This is an interesting article and a unique perspective on Dallas as a photography setting from such a world-renowned British fine art photographer. Anyone who has lived in Dallas for any amount of time knows it is an ever-changing city with a rapidly evolving culture. As one on the inside, it is always fun to hear how people on the outside looking in perceive the city. The only constant here is change.
This is a good and timeless reminder that it is not about the gear in photography (and other technologies), but the ability of the user that creates the manifestation of its purpose in the most humanly sublime ways.
This short video has some great still photographs and good tips for shooting in black & white with some apply to color as well.
Personally, I struggle with number two at times, using an EVS setting to expose by eye instead of meter. If I am moving around, the type of photography I am shooting varies wildly, the light and shadows are ever changing, I play it safe by shooting RAW, meter, bracket to get good HDR, use spot metering for precise focusing, and S priority to ensure no motion blur. That is just me and overkill sometimes.
I especially like number five, being in the right place at the right time as a function of your state of mind as much as anything else. I know for Street Photography, the first part is essential, the state of mind gets you there. I am not a Street Photographer and am acutely aware that I have yet to muster up the proper state of mind to be a good one. Until then, I will happily appreciate the images created by those who have mastered it!
When I was in photography school years ago, besides learning all the facets of working with film photography, we also studied the history of photography, including the biographies of the great photographers from its roots to the present.
Of all those, I found Alfred Stieglitz one of the most fascinating. He was schooled in engineering but was a pioneer who took photography beyond the technical and just capturing images, into the aesthetic , artistic world of infinite creative possibilities. His life spanned a time of significant geopolitical events and modernization that changed the world. His life with Georgia O’Keefe helped further assimilate photography into an expressive art from. He was a skilled photographic technician but also excelled in whatever genre and style of photography he chose to work in.
If anyone enjoys art, photography, history and a good story as much as I do, but is not aware of the life and work of Alfred Stieglitz, then I would suggest you take a look at the brilliant legacy he left behind to enrich our lives.
I studied photography in school during the film/darkroom days, well before the age of digital photography. We would process all our own film/prints in darkrooms. This included color, which was difficult in comparison to black and white, due to the chemical process involved. After school, I worked in a custom color and black and white photo lab where we processed film and made prints and transparencies for customers of all types, from fine art to commercial. This education and experience gave me an appreciation for the fundamentals and roots of early photography and the pioneers who brought it all into the digital age.
In the end, it is about the visual image, and when I look at the first photograph made, and the images after that, I also think about what it took to get those images before my eyes. It is beyond amazing to me how that change with how visual images could be made in the early 19th century created an impact on the history of the world since that is truly unfathomable to fully comprehend.
Shooting Street Photography has never been my Forte but I always enjoy looking at, and am fascinated with, the pictures of those who do it so well. My plan is to study it and start practicing with it more and hope to come away with some good shots myself very soon.
I call this camera my “little” Leica because it is smaller than than other Leica models in size and price, but by no means in quality. I won’t go into a technical review of it here (there are many online), but more wanted to talk about why I bought and use it when I have other quality camera options in my possession available .
First, I wanted a small pocket size camera that is user friendly that I can easily carry around anytime I am out and about. I always have arguably the one of the best phone cameras currently available with me, a Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra, that takes stunning pictures and use it constantly, especially for the convenience it provides being connected to the internet 24/7, and with all the many Social Media platforms and apps for uploading pictures, videos and images along with various editing software all in one device. I am just like everyone else on that.
And that brings me to one big reason I wanted this Leica because it is never connected to the world around me. When I am out and about, I can walk the streets with just a camera and shoot pictures with one of the best small cameras available. I never touch my phone. My phone is always connected to the world in one way or another, and I use that for different reasons. Unfortunately, there are times over the years I have seen pictures I took ending up in places I never intended them too. How they got there is a mystery, and I am sure with detective work I could find out but but that is not how I like to spend my time. It has not been a serious issue (yet) and I understand I can check multiple settings, turn some off, etc. but that is a hassle. My phone is connected to “Big Tech” in many ways, with the ever evolving and changing terms, conditions, software updates, AI, API, enchantments, improvements, etc., and the unintended consequences that go with that. When I am walking the streets with my “little” Leica, I focus on simply shooting photographs. My phone stays in it’s holder, under my shirt, on my belt. There is little chance of dropping it on the pavement, in a puddle, having someone snatch and grabbing it, and all the pains that go with taking pictures in the street on a mobile device. If any of that happens with my camera instead, it simply won’t impact my life in the same way. I love the easiness and care free nature of shooting pictures on my Leica as well as it’s user friendly design.
Finally, when I want to upload the pictures from my Leica later at a coffee shop, Leica’s phone app turns on the camera WiFi, and there are the Leica pictures on my phone and I simply do what I want with them, same as with my phone camera pictures. I will also say the image quality of the Leica pictures are without equal and superb . I am still just learning all the more complex settings the camera offers and setting them on the fly and hope to get more out of this camera on my future photography walks .
Those are my personal reasons for wanting this camera and are obviously not for everyone. For me, it is great to have it as a camera that fits comfortably between my full frame Nikon and my Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra camera phone.
