Great Equipment, Bad (or mediocre) Photographer? ::

 From the photoblographer.com.

If you want better pictures, just go out and get a camera and a lens and whatever you need to create the scene that you want. You know why? Because no one is making bad products anymore. In this stage of the global economy, no one can afford to screw up. So instead, go train yourself to be a better photographer.

Too Long Between Posts! ::

I didn't mean for so much time to elapse between posts again, but I've been shooting some with the new (used) RB67 and it's kinda fun to be shooting film again. I've been taking the film to the local camera store where they still do B&W processing and I've been happy with the outcome, but I've been thinking of starting to process my own film again. I haven't missed a wet darkroom and I have no desire to get back into wet printing mostly because I would never have the time to do it.

I've started a project photographing the local Flint River watershed and here is one of the images that I shot a few days ago:

I've been scanning the negatives and printing on Epson Hot Press Bright paper, but I'm not sure that I really like this matte paper for black and white prints. I'm going to print a couple of photographs on Epson Premium Luster soon just as a comparison, but I'll probably be ordering some Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl in the next few days. I've done some printing on it in the past and really like the results.

I'll try not to let time slip by in posting new things in the future!

The New Mamiya RB-67 ::

I received the new camera just a couple of days after the auction ended and it is in wonderful shape and more was included than I thought would be such as a UV filter and a lens hood. The only downside is that it has a 220 film back. The seller never listed which back was included and I never thought to e-mail and ask, but that's only a minor disappointment. I will be getting a120 back from KEH very soon.

KEH is probably the only on-line used photo equipment seller that I fully trust. I've dealt with them sporadically for somewhere around 30 years and I've never been disappointed in either buying or selling when dealing with them. In fact, when I lived in Atlanta, more often than not, our dealings were in person!

New Camera ::

Well, probably a well used one. I just bought a Mamiya RB67 Pro S off Ebay. It should be here in another day or so. I've wanted one of these for a long time and I got the camera with a 127 mm lens although I would have preferred a 90, but the price was right, $135. Now I only need to get a 60mm and a 180!

A Quote From Chuck Close ::

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”

Chuck Close

Got Myself A New Holga ::

Somewhere along the way last weekend I lost my little bag carrying my 2 Holga cameras, and, for the life of me, I can't figure out where or how this could have happened. One of them was only a couple of months ago and I had it loaded with Tri-X film and the other was loaded with Fuji color film. The only thing I can think of is someone taking it out of my truck, but I don't leave it unattended and unlocked.

Quite the mystery, so I ordered another and just got it yesterday. I've come to love photographing with the little plastic camera. The above photo of the Big Cove Presbyterian Church was taken a few years ago with the older Holga. Anyway, I'm back in business now!

"If art is such big business, why do so many artists earn so little?" ::

The above title is the title of a provocative article in The Irish Times. Here's a short excerpt:

On the other side is the world in which artists earn little or nothing, often losing money by working in the arts, and making up for it with second jobs. That’s reality for most artists. Even those huge auction prices may have very little benefit for the artists concerned: it is only in the EU, Australia and the Philippines that artists have a right to a percentage of subsequent sales of their work.

Be sure and read the entire short article!

A George Tice Video ::

I came across this link to a 72 minute film about the life and work of George Tice and I found it to be very interesting:

http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1982310425/

Way back in the late '70's, I attended a weekend George Tice workshop at the Nexus Art Center in Atlanta. It was, as I recall, the first time I'd been around a well-known photographer and I learned a great deal. This was back in the good old days when workshops were much more affordable! As I recall, this 2 day workshop cost me $40.

"Instant Connections" ::

I ordered Jason Landry's "Instant Connections: Essays and Interviews on Photography" a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to starting to read it late last week and I've got to say that I've found it to be a most enjoyable book! Landry owns the Panopticon Gallery in Boston and has a MFA in photography.

The book is a mixture of personal anecdotes, interviews, and thoughts from a gallery owner on how to get a photographers work out to the public. Anyone looking for technical information about cameras, equipment, or processing will be disappointed, but if you would be interested in a humorous take on the business side of art photography, then this is the book for you! You will not be disappointed!

Order and enjoy!

Happy New Year ::

Here we are at the beginning of a new year and here's the first photograph from January 1, 2014:

I'm hoping to be more active in 2014!