FunctionallyUnfunctional

In the photographic community few products seem to elicit a more negative response than when the words "kit lens" are spoken.  What exactly is a kit lens? Well, simply put, its the lens that is commonly bundled with a camera body. If you purchase a pro-level camera body that is bundled with a lens, that lens is generally a pro-level lens. While those are technically kit lenses as they're sold with a body as a kit, they aren't the lenses that people generally refer to as "kit lenses." Kit lens normally is used to describe the inexpensive general purpose lenses - usually 18-55mm - bundled with consumer grade, entry level cameras. And oh boy do those lenses get a bad rap! Seriously, many in the photographic community have a hatred of these lenses that exceeds Donald Trump's loathing of the media. And the Donald truly detests the media for anyone that hasn't noticed. I'll leave the rest of that discussion for someone else's blog. A few...

One of my projects during the pandemic has been getting my both my studio and my workshop in order. We heat our home with wood and over the winter I needed to sharpen an ax. I realized my file collection was woeful limited and made it a point to pick up new files now and then. When I purchase tools that I'm not going to use immediately I usually leave them in the original packaging until I actually need them. Its just a quirk. Well, I needed a file and while opening the package decided I needed a file photograph in my product portfolio. I learned a couple important lessons while creating this image, which of course, is part of this project because I used mostly old, broke down gear to create it. The first lesson? When using old-school power pack style lighting equipment, make sure you have things plugged in and powered correctly. You see, the lighting equipment used today is fairly straightforward. When you want more or less power you simply turn the light up or down to cont...

Creating the headphone images for my last post has inspired me to spend a little bit more time in my studio. I'm enjoying the Jazz Fest tribute on WWOZ on those headphones as I write by the way. They sound as good as they look. Having a kid (hopefully) going to camp in a couple months, we purchased a really cool titanium camp spoon/fork combination. Before packing it for camp I thought it would make a good photograph. As I started setting the studio up, I realized that almost everything I was utilizing was either rescued or, minimally, gifted at some point. And, of course, that means it qualifies for this little blog I created. The spoon/fork combo is obviously new. The head of the tripod the camera is sitting upon is new but the tripod is certainly not. It, along with many of the light stands in my studio were rescued from the basement of a retired, and now deceased, photographer. From the camera, lenses and lights down to the work table and even props, virtually everythin...