Sunday, October 31, 2021

Lens Couture

Was looking at the winners of the Lens Culture street photography competition recently. Some beautiful results (trying to stay positive), truth is I also kind of find them a bit... vacuous, at least the two major themes currently in vogue- major shade and reflections.

The first has been going on for a few years- the Alex Webb Effect, super saturated colors alongside deep shadows. They do, in fact, make for a dramatic combination, except like with any trend, they can get awfully repetitive and formulaic. Personally, I thought we had reached that point quite some years ago- guess we were just getting started.

That style can at least render some impressive results at times, the second I have less tolerance for- reflections, and while those too can render the occasional winner, for the most part, they never rise to the levels of surrealism they aspire to- and are more likely to come off as the slightly more imaginative cousin of a special effects filter... they’re pretty. Reality mirrored as pretty props set on decorative doilies for popular consumption. They always strike me as something to do when ya can’t come up with something more meaningful, something that reveals something revelatory of the human element in the urban environment, be it through humor, wit or emotion...

Just the ramblings of an old man...

Friday, October 29, 2021

A Coupla Predictions....

Not only will Rittenhouse get away with murder, he'll be appointed to a Cabinet position in Trump's Cabinet during his second Presidency- Secretary of Defense? And if you think I'm kidding about Trump's second Presidency- tell me who the Dems are gonna run to defeat him!

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

The Picture Not Taken

There’s a sudden flurry of action from the corner of my eye, so quick, in fact, that I’m thinking something of a violent nature. I’m apparently unscathed, so I start to look about for the cause... nothing! No sign of anything!?! Midday hallucination? I repeat the process, this time I avert my attention downwards- and right smack in the middle of Market St. (San Francisco’s main drag), there’s this hawk, falcon, large bird of prey standing atop a pigeon whose wings have now gone suddenly dead still. In fact, neither of them  are moving a muscle. No cars in sight, the only sound and movement from passing female tourists freaking out from what they’ve just witnessed.

And the bird of prey just stands, still as still can possibly be, meal beneath its feet, as if to say- “It’s what I do- what of it?” And I can see the picture clearly, dramatic close up of bird(s) in foreground, shocked, gasping tourists pointing from the back. And just as quickly, I repocket said camera, knowing full well that Mr. Hawk is not gonna allow his wide angle, Hollywood  close up, no way, no how. And upon that realization, the predator lifts directly skyward, prey securely grasped, tourist shrieks echoing anew...

Friday, October 22, 2021

TDS!


Surprisingly enough, this marks my 11th Blurb book- and even more surprisingly, I actually have some good news concerning one of those books, which I will divulge in the near future. And that's not something I get to say every day. But on to the news at hand... 

Trump Derangement Syndrome is my latest (and therefore greatest), a conglomeration of all photos Trumpian amassed within the last five years. Admittedly, it's a thoroughly one sided affair, and visually, that was not premeditated- it is simply the result of the demographic in which I reside. Photographically, I would have preferred to have documented more than the one photo included depicting the pro-Trump side- politically, I have not been shy in stating where I stand concerning the man rat fucking bastard. I believe he is the biggest domestic threat to whatever good this country has achieved, and stands to achieve, now and in our immediate future. He elevates ignorance to a virtue (while exploiting the very people who revel in it), and extols and disseminates prejudice and bigotry to divide and set ourselves against each other- to better allow him to yet again ignore, reject and ultimately pervert and overturn our law and system of government.

Yes, I have TDS, completely, undeniably- we avoid it at our peril. His cronies have already been legally positioned to overturn election results in key states- no matter what the results! "Just say it's corrupt- and we'll do the rest!" What further admonition of his own sheer audacity to embrace and propagate corruption and illegality do we need hear!?

But I digress... and fortunately, the book, unlike my verbal rants and analyses, does have it's share of visual levity and entertainment within its images- something I rather rapidly lose when discussing its very subject...

As usual, I'm not imploring anyone to actually buy it (and I don't make a dime on any purchase), but if you do like the images, you may want to consider getting the PDF for $5.00- the downside is that you don't get the actual physicality of the book itself (which is always kinda nice), but... the cool thing is that- the images onscreen are actually much better than the printed version, and at a much better price!

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Serious...

Photo: © Stan Banos

Gotta admit, I'm good and tired; working on a coupla things: editing, putting together another book, and yes, writing up some stuff for the ol' blog. Oh yeah, and just plain... working, as for a living. Like I said- good and tired. So here's a quick laugh in the interim...

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Round about a year ago...

 

Photo: © Stan Banos

I started getting crazy stats for my blog- in the mid hundreds, daily! Bonkers for my site in these days when vlogs and FB (still) rule. I've long ago stopped caring about stats, but it was curious; never knew why and will probably never know- though I have no doubt it was more some temporary computational anomaly, rather than actual real live readers. Finally, the other shoe fell last week, and we're back around a hundred. And I certainly can't vouch for how many of those are real- but to those of you who are... Thank You!

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Present/Future Imperfect

 
Photo: © Stan Banos


Once, you could actually make the assertion that Dems and Repubs were essentially the same- that was until Trump unleashed Republicans to realize their full Fascist, wet dream potential. And now there's no turning back; the only people more delusional than Trump supporters are those that think that nonexistent "Moderate Republicans" will somehow seize the day from the rabid MAGA throngs!  
 
Remember when common wisdom espoused that Repubs would never win another national election? Their backers were too old, too White, too few- well, not only have they awakened and recruited some hard core, White Boy Crazies into their fold... the Repubs are taking the House in '22 (as history informs us) and the Dems have No One to run in '24- they still haven't figured out a working antidote for the orange, con man, buffoon! And even if they do, the fix is in, now that the MAGA universe has been fully positioned to "legally" turn election results in key states- no matter what the results. The Dems have allowed it, and at this point, the only semblance of hope is that their most current of routinely toothless 'investigations' will finally nail Trump's career long, criminal ass, instead of dissipating into nothingness... as-have-every-other.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

One... Two

Well, had been contemplating this for some years now, just didn't have the necessary motivation- until a coupla weeks ago. Although I've been perfectly satisfied with the X-T1's image quality, I had long noticed that every once in a while, my X-T1 would not focus properly- even in direct sunlight! It never cost me a shot I really liked- again, until a coupla weeks ago. It's one thing if I screw up a shot (that's bad enough)- but I can't tolerate the camera doing it, particularly since I don't tax them to the max with Boost mode, video, continuous focus, blah, blah, blah... I just want it to work as advertised, as promised, when I press the shutter for that one shot. And if it can't do that...

Fujifilm X-T2

At first, I thought it might've missed focus because, well- I did drop it once (even though it came out completely unscathed, save for the tiniest of scratches on the LCD film shield. But then I noticed that my other X-T1 behaved similarly- intolerable! So I finally pulled the trigger and got me a Mint Cond X-T2 for $600. And let me tell ya, you coulda put this body in a brand new box and I never would have noticed that it wasn't Brand New.

I trust that all the five year old reviews are correct about it's improved AF (even though I'm not even gonna use all it's fancy focusing options), since I have yet to put it through its paces, and might not have real occasion to do so until next year. But the camera does feel a slight step up in build quality, not quite a Nikkormat to an F solid step up, but definitely a good half step up. Love the oversized dials, and it does feel a tad sturdier, heftier, better made, but hell- I just want it to focus where I point it! If it works out, I’d probably be smart to pick up another some time soon at these prices, since it’s already more camera than I’ll ever need and I definitely don’t aspire to something as bloated in size or cost as the latest X-T3 or 4 models.

I can also now finally let go of the Q fantasy... 

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Millenium Farce!

I walked past this week and noticed the site eerily... quiet. Today, I saw the video below. Now let me guess- this option had nothing whatsoever to do with being the cheaper, quick fix!

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Friday, October 1, 2021

John Alinder Portraits 1910-23

This is the exact 'book review' I didn't want to write. I'm vastly disappointed with John Alinder Portraits 1910-23. I pretty much expected the book reproductions to be (semi) matte, what I truly feared however, was exactly what was  delivered, an even further limited tonal range- in this case, about Three Shades of Grey (OK, I exaggerate- four). It "serves" to inhibit, drain, and suck all the life out of Alinder's subjects, and the portraits themselves. I'm going to assume the original prints walk that fine, subtle line where the total values are just expansive enough to allow the subjects enough breathing room to hint at their inner lives (which his portraits most definitely celebrate). 

That said, I suppose there are those where the flat matte just ain't gonna matter none- wish I were one...