Film Is Not Dead

110mm

Here are a few reasons why I enjoy 110 mm film cameras.

Compact
My pocket-sized 110 cameras are a great companion for street photography or while traveling. You don’t need to carry a camera bag because it will fit in your pocket. Who wants to lug all your camera gear while you travel? I can quickly capture street scenes without anyone noticing I have a camera in my hands.

Looks cool

There is something to be said about why we like our cameras to look retro: those early designs were brilliant. Modern day cameras cannot compare and try to imitate that aesthetic.

Analog

Film creates the best lo-fi effects with their grain, light leaks and feel.

Point and shoot
No worries about technical details such as focus, exposures etc. Just ensure you have good light and composition.

10 Rules of Photography*

Take your camera everywhere
Use it any time- day or night
Photography is not a life interference but a part of your life
Shoot from the hip
Approach as close as possible
Don’t think
Be fast
You don’t have to see the image right away- keep shooting
It is supposed to be fun. Enjoy.
Throw out the rules!

with thanks to Lo mography

IA Writer vs. Ulysses

So one of my favorite writing apps, Ulysses, is up for the annual subscription renewal. At $50 a year, it is one of the pricier apps and I am not keen to renew as a result. Yes, it organizes my novel writing workflow better than anything else. But is this enough?

Compare that to IA Writer- similar features and a one-time purchase. It does lack the organization tools but can I find a work around or a new workflow?

I’ll test this for a week, in fact, I am writing in IA Writer and publishing from the app to this website now.

Ulysses vs IA Writer- can you tell which one is better?

Brainiac

A web of linked notes all in one location and designed to connect my thoughts — this is my personal database and second brain.

Street Photography

This pandemic is really taking a toll on my desire to walk downtown and capture people in street photography. So, I’ll just write and share images and remind myself of some basics when I finally do get back out there and face the public.

Get out. Find those outdoor public areas that have people out enjoying life.
Every human is beautiful and photographers make interesting anthropologists, documenting human nature.
There will always be something of interest. Look for it. Work the scene.
Experimentation breeds creativity
Take a smaller camera or mobile device. DSLRs get heavy after awhile.
Experiment in jpeg format, keepers get the RAW treatment.
Color or black and white? Find an aethestic and own it. I like both color and B&W. BW for me has to be high contrast, deep shadows. Color can be muted with moody contrasts to match the backdrop.
Street photography can be risky and your experiences my vary.
The risks can be worth the reward.
Street photography is usually best going alone but a photo walk with friends can be more fun. Find a partner.

See these images and more on my photography website:

EXIF

Now included in my website is the ability to read the EXIF meta data written on to every image. Just in case you were a photo geek like me. I find it useful to see other’s EXIF data to see what works and then maybe even duplicate it.

The Pearl District

Conversations Are Books. Build A Library

“How does one keep an imagination fresh in a world that works double-time to suck it away? … I think that the answer is, one must live a curious life. One must have stacks and stacks and stacks of books on the inside of their bodies. And those books don’t have to be the things that you’ve read. I mean, that’s good, too, but those books could be the conversations that you’ve had with your friends that are unlike the conversations you were having last week.”

Jason Reynolds

25 Photography Tips I Forgot

After re-acquiring Nadia, the Nikon D90 this weekend, I was getting nostalgic of the images made in the past and reminding myself of ideas, tips, tricks and techniques that helped guide me through the years. These reminders are things that I wished I knew back then and can be applied at any time.

Film photography one day, digital next day.
Try more black and white. Perfect for almost every image.
A prime lens is the best lens you can take with you.
There is always something to shoot. Even if it is the same old thing. Try different angles and lighting.
The iPad is an amazing post processing digital lab.
Rotate your cameras for different shooting sessions. Use a different lens. Change it up.
Drop social media. Who cares what they think?
Enjoy the benefits of exercise, fun and photography. With trail hikes, or city streets stop and snap.
Bad photos are better than no photos.
Is this image good enough to print and hang in your room? No? Keep going.
Street photography is best when the streets are active or not in a small town.
Keep shooting, striving.
Invest in photo software that fits your workflow, not the other way around.
Maintain your website with a blend of your past favorites as well as your modern images. Share thoughts behind each image.
Ask yourself why you shoot. Editorial? Documenting life? Memories?
Photo walks are fun. Do this often.
Photo road trips are worth it. Do this often.
Going on on the photography road trip is a very productive practice.
Go back to the basics with film photography. It makes us better digital photographers.
Revisit older work with new eyes. Learn from it.
Keep striving for that perfect image. You’ll never find it but, if you do, sell your camera and walk away.
Stop wondering about other’s opinions.
Master the art of composition.
Stop buying gear, use what you have, master it.

Finally:
Organize and archive your images now. Don’t wait until you have thirty years worth of images that have been stored on multiple drives, duplicated four times on each drive, uploaded to various cloud accounts, shared on social media. Save yourself the frustration and get it all together now. Organize on one massive hard drive and then back it up to a second hard drive too.