gary_irving1

I have shot extensively in almost all the aspect ratio's available...and though I have spent time totally away from film...I think I will probably return to the square format for special projects.While I can crop my digital images to square..my attraction is more to the mystique of the entire process...looking at the ground glass...the feel of the "blad"..and the look of the film.

 

And square feels right to the eye for a number of subjects.<div></div>

I have owned F2s, Fm2s, and now the D2X.I would most definately work primarily with the D2x....no question about it....not even close.Just came back from an intensive month-long project photographing mountain villages and urban slums in Mexico.What an impressively intuitive camera...fit into my old leather bag with two lenses(12-24 and 17-55)and SB800..a couple of back up batteries and a paperback short story anthology to buffer the bottom of the bag and offer entertainment for the inevitable travel delays.I love shooting this way(and I never thought I would leave film!)By the way...printed a few 13x19 prints last night.Stunning!

Britt,

 

May I suggest,for the sake of your photography,that you take those few weeks you

have......and travel around Ohio as if you were a foreigner!As if you were seeing it

for the first time.If you really consider Ohio to be boring(I have photographed

your state for the Smithsonian and for two books and Ohio is NOT a boring

state!)then I fear you will come back from Europe with boring photographs.You

really need to recapture the magic of the mundane!! Spend your time getting

reacquainted with the visual excitement that can be experienced right THERE!

And you may find that in exploring the state from the remnant Great Black Swamp

to the Wayne National Forest to the vanishing rural "think ruins"architecture of

the backroads as well as the Lake Erie waterscapes that range from Bird refuges to

Industrial architectures....that there is SO much where you are.I fear for your

photography if you go to the "photogenic" places.Another midwesterner once

said"Theres no place like home...."..Check out my website

www.garyirving.com...you will see images from the American West,Romania,but

also.....Illinois,Indiana,Nebraska(what..NEBRASKA?)and yes...even Ohio!..There is

something everywhere for the eyes.

 

Never use the term "boring" again!<div></div>

If you use Nikon D series cameras,I highly recommend the 17-55 f2.8 DX G zoom.Outstanding...great in lowlight,great wide open.If you shoot weddings,then I suggest that quality,not weight is your primary concern.I carry three cameras and couple flash units...which I feel is too much...but back up is important.Yes,it is heavy...but maybe losing a few pounds around my gut is the better choice than getting a cheaper,lighter lens!

Richard,

 

I try to keep things fairly simple...less is more(but I shoot

photojournalistically..keep in mind,covering the event as if it were for a

magazine.)!

 

So...I use a Nikon D2x w/12-24 zoom,17-55 zoom,an old 35 f1.4 nikkor for real

low light; 2 Fuji S2pro(soon,S3)bodies as back up; sb800flash for the D2x and

Metz 54MZ-4.

I use (4) 2G CF cards and (2) 528mb cards....and a light Bogen 3221 tripod

 

I shoot Jpgs Large,Fine for all but the obligatory group shots.. whereupon I shoot

Raw+JPG fine.

 

It has been the best way for me to shoot true journalistc weddings.The clients are

very happy.<div></div>

All this is very entertaining!

 

I think we would all do ourselves a favor by negotiating the fee for our services

AFTER the wedding!!..fees would skyrocket! We supply the only evidence to

support the argument that all the other money spent the day of the wedding was

worth it!..And we supply the only product that appreciates in value.

I have had Canons(F1..Ftb)Nikons(F2..Photomic,FM2) Hassleblads,Fuji 6x9,Fuji

617,Linhof,Deardorf etc..................

 

I love my D2x!!..If you can get one...GET one!

On my D2X I use a 12-24 DX and on the Fuji S2 I use a 17-55Dx....and the other

Fuji gets whatever odd single focal length lens I may need on the long or macro

side of things.

This was taken wide open at f2.8 I believe at a very slow shutterspeed.(no flash

obviously)..maybe an 8th?I should really look at the info in photoshop....but I

tend to use the flash manually at 8th of a second at f8 as a staring point(asa

200)and seems to work well as an all around ambient/flash mix.Good luck!<div></div>

Why not just keep the great images,purge everything else,and storage all of a

sudden becomes a moot point.Keep only the published images plus the ones you

know you can't absolutely live without....and toss the rest.

I use the 500CM fir travel/weddings/landscape/portraits/Still Life/etc.....in other

words....it is fine for what you want.Make the decision...whatever it is...dont look

back...dont have misgivings...just buy some film and get on with it.Really.....a

cheap Yashica that you use is better than a brand new Hasselblad that you DONT

use.Photography is about decision making.Make a decision and just get to it my

friend!..

Hang in there Ben...we're all in this together! (Nice background)

 

Gary

�A wedding is a traditional event in a contemporary context.It is a very

intentionally visual event that is designed to celebrate the uniting of two

individuals and their families with all five senses engaged.

 

As a photographer who has been asked to shoot a number of weddings,although

my primary subject is travel,it has become clear to me that I am being asked to

remember the day for the client.My approach has been to be an eyewitness to the

event(people/ place/ things!)using my own developed natural style to convey,in a

series of photographs a unique day in the life of these two people.Since an

ongoing tradition at weddings has been to gather all those of significance that

attend and to photograph them in groups of course I accomodate as naturally as I

can.But for those that seek me out...the posing,unnatural,forced art direction if

you will is clearly not desired.I have had women come up to me at weddings

wishing I had photographed at theirs but did not know the approach I used was

even available.It is true that most of those who posture as Journalists don't have

the chops for it.Many will fake a "decisive moment"...but it is clearly dead on

arrival when produced in print.

 

Some of the traditional wedding photographers work I have seen really is

impressive in craft and I tip my hat to them....but that is not what my brides want

at all.So...I try not to be a wedding photographer at all...merely a photographer

using his own instincts to record the flow of events passing in front of him...using

whatever technique fits the moment.<div></div>

Is this the effect you are looking for?

 

F8 at 1 second ISO 200<div></div>

Ken..

 

Stop thinking with the camera....just feel with it.Don't analize anything about what

you are doing with the camera...just shoot anything and everything that feels

right..even if you surmise it to be a cliche.Take photos when you feel like it....but

go OUT to photograph even if you dont.Eat a great meal.listen to great music.read

a great story.Count your blessings.Establish an environment of reflection based

on feelings...you can think about the content of your photographs AFTER the fact.

 

Understand that sometimes it is not important to photograph...but bring the

camera with anyway.<div></div>

Raid,

 

Take the one in which you feel most comfortable shooting-wise.If you are not

secure with the other cameras you mentioned....take the Rollei 2.8

hmmmm

 

So rotating or non-rotating?I'm getting mixed signals...sounds like both will

work...or am I missing something...I have neither carrier...so which to get?

I have a new unopened Nikon 9000 Coolscan...I am going to be scanning color

negs from my Hasselblads.and am curious if I can scan the whole negative area

including the film edge around the image area....with the signature Hassy

notches.Possible?

Here is an analogy that works for me: As a guitarist I own both an old Martin D28

acoustic guitar AND a Fender Telecaster electric guitar.Different sounds,but viable

in their own right.You can play the same songs on each...but much different

result.And one can emulate the other with the right adjunct equipment...but never

FEEL exactly the same! I use a couple Fuji ProS2 cameras with some fine Nikon

glass.I use these for weddings,editorial/commercial work and love the savings on

film/processing and the immediate sense of what I am getting.BUT....I would never

use it for personal work.....for that I turn to Medium format film cameras ranging

from 6x6 to 6x17cm.Just got some prints made from a series of images shot

recently in California....drop dead gorgeous!Sends up the same kind of warm

feeling I get when doing some English blues fingerstyle instrumentals on my

Martin! Nothing like it!! Its the FEEL! If you cant sense the difference...then it is

doesnt matter...but if you can it makes all the difference in the world!

Why ask? It just perpetuates the pecking order syndrome in the art world.Kind of

like camera clubs..... Hey..If you want to emulate someone...go to the libraries and

galleries and find your own"big names" I didnt know any big names 30 years ago

when I got into photography...all I knew were the names of photographers I

discovered for myself...and some of them I have grown out of..past them...

 

Actually....become your own big name...in other words...learn your craft so well

that you become your favorite photographer...that you are the only one that

photographs the world exactly the way YOU want to experience it.And

maybe....let your influences include musicians and architects and writers and

painters.Dont fall into the hero worship thing with all the old familiar names listed

above.Easily the most interesting photographer I have seen is a woman that lives a

few miles away in the Chicago region.....she is an amature that works in color with

a Holga. Best eye I ever saw.You will never hear of her.But the photographs were

taken for the joy of it.I'm glad to have seen the work.

Phil

 

I just received mine today from Calumet...might be that Nikon sent out a batch all

over...might check around...see if anyone cancelled their longstanding order.

 

As a scanning newbie...I would love any suggestions or tips from Coolscan

owners regarding set up

Thank you for your responses...all of them were helpful!

 

Gary

I am getting into Black and White portraiture (in Studio).I would welcome anyone

with an opinion regarding Pan F as a film choice for this.

 

Gary Irving

In the last couple years I have switched from a Linhof617/tripod/Velvia

combination to a Hasselblad 500CM/handheld/Fuji NPZ220 combo with 50/120

lens combo.It is a wonderful way to travel!! Even at dusk I can handhold with the

50 CF and get some wonderfully atmospheric shallow depth of field studies.

I am a landscape photographer,have published a few books...mostly work with

Linhof 617 cameras.This year however I turned 50...and decided to

commemorate the milestone by shooting my "personal" work with a Hasselblad

500CM and a 50 Distagon.I am loving this camera/lens combination!I use Fuji

NPZ 220 film and handhold almost everything just to depart as much as possible

from the my normal Velvia/tripod/Linhof methodology...My project for the year is

entitled "50 at 50"...at the end of the year I will choose 50 images and put together

a portfolio..and perhaps a book.But the Hasselblad has been so much fun!Never

thought I would enjoy the square format until I started shooting a few weddings

on the side,but did not consider it for landscapes until now.Glad I did!

 

By the way,check out my website: www.garyirving.com...it is in great need of

updating and reformatting,but if you are interested in landscape you might enjoy

it.

 

Gary Irving