The above is the same house taken at the same time of year, within a day or two of each other, just at different times during the morning.
I drive by this little house a few times a week. For months, I’ve thought to myself: “That would make for a good photograph.” Finally, one morning, I had time enough to pull over and take the shot. The first attempt is the one on the left.
The light is okay. There’s a touch on the front porch and a bit on the left near the chair—that golden morning light hitting halfway between the front door and the stairs.
But something felt off when I got back and imported the picture into Lightroom. The house itself is too much in the shade, while the lawn and the trees on the right have a neutral, even light. The fluffy clouds in the upper left are a nice touch though.
So I gave it another try, this time earlier in the morning when the sun was hitting the entire house on the side, coming from the East on the left. Angled shadows hit the lawn and the front of the house, and the sunshine lit up that (cursed) Ohio flag. The porch is a bit more in shade, but there’s still a touch of light hitting the chair.
The temperature of the light, too, is different in the second shot: it is more golden and a bit harsher, painting the scene with a more dramatic brush. I do miss those fluffy clouds from the first image, though.
Both are fine. I’m glad I took another stab at it. The light was worth waiting for.
Here’s the final photo:
Both images shot with the Canon M6 and EF-M 28mm f/3.5 macro.
“Rebelling against the standard” – that’s all the excuse I need.
Martin Castein makes a good case for using older gear, but one point he missed:
Save money.
Instead of $1,000-4,000 for a new camera, how about using a five- to 10-year-old camera for $500 or less? There are so many great deals to be had on fantastic cameras.
Year after year, Flickr keeps trucking along. It’s still my favorite photography social/sharing platform. I’ve “met” so many great photographers on the site.
One of my go-to favorites is Zach Huggins out of Texas.
Where are you, and what do you do?
I live in Oak Cliff, a small neighborhood in Dallas, and I work as a scanning technician at an art printer. I scan artwork for printing.
How did you get started in photography?
I had a few cameras when I was a kid and in high school, and I loved snapping shots with those, but I didn’t really get into photography until college. I was a film major and I took my first digital camera on set to take behind the scenes photos, and that was when I was hooked.
What do you like about your photography, or photography in general?
I draw a lot of inspiration from movies and film, so anytime I get a photo that looks like it could be a film still, it’s a win for me. I like it when my images imply a story that started before that frame and continued after it. I love visual language, and to me, filmmaking and photography are siblings.
One of the things I love most about photography is that it has kept me curious about the world and people around me. It really is the art of seeing.
I got to know you through Flickr, where you manage several groups and bring a real sense of community to fellow photographers. What do you enjoy about building communities and sharing with other photographers?
One of the things that keeps me inspired is looking at others’ work, and Flickr is still one of the best places to see a wide variety of photography and meet other photographers. I also appreciate that, unlike a lot of other photography-oriented sites, I’m not inundated by ads and bots trying to sell me things. It keeps the focus on photography, and that’s why I have stuck around.
Originally, I started getting more active in groups to keep active on here when COVID shut down the world and I wasn’t able to go out and take the kind of images I’d like. I’ve found it’s a great way to find new photographers.
Your photos feature friends, your community, and different events you attend. Do you keep a camera with you at all times? What inspires you to shoot what you do?
That’s another thing I like about photography! It keeps me social and going out. If I want to take interesting photos, I have to go interesting places and meet interesting people.
I started carrying a camera with me at all times a long time ago, and that’s the number one thing I recommend to anyone wanting to get more into it. I got tired of seeing cool things and not being able to capture them (this was before cell phones had cameras worth a damn), so I started carrying one every day.
Even now that smartphones are pretty good, I like to have a camera because it makes me a little more intentional with my shots. If you are lugging something around and the only thing it can do is take photos, you’re more likely to do just that. 🙂
You shoot with a variety of cameras, on film and digital. Any favorites? What’s your go-to gear?
At this point, I will shoot with just about anything, and I like being able to pick up almost any camera and figure it out. During the pandemic, I started buying older cameras. I found a Youtube channel called OneMonthTwoCameras about using older ‘outdated’ equipment and fell down a rabbit hole of early 2000s digicams. I started buying cameras that I couldn’t afford when they were new, but you could get for garage sale money now. There’s something very satisfying about getting a really cool image with an old digital camera that is as slow as molasses and has limitations that modern cameras don’t.
As far as favorites, I have a couple of newer cameras I love: a Panasonic S5 and a Fuji X100v, and those are amazing for paid gigs or shows. For older digicams, there’s three that come to mind: The Canon S70, just a great all-rounder, a perfect party snapshot camera. And two Olympuses, the C-7070 and the C-7000. The 7070 has some of the best ergonomics of any camera I’ve ever used, and the C-7000 has a certain something about it that I can’t explain. On paper, it doesn’t sound great, it has a weird focal length, a slow lens, the camera itself is horribly show. But something about it clicks with me. 🙂
Any upcoming projects or shoots you’re working on?
A friend of mine released an EP last year, and we’re in the pre-production stages of making a music video for it. I take any opportunity I can to get back on set doing BTS photos; it will always be my first love with photography. I’m also hoping to do more portrait photoshoots this year, and I’m putting together a zine that I want to get printed before the year is out!
Fujifilm X cameras are known for their film simulations. Fuji owns and creates several film stocks, so it only makes sense that they build those film emulations into their family of cameras.
As a Kodak film user, however, there’s nothing like Fuji’s film emulations for other cameras – like my own, preferred Canon lineup.
That’s why it was great to learn that Canon’s own Picture Style options can be adapted to loosely match other film stocks out there. With that, I learned Thomas Fransson had created a series of Kodak film styles for Canon cameras. In this case, I downloaded Thomas’s Crowdak film simulation and applied it to a Canon M6 with an EF-M 28mm lense for a quick test.
Some initial thoughts:
With lots of greens and blues on my quick walk during my lunch hour, it was hard to see how the film simulation captured other colors and lighting conditions
Overall, very muted colors – more than I’m used to with my own style
Contrast was almost perfect for my style of shooting
Just this week, I logged into Tumblr to see where it was. The algorithm heard me and presented Yvonne’s video, as if 2014 was calling us all back.
I loved Tumblr. It was a great mix of social and blogging. It was fun, easy to use, easy to post, and for a beginner photographer like me, offered tons of ideas and inspiration as I grew in my craft. Ultimately, I gave it up because of its walled-garden nature, but using the platform was a hoot. I still miss it.
Now, it’s a ghost town – at least the blogs I followed have mostly shut down or moved on.
Yvonne’s video is a great look back at the height of Tumblr-mania and what it inspired in all of us who were there at the time.
One of my core philosophical pillars is the belief in using older gear to do creative work. And because the OG Canon M is still one of my favorite cameras, seeing it come back to life as a cinema camera using Magic Lantern warms my heart.
FoxTailWhipz’s video series has me exploring this option with my beat-up-but-still-working EOS M. While I can’t get that fancy M-Lite rig anymore, I can invest in a few other pieces of gear to make my M a video powerhouse.
As opposed to Roma, a more modern neighborhood, Coyoacán is pure history to the south of Mexico City.
A few coworkers took us down to explore the markets and chapel and walk the streets to Frida’s house. I also had the best popsicle I’ve ever had: pure, frozen lime juice with a bit of sugar. Amazing. I should’ve bought two.
This place felt like a classic Mexican neighborhood, filled with history and culture. Alive and ancient at the same time.
And just in case anything was stolen, I brought my classic Canon EOS M, paired with the 22mm f/2. She still runs like a champ.
The second half of my career is based on websites: social media management, website building, email communications, and newsletters. Even my digital photography is mostly on the web.
Often, I see non-profits or companies (especially small, local mom-and-pop shops) without websites. I feel bad for them. They might be building their digital presence on sand.
Just yesterday I found out Workplace, the work-based social media management platform, is closing. It sucks for us companies that use it. But it also reinforces the stability, the always-thereness, of the web.
So many of these platforms and social sites have shuttered over the years. It’s enough to make one lose trust in anything other than the web.
Quick update: I switched! I’m now using the Canon M6 instead of the M200 – read that review here.
My original Canon M has been my go-to camera for 12 years. It goes almost everywhere I go: trips, family events, walks around the neighborhood. Its small size and stellar image quality, paired with the EF-M 22mm f/2, made it my everyday gear for more than a decade.
Right before the holidays, though, it started to show its age. In a few cases, I would go to turn it on, and it took a few extra seconds to wheeze into operation. When it did limp to life, it glitched or randomly powered off.
I don’t blame it! It’s worked very hard for a long time, taking tons of abuse at birthday parties and Lake Michigan beaches. It has never focused or shuttered quickly. And I know there have been a few rough bumps and drops that helped shorten its lifespan.
Seeing what was coming, I started shopping for a replacement camera. Even though it’s been discontinued, I have enjoyed the Canon M series for its punch-above-its-weight quality. These cameras are well-built, solid machines that deliver excellent image quality. Even if Canon never releases another M series body or lens, I felt that my investment in the system meant I could keep using it for another decade or longer.
My first pick, the Canon M6 Mark II, seemed like a solid unit—the best of the M series and the grand finale of the line. But it is more expensive and harder to find brand new than some of the more budget-friendly models.
Twelve years ago, I grabbed the Canon M during a fire sale, and have more than gotten my value out of that kit. Similarly, this time I opted for the budget camera – good enough is good enough. My choice: the M200 kit.
Canon M on the left, M200 on the right.
The Canon M200 is aimed at beginners and bloggers. There aren’t many buttons or options, it’s not the toughest model, and you don’t have the in-the-hand control you have on a more advanced camera. But coming from the original M, the M200 felt at home in my hands.
By buying the kit lens, I also went from two lenses (22mm and 32mm) to three, with a convenient zoom lens perfect for travel. I’ve never been a big zoom lens user, but the kit price was right.
Last weekend, on a sunny, freezing February morning, I took the M200 out to a local baseball field to catch the colors and sunrise. The sparse button layout and mostly touch-screen controls were much the same as the OG M, and I mostly set my M to P mode or AV mode and auto ISO to focus on shooting. That’s what I did here, playing around with focal lengths and testing the image quality.
The M200 has a handy flip-up screen for selfies, or flipping it up 90 degrees and looking down, twin-reflex style, to focus and recompose. It’s also great if you want to record video of yourself – set it up on a tripod, flip the screen, and you can see exactly what the camera is recording.
This is a stock feature for most cameras nowadays, but it’s a nice upgrade from the M’s frustrating touchscreen limitations.
A few other quick hits:
One feature I do miss from the M is that you could hit the physical “delete” button to send the focus point back to the center on the touch screen. That was convenient. The M200 has a dedicated touch-screen button for this feature, but I miss the feel of hitting that physical button to re-center the focal point.
Another feature I miss from the M: the ridge on the front of the camera that acted like a small handhold. The M200 is almost completely flat except for a thumb groove on the back, in the upper right.
The M200 feels much lighter in hand. The M was a dense brick of a camera.
The M200 comes with a built-in, pop-out flash. This might come in handy for family photos is dark situations.
The button layout is taking some getting used to after 12 years of muscle memory. The on/off switch is now inside the top setting dial, where the M had a dedicated on/off button. More settings seem to be moved to the touchscreen, which isn’t my preference, but not unexpected on this consumer-friendly model.
This could be the zoom lens I’ve been testing out, but the colors are different. Not bad, but not what I’m used to. I’ll have to try the ol’ trusty 22mm f/2, which is not only a perfect lens, but produces perfect colors, too, especially in skin tones – the classic Canon Look™.
Other than that, I like what I like, and for my needs, the M200 was a great choice. Time will tell how long it holds up or if it reaches 12 years’ worth of use like the M (Update: it didn’t). Until then, this affordable, easy-to-find mirrorless camera is all I need every day I need it.
We don’t get much sunlight in the Michigan winters. We don’t get much snow or freezing cold either, but it’s the lack of sunshine that’s killer.
This year, instead of taking our bi-annual trip to Disney World in Florida, we did something new and flew out to Disneyland in California. Three days in the park, but then three days doing other West Coast things, like driving up the Pacific Coast Highway and taking a road trip to Joshua Tree National Park.
It wasn’t exactly warm in California – warmer than home, which was hit by a major winter storm the day we flew out of Detroit – but there was sunshine.
Coming back home, and now a few weeks later, I can feel the difference a little bit of sunlight can make. I feel energized, almost manic, like I want to get all the things done.
And so I have. Everything from cleaning around the house, getting more things done at work, even picking up my exercise routine after the holidays…California helped.
Now I’m taking that feeling and running as fast as I can with it. I know it might not last forever – just like that trip up U.S. Highway 1.
We’ve always been a musical family, but we officially became a musical theatre family this fall.
The women in our group all joined the cast of Center Stage Jackson‘s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – my daughter Madelyn taking a lead role as Jemima, Riley as one of the ensemble kids, and Jaime as the wicked baroness.
That meant lots of light nights, back and forth trips to rehearsal, and tired kiddos who aren’t used to staying up late for practice. But the last two weekends, it all came together.
The show’s director, Lisa, is a close family friend, and she let me hang out back stage for some behind the scenes photography.
Supporting the local arts in our communities means showing up, and lending talents where needed.
