Olympus E-PL1 and Fun with $90

Another WIN! On the for sale board, the "ancient" Olympus E-PL1, with kit zoom lens, for $90, shipped. I would be a moron to not buy it. (OK, I would be a moron to buy it. So as you can see, since I would be a moron either way...)

I played with the E-PL1 and the Leica X2, because I felt like it. Anyway... I compared images from the Leica X2 against the E-PL1 (I know I know not fair guess what don't care), in approximately equal environment, the X2 kicked the E-PL1's butt..

It was snowing out. I wanted to take my camera. Guess which one I could afford to get snowed on? Yup.

At Dupont Circle

It was MUCH more comfortable, as in, warmer, inside...

Oooo.... Grainy... ISO 1600 on the E-PL1... Bad, and, interesting too.

I am not sure what is going to happen between us. I have too many (again) cameras. And I am in my Leica-lust-passion-fest...

The Return of the Leica X2

A few months ago, by "luck," I owned the Leica X1 and X2 at the same time. I returned the X1 (thankfully it was still within the no-questions asked return period), and kept the X2. I loved the look of the X2. So simple. So direct. I won it on Ebay, for about $900. At first I was giddy, and then I realized that no one else placed a bid because it was "incomplete." The camera did not come with the original charger, or the box. This is a big deal because it would be difficult to resell a camera without its original box. And I had long accepted that any notion keeping a camera "forever" was an illusion. I could have offered to cancel the deal, because the seller could not find something (irrelevant) he promised in the ad.

I REALLY wanted to have an X2, and I had the money in my camera fund.

After a couple months, I sold the X2. But I missed it a lot (this was unusual, therefore I knew it was for real, as in, true love), even though I already have the Leica T, Leica Digilux 1, and the Leica M9. Fast forward to last week, as usual, I obsessively scanned the ads, and I saw that the person who sold me the T had just made his X2 available on the for sale board. I bought it, thus owning an X2 for the 2nd time.

The camera is so beautiful.

Yes I cloned out the license plate.

And besides for what I paid, it would be cheaper to own the X2 with the Elmarit lens, than to buy an M-mount Elmarit. At least that's the story I tell myself...

I now have 4 leicas. I love to touch and stare at them. They are scattered around my bed. Other than the Fuji X100, I can't say that about any other camera that I have owned...

As If Breathing

My friends ask me about my photographs: "what happened to you these past 2 months?" I am so glad that they (and others) noticed... I am not going to tell you what they said, because... it's embarrassing to hear good words about my work*

A good number of writers on photography (on the internet) insist that only the best work should be presented in online galleries. I agree with them. It is a good discipline. I don't do that, not because I don't have discipline. Well OK I have issues with discipline. But more important to me is to remember my transformations. I want to share my development with my friends. I want them to see how I evolve. I want them to see my missteps and my experiments.

I think about photography day and night. I imagine ideas. I think about techniques. I used to think about Judo day and night. Before that I used to think about cooking day and night. After Judo I thought about Tango day and night. So, yeah... I am obsessive.

A few nights ago, I stared outside my window, into the icy rain, and I HAD to capture the icicles. So, I grabbed my camera, and took this, and posted it onto 500px. Only to remove it 10 minutes later.

What a fucking moron I was. I had no business showing this photo. 1/4 second, ISO 1600, hand-held, no vibration reduction?? That's just plain stupid. I was angry at myself. So, I yanked it out, and tried again. This time, with more seriousness.

That got me thinking a lot about long exposure time. So I started to play.

Yes, yawn. Here is the thing: EVERYONE has to go through it. I had never gone through this phase. So I had to. I didn't have a choice. I had to do it. So, stupid, yet so necessary.

And then, I went to the milonga.

I also took a few "normal" shots.

Still, look at the settings in these last two photographs. 1/15 second, hand-held...

Anyway, what the hell is happening to me? I gave my friends very very very long answers. The short version is that, photography has become closer to... breathing.

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* Long story. Let's just say that I am still striving to prove that I am worthy..

Ask Me If I Care About The High ISO Artifacts

Let me just declare, again, I love my Leica M9. The experience is so pure, so satisfying, so... mechanically direct, that I (almost) don't care about the end result, the photographs. Why bother using a $4,000 (used price) camera and lens, to take photos? Right right right?

The experience.

Anyway, I brought the M9 + Summicron-C to the 18th Street Lounge Milonga, knowing that it was going to be too dark. Still, I said to myself, "I don't care, I am going to enjoy pressing the delicious shutter.*"

Look at the settings... These were dancers (MOVING!), and I was shooting at ridiculously long shutter speeds. And look at all the artifacts.

And the banding...

You know what? I would rather that I remembered these moments, no matter how crudely they were recorded, than not having memories of the night.


* Actually, I cursed. I curse all the time.

Spending Time With Every Camera

I made sure to have the Fuji X100 in the car, because the night before, I saw the spot by the dam, and I wanted to try again. A few weeks ago, I had captured the scene using my Pentax Q. I was not happy about it. So when the snow blanketed the ground again, it was time.

Sticks in the Snow by jaime montemayor on 500px

And then, I saw the Leica-T on my shelf. I had not played with it for a few weeks. I pointed it at everything in my home, my family, the flowers*, the pickled olives (for dinner), snap snap snap.

I was drooling over a bunch of Leica M-mount lenses all day long, and I wondered: "you freaking moron... look what you already have to play with."

So that you can appreciate what I do with my time, when I am not at work, not dancing, not being part of my family, not grappling (oh right I also do that), not sleeping, not eating, last night, I shot the trees-in-the-snow during the drive home, I shot the flowers (with the Leica-T) during dinner, and I shot some pictures of my family, using the Nikon 1 V2 with the 10-100mm PD that I received in the mail yesterday.

Right...

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* I know that you might be distracted by the artifacts... But, if you have read my other posts, you might know that, to me, the experience of shooting must (in itself) be pleasurable, and so important to me, that I would prefer to NOT use a camera that does not "turn me on" just to capture a superior image.

Sunday Morning Ritual

Sunday mornings are mine. I take an hour for myself, and I don't think about my duties, responsibilities, and obligations. It has been (surprisingly) very difficult for me to take "time away." I feel guilty. Still, this precious hour, between 8AM and 9AM, for me to do whatever I want, has been a practice, for me to take care of myself. Inevitably, some time around 8:30AM, I realize that I am alone, that I begin to tear up. Don't ask me why. Maybe you know the reason. I don't. For now, it is enough that I am developing the discipline to rest.

I am at the coffee house. There are few people there. Unlike Saturday mornings, when lines form early. Sundays are far more quiet, calm, serene... at 8AM.

I like it this way. Very much.

I read. I play with my camera. I eat gluten-free muffin. I drink coffee. I remember to breath. I don't know why it is so difficult for me to relax. I just know that I realize that I stop holding my breath, about twenty minutes into my visit.

My time ends. And I return to my duties. On Sunday mornings, I buy vegetables at Dupont Circle. Except, this morning, there was hardly anyone there. Most vendors stayed home, from the frigid cold. This newspaper salesperson is not going to have a good day...

I cannot get enough of capturing images. So desperate, that I will take pictures of anything and everything. I HAVE TO. It's an obsession...

Ready, Even in the Car

Driving is no longer a mindless interval between events. My eyes scan. My Pentax Q (aDorable!) is in the passenger seat. I am still angry at myself for spotting something, wavering, and driving past, until it is too late. Lazy...

But sometimes I force myself to be diligent...

I cannot tell you how often I see night time construction (there are LOTs of repair work after midnight. How do I know? Come on, I am tanguero) that are so fascinating, and... SO MUCH LIGHT for awesome contrast... only to drive past, because, well, lazy. But, this time, my camera is RIGHT THERE, so, even as I fumble through the settings, I still got my practice shots in.

Anyway, now, I actually look forward to being in the car!

It's OK To Be Vague, As Long As...

On my way home from the medical appointment, giddy with good news, I began to capture scenes on my M9. The next day, when I put the card into my computer, nothing. I had done something, I don't know what, but, nothing that I snapped was saved to the card. I was only mildly upset. Were I paid to produce work, I would have thrown the M9 against a wall...

Anyway, I am learning to understand it. I stay at ISO 800, and f2, at the milongas. I often set shutter speed at 1/30 or even 1/15. And even then, I need to pull exposure in Lightroom to see anything.

This would have been my 4th time out with the M9, to a milonga. I felt more confident. I knew what I could get out of the camera, at those settings. So I started to look around. Dasha was the DJ of the night. I love her selection, so romantic... She hinted that she was ready for a new "DJ" profile picture. I was very giddy...

And the mischievous in me thought: oh look the only way that I can post crazy photos, is if I also post "normal" photos. And this IS A NORMAL PHOTO!!!! OMG! Yes I have permission!

iPhone 6 Plus and Snapseed

I just much prefer the suggestive, rather than the explicit, when it comes to moments in tango. But I couldn't really say this, if I could not produce "normal" images too... You see, it IS still so important, for me to have to prove something. Why??

I loved capturing Dasha at work. And I wanted it (I needed it) to be normal, so that I COULD be as blurry as I wanted...

iPhone 6 Plus and Snapseed

When I dance, the world is not real. It is not normal. The world REALLY feels as I try to depict in these two nutty photos. I mean, a clean tango night is... I can't even imagine that. 

Insistence

Two days later, the First Saturday Milonga at Eastern Market. Unhappiness from my first outing with my Leica M9, into the dark dance environment, I resolved to find the proper spirit.

Caught by Melody

I set my camera to ISO 800, super slow shutter speed. and f2.

I found the settings in LR5 that I liked, given the environment at Eastern Market, and I created a custom filter in Silver Efex to post-process. And you know what??? OK the images are crappy but they HAVE WHAT I LIKE in them! And anyway I am known for "my kind of crappy." That is to say, it's pretty easy to spot my photos because... well, they are not in focus, they are messy, and, yeah... did I mention messy?

Three hours sleep. After the morning market at Dupont Circle, with too-much-light, but hey I am not complaining. (note: tangueros and tangueras are crazy people who lose the ability to sleep.)

I love the M9. It keeps me honest. And let me tell you, it kind of hurts.

Well That Was Difficult

I was giddy about using the Leica M9 at the milonga. More giddy than dancing. There was a time, when I couldn't wait to get to a milonga (EARLY!) to dance the night away. And now, I find myself more and more preferring to stay behind the lens, to practice my craft... For years, the embraces with beautiful women, the hauntingly beautiful music, and the endless gliding steps around the dance floor, brought so much pleasure, peace... And now, passions change, I suppose...

I knew the tango scene would be difficult for the M9. And the images, to my dismay, reflected the challenges I forced upon the machine, which had left my jaws on the floor, earlier in the morning, with the bright white white sunlight into my home, and the images that I captured of my family. But I had to find out...

I had the 40mm Summicron-C at the widest f2 aperture; I dared pushed the ISO to 2000, and I had little choice but to slow the shutter down to 1/15 second... It was just... not easy.

As I worked through the images, after the milonga, late into the night, my excitement turned to dismay. "Oh well, what do I do now??" I thought about the Sony A7s, and I was surprised at myself, "come on, you DON'T LIKE its appearance, its 'too many-ness.' Why do you keep forgetting that?"

It was the first real night out, with my M9. I don't know it yet. My fingers don't know where to go yet. In time, I will find the sweet spot, the way that the M9 wants to remember those moments in the night.

Acceptance?

infatuation

Love at first sight...

I waited a very long time, having tried dozens of cameras... Once even owned the Leica M8, but it wasn't my time to understand it. Finally, the decision came down to (remember, earlier, I mentioned that I had a pot of money, because I sold a bunch of cameras?) the Sony A7s or the Leica M9.

The A7s would make my tango photography much much easier. But I did not enjoy the A7. There were too many buttons, too many this, too many that... The M8... well, it was a difficult camera to love, even though the beauty rendered (at base ISO) left me breathless...

I thought it was clunky, too thick for me to hold. I traded it away for a Nikon D800...

My friends know that I am vain, very. And deep inside, I wanted to brag that "I" took the images. I wanted to know that my photos, good or bad, were because of me, and not because of some fancy feature on a camera. I wanted people to associate the photo to me, and not to the fancy camera. OK, I know that I don't really "own" the photo, I need the machine. I just... well, I hope you know what I mean...

Anyway, I wavered, on an M9 (well-used, beaten-up, lots of brassing), and lost out to another buyer. And I was super sad. And then Christian posted his M9 and 40mm Summicron-C on the for-sale board. I could no longer resist. But I changed my mind. Perhaps the A7s would be more sane, more reasonable, more "correct." I told him that I couldn't do it. He understood. I knew he would understand my anguish. Anyway, we wished each other well... Within the hour, I wrote back and told him I was sending him the money.

I COULD NOT WAIT to try the camera. I pointed it at ridiculous objects.

And robots.

And Irina...

And Max...

You know what's crazy? Straight out of camera, no alterations (except crop).

I love the giddiness I feel. I love the feeling very much.

Towards Light

I cannot express enough love for my gorgeous Fuji X100...

... with the adorable Snow Peak Mini Hozuki Lantern...

Micro Purpose

I set auto ISO to 6400, shutter speed at 1/30, and manual focus. I pick some random object at about 10 feet away, and pre-focus the lens. And then I step out of the apartment, into the night, with a micro purpose.

I want people to see that I am taking pictures. I am not going to be sneaky. Well ok, not one micro purpose. Several.

To capture images on the street, of people, is very easy. To capture interesting images of people on the street, ridiculously difficult. So I ease myself, I take a shitty photo of a building, "with people."

Shitty picture of a building. Yawn.

But here is the thing: I crouch into a wide stance, I take forever to focus (because I had previously set to about 10 feet, and I just basically ruined my plan..), and I am OBVIOUSLY taking a picture. Not too far away, I see a man in a wheelchair, my brain says, "hmmm this is an interesting shot, because, man-in-wheelchair-against-the-stream-of-oncoming-everyone-else-people." It's a stupid idea. But my micro-purpose tonight is to make it obvious that I am taking pictures. So I crouch into my wide stance again, I lift the camera to my eye, and I focus. Now, everyone but the man sees what I am doing. I think, better than the building shot.

The man and I are waiting for the light. And I think, "oh another interesting shot." (Look, I know the shots are stupid. But I am in my 10,000 crappy photo journey, so, it's got to be this way, for a long long time.) And I compose, shoot, compose, shoot, repeat. He turns to me, says something that I can't hear. I walk towards him, and show him the picture of himself. "Oh man that's nice." I pat him on his shoulder, I say, "Thank you."

I try a new restaurant.

I have coffee. And I play with my Digilux 1.