A moment of reflection and grace

I might have a chance to go for a short game drive later this month… after the whole hoopla of the wedding.

hope I can take a pic like this!

Can’t Move On, Can’t Say Goodbye

Wise words indeed, from the Beatles.

I feel paralysed. Nicole is sweet and charming, and, of course, gorgeous, but Anna needs me. I don’t know how to explain it. Nicole is like… a really tasty wine Jell-O. But still, Jell-O. She doesn’t always understand me, either.

Anna, on the other hand, is so amazing that I sometimes feel a little intimidated by her. But she understands me. She’s like creme brulee… definitely not Jell-O.

Anna needs someone now, more than ever. I don’t know how she’s going to get through this. She made me promise not to tell John and Leng about her daughter yet, but how long can she keep this charade up?

I wish I could decide. And I wish things weren’t so complicated.

Do I want Jell-O or creme brulee?

Bringing out the details in life

I’ve recently started getting more seriously into HDR photography – always thought it was something of a fad, but I think if used properly it can be amazing; again the thin line between photography as representing reality and it being an art form.

Check this link for a great and comprehensive tutorial on HDR

Choosing the right one… part 2

I’ve decided to go for the Domke F-803 in the end… Why? Read on!
Camera bags are important
Some guys I know have more bags then their wives do!
Think about it…

• casual shooting with a compact..
• travel shooting with one body, one or two lenses
• assignment that requires multiple bodies and lenses
• an assignment that requires a camera bag to fit inside another bag – ‘called camera bag hacking’

and the list goes on!
there are even bags for unobtrusive street shooting..
See what I mean???

So hard to choose the one

The one… camera bag I mean. Because I have been having sleepless nights over deciding what camera bag to bring on this trip… you would think… photographer… lots of gear.. bring everything in a very large backpack, right? Wrong!
I wasn’t solely photographing on this trip, was catching up with some friends, and meeting potential clients, also scouting locations for a possible bridal shoot next year. So, photography was more incidental than anything. In fact, I considered bringing just a compact camera, (Fuji F200EXR) which has a sufficient zoom range for landscape to telephoto (28-140) but talked myself out of it at the last moment….and its got great dynamic range… just look at this picture!

But in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the slr behind.
So this is essentially what it came down to:
(cue dramatic music)
sling bag or backpack…

More to come tomorrow…

Highly tempted to get a mf/3

As someone put it (rather well) of the current crop of m4/3 cameras,
‘the Panasonic GF 1, Olympus E-P1, Leica X-1, Canon G10 and G11 and the like are all failed rangefinder cameras. Why on earth doesn’t any of the big companies produce a decent digital rangefinder camera? There’s no need to reinvent the wheel: Leica’s M3 came out in 1954, followed by dozens of cheaper rangefinder cameras by Voigtländer, Canon, Agfa, Contax etc. that had all better integrated viewfinders than anything we’re getting today. Strange new world…’ – Peter Halter

The GF1 though looks really, really good with its Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens… *lens drool….*
But yes, what’s with the lack of a viewfinder?

Long lenses: out Micro 4/3’s: in

I’ve been following the micro 4/3 scene with much interest lately. It seems that big DSLR’s are losing out simply in terms of the kind of weight they pack, and smaller cameras are quickly catching up in terms of image quality. More on this to come. For now, here is a pic of Leica’s sexy new X1… with a very sexy price tag too!

She Walked In Like A Dream

This is where I met Nicole C, at this tavern in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where I was doing a shoot. And now she's back.

This is crazy. I was at Starbucks yesterday, editing a photo, and guess what, Nicole C., my hottest ever ex, walks in! And she walks right up to me, kisses me on the cheek, says, ‘How have you been, darling,’ and promptly arranges a photo shoot with me next week!

All these women, just showing up from out of nowhere. And all I can think about is how much I like Anna.

But she’s blowing hot and cold to my advances.

Is it because of my age?

Is it my choice of career?

Is it my choice of deodorant?

Spring Haiku as winter draws near

Ok, yes, we don’t have the four seasons; but don’t you think it makes everything so much more romantic?

Great pic and accompanying haiku:

my spring is just this:
a single bamboo shoot
a willow branch
Issa

When words and images come together

Although I can’t write for nuts, I’ve always loved poetry, in fact I think photographs are a lot like poems; they hold so much meaning in an instant. Here’s one I’ve found from one of my web haunts, which in turn is taken from Poetry Foundation, a great site with lots of poetry resources:

Children of the Ghetto

Photograph by Henryk Ross
Poem by George Szirtes

Love, we were young once, and ran races
over rough ground in our best shiny shoes,
we kicked at stones, we fell over, pulled faces.

Our knees were filthy with our secret places,
with rituals and ranks, with strategy and ruse.
Love, we were young once and ran races

to determine the most rudimentary of graces
such as strength and speed and the ability to bruise.
We kicked at stones, we fell over, pulled faces,

and doing so left no permanent traces
because we fought and fell only to confuse
love. We were young. Once we ran races

in ghettos, in camps, in the dismal spaces
of the imagination reserved for Jews.
We kicked at stones, we fell over, pulled faces

at elastic braces, shoelaces, empty packing cases
as if they were the expressions we could choose.
Love, we were young once, and ran races.
We kicked at stones, we fell over, we pulled faces.