More To Come ...

When I used to watch the real "Tonight Show" as young 'n, NBC would put up various artwork between commercial breaks entitled "More To Come". A kind reader has reminded me that I owe you all a report on the Canon Pro 9000. Between work (!), this blog and the rest of my life I managed to overlook this. No more. I will get on this right away and file a report very soon.

Keep watching this space.

Not Fade Away

As a fan of rock and roll I would be remiss in failing to note the passing of one of the great photographers of the last 40+ years, Jim Marshall. Jim died on Tuesday, March 23rd in his sleep. A great way to go if you ask me. An eloquent remembrance by Ctein can be found here and a survey of his published work can be found here. Jim, though I never knew you, let your freak flag fly.

About The Books

You will note that I have added a couple of new books to the sidebar. It occurred to me that, although I make recommendations from time to time, I never explain why. I guess I just assumed that you’d know or it was obvious. Most importantly, using my links costs you nothing and helps support my blog. It’s a win-win situation. But then there’s the rationale for choosing any particular book. The two recommended books are both catalogs of exhibitions, one from 1975 and the other presently touring. Each one is important in its own right.

The original "New Topographics" exhibition at the George Eastman House is universally regarded as a watershed event. Although art photography was still almost exclusively black and white, landscape photography as represented by Ansel Adams was starting to be considered irrelevant. Instead of Adams majestic landscapes, visitors to the exhibition were confronted with hard-boiled images of houses, motels and industrial sites. To quote reviewer Geoff Wittig, on the whole the exhibition represented “a seismic shift in landscape photography away from the romantic/heroic mode toward the ironic and documentary”. The current book, New Topographics, is collaboration between The Center for Creative Photography, the George Eastman House and art publisher Steidl. The work is filled with essays, full sized images and a photo reproduction of the original exhibition catalogue. If you are interested in the evolution of landscape photography this is a must have.

The second book is also the catalog for the Museum of Modern Art’s show Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century. If you don’t know the work of H.C.-B., this book is an excellent introduction. The show will be the first Cartier-Bresson retrospective in the United States in over thirty years. It starts in New York from April through June and then moves on to The Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. See the show and buy the book. You won’t regret it.

Tax Time

No, not that tax; the Adobe Photoshop tax. Photoshop CS5 is in the pipeline so shortly after the government gets their share, so will Adobe. Read about it here, and then consider your alternatives. Death, taxes and now Photoshop.

Tidbits

I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but frankly there hasn’t been all that much to write about. Besides that, I assume that if you are reading this you are also reading the Holy Trinity of photo-blogs; DPR, LL and TOP. I hate to just regurgitate their content and since I don’t work at this full time (yet) I am always about 24-48 hours behind the news cycle. That said, I did find some very interesting stuff worth sharing.

Lightroom 3
On Tuesday, Adobe Labs released Lightroom 3 Public Beta 2. You can download it here and read all about it here. Amongst the new features in Beta 2 is DSLR video file support. If you haven’t been using LR3, the greatest piece of freeware ever, shame on you. Anyway, you have a second chance. LR3PB2 won’t expire until June 30th, so download it now.

Carl Zeiss
German lens manufacturer, Carl Zeiss, is celebrating 120 years of camera lens production this month. In that time, Zeiss has seen many milestones, including the employment of Zeiss lenses during the first lunar expedition and the use of an f/0.7 Zeiss lens in Barry Lyndon to shoot scenes by candlelight. Notable technical achievements include the Planar and Tessar lens designs, T* anti-reflective coatings and MTF testing to measure lens quality. I acquired a Zeiss ZF 35mm f/2 a year or so ago and it lives on my D700. It is without a doubt the finest lens I own and I’m looking at getting a ZF.2 version sometime in the future. Dollar for dollar Zeiss lenses are the best that money can buy. I have always maintained that glass is the most important component of any system, especially in the digital age where bodies are disposable. So, I suggest that you start saving for your own piece of lens history.

Adorama

My final online source for photo equipment has contacted me to join their Affiliate program. I am happy to endorse Adorama. I have purchased from them in the past and have always been pleased. If I wasn't, I would have declined. Thanks Adorama. Now, about that Pentax 645D ....

Panasonic G2 and G10

Panasonic has announced two new micro 4/3 cameras, the G2 and the G10. They also announced a new lens, a 14-42 mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH with OIS. More information can be found here and here. Say what you want, but I am starting to love Panasonic.

Stepping Back

I’ll make no bones about it, I hate computers. They say that familiarity breeds contempt and I suppose some my hatred for these infernal machines stems from the eleven hours a day I spend dealing with them. In my opinion there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between a Mac and a Windows machine. Each one has its own special needs. After I “upgraded” to Leopard from Tiger (don’t you just love those cute animal names) I saw the “blue screen of death” several times. Although Apple’s support is great, you really don’t want to while away your time with them. Wisely, I decided to wait on Snow Leopard and so far haven’t had any problems with it, unlike some others. Insofar as Windows is concerned, I needn’t add to that heap of scorn.

If I want to maintain my rather modest lifestyle I can’t just take a hammer to the Dell that sits on my desk at work. Believe me, I would like to. The words “service” or “help” are cruel jokes when it comes to most corporate IT departments. Just understanding what “Jim” or “Jane” sitting in Bangalore is trying to tell you is a sometimes insurmountable task. When it comes to the computers that I support, however, I do have a choice. No, I’m not talking about taking an Estwing to my iMac, this blog is too important to me. What I can do is limit the time that I spend communing with this aluminum and glass pal*.

That’s not easy to do and another reason that I hate computers. Shoot a roll of film, take it to Walgreens, pick up your prints, done. No computer involved. Unfortunately, the more digital pics you take, the more time you spend staring into that LCD (both on camera and post-processing). But that’s just the tip of this rotten iceberg. Okay, buy that Leica M7 and some rolls of film. You can probably get by without scanning, but it will cost you. That’s just the half of it. What about online banking? What about your email? What about word processing and accounting? What about shopping, googling and everything else that we have been sucked into? See what I mean?

Despite the hurdles, I am going to try to rein myself in. Limit myself to an hour. Take a night off. I remember when I didn’t read my email for days. That was a good thing. Here in the tundra winter is finally winding down. It’s time to get that hacksaw out of the cake and make a break for it. Of course, I’ll be taking my digital camera along. You know, that M7 doesn’t sound like such a bad idea after all. Do they still make film?

*In the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, robots made by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation are referred to as “Your plastic pal who’s fun to be with”.

Darcy

Unbelievably, my cousin, Darcy Pohland, died yesterday morning. She was 48. Darcy was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a diving accident in 1984. Nevertheless, she went on to become the first television reporter in a wheelchair. She worked for WCCO-TV here in Minneapolis from 1994 until the day she died. Darcy loved Minnesota sports and had an infectious smile. There is a lot of material about her life and times here. She was a very special lady. Cous’, you will be missed.