The New "Leica"?

Olympus unveiled its latest Micro 4/3 camera, the Olympus Pen E-P1. They are calling it a Digital Pen, in reference to their half-frame 35mm cameras of the 60s and 70s, most famously the Olympus Pen-F and other models. Like the vintage camera line, the new E-P1 is small, sleek, and stylish. Decidedly old-fashioned looking, in fact, but filled with the latest digital camera technology, including HD video.

What strikes me about the E-P1 is how much it looks like what I thought Leica could come up with if they tried to make a digital camera from scratch. Taking the good ideas from their M-series cameras, like small bodies and lenses and economical design, but not being needlessly married to existing designs and guidelines that are now quite ancient, which is how I see their M8.2. I don't know how this camera will perform, though Photography Blog has several images from the camera online here and frankly the results seem mixed to me, but this design has a lot of potential for serious photographers. Especially, documentary photographers. The E-P1 could be the Leica M for the 21st Century. We've needed something like this, so let's hope that this it it.

Fave Pix from SoFoBoMo!

These are three of my favorite images from the Old Aurora Colony Museum shoot. The first one of the white pitcher was used as the cover image. Be sure to check out the finished book at SoFoBoMo.

Solo Photo Book Month Project Completed!

Last night I uploaded my finished e-book for the Solo Photo Book Month event. You can find it here. I ended up with 40 images all together and I have to say I'm pleased with the final result. It looks pretty good. It also feels good to be done with it.

This really is a good project to take on because it pushes you to new extremes in photographing. To end up with 35 or more images, most people would agree that you need to shoot roughly 10 times that amount depending on the person. Over the years, that's what I've noticed in working professionals. Of course, there are those who can produce good work at a much tighter ratio, but if you count on 1 photo out of 10 as a starting point, you won't be far off. So, for 35 images you need to to shoot about 350 images.

In my case, I shot 550 images, some of them duplicates or variations of the same scene, and ended up with about 40 finals. I could probably have included more images in the final book, but I decided what I had was enough. That puts my shooting ratio at 1 in 13. I've known some pros who shoot at 1 in 36. It should be acknowledged that shooting digital encourages overshooting. When I used to shoot with a 4x5 camera, my ratio was closer to 1 in 4 or 5. With 8x10, it was more like 1 in 2. The bigger the camera, the more work it is to make an image, the smaller the shooting ratio becomes.

When you shoot 350 or more images, it takes a lot of time to edit them all down to the final images and it takes a while to prep them, sequence them, and come up with a layout, not to mention choosing typefaces. And it all has to happen within the 31 days. A project of this sort is a lot of work, but it can also be highly rewarding. While it may be too late to try it this year, keep it in mind for next year. You'll be glad you did.

Later today or tomorrow, I'll post a few of my favorite images from the project. In the meantime, check out my book at the SoFoBoMo website and check out some of the other ones as well. There's a lot of good work out there.

SPBM Update

I officially kicked off my own book project for Solo Photo Book Month (SPBM) a few days ago. Thursday the 21st, to be exact. Not too long ago, while my mom was visiting from out of town, my wife and I took her to the Aurora Colony, which is about 30 miles south of Portland, Oregon. It is the site of a Utopian Community that was founded in the mid-1800s. While I was walking around on that visit, I thought it might be a good subject for a book, and therefore would work for SPBM.

It also worked out that I finally decided to pony up the money and buy a new Canon 5D Mark II and this would be a good project to get up to speed on this new camera. So I headed out to Aurora with my new camera on Thursday morning. I spent 6 hours there shooting and came back the next day for 2 more hours. I came away with 552 images from 8 hours of work. Uh, that comes to a shooting rate of 69 images per hour, which is kind of interesting. I sat down and edited those 552 images down to a more manageable 132. Now it's a matter of picking which images will go into the book. Remember that according to the rules of the event, I have to have a minimum of 35 images, so I shouldn't have too much difficulty meeting that requirement. Of course, few of those 132 images will make the final pick.

At the moment, I'm printing out contact sheets, so I can cut them apart and start to combine them in the order that they will appear in the book. When I get the chance, I'll post a few of my favorites images. Well, the clock is ticking and I still have a lot to do and only 27 days left to do them. As I get things done, I'll you know how it's going.

Bill Jay, 1940 - 2009

Bill Jay passed away the other day. I never met him, but he still managed to have a profound effect on me, my writing, and my photography. He was probably best known at this time for his column in LensWork magazine called EndNotes. EndNotes was his random, sometimes stream of consciousness, musings about the state of the art of photography—occasionally funny, sometimes off topic, always fascinating. Early in his career, Bill was the founding editor of Creative Camera Magazine, a very influential British photography magazine. He was born in Britain. He wrote hundreds of articles on the subject and published more than a dozen books about photography. Eventually, he moved to the United States and founded the Photographic Studies Department at Arizona State University. He retired earlier this year and had just moved to Costa Rica. Bill Jay died in his sleep just the other day.

It is my hope that Bill will be remembered by future generations of photographers because of one particular book he wrote. It is a book he co-wrote with David Hurn called Being a Photographer. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of photography manuals and how-to’s that have been published over the years, but this book is special. Instead of focusing on how to use the equipment, which nearly all photography books do, he chose to write about the mental and intellectual processes that a photographer undergoes in making photographs. The result is the best book on how to approach the craft and process of photographing. When I read Bill’s book, I immediately thought that this is what every aspiring photographer needs to read, no matter their level of accomplishment. It’s the book I wish I had read when I was starting out. It would have saved so much time and effort and struggle. Even after being a photographer for thirty years, I still learned a great deal. I never had the chance to thank Bill for this gift of his experiences and insights. Thanks, Bill.

Solo Photo Book Month

First there was National Novel Writing Month, where (as the title implies) you write an entire novel from start to finish in one month. For people who have a problem doing a project without a deadline, this is perfect. Now for photographers, there’s Solo Photo Book Month. The idea is the same: complete a photography project, do any writing that’s needed, and make a book out of it in one month’s time, or 31 days. So many photographers never get around to doing a book. We might have exhibits or portfolios, but there’s something different about a book of your own images.

The specifics are doable for most people. The month is actually kind of loose. It’s any 31 consecutive days during May or June, so you plan around your own schedule. So you must start on or after May 1^st and the book must be completed by June 30^th. You need at least 35 images—usually, the projects work better if they’re of a single subject and every image needs to be shot in this 31 day period. Of course, you can do the planning ahead of time. The nice thing about this is that you don’t have to produce a physical book of images, just a PDF version of it. You can read all the specifics about the event here.

This is a great way to focus your efforts and output. It might even be the beginning of a real printed book, even if you publish it yourself on Blurb or Lulu as print-on-demand. That’s what I plan to do. Or it could be an excellent way to jumpstart a new long term project. Give this some thought and give it a try. If nothing else, it’ll be a lot of fun. But remember, since we’re in May already, you better get started soon. Check out the Solo Photo Book Month website for all the info you need to get going and to see examples from last year’s participants. I'm planning to do this as well, so as I work on it, I'll give you updates on the project's progress.

History of Kodak Pro Digital Cameras

Here's a fascinating bit of history of the various cameras Kodak adapted and marketed as professional digital SLRs. They started this in 1987 and used Nikon, Canon, and eventually Sigma camera bodies for their modifications and wrapped things up in 2004. When they first came out, these were frighteningly expensive cameras, but every once in a while I see one for sale on Ebay or Craig's List for just a tiny fraction of what they originally sold for.

As a side note, Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer blog, recently commented on the sense of collecting these abandoned and now obsolete early digital cameras. In the not too distant future, they'll probably be worth something and they're quite a bargain now. It'd be an good way to start a camera collection.

Anyway, go here to see the .pdf called The DCS Story, which is hosted on NikonWeb.com. It's an interesting read.