Time for a fresh start…

The ‘View from the Carrot Room‘ blog has been going for a while and it’s direction has meandered a fair bit in that time but mostly it has been about reviewing my cameras.

I have kinda come to the end of that and want to go in a different direction; partly because there are a lot of other (better) blogs doing this (Like those by Jim Grey and Mike Eckman) and partly because I want to do more photography with the cameras I have and enjoy.

At the same time, the free storage I have on WordPress is over 87% so I needed to decide on what to do about that; quit, buy more, try to switch to linking images on Flickr or what?

I feel that a fresh start is how I wanted to go; leave what I have done here where it is and start a completely new blog initially in parallel then mothballing ‘View from’ entirely. 

I want to do something that is more about the pictures and not about the gear which will hopefully bring me back to where I want to be as a photographer.  I have decided on a new simple format of posts with just five images that are linked by a single subject matter; be it type of images, location or even gear used.  But just five images and a similar number of paragraphs describing why those image and what my thinking is or what I was doing etc.  

I know I could try to change this blog into that new format but somehow I think starting back at ground zero is a better way and will focus me on the new direction.

So this is me launching that new blog and I hope those of you reading this will come take a look and perhaps if you like what you see (and read) you will follow me there.  Don’t worry the Carrot Room is still open and the new site is called just that ‘the carrot room’ at www.carrotroom.com.  I have already posted a few things on there for you to check out…. so be my guest at my new address.

Thank you for reading my random and varying posts here, I really appreciate your likes, comments and attention.

Do I really need this….

As I sit here I am staring at my Canon 7 rangefinder camera.  Arguably the most sophisticated non-Leica rangefinder out there and at it’s time of release probably the most feature-rich rangefinder available.  It has everything you could possibly want in a camera; built-in light meter, multiple bright lines in the excellent viewfinder, easy film loading, shutter speeds up to 1/1000 and an excellent range of good quality lenses.

Due to all of the above and an opportunity to get one at a reasonable price I bought it late last year.  

It arrived and I immediately I  found a problem that was not expected from the sellers description.  But being a reputable dealer they took it back, did a CLA on it and returned it too me in good shape.   It came without a lens but I already had a Jupiter lens with the LTM mount and started shooting a film straight away.  The results came back as slightly mixed, some shots were well focused/exposed and some were not.  I wasn’t sure whether this was operator error (probably) or an issue with the lens; these Russian lenses are known to sometimes not be exactly correct for all LTM cameras.  Also, my particular lens has a very loose aperture ring and it is very very easy to accidentally move it meaning DOF is not what I am expecting and exposure is off.

Simple tools

I had an experience the other day that got reminded me of how we often over-complicate things.  
I was doing a task that is totally not photography – I was replacing a part on my trailer; it’s an old trailer and the modern equivalent part is more robust (I guess better) but, as a result slightly bigger.
This I did not realize until I tried to fit the part – it was a no go.  Trying to source a different part the same size as the original proved fruitless.  The problem was the hole in the trailer was about a quarter of an inch smaller than the part going into it – a 2″ hole and a 2 1/4″ part.  So how to make the hole bigger?
I dismissed filing as it would take forever and likely would not be evenly round and instead ordered a (slightly expensive) hole enlarger bit for my drill.  That arrived but on trying to fit it in my drill I found the chuck on the drill was 3/8″ and the shaft of the tool 1/2″ (face-palm).  Well…. another drill (a corded one) wasn’t a bad idea to have anyway so off to the store I went and came back with a new drill.

My nineteen favourite images of 2019

Here are my favourite shots from this year in no particular order

Voigtländer Prominent with Ultron 2.0 lens using Fujifilm Pro 400 at the Getty Center

Voigtländer Prominent with Ultron 2.0 lens using Ilford Delta at Union Station

Transition from tester/reviewer back to Photographer

A couple of years ago I embarked on a journey with the intent to document the small collection of cameras I had, as more or less a personal project. As I progressed the collection grew and the end of the process rather than getting closer seemed to extend into the distance. In the last few months I have reached a point where I don’t feel I have to complete this exercise and I have reduced my collection down to the ones I want to keep and use and am slowly selling off those that don’t meet my criteria of Voigtländer or beautiful or useful.

Building 201 Voigtlander Prominent

So I now have before me (and upon me) a struggle to change the way I shoot and write. For me “struggle” appears to be the right word. I seem to have slipped into a process of shooting purely to test the particular camera I was using and less so looking for really good images that I would be proud of. That is not to say that I didn’t take good pictures I am quite happy with a lot that I have taken over the last year or so. It is just now that I am back to taking photos for their own sake I feel like I have forgotten somewhat where I left off.

Railing Voigtlander Prominent

Cameras: Nikon 1 V1

I have no real idea why I bought this; it was completely on a whim.  I have a perfectly good (better) digital camera that I love so this really is a mystery.

It happened in a kind of blur… I read a couple of reviews and then fatally checked out that auction site…  some days later a package arrived on my doorstep.

Apart from my Nikonos underwater cameras I have never been a Nikon owner.

I guess what interested me about this camera was the look it has; very simple minimalist lines (a sleek black slightly round cube). 

Stepping out

Over the last few years I have enjoyed writing this blog and also posting my photos online, it feels good to share my thoughts and work. But all too easily one can get used to this kind of life with everything online and, apart from going out to take photos, not really mixing in the real world.

Even the going out and shooting for me for the most part is a solitary exercise. Of course I go on trips and visits with my Fiancee and I take photos, but even then it’s usually me taking my pictures and other times it is just me doing a photo walk.

So recently I have been actively seeking out opportunities to meet and spend time with other photographers; real in the flesh people – I know, shocking.

Themes and styles – a journey

I have read a few articles recently about photography styles and also had a couple of conversations about influences and what my photography is.  It is something that lately I seem to struggle with and it relates to my current photography confusion.

One post I read suggested that to find your ‘style’ make a collection of all your favourite images by trolling the web then analyse any commonality.  Where there are common themes, try to put some words describing what it is about those images and Hey Presto! you have you style.

This is interesting but I decided an amendment to this approach is to look at my own work and determine any common themes there first.

So I have scanned through the last 12 years of digital images in my archive and have indeed found some common themes. 

This is hard

Ugh

This year does not seem to be going as I expected/hoped it would. A combination of my daughter’s surgery battle and wedding planning not to mention various DIY challenges have meant I haven’t had time to think properly about this blog or progress the projects I intended.  I’ve also been distracted by a couple of new acquisitions along the way.

The result of this has been patchy posting and posts which probably haven’t entertained, informed or shined in any way.

Reviewer or creator?

I’m not recommending you do this

I’m not exactly sure why I am posting this, maybe as a warning to others… I love spreadsheets.  I know it’s sad but I find them incredibly useful… and, as in this case perhaps, sometimes sobering.

I recently compiled a spreadsheet of all the cameras I have and have had (as far as I remember).  I listed the purchase price and status etc etc. yeah I know I’m setting myself up here but here are some interesting facts.  Well I say interesting, I thought so but it is highly possible that it no one else will.

Which would you save?

This post is aimed mostly at the those of you who have collected a number of cameras and switch between them.

Here’s the question;

If you could only keep one camera/lens combination which would it be?

Let’s put a little detail behind that; say that for some reason (for example a cataclysmic event happens)  you have to pack you bags and leave your home taking only one camera with you with no expectation of ever coming back.  What would you choose and why?  I’m assuming you already have loved ones and important things covered and in reality picking a camera might be the last thing on your mind, but anyway…

I have already narrowed down what I think is my favourite; 35mm rangefinder, 35mm SLR, Medium format, TLR and also my favourite digital but if I had to leave almost all my cameras behind I would be left with a difficult choice.

February is Green

This is the second installment of my series featuring different colours for each month; see first edition here.

Surprisingly (to me) I struggled with green this month as I tried to avoid just taking picture of plants and I couldn’t find much of interest otherwise.

Here is my selection of green things;

I just can’t help myself

I think I am beyond help.

Just as I am saying I have enough cameras and I need to prune the collection; suddenly I am buying another camera and not even a Voigtländer.

Why do we do it? (Using “we” here in the hope that you there reading this are of the same disposition, please don’t enlighten me if you are not and leave me to my blissful ignorance and happiness that I am not alone in this crazy pursuit.)

I just can’t help myself, I can’t resist an interesting camera at a reasonable price. And I just can’t help looking either. Sometimes I try to kid myself that I’m only looking for specific cameras and that I am sticking to the one brand or a defined thing that I need yet I suddenly get and urge and ‘DING’ PayPal takes a hit.

Thoughts following recent visit to photo exhibition: Cuba Is

I had been meaning to visit a photo exhibition in LA which has been open for a few months at the Annenberg Space for Photography.  The exhibition showcases work done by photographers in Cuba.

Cuba Is

At the beginning of this month I finally made it down there and I wasn’t disappointed.   It’s a very interesting exhibition and if you go, I recommend you take the time to catch the documentary which introduces the photographers and what they work on.  The space itself is not huge, just large enough for events such as this and it’s free too.

I use exhibitions like this and also books to take inspiration and help me think about my own photography; and hopefully grow.  This one struck a cord with me probably because of where I am now in my journey.

5 golden rules for photography

I have been (over) thinking my photography lately and been reading a lot from (and about) other photographers.

As a result, based on my own experiences I have I have put together these 5 things to think about when taking and sharing photographs.

As I said this list comes from me sometimes overthinking things especially when I am at a popular location; here’s how it goes…

So here you are at that classic landmark or location and you have your camera in your hand.  You lift your hand, compose and snap!  There you go, you now have an image of say, the Golden Gate Bridge, for example.  Before you press that button though maybe you should ask yourself a question;

  Why am I taking this picture?