My family and I are pretty non-traditional when it comes to holidays, but one thing is for sure, we’re always together.

Every year since we moved from Texas, we’ve gone on out of town for Christmas. As of right now, we are at Saint Simons Island, Georgia.

This morning, I woke up about 6:30 AM, went to the beach, took some pictures, and then came back to the house. Afterwards, my wife and I went and walked about 1 mile with Hobbs, then about an additional 3.5 miles, without him. My feet were hurting quite a bit when I came back. I should have asked for some new shoes for Christmas!

We don’t buy really big presents for each other, but we spend a bit on the kids, even though they are 22 and 14.

Earlier this afternoon we all went to the pier, caught a few blue crabs, and generally had a good time. Looks like I may be rained out tomorrow, though. 90% chance of rain. Of well, maybe just down with the new books that I have and read all day. I may be tempted to go outside in the rain and take some pictures. Rain makes for great mood. I only need a little something to protect my camera.

I got a new 2GB card for the camera, too, and a pedometer to see how far I walk!

All in all, what really matters is that I am with the family at this time of year.

My Christmas spirit, this year, is a bit lacking. It feels kind of like this Santa, a bit flat.

For whatever reason, I just can’t seem to get up for the occasion. My wife is having the same feeling, too. We just aren’t in to it. I think that is because this is the first year that we won’t be spending Christmas with relatives. After we moved from Texas, we had people come to visit us.

Last year we had Christmas, with friends, at the beach. This year, we will go to the beach as well. I think that it has also to do with the fact that our kids are no longer kids. Pedro is 22 and out of the house at school. Tony is 14 and is still excited about Christmas but, for the most part, wants money so that he can buy himself some new clothes.

I usually don’t want much of anything for Christmas. I buy what I want throughout the year and want for nothing. My wife just likes to be surprised and she is easy to please.

We’ll do what we usually do, send presents to all of the kids in the family. Nieces, nephews, etc. Oh well, I don’t feel bad, just not ‘joyous’.

Let’s face it. Digital is efficient and cost effective. Period. Film, on the other hand, can be inconvenient, costly, and somewhat inefficient, especially if you have a deadline; Digital can be made to mimic film, especially black and white, but it all ends up the same, unless you are really good with Photoshop.

I find myself sometimes thinking about the ‘good old days’. I do, sometimes, miss the darkroom, but have no desire, whatsoever, to go back to developing my own film. I would, however, like to have an inexpensive rangefinder and shoot some black and white every once in a while. It’d have to be inexpensive because I know that I wouldn’t use it all that much, but it would still be nice to shoot every once in a while.

I remember the excitement of coming home after shooting about 4 rolls of Tri-X, placing them in the daylight-safe tanks and processing them 2 at a time, hanging them to dry, cutting them apart, selecting some, printing them on the enlarger, and looking at the final result. Thrilling!

Now, it’s simply hook it up to the computer, download them, process, and print. Not nearly as fun. There’s no ‘drama’ and no great expectations of what might come out of the developer.

Ah! The good old days! Note: This shot was taken by me sometime around 1980 and was shot on Tri-X film with a Minolta XD-11.

Dance with the one what brung ya.
Excuse me sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!

Sometimes cliches and little witticisms have so much truth embedded in them.

Yesterday, after Tony’s basketball game I was quiet. So much so that he asked if I was mad. Usually I have quite a bit of talking to do about what he did well, what he could do to improve his game, etc. Yesterday, I just didn’t feel like talking. It usually just turns into a monologue with me droning on about this and that.

I told him that I was tired, which was true, and said no more. About half way home he could no longer stand it and asked me: “Poppa, what was wrong with my shot tonight?”. Yeah, he really calls me “Poppa”, and I love it. My response was short and to the point: “You’ve gotta ask yourself: How many shots per week do I take including practice?” That’s all that I said.

I’ve observed, since the beginning of the season, that his playing time is lessening, his shots are ‘off’, and his dribbling skills are about where they were some 5 or 6 months ago. I know the reason; he’s yet to accept them. Lack of practice.

I remember when I was about his age, or perhaps a year older, I discovered this thing called a computer. At that time, it was only a Radio Shack TRS-80 with about 4K of memory. I really, really wanted one. I convinced my parents to loan me the $1,000 to get one. Mind you, this was circa 1977-78 or so, so that was a whole lot of money. I’ve always been good at saving money, so it wasn’t an issue. I bought this computer, started learning programming, and spent every waking hour outside of school, work, and sleep, learning to program. I did this for a couple of years and became quite adept at it. I knew that that was what I wanted to do for my career. It’s what I do today.

Another of my memories is that when I picked up bowling, along about the 10th grade, or about 1 year or so after I got the computer. The bowling bug hit me hard. Now, I had 2 passions! At one point I stopped with the computer so that I could do bowling. I bowled for years and years. At one point, I was practicing 100+ games/week and bowling in 4 leagues! I spent nearly every single dollar that I made, at my part time job, on bowling. My average soared to 212 at one point. I had one perfect game of 300, and a couple of 3-game series of 750+. I never got to the 800 series that I wanted, but that’s OK. I even thought of becoming pro, but decided that I didn’t have the skill nor the desire to take it to that next level … to thine own self be true.

My third and final passion took over my life when I graduated from high school and started attending college. Photography. Somehow, I did this and bowling at the same time. If I wasn’t at the bowling alley, I was somewhere taking pictures, or in the darkroom developing them.

Never, in life, did my parents have to say these things: Practice your programming, bowling, or photography. Never. It was more like, you need to do something else … become more well rounded. I never headed that advice. So, today I program for a living, and still practice photography to enhance my ‘life’. The bowling, well I got burned out on that and one day just decided to quit and have never looked back. I’ve not bowled in probably about 5 years or so, but I don’t miss it.

My point in all of this is that if you have a passion, no one needs to make you practice. In fact, quite the opposite. Some may tell you that you need to do other things. So, being true to yourself means looking deep within, analyzing what you see, and coming to an acceptance of the truth. Or, if you don’t like what you see, change it.

Practice makes perfect, but … To thine own self, be true!

There is nothing unusual for me to see the work of a great photographer, or at least one whose pictures speak to me, and think that I’d like to do that to. Mostly, this happens in certain areas of interest, such as photojournalism. It would be rare for me to see, for example, a fashion photographer and wish to emulate his/her work. Nothing against fashion, it’s just that I’m not interested.

After reading a few of the blogs that I usually read, I came across an entry mentioning the passing of Leonard Freed. I had no idea who this man was, but decided to follow a link to the Magnum site, http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R14GRLX&nm=Leonard%20Freed, and see what he was about. Now, I get it! What wonderful work and what wonderful subjects such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Marilyn Monroe, just to name a couple. All of the magnum photographers are at the top of their game and have been nominated to be part of that exclusive ‘club’. He certainly deserved to be there.

It’s easy to get sucked into the ‘if I had the right equipment I could …’ thoughts. Just because he used a rangefinder, doesn’t mean that if I use one that I’d get the same results. I was, however, curious, if there were any digital rangefinders and there are 2:

Leica M8 – $4795
Epson RD-1 – $2995

Now, compare these ridiculous prices with what you would pay for a used rangefinder that uses film: $50-$200!

The good thing about the rangefinder is that it allows for candid photographs with it’s whisper quiet shutter. My D2x, on the other hand, is extremely loud and is sure to attract attention. The sound of the mirror going up and coming down is unmistakable. You know that your picture has been taken. The D2x is no the right tool for the job. It’s the perfect tool for what I like to do, though.

It’s more than just a camera though, you can’t be afraid to approach, ask to take the picture, and get right in there with them. One photographer that read about, whose name escapes me, said that you need to use a 50mm lens and be a part of the action, otherwise you are simple a voyeur.

I can’t wait until The Next Step workshop because it’s all about street photography and approaching people to get the shot. It’s about overcoming fears and taking the next step. Sometimes is just hard to know which way to go …