Why Gear Does and Doesn’t Matter

What is the need for the biggest and best most expensive gear? I was out and about this weekend and saw protesters for the Black Lives Matter movement in my town and made photographs in both digital format with a Nikon D610 and 35mm and 120 film in a Leica M3 and a Rolleiflex 2.8C....

Nikon vs. Leica

I am both a Nikon and Leica shooter.  I shoot film and digital with both brands and the other day I sat down at my Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter--that's where I do my best thinking on paper--and I wrote out what each camera type is good for. For shooting street photography, Leica may be classic,...

Finding Portrait Locations

When I was a news photographer, I remember getting a business or personality photo assignment the day before the shoot, and thinking all night about how I could make the photograph.  Would I use studio flash or natural light?  What were my location options? Then, I'd arrive at the shoot, and all the thoughts I...

Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t It

Had a walk along the Las Vegas strip--now there's a place that is full of visuals.  One of the things I noticed as I went about my way making street photos is that this is the perfect place to photograph people--everyone has a camera up, and so no one (or at least most) don't notice...

The Magic is In Front of the Lens and Behind the Camera–Shooting Street Portraits with an Older Camera

I work as a professional photographer in Boulder, Colorado, shooting portraits, business headshots, and commercial projects for clients like the U.S. Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force, food and drink for Whitewave/Silk and American Homestead Meats, and event coverage for companies in the cable industry. On a recent day off, I decided to take...

Motor Drive: How To Shoot More Film

I realize I shoot film a lot, but I have multiple bodies with film loaded, and I tend to shoot conservatively, just a frame or two on a person or a subject. I want to change that.  I just added motor drives to two of my Nikons, an F3, and an FM2, the cameras I...

35mm Film Camera Buying Guides/Camera Recommendations

I have a buying guide for Film SLRs (and TLRs and Point and Shoots, sometimes, too.) Check it out if you're looking for a good Film Camera!   Happy Shooting!

A Challenge To Shoot Film

I keep running into people who see my old Leica IIIf over my shoulder and marvel that they still make film.  And that it is readily available.  I assure them it is. I have a standard response to their "I have a great old camera that I never use."  I tell them to just put...

A Love of Old Rangefinders – AKA Cheap Cameras

Somehow, whenever I see a Canon QL17 for $10 or a Minolta A-5 for $20 or a Minox 35SE for $25, even a Leica IIIf for $100, I have to pick them up. (Those are real prices I've paid.)   I have Leica M bodies, and great lenses--I don't need these.  But I feel like...

Documentary Photography AKA Street Photography

Street photography.  Those two words have a lot of connotations, and often, it seems to be photos of people standing on the street, maybe checking their phones.  Those photographs don't do a lot for me.  They are more like record shots, than documentaries of anything going on.  While taking place on the street, they tell...