APhotoContributor

marketing genius.

granted, i don't understand japanese corporate mentality.  i know it's different than what i know about north american and european corporate culture ...

but, seriously, canon japan was so inconceivably stupid today ... it made even me question anything they do.  that whole mark 3 bullshit coulda killed them.  only because shooters are invested in glass did a good number stick with canon.

yes, guys, totally-totally-totally remove one of the best pieces of viral marketing you could ever think of having produced.

i think that's the issue though:  they didn't think of it.

so typical of corporate idiots.

i guess by writing this i'll probably never have a cool relationship with canon japan.  whatever.

had this conversation with a friend the other day ... about photography ... about the fact you can never ever be as good as the camera you have ... about gear-allegiance. 

I'll digress.  i shot nikon for years and years and years.  i'll bet there are people younger than how long i shot nikon.  the f5 was superb.  the f4 was superb.  hell ... the f3's and fm2's and fm3a's i shot were all superb.  i always looked at canon as kinda funny looking and perhaps even cheap looking.  the nikons were solid sexy beasts.

then digital happened.  had the d1.  then the d1x.  for what it did at the time it did it ... it was amazing.  had a shutterbox go.  had it replaced.  had a few bodies go at the same time.  heard that one of the wires was moving to canon and that i should do that as well.  got a 1d and used it as the ambient body.  i liked what it did and although i thought flash sucked with canon.  the mark 2 came out and although flash still wasn't great, i went canon all the way.  ciao-ciao nikon.  nikon's digital sucked ass until only recently really.

seems as though the nikon japan people are a bit smarter than their canon counterparts.  now, at least.

the whole mark three bullshit with autofocus really hurt canon.  my friends told me endless stories about missing shots or getting the shots but the the mark 3's didn't focus correctly.  pissed a lot of people off.  in fact, i know a lot of people who now shoot nikon yet only a month or so ago there were canons on their shoulders.  dunno if the "traditional wires" will switch but i know others who may or may not have "had a better take" at the olympics ... were shooting the new nikons.

interesting that canon has the successor to a camera system PLAGUED with issues ... and they pull one of the dumbest selfish moves ... ever.

they have the chance to fire back to nikon's newest ... and ...

they do that.

since the advent of digital i have far less camera loyalty than i had in the past.  it was sad selling the f4's and getting the f5's.  even though the d1's were groundbreaking i didn't feel bad selling them nor any other digital gear after that.

don't get me wrong my 1dsm3's are amazing cameras.  i don't shoot sports ... and except for the rare spaniel running at me ... my subjects are less than fast-moving.  in fact, i don't even usually shoot canon glass so autofocus isn't as important to me as it is to MOST of my friends -- a good number, of which, are shooting nikon now.  i love love love the 5dm2 not only because of what it can do with motion but because it's a phenomenal camera ... it's the 3-series bmw of the camera world. 

they only really fail with on-camera flash.  nikon's new stuff looks pretty nice.

thing is ... i'm happy with the equipment i'm using irrespective of the manufacturer.  would i switch?  i mean ... sure ... i'd go back.  i liked nikon glass well enough.

it's funny because ... there are two brands of which i'd never switch ... leica and apple.  if you're not just "in it for the status" leica can do more for your serious photography than canon or nikon ever could.  apple just works.  pc-people can say whatever they'd like; apple kicks ass.  i know more than a few network security people who "never want to see a fuckin' windows box" at home. ;)  they know who they are.

it's funny watching canon and nikon playing the iso game right now.  i know i know i know ... 6400's amazing with the new nikons.  i haven't used the new mark 4 but i'm told it's one of the better features of the camera.  i know 3200 and definitely 1600 are pretty damn good with the 5dm2's and 1dsm3's.  i use them regularly.

i was "meh" about the mark 4.  won't be buying one.  i'd use one, though, just to see what's up.  the only camera i've been excited about in the last year is the m9.  yeah, i know ... rangefinders have weaknesses.  so the fuck what.  i guess it's easier for some to just forget about what they loved shooting to what they felt was more pragmatic to shoot.  even when the m9 wasn't around i still shot my third body which was a leica mp or whatever i felt like picking off the shelf.  the timeliness of the images may have made them a bit irrelevant at the end of the day but ... they're still images i loved making and could have only made with a rangefinder.

if you hate rangefinders, i don't care.  you can leave your pithy-ass anonymous comment.  don't give a rat's ass.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that it's so refreshing to see a camera company take a chance and really do it right ... with the m9. 

the other "noise" is just kinda funny.

and sadly stupid that they would have their heads so far up their asses because of corporate cowardice and selfishness. 

even though they fired their counterstrike to the d3s, i think i can hear that tennis umpire say "advantage nikon."  dumb move dumb asses.

because leica became so relevant again with their little wondercamera ... it continues to replace my canon ambient body more and more and more ...

i know my shoulder's happy about it.

okay ... sorry ... was just pissed tonight.

hope you're all well!

cheers from a still-warm los angeles.

-c

hype

as much as i want canon to succeed in this apparent iso-competition between canon and nikon ... it just makes me laugh.  canon announced the mark 4 today.  it's been being tested by beta-testers since at least that world soccer thing in south africa. 

from what i heard there wasn't any "buzz" -- the kind that doesn't make it on the friggin' internet -- about the video and high iso functions.  all i was hearing about was the autofocus ... seeing as how the mark 3's were ... well ... a bit less than what shooters wanted.

would i switch back to nikon?  no.  i'm not doing sports.  in as much as my friends who are "back to shooting nikon" show me the results with on-camera flash ... well ... what i have is still plenty good.

i'm not impressed by iso's in the 100,000+ range.  camera manufacturers want us all to think ... we need the newest equipment.  that's total bs.  in fact, my cameras are far better at making files than i am. 

if i were to go out and spend $10K on new golf clubs, i'd still be unable to break 100.

same thing goes for cameras.

i know that i've made a nine foot wide print with the files coming out of my 5dm2's and 1dsm3's.  21 mp is perfectly fine for the work i do.  if i need something bigger, i'll rent it.  looking forward to the time i need to use something like the s2! :)

back to iso.  back in the day film slrs would tout themselves as "the fastest," the smallest, the most feature-packed, etc., etc.  i think now it's gonna be a race to iso prominence.  i mean ... like that matters.  honestly, there's never been a shot i've missed due to my cameras not being able to shoot fast-enough isos.  i guess if you're shooting "kit glass" it could matter but i prefer shooting the fastest available glass. there's no substitute for good, fast glass.

then again, if you can't shoot, none of it really matters.

let's see what else?  oh, yeah, the 5dm2 and it's future 24/25p capabilities.  i don't believe shit i believe on the web.  having been part of the m9 project i can tell you ... the shit you see on the web is laughable.  my favourite piece of bullshit was the "the m9 will have the 5dm2 sensor" or the dude who took apart an m8 to prove it couldn't ever be full-frame.  BULLSHIT.  thing is ... even though both of the people who put that up on whatever board it was ... i'm sure they're still posting.  posting bullshit.

i'm sure they're still making horrible photos. ;)

honestly, from the film industry people i know who were using the 5dm2 on real film sets told me that the cameras came from canon but included some kind of hardware change and that at the time 24/25p couldn't be achieved with just a "firmware update."  interesting.

honestly, though, i don't know why people are so excited about 24/25p ... please tell me when you're gonna have this projected ... 'cause that's the only reason you'd want 24/25p.  i'm good with 29.97.  i just wish canon and even nikon would fucking forget this h264 bullshit.  i think they should output to apple prores 422!  do you know how much time i'd save in transcoding? ;)

get with the fucking program.  screw h264.  funny thing is that some "film expert" who's a friend of a friend told me "you can totally edit in h264."  um, sure, buddy.  you keep believing that.  funny 'cause i saw what this "film expert" shot himself and i almost threw up in my mouth.

whatever.

at least zeiss got another lens out for us canon-users!  so looking forward to both the 21 and the 28.  unsure about the 35 as i almost don't think it's gonna be wide enough to justify purchasing. dunno.  we'll see.

i'm sure you've seen laforet's latest production?  god damn do i hate linking to anything with the smugmug name in it.  that's the stupidest friggin' name on the planet.  smugmug?  fuck me.

i've been having a private conversation -- which arose from me taking something the wrong way -- with a longtime hollywood professional in the "camera department."  what i think is funny about "nocturne" is that it's a production.  yes, it's pretty to look at.  yes, it's edited beautifully. 

but can you do it?  well ... if you have a nice dolly, access to aerial stuff, rad stabilization gear, um ... a total steadicam pro and like 30 other people ... sure you can friggin' do it, too.  

i don't think that laforet has seen the cinevate stuff, surely, if he did he'd be using it ...

of course, unless, redrock has a big "marketing budget." ;)

there's this quote ... my friend dan ... one of the best grips and people i know.  he'll see something i'm working on and say "now that's gripping my friend."  i'd text him right now but i know he's sleeping as he's working nights on one of the only big-budget films shooting in town right now.

anyway ... it's this quote about how to make a movie ... and needing an army of people to accomplish it. 

just going out with "you and your friend" and a 5dm2 or 7d or whatever variant you use ... you'll never be able to do what laforet does.

ask laforet if he "focuses himself."  bet he doesn't. 

i remember going to the premiere of some movie ... as a guest.  pretty enough.  i wouldn't expect any less.  i did notice a lot of flaws which ... for me ... because i'm an asshole took away from the story.  so ... at the after-party the person who brought me says "let's go say hi to xxx."

okay.

he says "so what did you think about the film?"

knowing he's a "leica guy" i knew i could say something other than what the ass-kissers would say, "um, may i be honest?"

"of course."

"it was a nice film except for the focusing on the close-ups."

he takes me by the arm away from a sea of suits -- people i know to be disgusting talent agents.  those suits were pissed that some "nobody" was getting the ear of one of the most successful producers on the planet.

after we're away from the earshot of "the suits" ... he says "that dumb motherfucker gave me 1 to 3 takes and i told him i wanted more."

i smile.

he goes on "those were the best-focused takes even though the takes weren't all that great.  i told him to fire the 1st asst. camera and he refused."

my smile dissolved to astonishment that this dude was sharing this kind of info, "... i told him i'd never use him again."

so .. i went and checked (i meant to in the past) ... the last and only film homeboy ever worked on ... as a director ... was the film mr. producer hired him for.  i love it when someone big in hollywood is NOT full of shit.  i won't go into exactly what mr. producer said but everything he said was true.

focus is important.

we then talked 30 minutes about everything leica.  the suits were glaring the entire time and when mr. producer actually gave me a hug ... and i left ... i said to one of the suits -- of course, a really short little guy -- "bro, you got an ugly spot on your tie."

he didn't but i thought i'd fuck with him as he clearly thought mr. producer and i had a relationship that ... we did not.

what he said to me ... lives inside my brain, though, and i think about it every time i'm shooting some little project.

my next project shoots soon.

and, yes, i'll be using a professional focus-puller or 1st a.c. as they're called ...

anyone who thinks they can do what laforet did alone, is smoking something funny.  you need a fucking army.

i know that sounds very american.

but the army i'm talking about isn't the kind which prosecutes improper and illegal wars...

they just make movies.

hope you're all well.

while i'm at it ... i want to thank you guys for continuing to read my site, making comments, sending me private emails ...

you guys are the best.

what i like the best about you guys?  is that you're all good shooters ...

unlike those other sites ... who's readers are just a bunch of old white guys who can't shoot their respective ways out of paper-fucking-bags.  and, no, leica is not just a status symbol.  if you actually knew the photo business -- like you claim to -- you'd know that leica is very much in the game.  then again, you'd have to talk to real photographers and not sycophants who -- for what reason i have no idea -- kiss your ass so that you mention them in your blog.  seriously, mate, please take some pictures so that we can see that you are talented. ;)  being a high school photo teacher doesn't mean shit ... nor does a bfa in photography.  in fact, a bfa usually means you can't shoot shit.  just so you know.  photos of trees and lawn furniture ... doesn't mean shit.

okay ... gotta jump in the shower.

cheers from a partly cloudy l.a.!

-c

UPDATE:  it would appear that laforet posted a blog to answer some questions.

also, the quote i was looking for was from orson welles ... "A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army."true then, true today, true about the laforet videos.  no way you're doing that with 2 people. ;)

mixed bag.

since i've been on this digital-tear with the leica m9 ... well ... i think the lab has been a bit neglected as of late.  in fact, i've just looked at some scans.  there was a roll in the venerable mp, which has been giving me dirty brassed glances of late, which was shot in june and i recently finished it.  apx 25. 

it's so interesting to me ... this whole film vs. digi-thing.  a visual effects supervisor friend told me about some symposium they had about the issue in the context of cinematography.  they had every single one of the best cameras on some giant rig shooting the same thing.  one of the biggest issues was that film captures sun/light flare much-much-much better than digi any day of the week.  that was true of every camera tested ... even ones that guys like me will probably never get to operate due to cost.

it's all good.  i'm happy shooting my 5dm2.  so happy i didn't cut my motion-teeth on camcorders with results all looking like they're shot at f/8.

also ... i've scrapped all of the cavision stuff in my video bag besides the matte box ... for cinevate stuff.  the build quality of cinevate's stuff is ridiculous.  the "leaders-cough-cough" like zacuto and redrock ... well ... i'll just say nothing.  don't believe the hype.

how about an homage to mr. rockwell? ;)  should have had an nd grad filter on it, though, for a true homage and perhaps shot on velvia. ;)

ever since he called me out in his blog ... we've gotten to know each other ... and ...

he's not a bad guy.  in fact, he's pretty damn nice.  in fact, what i've really discovered is that he loves photography ... and ... i'm good with that. his photo of an oak tree's pretty nice, too.

don't think i'll be friends with the onlinephotographer-dude any time soon.  at least ken makes photos and doesn't just craft words together to impress others who ... probably can't shoot either.

the world has not ended.

not even according to the mayans. 

this was our guide at the tulum archaeological site.  he knew everything.

then again, he was a guide, right?  he should know everything about that site.  besides the shard of glass that almost punctured my foot -- not just the flip-flop -- that place is rad.

yes, i said rad.

don't care if you don't like it.

nor do i care if you like my black-bordered photos on flickr.

i think j was iguana-papping.  unsure.  the film was from june.

my memory isn't that long.

those mayans sure knew where to build a nice resort.  temple.  resort.  whatever.

same thing.

where that woman is standing is where a piece of really nasty glass almost went into my foot.  thank you reef for making flip-flops which don't allow nasty pieces of strewn glass to puncture feet. 

i don't like southern accents.

sorry.

they piss me off.

random.  i know.  but i'm in an airport and the assholes behind me are ... just annoying.

j found a friend.

damn i forgot how much i love film.

damn m9.

cancun had a very nice airport, actually.

where's waldo?

then skip forward like 3 months. ;)

had to expose those few last frames on something before i had to drive back from the icky west side to drop off at the lab.

homeboy is there every time i walk past.  every time.  i don't think he goes anywhere.

took b street-shooting.  she asked if we could go.  got an m8-two and the 1.4/24 mounted up for her and we took a metro to one of the best street-shooting hunting grounds on the planet.  hollywood blvd on a sunday afternoon.

i looked at her stuff and she actually did quite well.  most of the frames were perfectly focused.  put the auto-iso feature on.  set it on A.  started teaching her about f/stops. 

pretty cool day that was.

i even saw mj's angel.

you know it's gonna be a great day when you see mj's angel.  right?

that's bella.  we rescued her.  she stayed with us two weeks.  she ripped my heart out of my chest.

but ... her heart is all good according to our vet. :)

hadn't ever connected with a dog in the way i connected with her.  sadly, hadn't even really connected with murph the way i connected with her.

i think murph misses his playmate.

cavs play the same way.  they connect.  it's a breed-thing.  our friend says it's a royalty-thing, though.

dunno.

i do know i have more film scans to show. ;)

my friend joanna and io echo.  the venerable mp and the new wonder ... the m9 shot right next to each other.

i don't think the m9 could have handled that last photo.

digital sensors and flares aren't all that good of friends.

guess that's why i shoot both.

my right thumb gets bored shooting digital.  i could get one of those fake things people put on m8's but i don't think i will.

late-night gardening anyone?

someone needs a sensor-cleaning.

lunch.

dedicated to my austrian-homey.  dunno why but when i shot that i thought of him.

odd.

fyi.  it's apple season here.  just so you know.

those fujis are/were amazing.

not as amazing as a cavalier face, though.

juxtaposition.

was wondering where the friggin' PETA sticker was.

i love shopping-photos.

and west coast sunsets.

and bamboo.  and ... the fact my nocti doesn't back-focus any longer. :)

and the fact you can roll around l.a. and see productions everywhere.  so happy producers have tired of the false promises from detroit, boston, new mexico, south carolina, etc., etc.  bring production back to where "the professional crews" are. ;)

attn:  jon gosselin ... please go away.  attn: editors ... stop putting these douchebags on the covers of magazines ... they're not worthy.

one of the best restaurants in vegas, rm seafood.  and i love having the nocti back.

the bitch is back. ;)

she's not a bitch, though.  she's cool.  and it's fun to make fun of the same people. ;)

clean bella. :)

keeping the eye on the prize as it were.  he's like a shark. ;)

yes, light meters are still relevant.

even whilst lighting a spaniel with the new hensel lithium porty! :)

i think murph actually weighs less than the new lithium packs.

crazy-light.

even frank was in on the spaniel-tography. ;)

j ... wrangling...

the airplane is here!

hope you're all well! :)

cheers from vegas!

-c

My New Toy

About a month ago I got a package in the mail that I was absolutely stoked for. I ordered a Zeiss Ikon rangefinder camera (which to those of you who are not photographers is basically an old school film camera) and a nice fast 35mm lens. I've had it for a few weeks now and developed and scanned my first two rolls of film with them a couple days ago at my school's dark room. My first photo was, of course, a self portrait with my new camera! 

The Zeiss arrived a day before TIFF so I made a few photos of my photographer friends starting with my friend Sonia. This was after she photographed Oprah and Mariah Carey. She was actually really excited but I got her when she was feeling the effects of a week of non-stop shooting.


This is a classic Pimentel photo. I had a lot of fun with him and everyone else on the WireImage team as always.


I watched Chris' street photography video a few days before TIFF started so when I saw Mario at our hotel, I walked up to him and told him I just saw him in it. He was really fun and I'm glad I got to meet him. Here he's checking his phone after we talked for a bit while waiting for the "Whip It" premiere to start.


While waiting for a TIFF opening event to start, I grabbed a drink from a store and saw this guy hanging out. He saw my cameras and called me over and we talked about changes in weather and his dog. I think his name was Ron.


I saw this scene while going home late at night after a full day of shooting. I think this must have been around 1:30am. I didn't talk to him though, I was determined to catch a train!


I walk by this mirror almost every day. Had to make a photo with the Zeiss.


Once TIFF was over I started going to my classes and brought the Zeiss with me every day.


I like the juxtaposition between the text on his t-shirt and the environment where he is in:




I attended a lecture by a photographer to write a school paper on. I wasn't the only one that fell asleep during it. Handheld @ 1/4th of a second.


Some friends from school, Hannah and Jason:



I went street shooting with Jason one night. We chose China Town.



I wonder if this guy knew there were two people photographing him.






Went to the AGO:


Got lunch with my friend Kunaal in a food court we used to always go to during high-school:



And of course ... saw my girlfriend, Vanessa. Geeking out a bit here:


And at her res:

I'm loving this camera. It's so perfect as a camera I can take with me everywhere. I also love that it's film because it really allows me to get indulged in the art of photography not only because it's a historic process but also because I am developing it in the dark room and really involving myself in the process of creating photos. I'm really happy with the quality of photos it makes and it's, of course, really small and quiet. I've already shot a few more rolls with it since I developed these first two and can't wait to see how those look. 

photovests.

so ... the other day i taped a segment with my friend damon.  he posted it on youtube:

i discovered that i should have stolen damon's mike. ;)  i also discovered that he did a pretty cool interview with elliot erwitt.

we spoke about lots of things that afternoon.  a lot of what we spoke about didn't make it on video.  funny because when i write about gear my pageviews go through the roof.  seems like he experiences the same thing.  i guess that's why wank is so popular, no? (hope you click that last wank-link)

gear-bators make me laugh so hard.  just so you know ... because you own a fancy d-slr, slr, holga, rangefinder ... doesn't mean you can do anything good with it.  yes, of course, if you own any of the aforementioned that means that you know everything about photography.  it means instead of using the gear to make photos you sit in forums with other gear-bators and discuss everything photography ad naseum.

yes, i've seen the galleries attached to your profiles and they're total shit.

just so you know.

you're laughable.

what else?  um ... my first street photograph was made with an slr.  it was a big-ass slr as well.  the nikon f4 was not a small camera by any means.  it was a great camera.  don't really think the subjects -- they were dogs (go figure) -- minded too much.  i saw the limitations of doing this type of photography with an slr.  i then went to the contax g system.  it was a good system.  it's just that the autofocus system was more of a limiting factor rather than something good. 

that's when i bit the bullet.  i sold some gear i didn't use.

i bought a leica.

yes, i said it ... a leica.  it changed the way i saw things.  it was different than the contax in so many good ways.  yes, the contax g system had great glass if not a bit slow for my taste.

i wouldn't think of shooting street with anything else now.  yes, i've used the zeiss zm body and their lenses.  they are excellent.  in fact, the voigtlander stuff is excellent as well.  the lenses i've tried coming from voigtlander are pretty damn good as well.  wait ... i own the cv 15/4.5.  nice glass for sure.  cheap, too.  sorry ... inexpensive. 

i also like certain wines over other wines.

it's taste.

is taste bias?

perhaps.

i just know that i prefer leica products over just about everything else.

and why the fuck does that NOT matter?  i'm not doing some lame gear-bator pay-for-review-site punctuated by equally as lame photographs.  then again, i'm sure the audience -- who makes the same lame-ass photos -- probably loves the work.  misery is great company as they say.

so, yeah, i love shooting leica. 

don't be a jealous-ass hater rubbing up on your gear.  get a girl for that, mates. ;)

but .. i'll bet that would be a bigger challenge than buying a new piece of gear, right?

okay .. i gotta get outta here.

hope you're all well and enjoy damon's interview about ... gear. ;)

cheers from a way-to-friggin'-hot-to-be-driving-to-the-friggin-valley-to-look-at-curtains!

-chris

It's been a crazy week...

So after a lot of speculation and online forum nonsense, the Leica M9 was announced last Wednesday. It could not have arrived at a better time and ever since that day I've been putting it through the paces all over New York, L.A. and Miami. 

As I am not a gear reviewer, I'll just tell you that the latest incarnation of the legendary M line will not disappoint and will be a great addition to those of us still burning film through the fantastic MP or those holding out for a digital FF M... 

Of course, the expert wall testers and technical fanatics clamoring for live view, AF and other SLR-type features that should never make it into the basic yet perfect M design will continue clogging the various online forums providing their insight into how a company like Leica should be run. :-)     

 

Not much to do on a 5 hour flight but to sleep and make whatever images I can see... 

-riccis

ah ... yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ...

ya' know ... this isn't the entry i ever really wanted to write.  back in september of last year ... my friend's plane didn't make it off the runway.

sadly, he didn't make it off that runway either.  i mean he lived.  four others didn't. 

from that point last september ... to this august ... i know things were very different for him.  i remember the first time i saw him after the crash last year, "so good to see you my brother."

"no, it's really good to see you.  i mean ... it's really good to see you."

and now.  well now sucks to be quite honest.  i'll never look down at my phone and see his name again. 

i'll never go to some fancy party and see my friend on the decks.  i'll never look at the decks at a few clubs the same.  haven't seen the dj booth at the place we spent so much time together.  i've been kind of dreading seeing that booth to be quite honest.

although i was listening to some daft punk, perhaps if you don't know adam's work ... please go here and download one of the sets he was most proud.  i would have never shared that in the past but now ... well ... now ... i hope ... whatever. i hope you enjoy it.  i know i have.

i could always tell him i was going on a long-haul trip or a roadtrip and he'd send me a link to some new set.

still don't believe he's gone.  most ... don't believe it either.

guess i don't want to believe such a kind-hearted sweet person ... had to go through everything he had to go through ...

at his memorial ... some of the people who talked ... talked about how he ... when introducing you to a new person ... would immediately tell the other person something totally embarrassing about you.  i remember that vividly when he formally introduced me to travis. 

i was like ... um ... okay.  cool.  happy they all know that about me now.

thanks, bro.

no, i'm not gonna say what that is/was.

as embarrassing as it was ... i still smile when i think about it. 

that and thinking that the little short black dude wasn't the guy from gnarls barkley but mr. janet jackson.  watching homeboy shoot a sumicron in almost no light with the m8 was ... well ... funny to me.

since that friday ... at the end of august ... sitting with j and my friend flipo in hollywood having lunch ... and getting the barrage of texts ...

a day hasn't gone by without ... well ... suffice it to say ... just a heavy feeling of sadness.

i don't think ... in my adult life ... the real adult life ... as my prior life ... doesn't seem real ... someone i've known this well has passed.

how about some photos?

this night we were both bored.  i was making it look like i was working; he was making a mix for the drive home.  ringtones were louder than the music as the police almost shut down the party for lack of a permit.  he liked this photo.

i can't tell you how many hours i spent in that booth after i was "done with work."  that booth will always seem a bit empty to me now.

no idea where this was.  i could look at the iptc but ... whatever.

i don't think i've seen steve as somber i saw him at the memorial.

and when i think about the memorial i think about ... people papping the attendees.  i know it's closer when it's personal but i was still surprised by which "services" had staffers there.

apropos.

adam loved photography.  and his cat, mugsy.

among a lot of other things.

like doing what he does.  he said "my mom always said 'find out what you love to do and would do it for free then find someone to pay you."

i couldn't fucking agree more.

there really isn't anything like watching a dj of his caliber whip a crowd into a frenzy.

perhaps there was some vodka/patron shots involved.  won't confirm nor deny.

not sure if was just "dragging the shutter" here.

funny motherfucker. for sure.

and so good at that.

so fucking good.  honestly, a lot ended with adam.

he sent that to me last summer. no idea who shot it. dunno if it matters now.

he loved performing with travis.  i saw countless performances and it never got old for me.

and i wish i could say what happened right before this but ... i won't.

i will say it was fun to give him shit about putting wilson phillips into mixes.

and that he'd text me and say ... listen.

right.

now.

and it was either a certain genre he associated with me.

or wilson-fucking-phillips.

or sometimes metallica.

adam spans several gigabytes over the local and remote 9tb.

how he had no idea i snuck up on him and texted him "your shirt looks fucking fem" ... and ... papped his ass ... dunno.

i know he liked this photo.

that's the first flight out on a saturday morning back to lax.  06:00.

he taught me why one should always get in as late as possible ... work ... don't sleep ... do whatever ... and get on the earliest flight home.

and sleep.

that routine is not for the faint-hearted.  i'd be on the freeway and feel ... dunno ... almost like i was starved for food but different. 

Live at Elton John's Party - Disc 3

love that part of the set.  just fyi.

as bummed i am the world was robbed of such a talented and kind person ... i get to sit here in my little studio and blast his mixes.  i have tens of hours of his mixes.  for me ... he created the urge to air-scratch.

i miss you so much, homey.

i miss shooting film, too, actually.

not like i miss my friend, though.

there were so many more things we were talking about ... doing.

another reason to just fucking do things now.

besides his friendship ... he gave me another gift ... a gift of pause.

pause to my life.

what that lead to is personal but ... suffice to say ...

well ... that's personal, too.

the set that night was so fucking sick.

so well-timed with his drumming partner.

and then i look at this next set ... and i just remember ... seeing that poor guy sitting by himself up in the corner of the seats above the backstage area at the avalon.  i honestly don't wish what i know he was feeling at that moment on anyone. 

even forum-posting old men with less photographic talent than my dog.

©2009 Murphy

i told you.  amazing on so many levels.

the welcome home dj a.m. evening last year was so amazing ... and i guarantee everyone in the following photos ... is still in disbelief we all had to say goodbye ...

if you ever get the chance to see mix master mike spin, do it.

seriously, one of the most amazing nights of music i've ever experienced.

and as much as it "should have been" something different that happened this past augus ... i'm a much better person having gotten to know adam.  i'm beyond sad.

and what's odd is that i know that if he knew how his loss has affected everyone else ... it would have just killed him.

that's how i remember my friend.  i also remember we were both "there for the paycheck" but ... we still got to hang.

fuck i miss you, homey.  i'm so sorry you had to experience what you experienced.  i can't imagine how dark that spot was. 

you were amazing.  on so many fucking levels.  i hope whatever that noise was isn't there any longer.

but i still want that 20% of my hearing back you took.

actually, no i don't.

it was worth the loss getting to know one of the best people on this planet.

perhaps b's learning sign language is foreshadowing.

perhaps.

-chris

p.s., thanks, niko ... the slideshow and video were amazing.  so were your words.

p.p.s., if you are the author of that crowd-surfing video, let me know and i'll credit you.

thank you

usually i try and comment back to everyone ... this time ... there was no way.  suffice it to say ... i enjoyed reading each and every comment, guys.

besides wanting to redux my '06 thing on dA ... i, like others i'm sure, found almost nothing on the web about street.  funny enough ... the most popular video out there was ... well ... something that became my motivation to do something better:

i mean ... yeah ... dress up like a cat burglar. i think the best part is "hi, i'm joel meyerowitz, i'm a serious photographer." yes, sir, you are. keep those cape cod landscapes comin' buddy. ;)

"here comes a whole breed of dogs.  look at this crowd.  look at this crowd!"

not gonna say who watched this with me but we laughed our asses off.

i mean ... he and colin westerbeck published bystander back in 1994.  if you can get through the first 100 or so pages ... it's not bad reading. ;)

so, yes, mr. meyerowitz ... thank you for the motivation.

seriously, i cannot believe the comments i've gotten!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

yes, i'm getting a full-on m9 review done.  thing is ... i think that what i write is much better suited for those who actually shoot.  it never ceases to amaze me that fucking people can review a camera THEY'VE NEVER EVEN FUCKING SHOT.

oh, sorry for the x-rated language.  i forgot that dentists and others who post on forums have virgin-fucking-ears.  sorry.  no, actually i'm not sorry.  then again, you know that.

i see someone post about the dynamic range, perhaps the same person who said the m8 could never be full-frame, and this is on their profile:

 

why don't you stick to school, mate.  clearly, you know nothing about photography.  not only ... but ... some other dude -- clearly, bitter about having bought an m8.2 and out to influence other gear-bators -- wrote this.

although i've met a few pretty good people through a couple of the message boards, for the most part they are populated and fed content, content being very loosely defined, by gear-bators.  i respect wank more than i respect the fat part of the bell curve of the people who post reviews about cameras they've never touched.

seriously, why even spend fucking time on a forum?  isn't photography about making photos and not finger-banging your equipment?  of course, one may finger-bang one's equipment whilst shooting.

if you want to learn more about photography and even gear for that matter, go to flickr ... go to dA.  if you go to a forum, you'll get a bunch of angry old white men who can't shoot yet post 10,000-fucking-posts and are probably friends with the fucking moderator so if you disagree with them they'll lock your post or even delete it ... or ... ban you.

wanna know what i find abso-fucking-lutely funny as shit?  the top posters on at least a few of the forums i've seen .. they don't even have public photo galleries?  ah ... too embarrassed of your snow-covered lawn furniture and brick walls? 

photography is about seeing something.

go to flickr.  go to dA.  go to wherever people post photos.  don't go to places where people pontificate about shit but have NO PHOTOGRAPHIC TALENT TO BACK THAT SHIT UP.  i'd rather talk to people who actually use cameras to make beautiful photos.  my friend ricci in nyc ... he's been making some nice m9 photos. :) 

okay ... enough of the diatribe.

i can't tell you how happy i am ... that one of my heavier dslr canon bodies ... the ambient body as opposed to the flash body ... is now replaced by a leica.  the leica m9.  well ... mine says leica m8 but it's insides are all m9.  my left shoulder thanked me, actually.  my right shoulder is still angry.  but ... i told the right shoulder to fuck off.

;)

perhaps if the right shoulder is nice i'll switch bodies from one side to the other.

perhaps.

okay ... unlike 99% of the people on the forums ... i actually get paid to make photos by some of the biggest publications and brands on the planet ... and that's what i gotta do.

and ... the m9 will be proudly on my happy left shoulder ...

as the right shoulder is pissed off about having a 1dsm3 weighing it down. ;)

shooting this camera -- the m9 -- is pure joy.  was experimenting with off-camera flash -- using a canon ttl cord -- and the m9.  interesting.

again, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE TERRIFIC COMMENTS ABOUT THE STREET VIDEO-THING.

hope your week gets off to a nice start!

cheers from the amazingly temperate los angeles!

-chris

experimental firmware.

feel kinda bad i couldn't tell some of my friends the complete truth about a certain camera that i was shooting the last couple of months ... but ...i signed an nda so ... i had to wait until the rest of the world was told about it.

i'm gonna do a full report on the leica m9 in due time.  i made a lot of photos with that camera and couldn't really do anything with them except share them with people who i was able to share them with.  sounds cryptic but ... well ... ya' know.

i just noticed that moving a 600mb+ file, streaming another video to check it and ftp'ing really f*ck with one's connection.

let me tell you how funny it's been watching all of the "leica rumors" flying around over the past few months.  certain of us were laughing ... wholeheartedly.  a canon sensor.  a full-frame could not fit in an m8 body.  puhlease. ;)

oh, shit i just pissed off the "forum boys."

not that i care.

just so you know ... the photos from the last blog ... at the end ... were all m9 ...at the time the m9 had a codename.  very stealthy.  i just had to strip the exif info. ;)  sneaky.  i know.

honestly, without giving away from the m9 mega-post i'll do soon ... this camera ... is beyond exciting.  i mean ... unless you're my lab.  :(  poor lab.  sorry, guys. 

um ... what else ... well ...

besides doing whatever it is that i did in that project ... with the help of some friends ... i made a little video:

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition - Part One of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition - Part Two of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo.

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition - Part Three of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo.

had to break it up into three parts.  tell ya' what ... video ... as pretty as it is ... is a bitch.

had fun, though, shooting with this ...

i couldn't have done the video alone.  well.  i could have ... i guess.  but i didn't.  although i've already thanked my friends in the video at the end ... couldn't have done this without mario, laith, patrick, hossein, frank, the incomparable sev, richard, j ... 

that was human part ... the equipment part ... i have to thank cinevate and smallhd.  you guys rock. i guess cavision, too.  seriously, the rest of the "players" in that market are so over-hyped it's not even funny.  flashy videos don't really mean shit; how shit works means everything.

another thing i just laughed out loud .. i don't like LOL ... was this cough-cough-cough-image-gallery.  jesus-h-christ.  um, really?

i have no idea what h stands for, though.  holy?  i tried to look at every photo but got too damn bored.

do you have any idea how happy i am that the docu-project is done?

um ... i'm very happy.

that was way more work ... than i ever thought.  the project with transcoded video and original video files ... is 400mb+.  i need a render farm.  like 2 8-core mac pros!  doing this project on the most recent mbp was ... not as daunting as i thought ... but ... wouldn't want to do a 120 minute feature.  this was only 42 mins ... and ... well ... rendering ... you just basically set it up and walk away.

or go to sleep.

i wanted to do my dj am tribute blog ... but ... every time i look at his photos i get ...

well ...

um ...

sad is one word but it doesn't even come close to how those events made me feel. 

miss you, homie.

he would have loved the m9.

how about some photos?

that's the napoli-biyatch taking a break from "taking complete creative license" during some shooting.  when we do the "out takes" and "making of" you'll see and hear me call him "taliban."  i know.  not politically friendly.  i thought it was funny.

and that's all that counts. ;)

was walking 'round with sev in vegas when i made this.  i think the exif has a different name for my new full-frame-friend. ;)

i just don't get the fascination with mj.  i mean i know his music but ... seeing hollywood turn into a giant mj shrine was a bit much.

i love the looks on all of the people's faces. 

pretty little chi-chi.  the dog show we went to before ... we were with sev.  i think he should have gone to this one as well ... alas he was back in vienna.  think he would have enjoyed shooting some more with the 1.4/24.

um ... i just saw that wank posted an m9 review.  wtf?  i guarantee he's never had it in his hands. ya' know he's like a forum-f*cking-troll that posts opinions never having used anything he's posting about.  such a wank.  when i saw that it immediately made me think "wtf was canon thinking when the gave the 5dm2 to the luminous landscape guy?"  he's sure to be an ace-dp. ace.

the internet is wonderful.

when i was out shooting with frank ... i was doing video with the 5dm2 wondercamera ... we saw many pretty things ... i mean ... photos ...

i love that the colours are so different than the canons.  grazie a dio.

i haven't used the b/w mode much as ... i kinda think that shooting colour files is the way to go and process them in either aperture or ps for b/w later.  

frank tells me he's seen homeboy before.

i like that frame.

that one, too.

went to the beach as well.  don't "go to the westside" but this summer was a bit hot.

cannot believe how long they've had this memorial up.  and the crosses and stars of david ... just keep growing and growing...

even clown guys get off work.

used the m9 on a red carpet as well.

this guy works a lot. 

took a walk with my friend flipo around hollywood. 

nhat, too.

'

homeboy got himself a leica, too.

:)

mj's death has spawned a cottage industry of people selling unlicensed stuff. 

we saw some nice lounge singing at an open mike night.  this was not planned.  just happened.

so did the heartburn.

so did the.

i'll leave that at that.

with the nocti this time.  it's homage to my friend frank. his work is amazing. 

our little friend quincy -- who's on his way to london to be with his moviemaking parents -- enjoyed posing as well.

not really, actually.

love love love the old 2.0/35 gandy got me a while back.  think it's ver. 3.  yes, ver. 3.

okay ... it's shower/leaving time.

hope you guys enjoyed the ride.

i know i enjoyed it.

more to come about the m9. :)

cheers from a mildly temperate los angeles!

-chris

back from the dead.

sorry.  seriously.  i've totally meant to post something.  i like sharing.  dunno why, though, in oppressive heat i just don't feel like doing much.  when i went outside this morning -- 11:00a is still morning -- it was so disgustingly sticky and hot already ... hope it's nicer wherever you are.

let's see.  what's new?  well ... my update to that street thing i put on dA back in the day ... it's gotten ... more involved.  laith was here for june and july, which was nice.  we got to hang a few times.  make some photos.  shoot some 5dm2 video with the new firmware.  then sev was here.  got to hang out in the best neighborhood in all of los angeles.  i'm biased.

we made photos.  we shot video both here and in vegas.  sev made a new friend...

actually, he asked about you.  i declined at giving your phone number, address or email address.  for whatever reason he said he didn't mind if you lived in vienna.  your info is safe with me. ;)

gotta tell you ... as much as i love making stills and doing it for a living ... i am enamored with making videos.  don't care if the 5dm2's 30fps format sucks for bringing into final cut.  there's something called prores 422 within final cut.  i'm getting ahead of myself.  handholding the 5dm2 and shooting video is a giant pain in the friggin' ass.  pulling focus with an SD monitor (e.g., the monitor on the back of the 5dm2) is bullshit.  shooting sev's 12-24 was easy enough.  shooting my 16-35 isn't horrible.  shooting polk's 14mm fisheye could be cool if he hadn't broken it before i got to use it.  anything tighter than wide handheld is horrible.  my grip-neighbor taught me how to do this steady-cam-shuffle thing which made it a bit more palpable and steady.

i've opted for something different, though.  not just to do the few scenes of pick up i need for the "street thing" but i'm gonna shoot a short in a month or so.  just so you know ... cine gear for the 5dm2 runs the gamut between really cheap shit to alright stuff priced up the ying-yang to really good stuff priced either reasonably or at stratospheric levels not meant for anyone outside of a large production company.  rentals?  good luck.  so ... instead of spending five grand with zacuto.  i built a frankenstein cine rig for doing video with the 5dm2.  i got rails/rods support, a shoulder mount and front grip from cavision in british colombia. like "the big z" cavision has a complete rig for the 5dm2.  i guess that's kind of the base so that it can support the whole reason i did this ... to pull focus.  i spoke with a lot of people and most told me that the follow focus units at around us$1000 were built using remote control car transmissions and were plastic.  seriously, f*** that.  not only ... but ... not one of the companies i contacted had professional demos like canon and leica.  i mean i know they're small but, seriously, that's so lame.  yeah, i'm gonna take the word of someone in p.r. that "so-and-so-uses it" so that i would think "so that must be cool?"  so i spoke with people.  the follow focus i've been fortunate enough to use was that of the arri follow focus.  amazing.  really.  feels amazing.  the only other company i was hearing about from friends was cinevate.  i should have my follow focus very very soon!  hubert, dennis and sarah were so helpful and cool as hell.  you should go watch some of their videos to understand more of what i'm talking about.

attaching from the rails below the camera i got a micro mount from redrock.  i mean ... us$45 is too much but ... us$175 for this?  i'll say this ... they do slick-ass videos.  for damn sure.  um ... okay ... that little mount connects to an israeli arm.  noga could -- based upon what i've seen people charge for things -- easily get triple.  very nicely made stuff.  on the end of the noga cinearm sits something i think is so important when you're gonna be using the 5dm2 ... a smallhd.com 8.9 diagonal hd monitor.  not only is pulling focus with just the focusing ring 50% easier ... the picture is beautiful.  whenever possible i won't buy cheap plastic shit.  the smallhd has an aluminum chassis, unlike many others in the same price/size range.  put a hood on it.  uses battery power.  playback is beautiful.  the owners of this company actually "get it" as well besides the "teamwork photos with eagles." 

haven't decided what to do with for a matte box.  haven't really had the need for anything other than an nd or nd grad but i have those and really don't need the "cine kit." 

sound sucks-ass on the 5dm2 unless you're 4 feet from dj a.m.'s monitor.  i didn't really see that as a limitation because i've never really seen a camera -- besides eng stuff -- on a sound stage that did sound.  it was always some angry dude with a mixer holding a boom mike. 

i let the sound run on the 5dm2, delete it in final cut.  even though it complicates stuff -- having to worry about sound and all -- the fact something like the Zoom H4n exist at us$350 is amazing to me. 

luckily, i have some friends and beyond the wired lav mike i got are letting me borrow a nice boom mike.  oh, yeah, and other friends helped out with the tripod and fluid head situation.

i just knew it was entirely possible to spend way-way less than the $5K companies wanted for some beautiful-yet-unecessary entire rigs they sell.

tell ya' this ... it's a very interesting experience putting this whole thing together.

see ... managing the data associated with my still work-flow was just not enough to keep me busy.  i really wanted to add absolutely massive files as well.  (facetious tone implied)  video logging is really one of the most amazing activities anyone could imagine doing. 

anyway ... i've shot so much in the last four months i don't even know where to begin.  seemed as though a lot of my personal work got lost -- not literally, of course -- in the constant flow.  there have been other additions to the work-flow but i can't talk about them. ;)  in editing what i edited to post here it reminded me that there's been so much i haven't posted.  some day i guess.

well, beyond sev and his penchant to make friends ... was so great having him out here.  there were seriously so many funny incidents.  i rode a bus for the first time.  i mean in l.a., of course.  we went to hollywood blvd the night after mj died.  we were in vegas at the same time as well. 

there's some video.  but ... it's not cut together yet. 

honestly, i think sev left the really hot godammned weather behind.  you can have it back, man.

hollywood boulevard is a friggin' trip.  i dunno which, though, venice or hollywood are weirder?

from break dancers to creepy -- yet i'm sure they're nice people -- fundamentalist christians trying to save the sinners in hollywood.

i saw no fundamentalist christians at the art fair-thing.

nor in the reflection at lunch.

homeboy didn't have his passport but we were able to convince the manager with a german rail pass that he was over the age of 21 to have a nice refreshing beer.  it was hot as hell.

still is.

and humid.

though i just typed human.

unsure why.

love the fact they never see or hear a rangefinder.

wish you could see this big.  sorry.  those fundamentalists were a trippy bunch.  laith's friend colin has some pov video that's pretty sick.

cannot wait to show you guys what is being cut.

everyone should -- everyone who shoots street, that is -- should really shoot on hollywood boulevard at some point in their lives.

i feel as amazed as that little boy in that stroller every time.  it's a trip.

sev had an interesting conversation with that dude.

sunset boulevard is interesting, too, but in a different way.

every weekend.  there he stands in a rat head.

it was hot as hell.  the sun was "aggressive" as sev put it.  not many were happy running around in it.

like sev said in his blog ... many were taking advantage of shade in any way, shape or form.

seriously, i love the fact that so many people gave me shit via comments on the dA street thing i did about rangefinders.  if they only really knew.  i don't see how anyone uses anything other than them.  no idea.  they're really the ultimate "sniper."  there was this mexican wrestler dude on hollywood boulevard who'd see me and everytime said "sniperd."

love seeing how close i can actually get without getting caught.

jumping forward like 3/4 weeks. something like that ... got to hang out with my friend frank as well.

after coffee at the best coffee place in l.a. we went to venice.

again, it was hot but more humid than when sev was here. 

even in the late afternoon.

walked and sat at a café for a while...

frank said he used to go here a lot.

the west side and the east side are both a world and sometimes a couple hours apart.

so wish you could see this big.  you wouldn't believe it.  i saw it so i believed it, of course.  seeing it 30" big though ...

lots of dogs in venice.

crack-head-drunks, too, but ... it's interesting.

the light was pretty in this little alleyway-access road thing.

those people were doing almost the same thing we were except we had cameras, i guess.

pigeon-stalking...

he wasn't having such a great day!

i don't think, at least.

dunno if the "come-alive-for-tips-fairy was having a good day either.  should've ask.

poodle was.

literally the last note before she stopped.

the chi-chi's not a fan of the broken-glass-walking-guy.

typical california -- on the west side, at least -- day.

afternoon.

whatever it was.

this one is kind of my favourite.

waiting for a pick-up game.  i'm assuming.  or ... deep in thought.  then again, a rapper selling us$5 mixtapes questioned me about my 5dm2.  all good.

lotsa hamburgers going on.  a pictures.

frank didn't think i should crop.  so ... i didn't.

after a trader joe's run. she loves posing. ;)

so ... yeah ... busy busy busy and entering territories which are new. gotta tell ya' ... the 5dm2 with the appropriate equipment can do some pretty crazy shit. i mean contrary to what king-of-the-eighties-video-tech, wank, says. ;)

cannot wait to finish the last few sequences, getting the narrative stuff, a couple more sound bite interviews ... the cutting.  lotsa stuff.

hope you're all very well ... and significantly cooler than we are in l.a.!

more to come from other segments of the recent past.

cheers!

-chris

p.s., click this link for my friend corey.  i promise it's safe for the workplace.  he wants to go to france on someone else's dime and they're counting pageviews on youtube.