Turn Something In

I've started shooting and posting a photo a day, on an online community. It's a pretty common project, the photo-a-day. You can find all sorts of permutations all over the photographic web. I've done several of these in monthly installments, but this time it's open-ended. Like always, the importance of daily photo challenges is to… Continue reading Turn Something In

Art Versus Heart

Photography should be let go from its association with art. Not because art cannot encompass photography, but because it is hard to separate the complex web which "art" references. If we no longer worried about measuring up or impressing anyone with our photos, if they were no longer required to reference any artistic conventions, then… Continue reading Art Versus Heart

Lumix GX9 Review: Introduction

In 2016, I wrote a series of review articles about the Lumix GX85, Panasonic’s long-awaited update to the GX7 from 2013. The GX7 was a major upgrade from 2011’s GX1, which did not have a viewfinder. The GX-series have always been favorites for photographers like me, who value smaller camera bodies with well-thought-out features. Note… Continue reading Lumix GX9 Review: Introduction

Value of a Back Catalogue

When do we come to the end of wanting to produce "competent" photographs? I have been pondering this question as I go through my catalogue of photographs taken - many of them remembered, some forgotten, and some re-seen as I encounter them again after sitting in cold storage on a hard drive. Few are the… Continue reading Value of a Back Catalogue

Street Notes, July 2020

Things have been upended, we all know this and deal with it on a daily basis. Even in my neck of the global woods (shout-out to the podcast Stuff They Don't Want You to Know for that line, which I shamelessly stole), daily life has not been the same for quite some time now. Most… Continue reading Street Notes, July 2020

Getting the Analogue Film Look from Micro Four Thirds In-Camera

  Micro Four Thirds cameras are frequently criticized due to their sensors being smaller than full frame, which makes it harder for photographers to get the "look" that's become emblematic of large sensors: shallow depth-of-field, smooth highlight transitions and lots of dynamic range. These characteristics were usually present (with the exception of the last, which… Continue reading Getting the Analogue Film Look from Micro Four Thirds In-Camera

Bessa T, Skopar and Superia Xtra 400 Make a Nice Combination

My wife and I recently took a short trip up the Pacific coast, and since my Ricoh GR III was in the shop, I only brought along one camera, the Voigtlander Bessa T, and one lens, the Color Skopar 35mm f2.5. While not the smallest combination, it did fit into a couple of jacket pockets… Continue reading Bessa T, Skopar and Superia Xtra 400 Make a Nice Combination

Are Snapshots Inferior Photos?

The snapshot has a longstanding connotation of inferiority. Even if you enjoy making them, you probably acknowledge this apparent consensus, and perhaps even feel guilty about owning up to taking snapshots. This would be a mistake, for to assume that a snapshot must be a bad photograph is to miss what a snapshot is: not… Continue reading Are Snapshots Inferior Photos?

Symbolism

It is good to look at something and recognize symbolism, allegory or deeper truth. This is a troublesome statement, and must quickly be qualified, for I think that many of us have been made to endure specious or disingenuous interpretations of symbolism in Art. Few people make it through higher education, for example, without being… Continue reading Symbolism

Voigtlander Bessa T Between Storms

January is a pretty rainy month in the Pacific Northwest, so I have not had many chances to bring the Voigtlander rangefinder from the early 2000's outside to shoot. Currently I have only shot two rolls of film, one a roll of expired Fuji color film which is currently out for development, and the other… Continue reading Voigtlander Bessa T Between Storms