I was reading about sending the kids back to school in the Fall and remembered this photo I did a long time ago for the KIPP Schools.

Photo for KIPP Schools Annual Report.

Shot with an Olympus E-520 camera and 

one of the telephoto zooms at 150mm, f4.5.

I've been reading a lot about the Canon R5 lately and looking at files from that camera, the Sony A7RIV and the Panasonic S1R. But I am reminded by this photo (and by my current inability to go and shoot things like this!!!) that the camera pales in importance to being in the right place to even get a photograph and at the right time in order to get the right expression. 

While a higher res camera with a state-of-the-art sensor might get me a bit more detail I don't think it would have made any real difference for the project that was the target for this image. It would have printed pretty much the same. 

When I photographed for the KIPP schools I was left to my own devices to decide on which children to select and when to shoot. We didn't set up "scenarios" or direct the kids in any way. My only secret to getting as many good shots as I could was to arrive early in the morning, be there when the kids got there, and immerse myself in their classrooms for the entire day. I sat down and ate lunch with them and they thought that was okay. 

By the end of the day I had become more or less invisible. I don't think that's possible without investing the time to become invisible. If you show people your sincere process they will reflect back what your camera needs.

I hope smart educators figure out ways to keep our children and teachers safe and learning. I don't care about the politics of this but it should be a top priority. Healthy children and healthy teachers are better for society, the long term economy and my peace of mind....

NYC. 2013.

The shot in between the "shots."

It's funny. I worked with Gloria for two days at the big Photo Expo in NYC where I was shooting and speaking for Samsung for the launch of their Galaxy NX camera. I would have Gloria or Naomi "model" for me against a gray seamless backdrop and we'd try different poses and different lighting. Sometimes I'd switch lenses. All the while the camera was feeding high res images to a couple of large monitors suspended over the shooting area. That way people could see what I was getting in real time.

Of course, that meant I had to be at least mildly competent because there was no way to retouch, post process or do more that color correct in the camera --- before shooting.

But the funny thing is the process of both model and photographer becoming more and more at ease as the hours and days progressed. We were all a bit stiff at first, even though the people on both sides of the camera had lots of experience doing their jobs. It's just a bit different at a trade show when dozens or hundreds of people are gathered around giving you real time feedback and critiques. It was the first time I'd photographed while wearing a headset that would amplify my voice so I could give a rambling "play-by-play" to the audience.

I counted the actual exposures. We banged through nearly 5,000 shots during the two days I spent at the Javitts Center. By the end we were laughing, having a good time and relatively immune to the crowds.
We stopped shooting stuff we thought the audience might think is cool and started shooting stuff for ourselves. The way we do most work.

Occasionally there were glitches. A camera would freeze or a light would overheat but we had a ready team of camera specialists at our beck and call and the problems vanished quickly. We also learned the right cadence of shooting to prevent overwhelming the cameras and the wi-fi system.

But my takeaway from the whole process was that there is always a warm-up process to a good "people" shoot. If I could I'd take hours to do portrait sessions. Then I'd know I finally got on the same wavelength as the model or subject and that the expressions I really wanted would get done.

I wasn't wild about the Galaxy NX as a concept but the sensor was good and the two lenses I used most of the time were excellent. At least as good as the best stuff from the traditional companies. Wish I still had that 85mm f1.4. It was close to perfect.

Added after initial post: I thought it was warm yesterday but here in the hills it only hit 105°. I just saw a weather broadcast and found out that we set a new record for the 13th of July = It hit 108° yesterday and, coupled with the humidity it felt like 113°. That's too hot! I'll play with my camera inside today...

Hot times in Texas today. We're heading toward 105° today and the weather people tell us that when the humidity is added in the heat "index" will be about 110°. At least that's what it will feel like.

I hit the pool at six o'clock this morning and my lane mate, Margaret, kicked my ass for an hour. I like something like a ten second rest interval between 100s but Margaret decided it would be good for me to shorten those intervals to 5 seconds. Two gulps of air and go. Who argues at 6 in the morning?

It wasn't a banner day for yardage but the yards we got done were high quality. And the coffee tastes so much better afterwards.

On deck for today, in response to two days with the G16, is a Lumix S1R coupled with a 50mm f1.4. No big plans but I thought I'd drop by Intelligentsia Coffee and make sure yesterday's perfect cappuccino wasn't just a fluke.

Remembering when it was okay to hang out at a favorite restaurant.

I was playing with a Canon 1Dmk2 camera and a 50mm f1.4 lens. We'd been to the Blanton Museum in the morning and dropped by the Galaxy Cafe on West Lynn St. for a late lunch. Belinda was looking out the window and I brought the camera up to my face and clicked the shutter.

Everything felt calm back then. Now we live with much more trepidation. We haven't dined in a restaurant since the first week of March and we plan more carefully when we leave our house.

It's funny, to me, that a photograph can so clearly communicate calmness. But there it is.

I have to confess that those big, solid Canon 1D$ cameras were a lot of fun to play around with. Good for the biceps as well. Discreet?  Nobody paid attention to cameras back then so who cares?

Today's blog. A story of warm weather, tiny cameras and nice raw files. Join me as I look at some images from the Canon G16 and think about small, cheap cameras.

Cameras aren't "life." We just use them to document life. 

Like this shot which will forever remind me of leaving the pool

after a nice swim on a Sunday morning...

So, here I am sitting on a mountain of highly competitive, full frame cameras but spending my free time walking around trying to milk every last fraction of quality out of the tiny sensor in the 7 year old Canon G16. What's worse is that, in a fit of irrationality, I've bought two of them from the used shelves of Precision Camera at a time in which I scarcely even need a single solitary camera....

But curiosity is never limited by external factors; at least not when it comes to evaluating older, near obsolete cameras. I prefer to look at the equation differently. I'm always out to discover whether a group of camera engineers actually got a product so right that it transcends additional progress and becomes a classic. If so, then this one might be a contender --- in its product class.

As I mentioned in an earlier post today I was delighted on Friday when I developed a mess of G16 Jpegs and found them to be crisply detailed, color rich and mostly accurate. Armed with first person evidence I called my local camera store and had them hold a second, used G16 for me. The G16 doesn't check every box that a camera buyer might decide is important but for me, as a third tier camera in the collection, my "needs" aren't as stringent as a person who might buy an older, small sensor camera as their primary tool. I was more interested in having a small, light but potent camera that could be purchased used for a song and toted everywhere when I'm officially "off the clock." 

At 10 a.m. this morning I put an extra battery in one pocket, my phone in the other and grabbed my favorite, anti-sun hat. I put the Canon G16 camera on an old, surplus "Powershot" shoulder strap and I headed to downtown Austin to walk through the streets looking for fun and interesting things to photograph. I've noticed lately that I'm trying to capture an inventory of buildings, businesses and decorations that I fear will vanish as Austin continues in its relentless modern-ification. It seems like most U.S. cities are hellbent on joining a process of relentless homogenization so that, in a generation, it won't matter where you live; all the businesses and buildings will look exactly the same. I'd like to be able to look back through photographs and remember a time when Austin was a bit weirder and a little different than everywhere else. 

I parked in front of Treaty Oak and headed over to see what had become of the Graffiti Wall that we all loved so much. It's all fenced off now and it's about to become high end condos or offices or something else equally useless and unnecessary. The Hope Outdoor Gallery is moving the whole organism of controlled graffiti to another site but I'll believe in its existence when I see it. Today, after passing by a completely white building I had to satisfy myself with photographing the remnants of years of spray paint through a chain link fence. 

My G16 insisted on photographing this building in full sun to show off its ability 

to hold detail in highlights when taking advantage of the raw files. I was impressed. 

ISO 80. Manual Exposure. Daylight WB. 

Such an inviting target for impromptu graffiti...

How's the lens on the G16? At f4.0 and ISO 80 I'd say it gives compelling evidence of more than adequate sharpness. Along with some rich color and tonality.

While the raw files are great the Jpegs are nearly as good. 

The stuff coming directly out of the camera is very usable. 

The raws, after a bit of Lightroom nudgery are even better. 

Yeah. I thought about coming back to re-shoot this photo (above) with an S1R camera and 

a Sigma Art lens until I realized thatthe entire image, 

as captured by the G16, is not able to be improved by any camera...

(It is International Hyperbole Day, after all). 

After checking in at the now imprisoned Graffiti Wall I headed up 12th St. to the state capitol. As I passed the Governor's Mansion I noticed that the pedestrian street in front of said mansion was blocked off (unusual) with police tape and the perimeter was being patrolled by a capable looking Texas State Trooper wielding a military style HK415 assault rifle with an EOTec scope. I guess, given Greg Abbott's disastrous handling of the pandemic in Texas, they feel the need for full on military patrols to keep angry mothers, school teachers and grandparents from breaching the perimeter to give the errant governor a stern tongue lashing....

I'm very proud of the G16 for its brilliant capture of this old house on the border of Clarksville. 

The dynamic range of the 12 megapixel file seems more than adequate for a rendering 

in full sun... (Not the Governor's Mansion...yet).

Architectural details at the long end of the compact camera's zoom lens. 

While I know that cameras with bigger, more modern sensors can provide more detail, and perhaps better dynamic range, I also know that the trade off in favor of the G16 is its relatively tiny size and the way its marginal weight disappears at the end of the camera strap. None of the colors in these photographs are altered or shifted. I processed the raw files in Lightroom using the Adobe Color profile and setting the WB at 5400K. I've owned cameras that were far, far more expensive that required much more post processing to yield a file as pleasant.

I have both of the G16s set up to take advantage of the "eco" mode which turns off the screen and drops the camera into a state of hibernation about five seconds after you stop touching any control surface. Used in this way the battery power seems to be nearly unlimited. And a quick half touch of the shutter button brings the camera back to life. After over 100 exposures today the camera's battery meter still showed a full charge. 

For my money the way to shoot this camera for the best results is to use f4 or f4.5 as an optimum aperture and then select the lowest ISO you can manage. For today's super-bright Texas sun I was mostly shooting at ISO 80, shutter speed of between 1/640 and 1/800th of a second with f4.5. The files were intentionally underexposed by 1/3 to 1/2 stop so I could hold onto the highlights and then boost the lower tones in post for a better mapped final product. 

By the time I finished a loop around downtown and made it to Intelligentsia for life sustaining coffee it was noon and the temperature was already at 100°. I checked the weather app to see what the "feels like" temperature was and it told me 107°.  Time to wrap it up and head back to the car.  Our high temperature today is predicted to be 106°. Ouch. That pool is going to be warm in the morning.

We're in for hot weather for the next two weeks and we're currently under a "heat advisory." I thought it was a little stuffier than usual this morning but then I remembered that I was wearing a surgical mask for the entire walk. That adds a bit of heat stress to the equation. I'm just glad that Belinda and I did our joint walk earlier today and got some miles in before the temperatures crested 90°. 

While I was hot and thirsty after the second (solo) walk I have to say that the Canon G16 took the whole adventure in stride. Not like my old, old Kodak DCS760s. The minute the mercury crested 100° those cameras started adding so much thermal noise to the files that it looked like I was shooting them at ISO 100,000. The G16 brushed off the heat like a champ. 

I'm taking the G16s everywhere. Not leaving my house, car or office without them. Sure, I'll use the big cameras for work and for projects that call for them but the documentation of the biggest upheaval in our life times deserves the smallest and most capable camera I can find. The G16s succeed in becoming as invisible as a cellphone.... but as capable as most cameras out there.

Good coffee. Nice cup design. 

Small size, big flavor. 

Fits in with the camera review of today. 

Funny story about the new Canon R5. An unnamed reviewer who got his (or her) hands on one of the pre-production Canon R5s was trying to make the camera work well with the 8K video feature. The camera, used in the middle of the Summer, quickly and consistently overheated. As a joke the reviewer got a bag of marshmallows and a pack of Nathan's hot dogs and video taped (himself/herself) roasting camp food over the red hot camera. While not as fast as a microwave oven the camera was able to fully cook a hotdog resting against the body of the camera in less than 10 minutes. 

Now, I don't know if this story is true because I wasn't there when it supposedly happened, and I heard it third hand, but I also heard that the marshmallow prank went bad when the marshmallow caught on fire and dripped all over the camera buttons and controls. The photographer/reviewer is still trying to de-gunk the loaner before sending it back....

Advertising agency for the product is currently trying to decide if it will be the first product of its kind sold with a set of heat resistant gloves. Chinese oven mitts to follow quickly...

(International Hyperbole Day....). 

(for the really literal = sarcasm alert!!!). 

Curiosity question: Now that it's impractical to do group photowalks in major cities, and workshops where the participants are driven to photo-worthy locations in cramped vans, has everything been cancelled? Has the pandemic quickly killed all forward motion in workshops, photo-walks, face to face portfolio critiques and the like? Will Photo Expo actually happen in NYC?

Has every instructor across the U.S. defaulted to offering their "expertise" on Zoom chats? Do they charge for that? Would you pay for that? 

I don't know enough about that market to understand what's happening there but I am curious. If you have any information can you share it with us?

I can't imagine that universities like Harvard and Yale are going to be able to command the tuitions and fees for online "learning" that they could get for in person classes. Are we finding the same paradigm with photographic "education"? 

Finally: I don't know why but I keep imagining scenarios for the holiday camera sales at the end of the year. Will all the camera makers just put all the product on sale at the outset and pray that some where there are still people with cash left? I'm having trouble imagining that today... Might get messy. 

Brave Coffee Vendor. Great cappuccino.

Intelligentsia Coffee on Second Street. 

I guess y'all have heard that, in addition to leading the world in COVID-19 infections (locked in a friendly competition with Arizona and Florida...) we're also smack in the middle of a massive heat wave. Add in the rattlesnakes, scorpions and politicians and one wonders why so many people are moving here...to Texas.

But, as you know, I'm always looking for those "silver linings" and today is no exception. 

We talked about my acquisition of two tiny cameras (Canon G16s) on Friday and Saturday and I showed you a passel of Jpegs from one of them in a blog post. I thought they looked really good. Much better than what I remembered being able to squeeze out of "point-n-shoot" cameras in the past. As I lay in bed listening to the locusts chirping, and the (almost) silent, black helicopters flying overhead last night, I started to wonder if the raw files from the G16s might be even better than the Jpegs.

I fired up the personal automobile and headed downtown at mid-morning. I've got a bunch of raw files to share with you but I liked this, the last shot of the morning (above), so much I decided I'd share this by itself before progressing to an exhaustive rendition of today's Raw Image Extravaganza.

I guess Intelligentsia Coffee is part of a chain. I found them again on Second St. when I was nearing the end of a noon-ish walk (already over 100° at noon) while struggling with thirst and dehydration. I ordered a cappuccino and also got a can of Richard's Rainwater (yes, canned rainwater...). The cappuccino was rich and sublime. I may never drink another kind of beverage in my life. I might have to locate my business next to this coffee shop and just create a standard, hourly cappuccino order. Now I can't imagine life without it. 

I got my cappuccino to go and walked over to the Seaholm Center to find a shady spot and savor the magic elixir. When I finished my indulgence I documented the cup. It's the finest image I've ever made. 

I guess you've figured it out by now. Today is International Hyperbole Day. 

But the coffee was really good. I guess I could look the business up on the Google but I'm so hot and lazy today I thought I'd just ask the VSL brain reservoir and find out if Intelligentsia Coffee is a national chain. Anybody?

More photos to follow in a follow on blog this afternoon. After I eat my requisite 50 vegetables for lunch......(oh dear!). 

Why I continue to buy cameras in pairs --- when it's possible. And why it kinda makes sense. At least to me...

I remember the shooting day when I went through three medium format cameras before the job was completed. That's three cameras in one shooting day. I was photographing for a company that, at the time, was a big competitor for Home Depot. They were called, Builder's Square. We were shooting a print advertising campaign for their ad agency based around the concept of kids sports. The project took place on locations around San Antonio and we undertook the project in the dead of Summer, during the heat wave of 1990. All the interior sports (basketball, volleyball, etc.) were problem free. I had a small crew of three helpers and the client/agency fielded about five people who in turn played hosts to a flock of attending clients. 

It was one of those dry Summer days during which getting under 100° would have been delicious. Illogically, the ad agency saved the most grueling part of the project for last. In the late afternoon we we're setting up to shoot lots of photographs of kids playing baseball. In combination with triple digit heat, and an ongoing drought, the winds started to pick up when we got to the baseball field. We were on the the receiving end of the remnants of a dust storm from the flat, arid west Texas dust lands. But the light was good and the kids were thrilled to be at a photo shoot and we soldiered on. 

I brought along three Hasselblad film cameras and a brace of lenses to do the project. We set up and started shooting tests and first images when the blowing sand and dust infiltrated the shooting camera and it locked up. I took a deep breath and tossed it into a case and pulled out a second ELX motor drive Hasselblad. I attached a lens while inside my car as a safety move. But within a half hour that body decided to stop working as well. The agency people sensed my ..... anxiety? worry? growing sense of impending doom? The dust and sand got into every piece of gear!

But I assured them that we had already gotten a lot of good images and that we had one more camera in the equipment case that we could count on. I pulled a well used but well maintained H-Blad 500 CM out and set it on the tripod. My assistants and I all crossed our fingers for good luck and breathed a huge sigh of relief when, at the end of the shoot, the camera was still fully functional. If we'd had to go back and re-shoot I would have been on the hook for the talent fees, the location fees and the additional travel and work time for the assistants. And I'd also be that guy whose cameras ALL broke and couldn't finish the shoot. 

That was a big lesson for someone really just hitting his stride in the commercial market for photography. With film cameras you really did need back up gear that you could sub in if and when your primary cameras decided to take a mechanical sabbatical from work. Stuff broke. Stuff needed adjustments.

While digital cameras seem to be much more reliable my work shooting corporate events taught me the value of having multiple camera bodies for a different reason. When you are working quickly there's not always time to change lenses. If you've been photographing a speaker on a giant stage and you've got a 300mm lens on your camera, on a tripod, but now you need to pivot quickly and photograph a demonstration on the side of the stage, with a wide angle lens, you'll probably want to leave your telephoto lens and camera right where they are and grab a camera with a wide zoom lens off your shoulder and hustle over to the demo area to get the shots. 

It's the same with theatrical photography. I shoot a lot of actor close-ups from mid-way up the audience seats from the stage but often I'll want to go from some tight one, two and three person groupings to a wide, overall shot to capture something like a special effect or a really neat (and very, very temporary) lighting cue. To work at the best efficiency I bring (at least) two identical camera bodies and put a 70-200mm on one and a 24-70mm on the other, set them for identical color balances, and profile settings and put the one I'm not using on the seat next to me. When I need it I grab it and tweak the exposure and then shoot quickly. When I need to go back to the telephoto zoom camera it's sitting right next to me, ready to go. I plunk down the wide zoom camera, grab the tight zoom camera and it's little more than a gesture to go from 24 to 200mm in a flash. If I time it right I almost never miss a changing light effect or an actor's dramatic close up. But the secret is in having the two bodies ready at all times. 

I can't imagine how much delay there would be if I brought only one body and tried to change lenses over and over and over again (in the dark) during the run of a live show......

But I know what you're probably thinking. Something like: "Yes Kirk, we get the need to have the right gear at hand for commercial work but the Canon G16s you picked up this week are for art, travel and play. Why on earth would you need two of them?"

If you think about travel for a few moments you'll realize that flying from Austin to Iceland or Rome or St. Petersburg is more expensive by far than a second camera body. And staying in nice hotels isn't cheap either. So if the whole point of your trip to one of these far away places is to take photographs (the 'busman's' holiday!) wouldn't it be a shame if you arrived, the weather was perfect, the people were amazingly beautiful and graceful....and your camera died on the first day?

Never happens? Hmmm. I remember a trip I took back when I was shooting with Leica M film cameras. I loved the 50 Summicron lens and my idea of heaven was that 50mm sitting on the front of a beautiful M3 Single stroke camera. I found a mint M3 SS about a week before Belinda and I left to go to France and Italy back in 1986. I asked the head repair guy at our local camera repair facility to give the M3 a close inspection and, in a moment of bravery/stupidity, decided to lighten my usual camera load by taking ONLY the M3 and the 50mm lens along with me. That, and a brick of Kodachrome 64 film. 

After checking into our hotel in Paris we headed out into the streets so Belinda could immerse herself in the Paris street life while I stumbled along behind and tried to take great photographs. About an hour into our vacation the film advance lever on the M3 locked up and the camera became a very beautifully designed metal brick. I was crestfallen. Depressed.

I went to the FNAC at Les Halles and bought another camera. I couldn't justify buying another M series camera so I defaulted to the then brand new Contax Aria camera (small and lightweight) along with a very sweet little 28-85mm zoom lens. But it was never the same. I had my mind all wrapped around shooting with that Leica and I was too immature to just let it all go. I was selfishly sulky. I went back to the FNAC and bought a small Minox ML (super compact 35mm) and was happier but still pissed at having to spend thousands to replace a camera that had the reputation for being indestructible.

I've never gone on assignment or a personal photograph trip since without at least one back up camera which uses the same batteries and lenses as my primary shooting camera. If the back up and the primary are the same model of camera then so much the better. Less friction going back and forth between different menus...

So, I bought the twin G16s because I remembered that Belinda made beautiful photographs in Montreal with the predecessor to the G16 (the G15) and I thought at the time how great it was for her to travel with such a compact and highly portable solution. When we can travel again I thought it would be freeing to take along nothing but a small point and shoot --- after all, I'm supposed to be good at photography and I should be able to make decent photographs with just about any modern camera; right?

But I would hate to be wherever it is that we've just spent 24 hours getting to and having a single, lone camera die. I'll always to pack a second one. And that's why I buy cameras in pairs. 

Especially when the used cameras I'm buying are less expensive than some dinners we've had. And small enough to stick in a jacket pocket. And that's my rationale.

The heat in Austin is oppressive right now. I dread hitting the pool in the morning because I'm sure that even with aerators running all night long the water temperature is going to be uncomfortably warm. That led me to think about cooling beverages and desserts with ice cream. So I posted some here. 

Do you buy cameras in pairs? Why not? What would change if you did?

What's your favorite cold beverage? Did you know that Canon R5s overheat when shooting video? I heard all about it at the camera store today. Not a pretty topic for a newly launched camera.....

A pet peeve I just realized I have today is one about blogging. I hate it when blogger finds a subject that his or her audience finds to be juicy and then leaves the blog static for days at a time. I guess I think blogs these days should be more daily stream of consciousness. Something to look forward to in 24 hour installments. But maybe I'm not being smart and efficient as a blogger. Maybe I should just put stuff up intermittently. Opinions?

Bored with staying home. But committed to doing the right thing. Hope Texas gets its stuff together soon....

I saw a post from five or six years ago come up on the stats for the blog today. I re-read it. It's still true. De-bunking the breathless five minute CEO portrait sessions...

You might enjoy: https://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2014/01/myth-debunking-five-minute-marathon.html

Here's a gratuitous photo; just for fun...

Ben, standing in for Ottobock Canada President, Mark Agro.

Texas State Senator and former Austin mayor, Kirk Watson.