Category: Uncategorized

I live twenty minutes from the Smokies, so I get asked about fall color every year like I am the official spokesman for leaves. Fine. Here is the local version. Peak color in the higher elevations usually hits mid to late October. The valleys follow a week or two later. If you come the first…

People think street photography is all wandering and reacting, and some of it is. But the best trick I know is embarrassingly simple. Find the stage first, then wait for the actors. I call it set dressing, because that is what it is. You are looking for a background with good light, interesting texture, maybe…

There is a version of every beach town that only exists after dark, and Ocean City at night is pure cinema. Neon reflecting off wet pavement, the boardwalk thinning out, that specific melancholy of a vacation spot with nobody on vacation. Night street photography is about surrendering control. The light is what it is. You…

Less than a week ago I made a video explaining exactly why I was saying no to the Ricoh GR III. Sound reasons. Principled reasons. And then I bought one. So yes, I am a complete hypocrite. Let us get that out of the way. GAS is a hell of a drug, and resistance was…

William Eggleston is one of my favorite photographers. The man found high art in parking lots, tricycles, and a freezer full of TV dinners. Democratic photography, he called it. Everything is worth looking at. So I had a brilliant idea. I would channel Eggleston using a 20-year-old digital camera. Old sensor, mundane subjects, pure vision.…

Minolta does not exist anymore, which is a shame, because they made some of the most interesting cameras of the film era. And the used market is full of them, usually cheap, usually excellent. Here is the thing about old Minolta gear. The lenses are genuinely good. Minolta glass has this rendering that people pay…

Street photography is supposed to be shot on a 35mm, up close, in the action, right? That is the rule. So naturally I took a 200mm lens out on the street to see what happens when you break it. What happens is compression. Distant things stack up on top of each other. Layers flatten into…

Everybody and their cousin shoots a Ricoh GR III, and everybody thinks I should too. So let me explain why I am saying no. For now. Probably. Do not hold me to this. First, the dust issue. It is a real thing with these cameras, little spots showing up on the sensor because the lens…

Three thousand photos. That is how many frames I put through the X100VI before I felt like I actually knew the camera. Not reviewed it, knew it. There is a difference. Here is what I learned. The X100VI rewards commitment. It is not a camera you figure out in a weekend. The autofocus quirks, the…

This is not an unboxing, because there was no box. I bought the R8 used, body only, no ceremony, no plastic wrap ASMR. Just a camera, a battery, and pure, uncut GAS. First impressions. It is shockingly light for a full-frame camera. Like, pick-it-up-and-check-if-the-battery-is-in-there light. Canon basically took a great sensor, wrapped it in the…