civilized ku # 373 ~ big city vines

E5th Street ~ NYC, NY • click to embiggenWho says New York, New York is not a friendly town?

life in pictures # 6/6a ~ wild at heart

Wild at heart ~ Champlain Center Mall - Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Wild at heart, v2 ~ Champlain Center Mall - Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggenThis past weekend, while I was in NYC, I spied this window display while I was driving by in my car. There was virtually no opportunity for parking so I wasn't able to picture it.

However, yesterday, while I was picking up a DVD at the mall, there it was again. So, while trying to blend into the background - the diminutive EP-1 helped but a nearly empty mall, people wise, did not - I was able to make a few life in pictures pictures.

As mentioned, there were very few passersby in the mall, which not only emphasized my presence and picture making activity, but also meant having to wait and wait and wait for people-presence in the picture. IMO, people-presence is a rather key element in life in pictures pictures. In any event, I came away with a small number of pictures, the best of which are presented above.

That said, I'll do something I rarely do - solicit opinions, re: your preference (and the reasons why) between the 2 pictures. I am on the fence, preference wise, for reasons that I won't express here in order to avoid tainting the jury pool (that's all of you).

I don't normally ask for much. So, come on, help me out here.

civilized ku # 372 ~ m4/3rds update addendum

8×10 Arca Swiss view camera • click to embiggenIn response to yesterday's m4/3rds update, Mary Dennis asked:

How does it feel in your hands Mark, especially with the bigger 4/3rds lenses? It doesn't look like it has much of a grip. Do the larger lenses with the lens mount converter make it front heavy? I remember at one point you said that perhaps the smaller evolts might be a little hard for your bigger sized hands to hold comfortably so I'm wondering about this camera.

my response: Mary, with the 2 Zuiko 4/3rds lenses that I am most apt to use - the 11-22mm f2.8/3.5 and the 14-54mm f2.8/3.5 (I did not purchase the standard kit zoom lens), the camera feels just fine in my hands. I use my "standard" grip - 1 hand (the left) under/on the lens, the other on the camera, stage right. The grip just feels comfortable and natural.

That said, those lenses tend to diminish the camera's visual presence as an "unobtrusive" DMC - it does appear a bit more "in-your-face" than it does with, say, any of the 3 pancake primes. However, when I'm out and about with the intention of picturing a life in pictures or relationships, the pancake primes are on the camera.

All of that said, I'd like to add an addendum / caveat to yesterday's near adorational raves, re: the EP-1 .....

Key to understanding my proclamation that the EP-1 "is the best all-around picture making machine that I have ever used" is my other statement that "I have used just about every camera format known to picture making humankind".

To wit, my experience with a vast number of camera formats has resulted in a firm conviction that there is no such thing as the perfect camera. Every camera that I have ever used has had its strengths and not-so-strengths. In each camera case, some degree of "adjustment" on my part in picture making technique is/was required. Some "adjustments" are/were a pain in the ass, others are/were rather minor but, suffice it to say, I became adept and very comfortable making those "adjustments".

Like the 8×10 Arca Swiss VC pictured above - making a picture required: 1) focusing with a lupe under a darkcloth on a groundglass with the image upside down and the lens wide open, 2) "dialing" in some schiempflug (front standard) and some perspective correction (back standard), 3) then setting the aperture and shutter speed, 4) then cocking both the shutter and the flash sync, 5) then loading a film holder, removing the darkslide, and then 6) tripping the shutter.

So, as you can imagine, waiting a few fractions of a second for the Ep-1 to lock focus (the primary complaint re: the EP-1) is no big picture making adjustment for me to make for 90% of my picture making endeavors.

However, re: the EP-1, I can understand why some who have become comfortable with a particular set of picture making "adjustments", specific camera wise, might not be so glowing in their appraisal of the EP-1. So be it. However, what isn't right on their part are the labeling of some of the Ep-1's picture making adjustment requirements as "fatal flaws" or "design flaws", etc.

IMO, and for the vast majority of picture makers, just do as little Eddy Mikey was told - "Try it ...." and, mostly likely, "... You'll like it."

FYI, "trying it" is about to get a bit easier on your wallet. And, rumor has it that there is an "pro" Olympus m4/3rds in the works.

life in pictures # 5 ~ mismatched?

Bus kiosk ~ Ave. A - East Village, NYC• click to embiggen

civilized ku # 371 ~ installation art?

Blue bike ~ E5th Street, NYC • click to embiggenGoing nowhere, fast, anytime soon.

FYI ~ a m4/3rds update

Salt 'n pepper x 2 - 4/3rds lens on m4/3rds camera • click to embiggenWhile in NYC this past weekend I made it to the corner of 9th and W34th for the sole purpose of purchasing the Olympus lens mount adapter that allows me to use all of my 4/3rds lenses on my m4/3rds camera. That, and a mCamerabag for the m4/3rds stuff that is fast accumulating; 3 "pancake" primes - 17mm, 20mm, 25mm (4/3rds lens) - and a 2nd body to come. I am pleased as bunch to report that all the 4/3rds lenses work quite nicely on the EP-1.

I am also pleased as punch to report that, after my experience with the EP-1 to date, the camera has become my go-to camera of choice for all of my picture making needs - with the exceptions of: 1) long-lens / fast-focus action picture making requirements, and, 2) syncing to my studio strobe equipment.

After 40+ years of professional picture making experience, during which I have used (extensively) just about every camera format known to picture making humankind - 110, 1/2-frame, 35mm, 120, 4×5, 8×10, panoramic, polaroid, et al (all of which I still own), I can state without reservation that the EP-1 is the best all-around picture making machine that I have ever used. In fact, if I were starting my pro picture making career again today and repeated all the same assignments, I could use the EP-1, without comprimise, for 90% of my picture making needs.

Prints up to 24×32 inches - I haven't yet gone bigger - from the EP-1 rival, IQ-wise, those from from my 8×10 Acra Swiss view camera. The picture results are nothing short of amazing and I am not alone in thinking so.

That said, I believe that Olympus and, by extension, Panasonic have shattered the dslr-as-the-only-means-to-high-IQ mold. IMO, in the very near future, one of the only reasons for "serious" amateurs (and perhaps a segment of the pro market) to consider a dslr will be their desire to have a high-profile lifestyle status symbol hanging from their bodies / sitting on their tripods.

The sooner you get a m4/3rds camera in your hands / on your tripod, the sooner you will be introduced to the delights of picture making without a boat anchor as part of your kit - not to mention the sheer delight of shooting with compact "pancake" primes. And, the sooner your dslr will get to spend some quality quiet time with itself as it sits on the shelf waiting for those occasional picture making situations where the current state of 4/3rds does met a very particular demand.

If the current "out-of-stock" situation that effects some m4/3rds equipment is any indicator, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, et al ignore this mold-breaking paradigm at their peril.

life in pictures # 4 ~ moving right along

Extraordinary measures ~ Ave. A - East Village, NYC • click to embiggenWhile in NYC I was able to make some more life in pictures pictures. Although, not nearly as many as I might have liked to make.

It was bitter cold and I was on a very weird schedule so my time on the street was quite limited. Nevertheless, it must be said the NYC has a mother lode of possibilities for life in pictures picture making opportunities.

One of these trips I am going to make making pictures the sole purpose of the trip - except, of course, for eating and drinking.

relationships # 6 / civilized ku # 370 ~ good eats

Black Iron Burger ~ E5th Street - East Village, NYC • click to embiggen
Black Iron Burger patrons ~ E5th Street - East Village, NYC • click to embiggenI always return from NYC a few pounds heavier and a little more bloated than when I left home. Or so it seems.

That condition is primarily due to the fact that my good friend, the professional chief, with whom always stay, never ever cooks at home. Never. Ever. However, needless to say, he knows all about quite a few exceptionally good places to eat. He also keeps his place with-stocked with Knob Creek Bourbon and designer beers.

Add to that the fact that my favorite NY restaurant, Perbacco (check out the menu), is directly across the street from his place and, well, it's good eats all the time.

FYI, the restaurant pictured above is not Perbacco. It's a great beer and burger joint, Black Iron Burger Shop, on E5th in the East Village.