Friday, April 8, 2011

As promised - Gear Pornography!






It had to happen sooner or later.  I had to post a shot of the current gear I've been using. 

Funnier thing too - I was out shooting in public and someone saw me with all this gear and told me, "your pictures must be awesome!".   I tried to explain that I have all this stuff and could still come away with crappy pictures (and I often do), but this person just wouldn't have it.  Everything I shot was already apparently super bitchin'.  Go figure.

But also, in a nod to my "old-fashioned" ways, no one seems to notice that each of those Canon EOS-1D cameras holds the world's most incredible 4.15 megapixel sensors!  I know, I refuse to get into these megapixel arguments so I continue to stay hovering under 6MP to produce my work.  In a world of 24MP DSLR's I'm sure this is all just crazy talk.  But think about it:  if these babies were good enough for a two-page double-truck (to use an industry term for a magazine layout) back in the dark ages of the new millennium, then why wouldn't they be good now?  Have the magazines changed?  Have the newspapers changed?  The stories still suck, right?  In fact, the newspapers and magazines are now dying, and nothing really gets printed anymore.  So what's with the more megapixels, anyway?  Especially when images for the web look better at 72 dpi?  (And not the 300 dpi would we normally use to print).

I had given this some thought.  I once printed a beautiful picture of a sunset once at 16x20, from a Nikon D1 (this camera only had 2.47 megapixels, and it really sucked at ISO's higher than 200).  One of my favorite portraits was also shot with that same camera and we were able to go as big as 20x24 with it, and when I look at both of these pictures, I don't wish I had more megapixels.  I do wish I had better lighting, but that's a given.  I never complain about the given megapixels, ever.   I played around with the Nikon D40 when it came out (a 6.1MP entry-level DSLR) and almost every shot I took with it was a keeper (well, not all of them). When I went to print it was incredible. 

Someone made the argument to me that once you start cropping into the image then you need the megapixels.  Sure you do.  I argued back, "well what are you doing cropping in the first place?"  The reason I have the pro models is because I like seeing 100% of what I'm going to get in the viewfinder (most amateur cameras show you 92 - 94% of the actualy image in the viewfinder - which is why everytime you take a picture, when you go to see the file on your computer screen, there's always more space to see around your subject).  I also like the fact that the auto-focus is screamingly fast.  And I like the fact that the camera is built like a tank and weighs almost as much because I like to go down to 1/30th or 1/15th of a second and shoot handheld.  Those three reasons allow me to crop before I take the picture.  I definitely do not "spray and pray" when out making photographs - meaning I don't just shoot anything and if I see something in a frame I like, I crop that to make a photo.  I see the photo before I put the camera up to my face, frame it then and shoot it!

If you've gotten this far, and haven't written me off as some crazy wack-o spoutin' off his Luddite ways, then congratulations!  Like being in the Matrix, you're probably wondering why every year, when a new camera model comes out, do the manufacturers make you feel like your old camera is crap and you must have the new one or, you're just not what we can call a photographer.   That's OK.  You've probably contemplated taking the red pill and seeing just how deep the rabbit hole goes.  Of course, if you're a budding new photographer and you're out buying stuff, then I wouldn't suggest you go searching for old digital cameras to get started.  Get the new ones, and that'll be part of your generation.  My decision on what I use has basically been proven to me.  I can print 20x30 with a 4.15MP camera, and really, how many of you are actually printing that big on a regular basis?  I sure don't.  But I know I can if I had to.  You will also be able to print just as big if not bigger with your new 24MP DSLR.  Colors and tones will probably look negligibly better, but like I said earlier, that's just that better lighting I was hoping for in the first place!

So, thanks for reading this far.  That's my stuff.  It's also heavy enough to break a window, 'cause you never know....

Thursday, April 7, 2011

And now for something completely different....

In my semi-continuation of why we photograph, I thought I'd go in a completely different direction and show you some absolutely crappy photographs.


Currently, and in the not-too-distant past, I prided myself on being a professional drummer (well, percussionist, for you people who go to the cinema, as opposed to the movies).  And one of the things anybody into semi-technical things are into is basically the pornography of the tools we use.  Photographers are like this, and sooner or later I'll get some pornography of what I shoot with and why up on this blog (if you can stand it).  However, as a drummer, I don't recall ever being interested in getting pictures of my gear and I don't remember taking any pictures, so the photos that I discovered in an old envelope must've been taken by someone else.


But the photos listed below are of a few of the drumsets I've played in my early years as a drummer.  The first set, the black Slingerland, was my first proper kit mom and dad got me when I was 11 (back in '77-'78 or so). Hardly state-of-the-art at the time and I recall dad complaining about it costing so much ($499 was the price then).   Of course, I wanted a bigger set, something with two bass drums and eight tom toms, because you know, when you're 11, you think you can play and your parents don't know anything about what you need to make music!  But I accepted it graciously and proceeded to drive mom and dad up the wall playing the drums everyday for two or three hours from the time I was 11 until my early 20s through college!  I grew to love the black Slingerland, as it got me started playing out with other people and actually earned its keep. 

Of course, other drumsets came and went too.  The next one below it, are clear Ludwig Vistalites.  I found them covered with duct tape piled in a corner of a Guitar Center in the late '80s.  The guy sold them to me for $150.  I brought them home, dismantled them and buffed them out to their former clear glory and added some new hardware to it - and then sold it in a month to a Japanese collector for $1500.  I did use them on a few gigs before I sold them, but I thought they were too distracting and they didn't encourage playing naked.  This little time capsule covers 1977 to about 1986.


The next two are actually the same drumset.   It's still a Slingerland (notice how I've been influenced by the famous drummers of my day?  Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa played Slingerland, along with a host of other great players, but when the Japanese companies rose to power in the '80s, Slingerland was one of the first to go under because they just couldn't keep up.  Sad.) and I got this white marine pearl covered kit after trading it to some kid in Burbank who really dug these other, ugly drums I had in '87.  I had to modify the spurs on the bass drum to help keep the drum in place because I was a slammer then and it wasn't odd for me to have the bass drum sliding all over the place because I hit it so hard.  Then around 1993, I took these same drums, found a slightly larger bass drum shell, and had the guys at Pro Drum Shop in Hollywood recover the entire kit in Black Oyster Pearl (yeah, Ringo's color).  And that kit served me until about '97.  



Of course, there have been other kits, like an old Gretsch I had, a Yamaha Recording Custom, Tama Superstars, more Ludwigs, Drum Workshop, on up to my current Tama Starclassic Bubinga Elite and my sidekick Sonor Safari.  But to me, finding these crappy snapshots really reminds me of how far I've come and how long I've been doing this.  And this has nothing to do with actually becoming a better player over the years.  These are just things I've owned and used, nothing more, nothing less.  As time marches on you tend to cherish those times that have passed, and seeing these kits again bring back that feeling of who I was with at that time and the music we made.  It was awesome.

And then, in '97, I went weird and stopped playing with others and became a solo act.  I played an instrument called a Zendrum, and sang and basically made music with computers and synthesizers.  Made alot of money, but didn't have quite as much fun.  Actually started working alot more with that and then began to question why I had studied percussion for so long.  Here's the wife modeling the Zendrum:





It was cool, and I initially dug it, but it was obviously not good for all things drumming.  It did what it did well.  Well, well enough.   So, see?  Photography can even remind you of things you probably shouldn't have done....