Leica in da house!

 Photography  11 Responses »
Aug 312009
 


As you can see, I do still know how to use my digital camera! The right tool for the job, I say. Well, the Leica has landed and I’m being taught patience. :-)

Tom shipped it to me on Thursday, paid for overnight, insured, signature required. I should have received it on Friday. I had all sorts of plans to use it for the weekend. But, alas, that didn’t happen. UPS screwed up and sent it Ground, not quite sure if it was insured, and without signature required! As i was tracking the package on Friday, I saw that it stopped in Greensboro, NC. I knew that it was finished for weekend and I had to wait until Monday.

Again, I tracked the package and it showed delivered about 12:30 this afternoon. Great! When I left work, I made a beeline for the apartment office and asked for my package. They said: What package? We’ve not even seen the UPS man today! Uh oh! They asked: Have you checked your door? We have a new UPS guy and he’s pretty lazy sometimes. Great! I thought! So, beeline for the door. No package, but a UPS sticker. He left the package with a neighbor! WTF? Fortunately, he left it with the only neighbor that I know, Nick. I knocked on Nick’s door, asked about the package, he smiled and gave it to me. I thanked him and went into my apartment opening the box along the way.

It was well packed. I found a Leica M6 and 50mm f/2 Summicron lens. I figured out how to put the lens on and then set about learning how to load the film, which is quite odd, but it seems to work. It took me about 2 minutes to get the film loaded, but after I figured out the trick, it was pretty easy actually. Next time it will take me about 30 seconds to do. Eventually, it will become second nature, but only after quite a few rolls.

After I finished holding it, practicing focusing, and generally playing, I dashed off to Wal-mart to pick up some sketching paper, tracing paper, glue, and tape. I had been promising myself that I’d make a light box for macro/product photography but I just never got around to it. So, even though this evening I didn’t feel like doing it, I did. I used it to take this picture. I could have used a bit more fill, but who cares.

in the coming weeks I hope to go through a few rolls of film. I cannot say how fast I’ll go through them because it took me a while to shoot rolls of 15, now I have rolls of 36. We’ll see.

My initial impressions are that it feels a bit small and boxy in my hands. I’m used to the Nikon ergonomics. I love the way my Nikon feels. I feel like I’ll drop this camera, which is why I’ve already attached the strap. I’ve just got to get a feel for it. My hands feel like they are too big for the camera. However, I love the simplicity of the camera. There’s nothing that you don’t need. Nothing at all. Actually, I can see why some people like the Leicas without the light meters. For some reason, a light meter seems odd to be in this camera. Everything is so precise and mechanical that it seems like an electronic light meter is an anachronism. Go figure.

Oh, and a final bit of patience being taught … big time thunderstorms in the area, today and tomorrow. No street shooting today at least! Loaded with Ilford FP4 … all dressed up and nowhere to go!

Anyway, more to come.

 Posted by Paul at 8:32 pm  Tagged with: ,

Photography as a gift

 Photography  15 Responses »
Aug 282009
 


Friends ’till the end
Yesterday, I had my hospice volunteer training. It was, in my opinion, pretty lightweight. It consisted of about 90 minutes of talking and being given a take home booklet to read. Kathy is coordinator of this particular hospice, the Caring Heart Hospice of Charleston. There were two of us in training, both male. Kathy said that she has only one other male volunteer. For whatever reason, men just don’t seem to volunteer all that much. She was very appreciative of our showing up and she hoped that we’d become volunteers. I, for certain, will. The other guy, a young fellow of about 25, was rather unsure and kind of nervous. He admitted that this would be his first time volunteering.

During the training she talked about the patients and what was required to be in a hospice home. Well, you have to have a prognosis of 6 months or less to live. Wow! It started the wheels in my brain turning. Here I was about to embark on a journey of friendship with someone who likely has only 6 months to live. Talk about setting yourself up for a bit of pain. Then, I thought of how very important it is to be kind and friendly to anyone that I meet, terminal disease or no, because we never know, and it’s something that we all could use, a kind word, a listening ear, a good friend.

Being a hospice volunteer is a very basic task. The idea is to go meet your friend and hang out, talk, play games, go for a walk, read to them, etc. In the booklet, there was quite an extensive list of activities all the way from board games to giving them a massage. They encourage contact such as hugs and handshakes; if you, as a person are comfortable with that and if the patient is similarly comfortable, then it’s all good. Fortunately, I’m a very touchy-feely person and just love hugs! If I get another hugger, I may never get out of there! :-) They would like for you to spend no less than 2 hours/day and no more than 8 hours/week visiting with your friend.

Kathy said that patients often get very attached to the volunteers and, if they are having any issues, want the volunteer to be called so that their friend, the volunteer, can be there with them, even, or especially at the final moment. I’m going to start with a group of four patients, rather than an individual. I may eventually go to an individual, but we’ll see how it goes.

The list of activities got me to thinking about how I could use my photography as a gift to these patients. Now, this is not an original idea, I remember seeing it somewhere before, but I just cannot remember where, or I would surely give credit where credit is due. The idea was to have the patient make a request of some of their favorite things that they’d like to see, or that miss seeing. Then, I would go out and make photographs of these things, print them, and bring them as gifts for them to hang on their wall, or perhaps keep on their nightstands. I can think of no better use for photography than that!

One very interesting question, but not surprising, that Kathy said that some patients will ask a volunteer, their friend is: How long do you think that I have to live? Kathy suggested that we not offer an opinion, but to refer them to her, a chaplain, a nurse, or their doctor. However, when she mentioned that, my mind immediately came up with this answer:

You know, I have no idea how long you have or even how long I have. Let’s just enjoy this moment and have some fun. What do you want to do?

I’m interested to see how this will go. I won’t be able to start volunteering for a couple of weeks because of background checks and Tuberculosis tests that I have to go through. I’ll certainly keep you posted.

 Posted by Paul at 8:25 am

PayPal: Two thumbs down!

 Photography  15 Responses »
Aug 262009
 


From PayPalSucks.com

Apparently, I’m not alone in my distaste for PayPal as now run by eBay. There are a couple of sites, PayPalSucks.com and PayPalSucks.org where there are a number of others who heartily disagree with PP’s Terms Of Service.

The other day, I sold a lens on eBay. I sold it to help finance my Leica purchase. PayPal decided that it would hold my funds, but take its fees, because:

1. I am not a power seller. (I don’t have over 100 sales for the year!)
2. I was selling a high-risk item. Apparently, a high-risk item is whatever they want it to be. In this case, a lens is a high-risk item because it is valued at over $100 and they categorize it as “Consumer Electronics”.

So, how can I get my money? Well, there are a few ways:
1. Wait 21 days. Yeah! This would go over really well with the buyer, resulting in very negative feedback!
2. Ship the item to the buyer, provide PayPal with a tracking number, and wait until 3 days after the item has been received if no feedback is given.
3. If positive or neutral feedback is given by the buyer, the money will be released; however, if negative feedback is given, they will not release the funds and you have no way to get your merchandise back!

Well, obviously, this is highly unacceptable, which is why I’m writing this. I have a 100% satisfaction rating. PP, instead of levying this policy on those with less than stellar ratings, has decided that quantity counts more than quality.

Both of us, the seller and the buyer have done our jobs. I have shipped the lens, which should arrive today, he has paid for it. Simple. Well, unfortunately, the buyer will be out of town for the next few days and will return next week. This is not his fault at all. He has a life to live. The lens, even if held by UPS, does not count as delivered until signed for, so I have to wait until next week to get paid. Add to this that PayPal still takes 3% of every sale, even if it is a direct transfer from another PayPal account: cash-to-cash. This used to not be the case before eBay owned PayPal. That transfer used to be free!

That, my friends, is my last sale through eBay/PayPal. I’ve moved my remaining items to Bonanzle. The fees are much more reasonable and I don’t have to accept PayPal as a payment method. On eBay, you have no choice unless you are a merchant that sells thousands of items.

When I was buying my Leica, I offered to pay the person through PayPal; he responded with an emphatic NO! He said that he would NEVER use PayPal again. I guess that I know why now! :-) Caveat Venditor (Let the seller beware!)

 Posted by Paul at 11:25 am

Giving back

 Photography  8 Responses »
Aug 242009
 


Where to begin? When I was younger I used to do volunteer work in the summer time. I volunteered for for Special Olympics. I also volunteered for some agency whose name I cannot remember, but I do remember that we took mentally challenged children to a place called Hale Farm and Village where they would get to see farm animals and all manner of other things that they might not get a chance to see in the city. One of my favorite volunteer activities was when I worked for the Ohio Radio Reading Service. Well, I have always loved to read, so some evenings I spent time reading the newspaper over the radio. This was so that blind, visually impaired, or perhaps mobility impaired people could ‘read’ the newspaper. It was a great way to spend a few hours per week. We’d each get a section of the paper and read it over the air, article by article.

Unfortunately, during my entire adult life, I’ve not volunteered much. Also, it troubles me that my son doesn’t see the importance of it, but then, how can he? I’ve not shown him. I was fortunate to have a few friends who did lots of volunteering and encouraged me to come and ‘try it out’. Volunteering is something that must be done when your heart is in it, otherwise, it just isn’t good, but you should like what you are doing, too.

Tony always remembers when I helped a blind man cross the railroad tracks to get to his bus. That left a lasting impression on him. He talks about it from time to time. He’s 17 now and at that time, he was 8 or 9.

Now, for someone who inspires me! I hope that Tom, a fellow blogger, doesn’t mind if I spend a bit of time talking about him. This guy is amazing, considering what he is going through, he continues to give, give, give! I find him truly inspirational. He is constantly doing for others, showing his son the way. I can really learn from this guy. Giving money is easy, giving time is not, especially when you are in constant pain, but he does it!

Sometimes I get home in the evening and am quite bored. Sometimes I just zone out watching movies, other times, I go take photos. However, for the past 6 months, off and on, I’ve been wondering what kind of volunteer work I would like to do. I can put this time to good use. I’ve sent various requests to different agencies through VolunteerMatch.org, but I’ve never heard back. Today, I called a hospice directly and am waiting for a return call. I’ll continue to make calls until I get a call back or talk to someone. I think that I’d love to be a companion/helper to someone and their family as they face the most difficult part of life, dying.

I had thought to try to find a place where they could use my photography skills, but then that was rather selfish, I think. I only wanted to do what was fun for me, not what was beneficial to someone else. There are other things that look interesting such as literacy programs, teaching people to use the computer, etc. Pretty soon, I might be volunteering a couple of days/week, or at least several times/month.

Anyway, none of this has to do with photography, but that’s OK. You know how I don’t just stick to that subject. I’m happy that I continue to blog because I get to meet some of the best people around and they inspire me to do things that may have been long dormant! Thanks, Tom!

 Posted by Paul at 6:27 pm

All retro and what not!

 Photography  9 Responses »
Aug 232009
 


A coworker and I were having a discussion the other day about hobbies. He’s really into archery. From what he tells me, he’s got a pretty high-tech compound bow. As I am curious about a number of things and, as a kid, we used to make ‘bows and arrows’ out of sticks and strings, I asked him all manner of questions having to do with bows, arrows, and technology.

Not surprising, there are different types of sights and all manner of gadgets that you can get to improve your shooting accuracy as well as your distance. He had just purchased and was waiting for such a sight to arrive and was quite excited about it. I asked him was there a group of people who ‘go the other way’? That is, they dispense with all the technology upgrades and decide to shoot a bow and arrows of their own making. He indicated that there was a whole subculture that make their own bows from wood that they choose and cut themselves! Also, they make their own quivers out of leather, as well. In tournaments, they compete against each other at much shorter distances because home-made non-compound, or recurve bows, can shoot only about 20 yards or so with accuracy and hitting power. He admired these guys, too, because they were deadly accurate at 20 yards all without the use of sights or any type of technology. I guess that this would be akin to a photographer who makes his own emulsion, coats his glass plates, and mixes his own chemicals.

I guess that I’m fully ensconced in my ‘retro’ period. Thanks to Paul Maxim for pulling out that word retro, but it fits so perfectly. I do feel as if I’m turning in the opposite direction and seem to be walking away from technology. :-) It’s funny how easy it was for me to give the left hand something to do. Focus. On many of the new lenses, built especially for digital cameras, the focusing ring is sort of an afterthought, or perhaps is not much of a thought at all. It seems to be there as a ‘just in case’. Manual focusing is fast and easy. I guess that this goes back to my roots.

I know that there are many of you out there that use the manual mode in your camera almost exclusively. I was never one to use manual mode very much, preferring instead to use aperture priority and let the camera choose its own shutter speed, and let me take care of the depth of field. Now, I find that I shoot manual a lot more often, especially if I’m taking pictures in light that doesn’t change much at all, like in the middle of the day, or perhaps inside. I choose an aperture and shutter speed combo and that’s it, the rest is shoot, shoot, shoot.

About the only things that I use on my D300 with any regularity, technology wise, are the ISO, custom shooting banks, white balance, and auto focus. The AF is easier to use than manual focus because that’s the way the camera was built. There’s not split focus screen, but if there were, I’d probably use it!

Just so you know, I’m not ditching my computer, cell phone, or other conveniences. I’m not going to start making my own clothes out of the skins of animals that I hunted with my home made bow and arrows, nor will I move to the country, bring up water from the river, and chop my own wood. But, at least for the foreseeable future, I will keep shooting film and focusing manually. My left hand likes to have something to do!

As a matter of fact, the image at the top was taken with my cell phone. My wife and I were walking in downtown Charleston yesterday and it was so hot that I didn’t even feel like carrying my camera. We came upon this scene when we first walked out of the parking garage. I took a quick picture in the glaring sunlight. When I got it onto the computer I could see that it was total crap. It was blocky and had blown highlights everywhere. I brought it into Photoshop added some filters here and there and made it an ‘interpretation’ of summer fun! See! I still know how to use technology! I didn’t carve this out of stone!!! :-)

 Posted by Paul at 7:35 am

Temptations

 Photography  22 Responses »
Aug 202009
 


About a week ago, Paul Butzi wrote a post entitled: Camera Collector/Photographer/Both?. At one time I dreamed of owning a collection of cameras. Of course, this idea was not to have cameras in the classic sense where they stay sealed in their original packaging and never get used. My collection would be of usable cameras … all would be film cameras.

When I wrote my post about the Leica mystique some three weeks ago, that bug had jumped up again and bitten me. I was wanting to know why. Now, some 3 weeks later, and having read several articles from various Leica aficionados, I just feel the need desire to have one! However, entry level is steep, about $1,600 – $2,000 for an M6 and 35mm lens, if I can find a good price! :-) One thing for sure, they don’t devalue much! And, as you know, I don’t mind shooting film!

Over the past month I’ve been thinking about selling some of my zoom lenses. The sale of 3 of them would generate enough cash to purchase the Leica; however, as it has been very busy with work, I haven’t taken the time to list them yet. That would leave me with my D300, a 50mm, 90 mm macro, and 18-270 mm, which are all that I ever use anyway, so no loss. It’s a rather odd feeling to be walking in the opposite direction of digital. This time last year, I was chomping at the bit for a D700, now it’s the furthest thing from my mind. Bizarre! I’m really starting to like the classics!

This camera hobby thing is expensive and quite irrational sometimes but I just accept it! When I told my wife that I wanted to buy a Leica film camera, she asked a perfectly valid question in a round about way. She became silent for a bit, then the conversation went like this:

Wife: Didn’t you just buy a film camera a few months ago?
Me: Yes! I most certainly did.
Wife: So, is the camera that you bought no good?
Me: No! It’s a great camera and works well. I use it almost every day!!!
Wife: So???
Me: This is a different kind of camera and I’d like to have it. All that I can offer is that it is a hobby and I have absolutely no rational reason to buy it other than I want it and am willing to sell some of my other gear to get it.
Wife: So, will you be able to sell enough gear to buy it?
Me: Yes. I have some lenses that I will sell that will let me buy the camera. I’ll have to do something else to be able to afford a lens for it. Maybe sell blood! ;-)
Wife: Well … OK.

At this point, I could tell that she probably thought that I had a few screws loose, but no bother. Sometimes, you have to admit that you have absolutely not even one good reason to do something other than you want to.

If I do get one, I’ll certainly write a post about it!

 Posted by Paul at 10:11 pm  Tagged with: ,

Sometimes clueless. Sometimes not.

 Photography  5 Responses »
Aug 192009
 


Mysteries of the journey
Sometimes, like this evening, before retiring for the night I have a look at some of the photos that I’ve taken over the past few days. My intent with this review is to see if it sparks any topic that I might want to post about.

I came across this picture that I took last Friday. I had left work, not wanting to go to the apartment immediately, but thinking that I might want to head to the beach to relax a bit. On the way over the bridge, The Isle of Palms Connector, I got to the apex of the bridge and spotted a ship on the horizon, the larger of the two pictured here. It was quite a way out and looked rather dwarfed the the imposing clouds above it.

As I’ve been to this location many times, I knew where I could get a decent shot of it. For whatever reason, I just had to have a shot of it. Sometimes I don’t know why I click the shutter, but I just have to. And when that feeling hits, nothing but the click will do. :-)

After I arrived at the location and took the shot, I stood there with all sorts of questions going through my mind: What are they carrying? Are they heading out or returning home? Will the journey be smooth our rough? How many people are on that ship? I watched the ship until it disappeared from view, all of those questions still swirling about. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who experiences this, or, if I am, that’s cool too!

I guess that I’ll never know, but this photo is symbolic of so many things in life. There are lots of questions and very few answers. We don’t know if the seas will be calm or rough, yet we sail them anyway!

 Posted by Paul at 8:37 pm
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