Perfection is Overrated

Lauren in Chicago

There are three types of photography sites: those that concentrate on gear, those that concentrate on technique, and those that concentrate on photos.  The technique and photo sites are generally a wash as they often overlap but the gear sites greatly outnumber the other two, unfortunately.  I say this all somewhat sheepishly as I tend to frequent the gear sites much more than the photo sites even though I think that the photo sites are without question more worthwhile, at least in an artistic sense. 

I think this is partly because photography is almost unique in the arts that it requires both some artistic ability and technical/mechanical ability too.  This attracts lots of people who obsess over measuring results in order to seek technical perfection.   The Canon 5D3 has 23 megapixels but the Nikon D800 has 36 so the Nikon has to be better, at least for now.  Is this lens sharp enough? Don't know if it is?  Well, then get a sturdy tripod and photograph a brick wall.  Yup, do it again at all apertures and focal lengths and then look at them at full magnification in Photoshop.  Keep doing this because it'll make your pictures more technically perfect.  Yup, corner-to-corner, edge-to-edge sharpness in all its 36 megapixel glory, or 23 if you're a fanboy. [continued after the break]

The Leica, One Year Later

Orange Line, Wabash and Adams No.2

About 18 months ago I bought a Leica M8 with a Voigtlander 35 f/1.4 lens. I should say I've spent the last ten years shooting Canon 1d's of various versions. As my street gear, I'd mount a 28mm to my 1D2 for an effective focal length of 35mm. So, unlike most SLR shooters, I was already used to shooting with prime lenses. Still, this was a huge change.  Rangefinders, like the Leica, are just different animals, wholly unlike SLRs.

The viewfinder on the M8 is large and beautiful, but you don't really see the exact image you're shooting because, unlike an SLR, you don't actually see through the lens.  The viewfinder is off to the side and a bit above the lens.  Essentially, you look off at an angle from the lens itself and, of course, you don't see any of the blurring or even see the image snap into focus as you would with an SLR.  Also, framing is done with frame lines which will change depending size and position depending on focal length and focus distance and even then, they're not terribly accurate.  You focus manually with a projection of an image on the viewfinder that essentially triangulates between the rangefinder and your view.  Because of my long history with DSLRs, this was a bit disconcerting, to the point that I'd subconsciously use the entire VF, just like a dslr, just force of habit. [more after the break]

Hip Shots

Barcelona, June, 2009

If you use an instrument or a tool long enough, eventually you don't see its separateness anymore.  The thing you use, whatever it might be, ceases to exist separately and becomes virtually an extension of you.  I know several seasoned musicians who feel this way about their instruments.  

I've been shooting 1 Series Canon cameras for nearly a decade now.  Both my Canons, in fact, are set exactly the same so that I can switch between them without thinking about it.  A few years back Canon changed the interface and operations of its 1 Series.  I've grown so accustomed to mine that I can't really imagine switching over anytime soon.  Well, that and the expense too.

Jada Cole's, May, 2010

I'm so accustomed to them, actually, that on many occasions I can just point a camera and click off a shot being pretty certain not only that I was able to achieve focus, but that I also captured an interesting frame too.

The first shot in this series was captured in the Bario Gotico in Barcelona in June, 2009.  I was standing outside a small, quaint shop waiting for my daughter to decide what she wanted when this couple just crossed my path.  The guy made eye contact with me and grimaced.  I don't know why -- he just did.  I quickly angled my camera, pressed the focus button and then squeezed off a shot.  No second chances on this one.

The second image was taken as the parting shot as I left Jada Cole's late one evening in May, 2010.  As I was leaving the bar, she looked over and smiled.  I moved my camera in position and took this shot.  I think she's lovely.