Zero To One Hundred In Not Long At All And The Continuing Problem Of Getting It All There.

Since leaving the paper, my video has dropped off a lot.

Worrying really, because I was only just feeling comfortable in that space and less is very much less in this new media type.

Then out of the blue, the school has asked me to put together a video for a project that is a few years behind schedule (COVID casualty), using some graphics, some supplied b-roll and a virtual walk through, as well as an interview to be shot replacing the original. It stars the old school head, now moved on to fresh pastures.

My deadline is the interview in two days, the video by early next week.

It will include elements of graphic over-lays, several different cameras and sources. Lots of variables.

Nothing to something in a no time, careful what you wish for.

Attitude is the priority here.

A resounding “can do”, but realistic drawing on pre-armed confidence. I have been keen for this, so I better grab it.

Testing.

The original interview was a moving monster, quite literally. the Head walked through the labyrinthine school gardens with a gimballed cam in front. Messy, busy, rushed looking. They don’t want that again thank heavens, but I will take the OSMO just in case.

Sound first and as usual, testing reveals surprises.

I did a simple “mic on camera” test using the S5 as the base camera (my interview cam). I sat 6 feet away, placed the mics on a stool and talked to (and filmed) each mic.

The MKE-600 was solid as expected. The sound in a controlled room was nice, the pickup about perfect. I had the pickup on camera at 0db, so relying on the decent Panasonic amps on basically a 1:1 basis.

the MKE-400 was not tested, but previous experience suggests it would be nearly as good, with a slightly wider pickup pattern. Maybe better for two people.

The F1/SSH-6 combo on the other hand, was noticeably more sensitive. -8db on camera, 5.5 out of 10 on the F1’s dial, so a lot of headroom. The Zoom has a little more sibilance, but that also depends on other factors.

I thought I had a noise issue at first, then realised I was picking up the air conditioner.

The Zoom also has other benefits.

It is known and proven, has more reliable power (my main concern with that unit has turned on it’s head with the little power pack), a tactile volume dial on the unit, can be set to various levels of mid-side pickup (wider pickup if two people are interviewed, which may be the case), has a known wind sock option and at a pinch, the A/B capsule is even better at handling wind (I would just run the F1 in closer).

Even more usefully, I can run the option below and the Zoom can record for itself as a backup, placed anywhere.

The Hollyland Lark M1’s have not been used properly yet and they came a close second to the Zoom in this test for sound quality, maybe even ahead, depending on the sound you want.

You get a deep, intimate sounds from these, but like many LAV’s, it is a bit flat.

If I had a chance to set up in a more controlled space, the Sennheiser would show its pedigree, but in this run-n-gun situation, the reliable old Zoom system, the MKE-400 and the Larks make the most sense.

The alternative is using the Lekato wireless units to get the 600 closer. It looks like its role will be as purchased, as a close booming mic with maximum rejection, other mics are there to handle other situations. I did use it successfully recently, so maybe I will take them all and see which two float up on the day.

I could even do both shotguns, the Zoom recording itself, the 600 to camera.

So, what happened?

I used the 600 as the wind picked up and the Sennheisser with the Rode WS6 handled it better. I put it on the small ifootage stand hard wired, pointed between both speakers and all good.

The camera with 50mm was perfect, no lighting was needed and I negotiated the tele prompter well enough.

*

The biggest issue and this is one that keeps coming up, is how do I get what I need, where I need, without breaking the back, breaking the gear, the bank account, or leaving chunks of it out of sight while I make multiple trips, or worse just leaving things behind?

The problematic items;

• 4x 1m long stands, needed for backdrops etc

• My C-stand, needed for anything with stability issues, like a boomed mic, multi lights, big brollies. This is has a centre column that is 1.6 long.

• Any long modifiers, which include the lantern, my big brolly, my 4’ soft boxes.

• Sound gear, that ranges from a mic in the camera bag to a full audio kit in a hard case and a case for cables.

• My COB lights, in their own hard case and a another case full of cables etc.

• The Amaran “portable” lighting kit, in it’s own case with Smallrig soft box, small stands etc.

• Wide flat things like 5-in-1’s, my Manfrotto collapsibles etc. Some of these are over 70cm’s wide.

• Rolls of backdrops, all 1.5m wide, 2-3m long about 8 of.

• Cameras etc. The etc is all that gear like mat boxes, filters, cables, batteries, rigging and on and on.

• A tool kit.

• My cine-lenses in a hard case.

Nice mod, but it needs a big stand, a long arm and it is three feet tall on it’s own.

The options are;

Carry each bit on it’s own, which is my now and it is not working.

Use a tall hand truck trolley and cinch cables (have this), which handles the hard cases especially, takes some tall things like stands ok and goes up stairs etc. A smaller collapsible trolley was less useful, not handling long items, nor my weighty gear.

Get the 5.11 CAM’s bag, which can take weight and bulk with a 1m stand (gun) section in the base. It would need re-packing of some stuff like audio gear and it cannot take many things pre-packed inside, but one case could probably be carried separately. It could work with the COB lights or Audio kit separate, but not both.

Get the 5.11 SOM’s bag, which is the same but smaller and can take 70cm (medium) stands. Too much of a compromise for only a little less.

Get one of those collapsible gardening trollies, the fold down type. This handles anything, any way it comes, with the one small issue of not handling stairs. All my pre-packed gear just goes in, long things on top, wide things all good standing up, all semi flat terrain handled.

As for stairs, the few times this would be an actual issue, thanks to wheel chair friendly environments, I could unpack-re-pack with only a short trip from one end to the other.

The CAM’s and SOM’s bags are also expensive enough (over $400au), that I can even come up with maybe a second option within budget. I would love the CAM’s, but the reality is, there are still so many things that it does not handle and re-packing would become an art form in itself.

Resolution, Perfect Cameras and Other Useless Junk.

Might be in a bad mood, but often with me, that gives me clarity.

My S5, 7 Artisans 50mm T2 cine lens and a bare rig seem to be the biz at the moment. When I have better cameras, why?

I have really struggled with the whole video thing. Not the tech, not the processing (as much), not the settings or results, just the doing of it. My solution is as old school as it gets.

I put the camera to my eye like a SLR stills shooter would, which is not how I have shoot a lot of my stills since some time in the early 2010’s and guess what?

It is generally more often in focus, steady, smooth and well composed. It is not a coincidence that serious cinematographers prefer eye cups to screens. DP’s and directors use screens to share and setup shots, but the actual camera tech, more often than not, uses an eye cup.

I have even ordered a deeper eye cup for the S5 and I am trying to come up with some way to use the shoulder rig with it, but focussing is the catch. The chest rig may work, still testing.

• It is clearer in any light. Lets face it, it is the best screen you have and has no flare or glare issues.

• It is bigger than the rear screen (relatively and practically).

• It allows me to see the composition better, to be more engaged. This goes for stills also. I shoot tighter and more controlled images this way and always will, so it stands to reason.

• It is more stable. I am the tripod. Even my movements as long as they are subtle and controlled are smoother. There is a time to move away from the eye, but often that is to a tripod or slider anyway.

• It is more compact and faster to use. Pull the cam out of the bag and go. No rigging, no attachments, no cables.

Taken on the old Olympus 25mm f2.8 half frame lens at f4 (see below), this is it. The little handle on the side is for the heel of my hand or finger tips to rest on and to give the screen something to protect if when used. The top handle is mostly there for carting, getting out of the bag and putting accessories on (the big nose MKE-600 in particular likes to be set back a little). The tripod foot is for obviously what it is named uop as, but also helps stabiliser my hand.

In the same vein as above, I am going to try a little experiment.

I am only going to shoot video on a 50mm (ff equiv). I have plenty, they all have their “thing”, it makes life easier and seems to fit my eye at the moment. The 50mm above in full frmae, the 35 on APS-C, the 24mm Night Walker, 12mm with 2x digital extender in M43, 25mm Antique (above), 50mm Pentax SLR lens, 35 and 50mm Lumix lenses, 25 modern Oly etc. Lots of options in how to render the same magnification. I may even get that 24mm Anamorphic (50mm equiv in height/35mm in width or even the 35mm as it is a 70mm in height but a normal in width).

I am not curtailing my creative options, because every lens and format has different characteristics, just settling on a sensible focal length for now until I am ready to move on.

I find in video focal length is more of a comfort thing than a creative necessity.

Framing close-ups, wide shots, panning, focus drifts, deep or shallow depth etc are all creative options, but focal length tends not to be to big one. It is not a coincidence that many DP’s even those who use a variety of formats and even focal lengths, tend to sit close to a standard (of their own choosing) for most projects. Some even stick religiously to one lens and the spread of favourites tends to be either side of the humble 50mm.

The Creator for example was shot predominantly on a single Anamorphic 75mm Kowa with a full frame sensor (tight portrait lens in height, semi wide angle in width).

Bit over the camera sphere at the moment. Want to hear what you need to hear and you will find it, good or bad. Too many opions, few with a clean moral slate, many misguided or fans/haters.

Just use what you have, it is better than most anything available up until recently, oh and resolution should be your last concern.

Anyway, rant over, off to work again after a couple of weeks sick.

Powering The Process

Batteries, a boring but necessary subject, a little like talking about air or water really, you need it, but resent that need at the same time.

Image from an iPhone, because well, nothing else had batteries.

This is what it takes to keep the machine running.

Top left are the NP batts, mostly Neewer. The 970’s are genuinely useful, giving me a solid hour with the Amaran 60D, two with the big Neewer LED’s, even longer with the smaller ones and if I use a monitor, I can leave them on for a decent period.

The little 550’s are another story. Useless really for anything heavy duty (10 mins on the 60D), they are reserved for short monitor runs while shooting for weight or little LED’s, but I always need to take a few, making their smaller size redundant.

I bought the better Smallrig NP adapter, that allows 5, 12 and 7.5v outputs and is less cumbersome than the INIU power packs below.

Next we come to the Eneloop Pro AA and AAA’s. Excellent, just excellent. These made flash use a pleasure, usually giving me a full night to a set, maybe a change later in a big evening as well as keeping the bulk of my Zoom gear at the ready.

Another advantage of these is their long sitting time. I can keep one in my MKE-600 case and know it will give me hours of power, months after being charged. I could not be bothered tracking them all down, forgetting where they are all hiding, but I bought 30, or was it 32?

They cost me (30-32x AA, 12x AAA, not all pictured), about $200au, but they have saved me that already and I have only just tapped into their expected life span. I think I worked out at the time they cost about 2c per use*, much cheaper than less reliable throw-aways.

Top right are the Old batts for the Pen, EM10 and newer EM5’s. These see too little use and I will likely have batts well after I have cameras. They last well and charge decently quickly.

Below them are the work horse batts for the EM5 Mk1’s and Pen F. Some of these are over 12 years old, but they still go. My biggest issue like above, is camera bodies to put them in. The Pen F is really it and I use it too little. Lack of use makes the batts lazy, but lack of need for the cameras they run makes that too real.

The two INIU power packs have given me new confidence with sound and rig gear**. I can charge most things from them, including my newer cameras. With one rig mounted I can use a mic, monitor and interface without fear or pack a large sound rig knowing if the AA’s are a little tired, I can simply go around them. I ran the H8 with several mics in a test recently and after an hour of use, 1 of the “pads” had gone out, meaning I still had at least 80% of the larger pack.

The little generic phone pack (upper left of the INIU’s), connects magnetically to the troublesome Zoom F1, fixing the power/battery door issues I had with that unit in one move. I have used it for a dozen jobs and it shows full bars (dots).

Powering this unit has been difficult. Even the Eneloop bats only show reduced power reading from fresh, leaving you wondering when they will fail, so to be safe, I always changed them each job. This was problematic because the battery door broke, as they often do, leaving me a fiddly and frustrating cable tie remedy. The magnetically attached power bank is elegant and efficient.

The GODOX batt is for the 860, which is the difference between that and the cheaper 685. The 685 with Eneloops is very good, but at the time I felt I needed a flash that could handle high speed sync (using a burst of flash) multiple times in a row. Often the stand out at big jobs, it can go and go and go with constant high demand placed on it. I mean to get another batt, but to be honest I may never use it and the 685 is more than adequate as a reserve.

Next we come to the 9 (!) EM1 batteries. 2 with each for the EM1x’s, 1 each for the EM1.2’s and a spare for the grip. Probably capable of 12-15,000 images without charging, I can safely handle most jobs, even month long field trips, but you cannot have too much power. An added bonus is, if I use the 8 (!!!) chargers I have, I can have all but 1 up and going from flat in one hour and the green indicator lights are bright enough to read by. I can also load the three EM1x battery sliders, for near instant change-over.

Lower left are the G9.1 batts. These are good, solid batts, but charge slowly. They are a pair of originals and a pair of Better Batt copies and I cannot see any difference in performance, but the after markets were 20% of the price. I can get about an hour of 10bit/1080/50p recording, but annoyingly the cameras only do half an hour at a time.

Above them are the S5/G9.2 batts, again a mix of original and after market. These are better batteries overall (and/or the cameras drain less) and share some compatibility with the ones above (I think they fit old cams, but not the other way), but I have enough not to care.

If away from power for any length of time, my endurance is quite high.

The INIU’s and an older bank, the little phone one and my RB9 Weelite (which can charge) supply about 60,000mah which can power a phone, OSMO, little LED’s, laptop, camera or Zoom interfaces, I have enough AA’s to fire about 4000 full power flash fires, AAA’s for various other bits, can run an EM1 for over 10,000 frames, a G9.2 for 5-6 hrs of video, a G9.1 for 3-4 more hrs or 3-4000 stills, my various lights could give me 4-8hrs of one of them at a stretch, the Pen F and an EM10 could add another 5-8,000 stills.

Not a massively interesting subject, but usually the first practical consideration of a working pro. I am happy that now I can record up to an hour continuously with three matching video cams, one for a lot longer if I have a decent card, sound for even longer and with backups. Importantly I have no nagging fear of batteries being my betrayer.

It struck me when writing this, I have never tossed out a rechargeable battery from any of my current gear, some of which dates back to the release of the original EM5 or Pen’s. Batteries it seems need not be the reason we cannot function, long or short term.

*The math is something like 500 full uses per battery at 2700mah each.

**The newer cams can charge from the packs, some even run from them, so I can technically run continuous recording of sound and video from a pack, but the single C-type is also used for SSD drive connection, so I am limited by either battery or recording medium. Only an off board recorder could address this.

Learning From Others And The Past

I have been doing this a long time and one of the things you have to be wary of is shutting out other opinions.

I have gone through this space several times, so you tend to take the teachings of others with a grain of salt, because you actually have heard much of it before and your “on trend” radar is hyper sensitive.

Trends come and go, the basics stay firm, which tends to allow an attitude of “nothing you have to say will change what I know”.

James Popsys is a photographer who’s work resonates with me in much the same way Michael Kenna’s did many years ago. Kenna works in black and white using strong tones and clean compositions, Popsys works in modern colour, but their basic principals are similar.

Hero the subject with clean simplicity of compositions and/or colours.

Something Popsys does that was a real alarm bell to me, is avoid the modern reflex of lifting or bringing up shadows and pulling back or “recovering” the highlights. He does this because he wants to hero the subject. The important elements not the image as a whole.

We do this regularly with depth of field, so why not with exposure?

I said modern reflex above, because basically in the film and early digital era, you sucked the lollie you had, which is to say, shadows were shadows, highlight were highlights and you composed and exposed with this in mind.

There was some room to adjust, but it was not habitually (or automatically) applied because it was hard and often not seen as necessary, and then it was only really in the mono darkroom. The thing is, even in the darkroom we showed restraint and used negative space regularly.

Some images are all about the sky, but many are not.

I remember responding often positively to “high key” mono images, images that often had large areas of near white in them. They were clean and brilliant and the few black or nearly black tones “popped” out of the image. You could make an element more powerful simply by dropping the others back.

Lighter or darker? Lighter would add an element of composition. It would allow the roof line to jump out and maybe even a little lighter. Darker is the reflex, but aren’t we over moody skies and heavy vignetting?

There was one specific case where Gordon Lewis of Camera and Darkroom magazine processed an image and asked Michael Karman, the subject of his interview, to do the same. Even he preferred the Karman image and it was lighter, brighter.

The Karman image on the right.

I was told a long time ago that the most common new printer error is printing too dark, something that I have noticed in my own work in digital. I tend to “normalise” the image “balance” it for better or worse. I think this may also be why I occasionally drift back to mono, chasing that clarity of message, but fall short of being as brave as I would like.

This was the sky, but apart from the authenticity of the rendering, the white cloud also bring the main elements to the fore. If i darkenned the sky it would look fake, would rob the main elements of power.

So why the compulsion to balance out an image from highs to lows, to normalise it?

Because we can I guess and like a lot of things in the digital world, killing our old film enemies seems paramount. No noise, no distortion, full dynamic range, every little detail on show are fine, but they rarely add anything artistically to an image.

Don’t be scared of black shadows or white skies. They exist and sometimes suit the image better than anything else.

The image as delivered, sky darkened.

The image closer to as shot, possibly stronger?

So, the message to self and anyone else who may feel the same is question habits, remember positive responses and push back against the norm.

Only You

It is hard to please everyone, impossible actually.

Don’t try.

We are all blessed with a different take on things, a set of likes and dislikes, or even more extreme loves and hates. These come from so many different influences and cultural imperatives, that even a sibling or partner’s are so different to your own, they are unrecognisable to some outsiders as closely connected.

So, who are you out to please with your art*?

If you want to please others with your work, impress them, to win them over, then you had better live with the reality that you will likely lose more often than you win. Sure you may have a huge “following”, be “liked” by many, but how are you getting there?

Is this really you or a fabrication made to fit the perceptions of others? Sometimes it seems the more likeable you are to some, the easier it is for others to go the other way.

There is only one audience that has the potential to genuinely like what you do and be honest with you about why or why not.

You.

You have to like you or at least the work you do.

If you do, you win every race, clear every hurdle.

The irony is, if you just do you, you probably have the same chance of impressing someone else as you have trying to be what you think they want you to be, but you may impress better people, people who are not impressed by falsehood or shallow ideas.

We all have a sense of not being enough, that the likes and dislikes of others are better, more valid or real than our own.

People in the moment are all that count.

You need to get over that, embrace the perspective that is yours, because something that it always is, that other’s will never be, is the best representation of you and you are ok.

Ok?

You should be able to make your art into what you want to see, no more no less and let the world deal with that. Nothing else has any meaning or is as honest and to be honest, too many choices confuse everyone.

It is easier to be yourself, like the truth is easier to remember than a lie.

There are people out there who only photograph one subject, but if they do it as their passion their "Ikigai”, literally “the reason to live” as the Japanese would say, then it is fine an their passion shows through.

I am lucky enough to be living my Ikigai in a way.

At the paper I managed “what I do well (enough)” and being paid for it. It should have been more, but the paper should have also and once was. At the school, I manage all four, if maybe the paid bit is a little thin, but it is enough.

My passion is to photograph people in their place of living, learning or work just being themselves, because I know a good image can make someone else’s life better and I feel I am good enough at it (better at it than I am at not doing it that way), but I also know that the same formula a little out of alignment, like at the paper, is not the same.

Why not?

The process of creation was more limited in opportunity and there was less need of my better images**, the steps between me the creator and the end product were mostly out off my control and most importantly, I generally did not care about what I shot. Often I did, but mostly I did not because I was not allowed the time for connection to care.

I realised that the main thing I needed was spread of audience, which I guess is the “what the world needs” bit. The world did not need, as far as I was concerned, a single file chosen by a third party from a range of story telling images or worse a single “set” formulaic shot, which to my mind said “I have given up”.

Passion in others, captured with passion is a thing. These island dancers at a school event were very invested in their work, it was spiritual, their Ikigai and capturing it fell inside the bounds of mine. For the paper it would have been a quick drop in for an interview, pose an image, get a caption, go to the next job, then let the journalist or editor decide which to use. For the school, I was there from start to finish and every submitted image (50 odd) went back to the dancers.

Rarely you got a job where a single image did scratch every itch, but it was more luck than anything else. This environmental protest had theatre, passion, commitment, lighting, composition, relevance. All done in a few minutes.

Sure, this way of working could have been my Ikigai by forced intent (a contradiction), but it lacked one of the other important elements. It was not “what I love” and it showed. I did not like my images, so why would I expect others to.

The rub is of course, doing stuff for an audience, not for yourself if you do it technically well enough will strike a cord with someone and it often did (which kept me going for a while), but with the hollowness of knowing I was not one of them.

I found the more that certain others liked my work, the further it was from my own ideal, with the exception of the sports team on the whole.

So you be you, because nothing else makes sense.

Easy to say, so all the advice I can offer is if you truly do not care what others think, then you are probably on the right track.

After at the beggining of a creative life, people are free to be themselves, because they are not sure what they are actually going to be. When some form starts to take shape, it becomes more dangerous. Many artists break on to the scene with reckless creative optimism, only to collapse under the weight of self doubt as they question how they got there and worse, how to stay.

If you stay in love with the subject, process and results, it is easier to ignore those doubts. You like it, so it is ok. When you ask yourself “what do others expect of me?” you are basically doomed.

Be you.

*Only the art matters, the craft, gear used and methodology are just processes perfected and nobody cares, or if they do, maybe they are also off the path.

**Sometimes down to something as simple as a page fit.

Bit Of Improv.

To prove my commitment to some cameras only being used for work and other for play, I visited friends yesterday with just the Pen F and a couple of primes.

So, when asked to do some promo images of their wine and property, to follow up on some a few years ago, I caught was a little under prepared (I actually only packed a camera last minute).

Last time, I used an EM1x, my pro 2.8 zooms, some flash, the odd brolly, a dissuser or two, a tripod. You know, the gear you should use.

This time I had the Pen F with some iffy batteries (The old batts for these are……old and under used, so they often say full when loaded, then die a few minutes later), the 15mm Leica and 45mm Oly 1.8.

First image, when inspiration struck (hard not to with the sun rising over Tassies east coast and that view). The reflection was a problem, but the house, a wall of glass provided a decent reflector.

The birthday boy in one of his makeshift super hero outfits. Hard to find better light.

Superhero sidekick (with un-kickable ball). The 15mm handled the flare well, the sun is literally on the edge of frame.

One of the possibles, pre-clone tool. The superhero is providing shade, the sidekick some context and Bokeh interest, I just need to get rid of the unwanted pre-shadow. Again, all the glow is provided by the house.

With some early success, we tried some other ideas.

The reflected light was more distant, but effective enough.

No gear, no issue, if your environment supplies these tools.

Plenty to chew on.

EM1x Arrival Out Of The Blue Brings A Little Happiness

The (second) second hand EM1x was bought with simple math.

$1060au for a 12777 shutter fire camera from a top rated seller means, all being as represented, less than half last retail price (based on the best I have seen new), for 90+% of a new camera (based on a 400k rated shutter*).

There is always the chance the camera has done a lot of work with the electronic shutter, which may not be recorded as a fire (not sure, need to check), so physical condition comes into play, as well as back story if you know it.

A studio cam can sit on a tripod for years and be treated well, but do a million fires, while a travel cam may not take many shots, but can be physically beaten up.

The nice surprises came in a run.

It arrived today (Friday, bought Tuesday), a full week ahead of my expectations and with free post.

It came in a box that is in the same condition as the two I have already, which is to say, bought > stored. The Oly black boxes mark up easily, so a spotless one is a good sign.

Inside it looked clean and tidy. The re-packer had been thorough and respectful.

The batteries have the smallest of wear marks, always a good sign.

Love this camera.

I cannot find a single wear mark or scratch, so better condition than my current two.

Dirty paint is a give away. Nothing there.

*Shutter count is often used a tool for determining age, but the reality is, a camera has many ways of being damaged, worn out or abused. The reality is a shutter, like an engine can be replaced more cheaply than a damaged sensor or split mother board.

My final butchers bill for the three cams, one new the other two mint second hand, is $4500 or less than a Nikon Z8 body or only $1300 more than my new G9II.

The Work Horse EM1x Again

I wrote a post recently about the longevity of my M43 gear.

Guess what happened right after?

Both EM10.2’s have decided that their screens only work on some angles if at all, which is problematic for menu access, the oldest EM1.2, which has taken 1mil+ files, is tired, but occasionally gives me a full day without problems, although the top deck seems to be the issue (shutter button won’t fire sometimes and one of the function buttons engages without need), the newer one is relegated to second sport camera and even it is sometimes “twitchy”.

The oldest G9 that I dropped last year has real issues with video (sensor goes crazy and locks up after shooting some), but seems fine with stills.

None of them are unusable and will be used, but they all come with “stuff”.

This leaves me with the G9.2, S5 and S5.2 for video mostly (and the full frames are not serviced with a full range of lenses for stills work), the pair of EM1x’s in good condition, reserved for sport, the second relatively new G9.1 which is a backup for stills and video.

The EM1.2’s have been great and can be credited with me going pro and staying there. The newer one is still a sport work horse, saving one of the EM1x’s from unnecessary work and seems to work particularly well with the 40-150 f2.8 as well as having the preferred strap lug config of grip base and camera (which hangs sideways).

I do find the handling of these older cameras lacking without the thumb nubbin, especially as all the new ones have one, but they work well as applied.

The G9.1’s have always been a favoured second cam/video option with better handling than the EM1.2’s, better video codecs and a different look, but not for sport or action with Oly lenses (do-able, but not fun). Lately I have been aware of the G9.2 and S5’s not getting enough use as video hybrids and two of the three are better stills cams than the G9.1’s.

I have pushed it at times recently, like a recent school ball with 2 hours of arrivals, three more of formals and socials, with an EM1.2 that had some issues (the newer one above that kept engaging the WB and ISO control, sometimes quite confusingly), the other even sicker one with a wide angle and the dropped G9 that is less than fully trusted. I could have used my reserve cams, but chose to go with depth of familiar bodies, not re-configure my sports cams.

All worked out well enough, but I cannot say there were not issues and I did not miss a shot, but sometimes only got one choice of several.

Next time or the time after?*

I feel thinly covered at the moment, which may sound ridiculous as many photographers get by on a single body (something I feel is professionally irresponsible and dangerous). I like to have depth in the many areas I cover, not just be “ok” with no backups or push the wrong tool into a space. Without the luxury (?) of a single super camera, I depend on specialists.

To put this into perspective, three EM1x cameras cost less than a single second hand Z9. All three of my Panasonic video specialists (over two formats) cost me the same as a singe A9.2. I have a lot of cameras, but the overall investment is a constant trickle, not a massive hit all at once.

To me, the responsibility of a professional is to be “bullet proof” to adversity, so turning up with a a single expensive body or a handful of iffy cameras, with the likelihood of needing them all, is not depth, it is desperation.

Depth of decent is best. No camera can survive being dropped off a cliff, out of a boat, being run over, so a single body is perilous as well as inconvenient.

The camera that comes to the surface every time except for video is the EM1x.

Reasons are many.

Image quality. The “X” is what I consider the first of the latest generation of M43 cameras. The dual, 4 core, TruePic 8 processors, out of date only a short time later with the release of the EM1.3 do a good job of running the camera and learning how you shoot. Early AI at work.

Cropping is easy and powerful. 20mp is plenty if technique processing and glass are up to it.

They provide good banding control (better than any other camera I have-the newer S5’s even being relatively poor), good enough high ISO performance for anything I do, at least a stop better than the EM1.2’s, probably about a stop behind the very latest M43 cams, but with the latest processing, this gap is nearly irrelevant (the old EM1.2’s are actually fine).

Time after time, they get me what I see. ISO 6400 is clean and sharp.This is a notoriously poor location, something I have gone from loathing to looking forward to thanks to cameras like these and C1 processing.

Sharpness and colour are in the mix against the best M43 and APS-C cams, something that is an improvement over earlier cams and enough for real world use**.

Lenses, the true M43 advantage, empower the camera (or any M43 system) to great heights. Hand held 600mm f4, tiny 150 f1.8, maybe a super sharp little 18mm f1.7 or 20-50 f1.7? All affordable and class leading (M43 focal lengths are half the above).

I got used to shooting with a small, but super hand held sharp 600mm, then cropping into the equivalent of 2000mm with little issue (ball stitch/name level). The sports journalists often commented on the brightness, warmth and clarity of my images, especially my inside sports shots, a combination of the EM1x, the M43 lens advantage and processing. I used to joke it must have been my older, cheaper camera with the smaller sensor and “other brand’ processing - which they did not get.

AF is plenty and by that I mean it is better than me. The battle is getting the subject in the frame-the human bit, the camera will do the rest. The various custom AF shapes are ideal (single three stack with five columns across the frame is a favourite).

I snipe with this camera, taking single, silent shots, near instantly and still get surprised when it gets me shots I reacted to instinctively, but too late.

Mixed and low light levels, with silent shooting…..no problem.

Handling. This is the area the EM1x gets a lot of negative press for and it makes no sense.

Why is it so large with such a small sensor?

Because sensor size has never been the determining factor of camera design, it is only an enabler of some design choices.

It is big, like any other professional camera out there, but smaller than some and it could even be argued that the smaller sensor leaves more room for other things, like liquid cooling, stabilisers, dual processors.

Handling large lenses and bringing medium-large hands to the party needs a decent sized camera, regardless of the sensor size. These cameras are designed for working humans, not to a concept or to make a weight stressed traveller happy.

You could make it smaller, but then it becomes a different class of camera and you would have to ask why? The other EM1 cameras, like all other semi-pro bodies have a grip option, this one just has it included and seamlessly integrated.

All the other cameras live on the regular camera space, less specialised, less special.

Why are the Nikon D6 and Z9, or Canon 1D and R3 cameras large? Not because of their large sensors, but because of their pro-design needs. If mount size mattered, the Z9 should be even bigger than the rest.

Secondly the button layout is smart and clean.

No duplication or clutter common with grip-added cameras.

The control panel is perfectly placed for either orientation, the already cluttered Mk2 needs another control panel, but the EM1x has a centrally placed one so it gets another nubbin. Sometimes when a grip is added, the controls are less responsive than the camera’s own. Not so when they are built in. Notice the button density at the Mk2’s base and lack of options on the grip. it even allows room for the screen to be shifted enough to make the eye piece larger.

When the grip is an add-on, it wastes space where the join is, space is lost. Cramped buttons that are not identically placed to the main body and the dial layout is rarely perfect for vertical/horizontal mirroring. Sometimes the grip even feels different.

There is not even a top screen, just a clean and simple layout. You can run around with it and the settings have not magically changed on you.

Discreet dials, textured and well spaced buttons, nothing redundant, no clutter. Not even an auto or “art” option. Oh, another little thing. The eye cup is hard, something you are reminded of after a couple of hours of shooting, but unlike the Mk2’s they do not fall off. Industrial grade.

I love how it feels. It fits my hand perfectly (average male), gets cooing sounds from friends of all hand sizes when shared and feels like it was carved out of solid (if light weight) metal.

They are fast, no delays for any functions. The camera is never in the way.

The Pana’s are slow to fire up, the EM1.2’s occasionally “squishy” in operation, the lesser cam’s menus are annoyingly simplistic and different.

AF for example is usually a stack of three boxes, vertically aligned in either orientation, with five rows to pick from. With only a gentle flick of the nubbin, I can go from central to right/left third and another for hard right/left.

The doors are designed for longevity with soft release latches, not tension flick-slide doors that get stiff and twitchy.

The view finder, which also gets some criticism is fine for me. Not sure what the problem is there and it is clearly better than the EM1.2 that works fine.

Some Z9 users I sat next to at the footy recently were complaining of banding from some background screens. I had no issues in that scenario.

They are reasonably light, lighter feeling than they look, unlike the Pen F that feels heavier than it looks, but the lenses make the real difference, not the camera.

They are actually light enough that I can tell if there is one, two or no batteries inside just by picking one up.

The pair of f2.8 zooms each on an EM1x cover the whole game. Some screen refresh weirdness in the background, but no other fall-out. These are the TV lights, but still very clean quality even when compared to the other photographers full frame cams.

The LCD is better than the G9.1’s, which are better than the EM1.2’s, which are also fine.

Video stabe and AF is excellent and it can be upgraded to a better than good video cam with a Ninja-V (12-bit RAW), but I have other options.

I like the files. They process easily from a neutral base. I had a moment recently during processing, where the Sigma 30mm and EM1x fooled me into thinking I had shot a job with my full frame. The images had that delicate, almost fragile clarity.

It has the first generation of workable hand held high res, focus stacking, tracking AF and other state of the art features. Enough, more than enough.

It USB charges.

I am still using lesser and older cameras happily, so these, as “old” as they are, are still an upgrade of no small measure.

Full frame look, from a M43 camera and Sigma lens.

Nothing I have is as physically tough, not even my drill!

The EM1.2’s have had some lifting rubber, the doors feel brittle after thousands of openings, some parts of the body are shiny, some stiff, some worn, some sticky even. The “X’s” are built for more, up to pro Nikon or Canon grade, which were the competition when it was released***.

The dual battery slider is much faster to change than the dual locations on the EM1.2 with grip (you need to take the grip off for battery 2) and the battery life is better. I have shot 1000 images in a day with 1 batt and had power left, probably 3000+ would be possible with two (and you get two).

It does have an annoying habit of flashing that one battery is exhausted, fixed by popping it out, but a small constant red “dot” would be enough.

The very last element that makes the EM1x so compelling for me at the moment is the price. New they ranged from $4-2K, mine being close to the bottom end.

They are however about $1000-1300au second hand, even in near mint condition. A second hand EM1.3 is usually dearer, the OM-1 dearer again, even EM5.3’s are similarly priced. The size and perceived special purpose nature of the camera is against it in the market place, but that suits me just fine.

I have toyed with the idea of getting some other cameras fixed or serviced, but a near new second hand camera is only a little more. Getting an EM10.2’s screen fixed for example was quoted at $350. I can buy one for that and I have two screens to fix (3 screens = 1 EM1x).

It also comes with two batts and chargers and the otherwise optional “grip” is included, so about $600 of free accessories, making the body only about $4-500 in real terms. Try picking up an EM1.3 for that or even a Mk2 then add the extras.

The reality is, 95-98% of the images I have taken in M43 and over 99% overall, including most of what you see on these pages were not taken with the “X’s”. They are a reserved luxury, a “full noise” option when other cams can’t do it better, or at all.

I only use two for premium sport events.

I really need to get over that and bring my best cameras to the front.

The Mk2’s, G9’s and old EM5’s have done the lions share of my work for over ten years, but the EM1x’s are the gold standard. Worried about using my last line of reserved cameras, I then picked up three Panasonics in the last 18 months, so maybe a time for change!

I actually found it hard to find non-sport images taken with them, as I used a Mk2 or G9 for most week day jobs.

I want to use each camera until it falls over, but sometimes this has been fraught to say the least.

My current “A” team has always been a G9 for hybrid/video and an EM1 for stills and I have often used others, because I have them and they still work.

My new “A” team should now be the S5.2/G9.2 and EM1x.

A 300mm (150 f2.8) from the other end of the court.

Other options?

The G9’s have similarly good handling in a smaller package (still big for M43 format), but lack the AF chops of the “X”. Even the new G9.2 is no better. You can still buy G9 mk1’s for $1200 or so new, but I won’t, because video is covered and their sport shooting falls short. They are well made, but one drop shortened the life of my first, so they are no EM1x.

The Pen F can match the base image quality, but not the high ISO, banding control or AF performance.

Even the S5’s fall behind in all areas except ISO performance and video. The ISO is nearly irrelevant when other factors are taken into account, the video thing is known, it’s why I buy Pana’s.

The “left-overs” will be used as suits for personal projects, studio or non critical work.

*

So, to summarise, I bought another EM1X from Japan. About $1200au with import duties, from a 99.9% professional seller (eBay Japan 2023 seller of the year), in mint physical condition, boxed with under 13k shutter fires (from 400k rated), with all accessories.

I cannot in all good consciousness see a better buy right now. Spending up to three times as much for new seems like very poor economics, unwarranted really. Spending the same on a lesser camera is also illogical.

I am struggling with the size of full frame lenses at the moment, but the EM1x body still fits in my most used bags (Domke F2, F7, F802), thanks to the smaller M43 lenses.

I will now have a daily/event EM1x as my stills and action cam, two more as sports bodies and some other cams as video specialists and for slower work, along with some backups for personal or low stress jobs.

Better performance will allow the use of zooms over primes, the better handling and AF will save me shots. More money spent on a newer camera would not net me much more, maybe less in some ways, would break the consistency of my work horse units and be a waste really. I don’t have 2k+ to spend, but a little over 1k is reasonable.

My working shutter life has extended my roughly half a million and by my reckoning it cost about $200 a working year.

The other cams will probably soldier on forever now, but I feel like I have lifted my base game.

The G9II is being used more as a daily video camera, the other near new G9 as the hybrid still/video second cam, the EM1x as the primary stills cam for AF performance.

Another perspective.

https://smallsensorphotography.com/e-m1x-4-year-review

*The stand-out on the night was the Godox 860, that shot over 1000 images that night and still had all its bars at the end of the night.

**M43 sensors seemed to go through three stages. The early ones, pre-phase detect AF were amazing in their day. The format then went through a mixed mid-life crisis period where full frame went ahead again, then they “grew up” about the EM1x/G9 and after, where only the mathematical differences between formats mattered.

***The EM1x was designed to push the case for M43 as a professional format in the Tokyo Olympics that did not happen. Fate caught Olympus out as it did everyone, the delay dealing a death blow to their plans.

My Recent Past In Retrospect Part 3

Some jobs were genuinely fun and often the result of taking the advice of another.

Rob Shaw, the senior sports reporter/sub-editor, a long term journo, was always appreciative of my desire to improve and explore.

On his suggestion, I hopped on the back of a moped at the state junior cycling team training camp and had the team follow for a couple of laps.

Insert me, vespa rear (facing backwards) and you have to idea.

Aware that I was the only part of the machine not perfectly in tune, I spent the first lap getting balanced and comfortable, then started shooting. My weapon of choice was the G9 (mk1) and 9mm lens set to f2.8 and manual focus at about 2 ft. Turns out 2 inches would have also worked.

With a 9mm lens on a M43 camera, the perceived distance is elongated. At one point I may had actually touched a wheel and the riders in the shot above were only 3-6 inches away.

This was the rider I may have contacted. The hands are about 2-3 inches from lens end.

No matter how good a shot idea is and how well it comes out, you need variety.

Go long-go wide is a good starting point.

Some Mini Leica Magic

The (old) G9 and Leica 9mm have become a low light staple.

Bought early on at the paper as a weight reducer (40-150 f4, 9 and to a lesser extent the 15mm were all purchased under the feeble excuse of weight reduction, but they did actually make a difference).

Lovely flare control, contrast and sharpness and I really do not care where I point it.

A find I can hand hold in almost any light and the combination of a fast, super sharp and well controlled M43 wide angle, which even at f1.7 gives me tons of depth of field.

The more I use it, the more impressed I am becoming.

The series below were shot basically directly into a strong stage spot light literally just cropped out of the top left side of the frame.

I would normally not push my gear that hard, asking it to see what I could not with my own eyes.

Turns out, it had some cool tricks up it’s sleeve.

“Bubble flare”, very in keeping with the vibe of the night.

With a little, just a little de-haze applied in C1, it held detail and contrast, while allowing the funkiness of the flare to still rule.

I particularly like the larger ring around the side. For comparison, I also tried the trusty 12-40 Olympus in the same spot and got a wall of white light, much as I expected.

So the list of goodness this little lens has to offer now includes;

• Super light weight.

• Weather sealed.

• Small, but comfortable.

• Flare resistant to a huge degree.

• When not, flare enhancing it seems.

• A wide angle macro (3cm close focus).

• Sharp at any aperture, but I rarely move away from f1.7 to 2.8.

• Near infinite depth of field, even wide open (it is a 9mm).

• Near telepathic AF.

• Nice manual focus.

• In video it performs brilliantly and provides an 18/36/50mm focal length.

Zero space, lots of things going on and point and hope focussing, no issue.

Only inches from touching the handle bars.

You Have To Do Your Own Work.

As photographers grow and adapt to their client’s needs, they tend to take two technical and creative pathways.

Path one is the perilous path of the “make it up as you go” shooter.

Faced with their subject, this shooter falls back on safe ideas that have worked before or if needed, experiments on the spot, often with surprising results ….. both ways.

Experience reduces risk, or as I have seen recently, sometimes creates a predictable and complacent work methodology.

This is potentially exciting, a little unnerving (or should be), but often inefficient. The shooter has the luxury of time for other things and by deliberately limiting their purview and range of capabilities, they can work within a false sense of security mixed with often habitually well suppressed anxiety.

Sometimes the players, tech and the location work it all out for you, but usually not.

The second shooter works much the same way, but all the experimentation is conducted before it is needed. The intention is for nothing to by left to chance, but the process is usually more one of excited exploration.

Currently reading Dan Winters’ retrospective, I am reminded that the best “on the fly” shooters are rarely that. Joe McNally, the master of flash use in reflexive situations is actually an implementer of well practiced ideas, some of which have been used often before, some not, but all based on literally decades of experience.

He often uses self effacing terminology, but behind that humbleness, is a hard work ethic, years of calculated mistakes and a genuine love of in the field problem solving. You don’t do that well without preparation.

I guess you can get to a place where your experimentation is actually within an envelope of the mostly known, mostly predictable, but that takes a lot of time on either pathway.

When I started studio style shoots, I felt the freedom to working within a controllable space. As I worked, I became more and more aware of the power of less, which came in handy when big ideas failed to fit in small spaces.

The above shoot was completed in a room less than 8x8 feet wide with only room for me, my one light stand and even then I was peaking out from under my single umbrella and the subject. Even the backdrop was leaning on the wall as there was no room for a stand. I knew before hand that a single brolly in a semi-butterfly light configuration would work.

Testing once is better than stuffing up multiple times in the field.

The idea I guess is to stay excited about the potential of what you can do, or intend to anyway, so you will want to experiment in your own time. When the fire goes out, so does your desire to do better. It becomes a chore and chores are rarely done to a higher level.

Reinvent, explore, dare to try, stay motivated, but recognise when maybe, it is time to move on.

Some Stuff To Do With Portraiture

Got that portrait bug again.

Not sure what got it going, but it is here and I have been having fun.

Looking at a problem that has been close to me buying the most ridiculously large bag ($450au 5.11 CAMS bag), so I can take all* my stands, mods, flash units, LED’s etc, I decided to look at the problem another way.

Manfrotto 5002BL Nano light stands seems to be the go if you want small stands. My smaller Neewer stainless are 70+cm long for 2.1 meters tall, the Nano’s are 50cm long for 2 meters tall.

That 20cm means I can fit them in a small 40L suit case (that I have already). They take 4kg and seem steady enough with a flash, bracket and Smallrig 55cm soft box on (the stem bends, which seems to be what they do happily). I would be happier with a brolly or brolly soft box because they are centre balanced and softer for their size, but the soft box fits in the case, my brollies don’t.

I forgot to put the two C-mount flash brackets in, but they fit fine. I can also add the RB-9, two flash units and controller, but they would probably be in their respective camera bags anyway. The heaviest bit of the kit is the Amaran power brick and 970 NP batts.

The case is about the same volume as my Domke roller bag, just a different shape. I can now take my G9II small backpack setup (The case is about the same volume as my Domke roller, just a different shape).

I can now take my G9II video backpack kit, which handles sound, some lighting and the camera with this case for lighting, with little discomfort.

Alternatively, it can be studio lighting lite, meaning two flash units with brackets and stands, the soft box and or a couple of brollies strapped to the outside (or in my tripod bag).

The background above is one of my cheap backdrop rolls. The “Jonah” faux leather furniture fabric is my “Annie Leibovitz” look backdrop. For $17/m and 1.5m wide, it can be cut to any length (this is over 3m), looks a bit like an Oliphant hand painted and comes in several colours. I have the Donkey brown above, a grey version, a light stone and tan leather.

The leather-like fabric drops creases out as you watch, can be walked on, painted, wiped down, crumpled for effect , is soft to sit on and light. Because it is furniture fabric, it comes in 1.5m wide rolls. Curtain fabric can be wider, but not in this stuff unfortunately (leather curtains anyone?). For wider you can either hang it sideways or hang several panels in Leibovitz style “backdrops in a working space”;

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/photos/2017/05/star-wars-the-last-jedi-portraits-annie-leibovitz

These were fun and although they have not been used much, they are great to have along side my Manfrotto Pewter/Walnut and Grey/Black collapsibles.

Hankering for something else, I decided to look into other colours. Fuelled with enthusiasm, I went to the local Spotlight fabric shop with a half dozen book marked on my phone, but found most were either too shiny or simply not what their picture looked like.

Undaunted I kept looking.

I came back with a soft sky blue cotton canvas, a darker mottled denim blue and a different take on the faux leather, a faux suede in a steel grey. The Faux suede looks like it can have a fake brush effect applied by hand or….brush, but I am not sure it will make any photographic difference.

The two cloth ones are matt, durable and heavy. One was under $12/m for a double sided weave and has a perfect ragged edge if the backdrop is fully visible (on trend it seems).

The cheapest one about 2m behind my model (meet Joe Black) with the Smallrig softbox above my head pointed down for some butterfly effect. Some texture, variable colour based on light wash and it is hanging straight and uncreased over the one above without even clamping.

This is the cloth quite close and fairly accurate to colour, That wonderful balance between slight texture and perfect consistency. I am tempted to go back and get the remains in the roll, because I think it could take a some gentle spray paint magic or a wrung out look.

Tests are good and give you confidence in your processes.

I now know the little softbox is more efficient than a reversed 42” white brolly by about 2 stops, but harsher also. It is great for light travel and fine for video fill, but for big light I have several options including removing the diffusers and shooting into a wall or ceiling, placing a 60cm 5-in-1 in front of it, maybe adding some diffusion cloth.

This is the softness from a reversed brolly. These are Godox 42” in slightly warm white, which I find suits balls and other events well. The backdrop looks closer to its most desired colour here, catching more spill. I much prefer a slightly textured look than a block colour, but if needed I have my Manfrotto solid grey which can produce most colours.

I found a great video by Gavin Hoey (after I shopped!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIy7_dKZv-Q&t=36s and his recommendation is to go stretchy fabric. This allows you to stretch creases out with clamps, then looks like seamless paper, but without the hassle. I think this makes the most sense for block and vibrant colours, so my next buy may be red, yellow, lime green and orange in these colours. He also had some other cool uses for soft fabrics.

My whole setup is pretty simple.

I use a pair of the Neewer 2.4m stainless steel stands (that do not fit in that case), a pair of Smallrig super clamps holding a 1.8m curtain rail with a bunch of cheap “A” clamps and optionally a second rail low, for stretch tension. The whole lot (if you ignore my Manfrotto set-up**) came in at about $150 to start with and about another $200 in fabric so far for seven types and more coming.

*CAMS actually stands for “carry all my stuff”.

**Two backdrops and the magnetic bracket for about $700au

The $350 Manfrotto is nice, but so is the $25 cloth.

Flash And The (Other) Exposure Triangle.

The Exposure Triangle is the bedrock of photography.

All images, no matter what they are taken with have these three elements in balance to get the desired exposure.

Light passes through a hole (the Aperture), for a period of time (the Shutter Speed) into a photo sensitive surface (film or sensor) which has an ISO (light sensitivity rating) to create a captured image.

Adjusting any or all of these three values is how we control the amount of light needed to expose the image properly, but also, to adjust depth of field we can use the aperture, to capture motion blur we can set the shutter speed and to control the image quality vs light sensitivity we use the ISO setting (although these are all up to other factors also).

Aperture

Shutter Speed ISO

Simple when you know it, applicable to most situations with a little adaption of thinking or terminology.

When you have determined the correct exposure, whether it is “technically perfect” or to your own creative tastes, changing any of these values requires changing at least one other to compensate.

If you want to open up the Aperture to make your depth of field shallower, you will also be letting in more light (through a bigger lens opening), so you need to reduce light by either dropping the ISO value lower (making the sensor less light sensitive) or increase the shutter speed (less exposure time) or a combination of the two.

Mastering these and their inter-relationship is the core of photography.

*

Using flash is a rare exception, but when you get it, it is as easy to apply, possibly even easier.

The above triangle is still just as applicable for ambient exposure when using flash which is to say, to capture the amount of environmental light you want before the flash capture, but for the flash exposure itself, this is the new triangle;

Aperture

Flash Power ISO

Shutter speed has been replaced by flash power for a couple of reasons.

Shutter speed has an effect on flash in that it is often restricted to a maximum “flash sync” shutter speed otherwise the flash fire may not cover the whole sensor or film plane when it fires. High speed or “FP” flash can fix this but requires substantially more power and some flash and camera combinations cannot use it.

The second reason is, flash is substantially faster than camera shutter speed, anything up the 1/100,000th of a second. The camera shutter is like a snail compared to a bullet, so flash works effectively independently (except for the sync speed thing above). Aperture and ISO still matter, because they are not speed dependent.

Changing the shutter speed will have effectively no effect on flash exposure, only background exposure levels.

Balance is key.

This is an ambient only exposure, using the room lights and no flash. The shutter speed is just fast enough to avoid subject blur at the distance shot with a wide angle lens.

Once you have chosen a shutter speed, aperture and ISO that gives you enough environmental light, but also fast enough shutter to freeze ambient motion if needed*, then you set your flash power to balance it’s own exposure, effectively like a second shutter speed for a second exposure requirement.

This is the same space with ambient light capturing the background and flash capturing the foreground. In this case the flash was fired upwards with most coming off the ceiling and some bounced forward off a white card to help even out the coverage. Notice that the background is warmer looking than the more daylight balanced flash lit area.

In this image, the background is deliberately under exposed because there is nothing of great interest except the background pin lights (the table to the right is only just visible).

A catch here can be adding in enough ambient light to see the important elements as wanted as the flash exposes the main subject, but not at too slow a shutter speed to capture it’s motion, which will result in ghosting of the subject (blurred motion around a sharp flash capture).

If your main subjects are in shadow, the shutter speed is not overly important as the flash “speed” is plenty to arrest movement. It is when you mix both flash and strong ambient light so they are fighting for the same subject that problems can arise.

This image avoids too much dance movement blur by capturing the foreground shadowed subjects. These would otherwise have little exposure so would have been black silhouettes. The dancers under the lights in front of these girls would be at risk of blur, because they are better lit naturally and the shutter speed was only 1/100th, not fast enough to freeze motion. The laser on the right looks a little blurred at this shutter speed.

For me, switching from TTL to manual gave me a stronger understanding and also more control over this space. TTL, effectively auto flash, has it’s uses, but manual is more reliable, more efficient and unlike the film era when you had to do mildly complicated math every exposure, it is as easy as turning a dial and getting a feel for the space.

I know I can walk into most rooms with a M43 camera set to ISO 800, 1/100th and f2.8 (depending on ambient light levels) with the flash set at 1/8th power* and I will be roughly right to go. Flash power may shift from 1/1 to 1/16th depending on other elements, but 1/8th seems a good average.

If using a fixed light on a stand (bounced brolly), it is almost always 1/16th power**, ISO 800, f2.8, 1/100th at my normal working distance (about 3mtrs).

If your camera settings are consistent, you only have to learn your flash output by eye and guestimation can be plenty close enough, especially if the ceiling is an even height and distances similar. I find that thanks to the clean nature of flash exposure, being about 1 stop under or 2 over does little harm, so shoot first, adjust, shoot again if needed.

Flash is a great tool and needs to be mastered if you want to be able to handle most situations at a professional level. It can seem daunting, but the reality is, it only takes an awareness of a few new variables, often easily controlled ones and with some experimentation you are quickly in a much better space.

I now find flash a safe place to play, not a mysterious beats with teeth.

*This is done by either capturing the motion if the shutter is fast enough, or cutting the light down so only the flash captures anything.

**Godox 860 or 685 or **YN430 IV. I use the Godox for walk around with TTL as a safety net, the all manual YN’s for static setups, but either can do either.

Becoming Aware

My life has changed a lot lately.

No paper, more schools and volunteer stuff.

No paper means fewer daily jobs, less overall variety and to some extent, less importance attached to the work (depends on what matters to you I guess).

More schools means being generally more relaxed and “embedded”, with greater emotional connection and more time can be put into each job. I provide same day turn-around most of the time, but even that is rarely required and compared to 5-7 jobs turned around same day, it is almost languid.

Volume is up, way up and use of that volume also. A real benefit is few if any captions are needed. New facial recognition software is even allowing automatic dissemination of a whole large project without fuss or fear of unwanted disclosure.

Video is in a slump, but that is mostly my doing and a bit disappointing after my recent investments. I pushed it front and centre at the paper, being the in-house champion for it against the general flow of apathy, even avoidance, something I have not been doing with the school.

I feel there is always good use for it, but others often do not see that. If you do it, and I am finding this is almost always the case with video, you need to produce a complete package, then people will grab it happily, but unlike stills, just providing “bare” footage is pointless as most do not know what to do with it or even why.

Looking at the potential of other areas though, school balls are providing a chance to hone my studio lighting technique (looking at a brighter, cleaner more brilliant look like a portrait of Teddy Swims I came across recently https://indiewavves.com/musicblog/qanda-teddy-swims ).

Drama is very satisfying as is music, although video again is thin, something I need to fix. Life is easier without it and very little of my video kit is truly useless in a stills kit (sound gear mainly).

A surprise recently at a school performance, a genuine aerialist in the faculty.

My sport has gone from 10-20 varied events a month to nearly nothing, but I have plans here to approach local teams and just shoot for them for free, simply to keep my eye in (some success here with an offer for paid work). I have noticed that without regular application, I need a couple of events to get back into my zone, so practice is key.

The second school is dominant in private school sport in the state’s north and mad for it being covered. This would have been a back-pager at the paper, just one of a hundred or so at the school, but the big difference is, few if any of the others would have been seen with the paper. It is entirely possible that the multiplying effects of the right people seeing more images relevant to themselves gives my shots more actual useful exposure than the odd shot in the paper with a mixed viewership.

My “awareness” above refers to the reality that only now, five months into the year, am I really getting that my life is so much more satisfying and enjoyable than it was this time last year.

Last year I was finally part time again after waiting since Christmas for something to happen and had missed re-connecting with the school (again). I did pick up the second school, but juggling the two was not ideal.

I am even enjoying old hobbies again, looking to do projects with stills and video and my kit, which took a beating over the last two years has now settled into a safer, gentler life. My current kit with my current workload will likely be fine for the next five or more years with little added (out of necessity).

The reality is I have been reserving my EM1x’s for sport, my G9II, a clean G9I and both S5’s for video and pounding the two rougher EM1.2’s and G9I. Even the EM10.2 and old EM5’s get some work. My Pen F is largely unused as is the OSMO. I know I can function with minimal kit, but I can field that in several ways.

Some are showing some signs of stress, but nothing I cannot work around.

My Recent Past In Retrospect, Part 2

More pondering and more self assessment and even some much needed affirmation of my recent past as a news photographer.

I have been looking at the paper more since leaving it than I ever did before (I actively did not read it when I worked there, preferring to do my best work in a vacuum of comparative self criticism). I just tried to keep my eye on the next job, not bask in the glow, or hide in the shadow of the last.

Maybe I should have paid more attention.

Again, these images as a sample, taken from a folder from mid-late last year after fruitlessly chasing an image for a friend.

One of the realities of being a small city news paper photography is you are often technically creatively limited*. Not complaining, because it is a good training ground, but when you come from a more creative space, you are always aware of what could have been.

Larger paper shooters often have an allocated car with gear, more time, often work alone without a journalist keen be done and gone and can sometimes even specialise.

For us, if it does not fit into your bag, you leave it behind.

If the job and the subject are only loosely connected, you need to think outside of the box.

One job, a candle light vigil preview needed a mood shot, but the only time the subject could be at the venue was midday and the sun was out bright and clear. I moved them to a shaded area, then under exposed the main image intending to add light for effect.

I had two light options.

A small LED, which proved to be too weak to make a dent in the forced gloom without pushing it into the frame.

A flash, with off camera capability, but it was harsh and hard to control. The answer was to bounce the flash off the journalist’s off-white shirt back (just out of frame left) with the flash held at arms length to reduce unwanted scatter. A little augmentation of the candle light in post and we have “twilight” at midday.

Telling a story is always important.

I underestimated this at first.

Aware of the benefits of connected images, I realised early on that the paper was only interested in “the one” image. The reality is though, if you are not trying to tell a story, you are not watching the subject deeply enough, trying to find an image outside of the most surface level treatment is hard. Later we started to need online galleries, which allowed us to tell that story and it was obvious that as the story unfolded, the better single images also emerged.

Getting the captain batting, a celebration after an important wicket and the pennant being awarded, are all good individually, but better together. Along with a little human touch, it is a full story.

*I remember a cadet at the paper fresh from a trip to the national office for their “ride along” time telling us how a photographer on the mainland (Canberra Times) used a bunch of props, including 50 soccer balls and a princess dress, to shoot a women’s soccer player (royal family of an Arabic country). She wondered why we did not until we asked her how long they had to get the shot, how much did it cost, how much support was there and did they have to get another shot that day? She quickly realised we are not playing on the same field.

Bags, A Real Use Reality Check

Bags are a thing with me. So much so, I have an entire page dedicated to them.

My journey started back in the days when there were only a few brands, not many more good ideas and plenty of people making do with alternatives.

Domke was my bag of choice, the “Jeep” of bags. I tried others like Billingham, probably the Bentley by that comparison, maybe the Land Rover, Lowe Pro (the Toyota), Tamrac and Tenba, (Honda and Subaru?) and later, some of the new brands like Filson (the luxury Jeep?) Mind Shift/Think Tank, Crumpler and others I forget.

Plenty of good bags are available, but only to a limited extent. Even brands like Domke, that avoid fluff for the sake of it, evolve slowly from a strong base and last a cats lifetime, but still need to offer choices in size, shape and fabric to be of use. they sometimes even try to update their look.

I tend to select my gear, then my bag, often being forced to compromise when I do.

The bags themselves range from Domke classics to some more on-trend styles and quite a few non-camera bags.

Why all these bags and still the need for some not even designed for the job?

The problem is no bag, no matter how good, is the “one bag”. Looking at my own circumstances, I have a huge variety of daily kit needs, ranging from fully rigged video cams to a tiny one camera and two prime lens setup.

This is often the problem. Camera bag makers rarely think of anything else and often make unrealistic promises. I have seen very cleverly designed camera backpacks that will hold all types of kit, but have little room for anything else hiking related and tire of promised loads being impractical. Yes it can take three cameras and six lenses with accessories, but only when everything is packed away, lenses off, hoods reversed, not “at the ready”.

The reality is, I will use what ever works and sometimes what works is not designed for cameras specifically but are still well made and designed. Probably the reason Domke have been my favourite stems from their almost anti-camera bag design.

Many makers sort of fell into the market through other pursuits. Domke bags were designed by a photographer on the fly and made by a generic canvas gear maker off a rough sketch.

Like Jim Domke and those he was helping in the 1970’s sometimes I also use what ever I can lay my hands on.

So, my favourite camera bags that are not camera bags?

The 5.11 “Range Ready” bag is the best video bag I have and a steal at the $150au*. Video gear tends to stretch the friendship with camera bags. “Boxy” and “fully rigged” tend to be the terms often incompatible with specifically shaped camera bags.Video bags are available, but the price is ridiculous for a bag that is often at the simple (boxy) end of the scale.

My Tokyo Porter satchel, which seems to be only available from the Kyoto Tokyu Hands is another example. This is my favourite travel bag because it (1) is comfortable for extended use, (2) does not scream “camera bag”, (3) fits a good kit and stuff you may need or buy and (4) gives me easy access. Apart from that I like its looks and it seems decently weather resistant.

Another winner is the Filson Field Bag (medium-Otter green). This is not the Camera Field Bag version which I do also own, just the regular one and as dear as any decent camera bag. It is not as well designed for cameras, but it has many of the features of the one above, is fully weather proof and has a very deep top flap, which is often not desired in camera bags, except when it is.

It has no velcro, no button press clips, no clever designs, just old fashioned buckles (that rattle) and that hold on ok even when just pushed through, so I can move fast, even run with it, with little fear of anything jumping out.

A little no-name bag from Kobe bought at a street stall last trip in Japan. It holds a surprising amount, looks like nothing much and wears well. Perfect for a one camera, several lens M43 kit, it was used daily after purchase. Like a lot of good travel bags, it has a lot of thief confusing pockets, is easily accessed even when full and stuff just seems to disappear inside it.

The kit below plus a scarf, my passport, wallet, travel bits and pass key, phone, even a book all fit in dedicated pockets. The scarf adds a soft base and gear separator. I can also add a 9mm, 12-60 kit or similar with little effort.

I actually forgot I bought a lens along one day (45mm f1.8) because I put it in a previously undiscovered pocket when packing. Cursing my all too common forgetfulness all day, I panicked when I got back and still could not find it until I again found the pocket under the flap, behind the other pocket.

I can run with this bag without cinching the straps and nothing flies out thanks to the magnetic clip and shape. No other bag I currently have allows this except the Filson above.

These all get an insert of some type, but taking a tip from Domke, I lean towards thin walled and soft.

*Like most things, as soon as it gets the “camera bag” label the price goes through the roof. Thankfully there is not yet a “wedding day camera bag class” with a double premium.

A Revisit And Fresh Expansion Of My Horizons

When I left the paper and returned to the school, which were intertwined, the third option, the other school, was cut loose as a not compatible option.

After a term revisiting my old life, I am in the same place for better or worse. I have no contract, no security, no official place, just a vocal pledge, knowledge I am wanted and happy enough with that I guess.

At first the reality of my new-old circumstances hit hard. Back to where I started, only a commitment for a larger marketing budget funnelled my way. The school can (and does) bring in others as needed, for specialist tasks or even some old projects that need consistency.

Then I realised, the freedom that they have, goes both ways. I am a contractor (without a contract), not a signed-on staff member, so when the other school, not a competitor, a different financial base, got in touch to see if I was keen to do some small jobs, I thought, why not. I am never going to be wealthy doing this work, comfortable would be the dream, but even that is a stretch.

Having two similar, but unconnected employers could work.

Anyway, today some football, something this school is very strong at.

My Recent Past In Retrospect, Part 1

Life is very different around here at the moment. Beautiful sunny Autumn days have been the perfect back drop for my new found contentment and “perfect” life.

The main school is being supplemented by the old school giving me the odd job (no conflict, different dynamics), some sport through the state’s primary AFL and Cricket licensee and my volunteer agencies.

I needed to go back through my Examiner files looking for a football match to help out a school employee. Lots of images, lots of thoughts bubbling up.

I have been hard on myself in retrospect. I always felt the pressure of getting names and the needed shot out weighed the challenge of the images themselves and tended to shelve my happy self, letting a less open, more “on the job” side take over.

The relative freedom I feel with schools, the ability to just shoot and shoot, no captions needed, few limits in time or content and full support for me chasing my perfect images, is a far cry from my mindset at the paper.

It seems, in the early days at least, my efforts did net me the images I liked as well as the ones I needed, or maybe I ditched the ones that were frustratingly pointless and have forgotten.

Some examples of what was needed, what I did, what else I did and maybe a chance to go easier on myself. All of these examples come from a random period late last year in a one of the last folders I searched (fruitlessly), but before I became too locked into a negative spiral of self doubt*.

A swimming event (state school age club championships I think).

These are fun for the school, tougher for the paper. The need to identify the swimmers puts a bit of pressure on. Bobbing heads in a constant rotation of events does not always give you much time to work with.

The images can be tricky, but you soon learn to pick the right strokes. Butterfly is king, netting images like the ones below effortlessly.

Throw in the odd other angle for variety.

Breast stroke comes next, basically the same but without the drama.

The other strokes are generally time wasters, so a few as able, then go hunting for something different, try to tell a story and use the environment.

I spent about an hour at this even (too long really) at the start of a busy Saturday shift.

I remember enjoying the photography, especially beating the challenges of location, notorious for mediocre light and humid conditions, but the captioning still sits heavily. The process was, to shoot the running board (LED on the wall over my shoulder), which thankfully matched up with a well organised race and lane allocation system I had been given a copy of, then shoot the competitors, concentrating on the two local clubs (blue and white caps).

I submitted about twenty images, managed to get the needed podium shot of a local champion and felt generally lucky that the right events were on when I arrived and the meet was well organised.

The reality is, the podium shot will be used if relevant to the story, the best of the action shots, maybe a small gallery online, but only if a filler is needed.

It is not always this easy.

Netball can be tricky.

Poor light, the stop-start nature of the game, teams ranging from well named and numbered and often recognisable athletes, to school children swapping position bibs mid quarter with patchy or non existent team sheets and volunteered “overseer” parents or even staff who do not know all the players by sight, can make it less fun.

My one national grade game (rare in Launceston as we do not have a state team, just a team that drops in occassionally).

I learned very quickly with higher grade netball, you do not chase the ball, you stalk the player. With only seven per side, a strict time limit on ball possession, limited court access and quick hands, most players will see the ball each change of direction. Basically they will give you an in-and-out shot each, sometimes more and often contested.

Plan B is under the net or approaching action in attack, but these tend to be messy and repetative.

Add some down time or sideline shots and you are done.

One quarter should be enough, two if the game is top tier, but often you are just creating work for yourself. You do get a feel for when you have your half a dozen minimum.

In this type of environment you often do feel like the better images are lost as you have to shoot the player’s backs (with their names) straight after a decent contest, often breaking your rhythm.

In the other example above of a worst case scenario (still my most remembered horror story), I had to find out a name from a school friend in the crowd, who often had to google their correct spelling, then stalk that one player, then repeat.

I was covering two games on adjacent courts at the same time, so it became a matter of one team-one end, each quarter (the attacking team so they faced me). The journalist concerned, a cadet doing their sport rotation, decided instead to do a story on a coach they found late in the day doing their 40th carnival and only one action shot was ever used!

*To put this in context, I had plenty of support from most quarters at the paper, the sports and editorial journalist often become friends, but the photo pool was a split between cool distance and bored but supportive. I flew the flag for video content creation, much to the annoyance of others and tended to “over shoot”, which ironically meant that even after I left, a lot of my images were used to cover the JackJumpers basketball team who won the national title this year and for previews of footballers coming into the new season.

You're Going To Need A Bigger Bag ..................

With not as much video as I would hope to be doing, my full frame kit is getting pressed into service as a stills problem solver.

The problem?

Not sure really.

Probably finding a use for the gear is the main one ;).

There is a problem though, one I was always aware of, but it is amazing how limiting it is.

It is frikkin’ big.

The little guys are my favourite primes, the 17 and 45mm f1.8’s. The monsters behind are their full frame equivalents.

It is not the cameras that are the problem, these are all big enough regardless of format, my largest a M43 model.

The lenses though are about three times the size.

Some context here.

Full frame has some small lenses, slim little pancake’s even, but they are few and far between and slow in aperture so the full frame advantage is effectively irrelevant (f1.8 in M43 = f3.4 in full frame for DOF, which is over two ISO settings advantage to get the same shot and most ff pancake lenses are f2.8). I simply do not see the benefit in trying to buy full frame kit-small. Too many pointless compromises for little benefit.

Weight is not always the issue either. The larger lenses above are all plastic bodies, so no real bother and I have plenty of heavier M43 lenses. My 75mm Olympus M43 lens is heavier than the full frame 85mm above.

The difference is in their effective focal length. You can carry a heavy M43 kit, but it will be effectively twice as long in reach as the full frame kit.

The issue is, and it cannot be fixed, the size of the sensor forces the lens barrels to be wider and longer.

It seems I now have to use a bigger bag.

Is it worth it?

I was starting to use a slim Crumpler Muli, or even smaller Crumpler or Kata shoulder bags and even some non-camera bags, but the minute I need to take the full frame, I need two of my usual spots per lens. A bag that once took a camera with mounted lens in a decent sized space, now just takes a lens.

The Domke F7 has become the one again, but even it’s lens spaces are pushed.

It can take two M43 bodies with mounted lenses, a third body on top with lens mounted, facing down into the lens slot, another two more lenses in other spots and that is just in the main compartment. All these are ready to go. Only height is an issue, my 40-150 f2.8 cannot go in mounted on a camera and the 300 f4 basically does not comfortably fit, but otherwise, anything goes.

My full frame Lumix kit also fits, but that is only two bodies, three primes and a kit zoom. No reach, not as much width and no room to spare. the lens width also limits fast change overs as I cannot simply drop a lens in, it needs to be wriggled.

The benefit is cleaner extreme ISO shooting (ISO 4000+), but how often is this really the case?

Some cool flare and almost ridiculously interesting results from a high ISO, high flare, underexposed and generally crappy situation, taken on an old G9, 9mm Leica straight into a light just off frame left and so close I could feel the heat. I could not see, but the camera and lens could with a little help from software. Do I need full frame? No.

Endings

I remember several specific times in my photographic life when something changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

One time I tend to see as a negative, but really it is just a time, not good or bad, was the very last edition of Camera and Darkroom magazine.

It snuck up on me and I think also the makers of the publication as a whole, because the magazine is normal, even publishing parts of an ongoing series and I only remember which edition it was, short of going through the whole of my collection and proving it, because of the black cover, something that may have been a last minute rebellion to the decision.

The new owners of the publication, decided there was no need for it in their portfolio, so one minute a healthy and functioning organism, the next, gone, but not forgotten*.

I think there may have been a little note in the shrink wrap, possibly a notification through the supplier, but either way, the end was here and it was a little sobering.

Another interesting article about printer Michael Karman, by Gordon Parks a favourite blogger now also out of the scene. Interesting how much perceptions have changed.

The articles were the usual. Good writing, in-depth stuff with an educated eye. The one that rankled, was the first of a two part article about the inability to focus properly with modern enlarger devices and proof of such.

This was by Ctein a recognised master printer, so no small thing. Being unfinished, I did think it may have been a cruel joke, but the reality is it was as innocent as all the rest. I was drifting away from darkroom work anyway, so the timing was irrelevant.

The cover image “Lella, Bretagne 1947” is haunting and a favourite, soured a little by its use as deliverer of bad news, but stunning none the less. I find the near perfect rendering of the woman in the background even more compelling than the main subject and what a revelation in this era of dramatic sharp-soft transitions.

Sobering to think this woman just survived the German occupation, WW2 and will still have to face a decade of hardship.

Times change and things come and go, but I think I was always a little disappointed the publication, always my favourite, just went. It actually changed the hold these had on me, a slight shifting of loyalties from “monthly words from on high” to a more coffee table art or technical book dynamic.

I guess maybe because individual publications are complete in their own right, not at the whim of long term support. I have always been suspicious of relying on anything long term, a product of mixed, but decent upbringing, but some thing I did hold onto.

This seems to have manifested itself into an obsessive need to collect something when I commit to it, just in case (of what?), something I am aware off, but still prefer to do than not.

*They still sell for a decent amount on eBay and there looks to be a Facebook page CameraanddarkroomRenn, by Tom Harrop the original creator.