vmax137's photostream  

The problem with using cameras that can be mistaken for mini-guns during a photo hunt is that they attract unwanted attention. No really, let's say you’re deep into your mental fire cycle when - and it's never any ladies - measurebating fanboys seeing your gear start swaggering into the shot. These shotblockers may be good at memorizing stats, but very few of them have any good results for their portfolios. This is bad enough, but they’re disturbingly excited about comparing equipment and idolizing particular brands or models. One-sided discussions usually revolve around back sizes, tube extensions, STD's - basically having every excruciatingly sordid camera feature graphically foisted onto someone that's not a HAZMAT-suited medical practitioner.

My audience are usually people who are interested in trying out photography, but mostly I shoot for myself and I prefer doing my best and having fun with what’s available on my photo safaris. I started out with night photography and high dynamic range imaging, concentrating on landscapes and urban subjects but also shooting anything that interests me. Speaking of which, this sailor thanks all of the serious public modeling inquiries from the very bottom of me salty heart. But I still have some ways to go before I'm proficient enough to create nude shots that will meet my low standards ;). Although my work is mostly computer and systems related, I also did some jewelry shots for B.Dina Jewelry, a local site showcasing hand-crafted pieces by some of Seattle's finest independent artists.

When people ask me what camera I used for particular shots, I tell them and may mention some of the software or equipment used. But when I add that they can get similar results with almost any camera that has manual controls - usually including the one they currently have - people always get annoyed, and with good reason. What’s really being asked is which camera not to get so they can avoid making the same terrible shots I made.

After using everything from a Yashica Electro 35 GSN to a few Canon EOS cameras that would be at home as a shipboard CIWS, I prefer point-and-shoot cameras for what I do. Most of my non-DSLR and rangefinder experience is with the Canon A640 running off of a CHDK hacked firmware and the Canon G10. Yeah holding a slow camera away from the body is less stable and abstracts composing, but leaving the face uncovered generally puts people with the DHS on speed-dial at ease as oppose to looking like the sniper protagonist from MDK. In the field Guys With Cameras smelling a P&S will clear the area to avoid interruptions with their model recruitment for their flats, while the weight of a P&S also helps out a bit since most of my daily workout consists of rolling off the bed.

So if a measurebator happens to corner you, rest assure that the best camera in the world is the one you have when a shot needs to be made, even if it’s an iPhone. But regardless of whatever gear is being used (and equipment is important), the most important bit in a camera system is still found behind the camera, and this applies especially to cameras with a waist-level viewfinder.

Photography isn’t all I do. I also partake in other incredibly demanding activities such as simian style sketching, catching up on sleep during Caturdays, and of course shaving my stage times by tenths of a second in Richard Burns Rally.

"You are
What you do
When it counts."
-Armor

"If in doubt, flat out."
-Colin Steele McRae

"But you just have to keep it between the hedges!”
-Sébastien Loeb

"All roads may lead to Rome, but the world is our stage."
-In reference to the Milliarium Aureum, Shakespeare on life, and of course the World Rally Championship.

Current equipment:
-Canon G10.
-Panasonic DMC-GH2
-Really Right Stuff L-Plate.
-Mini-D Tripod.
-Really Right Stuff PCL-1 Panning Clamp
-Manfrotto 190XPROB
-52mm Hoya RM-72 Infrared filter.
-Wanderlust Pinwide
-Adobe Photoshop CS3.
-Photomatix Pro 4.0.
-Panotools with hugin V 0.7.0 frontend.
-Google Earth.
-The Photographer's Ephemeris
-Winamp.
-Hands honed by (too) many years of flight and rally simulators on the PC.

There's no permission needed for using any of my pics as a personal desktop wallpaper, but please contact me for non-personal use and prints. Thanks for visiting!