i-know-i-know-i-know. i shoot a lot of dogs. i mean ... i photograph a lot of dogs. no, i don't like capitalization. in business letters and emails perhaps. blogs, not so much.
why? i don't fucking care. ;)
seems as though other bloggers enjoy punctuation and capitalization more than they do actually photographing. not that they can. of course. although they may spend a bit more time with whatever camera they're reviewing than some random standing at the counter at a camera store, i don't think they have any more knowledge than some random.
what i think funny is that they think their opinions are relevant. i also think it's funny that they'd prefer to be "real photographers" ... "real working photographers" ... but ... they're not. why? i mean ... there are some SHITTY photographers out there and they've "made the cut" as it were.
these guys? guess they can't even make the cut of even the shittiest shooters out there.
whatever.
so ... had lots of time to shoot the canon 5dm2. i really love the way the shutter sounds now. it doesn't sound like the old one which sounded ... a bit cheap. i compare everything to the 1d-series and this one comes the closest.
'kay ... we pulled up to a very cold and dreary long beach ... and ... saw ... the inevitable prepping of dogs for the akc/eukanuba national champion show. in the u.s. there are this show and westminster. those are the biggies.
yes, all of these were selected and edited in aperture. :) i'm alway stoked when i can do selects and edits on large takes ... when i have time to acquire and let the thumbs build ... in aperture. can burn through edits of 400 images in no time with lifting and stamping my actions. so fucking cool. for the quick and dirty selects of a normal-sized workflow where time is really of the essence for dealines, i'm still stuck with the photomechanic-photoshop-photomechanic workflow routine.
and i added a bit of vignetting since there was some natural (?) vignetting going on with the 16-35/2.8l. i know the wanks don't like any fucking vignetting spoiling their excellent work.
love little frenchies. pretty cool dogs.
but not as much as the cav's (short for cavalier king charles spaniels) ...
the in-camera crop was intentional. i wasn't making "straight up photos" at this point. rather, i was interested in the behind-the-scenes photos at this time...
who says dogs are the only ones who are food motivated?
trueblood was there as well. was amazing hanging out with him on saturday!
at least being in the presence of his talent was refreshing ... considering the complete lack of talent in the dog world. i mean ... damn. we're talking medi-fucking-ocre. dunno if wank could even pull off dog show photography.
the official shooter was this dude. i shit you not. not only did he light his "set" with tungsten bounced off umbrellas but he mixed it with non-cto-balanced strobe. probably alien bees. ;)
only but the dude set up a tripod in the main ring to get winner's shots. being the dick i am i asked "who the fuck uses a tripod: it's fucking 2008 for christ's sake." don't think he liked that.
there's also this dude. i mean. really.
besides trueblood, though, i met a photographer named jack kenner. was nice meeting him as well and looking at his work. very nice stuff. he's a REAL photographer. and he's a very nice guy!
i guess there's some hope, yet, for photographers in the dog world.
i may or may not have asked aloud "can any of these friggin' dog photographers fucking focus" within earshot of another photographer whilst looking at one of her photos. perhaps. don't remember exactly, though. ;) at least she's better than the "average dog shooter."
there was another, however, she doesn't have a website. then again, why would she.
because in the dog world ... shooters try and bounce ... where bounce is inappropriate and ... the WRONG way to use flash...
well-played homie.
well-fucking-played. ;)
that last one was the zeiss ze 50/1.4. love-love-love-love that lens. :)
a bit esoteric for the wire i was shooting for. mario liked it, though. i did, too.
and, again, with the zeiss.
another zeiss shot on the 5dm2 ... he's the chairman of the akc. pretty fancy position.
'twas time for a cav-photo. i thought. and again ... the zeiss.
oh yeah ... would have love to have had the replacement focusing screen called the eg-s. they should all have that screen. it's so so so nice. and ... i kinda think it's mandatory when manual focusing. funny that b&h was out of them and my guy had some. odd.
crazy damn chihuahua owners and handlers. cute, though. c, our chihuahua, is more tacobell-dog rather than show-dog. they like apple heads in the ring. c's a deer head. :(
not that we would have ever showed her.
the "new beast" also handled flash well. i prefer using it off-camera with that st-e2 thing that uses those fucked up batteries. same batteries the contax uses.
the pointer on the end was the big winner. 'twas interesting that everyone we spoke with was like "oh, the pointer or the giant schnauzer will win." dunno how that is ... that everyone knew who'd win.
handlers and owners and groomers really had no idea how to react to a photographer with a big camera in one hand and a flash in the other. was kinda funny watching them react, though.
the dog's didn't seem to mind.
odd that the "poodle people" were the ones who'd ask "who do you shoot for?"
and then say "what's that" when i answered.
i thought that was odd.
no comment.
nope ... not happy being photographed.
dogs didn't mind, though.
i love moments. human and human. human and dog. dog and dog.
did i talk about jack? he's a very fancy fancy spaniel. he lives in a castle in wales. no joke.
the tilt-shift also made it's way into the bag and mounted on a body. actually, i think it made it into the bag j carried. trueblood said "oh, you got your own sherpa." ;)
don't think j liked that.
i think the mexican-theme of the chihuahua booth at the "meet the breeds" exhibit ... was funny on many different levels. many.
but i'll keep them to myself. ;)
she may have been slight but she was beautiful and sweet ... in true cav-style. :)
the dog wash area was outside in the freezing cold ...
and then there's maltese-style ...
and ... a chance to make a photo with the zeiss ze 50/1.4.
carried three bodies this day. usually the "new beast" had the zeiss 50/1.4 on it. went wide on the 1dsm3 and used the long glass with the 1dm2. seems the 1dm2 focuses so damn well i couldn't bear to get rid of it. and ... not to mention ... i only have a remote cable for the 1dm2 for use with the pocket wizards.
and i had a leica, too.
because some of us can actually use a leica make good photos. unlike wank of course.
and i doubt the dog-show-wanks which really really was the status quo ... wouldn't dare use a tilt-shift.
was able to meet another photographer, though, who really knows his shit. gilles. amazing shooter.
although there's not much action-action ... at least one could make it look like some action was going on.
that is ... if you're unafraid of deviating from fucking programme mode. ;)
dog people don't like open mouth shots but ... this was one of my fave's.
'twas fun juxtaposing poodles, though...
and their shadows...
i mean ... i guess they can't all be cav's. ;)
his name is rocky. moved that photo to the wire as well. :) had to have a cav in the super-super-tight edit which was transmitted.
love seeing the not-so-serious part of dog showing.
and the crazy things the handlers do to make the dogs alert whilst "stacking."
just a little imperfect moment in a show demonstrating the best in dog breeding.
this is "holly" she's the pointer everyone told us would win the "best of show."
and, in fact, she did.
knowing who to dedicate some coverage attention really helps out. knowing she'd probably win i tried and put the "best in show" sign somewhere within the composition of the frame.
and, of course, homeboy-the-official-photographer with his tripod. dunno, besides some political connection, what gets you hired as the "official."
then again, half the fucking people i have to work with ... they only get access because they're persistent and annoying.
the best part of this photo is the owner with the squeaky-toy with the photographers.
homeboy-official wasn't interested in this photograph.
odd.
it's odd that guys like that "see it straight up" and probably shoot on p-mode ...
not odd i guess.
just sad.
these are people who "found photography" or "picture taking" as it's hard to call them photographers.
i call them people with cameras.
people with cameras who ... appear to have ... tapped into a market which doesn't have the "highest expectations."
then again, at least those people don't spend their time taking pictures at a camera's highest or near-highest iso's ... and look for black pixels. jesus-fucking-christ ... go make photos ...
and not those kinds of photos.
who the fuck shoots buildings at night at a camera's highest iso's and thinks they're gonna get a good result? fucking wankers. the files (photos) coming out of the canon eos 5dm2 are beautiful. in fact, i shot my kid's water polo game with the 70-200/2.8L at 3200 wide open at like 1/125th with amazing results.
did some of the highlights have black pixels? dunno.
i'm a photographer not a masturbating-pixel-fucking-monkey with nothing better to do than to write forum posts and look like a fucking expert?
an expert-in-fucking-what, though? in photography?
my fucking ass.
these people on forums are ABSOLUTELY NOT photographers. that goes for wank as well. and even though that other guy claims to have a degree in art ... he's not all that good either. sorry gandy i know he's your friend but i call it as i see it.
if you have no talent, i'm not going to listen to you.
sorry.
dogs. sorry. forgot.
i don't know pointers but that bitch is very impressive. ;)
you should have seen the "other freak-fucking-person-with-a-camera" yelling at the handler to pick up the ribbon or rosetta as she called it.
even though i'm bitching about the talentless people with cameras i had to "work around," we had an amazing time over the last couple days of the competition.
because ... it was really about the dogs.
and they were amazing.
well ... seeing some of our friends was amazing, too. and ... through that whole quagmire of talentless dog photographers ... we met a couple very talented photographers as well.
what a trippy couple of days it was.
fun, though.
still making 1080p videos with the new beast.
don't really have anything to edit them together, though. not only ... but where do you post something like that? for sure not fucking utube. hmm...
i'm sure i'll figure it all out.
hope everyone is really ready for the holidays ...
crazy rain here in l.a. and snow in malibu ... snow also in vegas. who the fuck knew.
cheers from the soon-to-be-dry-yet-chilly l.a.!
-chris
p.s., if you want to waste us$100, go and order this. ;)
Love the photos.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/weekschris/blog%2018dec2008/IMG_9266.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/weekschris/blog%2018dec2008/0S3C9244.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/weekschris/blog%2018dec2008/IMG_9360.jpg
are my favourites.
In regards to the video thing, http://www.vimeo.com/ looks pretty good.
Although it's kinda funny 9/10 of the videos uploaded from the MkII and D90 are 5 minute shots of a flower with the focus changing from the flower, to something in the background, and back. Either that or bokeh-fests of some busy street at night.
There's a couple of nice ones though.
http://www.vimeo.com/2486544
this one made me laugh. http://www.vimeo.com/2462885
Posted by: Dan | 18 December 2008 at 10:44 AM
Cool stuff Chris!
Yeah, 5D2 is a great camera. It's Joanne's cam and i hope it's gonna be a real blast for her to use since the frequently disappointing 400D.
And meeting Trueblood - very cool as well, i haven't researched so far what is it that he really does or who he is, but the photos i saw on DA - amazing. I love that sense of humour.
About talentless people... Funny story - recently my friend sent me a few photos from an event he shot with the new 5d2. He's a studio photog and produces some really amazing commercial photos, especially food. The thing is... that although i can't match his commercial work, as much as i try, even with his hints, his shot from that event were really poor. So... sometimes it's not about talent, it's about specialization. Anyway, Wank and that other dude... it's a different story altogether.
But hey - Wank did say something right recently! :D He laughed at the "black dots" problem that seems to put all the Canon forums in panic mode. Cuz he, just like me and probably You, has not been able to reproduce this effect in real life situations. And even if, it's just negligible.
Posted by: Adam Kozlowski | 18 December 2008 at 10:44 AM
mmm...tilt-shifty.
that "official" dude even managed to butcher photos of puppies. ick.
Posted by: Tina | 18 December 2008 at 10:44 AM
Haha, I always gathered that poodle owners were a little odd..
The sherpa comment might not have been appreciated by all, but thanks for sharing it mate! ;)
Posted by: Scott Alexander | 18 December 2008 at 10:44 AM
the shot of the juxtaposed poodles is awesome, fucking love the way the composition sweeps you through the shot. and the shot of jack is lovely, gotta love happy dogs :D enjoy the snow and merry christmas ;)
Posted by: Christian Rollinson | 18 December 2008 at 11:20 AM
Wow, that Zeiss 50/1.4 is like ... it cost nothing!
I like the dog on the table, beaming self confidence and light in an else dark environment. And the the man taking off from the floor with Best Show dog, but I mentioned that before.
Posted by: Thorsten Overgaard | 18 December 2008 at 11:41 AM
@dan: thanks, man. vimeo, eh? interesting. i liked the quality of the couple links you sent! perhaps i'll post something there.
that second one was ridiculous. ;)
Posted by: C Weeks | 18 December 2008 at 11:45 AM
@adam: she's got an amazing camera for sure.
trueblood is an on-set stills guy but does a lot of personal projects, which is one of the reasons i respect him. it's very hard for me to respect people who don't do personal work.
i know a lot of those studio-set-up guys ... they couldn't make a candid photograph to save their lives. i see their work more along the lines of engineering rather than photography. a lot of the time it's because they have zero social skills: they'd rather hole themselves up in a dark studio and fuck with lights, flags and scrims. no grazie. ;)
nothing fucking wank says means shit. just so you know.
Posted by: C Weeks | 18 December 2008 at 11:50 AM
@tina: there's always a place for the tilt-shift. and ... i'm sure that official dude butchered all of the photos. amazing how some people are able to get a job.
Posted by: C Weeks | 18 December 2008 at 11:51 AM
@scott: they are for sure, man. and ... no worries ... i still don't think she appreciates it. ;)
Posted by: C Weeks | 18 December 2008 at 11:55 AM
@thorsten: yeah, just proves that zeiss is smarter than leica in so many ways. instead of having so many r-mount lenses sitting around gathering dust in some german warehouse ... they could license mounts and actually sell r-mount stuff. thing is ... they'd be 4 times more expensive than they need to be.
zeiss really is doing it right ... right now. yes, i know a lot of their stuff is made in japan. japan. germany. whatever. as long as it isn't china.
glad you liked the dog shots, man!
Posted by: C Weeks | 18 December 2008 at 12:00 PM
It is official: all future assistants will now be known as Sherpas.
Glad to see you approve of my new favorite tools, the Zeiss 50/1.4 and it's big brother, the 85/1.4. I weep when I am required to unmount them for whatever reason.
In fact, here's a slideshow I made last night. The soundtrack is an inside joke... :-) All shots were made with the 50/1.4 ZE: http://darrenabate.com/slideshows/081217/
Effin' beautiful glass...
Posted by: Darren Abate | 18 December 2008 at 01:01 PM
haha saw that porto-pottie photo on Rockwell's page and really questioned it for a while.
Laughed a lot.
can't believe he said it was about "Positive and Negative space"
wow
Posted by: Tom (Achillies875 @ dA) | 18 December 2008 at 01:01 PM
i was going to suggest vimeo for posting video too but seems like someone already beat me to it :)
great shots man
Posted by: Pat! | 18 December 2008 at 01:01 PM
enjoyed the post. :-)
Posted by: elinor | 18 December 2008 at 04:59 PM
I noticed the other day you can host videos at Photobucket, as well as photos. Then you can just link them to the blog, same as the pictures.
Posted by: Phil | 18 December 2008 at 05:00 PM
I love the guy bouncing his flash off the air! That's amazing!
These were nice photos, great as always to see! And commentary funny as hell, as always, to read.
I think it's pretty fitting that dog photography has a lot of shitty shooters. Kinda makes sense.
Posted by: Arthur Mola | 19 December 2008 at 08:29 PM
Lovely shots Chris! That 50/Zeiss is a killer!!! :)
The 5dm2 seems to be doing very well for you... especially with the Zeiss lens :)
Posted by: Rastislav | 22 December 2008 at 06:42 AM
Nice Chris! Some great images - as per usual.
Good shout outs to Gilles and Trueblood too.
Hope it warms up for you. Bloody fucking cold here in Chicago, I actually snapped a roll of TriX when winding on.
Cheers,
L
Posted by: Liam Strain | 22 December 2008 at 09:45 AM
Hey Chris! :D
Merry Christmas! It's always great to see the world thru your eyes!
Love the dogs BUT the "no comment" one which is scary.
So, you've made typepad your new home once and for all?
squeaky-toy one is really funny... Wonder if Holly is even paying attention...
Who's behind Murphy's facebook updates? They're awesome! ;)
Posted by: Daniel Gomes | 22 December 2008 at 09:56 AM
crap. like I need more lenses -- esp. around 85mm -- have the 85mm f/1.2L mk 2, 80 'lux-R, 90 elmarit-R, etc, etc, etc. But, your Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 shots have so much frikin character, I may need to sell some lenses and get it. damn. maybe the 50 f/1.4 too. problem is that they have so much focus shift I may just get the Nikon versions and use with and adaptor so that I can see what I'm doing when I stop down. Or maybe not -- I usually shoot wide open and can probably make use of the little green dot.
Posted by: Sam | 27 May 2009 at 07:56 PM