In truth, I’m the one with a new toy. I picked up a Voigtlander 15mm from UncleScarMT last week. It arrived today and I ran right out to take pictures.

I wasn’t out long before I ran into Eric on his motorbike. I asked if I could take his picture and he said sure. Turns out his sister is a photographer that travels the world. He helped build a “black room” up in her attic so she could do all that stuff. Eric’s plan is to ride his new bike to Florida. Next summer, after back surgery. He’s getting some sort of titanium implant! I asked if he was just taking it out for a spin, but no. He still needs to get his license, and a helmet. He showed me where one of the shift levers should be, he’d just put a vise grip on. They wanted five hundred bucks for that part, Hell, he paid three for the whole bike. But, lord it did sound good when he gunned her. Good and loud. But, soon it was time to put her away. The thing with those manual transmissions is they don’t have reverse, so he had to turn it all the way around and head back into the garage. I told him if the picture came out okay, I’d drop by with a print. He said he’d like that. I told him to take lots of pictures when he goes to Florida. He said he’d bring his video camera.

The photo of Eric is on Arista Premium 400

Developed with HC-110 Dilution B

Here’s the Voigtlander. I thought I’d have problems using the external viewfinder but it feels very natural. I think I’m going to have lots of fun with this! Here’s to new toys, Eric’s and mine.

Here are some some random images from walking around Johnstown. Not sure they fit in with anything except a general feeling of decay.

Shot with a Leica M2
Lens: Voigtlander 35mm
Film: Arista Premium 400
Developer: HC-110 Dilution B

I was running low on Arista Premium, but look what I just got:

Some street images from my recent trip to NYC.

Leica M2
Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4
Portra 800

On a milkgrey fall afternoon, I found myself wandering through the vast Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, New York. I meandered aimlessly amongst the dead and pondered superstitions of the living. Our civilization is adamant about marking the resting places of our loved ones, and just as adamant about neglecting those markers and letting the elements do the erosive forgetting for us.  I bore brief witness to names that passed away a hundred and fifty years ago. If there is anything to the idea of a resting place, I thought Prospect Hill seemed as pleasant as anywhere, noble trees holding up the rolling hillside.  But, I’m not a believer and the absence of any sort of spiritual presence weighed on me, a tactile emptiness…

As I angled down a shallow gully, a striking momunent caught my eye in the distance, an immediate impression of a powerful towering physique, athletic with a great sense of motion… except as I focused on it, I realized it was actually a tree. And, what a tree! Gnarled and black and crooked. I have no idea how it appeared to me as a human figure. I approached it with high curiosity and could not help but notice how out of place it looked, how sinister. Yikes! At the base of the tree sat two dislodged headstones, smoothed by age — or perhaps to protect interlopers like myself from some terrible knowledge. I wonder who would know the truth.

I dropped reverently to one knee: And, I framed a photograph, noting with perverse glee the dilapidated house in the background complete with rusted out recreation vehicle — how very Gloversville. And, on cue, a black crow added punctuation to the ridiculous scene with a hollow cry that was swallowed up by the endless grey sky.

Leica M2

Voigtlander 35mm

Arista Premium 400

HC-110 Dilution B

 

 

 

I nearly made a hilarious mistake.

A few nights ago I went to see Leroy Powell at Harvelle’s — a very dark little bar. The only camera I wanted in that situation was the Leica M2 with the fast f/1.4 lens. But it had a roll of ASA100 film that wasn’t usable for a dark bar. So I rewound the film, making note of how many exposures were left. I popped in a roll of Arista Premium 400 that I pushed to 1600.

Today I put the old roll of ASA100 film for a day of daylight shooting. I loaded the film and started to click-advance to the point I had stopped. But, I didn’t have the lens cap on! I just caught myself after advancing past the leader. Whew!

(Los Angeles CA) With the release of the new Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera, thousands of wealthy elite photo enthusiasts will be flocking to lay down the seven grr on this wonderful new precision image-grabbing wonder. But, what gets left behind? Imagine thousands of pounds of metal and glass just tossed into teh environments in the form of old, unused Leica M8 cameras. I can’t let this happen to my planet.

Announcing the world’s first Leica M8 Recycling Program. Simply send your address to me and I will send you a postage pre-paid box. Just place your Leica M8 digital rangefinder in the box, seal it up, and send it off to me at no charge to you. That’s right, shipping has been paid for! I will ensure that your old Leica M8 will be recycled in a way that doesn’t harm teh environments.

Please pass this link on to any of your friends with an old Leica M8 headed towards disrupting sensitive closet ecosystems. Help them do the right thing. For our Mother Earth!

We Are The World – Michael Jackson

What will happen on 09/09/09 at 09:09?? A little cat told me we’ll be in ninth heaven on that date. What will be given birth to? Hmm. Will it be full-frame?

All jokes aside: I guess the more important question is: Can I afford to be part of this nonogonal notion?

Nein!

Images from the Nine group on Flickr.

“Old Things” – Codeine

How did I end up with a Leica? Good question.

I visited Scott Hevener in Montana, and during an off moment he handed me his Leica M2. I responded badly. The correct response would have been an enthusiastic yelp as I grabbed it and begged to try it out. I should have been peppering him with questions and learning. However, I reacted with fear, hoping only to not break it. My life is often poorer for fear. Then doubly poorer for lamenting the fact without being able to do anything about it. Maybe triply poor because I know how lame the analysis cycle is. The Leica: I gingerly held it, looked at it in quiet fascination, then passed it back. Failure via fear. This is not a sign that I’ll never be a photographer, but it is evidence that I’m not one now. I have yet to step fully into the light.

I cruise Craigslist and eBay hourly, it seems, looking at marvels of photographic design history. I am thrilled by the existence of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese cameras, I coo at ostentatious displays of luxury, I imagine owning rare and wonderful cameras. A Leica, though has the weight of history behind it. Capa, among many other legends, used one sometimes. Despite the boutique prices, the Leica somehow retains an aura of hard work and determination, of serious business.

I saw this sad Leica on eBay, at first it seemed like something to be wary of. The condition was atrocious, it looked beat-up. The viewfinder was impossibly warped, as if it had been dropped from a very great height or hit with a very great hammer. It was hard to imagine the force required to do that to a camera. Surely the insides must be a sock full of screws. What must have happened to this small machine since its birth as the model M2 in 1958? Yet, still I took notice. I mentioned it to Scott, who said he had already seen the listing and that he had thought of me when he did. I’m not sure how true that was, and initially I was even a bit disheartened. Was I only worthy of some last-legs Leica? Scott then told me that he knew of the seller personally, that the man was competent in his work and honest in business. The seller was named Youxin Ye, and he made a habit of acquiring questionable Leicas, fixing them up, and selling them. In fact, were I to acquire a Leica through some other shady dealing, Youxin Ye would be where I would have to take it to be properly overhauled. If his auction description promised a cosmetically flawed but solidly working camera, I could be assured that is what was available.

So this was actually a very good opportunity to get a reliable Leica that other bidders, collectors, may ignore due to the immaterial cosmetic blemishes. This was one that had the cleaning, lubrication and adjustment already performed by one of the best. Could this be The One? Then, Scott dashed my hopes by opining his estimate for what price the camera would eventually sell for — something so high I still could not afford. With a day to go, poor auction strategy to be sure, I put in my maximum bid, far below what I now believed to be the ultimate selling price.

I slept on it.

The next morning, I checked without much curiosity. With long hours still to go, the bidding had reached my maximum bid but had gone no higher. I was still the high bidder, but I knew from experience that this was a standard tactic from snipers to determine just what price they’d need to beat. Complicating matters, the seller was selling multiple cameras. In fact another example of the exact same Leica model in slightly prettier condition was set to end mere minutes before the one I wanted. I knew that anyone who lost out on that higher priced one would swoop in for a consolation prize — the one I’d pinned my hopes on.

At that point, I knew I was out of it. Rather than dwell on it, or even contemplate going higher, I let it go. Even I knew it was better to move along and wait for another chance down the line. I’d bookmark Youxin Ye and wait for him to offer another. I’d keep hawking Craigslist.

Three hours later, I went to compose an e-mail and discovered that I’d won the thing.

It’s just an object, a tool — fifty-one years old. I still need to find the light. But, a week later I’m still happy about it. I’m going to go outside now to take pictures now.

“1958” – Skalpel