I am so, so, so loving the X100.  It’s just such an intuitive camera to use.  It has its quirks, of course, but the image quality is just outstanding, and once you get your settings dialed in (I’m working on my zone focusing technique these days), it’s such a joy to use.

I’m really getting into Joel Meyerowitz these days, whose style I really relate to.  Joel has spoken about his desire to move beyond Cartier-Bresson’s ‘Decisive Moment’ in street photography.  Joel moves around the streets, looking for the curiosities of modern urban life; things that strike him as interesting or odd, or things that might just look good in a photograph.  Whereas HCB would find a scene and wait for a photo to appear (in what he termed the ‘decisive moment’, which has to be one of the most cliché – and misunderstood – terms in all of photography), Meyerowitz is constantly moving, looking for photographs to emerge out of the normal function of the big city; images like this could never have been anticipated, and only by actively seeking out the photograph (and having the tools immediately at the ready) could the shot have been taken.  This is not to take away from HCB – he ranks as one of the finest photographers in history, and I very much enjoy his work.  It is merely to say that waiting for the decisive moment is not the only approach to street photography.  Nor – dare I say – is it always the best.

Anyway, the shots below, while not nearly approaching the quality of a Meyerowitz (to say nothing of an HCB), were taken with that approach, in a style that I hope to build upon in the coming months.

I’m not the world’s most effortlessly eloquent person.  Nor am I uniquely gifted at dreaming up unique and clever ways of expressing how I feel.

I’m a man who appreciates facts and order – the current state of my office, notwithstanding.

I’m not a person who dabbles in many pastimes and endeavours; I’m vertical, through and through.  I know what I love.

And I love you.

This year, I thought long and hard about how I could possibly express to you how incredible I think you are as a mother.  Since the day Elliot was born, I have been amazed by your seemingly innate ability to be there for him with exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. I’m not sure why this has surprised me; you’ve been doing the same for me for almost 15 years.

How, then, to show you this, given my limited imagination and skill set in this area?

As I said, I only do one or two things well, and you deserve the best.  False modesty aside, I suspect that I take a reasonable photograph, and you and Elliot are by far my favourite subjects, so this year, I’m blogging your Mother’s Day card (Ed. – don’t worry, there’s a real physical card too); I’m going to try show, through the lens of my camera (well, through the many lenses of my many cameras…a subject for another day, perhaps), just how remarkable you are.

Because of how beautiful you looked carrying Elliot…

Because of how you always encourage him (and me) to try new things..

Because of your patience…

Because of moments when you didn’t know I was looking…

Because I’m not the only one who gets silly sometimes…

Because of your clever ideas to help Elliot sleep…

Because of the time you spend playing…

Because of the littlest gestures…

Because of bath time (bath time’s always fun)…

Because of the way you approach new hurdles…

Because of even more silly moments…

Because of the kisses…

Because of the moments when you *knew* I was looking…

Because of more silliness…

Because of your tenacity…

Because of…did I mention silliness?…

Because of the feeling I get when I see my whole life in front of me…

Because of the grins…

Because of the love for us that I can see in your eyes…

Because even the best mothers aren’t perfect…

Because of the play time…

Because of the argyle…

Because he’s more like you than you think…

Because the best moments are the simplest moments…

And most of all, because of what you’ve come through and what you’ve done for our family…

…for all of these things, and so much more, I love you.

Happy Mother’s Day, Genevieve.

Sometimes you just find yourself in a place where nothing interesting is happening.  It’s just a fact that all photographers have to realize: you’re not always going to find a subject that interests you in a way that compels you to release the shutter.

But then again, if you keep walking, just when the day’s effort seems lost, you may stumble upon something that makes it all seem worthwhile.

Like a man carrying two pigs down the street.

I’m in the middle of a radical change in camera platform (more to come on that very soon), so the blogging has fallen off a bit.  In the interim, please enjoy this fantastic article on the “chaos” of modern camera design (with a short digression on the state of the wristwatch) from Luminous Landscape.

My favourite line in the essay is:

“…[B]ecause Olympus has chosen to give the [OM-D EM5]…a pseudo-pentaprism configuration, that’s where the EVF is obligated to go, rather than the more ergonomic corner position. These sorts of pseudo-features conveyed through design are generally pretty harmless, like those fake exhaust ports and intakes on automobiles, or the old vinyl tops on cars that tried to make them look like sexy convertibles, but in Olympus’s case they’re allowing retro-styling decisions to push around the functional placement of a primary component of the camera.” (emphasis mine)

I’ve been saying this since day one with this camera (and gotten huge push back from various m4/3 fans).  The giant hump on an SLR or DLSR is there for a reason; to house the pentaprism, which permits a TTL viewfinder on these cameras.  It’s a design compromise (the optimal placement of a viewfinder is where it is on a Leica…on the side), but it permits a useful function that allows SLR cameras to function in ways that rangefinder cameras, such as the Leica, cannot.

But placing this hump on a camera that doesn’t need one to function is just slavish adherence to copying the past, to the detriment of the functionality of the camera.  To reuse the analogy provided the in the linked essay, it’s as if wrist watches, like pocket watches, came attached to long gold chains.  The chain serves a function for a pocket watch; on a wrist watch, it’s pointless clutter.

I’m all for a little bit of glorification of the past (heck, I’m a huge fan of film emulation software such as VSCO), but only where this does not impede function.  In the case of faux film, we are attempting to get back to an aesthetic that is desirable (i.e. the film ‘look’), while retaining the advantages that technological progress have afforded us (the ability to use very high ISOs, for instance).  In the case of cameras like the Olympus OM-D EM5, we are making functional compromises to facilitate a specific design.

Bad form, I’d say.

As seen on Elm Street, Toronto.

I’ve just returned from yet another work trip, this time for a 3-day meeting in Cannes, France.  This one was a real whirlwind, with most of the time spent on airplanes and at airport lounges; in summary, I flew from Toronto to Frankfurt on Monday night, had a 5-hour layover in Frankfurt (which is just short of the amount of time I generally like to have if I’m going to explore a city on a layover, so I stayed in the airport), flew to Nice, bussed to Cannes, taxied to the meeting, did the meeting, taxied back to the Nice airport, flew to London, slept near Heathrow, walked around London for 5 hours, and then flew back to Toronto on Friday.

I’m tired just summarizing that itinerary.

But of course, airports are fascinating subjects for photography; full of people who really would rather be doing anything else than waiting to be carted off on plane to god-knows-where.  So I made the best of things, and shot some ‘airport photography’ (amongst other things).

I traveled much lighter this time than I did last summer in Asia; along with my clothes, toothbrush, iPod, etc (but not – sadly – the charger for my laptop!), I brought only the Fuji X100 and the 5D2 and 85L.  That gave me a moderate wide angle (35mm equiv. on the X100) and a short telephoto.  More and more, I’m coming to realize that these two focal lengths can do just about everything I want.  I really see no need to lug around a ton of glass these days, and the 5D2, as great as it is, is beginning to feel really big (especially when the massive 85L is bolted to it).  Don’t get me wrong; my DSLRs are not going anywhere.  It’s just that I’m beginning to really crave a camera system (i.e. body + interchangeable lenses) that offers both portability and top-notch image quality; the 5D2 gives the latter, as does the X100 (but the X100 has a fixed lens, so is not really a ‘system’).

M9?  Hmm….

Anyway, on with the show.  Full set is available here.

Coffee, croissant, and International Herald Tribune on a long layover at FRA.

Waiting…or, ‘What I Did for 5 hours at Frankfurt-Flughafen’

Cannes.  Finally.

London!

On the train from Heathrow to Paddington Station.

Early morning in Hyde Park.  Wicked light!

Sometimes you get lucky.  This photo screams ‘London’ to me.

There you go.  Next ‘for sure’ trip is to Heidelberg in December.  But there may be something else in the works.  Stay tuned…

A few images inspired by Zack Arias’ “#de_VICE” series.

And finally…

]]> http://www.mfphotography.ca/2012/03/16/toronto-street-photography-march-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.mfphotography.ca/2012/02/23/ottawa-photographer-winterlude-and-family-day-weekend-2012/ http://www.mfphotography.ca/2012/02/23/ottawa-photographer-winterlude-and-family-day-weekend-2012/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:53:12 +0000 Mike http://www.mfphotography.ca/?p=507 The whole fam went on a road trip last weekend; back to Ottawa for Winterlude.  While we lived in Ottawa for 5 years, it was my first time back since the 2010 Ottawa Marathon, and Elliot’s first time there period.

Some of my favourite shots from the weekend are below, and the full set is available here.

Had a nice reunion of sorts over the weekend with some good friends.

A truly 21st century reunion, at that.

Parents to be, getting a little practice.

Elliot loves him some Star Wars (or at least, mommy does).

Finally got some winter-esque weather on the last day, so we headed down to Confederation Park for the Winterlude festivities.

This might be my favourite photo of Elliot ever.  Who says ultra-wide angle lenses aren’t for portraits?

Winter comes to Toronto

Early morning on Bloor West

Reflections

Surprise!

Smoking Man

Erhu Man

Swords?

Double exposure?

The Double Cross

Me, the X100, and some hats

Crossing (From the Hip)

Old School