APhotoContributor

computers are stupid.

i mean unless they're made by apple, of course.  or unless they're programmed by the numbnuts engineers at acquine.  i was happy to get an email reminding me of how bad these dumb motherf****** are.  last week i'm sure j was tired of hearing me sigh heavily and curse at these people.  they say they have a program which grades aesthetical quality of photos.  so f****** stupid.  i put in slew of photos by hcb.  he averaged like 23 or some shit.  i then put in some nice erwitts.  he didn't fare much better.  i put in some steven maisels.  yeah, 'bout the same.

the only people this comes close to impressing are the landscape-dreamers who jerk off on their hoardes of equipment when they think of "their mind's eye" shooting landscapes in denali.  they also probably read wank and the onlinephotowannabe.

thanks for reminding me karsten.  your letter to the head douchebag was ace.

what else?  besides canon ...

i'll backtrack.  i don't use canon service; they're too slow; i have plenty of backup gear.  my guy says "what the fuck is that oily shit on the sensors of your mark 3's?"

"fuck if i know."

it's not like i shoot on porno sets.

not that if you did you'd get fucking oily residue anywhere but your face, right?

anyway ... canon comes out and says their mirror tend to squirt oil.

great job guys!

you fucked up auto-focusing with the mark 3's ...

and a lot of people switched to nikon!

well-played.

they actually did do something i knew was coming ... we can now control aspects that are kind of important for shooting video!!!!  very happy about that. i was gonna buy the fd adapter so i could force aperture.  now ... i don't have to.

when's the 24p firmware option coming?  i know at least one person who claims to have been granted a camera that can do it.  dunno.

had a very nice coffee with my friends justin and frank the other afternoon.  we sat and papped normal people on the street.  guess that could also be called street photography. ;)

looking forward to laith coming to l.a. for a nice extended period of time.

we can work on our "visual summer project." 

won't say what that will be.  i will say that canon has made it much easier to shoot with the upcoming firmware! :)

get to hang with sev this july, too.

still can't believe those jackasses thought a computer could judge aesthetics.  i'll bet the only high marks are for those "test photos" done by the jackass who thinks he can shoot but doesn't show many of his own photos.  yeah, mr. online, you know who you are. ;)

i just love the fucking people on the web who think their opinions are the holy-fucking-grail when if they really knew their shit they'd be repped, syndicated or getting assignments.  don't think online-guy could say that nor the wank, even though he claims to spend a lot of time in "his studio."

no doubt shooting poor kids and puppies with f/22 light.  of course.

i mean ... who wouldn't, right?

also ... kinda liking fuji neopan 400.  not bad at all.  scans up nice, too.  i mean ... that's a good thing because i actually print like less than 1% of what i shoot on film. 

guess a roll got shot halfway-through and then shelved and then shot again.  the look on that girl's face is fucking priceless. 

the two dudes in the center said "did you take a picture of me?"

"ché? io?  ché cosa scemo?"

yeah ... i yell back at people in italian.

i was shooting the kid in the backpack.

whilst ... i went out for a stroll with spyed...

he's on some world tour.  looks like it's going well.  good for him.

if you could see it on the big apple cinema screen, you could see a photographer looking at her phone across the street on the red carpet.  that was her looking at my text. ;)

taxi-fucking-drivers and tourists freak me out.

lonely hollywood boulevard at magic hour ...

unless you're a grip and you call it "tragic hour." ;)

one of my favourite quotes by one of my favourite people.

wider-than-usual, eh?  yep.  it's that new rangefinder-coupled voigtlander 15/4.5.  usually gandy lets me keep shit for a month or so.  the last lenses shade met a wall and i think he got pissed off. ;)

sorry, man.

working photographers bang their shit.

masturbating-web-writers think about working as a photographer and then reality hits them in the face because they have as much talent as the bag i pick up my dog's shit with.  fucking prepositions.  hate ending with them but ... whatever.

at least i put a link to gandy's site even though he doesn't have an affiliate program ... unlike other people.  inside joke there.

all kidding aside .. that lens is very nice.  really nice.

leaned in, too.

with a whisper-quiet m -- unlike you dslr-street-guys -- you don't need a long lens to really shoot. ;)

that and homeboy was deaf.

or some shit.

my subie mechanic hard at fucking work. ;)

my car needed a motul change.

i don't say oil.

motul kicks ass.

that motherfucker is cagey.  i've tried to get a shot of this guy and his fruit stand for years.

finally.

i'd rather no one knew i was making a photo.

unlike those who shoot dslrs and call themselves street guys. ;)

i love getting the defensive emails when i write shit like that.  it makes me laugh.

almost as much as the ones i get from the people who say "so what if you're repped."

if you have to ask, you just don't know. ;)

go sell to shutterstock.com; i'm sure you'll make a fuckload of €'s.

then again, i think i've seen better than what you do on shutterstock. ;)

dunno why but i really like photos of people selecting food.

not as much as bald heads on planes but ... well ... ya' know.

i really feel for blind people, too.  yes, i actually feel.  swear.

could you imagine what it must be like to have to relearn so many things should you become blind later in life?  damn.

chi-chi's eye popped out this past weekend.

no, we don't have a pirate-patch-wearing-chihuahua; she's fine.

fucking horror show.

that background tripped me out.

fucking, eh i have a lot of photos in airports goddamnit.

and of vegas for that matter.  such a trip that place.  if you haven't been, you have to see it one time in your life.

where the boobs are large ...

and ed hardy shirts reign.

speaking of ed hardy and douchebags.  he used to be a model believe it or not. ;)

sorry, brother, couldn't resist. ;)

homeboy was deep-in-thought.

i think he had yellow-fever and was thinking about the 20-something hostess.

people can't get enough of these fuckers.

i have a secret machine.  it's like an atm.  truth.

i hope the pilot isn't texting "fuck, i'm so fucking depressed today."

that would suck.

j was meditating.

;)

i think the hanging clothes were hungry.

we took a walk down one of the douche-y-est streets in one of the douche-y-est parts of l.a., which is the westside but doesn't include venice. ;)

body language is everything.

an unfinished tower at caesars.  i hear they skinned it so it looks completed even though they won't be completing it any time soon.

funny that people don't want to throw money away on $500 tables and buy $1000 bottles of vodka you can buy at bevmo for $20. 

funny how the economy works.

i think she thought there was food at the top of the stairs.

for sure.

she's so beautiful.  and ... she's like bff with m ...




both such attentive sitters. ;)

i mean it's not like there was a treat hanging out on the lens shade of the zeiss 85/1.4.  canon glass is such dogshit compared to the zeiss glass.  wish i didn't have to ever use one of their shitty zooms again.  ;)

how about one more photo of a sweet spaniel? 



wanna see the setup?  okay ... two, then...

some nice super soft bead board on a pair of lips.  had some nice roscoe 216 on the windows with a nice china silk 24x48 scrim.

fuck that strobist bullshit.  go buy some good grip gear and learn about "wrapping light" instead of jerking off on your little specular fucking flash gear. ;)

but i'm sure some nice alien bees look just as cool. ;)

i love dogs.

then again, most of you know that.

i just thought that shoe looked so small as compared to the sidewalk.

and ... there really is more gum on sidewalks than i would have ever thought.  never really looked. ;)

pissed off wank one more time:  check.
pissed off the onlinewannabe:  check.
made fun of that stupid-ass-aesthetic checker:  check.
pissed off the strobists: check.
pissed off those who aren't repped:  check.

yeah, my job is done here.

hope you're all very well.

cheers from the too-good-to-be-true-weather l.a.!

p.s., i kinda miss snarky tags.

"F*ck those Hollywood scumbags"

Those aren't my words. They were shouted by Corey Taylor a few nights ago. A lot of heavier bands seem to target Hollywood and that whole culture in their music. What's funny to me is that Slipknot is completely a mainstream band who has won a Grammy, participated in festivals called Pink-something-or-other and actually, now, have had their first number one album and single in the US. The funniest part is all the fans that eat it up. Those fans ... my God. I have to give it to Slipknot for making it though. I mean, they're a NINE PIECE, mask-wearing metal band from fucking Iowa! That just screams failure in the eyes of any label. I used to listen to them a lot when I was like thirteen, fourteen and I actually learned, in part, how to drum by playing along with their records - well, they only had one at the time. 

When I saw they were coming to Toronto, I was stoked to shoot them. When I asked if I could put some of my photos on to a certain website, I got the response, "they're B-List". 

This was the first photo I made at the show. That's Corey Taylor by the way. He came out and was standing in front of all the photographers while some kind of creepy intro music played. I got his attention by smiling up at him and then when I saw he was looking at me, probably to see what the fuck I was so happy about, I stuck out my tongue and threw up a devil horn at him. When I saw that he smiled back and laughed at it, I put my camera up to my eye and he leaned in to it and made the above face. It was really cool. He must have thought I was some fucking fan that got in to the photo pit somehow but I really like that photo. 

This is the essence of Slipknot - vocals and drums. That's what the band is all about. My dad really likes this photo. I think it's pretty cool too. Creepy band for sure. 

Getting the attention of Corey really helped with getting some interesting photos during the show. I love interacting with the people I shoot even if it's in a situation where I can't talk to them. It really makes a difference in how they treat you. 

The red light makes my photographer friends look like we were all in a darkroom with a fancy curtain. That's Carrie, Dave and a girl who's name escapes me that I met that night. It was actually a cool show - I stayed for about 45 minutes after I shot and I brought my girl along. Neither of us listen to that kind of music but I wanted to see them since I used to like them back in the day - I know it's weird for a nineteen year old to say "back in the day" but after watching some home videos from when my family went to the Bahamas when I was ten and my first birthday when I was one, I feel like a dinosaur. Vanessa liked the show too - she's so cool because she's always down to see new things. I love that about her! 

I love making spontaneous photos of her just about anywhere. 

And I love that she loves it just as much - she's really into it. It's amazing to have a model to make photos with whenever. We spend a lot of time together so there's a lot of photos being made. This was at Harbourfront which smelled like total ass before one of my shoots. I love bringing her along to my shoots too - and everyone loves her. We're a good team. Couldn't be happier with another girl! I know, I know, I'm young ... so what?!  

This was the shoot I brought her along for. I really like those shoes. 

I brought her along to another shoot to be my assistant and hold a big 30" reflector to bounce light on my subject. I was shooting a pianist who's a friend of a friend and needed some photos for her press kit. The art director loved Vanessa and she actually had some input in some of the creative aspects of the shoot. It was really fun! And I would not be happier testing out my light on anyone else while my subject is getting their hair and makeup done.

It usually always ends up in making other fun photos though:

 

We both laugh at that photo every time it comes up on my screen! 

And the pianist I shot: Nastasia. She's amazing on the keys. For those interested, this was just lit with a Chimera medium softbox with a 2500W head, -3 stops, placed to the left of the subject about 6 feet back at 200 ISO, f/2.8 at 1/160s. Vanessa was bouncing a bit of fill light with the silver side of a 30" reflector to the right of Nastasia. 

Those last two are totally Marilyn Monroe. I'm trying to stop saying "eh" ... it's a really Canadian thing and part of the linguistic culture for a lot of people in Toronto but I think it sounds stupid and a lot of my friends who are not from Canada and my cousins in Europe make fun of it ... and I totally agree. It sounds really dumb. My uncle and aunt flew over from Hungary for my grandma's birthday. It was so strange watching those home videos from when I hadn't entered the double digits yet and hearing my mom and my dad's voice. I couldn't recognize them if it were just audio. Even stranger was seeing my grandma ... she had a series of strokes in the past couple of years that have totally messed up her speech and writing and how she behaves ... and it was really strange to remember her how she used to be. Kind of sad but it is what it is. That can happen with old age. She still smiles like she used to though. 

It was cool chilling with my whole family. Well, not everybody, but this is a pretty large family gathering since 98% of my family lives in Europe. That uncle of mine is buying a Porsche Panamera when it comes out in July. Google that fucking car - it's unbelievable. 

Speaking of unbelievable - I love my new camera. I just bought a Nikon D700 recently - thanks to my friend Scott in Vancouver who hooked something up. When I first got it I felt like I was cheating when I was shooting at 6400 ISO and getting usable results. It seems surreal to me. It's so unheard of in photography. Needless to say, it's a big step up from my old bodies. And the in-camera black and white mode is kinda cool. And my favorite part about it all is that my 24-70 is actually a 24. And my 50mm is so perfect as a 50mm without the 1.5x crop factor. Love it! 

I've been shooting a lot of musicians lately. I just checked the schedule of Live Nation concerts for the summer and it looks like it'll be very cool. I haven't shot any shows in a while prior to Slipknot and it's been cool to do a few again. I also did some photos for a rap group: 

Doesn't Troy - in the blue - look like Flavour Flav? 

Love this bike: 

Did some live photos for a girl who's promo photos I shot. There's actually a video on YouTube of it here and my photos are in it as well - I had no idea they did that until I got a link from my friend saying, "dude, look what I found." Kind of cool. She's a really good singer.

This was a fun shot to set up - I love saying things like "you're getting married - lift her up" and seeing what they do. The guy holding her up is her partner in crime, PHATT al, also a very nice guy and extremely talented singer/rapper. 

I had an assignment for school to shoot during "magic hour" but I got distracted and took photos of Vanessa:

I really wanna buy a tilt shift lens. Ever since I started using movements with the 4x5 camera at my school I've really liked the results. I think it's so cool that they have made lenses that can recreate those photographic techniques for digital bodies. I'm really thinking of buying one. I've been shooting a lot lately. A lot of commissioned work ... a lot of personal work ... everything. I've just been so busy with second year university and the aforementioned work as well as having a social life that it's been hard to blog. But I really enjoy it and I'm excited to get back in to it now that I'm done school. I also started drumming again ... originally as a work out ... but I'm gunna do something cool ... I'm working on it. No rush, no commitments ... I'm just having fun. I should have something ready within the next month or so to show you! 

I visited my friends at Live Nation yesterday and dropped of a 4x4 foot print of AC/DC that they absolutely loved. That same print is hanging in the Rogers Centre and I have one on my wall but I'm still debating whether or not it works - it's fucking huge! I also have two prints of Chris Weeks on my wall - really inspiring shit! And my university wants to buy three 4x8 foot prints to make giant murals for their walls of a fashion show I photographed for them ... I'm going to do a post on that too - there's a lot of good material from it! 

I got my new camera from Vancouver on March 1 ... here are the first photos with it: 

This is a print of photo I did in the studio ... a conceptual piece:

 

And of course Vanessa was with me when it arrived at around 9:00am in the morning and so I had to test it on her: 

I think it passed! :) 

I love her little pink BlackBerry Curve and the wallpaper: 

My dad and my cat Figaro:

 

Fucking laughed so hard at this photo: 

There was some sort of protest going on: 

My mom liked the new camera too: 

So did my grandma: 

Tried out my SB800 flash with it: 

And a self portrait on the first day: 

Thanks for checking this out. Hope you guys are having fun - we're finally enjoying some summer-like weather in Toronto. I only have to shoot Fall Out Boy and Bruce Springsteen this week so it's pretty quiet! 

Ciao. 

Arthur

i heart pork.

i do.  whether they're little pets or bacon or prosciutto or pancetta.  i'm so friggin' tired of hearing about swine flu.  like the last post that kinda went under the radar.  would have posted that video on my fb but i didn't want to get banned by fb.  honestly, i think it's odd the timing of the g8 and then the "outbreak."  i think someone's trying to send the mexican govt a message.  i think it sucks.  i feel bad for my friends in mexico city.

mexico should be able to fucking sue the mainstream media (MSM) outlets for their INFO-DEMIC.

was trying to think -- besides the bullshit-swine-fucking-flu -- what i wanted to rant about.  dunno.  guess nothing.

how about a cute gf and a friendly spaniel?

she's kinda smiling.

you'd think she'd be used to being in front of myriad cameras, right?

spaniel is.  for damn sure.

easter bunnies have always freaked me out.  this one ... is no different.  the things americans spend money on freak me out.

i wonder what it must be like for chinese slaves workers ... seeing crazy surfing santas, dog salt and pepper shakers or big black jelly dongs with a mr. t head.  odd.

that ebunny photo on a 30" monitor is pretty cool.

the 12 square foot or 11,148 sq. centimeter print i just did of a giant chihuahua head was pretty cool, too.  the lab did an amazing job.  best lab in the world.  i mean that.

"right-to-lifers" who are also by-and-large also supporters of republicans and wars ... i suspect are only pro-birth because they routinely support people who support warmongering and ... sending people to death row. 

there's nothing pro-life about that shit.

fucking hypo-fucking-crites.  they disgust me.

spaniels don't though.  ;)

nor do puppies...

i love that photo.  dunno why.  the out-of-focus mom makes me smile. 

malls don't make me smile, though.  the indoor-only ones really don't make me smile.

don't think they make homeboy smile either.

look at the connection between mom and spaniel.  it's palpable.  even ... when you're supposed to be blowing out candles. ;)

love making photos of our spaniel.  the chihuahua, too, but the spaniel is just "a natural." ;)

trying out some of that fuji 400 b/w neopan-shit.

don't mind it.

this was the 120 variety shot with the contax 645.  seriously, the best medium format camera ever.  when i think medium i think big.  i know people like that mamiya rangefinder camera but ... i prefer zeiss glass.

spaniels really are the best.  especially ... the cavailier king charles variety. :)

not that i'm biased what-so-fucking-ever. ;)

this is our frieng g.  not our neighbor g but our vege-oil-mercedes-mechanic.  he's austrian royalty.  and ... the best mechanic on the planet.

not that you can tell by his office.

and before j says something about my fucking office:  no, you can't tell the quality of someone by looking at their office. ;)

looking forward to hanging out with some other "austrian royalty" in july ... in vegas ... and ... if we're lucky ... l.a. as well! 

seen a lot of "dog photos," besides those with m ... as of late ...

followed by ...

kinda looks like he's doing the goosestep, right?

kind of like the "hail mary" of photography.  then again, i know my framelines pretty well by now.

there are so many dogs in l.a.

hipsters, too.

dogs smell better.

wonder what happened to the dog whose collar this was. 

don't actually like thinking about that.

i wish all dogs had a great home.

i mean ... they all deserve a good and loving home.

m had a "spa day" which means we were too lazy to bathe his hairy ass.

seen lotsa waiting lately, too...

i love the fact they almost never see the leica m making the sneeky photograph.  seriously, you think you can do that with a d-slr?  hmm...

this is some "sneaky waiting" on the part of e waiting for our friend d to give her a piece of the yummy pizza.

this place is amazing for both food and photos.  i took my little french friend here for lunch when she visited last summer.  :)  congrats, love, on your recent success in the photoworld. :)

so happy for her.

homeboy is almost always on this corner.

always reading.

i think he's an undercover cop, actually.

that's my friend frank.  we hung out a couple weeks ago at the brewery during their art walk.

frank's a leica shooter.

:)

and hasselblad but i don't have to talk about hasselblad. ;)

the doll was part of some artist's "dead baby" exhibit.  fucking creepy as hell but the baby nailed to the upside down cross would have been mine if it weren't for the us$5K price. ;)

even when i'm pumping diesel in the bio-benz ... i have my camera.  then again, i won't leave it on the front seat ever ...

there's almost always someone sitting there in some kind of drug-addled gaze.

the same kind of gaze garnered by readers of wank or that online photo buffoon. ;)

been in a few airports, too.

then again, i'm always either going or having come back from ... airports.

always nice moments in airports.

between the moments when most travelers are so fucking nervous they leave their brains at home.

i can be "this close" and they still never see me.

and, no, i don't do all that many hip-shots.

not too many.

gotta go explore the fabric district more often.  i think there are a lot more photos there.

we have a lot of palm trees here.

i don't think they're indigenous, tho.

is anything really indigenous here?

i mean ... nothing is really from here ... save some coyotes and snakes.

by snakes i don't mean caa, icm, endeavor...

 

not indigenous.  definitely not.

the vignetting is normal on a nocti.  this isn't some bullshit-vignette photoshop philter.

even though i've talked shit about dA i don't hate the place.  and ... i definitely don't hate on the cee-e-oh, angelo.  we're still friends.  we still hang out periodically.  the other day we went out so that i could give him some pointers in the "human condition" photography arena.  i won't say street.  street is a puerile name for a genre the donkeys don't quite get.  they only get it when you describe it as "human condition."

yes, in a couple different contexts i care what those people think.

there's something that creeps me out about that frame.

fucking hollywood and highland ... there are more tourist than ... well ... not more than disneyland (#1) or venice beach (#2) ... it's ... i dunno.

they're everywhere.  and ... i wanna know what they think they're going to see.  "talent" does not go there unless they're contractually required to go to.

these quebequois were video'ing ... the sidewalk.

i could tell they were from quebec by the way they said oui.

ask j. 

it's uncanny what i can detect by accent.

and scent. ;)

there's even an obama imposter ... to go along with spidey ... jack ... um ... spongebob ...

wonder if obama "hits the pipe" like his counterparts do?

hmm.

dunno.

i made the above photo ... and angelo made this one.  :)

was a fun couple of hours.  he tells me there are going to be a lot of good things happening with/on dA.

i'll finish with my favourite dog/human/condition photograph ... not favourite-favourite but favourite-for-now ...

not quite sure why she's running.

was funny as shit.

happy someone else was driving!

so ... yeah ... that's my past couple weeks.  got lotsa traveling coming up.  lotsa shooting.  ya' know.

good stuff.

i know people ask why i make fun of friggin' wank and that onlinephotowank ... well ... this is the thing.  because i can.  i make a living making photos.  neither of them make any money making photos.  when one does that in the context of how i make photos -- and how many of my friends make photos -- i think your opinion is a bit more "real world" than some old white guy sitting in front of a computer SURMISING what it's like to "make photos in the real world."  the honorable genre of test photos notwithstanding, of course.  ;)

i could just post photos and not really have a commentary ... but ... it's my entitled right ... to say anything i fucking want to.  just so you know.

hope everyone is making nice photos and enjoying nice weather!

cheers from the "is-there-anywhere-better-than-here-weather" la.

-chris

in response...

to the utter fucking bullshit that is the fucking swine flu ...

click this.

*I SUGGEST BEING 21 AND OVER*

if you are my kid and you're reading this, THAT INCLUDES YOU.

really hope my e.u.-friends enjoy that.

hope you're well from the kinda-soggy-and-shaken-not-stirred l.a.!