Sitting in a friends living room, it was fascinating to hear the writer talk about interviewing a Manson Family member in max security, in a morbid way.
Then she said the photographer she took with her, totally screwed the assignment.
One camera, dressed a bit off, and was scared witless. Missed most of the possible shots.
She needed to find another photographer.
My buddy suggested me.
After looking at some of my photos she agreed.
I asked her when we would be going, and she said it would just be me, as she had already wrote the interview.
I did as much background as I could, and got notes from the writer.
With an official letter from the publication, a plane ticket, and my camera bags filled with his favorite cigarettes, I took off.
Nothing like hearing the actual door of a prison close behind you to know the truth.
While walking the line, my accompanying guard told me how much he respected my work from Nam.
I had never been to Nam. I said thank you.
Meeting with BB, I started to lay out my gear. There were some other inmates in the room, and I asked them all what they were in for.
The last one said I didn’t want to know.
I agreed, and gave him a smoke.
The guy knew his poses and we started to shoot.

During the process I asked him for his side of the story.
His freedom had been challenged, so he had to kill.
My gear was a Nikon F3, FM, and Nikon F that I always carried. Fully manual, and as the expression goes, I could hammer nails with it all day, and it would still be in focus.
And both of the other cameras did go down.
The final set-ups were done with the F. Whew!
Yes, I had a speedlight, changing bag (used when the cameras went down) and tons of film, B&W, and ektachrome.
There was one shot that I wanted to do, and the guard was a bit concerned.
With the lights out, or very dim, I wanted to spray the scene with a fire extinguisher for atmosphere and hit the scene with a flash. Hell, he had an automatic weapon.
So, we did it.

Throughout the shoot we talked a lot.
“When did you get those tattoos?”” In here” “Really, how?” “Broken guitar string and ink from a pen” “damn, that had to hurt!” “You know how long I’ve been in here? THAT hurts”
As a self-taught musician, we discussed his music, styles, etc.
After the shoot. I met with his therapist who told me he was really a good guy.
I sent him contact sheets, and transparencies, as I had promised.
A short while later, I was at home, and I get a collect call from the prison.
He wanted to chat.

Loved the photos, but unfortunately couldn’t get the slides as they were in plastic mounts and could have been made into a weapon.
How did he get my phone number?
The writer said he really like meeting me, and wanted to let me know he liked the photos.
Yes, I did change my number.
This was perhaps the most exhilarating, single photo shoot I had done.
The magazine came out and it was great to see the full page spreads of the photos.

One of my favorite assignments was covering concerts at the Greek Theater in Berkeley.

Being a young, low on cash, photographer, Nikons NPS Service was always great about loaning me gear to supplement my owned kit.
The greats were there, and honestly, loved to photograph jazz musicians especially as they were the most chill.

I was hanging backstage, cameras slung on my body, with a bag loaded with extras.
Leaning against a wall, having a smoke, and one of the musicians came up to me.
“Say, are those Export A’s?” said Dizzy Gillespie.
“Yes they are” , I stammered back
“That’s my brand! Can I get one?” “Tell you what, if I can photograph you, I’ll give you a pack!”
He happily agreed, and we started to shoot!
Of course there was the classic puffed cheeks with the upward bell, which all went to just joshing around, playing congas and hanging out.
He ended up giving me a calendar from a Chicago jazz club, and some other things.
Most importantly, we had formed a photog subject bond, and through out the next three days, I was able to photograph him on stage, connect from the wings for more personal shots, And catch moments backstage with some of the other mega stars of the world of jazz.
Because I was hanging with Dizzy , it was assumed I was a “right “ guy, and the access was
invaluable getting moments with these other musicians.
Joni Mitchell was also on the bill, playing with Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Don Alias.
The list of talent was incredible, and the archives from that shoot are invaluable.

Remember when I told you that I was not a wealthy guy? Well, I was bulk loading film, and reusing film cassettes to save some dough. There was a roll that had unfortunate scratches, due to debris in the cassette, and through the years I have had those images worked on and ready for printing.
Just a cautionary tale.

I have been using Wacom tablets for many years, and the latest models are a great move forward.

Thinner, sleek design, lighter weight, better button design. Bluetooth has been available, just have to mention.

When you want to get more precise editing on your photographs, a mouse/track pad just won’t get you there.

OK, I know there are those that aren’t quite sure what the advantages are of a Wacom Tablet, or what the heck they even are.

Let’s get down to it before we get into some of the available options.

On a very basic level, a Wacom tablet is a separate work surface that connects via Bluetooth to your computer, and gives you an area to make precise corrections to an image. They come with a pen/stylus that lets you control things on your screen with a pen stroke, or push.
Primarily best in Photoshop, once you get familiar with the advantages, you will use it instead of a mouse/track pad, for pretty much every way you navigate on your computer. No matter what program you are using. This is also invaluable for illustrations. Drawing on a Wacom Tablet is the way to go!
The customizing of your available actions is all in your control.
I’ll get into some ways to customize in a sec.

When I tried to pass on one of my older Wacom Tablets to a fellow photographer, they had a visceral response, saying they were too hard, and complicated.

Doesn’t have to be!

Like all good tech, these have such a robust feature set, that you can set your levels of need, based on your skill level
Once you connect your Wacom tablet to your computer, you can go in and select from a menu of how you want to use it. Here you can see that it appears in your system preferences:

Personally, for the set-up, I keep it super simple:

Adjust the area on the tablet that is “active”: In other words, a 3in square can replicate the entire screen so you don’t need to drag your pen across the whole area. And if you use 2 monitors. you can select the area(s) that the tablet/pen is active.

Customize the buttons on the pen: Pressure is an easy select, and  Undo or Erase are the 2 most popular and used options, you can choose how they work

Set how the buttons on the tablet itself, will give you repeated actions that match your workflow.
Each button can also be selected to open a series of customized actions.

My advice is keep it simple, especially if you are new to this.
Now, some folks may say, ” I can just use my iPad ”
Want to know why that is not a great idea? The latency from the pen action to the tablet is so far superior on the Wacom, that it will cut down your possible frustration from things not happening in real time.

The Wacom stylus does not use a battery, so need to charge!
The Wacom tablet battery lasts for 15hrs so you will always be connected, unless you need those extra hours and can just plug in.

Yes, some of the current AI enabled masking options currently in Adobe software are great, no question, and you may think that these can help you retouch.                                    Sure thing, for global corrections, or major areas (Subject, Sky, Background)
But when you need to go in and really get specific on your post processing, you need the precision of the pen.
And if you are a portrait photographer, a delicate retouch on facial cleanup requires this set-up.
Try adjusting facial lines with a mouse.
Not happening.
What I use, is a simple, adjusted, smaller work area on the tablet (see above), zoom options, undo and erase, and various pressure sensitivities, left and right click, and double click.
On the Pro, where I prefer the medium size, you can add touch commands as well, so you can still get the track pad experience incorporated into your workflow. And more room on your desk!

The bluetooth gives you some freedom and no wires, although the pad is pretty close to my monitor mostly.
I haven’t gotten into the workflow of using your big screen for a couch centric work station.
Honestly, with a calibrated monitor, the Wacom, and a keyboard, my situation is pretty well set.

Now there are a few options to go with:

The Intuos Pro, Medium, my personal choice. This one sells for about $310. USD

It does come with a pen stand that also house a multitude of stylus tip styles for the heavy user.

Or, as a starter set-up, you’ll be happy with the  Intuos, Small, which is available with and without bluetooth. about a $20 USD difference.

Both come with training and software

So either $60 0r $80

Main differences are 4 customizable keys, not 8. The big deal for me was the touch pad. And the pen stand with extra stylus nibs is a great addition as well.

Whether you know the Wacom brand , or were wondering if you should jump in, now would be a good time!

There is one other part of the Wacom line that I love, but have yet to put in much time on.

It’s the Cintiq line, where you are actually working on a monitor as tablet so you can see all of your work right on the image as you are affecting it.

This one starts at about $650, which is waaaaay less than when I first started seeing these.

If you made it this far, I’ll bet you want more info.

 This video, from BH, gives a good overview

This can be a time saver and a new workflow for you, and once you have set it up, you will be sailing!

I work in ad agencies, and every art director I know, uses, loves, and couldn’t live without their Wacom.

Just saying.

If you are a content creator, you know the gear you should have.
Or do you?
As most of the content on TikTok has, primarily, a static camera, and maybe a ringlight, hopefully some audio that is more than a headset mic, you may want to stand out a little bit more.
When I shoot an interview, for instance, I will use a 2-3 camera set-up, with one of the cams, on a slider.
What that does is add a bit of motion, even slightly, that gives you something to cut to or from, that adds visual interest to your production. In those instances I use the Edelkrone system on large tripods for stability, within the movement, and for the weight of the cameras.
If you are doing a smartphone bit of content, you kit is way smaller, and you may still want the extra visual boost of a moving camera. Chances are you will only use it as a “B” roll, or product insert shot.
Enter the Joby Swing Slider!
I’ve had a chance to work with this a bit and wanted to share a way I use it, although a bit different than the usual side to side.
How about in and out?

Now the goal is to have some elements for the camera to go past in this usage, so you have a true sense of depth. I had a camera, a Rubiks cube as you can see, with a Joby tripod supporting a business card, and added a puzzle ball behind, to complete the depth.

You can do the horizontal slider action, as well, but I wanted to show you another way to do it.

In addition, the slider connects to an app, and the connection is very fast.
You get to choose speed of the move and use the touch screen on the smart phone to set your start and stop points.

Plus you can do time lapses with the app!
I do love a good time lapse, and as I usually connect a camera to a power source, so as not to lose the shot, I have not yet tested this for long time lapses, and have just used the battery life on the unit. Since you don’t use those shots a ton, it ain’t Koyaanisqatsi,

And unless you are doing a ton of shots with the slider, the built in battery works just fine!

The unit also has a level so you can be sure to get your horizon line as you like them.

Have a look at this instructional video, so you can get an idea of its set-up:

Overall, I really like this unit. Also, feel that a heavier base camera stand may yield better results.
As you can guess, I only had the slider, and used other bits to put together the sample. I did use a heavier base camera stand for the video, by Edelkrone.

Yes, easy to do your vertical content, so no worries there!
One other thing to note is that the buttons on the iPhone may get pressed by you phone holder, but I’m sure you have experienced that before.
I mention it because the balance may be affected by how the phone is mounted, primarily in the horizontal format, depending how long you are having the slider travel.

So there you have it! About $140, for the whole kit.

Big day of news over at Fuji, and we’re here for it!

Let’s start with the latest camera.

Now that everyone is vlogging (aren’t you?) the industry has come to answer your need!

The new Fuji X-S20, added in addition to the X-S10 has arrived with a ton of new features to make your vlogging heart skip a beat!

Thought I was over promising?
How about a Vlogging function on the PSAM dial!

One thing that influencers have always complained about is when they are talking about a product, and then hold it to camera, the time lag to refocus has been an issue.
This new camera is supposed to solve that lag issue.

From a larger battery for longer shooting time ( same as X-T4, X-T5 and H2, H2s),

to improved AF subject detect,

you may want to consider this as a dedicated influencer camera.

The 3.5mm mic and headphone jacks are on opposite sides of the camera, so may make your cable management easier.

the HDMI is the mini version.

the S10 is still in the line-up and at about $300 less, it may still serve your needs. But…..Get future proofed!

My only complaint is the single media card slot. But you can’t get everything!

That wasn’t all that was announced.

How about an improved Fuji app?

What’s that you say? About time? Yep, we agree, although I’m a big fan of the wireless firmware updates currently available.

They have added a history function so you can see just what you uploaded, film simulation. etc.

You still can’t upload a RAW or RAF file so be committed to your jpegs.

One of my main uses is when I do a pixel shift image, or remote control of the camera, and should be as good, or improved

And you did see the new wide angle 8mm lens on the S20 above.

The samples sent looked like there were no distortion issues, although I haven’t had a chance to shoot with it.

And for those of you out there with an X-H2, H2s, or X-T5, you get some updates as well:

Whew!

OK, there you have it!

Lots to go over.

Is this the camera for you?

I would say, as mentioned, that this could be a dedicated influencer/livestream/creator camera, with a ton of dedicated features for those operations.