An independent look at The World.

"Effect" of war

2012-01-14T16:02:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I wanted to share this here.

Lalage Snow has spent quite a bit of time in Afghanistan. In some really, really nutty places. But the work she brought out is great. It really captures the place, that vibe.

The BBC has a series of her portraits up on their site, and I'm quite taken with them. They're of British Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland shot before during and after the deployment to Helmand province, Afghanistan. To me, as someone who has been around the rodeo a bit, the effects of that place on these soldiers are quite pronounced. Simple photos of their faces. Not a lot of lighting. Just them in turns staring confidently and nervous, then tired and scared, then finally exhausted and relieved.

The effects of war is on people is something I've pursued the last few years. It started with the white-background portrait series on my Website, and continued in 2010 with my series on Abu Company shot on Kodachrome. I'll continue it for sometime, possibely the rest of my life. The effects of it all are probably more important than the actual event.

Good on ya, Lalage. First beer is on me.

It's not the tool, it's the vision

2011-12-27T21:05:00.003-05:00

I've been shooting a lot with my phone. A lot. Video and stills. I don't care. The simplicity of it has helped me become more comfortable with just letting it go and not caring (too much) about what comes out. It's an image or series of them and that's all that matters to me. It's my vision that counts and the tools are just a way to convey that vision. I've shot with everything from Leica rangefinders to Nikon DLSRs to Canon DSLRs to Holgas and large-format pinhole. The tools only matter if you're not happy with your results.

In that spirit I've run across two clips that highlight the vision trumps tools debate for me.

The first here is a trailer for a movie called "Olive." This movie looks great visually. What makes it special to me is what it was shot on: an iPhone with a neat little 35mm lens adapter.

The opposite end of that spectrum is the great b-roll/prime cuts of Le Mont St. Michel, France, shot by the amazing Philip Bloom. Philip shot this on the exciting Canon C300. The price tag is a shocker, about US$15,000, but the footage looks great. Here is his review of the C300.

What's matters isn't the kit. It's idea, the vision (There's a larger point here about democratization of ideas and information here, but that's for another and far longer post). You can shoot both ideas with either camera. Olive could have been shot with the C300. Philip could have shot the prime cuts with an accessorized iPhone. The tools don't matter, what matters is the idea.

No archives

2011-12-27T19:24:00.003-05:00

With a little bit of anxiety I've temporarily deleted the hyperlinks to the archives here.

The stories and reportage I have here are good. What I'm anxious about is some one thinking this is a move to delete or even alter my record, such as it is, of the Iraq and, to a lesser extent, the Afghan war. It's not. Over the last few years I've applied for several positions in journalism, and I used this blog as a place to show my work, my clips. You want to put your best foot forward and this work while maybe content wise might be some of my best, the look was not. That needed to change. Frankly, I was shocked at how bad the grammar, tense and punctuation was in much of this work.

The posts were sometimes made under stress or just after a rather intense operation or spur of the moment. That's not an excuse, just an explanation. Looking back now, I realized the blog was never really planned as this thing it turned in to. That's cool. Sometimes the best things in life are like that - unexpected. What it will be once back up is the clips show it should have been. My best foot forward.

So give me a bit of time and the links will be back. In the meantime, check back for more current work and occasional "these are cool" links.

Happy holidays.

Bill.

Up The Peak

2011-09-23T22:07:00.007-04:00

I had a short business trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., last week. We had some extra time and decided to do the only thing worth doing: drive up the 14,100-feet of awesomeness called Pikes Peak.

This is one shot every 10 seconds the entire drive.

The only thing missing is music. It definitely needs a soundtrack. Any suggestions?

Up The Peak

2011-09-23T22:07:00.004-04:00

I had a short business trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., last week. We had some extra time and decided to do the only thing worth doing: drive up the 14,100-feet of awesomeness called Pikes Peak.

This is one shot every 10 seconds the entire drive.

HDSLR lens selection

2011-08-10T21:18:00.006-04:00

I've moved into shooting video with HDSLRs the last few weeks. I have a Canon 7D and love it. But its a whole different beast. Everything is manual: exposure, audio (with an external recorder), focus, the ND filters. Its a lot like spinning multiple plates at once.

The most important part to consider is which lens to use. Primes or zooms. Canon or Nikon or whatever else. I've been using Nikon glass with adapters. My brother Joe just sent his old consumer Canon glass (thanks, Joe!) and I've been tinkering with those as well. Next up will probably be Leica R lenses but that's a ways off yet.

I ran across this link on my Twitter feed that offers some really nice and easy to handle advice on lens selection for HDSLR shooting.

The article was written by Matt Allard, a photojournalist out of Kuala Lumpur.

Japan Earthquake, Natori from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

This video was shown on al Jazeera during recovery efforts in Japan after the earthquake there in March. It was shot on a Sony F3 with a Tamaron zoom lens. I like that look. In fact this look is what pushed me into HDSLR shooting.

I'll post more columns and samples of my own video here soon. In the mean time, enjoy the article.

A Chance in Hell

2011-07-31T17:53:00.001-04:00

No photos or embedded link here but I wanted to point out this is a great body of work on sights typically unseen by the US in these long wars.

Shocking, beautiful, gruesome photos. But they need to be seen.

(A serious warning here - there are incredibly graphic photos in these galleries)

Good on ya, Ross and Virginian-Pilot.

The Forever War

2011-05-26T09:26:00.003-04:00

A short note here before getting back to life.

I just finished Dexter Filkins' "The Forever War." I can't say any more than it's a great, great book.

If you want to understand Iraq from the ground level - the view point that probably mattered the most - then please read it.

I read it when it first came out and finally bought a copy Monday. I just finished it. Despite the short time I read it in, I absorbed more of it. Maybe its because I'm in a different place than I was the first time. Maybe its because its been almost five years since coming Home. Whatever the reason, I love this book. It's in my ruck for my next war zone trip.

Buy it.

Tobin Yelland & Skate photography

2011-05-18T08:07:00.003-04:00

I just ran across this great video about skate photography shot by Tobin Yelland. Ok so its not skate photography per se just really nice look at one man's photography. I found Tobin's work on Leica Rumors (a great site by the way) and they posted a short-form doc about his work and his method.

Here's the take away quote:

"If I feel like I have a good photograph, it's because it makes me feel a certain way. It has to do with the moment I shot the photo and less to do with technical perfection."

That is zen right there, and very true. Its something I still grapple with but am learning to appreciate.

Here's the video.

Tobin Yelland-Shoot all Skaters from Bryar Polansky on Vimeo.

Fire Mission: FOB Boris, Paktika, Afghanistan

2011-03-06T12:20:00.006-05:00

I shot this video and stills last summer during my embed with Abu Company and Alpha Battery at F.O.B. Boris, Paktika province, Afghainstan.

I had always wanted to get between the legs, so to speak, during a fire mission and got my chance a few days before going home.

Fire Mission: FOB Boris, Paktika, Afghanistan. from Bill Putnam on Vimeo. A short multimedia piece I shot last in July 2010 of an Alpha Battery, 3-320 FAR, fire mission at FOB Boris, Afghanistan.

The platoon, left by 1st Lt. John Regan and Sgt. 1st Class Stephen "Smoke" Peacock, was the most active artillery platoon in Afghanistan last summer. They shot an average of four counterbattery missions a day. I saw both ends of the stick and can vouch for that number. The number is also telling in that it shows the number of times insurgents shot at American camps or patrols in the area.

The video was made with Don's helmet cam. I taped the mount to the side of my D200 with gaffer tape. Stills were made with a 10.5mm f2.8 lens. The choice of lens was deliberate. I wanted to get close, to capture the hustle and bustle in such a confined space. You can hear me say "sorry" after I inadvertently got in the way. Even after talking to the boys beforehand, how people move in and around the legs can change.

Thanks to John, Smoke and the boys for the access.

Metro Shadows

2011-03-05T18:20:00.003-05:00

A quick grab on the way home, playing with shadows.

NY Ave/ Florida Ave/Galludet Metro stop.

Last of my Kodachrome

2011-02-17T18:08:00.011-05:00

The last of my Kodachrome arrived in the mail last week from Dwayne's Photo. Sad. No, very sad.

A lot's been said about the end of Kodachrome. I can't add any new words here about the subject. What I can add are the best snaps from my last roll.

Graffitti along the Red Line.

I shot a lot of Kodachrome the last few years. It didn't matter if it was shot through my modified Holga, my War Horse M6, or my multitude of Nikons. All that mattered was the The Look.

So I was disappointed but not surprised when Kodak announced they were stopping production of the film and the chemicals used to soup it. Dwayne's, the only place in the world developing Kodachrome and located in flyover country, announced an end date: all film HAD to be in by Dec. 30, 2010. If it showed up after closing that day you were out of luck, a clerk said when I called out there.

The Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in Washignton, D.C.

With a real dead line looming I wanted to shoot something unique. I chose the Metro system in Washington, D.C. And, I wanted to shoot it with a camera and lens that was definitely unique. I chose my Lovely Leica II with a Leitz 35 f3.5, a 78-year old camera and lens set up that, to me, was made for Kodachrome.

A man waiting for the train at Fort Totten.

I shot and shot. Everyday. I burned maybe half-a-roll going to and from work. My last frame of Kodachrome 64 was burned Dec. 28, 2010. I overnighted the package of five rolls to Dwanyes the next day.

The last frame on my last roll of Kodachrome 64. A women waits for the train at Brookland.

The film came back after a way too long of a wait. I chose these selects and had them scanned. Here they are. Its the end of an era.

Abu in Bermel: The show mailers

2010-12-20T01:19:00.003-05:00

I've been working on a show of my work from Afghanistan the last few months. Its a big one for me, at least, and the first sign of this event actually happening just arrived in my email this evening.

The mailers are at the printers. And they're here on my blog. If you'd like an actual copy, please drop me a private message here or at my Facebook page and the fine peeps at St. Vincent College will send you one.

Random grabs of Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta

2010-12-18T23:16:00.005-05:00

I went to the Army-Navy football game last week and grabbed this frame of Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. He was there with a few other Medal recipients and I had a moment to grab a few frames. I call these grabs, as opposed to snaps, because you grab them after something surprises you. Sal walked from behind a crowd off to my left and past me.

It's not a great photo but I like it. It grabs a random moment of a man with a helluva story.

Army-Navy football 2010

2010-12-18T22:48:00.004-05:00

I drove up to Philadelphia last week for what's turning into an annual tradition with The David S. Holloway - photographing the Army-Navy football game. I usually don't follow sports much, unless its hockey, but I read that some college football observers expected a good game this year. Army had lost the past eight games against Navy. They had an above .500 record this season. Things were looking up.

David and I don't meet up to photograph just the game. Its all about photographing the intense rivalry and emotion of these kids. I do shoot the game, of course, but I spend a lot of time shooting in to the stands. This is our third year up there and its always fun and I never want for fun images. Army lost

So here are the pics.

West Point cadets line up on the field before the game.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since Vietnam, salutes during the national anthem.

West Point cadets realize the second they've lost the game. Navy's Wyatt Middlteon stripped the ball from Army at the Navy 1 yard line and ran it back for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter.

Navy's Wyatt Middleton runs the ball back 99 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter of the game.

Portrait Exhibition and new Abu Pictures

2010-11-07T21:24:00.011-05:00

Frank Basta at COP Margah

A lot has been on my table lately, loads of projects and a new job. So this is a cover my bases post.
First up, I'm happy to announce the wrap up of the first of two show my work will be exhibited in this fall and winter.

The first show will be at Healthy Rythmns Gallery in Fairfield, Texas. Healthy Rythmns is owned by Ken Vail. He's displaying 35 pictures from my Veterans Portrait Series during the autumn art walk kicks off November 11. Along with the portraits, Ken will be running an on-going slide show of my documentary work on a 58" flat screen television in the gallery. The portraits will run for one night at the Fairfield VFW Post then move to the gallery til mid-December. The work wouldnt be up there at all if it my awesome friend and even awesomer photographer David Holloway hadn't put us in touch. After many emails, texts and phone calls, the last of the work was mailed off this past week. Thanks, David! Woo!

The details of the second show will be announced in a couple of weeks. That show will be big and I'm very very excited.

Third up is the mixing up of my Afghan edits on my Website. Here are a few of the pics I'll be posting:

Brad Watts at FOB Boris.

The weapon range at FOB Boris.

Todd Richardson at COP Margah.

Walking to Sharmat-keyl.

Waiting at FOB Boris.

Jeremy Crawford on OP.

Phil Bloom's "quick and dirty" test

2010-10-20T12:58:00.005-04:00

So I've been looking at this new video camera by Panasonic, the AG-AF100, since it was announced over the summer. I'll spare you the geek details but it looks f'ing sweet.

Phil Bloom is a video guy. He's a video guy I respect. We've emailed and tweeted the last couple of years as I've ventured into video. Suffice to say Phil is respected in The Field.

He recently ;aid his hands on a pre-production AG-AF100 and posted his "quick and dirty low-light test." This video is why I like the camera. A lot. And despite my current employment am willing to shell out $5000 for it.

Here it is here and here:

3200 ISO Panasonic AF100 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Learning to live

2010-07-04T06:10:00.004-04:00

Here's a great photo essay and article on the War's first quad-amputee (Yes, you read that right). Spc. Brendan Marrocco was driving near a place I know well - Bayji and FOB Summerall - when his MRAP was hit by an Explosiviely Formed Projectile, or EFP. Knowing a few people who have survived EFP blasts, they're nasty and quite often deadly. Brendan is lucky. I think he knows that and uses that knowledge to his advantage. At least I gleaned that from the article.

I'm not sure what struck me more about this kid. His dark humor or maybe his spirit. Either way, he'll do quite well in The World.

So peep the article and the great photos by the Times' Ruth Fremson.

Pics from the outpost

2010-07-03T15:13:00.005-04:00

Here are a few photos I made the last couple of weeks at the combat outpost. Being out there, in the mountains and wadis, was like being in a time warp. All sense of time vanished and you were left wondering what was happening beyond it all, the perimeter and further out beyond the mountains.

There might've been some curiousity but the grunts were too busy to really care if they could be interested. The grunts, tired and dirty after a day, just concentrated on their jobs, whatever they were. You pulled gaurd, filled sand bags or patrolled. That was it.

Self imposed isolation. That's really what happens at the outpost and it really, if you want to go back that far, begins the minute you enlist. A grunts signs up for a life of, well, privation. The outpost is the most extreme case of it. There's no internets, just a single semi-working phone. Mail is held at FOB Boris until you get back. That isolation, though, was calming after a day or two.

Some of them told me they really liked it out there. Life was simple if chaotic at times. You worked, ate and slept. You smoked and joked with your buddies (a few rationed their cartons of American Marlboro Reds as if they'd never have any ever again). You watched movies on a lap top.

Here are a few photos. More to follow tomorrow.

A .50-cal position at the outpost.

Doc Gonzo on guard duty.

At FOB Orgun E waiting for a flight back to FOB Boris.

Afghan elders at a shura.

Afghan elders listen to an Afghan National Army officer talk about security in the area.

Afghan elders listen to an Afghan National Army officer talk about security in the area.

Capt. Josh Matthews, outpost commander, and, Capt. Tom Black, from the Paktika Provincial Reconstruction Team, look to where insurgents fired mortars at the shura.

Reality of War

2010-06-21T07:03:00.004-04:00

(c) Roger Leo

When we send our children off to war, they enter a world of death. The photo above shows three American soldiers in body bags after they were killed by a bomb Feb. 21, 2005 in Baghdad. A boot, with foot still inside, lies overlooked in the foreground. Blood trails show where two of the soldiers were dragged from the places they fell. The question of whether to publish photos of dead American soldiers and marines has been much discussed in recent weeks. Too much reality for people who think war is neat, clean and contained? It's none of those things. It is terrible, and should always be the last choice.

2010-06-20T08:44:00.004-04:00

We're heading to an combat outpost soon and there won't be internets connections out there. So here a few pics I've made. Most of my work here is video and portraits (both something I need to work on back home). I will definitely have more when I'm back from the COP.

Salerno range photos

2010-06-04T13:33:00.003-04:00

Don and I spent part of the afternoon photographing a weapons range here on FOB Salerno. Here are the pics:

16 questions

2010-06-04T03:00:00.002-04:00

I found this today and wanted to share it with you. Click here or on the headline to see it. Its 16 very important questions for freelancers, either snappers or scribblers.

3D Portraits: Stereo Photography

2010-05-25T16:06:00.005-04:00

3D mut be all the rage these days. More and more movies are being released in that format. HD TV screens are being released. Now this. It looks

An Australian photographer has rigged up two D90s for a cool 3D portrait series. Check out the full set up on nikonrumors.com and how it was done. You can also see more work at the Stereo Photography Project Web site.

photo from nikonrumors.com

Cost of war: Rockville High School JROTC

2010-04-21T13:06:00.002-04:00

Some great work here by the The Post's Bill O'Leary, one of the coolest photogs in DC. I can't embed but click here or the title for a tight photo story on one high school JROTC.

Time lapse: BBC Life

2010-04-21T13:04:00.001-04:00

Wanted to share this great explaniation on time lapse photography.

NYT v George Zimbel

2010-04-03T11:50:00.002-04:00

This blog posting by George Zimbel's letter fight made my morning. Now on to clean my office.

Professor of War

2010-03-30T11:59:00.002-04:00

I should be be studying but instead spent the last hour reading this great article. Props to Mark Bowden for the words and Jonas Karlsson for the amazing portrait.

Army-Navy Football stop-motion video

2010-02-02T21:01:00.004-05:00

Almost 5,000 images. One hour of audio. Nearly 20 hours of editing.

Here's my latest offering: a stop-motion piece on the 2009 Army-Navy Football game.

Stop-Motion video of 2009 Army-Navy football game from Bill Putnam on Vimeo.

Veteran's Day 2009

2009-11-12T13:19:00.007-05:00

I went to Arlington National Cemetery yesterday after class. The weather perfectly matched the mood of the place - quiet, cold, rainy and starkly beautiful.

The headstone above Staff Sgt. Leroy Alexander's grave at Section 60. Alexander was a Special Forces engineer sergeant died in Afghanistan nine days before his redeployment home. He left behind a wife pregnant with twins.

Dan Sanchez at the grave of his friend 1st Lt. Forrest P. Ewens at Section 60. Ewens died in Afghanistan.

A tin of tobacco left on a headstone.

Stop-Motion video

2009-10-12T12:21:00.002-04:00

Check these video clips shot with a Nikon D2X or D3 DSLR. Video with a D3 you say? Its not traditional video but stop-motion video. They were shot by Andrew Kornylak, an Atlanta-based photographer.

Nikki Blue from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

The Beta - Six Feet Under from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

More Leica M8 pics

2009-10-11T00:22:00.006-04:00

Here are more pics shot this week with the Leica M8.

Leica M8 pics

2009-10-10T23:45:00.006-04:00

A very gracious friend of mine lent me his Leica M8 earlier this week and these pics are some of the results. This camera has gone nearly every where with me ever since. To class. In the car while I drive. To the scanning lab at school. Suffice to say I like it.

The M8 was met with a lot of fan fare and eventurally derision by photographers for a variety of issues to include: a cropped sensor, bad IR issues, bad high ISO noise and a loud (for Leica) shutter. I panned it too. After a few cursory looks and shots I was turned off in particular by the said IR issues. Leica did come up with a solution - special and expensive IR filters for the lenses - and it seems to work. The shutter is "loud" because Leica changed from a clothe shutter to a metal one to accomodate faster shutter speeds. The fastest on my M6 is 1/1,000 of a second. It's 1/8,000 of a second on the M8. As for the ISO noise, its not bad. I made a few shots at ISO 1250 and like shooting with film you need to really nail the exposure but its workable and nice looking.

The good thing about this camera was people could use their Leica bayonet mount glass on it. These shots here were made with my Summicron 50 f2. And, again, I like it. The look is exactly what I wanted it to be - Vivid. The high ISO pics remind me of pushed ISO 320 or 400 Tri-X and 400 VC film. Sure it has white balance issues. Two continuous shots in the same light can be look different which is correctable in post production though. I also noticed a hot pixel in a few of the images but thats because of exposure or light type (dark and tungsten on a Metro platform). That hot pixel is the first I've seen since using the camera. The notorious black/gray fabric turning magenta due to lack of IR alias filter in front of the CCD (and no IR filter on my lens to correct it) happened to me today for the first time too. After fiddling around in post i just gray scaled it. That option might work for now but I would need the IR filter if I did a professional gig with it.

After this week, though, I like the camera. A lot. I would definitely buy one if the cash were on hand.

Dignified Transfer time lapse

2009-10-09T22:22:00.001-04:00

I shot this time lapse of the Dignified Transfer at Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday. Coincidentally, Jay Westcott had the same idea.

Dignified Transfer even at Dover Air Force Base, Del. from Bill Putnam on Vimeo.

Dignified Transfer

2009-10-06T18:32:00.012-04:00

Eight transfer cases. Secured in a C-17 transport plane sitting on a tarmac. Barely a cloud in the mid-morning sky. Eight cases covered with American Flags. Men were inside them soon to be positively identified and then back to their families. Two blue buses pull up next to a collection of journalists and photographers. People de-board. Through the tinted windows I see some women wearing shrouds. I hear the scampering of children's feet. An honor guard from the 3rd Infantry Regiment slowly walks into view toward the plane and the eight cases. The flurry of shutter clicks. A chaplain makes a blessing. A dignified transfer party of an Army lieutenant general, major general, sergeant major and Air Force colonel march up the plane's ramp, then back into the sun light. They face the families. A call to render honors is bellowed from the plane's belly. Six men carry the casket down the ramp and to a transfer vehicle.

I photographed the Dignified Transfer event this morning at Dover Air Force Base, Del., of six American soldiers killed Saturday in Afghanistan's Nursitan Province. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack on the two combat outposts but six families granted media coverage of the event. It goes without saying that these truly are tough times over there.

One by one the six are carried to the transfer vehicle. One by one the transfer party renders a slow salute. The men quietly heave as the cases are loaded into the vehicle.

These events - and this was my first - have a very understated elegance to them. Nearly a decade in to the war, the teams that organize and carry out this detail are good. Smooth and flawless in a way that doesn't show routine. Because that's what they have become - routine. As of today 5218 US troops have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. All the same, the honor guards and transfer parties carry out the event like it was their first, public affairs officers said.

The last case is loaded. The honor guard marches back, stops, does an about face then renders their own slow salute. An Air Force airman, who stood the entire ceremony at the vehicle's rear, deliberately secures the doors. The vehicle slowly drives away. The airman walks behind the van. The honor guard follows the airman. The transfer party follows them. All of them walk toward the Air Force mortuary where the men will be positively identified. The ceremony is concluded. The journalists board their bus.

Kidney stones in the water?

2009-10-05T14:53:00.003-04:00

This article in Stars and Stripes about troops getting kidney stones in Iraq and Afghanistan made me think of my own bout with them in March 2006. Mine hit while embedded with 2nd of the 9th Cavalry at FOB Wilson. They woke me up from a dead sleep in a dripping sweat. Thankfully the squadron surgeon administered drugs and I passed them pretty quick.

Here's the money quote: "'Some women say (the pain is) more severe than labor pains," McDonald said."

That's saying something. I am definitely not a woman but the pain I felt was almost undescribable.

Apparently I wasn't alone in getting them. There are so many cases the military has installed a special stone cutting laser in the Combat Support Hospital for lesser cases. Some people are also being evacuated to Landstuhl for treatment.

While there is no definitive medical proof that the bottled water we slugged back is causing them, I suspected it was the water, and as the article points out, the food we ate. Minerals in the water and high-sodium food might have added up to bad times for some. I drank a lot of water while in Iraq, at least eight bottles a day, but that wasn't enough often times. The good thing about the food was the sodium was good for water retention, which can be good in a place like Iraq. Add up the water and food and that might be the cause.

Either way, it is an interesting phenomenon.

Obama's War shot on the Canon 5D Mk II

2009-10-02T18:59:00.002-04:00

I just ran across this Frontline rough cut about Afghanistan. Part of it, the combat footage, was shot on the Canon 5D MkII by freelancer Danfung Dennis (with a shout out to co-producer Tim Grucza) while embedded with the Marines during their push in early July into southern Helmand Province.

Danfung rigged up an external microphone and a steadicam to record the footage. Teru Kuwayama dryly called it a Improvised Video Device, or IVD. It was probably the first time a kit like this has been used in combat and really is the wave of the future. I am considering a similar kit with a Nikon D300s.

Good on ya, Danfung!

Eye piece for SLR video

2009-09-30T11:13:00.004-04:00

I ran across this great piece of kit and wanted to share it here. Its an eye piece for focusing video shot on cameras like the 5D MkII and D300s by a company called Zatuco.

Here's a video about it:

SNL is using DSLRs

2009-09-30T10:52:00.004-04:00

Here's a link from Phil Bloom, a guy I would love to work for and with one day. Phil passed along on his blog that Saturday Night Live shot this season's opening sequence with a Canon 5D MkII and a skit in the season opener with the Canon 7D, SLRs capable of shooting High Definition Video.

The beauty of this is three fold: the lovely depth of field you can't normally get with a video camera, its small size and amazing look at a high ISO.

Most video cameras have small chips. At high ISO, there's a lot of noise as the sensors are working over time to gather as much light to capture an image. The 5D MkII has a full 35mm negative size sensor. The 7D is about half as big. Both have bigger sensors than a video camera.

Combine that large chip, at high ISO (if you need it), with a wide-open lens... and you have a great tool for visual story telling.

(Nikon was the first to combine HD and stills in August 2008 with the D90. Since them they've launched the D5000 and recently the D300s. All are x1.5 cropped sensors. Eventually/hopefully they're release a Full-Frame SLR capable of video.)

Kudos to SNL for using this tool.

War Photography and Lance. Cpl. Joshua Bernard

2009-09-10T11:33:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine posted this incredibly moving and thoughtful column to his Facebook on the controversial photograph of Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard's last moments.

I'm not even sure where to begin with this photograph. It is by its nature incredibly real. It shows war for what it is: gritty, bloody and frantic at times. A great photo doesn't have to be technically sound. It just has to capture The Moment when everything about a local situation helps define the greater strategic question. Ben Macintyre, the column's author, sums it up best:

"There is something almost mundane about Bernard’s death, on a dusty bank in a foreign field — a single frozen moment in which the nature of the war itself, in both its heroism and horror, seems to be localised and symbolised.

Very few images of war achieve this, although when they do, their power to shape our collective consciousness is immense. Knowing this, the authorities that wage war have always sought to control the public image of warfare."

--Ben Macintyre

By its nature the photo is controversial. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asked the Associated Press not to run the picture. Bernard's family asked they not run the photo. The family's and secretary's concern are understandable.

Here is where I wrestle with whether this photograph should have "ran." As a photojournalist, a documentarian, I might have made this photograph had I been there. It needed to be made for history's sake. Yes, it is a tragic situation. I understand that: A man is dying.

(As an aside: what if Bernard hadn't died. What if he lived and were one of the thousands of wounded soldiers and Marines that fill the halls of Walter Reed, Bethesda or Brooke? Would there be a controversy if the photo did "run?")

What makes this photo controversial is that moment: he's dying. This photo shows the horror of what we as a society send our young people off to do in our name. We sent Bernard over there, with his unit. We sent him to do our business, supporting a fledging (and apparently VERY corrupt) democratic government. The people that killed him apparently don't want that. We need to see, from time to time, what the true cost is of that mission.

President Franklin Roosevelt understand that when he lifted the ban (within limits) on photos of dead soldiers during World War 2. He understood that an insulated nation is an insensitive nation. Those that are insensitive are unaware of the true cost of something and won't have their head in the game. What changed in the intervening 60 years? Some say our country has become spoiled. Some say Vietnam. Whatever the answer is, the photo shows something intangible, something real: what war is at the ground level for the grunts who do the dirty work we send them off to do with less and less fanfair.

Then there's the flip side, the personal and private side. A close, close friend of mine was wounded in Iraq. I remember the rage I felt when I saw his wounds. It coursed through me like a bolts of electricity. Would I want someone there to photograph the act of his wounding? Maybe, I don't know. That is what I wrestle with here. What if I were in Bernard's family's shoes? I could be altruistic and say run it. I could do what his parents did and say no but hell no. Both sides of this argument are crystal clear to me personally.

What I can answer is that photos like Jacobsen's will always be controversial. Whether we like it or not war is one half of the human condition. We show love all the time. We need to see war and it's ultimate "cost," too.

Jersey Turnpike

2009-07-31T11:29:00.000-04:00

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New pinhole work

2009-07-20T17:05:00.003-04:00

This is an 8x10 pinhole I made at school. On RC photo paper.

I plan on doing more of this work soon. I need to buy some more 8x10 film holders first.

Clay Enos

2009-07-19T16:14:00.004-04:00

This came to my in box today from Strobist. Its a short video on Clay Enos doing street portraits (click on the link if embedded video isn't working). If you saw the portraits of The Watchmen movie characters, Clay did them. Good stuff.

Insanely ignorant quote

2009-06-05T10:45:00.003-04:00

This quote is from a news article I just read about advisory teams nearly doubling the Kabul Police Department before Afghanistan's presidential elections in August.

"Being there with uniforms on is probably one of the best deterrents," said a colonel in the Virgin Islands National Guard and a commander of mentors in one of Kabul’s police regions. "If you flood the city with police, the bad guys are less free to move around."

The good colonel is more than entitled to his opinion. After all, he is on the ground and I'm not. But I've been on some ground - Iraq - and have seen what happens when you "flood" a city with inexperienced, ill-trained police. Its madness and the "bad guys" are actually more free to move around.

Quotes like that make me shake my head.

Arlington's Section 60

2009-06-04T13:24:00.002-04:00

B-roll at Section 60 from Bill Putnam on Vimeo.

I shot this video Memorial Day with a Panasonic HMC150. I wasn't looking for a story, I just wanted to shoot b-roll, test out my sequences and test the camera's capabilities. Hope you enjoy it.

Seen it all now

2009-04-22T16:48:00.001-04:00

I've seen it all now: a hand-written cardboard license plates on a POS pickup.
A cop passed it and didn't pull the guy over.
I had flashbacks of Baggers.
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"Saying Good-bye to the F-22"

2009-04-13T15:02:00.002-04:00

I just read this op-ed in the Washington Post by the Secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff and wanted to share it.

It shows not everyone is all up for the "latest and greatest" kit. Finally.

Side note regarding today's earlier post

2009-04-08T15:10:00.002-04:00

General Motors is preparing for bankruptcy. Chrysler is trying to merge with Fiat or they go under. Why can't someone, with a government loan for a start up, hire them to re-tool to make wind turbines and solar panels? Wouldn't that save jobs? Just a thought.

New defense budget, potential job losses and a possible solution

2009-04-08T11:55:00.007-04:00

I've been following this new FY2010 Defense budget released this week by Secretary Bob Gates. Its a breath of fresh air into an otherwise dark, mysterious and possibly corrupt military-industrial complex relationship with the DoD.

Here are a couple of links from Stars & Stripes and Armytimes.com about it.

This is the lead and bridge from the Stripes article, written by Leo Shane III:

"'The budget fight on Capitol Hill began just minutes after the fiscal 2010 defense plan was unveiled Monday.
Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb expressed deep concerns about reductions in Navy shipbuilding. Another group of senators lead by Alaska Democrat Mark Begich sent a letter criticizing proposed cuts in missile defense.'"

I have no problem with missile defense or ship building. I have no problem with "revolutionary" vehicle systems like the Army's Future Combat System. I certainly have no issue with the Air Force's F-22 Raptor.

What I do have a problem with is the ties those senators have to those programs in their states. Webb represents Virginia. The Navy has a massive facility in Newport News, Va., for ship building and repair. Begich represents Alaska where the Pentagon based their ground-based missile defenese system.

Those systems and facilities mean jobs. I am all for jobs. God knows we need more of them right now. But building a lot of "stealth" wonder-kitted out new ships that dont have proven capabilities is a waste of money. Fielding an unproven missile defense system is wrong (full disclosure, I worked on the Patriot Missile in the Regular Army). Both are an immense waste of money. Beyond money though is the idea of parochial interests.

The military is not a jobs creation program. And this budget goes a long way in addressing that issue and helping us win a couple of wars we happen to be currently fighting. We will, more than likely, continue to fight unconventional wars for a long long time to come.

Any job loss made during these cuts is going to hurt. However, there is a solution. Why not roll those high-tech jobs into building solar panels and wind turbines? Why can't we re-tool those factories in Georgia (where the F-22 is built) to help us in a better and more sustainable way? Why not turn those ship-building facilities in Newport News into a off-shore wind turbine building facility? Wouldn't it be a better use of our money if we use it to wean ourselves off oil sooner?

Dont get me wrong. The military is needed. But the military the congress (aided by the Mil-Indus Complex) wants us to have is not suited for the future of warfare. Who out there can even come close to challenging us in the air? No one. Who will even try to go mano a mano with us on the ground? No one. The idea of North Korea or Iran firing missiles at us or Europe is almost an insanely huge leap of logic. Look at what happened to the last "missile" North Korea just fired.

The future of war is irregular war like Iraq and Afghanistan. The F-22 and FCS and some great new Navy Destroyer aren't going to help us win those wars. A military built around people and assisted by UAVs and ground robots and the Littoral Combat Ship system will help us win those dirty little wars.

And before I forget, some of that money should go to boost funding of USAID and the very under-funded State Department.

Already Congress is going to fight this budget tooth and nail. I expect a tough slog over the summer. This is from Shane's article: 'William Hartung, a defense analyst with the New America Foundation, said he believes the cuts in bloated weapons programs are long overdue, but acknowledged that lawmakers with defense contractors in their districts won’t see it that way.

"The budget is hitting multiple targets, so that could give [the administration] some political cover," he said. "But we’ve already had major lobbying by the industry on this. It’s going to be a long fight."'

Keeping what we have right now is the best solution. We can always upgrade our current ships, tanks and fighters to become even more superior than what China can currently field. Then, when those platforms are old, we can upgrade to a new system. Until that happens we should keep systems like the FCS and LCS on a small development and testing budget to test out new theories and capabilities.

Use that money on something more worthwhile. Like building wind turbines, solar panels, new UAVs and USAID, or better yet, paying off our national debt.

New Plans

2009-04-08T08:59:00.000-04:00

I love how fluid life can be. Real issues always float to the top and become apparent and scream to be taken care of. Secondary issues sink sink below. plans are changed. For the better.

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Amazing video

2009-04-04T21:36:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine passed along these links last night. I want everyone here (all 25 of you) to see them. My jaw hit the floor after seeing them.

The first two are by David Stephenson. The last one is by Tyler Gitner.

I can't say enough about them. They are truly beautiful, not just image wise but story wise. Very well thought out, nice editing. And the best part is... well, they were shot with the Canon 5D Mk II.

I've never met David, the videojournalist who put the Kentucky pieces together, or Tyler, the 55th Combat Camera Company, "snapper," but I will be checking their work more. Keep it up, guys.

Keeneland blossoms into spring meet from David Stephenson on Vimeo.

Coach battles cancer and teaches lessons of life and faith from David Stephenson on Vimeo.

Stedicam Merlin and 5DMKII from Tyler Ginter on Vimeo.

What I'm waiting for is Nikon to release something similar. But that's another post. Just enjoy the beauty of these videos. Amazing.

Oliver North

2009-04-01T10:29:00.002-04:00

Why is Fox News promoting Oliver North to colonel when he retired from the Marines as a lieutanent colonel?

"That is one fast pumpkin."

2009-03-24T20:31:00.004-04:00

Here's my rusty but cool debut on Discovery.com. Unfortunately I cant embed the video here so you'll have to click on the headline or hyper link to view it,

I shot this piece last October while assisting my friend David Holloway, who was their on assignment for Getty Images. So in between shooting video of him shooting stills I did b-roll video. Eventually I linked up with Hooter Shooters (they're sponsored by Hooters).

This was my first video piece after the Platypus Workshops and you can see how rusty I am. Shaky and moving video that highlights the major difference between video and still shooters. As a still shooter I can capture something in fractions of a second then move. As a video shooter I need to stay still for at least 10 seconds. Yep, 10 seconds. Breaking the habit of constantly moving around will be hard but is doable.

Anyway. I sat down with Caroline Couig, a great and very patient editor at Discovery, to edit. She made the still photos. Over a couple of days we knocked it out. They waited to post it til earlier this month to launch it with the Wreckreation Nation show on Discovery.

I love shooting video and cant wait to get my HDV kit soon. The ability to capture most of the senses (except smell, of course) and really interact with people is great. It sort of brings it all home for me. I felt the same way about writing in Kosovo.

Hope you enjoy it.

Virginia!

2009-03-22T16:30:00.000-04:00

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North Carolina!

2009-03-22T13:48:00.000-04:00

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Florence, SC!

2009-03-22T13:13:00.000-04:00

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South Carolina!

2009-03-17T16:40:00.000-04:00

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North Carolina!

2009-03-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

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Kentucky!

2009-03-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

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Transform

2009-03-06T21:50:00.001-05:00

This is quite possibly one of the coolest videos I have ever seen. Thanks to Zack Arias for putting it together. Thanks to David Holloway (whose kicking arse in God's Country) for posting it to his blog. Thanks to Jay Westcott for telling David about it.

Amazing.

UPDATE Modified GaryFong

2009-03-06T16:43:00.006-05:00

UPDATE

Here is a broad light self portrait with the modified GaryFong Dome. The flash head was three or three-and-a-half feet away, set to f/16 at ISO 125 and popped with a Pocket Wizard.

This picture was managably hot in Lightroom. f22 at 1/250 sec.

This picture was good and only required a little touch up in Lightroom. f16 at 1/250 sec.

I will continue to play around with this rig. When I first envisioned this, I had a feeling it would be a great little, thus portable, directional device. Looks like my vision is correct. Sort of.

-- 30 --

I had a brilliant idea the other day. I wanted to modify my legendary GaryFong dome.

The GF Dome is reknowned for literally lighting up a large room with just one flash. There are pictures of it on the GaryFong web site. Brilliant stuff . My goal is to see what happens if you channel that light through the device. The first idea was to spray paint the outside matte black. Then I decided I didn't want to waste a $50 piece of kit. So I settled on black construction paper and gaffers tape. But I a friend of mine said the paper would only absorb the light, he suggested tin foil. So I combined both ideas.

I didnt make any photos of the construction. Why bother? Just wrap one layer each of tin foil and black construction paper around the dome. Then apply liberal amounts of gaffer tape. Too easy.

Here are pictures of the end result:

You can see how rigged its. In fact, I am calling it The Ghetto GaryFong.

Here are a couple of test shots I made with it:

This is me.

All settings were f/8 at 1/250 sec on ISO 125. I popped it via the D200's commander mode. Both flashes were set to TTL, with the on-camera dialed all the way down and on camera +3. For the self portrait I held the flash in the short light position. I will make a broadlight self portrait and post it here in a bit

PS - I am making plans for another Ghetto Beauty Dish. This time the bowl is a 14" wood salad bowl from Bed Bath & Beyond. Cost: $24.99.

-- 30 --

Panasonic's GH1 in hand

2009-03-05T19:14:00.003-05:00

DPreview.com just posted a nice little review of Panasonic's new (sort of) GH1. Click here or the title for the link. The camera is part of the company's Micro Four:Third line of cameras.

I noticed a couple of sweet things about this camera. It has an external mic jack and it has several format options, including 16:9 (wide screen) and 1:1 (square). Square video footage might be pretty cool, right?

What I didn't see in the review is if you have on-the-fly control for video. You can adjust aperture and shutter speed though.

I'm hoping Nikon releases something similar. Only with a Full-Frame sensor.

Wierd emails from "Blogger Support"

2009-03-04T18:25:00.002-05:00

Six of these messages arrived in my inbox this afternoon. The person/group sending says "Blogger Support" but the messages are in Russian.

Here's the message:

Blogger Support to me 3:39 PM (2 hours ago) Reply
Привет!
Запрос на получение данного письма с информацией для восстановления имени пользователя был получен от участника коллектива блога http://billputnam.blogspot.com/ . Если вы не запрашивали данное сообщение, проигнорируйте его. Каждый участник коллектива получит сообщение с индивидуальной регистрационной информацией.
Ваш блог http://billputnam.blogspot.com/ связан с именем пользователя аккаунта Google Bill.Putnam1@gmail.com . Чтобы войти в Blogger и получить доступ к своему блогу, используйте данное имя пользователя аккаунта Google.
Если вы забыли свой пароль, нажмите на эту ссылку, чтобы сбросить его:
http://www.blogger.com/forgot.g?r=Bill.Putnam1%40gmail.com
Этот аккаунт входит в число участников следующих блогов:
http://billputnam.blogspot.com/
Если возникнут какие-либо проблемы или вопросы, посетите страницу справки по адресу http://help.blogger.com/
С уважением,коллектив Blogger

Does anyone out there read Russian?

Too much...

2009-03-03T19:20:00.001-05:00

Either I'm watching too much TV or I'm seeing the same people (actors?) in commercials.
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Hybrid camera

2009-03-02T15:23:00.004-05:00

This also in from dpreview.com. I think this the first of a new category of cameras. This one combines digital point & shoots with dSLR.

“We estimate that the hybrid digital camera market will be over 20% of the global digital still camera market by 2012,” said Sang-jin Park, CEO of Samsung Digital Imaging Company.

This camera is hybrid in the sense it combines p&s with dSLRs. The true hybrid will combing HD video with a body like this one. Interesting times.

Tech News: Cosina/Voigtlander re-releasing the RD-1

2009-03-02T14:51:00.002-05:00

I know some of you may have seen this camera, the R-D1, mentioned a few years ago. It was the world's first digital rangefiner. It looked good. I almost bought one. Thankfully I didn't.

WhatI liked about it was the ability to use my Leica M glass on it. And this ircked me for some reason, it had this gimmicky manual advance like my M6. No continuous drive. You clicked and advanced old school. Great but gimmicky.

Well I just ran across this last week. Voightlander is re-releasing the R-D1 as the R-D1x. From what I can tell its virtually the same camera with one big exception. And that would be the LCD on the back. It's 2.5". Big, yes, You can also use the monster-sized SD cards in it and it comes with a removable hand grip. Is all that worthy of a "brand new" camera? You be the judge. For US$2,000.

So my question now is why release this?

Sad, aint it?

2009-02-25T08:36:00.001-05:00

I'm finding it sad I have more time to stop by REI and buy clean clothes than I have time to actually DO laundry.

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Great Photo Essay on Time.com

2009-01-28T19:18:00.002-05:00

I found this great little photo essay of Great street photography around New York City circa 1980.on Time.com by Raymond Depardon.

Ghetto Beauty Dish

2009-01-26T14:23:00.007-05:00

I found plans for a beauty dish on Strobist and wanted to make one of my own. So I did. With my brother. While drinking beer. It was awesome.

The device on Manfratto stand in my room/office.

The plans needed some work and we WAG'ed them some but the mean justified the end and the product works great.

The device on Manfratto stand in my room/office.

The bowl is a green 18 inch plastic planter from Home Depot. We spray painted the inside flat white and the outside flat black. While the paint was drying, we started working on the reflector and CD spindle base.

The original plans by David Tejada said to cut a hole in the bowl base large enough for the a downspout connector. Then cut a hole on a CD spindle for the connector and glue the spindle inside the bowl when it was ready. We did something different. We cut the bowl base out and glued the CD spindle to the hole. But we noticed its a little flimsy after putting it all together and glueing it in with Gorilla Glue, at least to me.

Then I found some keen plans here from Light and Pixels (thanks, man!) for an adjustable reflector. It is made from a five-inch door wall guard, a silver-colored CD (some CDs and most DVDs have a blue or purple back. Use them if you want an artsy look), and a three-and-a-half-inch convex mirror. I drilled holes in the CD for the four-inch bolts then used holes as guides for the holes in the wall guard. Then we glued it all together. We then drilled holes in the CD spindle base for the bolts too.

The four-inch bolts you see are to hold the reflector away from the flash head. They're also to adjust the reflector in the bowl in the original plans by using nuts (with the correct thread) as stop gaps. What I changed was how to adjust the reflector height. Instead of doing it inside, I will adjust it from the outside. The nuts I bought have the wrong thread so I will stop by the a Home Depot for the correct ones. To capture as must light as possible I put silver reflective tape all over the CD spindle base. I also put it around the gap between the spindle and the hole.

I hold it to the flash with velcro. The bolts act as a sort of brace but I didnt take into account the battery back. The next one I build will. The white foam is the dried Gorilla Glue.

The reflector inside the bowl. The silver stuff you see is reflective tape (its like sticky aluminum foil) inside the downspout connector and put all over the CD spindle.

After we finished, and over a couple of more beers, I decided to make another. Part of the plans will be from the originals, the other from my own look over the final design. The next next one will be a little different. I will still cut the hole in the CD spindle. I just won't cut out the entire base of the bowl. Just a hole large enough for the downspout. That will make the bowl stronger.

I made a quick test image of my nephew and there was a nice distribution of light around him and the general area. Since the studios at school are opening this week I will meet up with a friend to perfect its "look."

So, yeah, it looks ghetto but thats all good. I'm stoked. The next one will look much better.

Inauguartion Photos

2009-01-22T23:53:00.002-05:00

Here are my photos of the day. I will go through them again this weekend to add more.

Great camera but bad news

2009-01-19T15:48:00.007-05:00

This thing called me like a Siren. It was sitting in a local thrift store and I had to have it. I bought this little camera on a whim. I am a Luddite - a camera geek and professional photographer who insists on shooting film whenever the chances comes up. Tuesday will be such a day, only without this camera.

The camera is a Canon QL-17 rangefinder. Built in the 1970s it has a fast lens (f1.7) and leaf shutter (quiet).

I planned on using it Tuesday, putting roll after roll of Tri-X through its 40mm focal length lens. But since said day is a big one and I dont wanna risk using unknown gear I put a roll of c-41 film through it first as a test.

Here are three shots:

Over all they're not bad. The good news is the shutter speeds look about right and the focus is clean. The bad news is there's a fog or something in the third shot. It could be a number of things: the lens, a reflection from with in or with out the car, the cheapie freebie film or it could be the processing at my local CVS. Whatever it is I won't be using it.

Maybe next time.

Quote of the day

2009-01-15T15:32:00.001-05:00

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." -- James Madison in the Federalist Papers.

Understatment or the most obvious fact ever?

2009-01-10T02:12:00.004-05:00

I pulled this from a NYT article on a series of bomb attacks in Lahore, Pakistan, today.

"All the bombs appeared to be small explosives that could have done far greater damage had they been more powerful, according to accounts provided by authorities to the Pakistani news media."

Really? I couldn't have guessed.

NYT Magazine article: Pakistan Nightmare

2009-01-09T13:22:00.002-05:00

I ran across this article in the NYT.com about what many consider the ulitmate nightmare scenario: the growing Islamic insurgent movments in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Provinces toppling the government in Islamabad and gaining control of that country's nuclear arsenal.

Its a scary thought and this article delves into it.

Adobe Lightroom Tutorials

2009-01-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

I just installed Adobe Lightroom 2.2 on my new computers. I know I know its not a major new program for most. But I've been slogging my way through Nikon View and Nikon Capture so Lightroom 2.2 is a major revlation.

A photographer in Salt Lake City produced some cool tutorials and posted them to YouTube. These are the two I've watched today:

Part One

Part Two

Part 3

Nikon D90 video

2009-01-06T22:02:00.002-05:00

Now for the competition's take on hybrid dSLRs. Charlie just sent me this video shot on a Nikon D90.

Here's the link.

5dMkII video

2009-01-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

Charlie Shoemaker has a cool video shot on a Canon 5dMkII on his Vimeo page. Here it is:

Untitled from Charlie Shoemaker on Vimeo.

"One of Us" by Chris Usher

2009-01-05T16:40:00.005-05:00

David Holloway has a great video on his YouTube channel about Chris Usher's "One of Us" project.
Chris, a D.C.-based photog, just published a book about the people of affected by Hurricane Katrina. He went down to New Orleans for Time magazine originally to cover the storm. That assignment, as he talks about in the video, started as a three- or four-day trip, became a three-week journey and has now turned into a nearly four-year odyssey to document the people who lost virtually everything after that monster storm.

Here's the video or check David's YouTube:

Photos from video cameras

2009-01-04T19:20:00.009-05:00

I was talking with Chhayal Parikh about her new video camera, the Sony HDR-SR12. Clicking on the title will send you to a YouTube feature on it.

Chhayal is a videophotojournalist (or is it videojournalist or video-photojournalist?) at U.S. News & World Report. Last summer before she went to Senegal she asked me about video. She's been lugging around a 3-CCD camera and wanted something smaller and more discreet. At the time I was looking at the SR12. It's definitely small and discreet. It has a viewfinder which is something many consumer or prosumer cameras don't now. It even has a 1/8"-mic jack. You can even make 5.6MP stills while recording the video. Those stills through some algorythmic magic are turned into a 10.2MP still. More on that in a second. What I don't like about is the internal hard drive. Everything you record is on it. What if it breaks? Then you're down and out. No camera on assignment is bad.

So Chhayal, being the awesome journo she is, bought the SR12. She trooped off to Africa and came back with some cool footage. And some nice photos. Made while shooting HD video. Here's one example:

Village ladies of Marssassoum, Senegal. Shot during Women's Travels for Peace initiative.Photo copyrighted Chhayal Parikh

The original image was 51.11 inches by 28.75 inches @ 72dpi. I cropped the above image to 8 inches on the long at 300dpi. 1I did some corrections in CS3 and this is how it turned out. You've probably noticed the odd dimensions. It was shot in the 16:9 video format. With more and more video cameras providing the option to shoot stills simeltaneously, this look will become normal. Fine by me.

The image close up in CS3, at least on my monitor, looks a little fuzzy. I zoomed in to 200 percent and made a couple of crops to show that fuzzy. That might be because of that magic I mentioned above. On a monitor though, where a photo like this will probably end up, it probably doesn't matter. Here are the cropped pics:

Photos copyrighted Chhayal Parikh

That fuzziness isn't a deal breaker for me. I don't know how photo editors feel about it either. But its not bad.

Image wise, both video and stills, Chhayal is happy with it. The only downside she relayed to me was there are no audio bars so you can't tell if the audio is hot. She wears headphones so that's not a big deal.

Things really get interesting in the editing bay. She shot 10 hours in Senegal and after dumping its 1 Terrabyte of info. Yep, 1 TB. Be prepared to spend much cash on external hard drives for the footage. Dumping all of that took two-and-a-half hours. Not bad considering dumping from tape is real time and has its own set of problems.

I will post the video here when she sends it over.

Leica on an Panasonic Lumix G1

2009-01-03T21:00:00.008-05:00

I've been signing up for a few photo-related Web forums lately and came across a great little tid bit of info. Apparently you can buy adaptor mounts to put Leica (or whatever glass you like) on to a Panasonic G1 camera. The link I ran across is hyperlinked here and on the title.

The G1 is part of an interesting new format of digital cameras called Micro 4/3 and 4/3. I will admit being a little ignorant of the specifics but suffice to say the sensor on a M4/3 is small, very small. Check this video by the New York Times' tech correspondent David Pogue for a great explaniation on the G1. The biggest draw toward it? There's no mirror. And that means smaller cameras because mirrors are the biggest parts in SLRs and dSLRs.

After puruesing a forum on rangefinderforum.com I found another forum with example pictures here.

Here's why I mentioned the very small sensor. The lens is "cropped" or "magnified." In this case it's a 2x crop; this means an image made with a Leica 28mm lens will look like it was made with a 46mm lens. The crop doesnt surprise me or bother me. I currently shoot stills with a Nikon D200 (but will upgrade to a D700 this summer) and automatically factor the 1.5x crop when putting a lens on it; my 24mm becomes a 36mm etc. etc. On the G1 my Leica 50 f/2 would be a 100 f/2. Sounds pretty cool.

That aside, the technical steps of focusing and exposure setting are a little vague. Are those steps the same as shooting with my D200 or venerable F4 or little Leica M6? Here are some answers from another forum.

The adaptors should be avaliable now at cameraquest.com for US$175.

What I like about this idea is the ability to use my Leica and Voigtlander RF glass digitally. A few photographers I know would love to use their Leica glass that way. A couple of them bought the Leica M8 and, while it was met with praise, that praise quickly melted away to disappointment for a number of reasons. Bad high ISO noise, unreliable framelines and a wierd IR issues that turned black to purple. This camera and idea sort of fit into that M8 announcement. I like it and its interesting but am skeptical.

Best Job Title Ever

2008-12-30T23:14:00.001-05:00

"Domesticated quadroped wrangler"
Enough said.
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Bearish Sarah

2008-11-08T00:58:00.000-05:00

I made this photo Wednesday before going into work. Someone, a genius graphic artist, pasted it to a lightpole on the sidewalk in front of my car. Its probably the best political poster of the past election season.

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New computer

2008-10-24T09:37:00.003-04:00

I've been doing some research on new computers lately. My current one (and machine I'm currently tapping away on) has been a steadfast and burly member of my photo team for a long time. I bought it in 2005 just before going back to Iraq.
It lived through nine months of sand storms, was thrown around and slammed. Through all that it crashed on me just twice. Twice.
When I entered the realm of multi-media it chugged through it all. It took the sound I ingested and the large file photos and it helped me put together fairly decent products.

But... its time for a new piece of kit. Its time for the ole gal to go out to pasture.

This research is a sign of how my life is changing. I left Iraq in June 2006. I have flirted, at times, with the idea of going back. I've flirted and researched other overseas adventures. Something kept me from hitting the trail. Reasons for not going back to Iraq are numerous. When the thinking and research got down to brass tacks, I realized I was mentally exhausted by it and just couldn't fathom the idea of it again. I never say never but... the chances of me arriving at BIAP cameras in hand is pretty remote. Going other places, like Turkey, is an option. I have also looked into other ideas in other parts of the Middle East as well. The mind and heart are together but the wallet isn't.

Back in May I had lunch with a dear dear friend (habibi!) after I left NPR. My prospects, at the time, didn't look good. My friend asked me what I would do. We talked about it for a few minutes and he advised (as all good friends do) school.

A recession was coming and it might be a good time to head back to get the degree I need, he said.
After lunch I sat in the park across from the restuarant and thought about it. School did seem like a good idea. I had applied for other staff jobs and been turned down. All of the reasons were more or less the same: great portfolio, great resume but you're not expierenced. I understood what they were saying. My lack o' education was stopping me. I am now, five months later back, in school. Its not bad and the end doesn't seem that far away.

What does all this have to do with a new computer? When you face a major paradigm shift in your personal life, you are forced to reconsider everything. Travel. Work. School. All of it needs to be entered into a fairly complex but predictable formula.

I'm not travelling as much any more. Limited travel means no need for a laptop. I am also moving in to HD video. I have a video kit in mind and will probably get it after the holidays. Laptops, as awesome as they are, just can't handle serious video crunching. I will do some traveling but it will be local stuff, trips I can make over a weekend and be back in time for school on a Monday. The idea of being here in once place had me think aboutour collective situation.

America is facing a number of challenges. We know what they are -- two wars, a recession that is here in all but name, a major shift in government, mounting national debt, etc. I will be taking advantage of this recession to do my projects on the impact of these challenges.

This computer, when I buy it in two weeks, will represent a temporary shift in my work and lifestyle. It is a big deal, at least to me. Being overseas is romantic and awesome and I still want to do it. But I need to stay home for awhile. My awesome laptop will retire to a trunk in my closet.

Speaking of school... I need to get to class. Later.

Sunset from Union Station

2008-10-13T18:48:00.001-04:00

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Sunset from Union Station

2008-10-13T18:44:00.000-04:00

Love it.
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Sunset from Union Station

2008-10-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

Just look at the image...
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VID 00015a.3GP

2008-10-11T22:18:00.001-04:00

DC Wreck video

2008-10-11T21:37:00.000-04:00

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DC Wreck

2008-10-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

I took these with my mobile phone on the way to work. The DC Police weren't talking about what happened. So I talked to a local. He said the car hit the city garbage truck in the background. The car passengers were evacuated in two ambulances. I imagine the car door was ripped off with a jaws-of-life. No idea what their condition is right now. I also took some video and will pst that next.

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The Surge and Afghanistan

2008-10-07T22:20:00.001-04:00

Gen. McKiernan, the top commander over there, has said a surge into Afghanistan, like the one in to Iraq, wouldn't work. The principals of "flooding" Afganistan with troops might sound good. The Afghanis hate being occupied. The perception of occupation there, even if it isn't a true occupation, isn't any better.
So talking about the application of "surging" troops into an entirely differnt situation isn't good.
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The Admiral and The Surge

2008-10-07T22:12:00.001-04:00

Did Mullen want The Surge into Iraq? I don't think he did.
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WAG pinhole notes

2008-10-06T16:57:00.001-04:00

So I figured out the rough-WAG equivalent ISO for the paper I'll be using for large-format pinhole snapping. It is ISO 8. Yep, 8. That's super slow but should be cool to work with. A quick light meter reading at that ISO is roughly 30 seconds in bright sunlight.
I didn't have time to test it today but will definitely do it tomorrow. Here's a quick shoyt out to the peeps at pinholeresource.com for that info. Thanks, guys!
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Large-format pinhole

2008-10-05T21:40:00.001-04:00

So I'm in the shower tonight (nevermind the visuals, ok?) And come up with a cool idea: I'm going to start making pinhole photos with photo paper. It should rock.
I have both 8x10 film and 4x5 hlders. Unfortunately I only have one large holdern, but a few 4x5 holders. So I'll cut the paper in half and load up those holders.
Figuring out the paper's 'film speed' is the next step. People have told me various ISOs for the paper, everything from 3 (very slow) to 400 (pretty fast). The testing will be done at school. The beauty of doing it there is developing the paper in the darkroom.
Testing starts tomorrow. All of this should be great. I will scan the prints and post a couple here soon.
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Mass baptism snaps.

2008-08-26T13:35:00.003-04:00

I took these photos Sunday at a mass Baptism in The District. A friend of mine said this was going down and a group of us met up.

It was a good time. I got drenched. My cameras got drenched. I felt clean.

Connecticut

2008-08-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

Passws this sign a few miles back. Now I'm gassing up in Meriden, Conn.
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The Jersey Turnpike.

2008-08-02T15:39:00.000-04:00

I love trying new things. This new thing is mobile blogging from my roadtrip to Rockport, Maine.
These are pics made on The Turnpike somewhere in the middle of Jersey.
Its a boring stretch of road.
I'm stopped now at a very faceless rest stop. Its one of those joints with a gas station, a few fast-food dives and a store. People, familes with kids and old people, run and look for food and gas up then hop back on the boring road. I'm about to do the same.

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NBC news report

2008-07-28T12:31:00.001-04:00

I'm at home watching MSNBC and the just aire a two-way about a Qantas emergency landing in southern australia.
These reports always make me question news and make it clear, at least to me, why people gwnerally dislike the media - especially the mainstream media.
Nothing was said. Seriously. All that was so breathlessly reported was a Qantas jet made an emergency landing in AdeliadeN a small city on Australia's southern coast.
What irks me is the two-way guest location. He was in London, England. Yep, London.
What's the relevance of Australia to London? None.
Another little bit of info on MSNBC. The current anchor just falsely said Sen. Obama played basketball in Germany rather than visit wounded troops in Landstuhl, Germany (I won't go into whether or not he shoud or should not have visited those troops). Here's my rub: he didn't play hoops in Germany. He played in Kuwait! Where's the fact checking before going on air?
People are forgoing traditional media for a number of reasons. The biggest reason has to be people generally knowing when they're being talked down to or being intentionally misinformed. Saying with certainty Obama played hoops in the wrong location and time is stupid. I generally dislike watching network news now. I hate being talked down too. I like longer and in-depth interviews oe pieces; let me get my head around a topicn don't ask a few obvious and innane questions that are designed to provoke talking points.
My general belief about the MSM is they think we're stupid. Those two interviews go to proving that point.
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Dont try this at home...

2008-07-25T16:26:00.002-04:00

My weekly moment of inspiriation...

crackberry video

2008-07-25T13:25:00.002-04:00

I've found a way, for now, to post video to here. My cool girlfriend hooked it up. - tried to post via youtube anfpd Blogger. But the apparently don't like my Crackberry for uploading. Maybe they'll figure it out.

Video test, take 2

2008-07-24T21:11:00.005-04:00

I'm trying to upload video here shot by my crackberry. Hopefully this works out.