awards season.

means ... someone found one script in a pile of shit ... and it was halfway decent. ;)  i didn't say that; j said that.  kinda true.

all of the different awards shows are a bit overwhelming.  it's amazing to me how much "weight" different people put on each of the respective awards.

back from the snowy hell of sundance.  'cept it wasn't really hell.  there was no fluffy white stuff falling from above.  that said ... there was a bit more crazy hidden ice than any of the years i've been there.  got to hang out with my nyc friends and i think we went out every night. 

got the zeiss ze 1.4/85 like a day before i left for utah.  since there was absolutely no reason to shoot the beast, i used the venerable 1dm2.  that old body still autofocuses better than any other body i use.  not only but there was no reason to make unneeded actuations on the beast.  seems, though, that the new jr-beast, the 5dm2, does pretty well on it's own.  except for a couple t/s photos with the 5dm2 it pretty much was fitted with either the zeiss ze 1.4/85 or 1.4/85.

funny that every year at sundance one of the leicas have taken falls, knocks or some other kind of action the body didn't like.   when i was just walking around i usually carried the 5dm2 and the zeiss 1.4/50.  shot "camp freddy" with the mp and the 1.4/35, though.  looking forward to seeing those rolls come back from the lab! :)

so are a few other people.

*pauses for some winter x-games snowmobiling*

every time i go to the lab and smell the chemicals it makes me wish i had time to process my own stuff.

then my blackberry buzzes and i know i'd never have time.

seriously, it's so different as a "working photographer" than someone who's ... not a working photographer.  my friend dk went from nyc to utah to the bahamas and then to l.a. yesterday.  each leg of that was an extended-assignment.

happy this time 'round it was la to utah and back.

there's not a huge group of people who get to experience this kind of shooting schedules.

in our circle we all know each other.

funny to me so many on the web (e.g., bloggers, commenters or community participants) think they have a clue and they so don't.  in fact, even with marginal talent or even a "photo education" ... they still will never find out what it's like.

conversely, i'm stoked i know some who have begun their "track" to become "working photographers."

other of you ... enjoy the fact you'll never become anything more than "internet posters" who think they know what they're doing.  ;)

enjoy your time in the lab. ;)

so ... yeah ...

think my sundance began with ... hanging out with these guys ...

rather than ... this ... crazy thing...

nothing about that thing was right.  and ... even though better judgment would have told me to "eat at home" ... even the 5 bites i had ... well ... i think i paid for them for at least another day.

above and beyond the food, though, it's nice to see people i work with ... like merritt (shooter) and melissa (editor)...

and meryl with her little contax...

no idea why she wore that hat.

that's jeff and jamie.

this is in the main street bus taking us back to "the compound"...

free transportation! 

jamie again guarding his beer.

or the fire.

don't remember which.

dunno what annah was explaining to merritt.

the night wore on.  usually does the first night.  this time 'round though ... there were a) less than 75 people in a two-bedroom condo, b) no cops at the front door and c) no firemen at the front door either.

much better this time 'round 'cept someone said "no party, you guys must be getting old."

whatever.

this year at sundance ... it was more subdued.  i think it was a combination of the global economy and the no-on-hate people boycotting utah and their mormons.

mormons are nice.

was difficult to find atmosphere photos because there weren't hoards of people...

walked 'round once and found one...

submitted like 5 photos to the editors and i was done with "official atmosphere." ;)

even on the first day there were movie poster-things all over the place ...

that was another of the five. 

think those were the only non-zeiss photos in this post.

that's dk.  he works a lot.

as opposed to not-working-alot-photographers. ;)

this photo had absolutely nothing to do with anything "officially sundance" but it did get lotsa play. ;)

shot a female snow boarder but i forgot her name as soon as i voice-tagged the files. ;)

so don't remember. 

i do remember being happy i was shooting that zeiss glass.  handing it over to people who haven't manual-focused since 2000 ... well ... that was fun, too.

thought i'd remember the name.

still can't.

i even covered a premiere. ;)  yes, mate that's much different than doing your cousin's wedding.

his film had a lot of buzz.  unsure why i was summoned to shoot a premiere but ... i think we could be safe to assume a) using people with cameras is different than having photographers and b) newbies suck. ;)

they could be out doing a familial wedding, right?

that counts as a "working photographer," no?

;)

no, mate, your opinion doesn't mean shit to me. ;)

this little guy's opinion means more ...

that was the 1dm2 with flash.  just so you know.  forgot about that one.

whilst i participated in the commerciality of sundance ... there were photos to be made, though...

that's emma roberts -- julia's neice.  love it when people know how to look at a camera! :)

5dm2.

zeiss ze 85/1.4.

large window.

nothing else. :)

did almost the same photo three or four years ago, too.  odd.

christina millan is always nice.  like always.

and so is ewan mcgregor ...

don't be daunted by not having studio gear ... a nice large window does the same thing.

i mean ... if there's some sort of sun coming through it, of course.

so nice being back and using aperture, too.  of the few photos i had to edit in ps cs3 ... i'd much rather be in the normal swing of things and editing in aperture.  so much more intuitive.

and, yes, i have sold the canon 85/1.2L and replaced it with the zeiss 1.4/85.  not only ... but the old canon 50/1.4 has been replaced with the zeiss 1.4/50 as well.  although less pronounced with the canon 85, the canon 50 had a bit of colour-fringing issues.  the zeiss does not.

every mf on the planet shooting canon has the same "out-of-focus background" ... and i prefer the "out-of-focus-background" the way the zeiss renders it!

cannot wait for addition glass to be available.

another reason not to use pirated software. ;)

i've never quite understood how people get pissed off about their photos being misappropriated on the internet when they edited said photos with "ripped software."  doesn't make sense.

nor does wank trying to bag on leica for naming their lenses whatever they've named them.  honestly, wank shouldn't even own a leica.  i think that's worse than 10 dentists, 15 engineers and a couple physicians thrown in for good measure ... collectively owning leica and making horrible photos. ;)

speaking about donkeys -- besides the ones we encountered at the l.a. art show -- i wanna know how one can possible say "a lens isn't recommended" when the person writing up the "article" doesn't even include photos of his work?  i mean seriously?  this dude's "test shots" are probably worse than wank's ... for sure.

amazing anyone takes those two seriously.

and if you're in central europe and think i'm mean, i think you're irrelevant. ;)

and you're on ip-ban.

when i got home from helldance i was greeted by a box from norway. my friends sjurd and antonio built me a new camera...

cannot wait to take some of the 4x5 to the lab.  f/256!  i was so stoked that sjurd and antonio took the time to build me a pinhole!

the view that evening was quite nice...

wonder what it'll look like in pinhole?

okay ... stuff to do ...

hope you're all very well. thanks as always for the comments!

off to the lab and to get something to eat!

cheers from the soon-to-be-rainy-la?

p.s., i hope everything works itself out soon ... for my friends in iceland.  can't believe this craziness.

Comments

[Darren Abate]

Sweet pics brother! Zeiss is the way of the future, and I'm totally rehooked on MF. I covered a Tet celebration at one of the local Buddhist temples, all with your 5D and the ZE 50 and 85. The link's on my FB page. Let me know what you think if you have a free minute!

[Shane]

Chris,

Awesome stuff, of course. Figures you'd find a dog while out shooting the festival, and one with a guest badge, no less! Damn!

That Anne Heche shot is pretty cool, especially when seeing the archived stuff in comparison. I think my favorite one is of Emma Roberts. Very photogenic looking, that gal...though the one of the snowboarder in the egg-chair was a close second.

I'm sure plenty of people are envious of your job, gear, etc. I just wish my camera had the ability to voice-tag shit, too! Fuck. Alright, I'm envious of your other shit as well... double fuck.

Wait a fucking second -- after typing out my 'double fuck' it occurred to me that you didn't "fuck" once yourself! Jaysus, bro! Thank gods I'm fucking here to pick up the slack for you! Ha!

I wouldn't say this ordinarily, but it's cool that you were covering "Rudi Y Cursi" -- the producer, Guillermo del Toro, is honestly one of the sweetest people walking the earth. Not an adjective normally associated with another male, but it fits him.

Alright, pal -- hope you're well out there! Fucking -25˚ here this morning. Probably made Sundance look like a sauna.

-Shane

[shashank]

wow...something finally beats the 85/1.2

btw what was that thing you *tried* to eat?

[Eduardofrench]

Beautiful photos, love the window portraits, those are a breath of fresh air of what will be the cannonical parade of "speedlite in daylight stuff" other photographers have taken, you rock dude ;).

You know yesterday I was laughing flippantly reading wank's "article" -I vomited a little :x- some parts made me laugh more than others like:

"Why was I giggling so uncontrollably? Mostly because I'm immature, but also because my complete Leica system, with M7 body, 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2 and 90mm f/2.8 German Leica lenses, cost me just under $4,000, or half the price of a D3X body alone." ORLY? from all the people of the planet he should shut the F-up, I mean he has bought almost every nikon, every canon SLR and point and shoot and now he tries to lecture on how little he has spent on a Leica? :P... yeah wank...

"Like most serious shooters, I'm so done with digital. All I shot was film, and it was so much more fun, easy and inexpensive — and gives better results to skilled users. "
ORRRRRRRRRRLY? After spending the external debt of a 3rd world country in cameras you have come to that point?, I kinda wonder if Joe Mcnally, Micheal Grecco and Stephen Eastwood -to name a few of course- use digital because of shits and giggles, I mean they shoot film and digital but when they use digital Wank says they aren't serious... ;)... film has its places and uses just like digital one doesn't make anyone serious, but hey wank is wank right

The "online photographer" has as sponsor "joyful nudes"..... WTF...

Getting back to useful stuff... hmmmmmmmmmmmm that Zeiss glass and movie mode on the 5D mk II roaaaaaar sexy! haha :D

Great to see you blogging again bro :), hey whenever you can go to the flickr group -remember the one I did for people of uber to post their photos?-

The best for you and your loved ones
Eduardo

[Sam Oksner]

I love the shot of Anne Heche, the light is very nice and the Zeiss 85 seems to do wonders. I'm getting a Zeiss 50 for myself since it's a good alternative the the 50 f1.4 and f1.2 that canon offers.

And theonlinephotographer has no idea what he's talking about, the Zeiss 28 is a stunning piece of glass, and pretty much the only show in town for a quality 28 prime if one shoots canon, (i used an adapter from ZF to EOS). Zeiss is going to be releasing (apparently)the 21/2.8 this spring and the 35/2 and 28/2 early next year so things should get exciting.

[morgs]

Mate,

great stuff. I know what it's like with that MF gear... 1981 35/2 nikkor on the d700 is a gem, i have the af version but its just not the same at all. good for quick work.

a ZF 50 would be lovely!

love the photos!

what do you think of the new mendes and aronofsky films? still have yet to see either...

[C Weeks]

@darren: love those photos, man! it's so the way of the future. told my leica contacts they'd do way better if they licensed canon or nikon mounts and got rid of the r-system inventory. zeiss is so smart; i just wish more people knew about it.

then again, whatever, i'm glad we do. ;)

[Liam Strain]

Enjoy that pinhole. They're all sorts of fun. I'm trying to convince myself to get one of the modified polaroid 900's that uses 4x5 so I have a better LF rangefinder.

Not that I have any projects requiring it at the moment. That's the problem actually.

Great shots again Chris. I'm really digging the T/S work you're throwing in the mix. Nice to see that the wires are using them too.

[C Weeks]

@shane: the dog fucking found me.

it was odd to make a second shot of anne against a window at sundance. almost never happens that way.

i, too, liked emma's photo the most.

25F? sundance was about that during the day and about 14 at night. not quite sauna-like. ;)

thanks for the comment, man! :)

[C Weeks]

@shashank: i think it does for sure. never thought the one-two focused exactly the way i thought it should have. now ... i focus and nail it way more than i did af'ing with that pig.;)

[C Weeks]

@eduardo: i made plenty of canon flash in the day photos as well. don't worry.

"serious shooters" ... yeah ... i know many of them and they've all given up on film, actually, save a very few. it's so fucking disingenuous for non-experts like wank to tell others this shit. he's not a serious shooter; he's a wank; he's jealous he's not good enough to do this for a living. ;)

i doubt anyone in his suburban san diego area would even hire him if he had a "strip mall portrait studio."

and ... i mean ... yeah ... joyful nudes! amazes me that most of the online photographer and wank-set are largely seriously lacking-in-talent old white guys.

hence the joyful nudes fucking link.

saw the flickr group but i don't even know my flickr password. i don't maintain that account.

soon.

best to you and yours as well, mate.

[C Weeks]

@sam: thanks, mate.

buying that glass is a great move.

that onlineguy ... why people like him continue to try and tell the world how much they know and why their opinion matters is beyond me.

if you can't shoot, you can't shoot: it doesn't mean you should teach or tell others how to do something you clearly can't do yourself.

very much looking forward to the upcoming zeiss releases.

[C Weeks]

@morgs: thanks, mate. hope you get one of the zf's. my friend who shoots for reuters bought mine ... even though he's a digital-only canon guy ... he loved it on the fm2!

cheers!

[C Weeks]

@liam: dunno if the ap or reuters would move a tilt/shift shot but, yeah, it's nice to throw those in once in a while.

cannot wait to see the stuff come back from the lab.

they are fun!

[Shane]

Chris: it's even better now knowing the dog sought you out! They all must be talking to one another, raving your shit up!

I meant to say it was negative-25 degrees here today. Only got up to a comfy zero degrees after 1230pm. That's some frigid shit!

[Nhat Nguyen]

Great shots man. Dig the shot of Jamie guarding his beer. Ever since I played with your 5DII and Zeiss 50mm, I've been itching to get some Zeiss glass.

[jiwaki]

wonderful photos the three of anne heche, christina milian and ewan mcgregor! it's always nice to see your work.

[Brian Webb]

jaime kinda looks like an 80s morrisey...at least the hair. LOL

[Rastislav]

Hey Chris! Great to see some new photos!!! Especially with the Zeiss 85 and 50, such wonderful colors, contrasts and yes the out of focus is what gets me every time with the Zeiss lenses. I just purchased a second hand 5d... my first DSLR and happy I waited for a full frame one!!! I can’t wait to try it... just missing a lens.

I was thinking of the canon 50mm f1.4. What do you think? Is it a good investement? For sure I'd rather get the Zeiss but the $$ is a little tight.

Loved, loved... loved your protrait shots, so full of life and honesty. Nice work!

Take Care!

[Samuel Lara]

"don't be daunted by not having studio gear ... a nice large window does the same thing"...

Yes! :) Nice to see you guys in a common blog. I miss my uber sometimes though.

Cheers,

Samuel Lara Hernandez

[Christian Rollinson]

love ewan in the window, very nice, and the pose of the guest dog cracked me up :D