2 to gain more reach with a telephoto lens on the front. I could easily do the same thing by using the longer ff lenses (like 135mm and above) with the CL bodies. Nice that the lens mount is the thing that keeps the older bodies and lenses from being obsoleted entirely. And, depending on your intended use, not obsolete at all !

The strength and weakness of the digital CL are the same. The battery. It's a bit small and runs down fairly quickly. 250-300 shots. But the strength of it is that the CL uses the same battery as many Panasonic compact cameras and both of the recent Sigma fp variants. This means the market is filled with compatible batteries as cheap as $12 each, to batteries I have more confidence in, like Sigma branded and Panasonic banded batteries in the $40 price range. But if you absolutely have to have the Leica branded battery you can still find them for around $125 each. I have a bunch of the Sigma batteries. I've yet to have on fail. 

I just liked the portrait and thought you might enjoy the technical backstory. Hope all is well. 

 

A short afternoon walk with the new Thypoch Ksana 21mm f3.5 ultra wide angle lens. Not my strong suit but after I made my own profile for the lens I was pretty darn happy.

today I walked in the Hyde Park neighborhood in central Austin. Lots of wonderful, little 1940s and 1950s houses, many painted exuberantly. I hadn't gotten a lot of use out of the 21mm lens I bought a couple weeks ago during the last cold snap. I'd used it on an SL2 just to try it out but, of course, the real test is when you put the lens on a camera type that it was designed for and you go out and shoot it for a while. And Hyde Park was a fun testing ground for my primitive use of the lens.

21mm lenses are problematic. Depending on the camera sensor, the angle of the prevailing light and the phase of the moon there is always the possibility of some color shifting at the edges and in the corners of the frame. I made a color profile for this lens in Lightroom and used it on all the frames here. It consists of a tiny bit of geometric correction, some vignetting correction and, most importantly, some mild linear masking on each side of the frame which allowed me to simply use the green/magneta slider to remove a slight magenta cast that occurred on the left and right sides of the frames. The work of five minutes and the profile could then be used on all the files with a batch synchronization. Yay Software! 

The Ksana (zany name?) 21mm is very sharp and creates very saturated files. I love those attributes. I can always adjust saturation but it's nice to start with data rich/detail rich files when you can. I used the lens on an M240 camera today, in the raw/DNG format. I set the white balance for daylight and used auto-ISO with a minus 2/3rd stop compensation for most of the images. I brought along a Leica zoom optical finder that gives me framing for 21,24 and 28mm lenses but I found that it was easiest to just use an EV-2 EVF finder and turn on live view instead. Worked very well and made composing quite accurate. Considering that you can pick up the Leica branded version of this finder for around $175 on the used market I would suggest picking one up unless you want to spend a lot more money buying zoom finders or individual bright line finders to use with wider lenses. You won't be able to use the camera finder of ultra-wide angle coverage (21 and 24 are a "no go") but you will still always be able to use the camera finder for very accurate and quick focusing. A decided plus with very wide angle lenses...  One note though, the EV-2 works only with the M240 cameras and variants and not the M10 or M11 cameras!!! Don't buy one for your M11 --- they make another, much pricier finder, just for that model.

The advantage of the Ksana 21mm over some other lenses is that it's very, very small and, by extension, very lightweight. If you love shooting with an M rangefinder camera it's a good, solid addition to an M only gear kit. But if you also shoot with a mirrorless system like the Leica SL cameras or any of the other mirrorless cameras in the market you can finder lenses that are better corrected for partial frame color shifts and which are available with faster maximum apertures and also AF. In my case I wanted to be able to make a complete, do everything (almost) kit for my M stuff. If I were a more rational and thoughtful planner I might not have bought the lens as I also use Leica SL type cameras and already have a Sigma Contemporary 21mm lens for the L mount that is pretty darn good. If I were a bit more frugal I'd make do with the Sigma instead. Live and learn. 

But, as you can see from the images the Ksana 21 really does deliver nice results. Especially if you take the time to build a suitable profile with which to add into your post production with this lens. 

The lens is quite attractive on a black M camera. And it does what it's supposed to do. I never can imagine I'd need a faster 21mm as one of the lens's attractive qualities is its deep depth of field at apertures like f5.6 and f8. The value of a 21mm f1.4 eludes me. Or escapes me. Or both. 

Here are bunch of images that serve as proof of practice. Make them big if you want. They have a lot of detail to share. Buy or don't buy....we don't care here because it doesn't benefit Mr. Tuck in the least.

 

Dumb stuff we do after watching too many lens reviews... Or, is lens buying really a practical way to deal with boredom?

 For as long as I've owned the various SL digital cameras from Leica I've had an idea for a way of doing photography that most of my photography friends consider borderline insane. After a long career of trying to be prepared for everything, which mostly meant having every lens and lighting instrument I might ever need for client projects, I've had a vision/daydream of winnowing down the burden of gear to pure minimalism. But good quality minimalism! In the best of all possible worlds (for me) I would distill down the gear inventory to just one SL2 camera (for which I retain the right to upgrade when appropriate) and one, perfect 50mm lens. I would also keep a second SL2 body around so that I'd have a back-up when traveling...

That would be it. Everything I might need to do photography on my terms instead of walking around in a perennial state of "ready for anything-ness." Or paralyzed by the endless question of "what gear to use now?"

I''ve long since come to terms with the reality that, for me, the 50mm lens is pretty much the perfect focal length for my own personal vision. Maybe I arrived at that out of endless practice or maybe I'm just wired to like the compromise between too much in the frame and not enough in the frame. For whatever reason when I look through the finder of a camera with a 50mm lens on the front there is a comfort I rarely feel with other options. Longer or shorter. Like perfect shoes. Or a pair of pants that fits perfectly.

In my odd quest for system minimization and 50mm regard I've endlessly researched 50mm lenses. I've owned three different Zeiss lenses, including the very well regarded 50mm f1.4 Milvus, and a Planar f2 for the M cameras. Even a 50mm f1.4 ZF for the Nikon system (adapted for use on an SL variant). I've owned countless Nikon and Canon "normal" lenses. And have been in love with the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar since I purchased one three years ago. It's really, really good. 

But the lens I always wanted to try, always imagined would be the lens that stands the test of time, might satisfy my desire for the highest performance lens I could imagine, has been, since its introduction, the Leica 50mm APO Summicron SL. It's an f2 lens with insanely great glass in a complex design with lots of elements and groups. Weather and dust proof to the hilt and very well built. And, at times, the AF would be nice to have...

In my daydreams I imagine myself driving through the arid, spare, west Texas landscape to Marfa and then onto Terlingua with an SL2 camera, coupled up with the 50mm APO Summicron SL, keeping me company from the passenger's seat of the car. A spare body wrapped up in a protective cloth and well cradled in a good camera bag in the car's trunk. Nothing other than a stack of spare batteries for the camera and extra memory cards --- because I tend to overshoot most of the time.

I'd find some rustic gas station in the middle of nowhere and there would be characters sitting around in faded, worn jeans and western style shirts just shooting the shit and they'd do the usual west Texas warm greeting for strangers and, after I filled up the tank and bought more water, I'd ask them if I could make their portraits, and no matter where I aimed the camera the light would be beautiful and the lens would have some special magic that would inject itself into the photo taking process and make each frame a keeper. I'd thank the folks and drive on through the bright yellowness of the high desert light always scanning the horizon for the next opportunity to see something new. 

In my vision of the one lens future I'd never pine for anything wider. I'd fit my vision to the lens and the lens to my vision. Nor would I feel the slightest desire for anything longer. If I need to be tighter, well--- I learned how to crop images long ago in a film-era darkroom. Can't be any harder in Photoshop.

The single focal length would eliminate the drudgery of choosing. The semi-panic of arriving somewhere  already second guessing whether I'd made the correct lens choice when packing. And with the world's greatest 50mm lens I would never question whether a different brand or style of 50mm lens would ever be better. 

I have a good 20 to 25 years (hopeful, optimistic guy here?) left to make photographs just for me. Just the way I want them. I figure I should do them with exactly the lens I always imagined would make all photography fun for me. 

I am far too conservative to actually put all my eggs in one basket. I thought about selling everything else but...it's all already paid for and comfortably strewn across the studio in filing cabinets and tool cases. But that doesn't mean I can't pursue the dream of being mostly unencumbered by choice or restrictions. I'd keep the M stuff and sell everything else. Because you just never know. 

But here we are. It rained all day yesterday.  A cool but not cold rain. I went out for lunch with B. We went to our favorite taco place: TacoDeli. I had a couple of the borracho carnitas tacos. I mentioned my minimalization idea. B. nodded approvingly. I mentioned my desire to buy the "ultimate" 50mm lens. She asked for a bit more detail. Detail delivered she nodded and said, "Why would you hesitate buying the lens you say you always wanted?" I took that as an approval of concept.... 

.... We'll see how the concept pans out. Car, camera, lens, credit card, intention. Could be fun. Might be fun. Will be fun. See how easy it is to talk oneself into yet another glorious lens purchase?

Arriving shortly.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I'll spend it being on my best behavior. So here's one for you....

 I think I have posted this for nearly every Valentine's Day since the blog has been around. That's a long time. For some reason it's always been one of my favorite photographs. 

There was a huge, used bookstore called, Brock's Books, on Commerce Street in San Antonio, Texas. One afternoon in the 1980s I was walking through the downtown area taking random images with a rickety old Nikon film camera and an ancient 28mm f3.5 Nikon lens. A lens from before Leica invented the first workable autofocusing technology. A lens that pre-dated program automation in cameras. 

The camera was loaded with some kind of E-6 slide film. The bookstore always had "giveaway" books in a cardboard box out in front of the shop. This is exactly how it was when I saw it. I liked including my high tops. Proof that we had em something like 45 years ago. I snapped one frame and moved on. 

When I ask Austinites if they have a favorite photo of mine they always list two. One of Governor Ann Richards in a gray cowboy hat holding a big bouquet of yellow roses, and this image above. Some stuff is more or less universal.

I'm thinking this was taken in 1982 or 1983. Years later I went back to see the bookstore again but it had long since been closed and replaced by some chain restaurant or some other tragic and more temporary business. 

I think it's important and wonderful to be in love. Everyone should try it.

Photos from several walks. Captions where necessary.

This is a new sign that popped up this week on a storefront on S. Congress Ave. 

There's still paper over the windows and no other information. Could be anything. 

Pretty sure whatever business it is it won't be aimed toward the geriatric 

demographic. Maybe a central Texas surf shop? Or just another THC store?

A group of young film makers interviewing people at random on S. Congress Ave. 

intersected with a group of people who were following along a corporate mascot

giving people free red roses and wishing them a Happy Valentine's Day. 

All very sweet. 

Ancient photo from a color slide. The scene is a Latina fashion show

from San Antonio. Circa 1990. Grabbing stage shots for the AV company 

that did the lighting and sound. 

Maufrais is an endless source of hat inspiration. As I have more and more

chances to visit my dermatologist I am liking the idea of hats more and more.

And, as a photographer, I like hats that have a lot of texture.

They photograph better in black and white. 

This image is NOT from a dedicated monochrome camera but I 

like it just as if it was. 

Unknown artifacts at a street vendor's display.

Skinny depth of field. 

The mannequin representative approved of the Carl Zeiss 85mm f4 ZM lens.

I was allowed to shoot the first three songs...

I must have liked the ZM 85 because I used it all day long one day. 

Mounted on an SL or an SL2.

The residual result of boredom and a stroll in a light rain in the early night time. 

On S. Congress Avenue. Armed only with a Leica M240 rangefinder and a

Thypoch 50mm f1.4 Simera lens. NOT from a dedicated, monochrome

camera but yes, from a regular, boring, mundane M240. 

Same as above.

One more experimental go with the ZM 85mm f4. 

If I remember correctly this shot was done on an M240, 

assisted by an EV-2 EVF. No frame lines in camera

for the 85. You could use the 90mm frame lines but I'd 

know I was cheating. 

That's all I know.  Today. Gallery Opening this evening. Pasta for dinner. Swim practice in the morning. Flower shopping after swim practice. And, yes, I cleaned the bathrooms. Hey, after all, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. 

 

I'm almost always concerned about getting the color right. Not necessarily "accurate" but subjectively right. It has to make me happy.

Two more images from this afternoon. The top one is the bottom of the small swimming pool at the Hotel San José. The bottom one is a detail from the courtyard at the Austin Motel. In both of them I think the color is just right. Not accurate, but just right. 

Again: Leica SL (the original, professional, mirrorless camera) coupled with a well regarded zoom lens from the R camera era. It's the 35-70mm f4.0 R. It's lovely. I wish I were faster at focusing it. But what would be the fun in letting a camera do everything for you? Right? 

I went out for a walk with a favorite old camera and very useful lens. I met a very attractive woman in front of Jo's Coffee...

 

My lens today was the older, Leica 35-70mm f4.0 R lens, made for the R system cameras but used on a Leica SL (original 2015 model). I was happy with the expression, the color and the nice focus fall off to the background. You meet some of the most interesting people at coffee havens in the middle of the afternoon.

The portrait was shot today around 3:52 in the afternoon. 

Now starting to wonder if the lens is a "cult" lens or not....

Now that everything has been photographed do we start over again? Or quit? Or continue to muddle our way through?

chair and painting in the Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg, Russia. 

The hackneyed response to anyone asking why they should continue taking photographs when it seems like everything in the world has already been photographed over and over again is: "But it hasn't been photographed by you! And your vision is unique." Which I think is mostly a bunch of crap. We don't have just the equivalent of millions of monkeys typing on typewriters we have billions of picture takers pushing billions of shutter buttons. Statistically, and reinforced by instantaneous display and re-referencing, there is little that hasn't at least been tried...again and again.

I had lunch with a friend yesterday who spent most of his working life doing a real job for a real company. A job that had absolutely nothing to do with photography. or the arts of any variety. In the last five years, leading up to his youthful retirement, his passion for (and talent at) photography has grown by leaps and bounds. He has attained a strong working knowledge of the craft and is now blazing away at establishing his own style. In the course of our lunch we discussed motivation, inspiration, art and happiness. And I got my consciousness expanded. 

I spent 45 years taking photographs for work. My identity felt tied up with my daily work. The motivation at the bottom of work is usually the making of money. The building of wealth. And while, in retrospect, photography is a tough way to do it, it can be done. But as my friend pointed out the ability to make sellable photographs is only one part of what makes an art-oriented business financially successful. One must also master the business side of the equation if you are to do more than just tread water. 

He suggested that while my primary bit of self-identity has mostly been that of "photographer" I might do well to contemplate the time, energy and proficiency I brought to the business side of ..... the business. And incorporate that into my current self assessments.  The marketing, negotiation, writing, and selling parts of the business. The skills that make the difference between paying the rent or paying off the mortgage. Between counting pennies and living well. 

I have to admit that I'm floundering a bit with this concept of retirement. The looseness of it. The lack of scheduling boundaries. The absence of targets and primary goals which are normally tied to businesses as much as to the making of art. 

Now, for the first time ever I have a blank schedule and an almost unlimited budget but for the life of me I can't think of a single project that might nag at me to get done. It's like writer's block on steroids. 

Everyone tells me to volunteer but I'm not a candidate for mindlessly finding a charity I have no deep interest in and spending my "golden years" showing up to do volunteer work. It's way too much like, well, work. I'd rather give money to the non-profits that I value because, after having spent forty years volunteering for various charities and non-profits I know they'd very much appreciate funds more than another warm body that has to be trained and supervised. 

Everyone tells me to spend my time traveling and taking photographs and my general response is that I spent the last 45 years traveling and taking photographs. I've worked in seventeen different countries over the course of my career; some countries many times. I still travel out of curiosity but I think we've all collectively made traveling more like torture than any fun at all. Have you flown lately? I have. Even in first class or business class the ordeal sucks. The transitions suck. The airports suck. Have you visited a tourist destination lately? A famous museum? A grand vista? Chances are you shared the experience with thousands of people who you would never spend any time with if you had any choice. People who basically moved from the shopping malls to monuments --- for recreation. Or because social media enticed them...

I still enjoy the process of making photographs but I'd enjoy it more if it was combined with a greater sense of purpose. Coupled with a modicum of motivation. But motivation coming from where? 

I refuse to spend the rest of my life writing or talking about the past. How great it was to shoot Tri-X film. How wonderful and rich printing papers were in the "golden age" and how I'm "working on my archives/legacy". That's profoundly boring. A stupid waste of time.

I'm hearing from so many people that they've lost the inspiration to photograph. The equipment continues to pile up but the inertia to shoot is winding down. Not just old duffers but people much younger who, before the torrent of endless images hit the internet, were excited to learn and execute a vision for photography. Now? Not so much. 

There is no magic bullet for this. We all have to find our own ways through the maze. But some days are harder than others. 

Thank goodness for the existence of daily swim practice. And lunch with friends. Good health. And the existence of an art that always seems to welcome one back no matter how egregiously they may have strayed from the flock. I think we all go through these periods of lacking inspiration. I guess it's my turn.

mannequin in the window of a Lisbon tailor's shop.

Fifty three foot tall, red metal sculpture by Alexander Calder, in the Federal Plaza in Chicago. 

Random café table in central Austin. 

Butterfly chairs at the small pool (not lap-able) at the Hotel San José in Austin.

Random, colorful house in Hyde Park, Austin.