This past weekend, I  had the opportunity to travel over to Seattle on the ferry and meet up with a dear friend to shoot the Emerald City Comicon (boasted the largest comic convention in the Pacific Northwest).  Thrilled, was I (for you Star Wars fans). Thrilled for many reasons.

Yes, because I love to ride the ferry, seriously.

I feel ignited by the city life in Seattle.

And mostly because I was going shooting with some very talented people.

I had hopes to glean some knowledge or techniques of street photography from this excursion, but I got so much more than I anticipated!  Right out of the gate, I was able to try out a new lens to me, the Canon 35mm 1.4 prime lens - which I was highly anticipating.  This was the first time I have shot with a lens that fast.  I was eager to see what the results would be.  We trekked along the city streets up to the convention center, chatting along the way.  The weather was perfect this day; warmish with no rain, but no overbearing sun to fight while shooting.

Upon meeting a friend of the photog I was with, he graciously offered me the chance to shoot with his mirrorless system, the new Sony RX1 full frame camera.  Yup, that's right, I said full frame mirrorless.   Link to RX1 site

I've read about this little but powerful piece in my recent interest of mirrorless and rangefinders. I couldn't turn down this chance.  I quickly swapped out SD cards and put that beauty in my hands.  It was so much smaller and lighter than my 60D I was using, but is capable of producing images that some say rival if not beat those put out by the newer Mark III I was salivating over a while back. Plus, the Sony has such a nostalgic style reminding me of the earlier years of photography.  

It has a fixed 35mm 2.0 fast Carl Zeiss lens with aperture adjustment ring on the lens itself and analog style knobs on top for other adjustments.  It took a little getting used to as I was so accustomed to my digital adjustments on my DSLR.  I did make haste in getting comfortable with it though; I had to because these comic characters were flooding by with little time to compose the shot.  I was quickly turned onto the compactness and light load that a camera like this can provide as I had my DSLR gear hanging off my back and shoulder.

                                                      Photo by Bob Towery

After a quick couple hours shooting and complimenting all the characters, we ventured off for some grub.  Along with lunch was more photography conversation.  I felt like a withered dry sponge sitting in a pool of fresh cool water, just soaking it all up.  Man, was I enjoying this!

After lunch was a little more wandering, making a planned stop at the Photo Center NW gallery for a Vivian Maier exhibit.  She has some very compelling street photography.  It was very moving for me, especially since today was an exercise in developing my street photography skills.  You really should go take a look.  www.vivianmaier.com

Then, the unexpected happened… I was bestowed the use of the Leica M9 digital rangefinder system! I can still hear angels singing.  Seriously, this is one fantastic camera, and I recall saying, “I feel like I’m being crowned” as the strap was placed over my head.  Link to Leica M9

My recent fascination with rangefinders came as I was researching for my photography class all the different kinds of cameras out there.  Of note were medium format (being one I am completely enamored with, but that’s a whole other topic) and Rangefinders, drawing my interest in their compact design and wonderful quality given in lower lit situations.  Most unique to me was their focusing system.  Its totally different than what you are used to on SLRs.  I’ll try to explain.  The focusing mechanism will display two images of the subject.  As the user turns the focus ring, one image moves until it coincides with the other until both are perfectly aligned and optimum clarity or focus is achieved.  It’s not an easy or fast maneuver for me.  Another feature I grew to like was how you could turn the focus ring to specific distance markers on it, allowing you to guesstimate your distance from a subject and turning the ring to your guessed distance for focus.  Why do this? So you can shoot incognito, keeping the camera at your waist, without most nearby noticing you are taking any photos at all.  This was another new technique I learned on Saturday.

I found that in using this system, I started to actually pay attention to what I was shooting.  I started to massage my composition techniques and began to see from a different perspective.  It is a kind of training I think every beginning photographer needs to go through.  I became all to complacent with my DSLR and like many amateurs, I would throw up the camera to my eye, and spray and pray!  Hoping something in what I just shot would turn out.  With the system I used on Saturday, I began to feel what I was trying to achieve.

I’ve got a long way to go, but that feeling is addicting man, and I’m hungry for more!

As for the new 35 lens I began the day with, still testing! But again, I think I'm in love!

Special Thanks

Bob Towery www.dreamtomorrowblog.com

Ashwin Rao  www.photos-ash.blogspot.com

                                                                                                               Me and one of my mentors, Bob Towery                 Photo by Ashwin Rao