Blog

Thoughts, reviews, and stories from behind the camera.

  • I Got Stranded On A Mountain

    This one is not really about cameras. This one is about the time I got stranded on a mountain, which sounds like the opening of a survival documentary and felt a lot like one at the time. I will spare you the full play by play, because half of it involves me making increasingly poor…

  • One HUGE Mistake Will Keep You From Achieving Your Dream Job Goal – Don’t Make My Mistake

    I have been on the radio since 1988, which means I have had plenty of time to make mistakes, and I used that time wisely. This video is about the big one, the mistake that kept me from my dream job longer than necessary, and how you can skip it. Early in my career I…

  • Camera Thrifting Surprise – It Pays To Be Nice – Cool Finds and A SURPRISE GIFT! – And Found Pics!

    This week’s camera thrifting run came with a moral: it pays to be nice. I was chatting with the folks at the shop, being my usual charming self, and walked out with more than I paid for. Be kind to people. Sometimes they give you cameras. The surprise gift is in the video, and it…

  • Fujifilm Film Simulations vs Film Recipes: The Ultimate Showdown – X-H2 & X100VI Comparison

    Let us settle this. Fujifilm film simulations versus film recipes, head to head, X-H2 and X100VI, one winner. Except there is no winner, because this is photography and not boxing. But we are going to have fun pretending. For the uninitiated: film simulations are Fuji’s built-in looks, the ones baked into the camera. Film recipes…

  • Practice Makes… IMPERFECT – Flawed Beauty in Street Photography is WONDERFUL!

    Practice makes perfect is a lie, and street photography is the proof. The best street photos are full of flaws: blown highlights, motion blur, crooked horizons, a finger that almost made it into the frame. And they are wonderful. I think we have been poisoned by sharpness. Every camera review is a test chart. Every…

  • Did YOU Know There Is Only ONE Acceptable Light for Street Photography?

    There is only one acceptable light for street photography. Just one. It is called “the light that is happening right now,” and if you are not out shooting in it, you are doing it wrong. Okay, yes, the title is a joke. Mostly. Photographers love to lecture about golden hour like the sun personally owes…

  • Confirmed: Fujifilm X100 Medium Format Release Date Announced

    I have incredible news. Fujifilm has officially announced the X100 Medium Format, with a release date and everything. This is a completely real camera that definitely exists and is not something I dreamed up because I wanted it to exist. Alright, alright. It is a joke. But let us talk about why the joke works.…

  • Camera Backpack Obsession. I need help.

    I have a problem, and the problem is camera backpacks. I own too many of them. I keep buying more of them. Every time I tell myself “this is the last one,” a new one shows up with slightly better padding or one extra pocket and I am reaching for my wallet like it is…

  • I Love American Back Roads and Forgotten Places. Join Me.

    Give me a two lane road going nowhere over a highway going somewhere, every time. There is a whole America out there past the interstate exits: the closed gas stations, the faded signs, the little towns that time politely forgot. I love it out there, and I bring a camera. Forgotten places are a street…

  • More Street Photography In Weird Places! Let’s GO TO THE MALL!

    The series continues. After all the normal places, I took the camera somewhere truly strange: the mall. Yes, the mall. That fluorescent-lit temple of commerce your teenager abandoned years ago. It turns out it is a street photography goldmine. Malls are weird in the best way. The light is awful and therefore interesting. The people…