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
Nice one there dude. Really enjoyed the vids. Thanks!
Posted by: Erik | 11 September 2009 at 01:57 PM
Great stuff Chris - a video version of 'thwaap' - Loved it.
Interesting comment on how you are going to explore shots that you wouldn't have taken with film - looking forward to more excellent work.
Cheers
Posted by: Nick Dormor | 11 September 2009 at 01:59 PM
Hey Chris,
I was wondering about the silence...and the images in that last post. :)
BTW, I think I spotted one of your Lynch photos here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-08-30/famous-college-roommates/?cid=bs:archive166#gallery=600;page=6;item=
Not exactly full credit given for that one...6th image in the series, in case the link is screwed up.
Have exams monday, so the videos will have to wait, but I'm looking forward to some more sage advice...and to seeing how the random cursing from the old PDFs is reflected in the new medium. :)
BTW,
Do they let you keep your prototype camera when the testing is over?
Best,
Posted by: chucklesbd | 11 September 2009 at 06:08 PM
Chris,
the video is quite spectacular. Could you please contact me via email [carlos at echenique dot com] to arrange for a copy (in one file) to be sent to me so that I can show it to my photography students later this year?
Excellent work!
Carlos Echenique 写真家
Stagecraft, Fine Art, Landscape & Architectural Photography
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1328542316 | 11 September 2009 at 09:29 PM
I hear you on the video-transcoding... I do some DVD-authoring work as part of my day job, and our Mac G5 spends over half a day to convert a 4-hour video taken from VHS... :P
Great video... the 5D2 does a grand job... and now I understand a bit more about rangefinders... shame I can't really afford one... but my Canon G9 ain't too shabby... :) a lot of new options opening up now, with the new micro-four-thirds cameras, and more large-sensor compacts popping up everywhere... good times. :)
Posted by: Alan Ralph | 12 September 2009 at 03:17 AM
Absolutely brilliant!
At least for me, it was great to see you all speaking, and taking photos in front of the camera, because I (and I think most of your readers) would never get to see that otherwise.
I have three comments about the video content. First, you didn't say "f*ck". Second, and most important, I loved the part when it says "it doesn't matter if you're in Los Angeles, Vienna or in Buenos Aires", because I actually am from Buenos Aires! I will take it as a wink to me, even if that's not possible hehe. Finally, I didn't think Severin would be in the video and it was a great surprise to see him there.
I envy you very much though, because you all take your expensive Leicas without worries to take street photos. If I did that here in BA (Right now I'm doing it with a Yashica J), I probably would get robbed in just a few minutes.
N.
Posted by: Nacho Pereira | 12 September 2009 at 11:25 AM
Wow. Some seriously nice work here, bro. Mean that. Ace stuff. I know it isn't all to the M9's credit, either. ;-)
I wish I could have been walking around with you guys Downtown. Been busy as hell here the new desert that is S. Tejas.
I'm trying to watch your videos, but I'm going to have to wait til later today, because I'm uploading some HD material of my own to Vimeo and YouTube, and it's completely choking my connection.
Shooting motion is a world of difference, isn't it? Before I started doing it, I never would have thought that it would be so time-consuming.
Posted by: Darren Abate | 12 September 2009 at 01:16 PM
HEY to Chris and everybody else from New Zealand!
Since I'm a Street Photographer myself (and I'm getting the Leica M9 in a couple of days), I enjoyed watching the docomentaries a lot. I don't necessary agree on everything said but I don't have to, do I?
This lines are most beautiful: "Rangefinders will not make esthetically better photographs. However, they will. If used properly make a better photographer."
Chris - you should come to New Zealand and be our guest. There is some good Street Photography going on.
It would be great to hearing back from you.
Take care, Bixi
Posted by: Birgit Krippner | 15 September 2009 at 03:21 AM
""I am going to make more the photos I didnt make in the past""
??? funny, what has the caera to do with this? = nothing.
your M9 black and white files look pretty much like clean digital files from any digital camera.
best Stefan
Posted by: Stefan Rohner | 01 October 2009 at 12:17 AM
great to see you post again man
can't wait to see your motion work
(and thanks for the link to alexi's blog. she's hilarious LoL)
Posted by: Pat! | 28 December 2009 at 06:19 PM
beautiful pictures...the graphics more exact the colors are impeccable, you're slowly convincing me to get a M9 for myself...damn you ! :)
Posted by: James | 28 October 2010 at 06:49 AM
Real class art photos with a remarkable piece of equiment. And the video was nice too.
Posted by: Jonathan O. | 02 November 2010 at 01:47 PM
awesome post, looks like you put your time into this one, great documentary
Posted by: Donna | 25 November 2010 at 02:21 PM
Well, I'm glad you finally were able to show us the real deal. The pics are great thanks ! :)
Posted by: Mikaella | 19 February 2011 at 02:34 AM