The Chair

I found this chair in an alley sitting in the cactus on a walk back home from the gym a while back. It was next to some trash bins so I assume it was meant to be thrown out. I shot it, and knew I liked it (the photo, not the chair), but spent most of the rest of my walk home trying to figure out what is was abouth the scene that grabbed me.

Was it the contrast between the green and red? Was it the fact that the chair, which didn't look to be in too bad of shape was abandoned in such a prickly spot amidst the cactus? Even though it is a total juxtaposition of elements, every time I look at the image, the chair just seems to belong there. Almost as though the cactus has grown up around it.

I guess in some ways it reminds me of a throne and in that setting, I suppose, a throne for a particularly prickly ruler of some sort.

Maybe what it is that gets me is the unanswered question of how did it end up there.

This was shot with my iPhone 5 (since I don't take a full loadout of cameras to the gym with me)

Happy Aug 6

Fuji

I have had the opportunity to shoot with the Fuji X-E1 bodies and primes for the last few months. If you are not familiar with them, they are beautiful cameras. They remind me of the Contax G bodies that were around in the late 90's and early 00's. There are a few important differences. The Fuji's are digital and the Contax G1/G2 were film bodies. The Fuji bodes can focus properly (and have only improved with a number of firmware updates) and the Contax bodies could never focus properly. But what they have in common is that they are both very attractive cameras that feel great when you are using them.

What was heartbreaking about the Contax G1/G2 bodies was that they felt so great when you held them and shot with them, but then were crushed with the results when you would get film back with images horribly back focused or front focused. The Contax cameras were rangefinders, but they did not include any type of split-focus or other focus confirmation in the viewfinder so you had to hope that the autofocus was focusing on what you wanted it to... and more frequently than not, it didn't.

But back to the Fuji's... the more I use them, the more I have fallen in love with the X-E1's. They are small, quiet bodies with sharp lenses, and what comes out of them rivals the quality of my DSLR's, even at high ISO. I also find that when I use them, I am able to blend in much better as a guy with a small digital camera or two versus using the Canon DSLR's and the EF-L zooms or primes. They have become my "personal" cameras. I was able to take some time after a couple of shoots in Germany and put the Canon's away and wander a few cities in Germany using the X-E1's and had an amazing time of not only really good food, but had a blast shooting... Here are a couple of images from one of the trips. I will post more images soon.

Fred 2.0

So believe it or not, I nearly forgot that I had a blog. It has been nearly three years since I posted here, and life, three kids, work and other stuff seemed to slowly pull me away from sitting down in front of the computer (or a variety of other devices now) and writing something. I started this blog in 2007. Since then, a lot has changed. The world of "editorial photography" has almost completely disappeared in terms of finding sustainable (i.e.: profitable) work. Not to say that there are not still some great publications out there that recognize the value of good photography, but there are certainly fewer of them now there when I stared this blog. Most of my work now consists of commercial clients that is shot in an editorial style. I get to tell their stories with the camera. I am very blessed that my editorial skills have allowed my transition over to better-paying commercial work while still being able to shoot in a style that I love. Honestly, I miss the fun of regularly shooting a the deadline, seat-of-your-pants rush-rush-rush stuff of the photojournalism world. When big stories happen here in Southern California, I still am shooting for some news clients, but not nearly as much of it as I was doing in 2007. On the other hand, I don't miss the "drop everything and go" calls from editors that used to come on a very regular basis. I enjoy being able to go out to dinner with my wife, or LEGOland with my kids without having to worry about the logistics of getting one of those "go right now" calls and having to choose work over my family (or if you say "no" too many times, they start calling someone other than you to shoot their assignments.) But I am back. And will be writing more.

Me and three of my favorite reasons for not blogging. This was shot in Palm Springs on vacation by my wife on her iPhone 4, which does not perform well in low light. ©FredGreaves2013 

iPhone haiku

Steve cleared it all up
No problem, use the bumper
Go away I command