I wish I had a better name for this photo, because it represents some of my favorite things about the South. I love the North Carolina clouds and spring thunderstorms. I’m not sure that I could live anywhere that didn’t have thunderstorms or, even though I swear I hate them, those muggy afternoons before the rains and wind come through and cool things off.

As a creative challenge, and because I LOVE black and white, I have decided to shoot/process all of my personal work for the rest of May and the whole month of June in monochrome. Maybe partly due to the announcement of the Leica M Monochrom (codename Henri–yes, that Henri) and partly because a short audit of my favorite photos found many of them to be black and white, I feel the need to explore tones, textures, contrast, and mood more extensively.

I will be shooting primarily in RAW for maximum processing flexibility, and I’m sure I’ll be calling upon the most excellent Nik Silver Efex Pro for help in conversions. I still have a roll of Tri-X loaded in my Nikon FM2, also, so I might finish that up and load up another.

My great hope is that I will produce some compelling images, and that I will learn more about “seeing” in black and white–something that I think has already been one of my strengths. There is something timeless and contemplative about black and white that draws me in and holds my attention. I am in no way suggesting that working in color is inferior or less serious (William Eggleston has already disproven that!). I am suggesting that I personally find black and white images compelling when well done, and that I feel like in this digital age when we can shoot in color and convert to black and white after the fact, that we have lost some of the experience of being limited to shades of gray.

Call it what you will, I am looking forward to the challenge and to the images. I invite anyone that follows this blog to tag along, and to share with me their own black and white images.

And no, I won’t be picking up an $8,000 manual focus, black and white only camera anytime soon. ;-)

I have been struggling this evening with the subject of my next blog post, so I thought instead I might feature and promote The Sol Food Mobile Farm, the lifelong dream of my friend Eliza Bordley and three of her longtime friends, Dylan Hammond, Reid Rosemond, and Ellen Duda. I haven’t met Ellen, but the rest of the crew are great folks and I wish them the best of luck as they travel around the country and advocate for local food and renewable energy sources. I draw inspiration for my photography and for my life from many sources, and they have definitely inspired me to try to make some sort of difference by pursuing my dreams. I know it sounds cheesy, but these folks are full of conviction, good humor, and good intention. It’s infectious. I encourage anyone to follow along with them on their blog.

**Geeky photography gear note: These images were all shot with the Olympus OM-D and either the 14–42 or Panasonic 25 f/1.4 lenses. Because I can’t be bothered to write a proper review, I figured I should at least highlight some of the photos so people have samples of what this little camera can do!

At the end of my last blog post, I found my writing devolving into a contradictory discussion of vision and creativity vs. equipment. The first half was about the OM-D and how it represents great technology and opportunity, and then went on to ramble and rant about how the equipment doesn’t really matter. It didn’t make sense, as I was rambling on about how the camera doesn’t matter after just talking about all the reasons it DID matter, and to me specifically! Indeed, there are contradictions, I think, for many photographers, as we balance the craft with the art. Many of us are gear heads, and many of us like the promise of new technology. We follow the siren song of resolution, and clean high ISOs, and fast and accurate autofocus. Instead of having one, incredibly long, contradictory, and unfocused blog post, I figured I’d split it into two, and discuss both aspects.

Here’s where it started:

I have read several articles recently that assert that contrary to the old adage that gear doesn’t matter, sometimes it does (specialized photography like sports or birding, etc). I feel like they’re kind of missing the point of the adage, though. They’re missing the essential truth of the matter. Sure, the equipment matters–with the OM-D, I can take it with me when the DSLR is impractical, and still get great photos. When the OM-D is impractical, I can take my iPhone and use that. When I’m getting paid to shoot, I make sure as hell to bring the best and biggest guns I have with me to make sure I satisfy my clients. The equipment matters, no doubt.

In the end, though, it all comes down to your vision. Recently I saw a story in Sports Illustrated where the lead photo–a full-page, glorious color photo–had been taken using Hipstamatic on an iPhone (it was this article, but the online version doesn’t have the photo). It was a portrait, and not a peak action shot, but still… technically,  you can shoot sports with an iPhone. The limits of your gear force you to make decisions, compromises, choices. Just because you can’t shoot something the way it is customarily shot because of some gear limit, doesn’t mean you CAN’T shoot it.

The article I read asserted that only when you are beginning photography does the equipment truly not matter. I think that’s hogwash. We are all constrained or limited by something–budget, equipment, size, whatever. the OM-D (see, even though I’m rambling, I’m bringing it all back together!) and the 5D3 together remind me that I didn’t always have the big guns that I do now, but I still managed somehow. Four or five years ago, I couldn’t shoot at f/1.2 and ISO 12,800, but I still managed to shoot some weddings and make some people happy with marginal ISO 1600 and f/2.8.  I don’t plan to go try to shoot an SI cover with my OM-D, but really, who’s to say I couldn’t? Who’s to say I couldn’t totally re-imagine how sports should be shot? Who’s to say you couldn’t, or shouldn’t? (I am in no way implying that I’m smart enough to re-invent these things, just that I object to the naysayers who say CAN’T, DON’T, and WON’T a lot).

Embrace the limitations of your gear, and know that those limits will always be pushed further and higher and longer. The march of technology will still go on, and in the end, has very little impact on your photography or your vision. It may make some things easier, or more possible, but no one will be looking at your photos fifty years from now, wondering what focal length or shutter speed you used. Or looking at that SI story and thinking it might have been better if you’d used your DSLR.

If anyone at all is looking at your photos in fifty years, it’s because you had something meaningful to convey. You had a vision, you had a purpose, you had something to share that no one else did, or presented it in a way no one else had. You presented the world as you saw it, altered by your assumptions, convictions, aesthetics and whims. You showed what you thought was beautiful, or important, or worthwhile to photograph.

Go work on that. Go develop that vision. Go indulge that curiosity, that desire to take photographs of things to see how they look photographed. Sure, if you want to get down to brass tacks and be literal and uber-specific, gear matters sometimes. But really, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t. Because if you look hard enough and open your mind to the possibilities, you’ll find a photograph or two in there.

Okay, so the title of this one is a little bit punny. If you’ve followed my blog at all (there might be one or two people, or the voices in my head), you know that I have been looking for a small camera to replace the behemoths that I have carried around for the last few years. I found a great travel camera in the GF1, but as an early mirrorless camera, while great, there were areas where it came up short–areas that were unacceptable when people were trusting me to document their wedding day, or for editorial work in low light, or for anything that required flexibility and execution under basically any circumstances.

And I’m not going to say we are necessarily there now, either. I made a premature conjecture when the Fuji Xpro1 was announced, and figured it would be the answer to all my prayers–I’d be able to dump the heavy Canon gear in favor of a small, nearly weightless and inconspicuous rangefinder-like camera that would take great photos, be easy on my back and shoulders, and most importantly, make me look really hip and with it. But then reports came out that it still seemed sort of hacked together, and the autofocus wasn’t really there. Also, I had the phenomenal 5D Mark III in my hands. So my DSLR days are not over.… yet.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I picked up an Olympus OM-D, which is the digital version of the venerable OM SLRs of yore. Tiny and packed with 16 megapixels, it is basically an Olympus EP-3 with a newer sensor and an integrated electronic viewfinder. There are a lot of other differences, but essentially that’s what we’re dealing with. So, in theory, I had a camera that addressed most or all of the shortcomings of the GF1, as the OM-D promised to be better in low light, be quicker to operate and focus, and generally be a more professional and useful camera.

What I didn’t expect was how good it would actually be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d read and heard about the advances in micro four thirds in the years between the GF1 and the OM-D. I knew it would be better. But I didn’t know it would wow-I-can-shoot-this-at-ISO3200 or 6400-good! I didn’t know it would be so fast to focus, or offer so much control at my fingertips, or produce clean files that just look so good.

I had about 24 hours at the coast shortly after getting the OM-D, and it was the first chance I had to really put it through the paces, get my controls all sussed out, really see what it could do. I took it down to Carolina beach with me, with a single battery (spares aren’t available yet), and the 14-42mm kit lens.

I don’t want to turn this into another geeky gear thread. I already do that more than I want to. What you need to know is this: this may be the start of the sea-change, this may really be the beginning of the end of DLSRs for me. I’m not going to make bold declarations–you know, the old once bitten, twice shy thing. But I will say that I have my venerable and beloved 5D for sale, and am considering putting the 1D Mark III up on the chopping block, as well. That would leave me with two cameras that have already wiggled their way into my photographic heart. They are both fantastic, and right now I’ll continue to straddle the line, because the 5D3 is great. Really great.

What I want to convey here, though, is how great our options are right now as photographers. The whole time at the coast, I kept thinking back to my first DSLR, a Nikon D70. 6 megapixels, 3 frames per second, 4 or 5 point autofocus. It was cutting edge at the time, and represented another seachange as it was one of the original serious digital cameras for the masses. It brought legit image quality and camera handling, as well as digital power generally, to the people.

The OM-D is better than that D70 in virtually every way. Every way. I thought I’d tolerate the EVF and wish I had an optical view instead. Nope, the EVF is great, and what you see is what you get, which is great when composing shots. I thought I’d be let down by the focus or the speed of the camera. Nope, the autofocus is quick, accurate, and locks on reliably. This little camera can shoot at 9 frames per second! That’s nearly as fast as my 1D mark III! I never shoot either at more than 5 or 6.

Right now, you pay a premium for a camera like the OM-D. You can get an entry-level DSLR that is at least as good for less. But it represents choice, and it represents alternatives. Importantly, it now represents less compromise, less giving up good and important things in favor of size and portability. It may be a game changer, or it may be one of many that slowly evolve the game. For me, it speaks of possibility of real change, of photographing unencumbered. It represents, in the long run, a potentially less sizable investment in equipment. Maybe.

Look at the photos, draw your own conclusions.

…but I don’t know what to photograph.

My life as a photographer usually involves periods of intense activity followed by fallow periods where I’m not shooting much. When I have photo gigs with clients, I have an objective, a subject, a theme. When I am shooting for myself, sometimes I am motivated by an idea, my own themes, a project, or some beautiful light.

Then there are times where the weather is right, the light is right, the time is right, and… nothing. Some days I feel intensely creative but without a muse, and some days I just feel aimless and blah. There are the times I feel like I should be out, that I should be taking advantage of whatever time or interesting meteorology I have at my disposal, but I just can’t make it happen. I find myself saying I want to shoot photos, but I don’t know of what.

I think it’s important to have these periods of inactivity or creative block–I think generally your brain is working in the background, connecting dots, recharging, linking ideas together, whatever. I think it’s important to take a rest sometimes, even though it is often frustrating. This week we have had a series of fronts moving through central North Carolina, and they have brought some dramatic weather and light with them. We have had my favorite kinds of clouds, brilliant blue sky, intense thunderstorms, the gamut. And I have had afternoon opportunities to go shoot, and ample cameras and lenses at my disposal.

Yet I have found myself going back to familiar places, familiar faces, taking snapshots at gatherings and revisiting things I’ve shot in the past. I feel like I’m not breaking new ground, or exploring new ideas, or advancing my photography. Sometimes I look back on these weeks and the photos they produce–because, believe me, I’m still out shooting even when I’m not feeling it–and I find some gems that I overlooked. Sometimes I groan and and wait for the creative juices to return.

I think it’s important to keep shooting, even when things don’t line up just right. For one thing, you never know when an opportunity might present itself and spark your creativity. If you don’t have your camera with you, or if you don’t give yourself the opportunity, it will be harder to come by. For another thing, just like playing scales, it’s important to practice on your camera–to build familiarity, muscle memory, compositional skills, whatever. It’s often a good time to work on something you don’t feel like you’re very good at, and get better.

My background is primarily in writing and American literature, not photography. One of the lessons I remember best from my days of reading and writing short stories, of workshopping drafts and fighting through writer’s block, is that you need to be there. You need to sit down, put pen to paper, and start writing. You might write for an hour and end up with trash, or you might write for four and end up with the start of a masterpiece. But you have to have the ritual, take the time, make the effort.

I like it when I hold my nose to the grindstone, keep getting out there, and come back with something that I like. Even if it doesn’t fit into some larger schema that I have in my head, even if it doesn’t blaze new trails or satisfy some particular itch I have, I like having the new work, and to see where my mind was, and to see what I was seeing. Sometimes it really ain’t so bad.

So here’s to holding your nose to the grindstone. Fight through the pain, fight through the frustration. I’m writing this as much for you as for me, as I struggle to find my next melody.

I have had a lot of gear and tech oriented blog posts recently, so this will not be one of them. I have another new camera that I have been playing with, and the savvy readers that want to know what it is will be able to figure out what it is. But I’ve decided that I’d rather share some of the initial images from it, rather than give you a review, or talk tech. In playing with it and figuring it out, it’s gotten me out wandering again and taking random photos that catch my eye, which is never a bad thing to do.

And yes, the camera is great. Really, really great. Far exceeding my expectations great.

It’s always enjoyable to photograph at Celebrity Dairy, whether it’s with my son to see the goats and chickens, or for a wedding, as it was on this gorgeous spring day. Brooke and the rest of the staff are so accommodating and professional, and help wedding coordinators like Chelsey Morrison of Gather Together and bakers like Simply Scrumptious  bring everything together in a beautiful way. Thank you, Andy and Jennifer and your generous families, for letting me share your special day with you.

Below are some highlights along the way to whet your appetite until the full gallery of proofs is up (soon!) Hope you all enjoy!

I know, I know, ANOTHER post about the 5D Mark III. This one, though, I feel is important, because there appears to be some hysteria building on the internet about a light leak around the LCD that affects metering. I have shot thousands and thousands of trouble-free photos already and haven’t noticed any issues. Does mine display the light leak problem? I don’t know, I haven’t tested it by shining lights through the LCD with the lenscap on.

Canon has apparently recently acknowledged the “issue,” but I’m having a hard time seeing what the fuss is about. I have used this camera in bright sunlight, fire light, and moon light, and in every case have found pretty consistent and accurate exposures. Additionally, I have yet to own or use a camera that automatically meters correctly all the time.

So how is the light leak affecting me, personally? It’s not. I don’t spend much time taking photos or meter readings with my lenscap on. I think the internet and its cloud consciousness is an incredible tool to solve a lot of problems and discover and share knowledge, but it’s also a place that can sometimes breed fear, and doubt, and uncertainty.

What you decide to do is obviously up to you. Surely some will decide that it’s a deal-breaker. Others will wait for a fix. And then there will be those of us out shooting. Hope to see you out there.

I realize a lot of posts recently have been very gear-centric. I also realize that I have a tendency to go down that path, especially when I have something new to write about and talk about and generally annoy people about. I just wanted to say, rest assured, I have been out shooting as much as possible all this time, and have been trying to come up with some worthwhile photos to share for the curious. So though I have not been writing much about the craft or the creativity, I have been practicing it, and having a lot of fun shooting. Soon I will have a whole wedding’s worth of images to share–images that I’m super excited about.

So I hope you non-gearhead types will stick with me a little bit longer. Eventually I’ll get back to the good stuff. ;-)