A throwback to the film days.

 

In the 1990s I did a lot of work for several restaurant trade magazines. A lot of it was super fun. One assignment in particular had me driving to Corpus Christi, Tx. to photograph a piece on the marketing V.P. of the Whataburger hamburger chain. He was a great guy and we spent a lot of time photographing and then visiting some of the stores in the area. After the article ran I got a nice "thank you" letter from the exec and in the envelope was a "V.I.P." card that I could present at any Whataburger restaurant in Texas for whatever I would like to order. That was quite a year for hamburgers. And I loved it because Whataburger was a Texas chain and probably the first fast food/burger restaurant to offer sliced jalapeños on their burgers. I also enjoyed their fresh lettuce, freshly cut onions and decent tomatoes. They delivered a quality product at a price that even non-Leica users could easily afford. 😆

The same exec later sent along a signed and authenticated, Nolan Ryan baseball with strict instructions not to let Ben (then 3 or so) to play with it but to keep it safe until Ben was college bound and then sell it to help pay for school. A very kind gesture! But we still have the baseball....

Another assignment I really enjoyed was doing an article way back then for a trade magazine about Austin's best chefs. I would pack some stuff into my Volkswagen bug and drive over to some of my favorite restaurants to make portraits of the chefs. Things were less.....angsty....back then. We didn't travel with every stitch of gear or a truck load of lights. Not for editorial jobs. And not when we wanted to have fun while working. And we generally just called the subject directly on the phone. No intermediaries needed.

The image above is of a chef named, Alma C. who was working at a local favorite restaurant called, Jeffrey's. Her food was wonderful. She had great credentials but the thing that made her cooking different was her time working in Mexico City. She had a different way of approaching some classic dishes. And she was really nice to work with. 

I called up and we talked over the nuts and bolts of making the portrait and then set a time and date. I lived in the neighborhood so I left all the back-up stuff at home. If something failed I could replace it in five minutes or so (depending on neighborhood traffic..) so no worries there. I could travel light. 

On the appointed afternoon I dragged myself into Jeffrey's bar and decided that would be a good place to make the portrait. I stuck a Hasselblad 500CM and a 150mm lens on my old, scarred tripod and attached the (wired!) sync to a Profoto power pack. I loved using big soft boxes with my flash back then so I set up the light with a 4x6 foot soft box and arranged it where I wanted it. Just the one flash head.

Alma came out from the kitchen and asked me to select between two wardrobe choices. I always liked black so we went with that. She went into the back to change while I pulled out a light meter and checked my flash exposure and my ambient exposure. When she returned we were ready to shoot. 

We laughed. We joked around. We had a pleasant 20-30 minute session and probably only shot 48 images total. Not even enough for a warm up today. I liked the out of focus stuff in the background of the photo and I liked the way the soft light treated Alma's skin. Since I was shooting transparency film I didn't have the opportunity to do the mountains of retouching I see all over the place these days. (And yes, I am guilty of doing a bit of retouching in post routinely these days...).  I needed to get the exposure and color exactly right in camera. 

After I wrapped up the one light and the extension cord, tossed the gear into the nearby car, we shared some red wine and a foie gras appetizer Alma had concocted. Delicious. 

Then I trundled off to Austin Photo Lab and dropped off the four rolls of 12 exposure, medium format transparency film and headed back to the studio to unpack and chill out. As I pulled into the studio parking at the big building filled with studios of all sorts, I saw Michael O'Brien doing one of his classic magazine shoots out on the dis-used railroad tracks on the other side of the parking lot. His team of many assistants was setting up a huge canvas background out in the middle of the field. They were using dozens of sandbags to keep the gusty wind from blowing everything down. 

There was the requisite big softbox, also anchored with about 100 pounds of sandbags, and a Hasselblad on a stout Gitzo tripod. Michael was off to one side conferring with the talent and several art director types. It was such a different production than the one I'd just breezed through. But a different level of budget and final circulation as well. 

My film came back from the lab and it looked fine so I selected my favorites, put them in protective sleeves and headed over to the Federal Express office on 6th St. to send off the package to the magazine editor. 

It was such a mellow shoot. No onsite art direction. No make-up person. No hair dresser. No wardrobe manager. No assistant with a serious and pensive look. No nest of wires and light stands. Just me, a light, a camera and a chef. Ah..... such fun times...

I am nearly impossible to buy holiday presents for. Mea Culpa.

 When I was younger I was always able to make a list of things that I'd like to get as holiday presents. while this sounds selfish the making of lists is a family tradition on my wife's side. they like the idea that they'll be getting something the recipient really wants. And in turn something they really want. And her family has always been frugal; no gift on the list has ever come close to costing $50. They don't buy gifts for everyone in the extended family circle. They put all the names in a random generator and pair up a gift giver with a recipient. Your task, where the family is concerned, is to give the one gift or a carefully curated collection of small gifts to the one person that was chosen for you. When this system was "installed" they also decided that it would be a time saver for the giver and a huge relief for the gift recipient if everyone made lists of things they might like to get. 

As commerce and tech intermingled it became commonplace for each person to include a few links to various things they'd be happy to get which makes it even easier on the gift giver. 

this all sounds very transactional but since the giver never gifts to his own gift giver it eliminates the usual quid pro quo of gift-giving. My wife's family is also very kind and well adjusted and with them it really is the "thought" much more so than the actual value of the gift that matters most. I didn't believe this was possible for the first twenty years of marriage since my own family was hell bent on always keeping track....

In our own nuclear families we still give and get gifts from/for each other but we have adopted list-making to ease the almost mandatory stress of the season. It's hard enough scheduling busy work days without having to intuit and track down the "perfect gift." 

I came up short this year. I just couldn't think of anything I wanted. Since we stopped paying for the big items that people in their 30s, 40s and 50s have to pay for (college, mortgages, elder care, etc.) I've had free rein to buy whatever I want. This creates a burden for B & B since they haven't a clue for what to get dear old dad. They know better than to buy camera gear because: A. It's expensive. B. My tastes change too often. and C. If I really wanted a particular camera/lens/flash/bag etc. I've probably already impulsively run out and bought it. Pretty much in the moment I decided I wanted it.

Most of the books I like to read (almost always novels. don't trust anyone who doesn't enjoy fiction....)  come from the local library. It's fair. We support them with our tax dollars. So books are off the table as gifts. We are largely tech neutral so there are few, if any, gadgets I need or want. 

But I realize that my impulsive and spontaneous embrace of photo gear creates a hardship for my loving family in that it removes a big potential source of gifts. 

We all agree that among a close knit family gift cards are tacky. They are too easy and too impersonal. Lately we've fallen back on the path of least resistance which is to choose charities that we know the target of our giving is aligned with and sending money. 

I kid around and suggest to B & B that they just grab the latest camera to come into the studio, wrap it up and put it under the tree. But not too far in advance of the actual holiday....if it's that new I want to be able to play with it beforehand. 

Mr. B (aka: the kid)  works hard to find stuff. Sometimes it's a pricy bottle of wine I would never splurge on. Other times it's a piece of art he knows I'll like. Ms. B has largely given up and focuses on the donation route. Or the shared entertainment category (concert tickets?).  But lately we've downsized our spend to things like gardening tools for her and chlorine neutralizing, post swim body wash for me. We're remarkably easy to please...

I confess to be mystified by my friends who "over-achieve" in the giving of gifts to close family. things like cars for the adult kids or lavish fashion gifts for husbands and wives. Splashing out for Rolex watches or flashy jewelry. But I guess it's a case of to each their own. 

Every year I notice photo-oriented blogs and websites making giant holiday gift lists aimed at their readers. The links connect back to a legion of affiliated merchants who are set to have a nice fourth quarter administering to people who delayed personal gratification, waiting for the holidays to provide the yearly excuse to be lavish and toss budgets to the wind. I guess this point of view comes from owning a business and seeing cameras, et al, as being depreciable or deductible expenses instead of drags on the family budget. 

But I really wonder if the blogger or  the photo website is the best source of photographic gift recommendations to an audience that spends an inordinate amount to time doing their own research about cool gear....

It's almost sinister to watch the buying pumps being primed by the very people one comes to for balanced information all year long. But perhaps the affiliate cash is earned over the course of the year by providing ready access to free content. 

Is it true then that there is no such thing as a free lunch? Or a free post or review?

It's feels almost obligatory to ask at this point, as a blogger --- but what is it that you really, really want for whichever holiday it is you celebrate with your family? And really, it doesn't have to be photographic.

My biggest "ask" this year is for a perfect pecan pie. I think it's do-able and I'll certainly share. 

How are the holidays treating you? 

It's a tough time of the year for some people. I try my best to be a bit nicer and more patient with people. It seems like a good idea.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go wrap some potting soil in a nice box with a bow.

I like the Leica Q2 but I'm still searching to find those "horrible" Jpeg colors all the early reviewers went on and on about..

I added some vignetting in post. Otherwise the files would have been too perfect....

The message here is......coffee.

I'm getting settled with this camera in record time.

I am amazed at how quick it is to work with and how 

wonderful the files look. It just works. 

 

New camera passes the graffiti test.

On the outskirts of the UT Austin campus. Originated as Jpegs. Large Jpegs. 

Yeah. So it was raining. We got wet. It was okay.

I was curious to see if the Q2 would be sharp enough for casual work.....

 I think it might be. This is a wonderful mural just off Guadalupe at 23rd. When I open the 47+ megapixel file I can see not only the brushstrokes but striations of the individual brush bristles... I guess that will work okay for street shooting... Might want to click into this one but hold the vicious critiques; it's sized at 3200 pixels wide for the blog...

Handheld. Jpeg. f4.0, etc.,etc.

It's cooling off, dribbling rain and monotone gray outside. I'm inside kitting out my camera.

Austin Downtown. 

Leica SL (original)

Panasonic 20-60mm lens.

The Leica Q2 is.... cute. By that I mean it's designed (visually) to be better than it has to be in order to do its job. If you believe that its job is to make photographs. I mention this with full intention because I believe you really don't need to bring items that are not well designed into your life even if they do function just fine and cost less. Design is usually its own reward.

Whenever a Leica product is reviewed or mentioned on Digital Photo Review's website several people will write a comment saying how well designed or beautifully designed the product is. Then, without fail, several commenters will make the statement that they Never Consider aesthetics or design when shopping for a car, an appliance, or a camera. I feel sorry for people who are incapable of seeing good aesthetic design as a valued feature in the material goods they choose to bring into their lives and use daily for years; maybe decades. It just doesn't make sense. A preference for good design is one of the things that differentiates us from robots. Or straight-line thinkers. 

Sadly, I think I've spent far, far too long having to budget pennies and watch expenses. Now that I can actually afford to buy myself a wasteful but fun camera I find myself worried about the consequences of rough handling. Edge wear on the bottom edges of the camera from putting it down on rock walls and setting it on the pavement. Dings and paint chipping from bumps and scrapes. If I was really wealthy none of these things might bother me. If my camera got too scratched up (and if I cared about that kind of wear) I'd just trade it in on a new one. But my brain certainly isn't operating in that lofty, elitist sphere most of the time.

I thought I'd do what most paranoid, luxury camera owners do and try to protect the object as well as possible. To that end I started researching half cases. Half cases are what we old timers would recognize as the bottom halves of leather "every-ready" cases that came packaged or were available as protective, fitted cases for cameras. You may also know them as "Never Ready Cases." Camera makers supplied versions for each of their SLR cameras back in the 1970s. Something that vanished completely for a while but which are being resurrected for cameras now by high end camera makers and also many third party companies. A "half case" protects the part of a camera that seems to get the most incidental damage. The bottom plate and the bottom corners and edges of a camera. 

I started out by looking to see what Leica might have for me and found that they make a nice half case for the Q2 camera but for the princely sum of $220. A bit rich, I thought, for something that used to come as standard for even most most base level interchangeable lens cameras from the past... So I researched further on one of my favorite online sites for a seller of all things Leica. Much to my shock, horror and amusement one can spend $350, $450 and up to $950 to purchase a small, leather half case from a number of companies which specialize in Leica cases, bags and straps. I want protection for my new camera but don't feel as though that protection should cost more than the monthly payment on a Tesla.

With my cheapness on full display I headed for the refuge of every bored bargain hunter: Amazon. There I found an assortment of Leica Q2 half cases which ranged in price from $17..95 up to and including the nose bleed options from Leica. Amazon, wisely, seems to have drawn the line at full on absurdity and are not currently helping to move many of the "over $500" half cases. And I have to say that unless the materials include leather found on some exotic off-world expeditions held together with unicorn mane threading I just can't see the difference in value of a luxe Leica branded case and any of the more "esoteric" cases. 

I took a chance and ordered a Mega-Gear branded case for a whopping, eye-watering $28. Free shipping with Prime. The case arrived quickly as it did not require armed guards to ensure its safe delivery. The case looked just fine, smelled like real leather and also came with a leather strap. It fit snuggly on the first try but over the last few days has loosened up and feels more naturally fitted now. There are little trap doors on the bottom that allow one to change the battery and SD card without full case removal. The trap door works well on the battery side but is a bit misaligned on the SD card side. Nothing that can't be fixed with a little work and the sharp edge of a Kershaw Leek pocket knife blade. But the case does what I wanted it for quite well; it creates a good, stiff, resilient barrier between the sweet black anodized body of the camera and the harsh chaos of the outside world. 

I might try one more case in the $60 range but then again I may just decide to be happy with this one. It does the job. The step up might do the job with a slightly better fit...

Certainly I'm opening up myself here to the scathing rebuke of some "witty" commenter who will no doubt contrast my willingness to "overspend" on a camera ("should have gotten a Sony and a bag full of lenses!") but be too cheap to spend Leica-Style money on a case for the same. Let it fly. I agree. I can only blame this particular shortcoming on being raised by depression era parents who thought things like college educations for their kids and retirement accounts were higher priorities...

Once I solved my equation concerning a good compromise for keeping the body of the camera in good shape it occurred to me that I should also depart from my usual, "No gratuitous use of non-essential lens filters" stance and figure out how to protect what is probably the most expensive part of this expensive camera; the lens. 

My usual take on lenses is that they are replaceable, meant to be used naked, and perform best with the fewest added air glass interfaces. Meaning no filters. Especially cheap filters. The urge to toss a "protection" filter on every lens, from crappy kit lens to weird third party optical catastrophe lenses bugs me. But as I started to ponder this use case a thought made it through my thick skull and I realized that this camera was a complete system with a non-removable lens and one scratch or chip on the front surface of the lens could be financial armageddon. I can't even guesstimate the cost of replacing a Leica front lens element on a Q2 but I know it would not be cheap, reasonable, slightly expensive or even "a bit pricey." 

I shoot out in the elements a lot so I ordered a high quality 49mm filter and put it on the front of the lens ASAP. So now....just now....I'm ready to venture out into today's mist and take a few shots with this pampered German art piece. I hope it's worth all the trouble. 

And.....yes.....I am crazy enough after shooting with the Q2 for only one weekend.....to actually be considering what kinds of things I could also do with a Q2 Monochrom. But I'll have to wait for a full recovery of the stock market before I even begin to go down that road...and my crystal ball is hazy there.

Over time I'm sure my prissiness about the "expensive camera" will wear off and I'll use it the way I've always used cameras. And stop babying it. That was the trajectory with the SL2 and now I consider it in the same light as my old and crusty SL cameras. Everything hits its equilibrium in time.

 

You don't need one mentor you need a whole tribe of mutual influencers and role models... And you need to give as well as take.

 

A portrait of one of my friends across decades. Famous advertising and editorial photographer, Will Van Overbeek. Here's his website: https://www.willvano.com/

I was over at Will's house on Friday. We were sitting in his enormous yard just a quarter mile or so from Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. Mark was there with us too. Mark's not a photographer per se. He spent most of his career as an emergency room doctor. But here we were watching the December sun drop down and blur into the horizon's haze, drinking glasses of wine and talking about life. How to retire. How to stay young. How to persevere doing the stuff you love. 

Will and I have known each other since the late 1970's when we were both at the University of Texas at Austin. He was in the Photojournalism school and I was vacillating, year by year, between an engineering college and the English department. Our common interest from the outset was photography. 

Will has spent the last 45s pursuing magazine editorial work. He beat me to St. Petersburg, Russia and Moscow by over a decade. He's been to exotic places like Azerbaijan. He's spent time in central Mexico and also spent more Summers vacationing with his family in the South of France. 

In some ways he is my polar opposite. He cares exclusively about the photographs. The finals. The prints. He is bored and unengaged by camera gear. For years he shot amazing stuff with an ancient Olympus RD35 film camera. It was a cheap compact camera. He loved it because he could sync flash at any shutter speed. That was all he cared about. I've never seen him with a Leica unless he was trying to act curious about some new camera I was smitten with in the moment. He's probably spent $10 on cameras and lenses for every $100 I've spent over the years....

I've learned so much from Will. He took me on a shoot about Mesquite furniture done for a shelter magazine and I watched him direct ultra-rich home owners with exactly the same attitude he used with car mechanics, restaurant workers and kid models. He brought me along on an assignment for a famous business magazine when he needed a last minute assistant. We were going to photograph the CEO of an up and coming (and now huge) Austin-based computer maker. I watched as the marketing director for the company tried to tell him how he wanted the shot to look and what should be in the background. Will said "no" and the marketing guy for the computer maker stuck his heels in and said that his suggestion was the way the photo was going to go. 

Will very calmly starting packing the lights and cameras up and I helped him. The subject of the article and his marketing guy were dumbfounded. They asked Will why he was packing up. He responded with a no nonsense delivery. He told them he didn't work for them. He worked for the magazine and the magazine hired him for his point of view; not theirs. If the computer guys didn't want a spread about their fast growing company in one of the world's biggest business magazines that was fine with him. They folded on the spot and Will did the job exactly the way he wanted to. It was an amazingly powerful lesson for me. I've used what I've learned from Will on nearly every shoot I've done since. 

He is brilliant, curious, always well informed and he understands his working techniques forward and backward. 

I'm sad that younger photographers aren't getting the opportunity to work with people like Will now. They learn what they think they need to learn from YouTubers like Peter McKinnon and legions like him. It's at best superficial knowledge created mostly in the service of selling more camera gear. Not making art. I'm lucky to know people like Will and from time to time I've been able to help him with snippets of post processing techniques or equipment recommendations. But he sure didn't need me to tell him how to work a band when we shot a rushed shoot with the B-52s. Or countless other celebs. His secret? He treats them like everyone else. And he treats each shoot like he is the final arbiter of.........everything in the frame. 

We had a nice sunset happy hour. He's a great host. And his biggest secret? He genuinely likes and respects almost everyone he meets. He's the definition of a highly talented artist who is at the same time non-judgmental. Nice guy. Seems to finish ahead of the pack most of the time.

It was one in a decade long series of casual conversations with good friends. What a holiday gift!