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

Comments

[peter]

only just managed to view the 'third video'
it's amazing to see someone take the camera so seriously
and as you say produce with it

I'm still contemplating the d5ii but this throws new light on
the subject

thanks for sharing looking forward to the future posts brings
greater enthusiasm the first camera I bought was an rf a kodak 1a

[twitter.com/nathanrodger]

Chris - no mate - thank you for bringing the honest and direct feedback that you do. Love it - and as always love your images. Now 6 months in from my Canon gear being nicked - and switching to Nikon (yeah I love the focus - but miss the "feel" of my Canon images) I'm putting together posts and perhaps the dreaded friggin ebay to move my Nikon gear - get a coupla 5D2's with some Zeiss glass, and a looking to grab an M9. You suck. In the nicest best possible way. Darren is helping me through the discovery process of Leica, zo I'm looking at M3's also for the filmic experience - I really should have done this years ago - but hey - I didn't.

Thanks Chris.

[Aldo]

uhm... I think Mr. Meyerowitz just taught me that street photos should be always overexposed... and that guy from the forum... jesus! I admire him, he could see how bad dynamic range the m9 has, just by playing with it at the launch party...
...NOT!!...

[Sam Oksner]

I can't believe these guys, reviewing something they haven't tried, and when they do try it, it'll be a review repeating the specs with no images to demonstrate the qualities or defects of the product. Apart from the fact that a review should be done after extensive use in a professional environment, under pressure, taking pictures of the house plant does not count!

I'm looking forwards to your review, for some quality insight on what you think of the camera (although that's quite predictable), but mostly for the little details that will go along with many images taken with the camera under a variety of settings. A review should try to convey how it would be for some else to be using the camera and how the results would turn out.

[Harrison]

Seriously. It's so dumb. I was doing some research for the zeiss biogon 35/2. I stumbled across that onlinephotographer guy and he had NO sample pictures of the lens. I could care fucking less what YOU think of the lens. Lens qualities are subjective! What bokeh I might like, some might not find appealing. How about I look at some photos and judge whether or not I want to fork over the money to buy one instead of taking your word for it. I like your reviews because you include A LOT of pictures. Others just include at most 5 and expect me to make conclusions based on that. I can't wait for your M9 review!

[Johannes Huss]

You deserved those comments. Great work! I think there are a bunch of people now who'll experience a whole new level of photography after watching this movie, because it's so inspiring and one is virtually forced to go out to the streets and just shoot. Me included.

[tanczos andras]

Well, as far as I'm concerned about the m9, its another nail in the coffin of film. :(

I watched the street thingy, nice work. I understand people not noticing somebody with a rf, but the friggin' 5d in the back?

[Serhat Kavas]

Hey Chris!

Have you seen this guy ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM

Blowing the flash on people face and capture it in the name of street photography lol!!! Yeah he is in the street that's the only right thing he says and do ahahaha

Cheers mate I love your work!

Riggs ( from Flickr )
http://tinyurl.com/lhb8g6

[Tommi]

As a comment to the previous comment by Serhat Kavas, I would really want to know if he has done the research on this guy, Bruce Gilden. Yes, a shitty documentary, and yes, he seems a bit strange. But whatever works for him, is the right way for him. What are we to say it's the wrong way of doing his work? I think his work is genial at best. See out for yourself! YouTube and Wikipedia are not usually the best way of introducing yourself to some artists work. My opinion.

And I think it goes with this Meyerowitz video also. It's complete shit, but the guy has made some really amazing pictures during his career. With the amount he shoots, and with the enthusiasm he seems to have for it, I think he is a great photographer. I bet he doesn't spend his time on any Leica forums, but shoots instead. My view on the matter.

And I do think people should give the Bystander: A History of Street Photography book a chance. I read only the most interesting chapters myself, and there was shitloads of stuff I didn't know. Maybe reading it like a novel from the start till the end doesn't work, but it's still a great book of reference.

- Tommi.

[Carlo]

Well Chris (and the others) thank you for the video! By the way, since you mentioned that forum, have you seen this thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79201 ? Oh boy!
Can't wait to see more photos!
See you soon, Carlo

[James Dunn]

nevermind. didn't work. forgot about the new limit since mine was made in 07 and not 06. whatevs. good choice on your part then. so i just posted about it for people =)

[Arthur Mola]

those videos were fucking amazing dude! in so many ways. i was really happy to watch them! that's so dope that you replaced one of your slr's with an m9. wow. the security code i had to enter when posting my last comment had "m9" in it. :P hope you're doing well man!

[Mike Francis]

Chris, did the canon ttl cord work on the M9? I am searching all over the place for something like this, didnt consider the canon.

Thanks
Mike Francis
Singapore

[Lisle Tan]

Thanks for the video(s). I hope it was as fun for you to make as I, and many others, found it enlightening!