Exercises in growing out of previous knowledge and conceptions about process. Turning off the rules from the 1990's.

Much of the way we approach photography seems to be predicated on obsessively looking into a rearview mirror. From trying to be a "modern" Henri Cartier-Bresson or Edward Weston down to how we choose our ISOs. The knowledge of current technology and past technology is sometimes built on the presumption that all advances are additive and can be layered onto old practices when, in fact, the layering slows the process down and codifies our routines even when slavishly following old rules is no longer necessary. 

For years I railed on and on about the need for all cameras to have eye level viewfinders. Now it's almost (almost) second nature for me to consult the rear screen on my Sigma fp or one of the Fuji X100V cameras. There are times when the enclosed, eye-level view is critical but those times are generally just when shooting in bright sun. The rest of the time, if your eyewear prescription is current, the LCD works fine.

I'm also having second thoughts about focusing. Or the need to focus. Or, at least, the need to focus as obsessively as we have done for the last couple of decades. I think focusing speed and accuracy are currently the two most referenced specifications listed as "crucial" for new cameras. And I'm not sure the value of being able to focus in micro-seconds on a moving object in low light is as high as we imagine it to be. In fact, the obsession with critical focus might be one of the things that distracts us from having a really meaningful engagement with the joy of photography.

When I first learned film photography, and then re-learned photography when digital cameras became available, there were certain rules that we mostly hewed to because they had worked well for us in the past. Rule #1: Use the lowest possible ISO at all times for the best "quality." Back in the day "quality" meant one over-arching parameter and that was the ability to generate a photograph with the smallest and least obtrusive grain possible. 

For years I ignored the higher ISO settings available on each successive generation of digital cameras because my "fear of noise" was so ponderous. Lately, I've decided that noise and grain are integral to the process and that total removal of noise and grain was only important to people when it was very difficult to do well. It was a mark of professionalism, in a certain era, to be able to produce noise free files and grain free film. Now it's becoming passé in art circles to consider grain as any sort of impediment to making successful images. 

Yesterday evening I found myself toying with ISO 25,600 and being pleased with the results. 

In recent times we've become more and more acculturated to thinking that images with very narrow depth of field were a higher achievement/better end target than conventional photographs that might include more detail, front to back, in our photographs. I thought I liked this look better as well until I started actually going back to a 50mm lens and using f-stops such as 8 and 11. The results were revelatory for me. It seems that seeing lots of your image in focus can be equally compelling; it largely depends on the nature of the content. 

Freeing oneself from always shooting near the widest aperture of your lenses also conveys advantages in that by f5.6 (maybe) or f8.0 (almost surely) or f11 (positively) your lens is working at its highest level of imaging performance (for most lenses) and best combatting the visual effects of field curvature. So the photographs look more convincing as......photographs. The contrast in your frame is higher, the sharpness more convincing. It's a win, if you don't need to visually isolate a subject from everything else in the frame. 

But the use of these smaller apertures brings with it the benefit, especially for subjects ten feet away and further, of the user being able to relax a bit about the mania for critical focus at a critical point. If I'm using a 50mm or 35mm lens at f11 I can reasonably set the focus manually to about 15 feet and be almost certain that a wide swath, front to back in the frame, will be sharp and useable. 

Yesterday I walked with a camera in a way that was casually designed to reduce my reliance on old rules of photography. I took the Sigma fp and used it without an auxiliary loupe. It was back screen or nothing. Early on I was concerned about fine focusing but after a few snaps of the shutter and a couple reviews I put my bifocals in my pocket and mostly used the finder for composition. I cheated a little by enabling the focus peaking indicators but, hey! I was using a manual focusing lens.

I wanted to see how the camera made black and white images so I set it to do Jpegs at the best quality and eschewed raw files altogether (another recent rule that needs to be demoted to "suggested if shooting under duress"). The Sigma fp has a nice monochrome setting but no gingerbread. No emulated color filters to add or augment contrast or tonal mapping as in film. The best control comes from being able to set shadow and highlight curves in a different menu.

Once I decided on those parameters I set the camera to aperture priority operation, set my Carl Zeiss 50mm lens to f11, and distance to 10 meters (I felt so naughty going metric!) and set the ISO to auto ISO with a cap of 25,600. I did adjust focus for closer subjects but I did so by estimation since the lens designers had the good graces to include a highly readable distance scale right on the lens! 

I even tuned up my mindset and allowed myself to just walk with no quota of compulsion to bring home a bunch of images. I just wanted to be outside and in motion. Nothing wrong with that. But I found that having the camera in my hands and as ready as it was ever going to be freed me from "gadgetting" and allowed me to look more and act quicker. It was refreshing. 

The final thing I did in this exercise was to work in the boundaries of a new aspect ratio. I've been going on and on about squares and I do believe the 1:1 aspect ratio is marvelous for individual portraits but sometimes I feel that non-portrait images need a little "breathing room" on the sides. But I nearly always find that the 3:2 frame is hard to fill well. The Sigma fp offered me a 7:6 ratio and I took it. When I came home and started working with the files on the computer I didn't need or want to crop any of them. I may have found my new "street photography" aspect ratio. At any rate, I had a high number of keepers today and I wanted to share the black and white ones with you below. 

The Sigma fp must have some slight yellow filtration built into their monochrome profile; how else to explain such great skies (none of which were added or materially augmented in post production)?

Looking out the side window and trying to understand

how cold 30° really is. Cold enough for gloves; I know that!

Palm trees in front of Waterloo Tapes and Records.

Yes. An independent record shop (vinyl still stocked) right 

in the middle of Austin. Thanks John!

SOOC clouds without auxiliary filtration. Or post processing.

A late afternoon look at the Frost Bank Tower 

from an angle I rarely see.

Some plans have fallen by the wayside. 

I think I'll open a bar when the pandemic subsides....

I'm very happy with myself at ISO 25,600.

Plus, I like my new hat.

 

A nod to the W Hotel for their unwitting and continuing support of my art.

I thank them.

Snow Day in Austin, Texas. We got something like 5 inches of snow. It was pretty cool till the power went out.

https://vimeo.com/499322019

So. It snowed. And snowed. The trees bent over and fouled some power lines. Everywhere across the city. 

Then the power went out. We thought it would come back on in minutes. Nine hours later it was dark and we 

were starting to feel the temperatures  in the house drop. I brought in a couple of big, battery powered LED 

panels for the living room and dining room. Smaller panels for bathrooms and the kitchen. 

We have a gas range so Ben was able to make his fantastic curry beef recipe (served over rice). 

About an hour after dinner was served, eaten and cleared we were on the cusp of getting the Scrabble game 

down from the closet when the power came back on. Belinda was disappointed that our enthusiasm for 

board games immediately vanished but Ben and I were thrilled to be re-connected to the world through

the miracle of fiber optics.

I know our experience is extremely anticlimactic for our friends who live in the Northern climes but it was 

a change for us. We have winter clothing but no flame throwers, automatic bonfire makers, no Krups hot 

chocolate machines, etc. We don't even have engine block heaters! Can you imagine our primitive existence?

On a happier note, the pool is still heated at precisely 82° Fahrenheit, the coffee shops have dug themselves

out of the snow drifts and opened the doors, and it should be back in the 70's by Thursday. 

The top link will show you how hard it was coming down. The bottom link: https://vimeo.com/499343411 is just a 

bit of footage out in the neighborhood.

Hope all my friends up North don't have to deal with this often, the touch screens really slow down when the

temperatures drop....

Every once in a while it snows in Austin. Like, maybe, every five years. Today is one of those days.

It's snowing here. It started with thunderstorms at 6:15 a.m. so I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. No sense getting up if swim practice is cancelled. When I finally stirred around 9 I could hear the spitty sound of sleet on the roof, then, while making coffee I looked out the dining room windows to see chubby, slow snowflakes cascading down. 

It's weird, it's 34° but the snow is sticking to a lot of stuff. Now it's about 12:40 and the snow is still coming down. Probably not a good day to drive around Austin. Texans have enough trouble driving well on dry roads, rain makes the confused and I think a bit of ice would be most debilitating. Just looked out the window again and it's coming down faster than ever. 

Glad I'm not catching a flight to some odd assignment somewhere. Seems like a great day to sit by the fireplace, drink more coffee and read a good book. 

Wow. Just heard a huge peal of thunder. See you when we dig out.

 

There are boring cameras and great cameras and, every once in a while, truly eccentric cameras. I seem to like the eccentric ones best.

This is a photo of a Sigma fp, coupled to a Panasonic 20-60mm, sitting 

on the passenger seat of my vehicle, waiting impatiently for a walk across 

the UT campus.

One thing to know about the Sigma fp is that, when used in the Jpeg mode, it may be the lowest noise 24 megapixel camera ever tossed onto the market. In the early days of ownership I was disappointed with the digital image stabilization offered by the camera. I got some ghosting that I didn't want and the camera took time between frames to process. It slowed me down without delivering a whole lot extra. 

That's when I started experimenting with higher ISO settings and ultimately set up my Auto-ISO to chose a low shutter speed of 1/125th of second but a high ISO of 25,000. Now, when confronted by a low light situation I know I can handhold most of the lenses I'd use with this camera at 1/125th of a second and I'm getting more and more comfortable with the camera ranging around in the ISO playpen anywhere from 100 to at least 10,000. If I'm shooting Jpegs they all turn out sharp and detailed but at the same time displaying the kind of noise I used to get with pre-2010 cameras at ISOs like 200-400. It's very liberating.

The camera also has some unique aspect ratios in addition to the more or less standard selection of 3:2, 16:9, 1:1, 4:3 and so on. One aspect ratio that appeals is 7:6. It's a bit boxy but not full on square. It's stodgy and conservative, but in a good way. It's for all those times when you think you should be shooting in the square format but just wish you could get a bit more image on the sides. There's also 21:9 but it gets far less use from me...

Today turned cloudy and a bit cold. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all morning and then snow all afternoon. The snow probably won't stick since the low temperature forecast for tomorrow is something like 36°. (That's like minus 6000 in euro-temps). Not cold enough to freeze but not warm enough to run around in shorts and sandals. 

But anyway, since it's going to be mucky tomorrow I thought I'd take a late afternoon/early evening walk and snap some images with the Sigma+Panasonic combination before dinner. I've been downtown too much lately so I thought I'd change venues and head over the the University of Texas at Austin campus where I spent some of the most fun years of my life. Both as a student and then on the faculty. I haven't been back as much as I should so a lot of the buildings I saw today are new to me. But the overall effect, with the students still out for the break, is of a quiet and well groomed campus that's blended old and new with grace; mostly. 

I really have come to appreciate the Sigma fp. It's small and light. Very discreet. Very noise free and impervious to overheating (although I have yet to test it in a 350° oven...). It's so funky but at the same time it's as endearing as an ardent, affectionate, three-legged dog. I'm never happy leaving it behind. And it also makes nice video. Complicated to set up, but still,  nice video. 

I'm happy with the straight out of camera performance 

of the monochrome profile. A little tweak in contrast and I'm happy. 

and right across the main street ("the Drag") there is an endless collection 

of shops, bars, and targets for graffiti of all kinds. 

 

Little web gifts. Here's a quiet, understated vlog that I like a lot. And I'll tell you why...

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTioHxiyv-KeNztc4xLF8A

It's a channel by Matti Sulanto. He's a Finnish photographer who is also a Lumix Ambassador. That means he shoots with a lot of Panasonic gear and also reviews it on his site. I like that.

But what I really like about his channel on YouTube are the videos he does of his "photo walks." On many of them he takes only one camera and one lens and, in between shooting and showing images he's taking, he talks through his own process for both finding subjects to photograph and working within the constraints of the gear he decided to bring along. More "how" than "what gear?"

While he is a Lumix ambassador there is never a hard "sell" for the equipment. The discussions are always centered on what he uses the gear for, how he chooses his gear, and the end results. 

The nice production value and lack of hysterical video trash make an engagement with Matti's V-Log feel more like you were sitting down in his living room discussing some fun, new gear over coffee. Or like you had decided to go for a stroll with Matti and find out how he takes the images he does. 

I keep being guided to comfortable photography sites by friends and blog readers here. These eight-to-ten minute programs are a welcome break from bad news and relentless merchandizing. 

Please check out Matti Sulanto's YouTube offerings. Today's video takes place on a cold and snowy day in his part of the world. It's best enjoyed along with a warm cup of coffee and light pastry. 

For more info on Matti here is his website: https://sulanto.fi

One more thing....I really like his accent.

More fun sites discoveries to come!

Photographing with the Fuji X-100 V again. It's such a pleasure to walk with.

B. at the museum.

One thing that I thought I would miss when using the Fuji X-100V was image stabilization. Surprisingly, I don't. I'm letting the camera range through the ISOs instead and keeping the minimum shutter speed at 1/60th of a second. Seems I have no problem hand-holding the camera well enough at that shutter speed and so far none of my images have been compromised by camera shake. It's interesting because we've come to believe that image stabilization is so critical. I'll admit that it's almost mandatory for me when using longer lenses but shorter focal lengths seem to have a quantum of immunity from the effects of camera shake.

I didn't realize how much I missed working with a small, discreet and non-confrontational camera; especially one in consumer happy chrome finish instead of sneaky-stealth, black finish. The camera and lens are capable of high sharpness when used wide open at most distances. I haven't done too many shots within three feet of the camera but I've found that if I get close and stop down to about f2.8 the sharpness continues right on through. 

Yesterday we took a break from the political madness and spent the morning at the Blanton Museum. It's open but you have to sign up for a slot. You are only time limited by their closure from 12-1pm. Come at 10 a.m. and you'll have the run of the place till noon. Come at 1 p.m. and you'll have access to the full facility until closing time. It's nice to look at beautiful art as an antidote for contemporary anxiety. I find the abstract expression show in the main gallery particularly soothing. 

Bare trees at Barton Springs Pool parking lot.

This morning I decided to break with tradition, skip my usual morning swim workout, and head out for an extended walk. I wanted to spend more time getting up to speed with the Fuji X-100V. I have one thing I haven't been able to figure out just yet. If I select "S" setting for focus and "still image" on the drive mode, with the review off, the camera blacks out until it writes the frame I just shot and locks me out of rapidly shooting another one. But when I was in the "classic chrome" profile I could shoot in the normal way, pounding out two or three frames without black out. It seemed like it was only in the "standard" mode that the camera became so deliberative and slow. Any ideas?

Barton Springs Pool was closed for most of last year. 

It's life affirming to see lap swimmers enjoying the cool, clear water

in the middle of the winter. More like this...

The trail is not really closed. It's only the eroding bank that's off limits. 

I guess they only have a small variety of signs available. 

That's okay. It's all pretty obvious.

the camera is downright spiffy for big building shots. 

When I punch in the detail is pretty nice. Rivals my bigger cameras and it's so much

fun to carry around. You won't wreck a shoulder with this one.

I love how considerate some drivers can be. Stopping behind the crosswalk is an appropriate 

and polite gesture. It always makes me happy when my rights are upheld and

we all get to happily share the public space.

Some drivers are not so kind. They position their cars right in the middle 

of the pedestrian cross walk while waiting for the light to change 

at a four way intersection. I like to think they are just being absent-minded but

I really think drivers who routinely do this are mostly just being assholes.

I guess, in the long term the messaging might be accurate, a lifetime spent drinking lots of wine 

might have you ending up in heaven but I think you might be accelerating the process 

if you drink wine to excess. Nice to see God. But maybe just for a quick visit while

taking care of business in the here and now. Time for a good, long, chatty conversation 

later. Much later. 

The single ugliest pair of trousers I have ever seen.

And I lived through the 60's and 70's. 

Just ghastly....

That's a nice Ellsworth Kelly painting on the right hand side of the frame. 

See how crowded the museum was yesterday? It was a wonderful time

to visit. I could sit on that bench and look at the Kelly painting for 

a good long while and not get bored.

All with the chrome finished X-100V.