Another work week wraps up. Spending a lot of time making portraits. And then compositing them into backgrounds. Changing reality one frame at a time. Perfection? Not a goal.

Background. Camera: G9 Lens: 12-100mm

Dashing model shot. Camera: Leica SL Lens: 24-90mm

 I got my hair cut this week. I bought a fleece pullover that was on sale. I used my phone as a remote for an ancient Leica SL camera so I could make a selfie. I swam hard all four days that the pool was open this week. Well, five days if you count last Sunday. Two more workouts to go this week. I lifted some weights. I went for a bunch of walks in the hills around our house. I had dinner at a friend's house and he made pasta with a clam sauce, and garnished the  edges of each plate with fresh mussels steamed in broth. I brought the wines. I took my resting pulse rate. It's 54. I walked through downtown looking for fresh new projects. And I finished up two of the jobs I've been shooting. A busy week. A fun week.

Last Fall I was toying with the idea of abandoning work altogether and declaring myself retired. I'm sure you've been there. You feel like you've been over the same ground too many times before and you're tired of it. Bored with work. You find yourself doing dumb stuff while trying to challenge yourself. Things like trying to do a CEO portrait with a cardboard, disposable camera. Or trying to light an ad shoot with an emergency flare you had in the car. Or bungee jumping with a video camera to make some interesting b-roll. Or you retire. I guess. 

At some point I realized that watching the S&P 500 bounce up and down, putting my nap schedule on a spreadsheet, and watching re-runs of "The Price is Right" was not the healthiest plan for aging well. Or happily. Or productively, or whatever other poetic mantra people blather on about when trying to convince people to abandon work for .... retirement fun? 

I changed my mind about the whole thing somewhere between Christmas and New Years. I missed hanging out with creative people. I missed joining in the complaining about bad office coffee. I missed the motivation of living off cash flow; the joy of using other people's money. Instead of my own...

And just about the time I decided I'd work for a while longer the proverbial phone (really email and texts) started ringing and here we are nearing the end of the first month of the year having completed three multi-day jobs and having the delicious pleasures of both billing, and also figuring out  how to use the new work to justify buying another camera or lens. Just for fun. Again.

Sometimes I feel like I have too much energy. I don't like to sit still. I don't like "down time" and I don't like wasting time. But I really do love meeting new people and then taking portraits of them. 

Several of the jobs I've worked on recently involved making portraits in a studio setting. Against white or green backgrounds and then compositing the images together with urban/industrial landscapes. The image above is a shot I did as a fun sample. No, it's not perfect. I think we're beyond the need for images to be perfect --- as long as the images are fun and do their jobs. 

It's fun and quick to make portraits against neutral backgrounds. Clients like it because doing things this way saves time for them and, with a big catalog of urbanscapes, they have lots of choices at their fingertips. Regardless of the actual weather. It's just a lot more convenient.

We did a variation of this method last year on an extended shoot for a medical technology company. I worked with an art director who is about as old as my son. 28. The art director was incredibly smart and a good collaborator. She sent me a text this week. The work we did on the previous big shoot is testing very well internationally. Sounds like we'll reprise all that again this year. 

I'm having fun again. Working for the fun of it this time. Just because I want to. It's different. But no less fun. And while the work might be fun...yes...I continue to bill for it.

 

Now, where did I put that extra $14,227.00 dollars? I need it for my new camera?

Just when I thought it was safe to go to the camera stores again it happened. Yep, the web came alive today like a sleeping and vicious dragon waking up hungry. Nope, not talking about the upcoming USA elections I'm talking about the rhythmic pulsations of camera desire fever (CDF) that erupts like a cold sore, regularly,  on YouTube and beyond. 

What's driving today's flurry of fascination? Why it's the launch of the Hasselblad 907X+CFV 100C camera. The latest in a growing market segment of "medium format" cameras based around several different resolution Sony "pixie MF sensors." 

James Popsys, a favorite of mine on YouTube, is very much a landscape photographer and became popular four or five years ago for his strong embrace of Panasonic micro four thirds cameras for his work. In particular, the Panasonic G9. Last year, for no particular reason, he decided that he would move on to full frame cameras and chose the Sony A7X line up. He also flirted, half-heartedly, with a Leica M11 rangefinder camera. But mostly he talks about the actual process of taking photographs. Gear is a small percentage of his content. Which is good.  On most programs in which he reviews cameras he makes a point to say that he found he has no need for the 61+ resolution that some FF cameras now offer. Happy enough with 24 megapixels, etc. 

But this morning there is a brand new video of James sporting the newest Hasselblad and talking its praises. Followed up by the guy on, "The Art of Photography", followed by a new video by Kai (who will review just about anything at the drop of a hat) and then a number of other less popular reviewers. All, simultaneously, just today, dropping their well produced "objective" appraisals of the latest Hasselblad "imaging solution." 

I rushed to B&H's website (no affiliation here although we seem to efficiently share money. I make it and then send it to them on a regular basis. They send back photo stuff in return--not sure I'm ever getting the best side of the deal...)  and breathlessly (well, actually I have pretty good breathe control) looked up the new introductory specs and price of the Hasselblad camera which will, according to the company's own promotional video: "Promote Passion." (A bit creepy?). 

For a mere $14,227.00 (Texas state sales tax included, free shipping) I can be the proud new owner of a basic kit --- which I assembled but did not buy. Yet. It would include the camera and back (100 megapixels. Attachable to older film Hasselblad bodies too) as well as an 80mm f1.9 XCD lens and, well, an extra battery. This would not include an EVF so I would be using the camera in the dirty baby diaper hold, composing and checking focus and exposure on a back LCD. Which I'm pretty sure is O-LED. 

Now, I would gladly part with the cash if the camera offered only one thing... A real medium format sensor. Instead of a slightly larger than FF sensor. Say... something along the lines of a 6x6cm sensor? I'd even settle for a full 645 sensor. But $14K seems a bit much for a pixie medium format sensor - even if it is 100 megapixels. 

To be serious for a moment, considering inflation and the quality of Hasselblad's imaging gear in general, the prices on the body and lens, and especially the batteries, aren't bad at all and it might be worth considering the new 907X body and the CFV100C back if you are a serious advertising/commercial photographer. After all the system is highly modular and the back can be used on older Hasselblad cameras and even on technical view cameras with movements. The price of the body with back, when viewed that way, is certainly not outrageous. While it's not a camera that's aimed at casual travel and street shooters it does nicely advantage a current Hasselblad X2D user who wants a location camera and also a technical camera in the same system. 

My big beef is all about the marketing. It's just so 1990's for all the camera makers to send out gear to popular reviewers along with embargoes on publication dates such that everyone dumps in their reviews into the gaping maw of online media on exactly the same day, nearly all at the same time. It flies in the face of good marketing. If the product is really wonderful everyone rushes to order at once and... BOOM... months long waiting lists blossom and inevitably produces a large tranche of unhappy, wanna-buyers who can't get their hands on the product. And if the product ends up being a tough sell then, too bad, the marketer has launched all their arrows at once and there aren't a lot of opportunities to get the same popular reviewers to revisit the product for a second look just when the product might need additional life support. Or a good, swift, motivational kick. 

There's got to be a better way! And really, give the darn photographers who represent your company's products on the web a couple of months to generate sample images. Two weeks is a rush job and it's already very, very, very tough for some of them to ever produce interesting images. 

I am now searching the couch cushions for spare change and accidentally dropped T-bills. But starting to calm down as I sit at my desk and smile at my dirt cheap but highly capable Fuji GFX, complete with its own Pixie MF sensor. 

Someday my dream camera will arrive. A small, light medium format body with a big square sensor just like the 6x6cm that came standard in my old film cameras. I hope I will still be here when it does land. 

In the meantime the new Hasselblad is very interesting. And the lenses have dropped down into Fuji territory; price-wise. Interesting stuff. Someone is trying hard to re-inflate the Hasselblad balloon. More power to them. But can we space out some of the marketing? Please? I'll need something to read next week as well. 

blog note: M.J. is alive and well and says his surgery went well. Go over to TOP (theonlinephotographer) and check out his message of today. Send him some recovery cheer. He'll be back in the blogging saddle shortly. Can't wait!!!

Gray and foggy. Just the right kind of afternoon to go for a walk through the drizzle and make some dystopian black and white photographs while brushing the water drops off my camera.

 

I've been doing photography all wrong. I have a bunch of fast lenses and I think I toy around with big apertures and dizzy backgrounds way too often. I've also let my mid-2010 fears of horrible color noise piss all over my current camera work. Like an ancient film photographer I try almost desperately to use the lowest ISO I can (commensurate with freezing action and handholding a camera without too much shake) and to "crop in camera" so I don't lose much, if any, precious sensor information. But guess what? It's 2024 and everything changed. 

I saw a black and white photograph on a Finnish photographer's YouTube channel. He was showing how he does street photography in the freezing cold, with big, fat snowflakes flying around fast as hail. He showed one urban street scene, in black and white, and the technical information over to the side of his composition said that the image was done with a 35mm lens with the aperture stopped down to f16. 

I looked at the image for a long time. I liked seeing all the sharp details going back toward the very rear of the frame. I'd finished my work for the day so I picked up the Fuji GFX camera and the 35-70mm Fuji lens and drove down to our urban center. Unlike my new inspiration's hometown streets mine are almost completely devoid of pedestrian traffic so I couldn't capture hordes of people emerging from train stations or buying hot drinks from street vendors, etc. But I did what I could while enjoying the basic thrill of being happily mobile and with enough energy to power the adventure. 

I set the camera to shoot Jpegs and instead of using the Tri-X formula I've been obsessed with I just set the camera to the Acros black and white film simulation that comes standard with the camera. I set the aperture to f16 but every once in a while I needed to open up to f11 just to get a handhold able shutter speed. After a while though I realized I was letting old habits influence my settings so I threw caution to the wind and set the ISO all the way up to 6400. And left it there. Remarkably, at least to me, is that the difference between 3200 and 6400 ISO files isn't much. The files looked pretty good and the noise was well controlled. 

I didn't shoot any masterpieces today but I had a lot of fun figuring out, in spite of the prejudices pounded into my brain for decades,  new settings that take advantage of what modern, modern cameras are capable of and how these "features" will probably change the way I photograph with digital cameras. 

I was back into my neighborhood in time to get a couple bottles of wine. I'm invited to a dinner party at a photographer's house and I didn't want to arrive empty handed. He suggested wine and it sounded like a good idea to me.

Here's a sample from today's walk. 

I'll toss in some captions below, if I have time. 

Blognote: If you are here for the first time from Michael Johnston's site then welcome! If you love the way MJ writes you'll probably hate my writing style. Oil and water ("methinks"). But be patient. I'm sure he's doing well and will be back up and writing again shortly. We post a lot more photos here. Not always sure that's a benefit. Or a feature. But that's how it is. Enjoy.

Resident photographer banging away in the drizzling rain. 

Such a large ego that he can never pass up a reflective surface. 

I don't know what kind of business "Tox" is and I'm not sure I want to find out.

But the big graphic seemed fun to me and, again, a reflective surface. 

Not anymore. Lance Armstrong's bike shop on 4th St. is closed. 

They moved somewhere else close by but are no longer in the café/coffee biz.

Yep. There it is. The Texas family "car."

Damn. Pick-up trucks are ugly. I shot this because I love the way the 

ancient cars look in Robert Frank photos. Someday these will be ancient cars.

We had dense fog today and clouds of steam wending their way down the streets in

the downtown area. It was like a movie set with fog machines. 

Keens. It's always either Keens or Birkenstocks.

Either way it's nearly always with socks in the winter months. 

Get over it.

The holiday decor is gone. The clubs are taking a break.

The deep depth of field from the f16 aperture is fun when you combine the effect with lots of reflections in windows. 

Another variation of a Texas luxury vehicle. Such sleek lines. 

So aerodynamic. ... 

Mommie. Help. I spent all my allowance on a brutally depreciating asset. 

Can I have an advance on next month's allowance?

Mannequin season is year round. See real human on the far right hand edge of the frame....

A miniaturized residential nuclear power reactor. Naw. It's some relic from an old, coal power plant. Long since turned into a mixed use shopping and residential center. Yes, of course there's a Trader Joe's. 

 

The two above? No clue. 

Below? OT. Be wary. 

today's swim was glorious. Jane and I shared a lane and pounded out 3100 good yards for coach Jen. Something luxurious about swimming in rain and fog. Poor coach, standing there in the rain on the deck. Hell, as long as there's no lightning I'm always ready for a swim. 

Since Mike is off today I'll go ahead and also mention lunch:  gobs of 2% Greek Yogurt (unsweetened, of course), half a cup of muesli, half a cup of chopped up walnuts, half a cup of fresh, organic blueberries, half a cup of fresh, organic blackberries, mixed together with wild abandon. Tap water as a beverage.

Protein, two servings of fruit, Omega 3 from the walnuts. Fiber and minerals from the muesli. I might not live forever but..... just sayin'

Slightly OT: I listened to YouTube advice and applied it on Sunday morning. "Photograph what you love..."

 

front gate.

I was dismayed to read a 65 year old pronounce that 65 was the starting gate for "old age." I guess because of genetics and life experiences, and luck, aging is different for everyone. No one (except other swimmers) listens but I'm pretty sure I've found the "fountain of youth." It's called rigorous daily exercise. And the neat thing is that everyone gets to pick the rigorous daily exercise that they'd like to do. I've chosen swimming. Since the age of five. And I have to say that it provides me with so many anti-aging advantages that I'm dumbfounded that people aren't rushing to swimming pools and getting ready to get their laps in. 

A good workout can provide a mix of aerobic, anaerobic and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sets altogether in the space of an hour. And on metabolic tests competitive swimmers who swim four or five day a week (or more) measure up to twenty years younger when compared with the general population on basic health metrics. Add in some yoga and some weight training and it's pure gold. 

But I think the other thing that keeps some at least feeling young (which is half the battle) is allowing themselves to be silly, funny, and a hell of a lot more immature than others. I can't speak for anyone else but most of the time I still feel like a kid cutting class in college. And it feels delicious. 

One of the guys who might be a photographer but surely has a channel on YouTube was "teaching" other photographers that a sure way to stay motivated is to photograph things that you love. Animated or inanimate. And I was thinking about that as I drove by the pool on Sunday. So I pulled into the parking lot and went inside.

I'd been there a couple hours earlier at our weekly Sunday swim practice and I was remember how cold it was. Down in the 20s. And, as you can see, our pool is outside. But what you might also be able to see are the clouds of steaming rising up off the surface of the water and into the air. 

We workout in the warm womb of 81° water but there are those 30 to 60 seconds at the end in which you have to pull yourself up into the 20° air, sopping wet, deal with the shock of the additional windchill and get your ass into the locker room as quickly as you can. That will surely wake you up and keep you young. No doubts about it.

I think being in the pool and swimming with 30 or 40 long time swim friends keeps me fit and happy and so I include the pool in the subjects that I've come to love. Even on the least hospitable days. Doubly hard when it's still dark outside...

The pool is certainly applicable for a photo project. Now in progress.

dreadful weather. see the insulated pool covers in the foreground?

Those cover the shallow section. 

We have to cover the whole pool when the workouts are done.

I didn't have the right camera in the car. 

I had the GFX with the CZ 50mm Milvus attached.

Just for grins I set the aspect ratio to 16:9. Did 

it vignette? You betcha.

Believe me. When you have 20° temps and wind gusts of 30-40 MPH 

you don't want to be fooling around practicing your racing starts 

from the blocks...

In addition to our masters workouts in the morning the pool is 

open until 4 pm on Sundays to serve those intrepid, individual 

lap swimmers. No takers on this day around noon...

Back up lane lines. Someone is thinking ahead.

run, swim, climb, walk briskly, etc. Stay young. Be happy.

I had occasion to use a camera bag again. It cemented my belief that the original size Domke bags in the waxed canvas finish are the best. Suck it Billingham.

 

just the right size for a day of working or walking. 

perfectly compromised padding. Not too much but not too little. Not too bulky but not too floppy.

One body with a normal lens on it and then space for up to four more lenses. That makes it a great "day bag." 

Doesn't add much weight to the shoulder that gets to carry it. Can't believe how big and heavy some bags get. Part of the problem is bringing too much gear but another part of the problem is bags that weigh too much empty; to begin with.

Affordable. I'm not particularly poor but I just can't justify spending over $200 USD on a camera bag that's meant mostly to be a convenient way to carry just a few pieces of gear. But in a total disconnection I do have two of these bags. One in brown (older) and one in green (newer) so I suppose if I were rational, and possessed of a certain fashion sense, I could have one Billingham bag instead. To my chagrin I'd never be able to pull off the accent that surely must go along with those bags... Could feel like mud wrestling in your nicest cardigan sweater...cashmere?

I kid. I'm sure Billingham bags are nice. Like the Jaguar automobile of camera luggage. 

I've had Domke bags of various sizes for more than 30 years. They all functioned wonderfully. An acquaintance, Henry White, also swears by them. And a rosier endorsement I just don't think you'll find. Sure beats the days when photographers carried around all their gear in metal suitcases from Halliburton. 

I carried this bag with me to my ad agency assignment last week. It was filled with a Leica SL fitted with a 75mm f1.9 VM lens, a Leica CL, a Sigma 56mm f1.4 lens for the CL, extra batteries for both cameras and a small Godox flash unit. Also, a phone, a small notebook and a Kershaw pocket knife. And it was still comfortable to carry around.

For me? It's the gold standard. We have some bigger Domkes for more involved projects. They are great as well. Oh, and some smaller Domke canvas bags for those times when you just want to carry an M camera and one or two extra lenses. Hmmmm. I hardly realized I liked the product line so much. 

Don't buy one because I like them. I won't make any money from your purchase and you may hate it. Remember that Duane Michals used to carry his cameras and film in a shopping bag. Even when working for big, national clients. The bag is not the thing.

Fun with medium format film scans.

 

Calvin and Ben (in goggles) playing in the splash pool at a swim meet. 

Mamiya6 camera. 75mm lens. Film = Fuji Reala

Yes. It's a bit crazy but I used to take my medium format film cameras to swim meets and I used it for fun images that didn't require long lenses or fast frame rates. I found a couple thousand negatives done with medium format film cameras at various swim meets and decided to scan a few.  

A couple of observations about converting MF film to digital files:

If you used a good lab for film development you got back film with very little dirt or garbage on it. 

If you stored your film in archival pages, inside archival covers, you probably won't have any problems with environmental contaminants affecting the dies. At least in the short term (25 years?). 

If you work in a clean environment you'll get to spend less time cloning out dust spots. 

You don't need a stand alone app or an Adobe plug-in to invert and color correct your images. Click on the black surround (film edge = see above, bottom of the frame....) with an eyedropper for shadows (set to zero) in "levels." Then use the mid-tone eyedropper in "levels" to set a mid-tone. Tone-wise everything should fall into place. Then it's just a matter of using your color controls to zero on on color. Start with your white balance settings and once you are set there go into your magenta/green hue settings and fine tune. Add contrast (you'll likely need it), tweak exposure and color more carefully and you are done. Don't let "perfect" rob you of the pleasure of playing with your film when "good enough" is just great. 

I chose to work on this color negative today as an antidote to the cold, damp weather outside. I'm printing it out large (13x19 inches) and hanging it on my wall till the weather improves. 

Glad I ditched work to make it to every swim meet. Priorities, priorities....