So, when I was at the Denver Chalk Art Festival last month I was walking around with my Mamiya 645. It's a manual camera that is pretty big. Anyway, I was snapping away... well "thwaking" away really. This thing has the loudest mirror slap, it's music to my ears. I was shooting the artists and all around me were hundreds, it seemed, of folks with DSLRs. But it seemed that every time I pressed the shutter release, every bodies head turned to see what in the world kind of camera I was shooting. One guy even walked up to me and just stared at the camera in my hand. Funny.

Mamiya 645 S1000, 80mm F2.8 @ 1/1000 Fuji 160C

The thing that I kept seeing at the festival, was folks walking around the crowd with their nose in the screen on the back of their camera. I had a blast. I got to talk to the artists, hang out with my wife, AND take some nice photos. But my nose wasn't in the back of the camera. My wife appreciates that. I guess that's what I am trying to say, is that when you shoot, you should keep an awareness of the things around you. It makes the people your with much happier and you won't miss the next shot because you nose is in the back of your camera.

I took some time off last week and headed up to the Sundance Resort just outside of Park City, Utah. What an amazingly quiet and restfull place that is. Getting away and unplugging probably was one of the best things I could have done for my creative mojo. Removing all distractions and focusing on what really is important just for a few days was so refreshing that it allowed my creative mind to flow back into my day to day.

Mamiya 645, 80mm 1/60th @ F2.8, Kodak Portra 160NC

I was getting ready for a hike and had my photo back pack open to pull out my Mamiya 645 to carry around first. I closed up the bag (I thought) and flung it on my back. That's when I heard it... CHUNK! That's right, I clipped the bag shut but didn't zip in shut too. Well, when I flung the pack on my back my Nikon F4 was thrown out of the pack. It landed right on the black top path I was standing on, crushing the prism/viewfinder. Ugh. I thought to myself "Great, I have all my lenses for this camera and now I can't use it". Plan B.

All I had left to shoot with was the Mamiya still in my hand, and the lens it had on it, 80mm. That was it. Not that it's a bad camera at all, but I just didn't know it that well and I didn't have a wide angle for it. Just the standard 80MM f2.8 lens. After I got over the disappointment of crushing my viewfinder and prism I was thrilled with the challenge of shooting with the Mamiya. What a blast. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. the challenge of trying to capture the image I wanted with one lens was so good for me. It changed the way I thought about the image and what was acceptable to me. I started to get better images than what I actually thought I wanted in the first place. That was really fun. If you want to stretch your creativity put one lens on your camera for a roll (because you shoot film, right) and see what you come up with. Be prepared to be set free, its fun.

The viewfinder is due to be fixed by next week...

I was thinking about how the digital revolution in photography has impacted our world on a sustainable point of view. There are two things in particular that I have thought about. The first is, a sustainable business in photography today. With cameras that come out every 6 months that level the field "technically". Less and less technical skill is needed to achieve a decent level of photography resulting in a flood of mediocre photographic images. ""Good enough" has become the standard. Ironically, I think that is the key to standing out today. It is easier to stand out among the flood today, than say 10 years ago when you had to be a fantastic photographer to stand out. If you can bring a higher level of vision and creativity to your photographs today then your work will be a stark contrast to the ordinary stuff out there.

Patio Fireplace at the Renaissance Orlando at SearWorld Nikon F4, Tokina 24-70, Kodak E200

The other part of the sustainability thing is what happens to all the gear every time you have to upgrade to the next best camera? Where do all the raw materials come from when new gear is made at such a rapid pace? And how much money really needs to be spent on upgrading a camera that could have otherwise been put to a better use like feeding or clothing someone? I mean $4,000 - $8,000 or more every year or two on camera bodies? Wow, that's a lot. Remember about the standing out above the sea of ordinary photographs? The camera won't make you stand out, it's your vision and creativity, not the camera. Don't fall into the upgrade trap if you can avoid it. Rent gear if you must, but you don't always have to buy that gear because you think it will give you the edge. Your creativity will give you the edge. Shoot with a Holga, if it fits your creativity, and you get the upgrade with what you put in the camera... the film. Film technology is fantastic and is an affordable upgrade, environmentally, and economically. Some would say that film is not a green tech, but I beg to differ. It has been around for over a 100 years and we are doing just fine with it. I mean, the plastic is what we want to keep right? And it doesn’t take a battery to keep the image on some device once it’s taken, it’s just there..

Think about this. A Hasselblad H3 or H4 system costs up to $30,000 or an H1 system for $1,200 (that stays out of a land fill and not producing a new H3/4). That leaves enough money left over to buy 8,500+ rolls of the latest greatest, highest tech film around. That's a heck of a lot of film, and the greatest thing is, you only pay for the film when you use it. Not in one big chunk. Creative imagery + using film = sustainable photography.

If you’re like me you are always carrying a camera around with you so when you see a photo you can take a quick capture and move on with whatever you were doing. Sometimes there are things I pass buy everyday and think "I need to take a shot of that", but at the same time you think "I will get it next time I come by". Well guess what, things change. I have learned that a photograph is only there for an instant, even if you think you see it over and over. The light will never be exactly the same again or the colors may not be as intense the next time you get around to taking that photo.

The image above was something I used to see every day. I would walk past this spot outside of an office building as I was going in all the time. One day a few weeks back I took advantage of some snow falling and went back to shoot this shot that I had in my mind for a while. Good thing I did! As of today it is gone. The tree and junipers have been removed for some updated landscaping. If I had waited much longer to shoot this one I wouldn't have it to add to my black and white images. So I learned a lesson, again, that you should always shoot it when you see it because it may never be there again.