Not Touched Once

I'm back from Las Vegas. And it dawned on me during the flight home that CES is the antithesis of nimble photography. Yet, there I was.

Everything is big in Sin City. The hotels are giant labyrinths lined with slot machines and card tables. The conventions require days, not hours, to navigate the trade show floors. And the Strip is so wide that they have to build bridges for tourists to get from one side of the street to the other.

My goal? I want to glide lightly through it all.

Each day, I would leave about 8:00 in the morning. Weave my way through the MGM Grand to the monorail station. Ride to the Convention Center. Then work until it was time to reverse my route and navigate back to my room.

I dressed in layers and carried one shoulder bag that held these contents:

• Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II
• 14-42mm zoom, 35-100mm zoom, 20mm f/1.7 pancake prime
• Contax T2 film camera
• Zoom audio recorder (used it for a remote spot on the last podcast)
• iPad mini with SD card reader and Lightning cable
• Spare battery, memory card, and microfiber cloth
• Joby Gorillapod micro, Beats earbuds, and stylus pen
• 2 energy bars, small bottle of water, and a baseball cap in case in rained (which it did)

As I review my packing, as I do after every trip, here's my rule: If there was an item that was not touched once during the entire job, I put it on the watch list for the next assignment of like kind.

From this list there was only one candidate: the 35-100mm zoom lens. I was carrying it as protection in case I found myself in a situation where I need more reach than doubling the 42mm end of my travel zoom. But I never used it.

Of course I didn't. My existence was shoulder to shoulder all week. Rookie mistake. If anything, I should have had an ultra wide with me, not a long zoom. And that's the adjustment I'm going to consider the next time.

Nimbleosity is not a static state of mine. It's dynamic. It requires refinement.

And that's also the joy of it.

-Derrick

Old Dog

For the last two months, I've been learning a new photo management app: Capture One Pro 9. I'd love to report that it's been a breeze. But it hasn't.

I still remember that feeling when I first launched the software. You probably know this one too. I found myself staring at the screen, eyes squinting a bit, trying to decipher what exactly all of those icons meant.

My hands were paralyzed. I had no idea where to start, what to do. I numbly clicked on something that looked vaguely familiar. Nothing happened. So I tried something else and the screen changed to a view even less familiar. I quickly quit and stepped back from the computer. It was like I had been shocked.

Learning new software is hell. Learning really complicated applications is Dante's Hell. 

I didn't want to do it. I procrastinated by opening my camera bag and pulling out the new OM-D. It felt so good in my hands, so comforting. I knew how to operate it. The controls were familiar.

After a while with the camera, I regained some confidence. I approached the computer again, moving cautiously, like a lost child in a shopping mall. But no one was there to rescue me.

Fast forward eight weeks. My photo library in Capture One is now very organized. I'm importing, rating, and editing with relative ease. It's like the second week in a new apartment. I basically know where everything is, but I'm not sure yet where everything will be. That will take time. Some trial and error is required.

I'm pretty spry for an old dog. I feel like I'm 30. Many say that I act younger than that. Still trying to figure out if that's a complement or not.

Regardless,  I'm closing out 2015 learning a new trick. And it's a biggie. Proving once again that we can always acquire new skills... 

once we're exhausted every other possibility.

-Derrick

Remember the Kid Who Ran Away from Home?

I'm pretty sure it's a rite of passage: a disgruntled youth gathering up his most precious belongings and venturing out into the world.

When you revisit that image in your mind, what is it that you remember? The denim jeans and soiled T-shirt? The type of sneakers? The baseball cap? Nope. None of those things. The picture that we hold dear is the container that we depend on to protect those precious belongings.

Whether it's the Norman Rockwell tied-up bandana hanging from the end of a stick, or a beat up JanSport backpack, we always remember the bag.

The mechanism by which we transport our belongings is as important as the belongings themselves. It could be a new SUV, designer clutch, or yes, a camera bag. The love affair for these companions has been building since our youth.

I mention this because it's been nearly two months since I wrote about a camera bag, and it's killing me. I currently have a crush on the Tenba Cooper Slim, and I want to tell the whole world about it. I feel better already.

Beyond that, I'm fascinated by our affection for these carryalls. I think it's a sense-of-freedom-thing. When we have our worldly goods with us, we can go anywhere, do anything.

It's like that kid who thinks he's running away from home. All he wants to do is be himself - no nagging parents or disappointed teachers to torment him. 

You see, it's our nature to want freedom. And it's our bags that accompany us on that great adventure.

-Derrick

Gingerly Through the Holidays

We have enough on our minds right now.

There are more things to do than hours to accommodate them. You think you're hanging tough. Then you wake up one morning, and it's the last week of December.

It's easy to be light in July. I don't even wear shoes most of the time. But winter, now that's a different matter. It takes time to waterproof, scrape the windshields, and let the car warm up. Things break, like the household furnace. 

Simplifying your life in general, and your gear specifically, can mean the difference between controlled chaos and stark raving mad.

I work in a lot of different locations. But I carry one bag that comfortably hangs from my shoulder and contains the tools of my trade. It's like raising children: give them what they need, but not everything they want.

I've said before that traveling light increases one's creativity. Not being tired encourages one to explore further. This time of year, I take that notion one step further.

Being nimble allows you to stride gingerly through the holidays. Don't carry too much on your back, whether it's your equipment or the weight of the world. 

Because nothing is more important than having the energy to hug those you love.

Happy Holidays,

-Derrick

The First Roll Back

It's been over a week since I dropped off the first roll of film at Jeremiah's Photo Corner. It was ready for pickup Thursday afternoon. I finally had some time today to go get it.

There were two items inside the plastic bag that was handed to me. The first was what looked like a small takeout box from a Chinese restaurant. It would hold a couple of leftover pot stickers at most. Inside the opened flaps were the processed negatives, glassine-wrapped and uncut.

The second item was an unmarked, white CD accompanied by a mini contact sheet. These were the scans from the film. I had requested large Tiffs without color adjustments. The files measured 3088 x 2048 pixels.

Once I got back to the studio, I had to dig up an external optical drive so I could access the scans. The images looked better than I had hoped. They displayed the film quality that I was counting on, but were fairly accurate in their color rendering. Not bad for 35mm spools that had expired in 2007.

I liked the indoor existing light shots better than the stuff I had captured outside. This is the direction I'm going to pursue. The shot of Dibs keeping me company at the computer is a great example. The mixed lighting is rendered naturally, the contrasts are very film like, and the subtle gain is wonderful.

The Contax T2 has a maximum aperture of f/2.8. I have a feeling that I'm going to be spending a lot of time right there.

-Derrick

PS: If you don't know about The Film Project, here's how it all got started.