david johnson

May 1, 2010

Mixed feelings about the regrets - probably the fish-eye ultra-wide angle that I bought for a song from a cash-strapped fellow starving college student back in the early 1970's. But I was starving too and the song was a heck of a lotta money for me back then. My gawd I burned up some film uselessly in the first two weeks I owned it. I don't recall the exact lens - probably a 10, 12, or 14 mm that fit my Minolta SRT-101's.

I rarely used it at all after that and lugged it around for years until it was stolen along with the rest of my gear on a business trip between Philadelphia and Gothenburg, Sweden. That is probably my real regret. I was young and stupid and when boarding the plane and told I could only have one carry on bag I kept my brief case with work and reading material in it and gave them my camera case to stow in baggage.

The camera case arrived at my hotel 2 days later completely empty. That was the last time I ever checked camera gear with an airline.

Not sure I ever used it properly, but the non-regret part is that I have a couple of silly party group photos of college friends that I otherwise do not have shots of together and some of the folks are now gone.

April 13, 2010

Forgive me for adding a question to this very informative thread, but I too have been considering the EF 100mm 2.8 macro - I have read some places that it is pretty darn good portrait lens as well. Does this ring true for the folks who have it and have been recommending it for Leslie? I occasionally do casual portraits for family and friends and prefer a lens longer than say 50mm.

Thanks and again forgive me for adding on.

April 10, 2010

I would just have fun and do the best I could. Forget any thoughts of compensation at this time. Eric Merrill's shots are just over the top - if your do 1/10th as well as his two shots you will be a hero. Both are wonderful, the second one is over the top. (I can't believe 3 different Eric's posted on this thread.)

Remember to sit down, lie down or get low for as many shots as you can - it almost always looks better to have the lens pointed up when photographing kids than to be looking down at them.

February 28, 2010

Just a few short observations from my time selling cameras at Ritz.

More bags were returned than any other camera gear, I think.

By far the main reason bags were returned was, “too small”, even though at the store we constantly advised customers to pick the bag they thought was right and buy one size larger.

Folks agonize over bags for more than cameras and lenses. Folks would spend 15 minutes asking about $1500 cameras before making a decision to buy, and then would come into the store 3 or 4 times looking at bags for 30 minutes a trip before finally buying. (And then still return them sometimes.)

One of my friends at the store at least 6 high-end bags she had won from various manufacturers for selling their bags and claimed she did not like any of them – she actually gave me one of the bags discussed above because she never used it (it was one of those side entry types that had only one shoulder strap and she had back trouble that the bag aggravated.)

I like the side entry sling-around bag because I am often hiking in Florida marsh and swamp land with no dry flat place to put the bag down safely.

December 12, 2009

My wife and I were wed in her family's living room because their family's church was booked. Luckily the minister was able to to officiate in her home and head back to the church for the other wedding that day.

Our good friend was ready to take photos and was wedged discretely in a corner to the left of the minister and behind a lamp. We had not discussed photography with the minister in our 2 pre-nuptial meetings with him.

Just before the ceremony he quietly said to our friend, "You are going to let me marry these nice children before you use that thing aren't you?"

Our poor friend looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights and stood awkwardly in the corner until after the vows.

All was fine - we got loads of shots after the vows and plenty of re-enacted shots. Of course we felt terrible for our friend being slightly embarrassed, but he was a big boy about it and after a few glasses of wine all was forgotten.

And we have great memories and great photos of the day.

October 24, 2009

I am a newbie here and seldom post comments and even I thought "here we go again" when I first saw this thread. It is amazing to me how often folks ask a question or ask for advice and then precede to discount or out and out reject the advice they sought. So, if you know everything, why ask? I think folks really just seek validation or support for what they want to do.

One good thing for me from this thread was a partial answer to a question I was reluctant to ask - - if I were fortunate enough to be able to buy two camera bodies, and I have interests in a variety of types of photography, should I go for two identical bodies that specialize in my primary interest (or money maker) for consistency or should I chose a different second body that better suits my second interest?

It seems that several of you folks advised choosing two different bodies. Even if the OP did not appreciate the advice and opinions posted to his question, I did.

September 18, 2009

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=986465">Nicolas Carrasco</a> , Sep 18, 2009; 11:19 a.m.

About four years ago, I was taking pictures by the bay near the <a onclick="this.blur();openInfoWindow('A');return false;" rel="nofollow" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&vps=2&jsv=176c&sll=40.79228,-73.789855&sspn=0.003139,0.006684&gl=us&ie=UTF8&cd=1&split=0&geocode=Fc1abgIdtBOa-w" target="_blank">Throgs Neck Bridge </a> in Queen, NY with a Pentax 67 camera mounted on a tripod. All the suddenly, three NYPD patrol cars surrounded me. They accused me of taking pictures to a military base nearby, which I did not know of its existence. The military base was, indeed, in the background. They said that there was a sign by the entrance of the parking lot where I had my car, which I did not see. They did not give me a chance. They questioned me, checked my record on site, and asked me if I had any tattoos on my body. They also told me that I could get shot by a sniper (probably from the military base). Finally, they asked to surrender my films. I begged them not to take my films. I even showed them the log book where I was writing down the information about each exposure to make the point that I was a serious hobbyist photographer--not a terrorist. "Look at my equipment", I remember saying to the officers. When they realized that I was not complying, they told me that they will have to arrest me. I had to remove the roll of film from the camera and as soon as I handed it to one of the officers, he unfolded it right in front of me. Finally, before they left, I was asked to pack and leave immediately the area. I, of course, filed a complaint about the incident. I felt very depressed and humiliated. If it happens to you, be very polite and get the name or any information of the officer involved. That is very important if you need to file a complaint.

</blockquote>

You realize that the link you provided shows much more detail about the area than your surface shot could ever have revealed?

Lest anyone think I slavishly support the cops and oppose the rights of photographers to shoot freely I have to say that if I were Mr. Nicolas Carrasco and if I was on public property and legally taking the photos he says he took there is no way in heck I would have taken the film out of my camera and given it to these guys.

I would have gone to jail first.

If he were on private property and prohibited from taking photographs then that is a different kettle of fish. I'm still not sure I would have pulled film from my camera though.

September 18, 2009

I am shocked at the harassment and intimidation OP Mr. Edward Horn was subjected to and I want to submit his name for the Rosa Parks bravery Award and the Nathan Hale Freedom Award.