Riffing in the Key of Ricoh
October 13, 20119 CommentsPhoto GearWith the release of the GXR Mount A12 module for M-series rangefinder lenses, the Ricoh GXR camera system has not only come of age, but found its way into my camera bag. This article discusses why the GXR has replaced Micro Four Thirds as the digital backup to my Leica M9, and what Ricoh can do to make it even better.
The Geometry of Night
September 27, 20114 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)Photo TechniquesThe requirements for photographing at night versus day are as different as... well... as night and day. This article proposes that night photography is best approached not as a challenge of light, but as a challenge of subject.
Going for a Spin
August 28, 20116 CommentsPhoto GearEarlier this year, in an attempt to maximize context in my photos, I purchased a swing lens Widelux F7. Its 120 degree horizontal field of view provides me with far more context than I've yet been able to use effectively. Sane people would be perfectly satisfied to stop here. So what would insane people do? Purchase a Lomography Spinner 360, of course.
Bartlett’s Rejects
July 22, 20112 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)MusingsWithout a doubt, this is my most quotable article to date. Perhaps that's because it's nothing more than an assemblage of my own personal photography quotes? Whether you have a term paper to write for photography class; are looking to impress a hot hipster with a lomography fetish; or are simply suffering from attention deficit disorder, this is the article for you.
Market Speak
July 8, 20113 CommentsMusingsWhat is the market value of a photograph? For how long should someone view a photograph? What does the public want from photography? Why do men have nipples? This article, ULTRAsomething's latest philosophical musing, provides no answers.
Lobotomy, Please!
June 21, 20112 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)MusingsSelf-doubt is a bottomless quagmire from which escape is difficult. We are who we are. If we’re lucky enough to have a vision and to feel passionately about it, then we owe it to ourselves to persevere. Slavishly adapting my style to match current trends would likely bring me more admirers, but then they wouldn’t be my admirers — they would be the style’s admirers. I’d rather have detractors. When we try to be something we’re not, we’re destined for mediocrity. When we’re true to ourselves, we give ourselves a chance to transcend it.
Hockey Gods
June 16, 2011 CommentsMusingsIn its forty years of existence, the Vancouver Canucks hockey team has never won the Stanley Cup. Some of this city's more pagan residents blame this on vengeful Hockey Gods. There might just be some merit to this belief...
Fauxtographs
May 23, 20116 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)MusingsEvery so often I see a trend develop that sort of rubs me the wrong way. That's when I invoke my "Blogger's Right to Curmudgeonly Commentary" and type out a post like this one. What bee is in my proverbial bonnet this time? Photographers who choose web publication as the ultimate display format for their photographs... and, yes, that used to include me.
A Long Look at a Widelux (Part 2)
May 12, 201132 CommentsPhoto GearIn this, Part 2 of my lengthy look at the classic Widelux F7 panoramic swing lens camera, I discuss the anatomy of the camera, its various eccentricities, and my ultimate delight with its unique view of the world around it.
A Long Look at a Widelux (Part 1)
May 5, 20116 CommentsPhoto GearThe Widelux F7 takes WIDE photographs. It delivers DEEP focus. And, apparently, writing about it requires LONG articles. In this, Part 1 of my look at this classic camera, I discuss the various photographic needs that drove me to consider panoramic cameras, and my rationale for choosing this particular model.
I Heart Rangefinders
April 6, 20111 commentf/Egor (Leica Blog)Photo GearI used to think concert photography went with SLR cameras like eggs went with ham. Well, cancel that side of ham and bring me some of that rangefinder bacon. In this article I confront life after SLRs, and schlep a couple of Leica rangefinder cameras to a Heart concert.
More Poe than Van Gogh
March 29, 20119 CommentsMusingsThe classification of photography as an "art" has done it a great disservice. Art demands that the viewer appreciate the technique behind it. It calls attention to its technical merits. A good photograph should never do this. Rather, it should just be. In 1951, Robert Frank told Life Magazine "When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice." Frank knew then what I've only just figured out — photography is language. And the language of photography is the language of the poet.
(Finally) Facebooked
March 22, 2011 CommentsULTRA newsFacebook (noun): 1. a small book, splayed open and placed upon the face to block ambient light and improve napping efficiency. 2. a popular social networking website on which ULTRAsomething finally has a presence.
Masochism? Anachronism!
March 14, 2011 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)Most anachronistic people were fashionable once. One day, they're the epitome of style. The next day, they're passé — victims of passive indifference to the fickle tastes of humanity. Me? I’ve been a photographic anachronism in every time. Twenty years ago, I jumped through flaming hoops to photograph digitally. Today, I'm jumping through a whole new set of hoops to photograph on film. To be unfashionable throughout one's entire life takes dedication, thick skin, dogged determination and more than a touch of masochism.
The Pious Lens (Part 2)
February 16, 2011 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)Photo GearThis is the second half of a two-part article in which I moan extensively (but cathartically) about 135mm lenses. I've received a fair bit of mail since posting Part 1 on The Leica Blog — apparently misery loves company.
The Pious Lens (Part 1)
February 9, 20112 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)Photo GearThis is the first of a two-part article about life, love, mourning, failure, blackouts, silliness and sin. Yes, you guessed right: it's an article all about 135mm lenses.
Don’t Feed the Ostrich
February 5, 20112 CommentsPhoto GearPhoto TechniquesShort of taking photographs, few things excite a photographer more than planning their next major camera purchase. Conversely, short of a trip to the dentist, few things excite a photographer less than contemplating a backup camera strategy. But all it takes is a single camera failure to nullify the years of hard work you spent building your reputation. Clients don't want to hear "Sorry, my camera broke." They're not paying for excuses — they're paying for images. But here's the thing — backup cameras don't have to be boring. In fact, choosing the right backup camera may actually unlock a world of previously untapped photographic possibilities, while simultaneously helping you avoid the potential pitfalls of the single camera gamble.
Saving Souls
January 12, 2011 Commentsf/Egor (Leica Blog)Can a camera save your soul? My second "f/Egor" column, which I write for Leica Camera, makes a case for this absurd supposition.
The Accidental Blogger
January 5, 20111 commentf/Egor (Leica Blog)Fresh from the whoduthunkit files comes another newflash — I am now a guest columnist for The Leica Blog, and will occasionally hack out... oops... I mean "craft" a column for them, which is called "f/Egor." Since Leica saw fit to give me my own aperture stop, I reciprocated by granting them 30-day exclusive publication rights to each f/Egor article. This article recounts how this strange twist of fate came to occur.
The Soft Grey Line
December 15, 20104 CommentsMusingsWhen is a photograph no longer a photograph? At what point is an image so "pimped out" that it leaves the realm of photography, and enters the province of illustration? If you clone a crumpled beer can from of a landscape shot, is it still a photograph? If you merge multiple shots into a single image, can you call it a photograph? If you heal all the pimples on your model's face, is it still their photograph? Where is the soft grey line between photography and illustration, and when do we cross it?