I have no one to blame but Pascal. 

Oh, OK...and me.

Well, me.

I've been re-evaluating my position lately. On many things, which is healthy. But on my previously held discovery that 'equipment doesn't matter' in particular.

I've re-purchased an old love...a Voigtlander 20mm f3.4 Skopar. 

It's been fun. The way this lens handles light is amazing. Stellar. Liquid?

Not sure what words to use, but I love it.

There has been a lot of conversation in the forums [fora?] lately about sensor size. We've long recognized that basing electronic sensor sizes on old film sizes was specious at best. But there was one good reason for it...backwards compatibility with existing film-era lenses. Fair enough.

Who, especially at the dawn of digital photography, wanted to invest tens of thousands of dollars on both new bodies *and* lenses designed around what *someone* thought the new optical sensor size would be for ever and ever? No one. 

OTOH, manufacturing costs in the early days dictated that a 4x5" sensor, should that large a chip be necessary, would be prohibitively expensive. Likewise a medium format [120 film] sized sensor for all but the very few working pros. 

The full frame [FF] 35mm sensor was also really, really pricey...but offered image quality [IQ] that every year came closer to, and finally surpassed, film. Albeit still at a price only pros and well-heeled amateurs could consider.

Enter APS-C and other crop-sensor formats. I, for one, could not consider these hell-hound bastardized formats as a replacement for my beloved Canon, Bronica, Hasselblad, and Leica cameras. Adding insult to injury, Canon abandoned the breech-lock lens mount I'd invested so much in, so my 35mm lenses were worthless overnight. Instead, much to my later regret, I threw up my hands and went with tiny-sensored pocket cameras for a decade.

As expensive as they were, had I simply bought a Canon D30 or 10D and and a couple new EF lenses, my early 2000's images would still, if barely, stand the test of time. Instead I have two and three megabyte mush of some really great scenes.

Fast forward to 2019, and I have just two cameras. A 50MB FF Canon with a handful of carefully curated, first gen L lenses, and a Leica D-Lux Typ 109 4/3 sensor compact. Long way around the barn, but this brings us back to the sensor wars. 

There are many who say that 4/3 or even 1" sensors are enough for images viewed on the web and printed to A4 or A3 sizes. And they're not wrong. In fact, the three winning images mentioned in my last couple of posts were all taken with the Leica. Not because that camera produces images that are spectacularly better than other cameras, but because it is small and light enough to be the one have with me [and, it also does a fantastic job.]

But when I bring out the FF camera with some 20yr old vintage L glass something really great happens. 

Next time I talk about ditching it all and buying a flavor-of-the-month Fuji, Olympus, or Panasonic crop-sensor camera, just slap me. I see the difference between these crop-sensors and FF in the files and in the 17x25 prints. There's no substitute for sensor acreage.

My only challenge will be not to sell everything, and a limb, and move up to medium format, a la my friend Pascal. If that happens I won't be able to afford internet, so this site will go dark.

​You'll know what happened. :)

Really fun to receive more positive feedback on my black and white work. This time it's by having two images (!) included in Black & White magazine's 2019 Contest Winners issue. I'm amazed.

I'm also somewhat surprised to see how vibrant the publishing industry remains for photography in general, and b/w in particular. There are actually quite a few titles on the rack at Barnes & Noble where I picked up my copy of this issue.

I've been doing [for me] a lot of printing, showing, and contest entering over the last 6 months or so. Think it's time to slow down and take stock...maybe head off in a new direction with my work? Not sure, but I'll certainly let you all know what I decide!

Here I am on page 144 of this year's Photographer's Forum Best of Photography 2018 annual !

Again this year I'm only a 'finalist', so no big to-do. But as I say every year, simply fantastic to be recognized amongst so many outstanding photographs.

This particular image really benefits from being viewed large. There's a whole formula that describes the optimal viewing size and distance of an image based on the focal length of the lens used, etc. Long story short, this was taken with a 20mm wide angle lens, and needs to be viewed large and/or close to experience the full effect. The exact opposite of what you see here. Thankfully the judges were apparently viewing it correctly!

As seems to be so often the case with my work this was not the product of an international trek to foreign lands, nor an in depth study...it's a shot taken of my neighbor's back yard after a long hike in the local fields. As in writing, photograph what you know I guess. 

Like last post, again, serendipity if you will.

Back in 2007 we stumbled across this pop-up* concert somewhere around Gov't Center in Boston, and stayed for a few tunes reveling in the serendipity. I probably should know who the band was...they were clearly professional even though this tune was a cover. Anyone who recognizes them please post in the comments.

One thing that jumps out at me is that I'm almost the only one waving a recording device around, a pocket camera in this case. Today the audience would be a sea of cell phones instead of enthusiastic waving arms.

We'd been doing our usual...lunch, perhaps a couple of cocktails, and were making our way across town on foot as was our custom. My weekend visits with Bri [that's her in the pink] were always a bit of a celebration. She reminds me that this trip was actually to help her move out and down to DC.

Four years later we'd be married. Good times. :)

* I do have to admit here that while I thought it a serendipitous happenstance at the time, that this was probably a staged event being filmed for a movie or some-such, and hate to admit it, the soundtrack may have been piped in and lip-synced.

Pity. It was so pure and energetic at the time.  
​
But I for one 'won't be fooled again.' 

I'm not sure what to make of this kid o' mine. What a laid back little dude sometimes!

Hi. Just two quick notes today...

First, I've added a notification signup at the bottom of the 'About' page. If you'd like to receive an email when there's a new post or update on this site, just pop in your email. I'll never market to you, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Second, a recent comment reminded me that after changing website hosts, I'd never updated any pages on my history of sailing and boats. Funny, since that's really all I did back when this site started. 

​Guess I wanted to 'do it right' and never found the time. Rather than wait any longer for the time to be right, I've taken a first stab at some boat pages. They're under the 'Sea' tab...more to follow. 

Thanks, and if I don't see you soon, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and all the Best of the Season to all. :)

For a while now I've wished to offer you, dear viewer, a way to click on my blog images to see a larger view.

Pretty common functionality, wouldn't you agree?

Turns out the only way to accomplish this will be to post a 'gallery' rather that a single image, as is my usual habit. A gallery of one. Fair enough, but maybe I'll start posting 2- or 3-across since the initial images are smaller this way.

Apologies also that the enlarged image has a truly ugly white border around it, but apparently that can't be helped.

Today I've posted a gallery of three, as this seems to fit well. Recent woods walks have captured my historical fascination with beeches and birches. I'm so enthralled with the genre that I recently purchased a John Sexton on sale.

I started 'collecting' a very few years ago via Magnum. After six or so framed examples went up on the wall I called a halt. That was enough. My wife has gifted me with framed Onne van der Wal's a couple of times, and I simply had no more room. What a problem to have, no?

But John's beeches really spoke to me. And, unframed, the print was too good a deal to pass up.

So I'll break out the matting and framing tools once again, and look forward to another masterpiece on the office wall.

Some of you may know that I've been printing in both black & white and color, for myself and professionally, for many decades. I've also posted lately about my recent informal partnership with Pascal Jappy and the folks at dearsusan.net. 

Which brings up a potential new offering here on the site...printing services.

It has long been my contention that no photograph is complete until it's printed, and no print is complete until it is matted and framed. An unusual opinion in these days of content that is primarily delivered on the web and consumed on iPads, I know.

Doing my own printing, cutting my own mats, and assembling my own frames does not make me a renaissance man...it's simply what photography is to me...but I realize that this craft may not be taught widely anymore. There are plenty of tutorials available that will teach you how to cut mats, as well as local framers in most areas willing to help with final steps.

But what about print making? How many of you would like to have nice custom prints of your favorite images, but don't have the time or space to devote to actual printing? Would you like to work 1:1 with a master print maker?

Above is a sampling of the process you can expect...choosing both the paper and the tonality that best expresses your vision for an image. I typically send iPhone shots of various options back and forth until I understand what you're looking for, and then add in 1% of my own experience to arrive at a truly great print.

If this is something that interests you please send me a note. I generally print on 1/4, 1/2, or a full size sheets of 17"x25" paper, and prices start at around $10 for a 1/4 sheet. I'm printing on an Epson 3880 printer using factory K3 pigment inks. My favorite paper is a 310g Baryta gloss* which gives prints often mistaken for lab produced C-prints. I've also had very nice results with a 300g 100% rag paper from Moab, and a slightly smaller warm-tone rag paper from Ilford that comes 23" wide. I'm willing to set up for roll paper if a customer should request it, and speaking of rolls, I can ship either flat for smaller prints, or rolled in a tube.

In closing I'll speak a bit on black & white printing in particular, as it is a love of mine. I've often opined that in addition to the "it's only a photograph if it's printed" statement, that only b/w prints are truly classic photographs. Nonsense, of course, but that's how much I love the medium. When making such prints I use a carefully calibrated version of Epson's advanced b/w driver, and the results on the gloss baryta paper are truly lovely. I invite you to give it a try.

*It's important to note that 'gloss' in this case does not mean 'glossy' as in an RC plastic photo paper. The surface more resembles an 'F' surface paper air dried instead of ferrotyped. This one in particular is a very heavy paper-based paper that gives a wonderful D-Max and depth without glare or fingerprinting. My favorite look, especially for b/w.

Our annual Christmas party has past, and final holiday shopping has begun.

I love this time of year and all the attendant lists and 'best-of's. Naturally I gravitate to my hobbies, including cameras. Reading the reviews of these soon-to-be last year's models leaves me unimpressed. So many 'almost there' comments.

I for one look forward to a day when the question of which sensor size(s) will become standard is settled. For now, I'm very content that I have more than adequate gear, and that the only goal is to shoot more!

What are your plans? Shopping for a bargain?