Issue 145 of the SNYC Newsletter
Greetings everyone! Oh my, it’s getting very close to the end of the year. What will 2022 hold for us is of course a mystery. I do hope that you are doing well and that your holiday celebrations are joyous.
Welcome to all of the new subscribers and those who have taken workshops and photo tours with me. I couldn’t do it without you. I am living and working doing what I love.
A very big thank you to all my regular customers. It is such a pleasure to be able to work with you and to help you develop your own style while discovering the amazing city AND become friends in the process.
I didn’t have a manual to guide me in creating my hybrid business of being a teacher, mentor, photographer, artist and writer. It is, like life. always a work in progress. You won’t hear me saying TGIF! No, no.
I share my experiences. I share what I know. I don’t know everything and I’m not going to tell you otherwise. Did I mention that I love photography? It is truly addictive and I have no plans of quitting :-)
As always, happy shooting and stay safe!
The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. Marcel Proust
I have created a Buy Me a Coffee page and I’m still trying to figure out how to create the button with the link on it. I’m a little challenged with some of the technical stuff
In the meantime, the link above should work. I love coffee and I love it when I get treated to one :-) But no sweat if you’re unable to contribute. The newsletter is still free for all.
Thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee!!! Mucho love.
New Toy Alert
A few weeks ago I went to an event hosted by Fotocare (my favorite camera store) and Fuji X. I don’t go out to events all that often. I usually spend all my energy out shooting and like to be home when it’s dark and especially when its cold out.
At any rate, I saw all the Fuji cameras lined up on a table and I will say that I wouldn’t trade in mine for any of them. The thing about these events are that they are so so focused on tech. My interest in tech is that my camera does what I want it to do. It does that quite well and it allows me to get on with doing what I want to do.
The excitement of the evening was a raffle. I never win anything. I won. It’s a cool little gadget that I would never have thought to be of interest. I think that’s what I said when the first iPhone came out :-)
Anyway, it’s an Instax Wide Printer. It’s not a camera. It runs on an app and prints out photos that have a Polaroid look to them. The film is $1 apiece. So it’s not for printing everything.
The above photo is one from the first pack. So far, the color prints are truer to the original. But this print perhaps, looks even more like a film photo. Anyway, it’s a fun toy. If you have any experience with any of the Instax products, I’d love to hear about it.
Did you know?
You can like the newsletter at the top and at the bottom of this issue? You can also share it on all of the usual platforms. And, best yet, you can comment! Yes, your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Dialogue is cool. Just hit reply.
Reader’s Comments
You should feel free to comment on this newsletter. Whether it’s a suggestion, a comment or even if you disagree with me. I think that we can learn a lot by sharing how we feel about all things photography. My guess is that we often have similar feelings about things that aren’t addressed in social media.
One person commented:
Hello. I enjoy your newsletter. I wanted to make a comment but not sure how that works. I just wanted to say that 5 really good photos a year is pretty good. ( in a day, 5 adequate ones are possible).
My response:
Thanks so much! Of course I was really thinking in terms of the people who take workshops. An oversight on my part :-) Of course 5 good photos is great!
A few things about photography & me
When you’re out shooting street photography, do you ever get the feeling that you nailed the shot? And would you know that if you were shooting film? When shooting film you don’t have a preview and you can’t review the photo. Duh.
When you’re shooting film you don’t know until the film is developed and also when it’s printed. Reading little negatives isn’t so easy. It’s kind of the same when we shoot digital and need to see the photo larger on a computer screen.
When I was shooting film, like the above photo, I had no idea what it was going to look like. Yes, I have an idea. But you never really know. I was probably unaware that I was in the photo.
So what’s the difference between shooting film and digital? I think the biggest difference is knowing beforehand what you’ve captured. I recall hearing Annie Liebovitz in her Master Class saying that she would go out and do shoots of famous people and she didn’t even know what she had. Maybe she didn’t even get the shot.
Through merely personal observations of seeing so many people shooting, I’d say that the element of on-the-spot criticisms is fairly common. The invention of all things digital, the internet and even the Walmart-ization of the world has changed the way we see.
Digital photography steals the suspense and surprise of film photography. Walmart is famous for creating a want for all things cheap and we’ve also come to think of things as being instantaneous. We want everything now. The internet connection has always been too slow.
So why are we so critical and so impatient? Maybe seeing more perfect images makes us feel insecure about our own photos. Do we compare our photos to the massive number of commercial photos that we see on a regular basis?
Maybe this isn’t so different from how advertising leads us to believe that we aren’t thin enough, rich enough or just not up to par. It’s kind of silly when we look at photos without noticing all the touch-ups that are done as well as the lighting and make up etc.
I’ve recently rediscovered these film photos from 1979. They aren’t perfect in any reference book definition. But I’m really happy with them and I think that’s at least in part because they are rough. There’s a grittiness to them.
Capturing a shot is one part of the process. It isn’t the whole process. Yes, I’ve been saying for awhile now that street photography is for me, first and foremost an activity. But it took me quite awhile to realize that that’s what I was doing.
The benefit of looking back at old photos is something that can be very constructive in many ways. And it also means that maybe we even find gems in the midst of a number of other unremarkable photos.
But, it’s important to realize that when we look back at our older photos, we are seeing them with new eyes. We see where we were and maybe even see more value in some of them.
Not knowing what the photo will look like is part of the point of shooting film. Well, maybe it’s an unwritten aspect of shooting film. I think that the same is true of shooting street photography.
When I’m giving a workshop I tend to look at the previews more often and also review what I’ve taken to illustrate some aspect. But I heard about a case for the Fuji X 100V that is made to look like a film cover and it blocks the screen to preview.
The 2 above photos were taken with a Nikon DSLR and were taken from a car. I took 2 photos and I didn’t preview what I took. I just took it. And I only just discovered them 12 years later. Perhaps shooting with a DSLR is also an advantage so long as you don’t get into the habit of constantly looking to see what you’ve captured.
My point is that the photos that I like the best. The photos that stick in my memory are the ones where I was shooting spontaneously without thought on the million and one things that can crop into consciousness while shooting.
Leave behind the preconceived ideas of what you’re looking for and what you want to shoot. Or as I am known to say these days during workshops, lift and shoot. It’s fun and it can yield some good results.
Shoot like you don’t know what you’ve got or what you’re going to get. Forget about the bells and whistles. Set up your camera settings and check once or twice and forget about them until the light changes. And at the same time, forget about reviewing.
Happy shooting!
Year-end Special
I'm having a 15% off promotion that runs till the end of this year on gift certificates for yourself or others. Use the code 2021Special when purchasing a gift certificate on my site. Gift certificates don’t expire.
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Are You Curious?
Curious Frame is my newsletter about my thoughts on photography. The latest issue is my rant on how everyone is posting quotes with their posts without explaining why or even having them be relevant to the photo. Below is an excerpt from this issue.
Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. Imogen Cunningham
The beauty of street photography and photography in general is that there’s always something new to shoot. The world is forever changing as well as the seasons and the photographic opportunities multiply.
I love Imogen Cunningham’s spirit about photography. There’s always something new tomorrow. If you practice seeing with new eyes you will find that there’s probably something right in front of you to capture.
You can subscribe to Curious Frame and also see some of the previous issues there as well.
Biweekly Photo Assignment - Your Favorites of 2021
It’s that time of the year again when we post our favorites of the year. We can look back and see what we liked and how we would like to improve or just new methods we would like to work on. And for extra points you can write about why you like it.
You can interpret this assignment and don’t be afraid to post creative photos. As well, it’s good to know why you chose the photos you did and it’s maybe best to post them individually so they don’t get buried.
This is a voluntary assignment if you want to take part. You can submit your photos to the Facebook group for Shoot New York City and also on Instagram tag @shootnycity. If you're not a member of the Facebook group yet, all you have to do is request to join.
It would be great if as a group people would comment on photos submitted as well. Let's have fun! Happy shooting and sharing! And you can connect with other people that you share an interest with.
Further Viewing
Alex’s videos are really straight forward and useful tips. I find him one of the few photographers who provide useful information on how to improve as a photographer. I buy him a coffee every month.
Upcoming Workshops:
Workshops are still a maximum of 3 people. Social distancing and masks are required. And with fewer people in each workshop everyone can gain even more individual attention.
Workshops are only being scheduled on a weekend day now. If you would like to have a weekday workshop or a workshop in other areas of NYC, let me know with some lead time and I’ll see if others want to also attend it. Otherwise I continue to provide private workshops on weekdays and in other neighborhoods.
For those who haven't done a workshop or photo tour with me in the past I have a number of reviews on my website and also on TripAdvisor! Workshops are both for people who live here and also travelers, as are photo tours.
Photo tours are one-on-one and arranged on an individual basis for both neighborhood and photographic style and can be designed as a workshop as well. They are customized to your interests and level. Thank you for your patience and Stay Safe!
I loved this issue! Great advice and love the opening photo😉