So I’ve been quite quiet since COVID-19 ramped up…Suffice it to say I’ve still been making photography – some of the best in my life, in fact! However I’ve spent a lot of time questioning what I wanted to do with my blog writing and what direction to take my work and portfolio in.
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to integrating both my blog and portfolio into a single website. I hadn’t found the right platform until recently because there always seemed to be some constraint or another.
Smugmug currently hosts my portfolio but the blogging tools are terrible unless you integrate WordPress directly into the page. WordPress is pretty good but I feel constrained by the space limits on content. While there are ways to integrate Smugmug better into WordPress issues regarding cost also arise.
And since I do this mostly as a labor of love, after counting my pennies I decided it was time to leave WordPress.
Note: the actual URL will change in a few weeks but if you want to see the future of Human Elements, it’s there. if you’re a fan of my work I have a lot of my latest up. I’ve been covering the George Floyd protests in Milwaukee and am proud to be part of this historic movement.
I’m also excited to be talking about Fujifilm cameras again! I actually went and sold my X-T2 and made a lateral move to the X100V! I started a One Camera One Lens One Year project this month and am thrilled by what I’m coming up with.
Something else to talk about. I’d love it if many of you who professed interest in my work continued to journey with me to the new site. Thanks for reading for now and take care in these uncertain times!
I ended up coming across an anti-Beijing protest while wandering around. I ended up snagging the 16mm f1.4 yesterday because I found a good deal and I miss having that lens. So this was the perfect test drive.
As protests go, this one was on the subdued side. Shouting and energy but no clashes with police, no damaging of private or public property…Occasional graffiti but still very tame and orderly. I was able to get up close and take portraits and talk to people.
Word on the street is that things have died down quite a bit and there’s little violence now. But the protests have clearly not ended even though Beijing seems content to pretend nothing’s going on.
I’ve been hoping I’d find my way here for a few months now. Here’s hoping I don’t get a truncheon in the eye…
So as we all know, Fujifilm is well known for having stunning out-of-camera results. Excellent JPEGs that, when you get your settings right, rarely need additional touchups. I’ve been mulling over avoiding RAW for a month to see how it affects my workflow.
For starters, I’ll be able to avoid noodling around with Capture One so much. My computer is pretty ancient and runs like it like a coal train.
My main reason for holding back is that C1 lets you adjust Fujifilm Film Simulations when shooting RAW. If I shoot JPEG, I’m stuck with whatever Film Simulation I chose upon shooting.
So in short, a creative limitation.
Those are always hard to enforce on oneself! Lately, having only 2 lenses has been a limitation I’ve been gritting my teeth over but succeeding marvelously with. My usual limit is 3 lenses, so I have room for a good deal. And there are tons of good deals here in Bangkok on used lenses.
Shooting JPEG only will help me get to know my camera settings better. There’s a lot of options for Highlights, Shadows, Dynamic Range, and other goodies I don’t play with enough. I actually started to last week and found I enjoy adjusting the Color sliders with Classic Chrome for a weird almost analog look.
I would hate to lose the Clarity slider in C1 though. The XPro3 has a Clarity adjustment (wicked!). But since my lowly XT2 doesn’t, I’d have to import my JPEGs each time as I love the extra micro-contrast…Or I can just do without it for awhile. Might be fun to try, though, so long as I’m not shooting professionally.
I’ve been trying to get a shot of these guys for awhile now but I always have either the wrong lens or I’m in a bad place. Today I managed to not be in the way and in a spot to capture one of the Bangkok boat taxi attendants.
They stand at the rear of the boat and blow obnoxiously loud whistles to communicate with the boat driver. As the boat approaches the dock from the rear, they hop off, attach the rope, and wait for passengers to disembark.
And once everyone’s found their places, they remove the rope and hop right back on again!
I mean, these are pictures of a pretty mundane event but I love the energy of his body language, the intensity of the sun, and how nicely it all comes together in Monochrome.
Looking back, I’m really amazed with some of the pictures I’ve taken. It helps that I’ve been incredibly mobile and have been all over the world. But I’ve also had some great opportunities to engage folks and find surprise moments that I never could have planned for.
While 2019’s not quite over, I’ve been thinking about my favorite photos from this year.
3 Men and Some Lines – Taipei, Taiwan
I get really mixed reactions with this one. Actual street photographers love the play of lines, wide-angle view, and subject interaction. Others say “oh, you were so ruuuude,” etc. The confrontational expressions and wide-angle view sucks you in and makes many viewers…Uncomfortable. It makes you think I’ve stood there for several seconds, pulling out a camera and framing despite their protests.
The truth of this image is that they were caught by surprise and I’m showing their reactions. As I was crossing, I placed the camera to the eye, intending to capture a candid documentary angle. Since I was quite visible and very close, they all stopped simultaneously. Each of their expressions is basically resting bitch-face while the center guy was being cheeky. We both laughed after I took the shot; there’s no actual anger in this scene but divorced of context, you can’t really tell.
Surprise Proposal – Pittsburgh, USA
I like doing street portraits on occasion, especially for people I see pulling out their smartphones. I take the opportunity to practice my portraiture and then email the results back to them.
I saw this couple at Point State Park doing the smartphone thing. They were so photogenic, I offered to take a set for them. Afterwards, Jared asked if I could take a few more of them. Fortunately, I swapped to my 35mm f/1.4 – and then he went down on one knee!
While I was returning home from one of my last jobs with VentureSum Corporation, I saw this man having a roadside sale of his personal effects. A former coal miner living in rural West Virginia, I learned a small amount about Johnny Bishop’s life.
Taken at Sensō-ji shrine in Tokyo, during my visa run back in September. The man inhaling the incense smoke along with a religious gesture makes it look as if he’s taking in some sort of divine essence.
Giving Directions – Tainan, Taiwan
I saw this woman reading at the park while her dogs lounged around. After strafing the scene once and failing to get a good candid shot, I asked if I could get photos of her dogs. She agreed and got so excited, giving them directions and trying to get them to look at me. Of course, they refused to comply. Afterward, she showed me her library of doggie photos on her phone.
Smoke Break – Taipei, Taiwan
A moment I almost missed because I was feeling shy. Instead, I doubled back, paid him some compliments, looked up some extra Chinese vocabulary on Google, and took what I feel is my best street portrait so far.
First Mate – Kaohsiung, Taiwan
It’s hard to explain why I love this one so much. I love the split between boat and waterfront. I love how he’s seemingly unaware of me. And I love the colors and how well his skin tone works with them.
Moonshine Jar – Kaohsiung, Taiwan
I love this photo because of the story. In Mainland China, guys are always calling you over for a drink of unidentifiable alcoholic liquids. This was the first time that’s happened in Taiwan. Kaohsiung’s far more Taiwanese than Taipei, so not surprised it happened there. I just love how wide and close this image is; starting to miss the XF 16mm f/1.4 again.
The Selfie Shooter – Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
Shibuya Crossing is an incredible place. Despite that, I struggled to get a good composition. Everything seemed…Average when shot normally. But when I got low and slowed my shutter speed, things got interesting!
Mooning – Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei Pride is always a big deal. While I shot in color and monochrome, this image just might be my favorite. And not just because he has a great ass.
So I’m still on the path of psychedelic healing and I’ve had a hell of a time trying to find reasonably priced sources of the substances in question. Somehow, when anything becomes in demand, the merchants set up shop, even in front of the temple. And Jesus has yet to come by, swinging his whip.
It’s allll about the green, no matter where I look. “Want to drink some plant juice we don’t grow ourselves? Just come on over to our plush retreat center with yoga, massage, and organic tempeh barbecue 3x a day for only $400/night!” Yes, yes, capitalism, I get it. Supply, demand, and so on.
There is a definite bias from trying to scope out a place online, however. All of the advertisements are going to be online. And trying to find an experience that’s both within my budget and authentic is nearly impossible from afar.
So I booked a ticket to Peru. At the very end of January, I’ll be arriving in Cusco. I’ll finally be able to check South America off as another continent I’ve visited.
I keep imagining what my life would be like without my emotions cramping constantly. The nagging, racing anxiety sucking away my energy and attention and being able to simply move freely among people again without constantly “planning.”
What would life be like if I could actually use the skills I have in any job, and bring to bear my full intelligence, empathy, and morality without being derailed by simple eye contact? Without needing to create living spaces devoid of people, silent, still, with the cocaine nipple of the Internet, of course. That thing I never truly valued until I lost it, seemingly for good. It brings me to tears to even consider returning from the desert in that way. A single day without feeling irrational fear – how long as it been since I’ve had one of those? Many, many years.
Last night, I watched “la Noria,” a short animated film about a boy running from his grief and despair, only to find that through approaching his demons, they transform into something beautiful. When I had my ayahuasca experience, on the first night, I experienced an immense well of grief surrounding my mother’s death. I can’t begin to imagine what other festering emotional wounds are lying below my awareness yet informing my every action. That’s where the promise of psychedelics is for me. Not in fun, novelty, or excitement. But in integrating disconnected aspects of myself that I’ve reflexively shunted aside.
I’m looking to experience San Pedro as it’s appears to not be terribly difficult to find in Peru. There’s an entire market in Cusco, apparently. And it’s supposed to be a gentle plant that’s especially well suited to solo exploration. So…That’s where I’m headed.
The shaman that ran my last retreat wanted me to reschedule my flights and join him for a ceremony with his teachers in early January. But I don’t have $3K to throw at these things. I wish I did and I wish I knew how others do. But I’m literally scraping by as a writer, just trying to survive despite despising the glow of this computer screen and wishing I could be outside making money planting trees, laughing in the wind, and helping people and society
…I really hate staring at this screen. I hate the blue and white of Facebook, the white and red of Youtube. I hate knowing they choose colors, notifications, and algorithms designed to addict and distract and farm my attention out to advertisers. I hate the distractions that come up during my research. I hate feeling my back twinge from sitting for so long. I hate this keyboard.
But I’ve tried re-integrating enough times to know that I have to accept this phase of my life. For now, I need to be adrift because its allowing me to explore this avenue of healing. And the best way to help others is to help myself. Hopefully, that’s good enough for Serendipity to make something happen in Peru.
Getting better at shooting from the hip. This one took no additional cropping, just turned and snapped.
I think it’s a cool composition so I wanted to share it. I love how we have the second guy entering the foreground, right as he’s turning to interact with the guy looking directly into the camera.
There’s something to the layout of items within the frame as well. Loads of fun textures for the eye to explore in monochrome. The writing in Thai gives it a sense of place.
Very pleased with that image. Here’s a few more from today’s walkabout town.
Something I’ve been working on is trying to decide whether I like the 23mm or 35mm focal length. And once I do, I want to perfect shooting from the hip.
Or in my case, from the chest. I find shooting from the hip (chest) to be a great way to capture candid images. You can simply walk at people and without raising the camera to your eye, snap and get great photos without disturbing the scene too much.
The main challenge is framing. 35mm fov really is perfect for shooting from the hip because it’s so wide you almost can’t miss your target. And the depth of field is so deep at f/5.6 or f/8 that everything is in focus.
Sometimes you get unintended cool images despite missing, thanks to how wide it is. But the width means you have even less control over what’s within the frame.
I really like the 50mm fov but it’s much more challenging. It gives you a bit more of a sniper scope for those moments where you want to give your subject some space.
But framing is a lot more difficult and its easy to overshoot, cut the head off your subject, etc. And even at f/5.6 or f/8, the depth of field is relatively shallow so you have to pre-set the focus and zone focus or just hope your autofocus motor is really fast.
I’m amazed I got this one at f/1.4, though!
While many people complain about older lenses like the XF 35mm f/1.4 I find I can focus from the hip pretty reliably. Sometimes it misses, like with this one.
“Long Pants! 100 Baht!”
So close! I actually framed him right but somehow the focus didn’t engage my target. Other times, I’m the one who misses.
It’s a good time-saving maneuver but its also riskier since you chance mis-framing the scene entirely. I think the technique’s far more reliable for someone dedicated to one or two prime lenses.
Right now I only own the 35mm f/1.4 and XC 15-45mm. I’ve been wondering about re-adding a 23mm equivalent to my kit. Problem is, there are so many good ones…The Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4 is one of the few primes I’ve never owned. And every time I pick one up I think “wow, I really want this lens!”
Viltrox is supposed to be coming out with a 23mm f/1.4 sometime this month for only $250, however. Half the price of the Fuji one. Also, from my own experience I know the 23mm f/2 is a nice lens. Its WR, cheap, a touch wider than the f/1.4 and a lot lighter.
Thing about fast lenses is that you pay the weight tax 100% of the time while you might only be using f/1.4…How often, exactly? There’s the question.
Do I NEED f/1.4? No. Do I WANT f/1.4? Kinddaaa…
Also, the XC is still super-fun, even for hip shots. Might not even need a 23 with this little beast!
Human Elements 