JEFF SINGER BLOG - SAN FRANCISCO EDITORIAL & COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER » photography

Mamiya 7II

Jeff Singer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:42:25 +0000

Last summer I bought the much hyped and hard to get Fuji X100 camera as a little carry around camera. After using it I instantly determined that, while the files it produces are very nice, the camera itself is infuriating to use. As I noted on my trip to New York City, even though the X100 was with me everywhere I went, I used my iPhone instead.

Then recently Fuji announced their latest camera, the X-Pro1. It looks like a pretty nice upgrade. This camera will have changeable lenses and better manual focusing. So I thought, “hmm, maybe that would be a good little camera to get.” The only thing I’m not thrilled about is the smaller-than-35mm APS-C sensor. But Fuji is doing something with this sensor that other manufacturers haven’t… they’re making the pixel patterns random to give it more film like look. Film like… sounds good to me.

But then I thought… What are they going to come out with next? What am I going to want NEXT year?!?! So I decided to buy different camera all together. It comes with a full frame 6×7 sensor with an ACTUAL film look and hasn’t changed much since it was first introduced in 1990′s: The Mamiya 7II. Ok, it’s far from what you would call a “little” camera… but I know I like this one thanks to Fabien Penso who let me come by and try his out last summer at his office (which has quite the view as you can see above).

I found a really good deal for a used 7II on ebay and it should be here tomorrow. I have some editorial shoots next week where I’ll put it to use now that I’m shooting film on editorial assignments.

Here’s some unsharpened detail from an Imacon scan:

Shoot Film

Jeff Singer — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:07:20 +0000

I’ve been shooting film on all my editorial shoots so far in 2012 and I plan to continue (unless things like deadlines call for digital). Whenever I mention that I’m shooting film to the Photo Editor or Art Director, they pretty much say the same thing; “Film? Cool! I love film!” A Photo Editor just the other day said to me: “Oh, you shoot film? No wonder I love your work!”

Then, when I get to the shoot and pull out something like my Mamiya RZ67, every subject has said just about the same thing; “Whoa, what kind of camera is that? You’re shooting film? Wow!” You know what I hear a lot when I pull out a Canon digital?

“Oh, I have one of those.”

Update:
Of course, the day after I post this, Kodak files for bankruptcy. Time to stock up?

Christopher Hitchens RIP

Jeff Singer — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:04:11 +0000

Christopher Hitchens died today. As I wrote here before, Hitchens has been one of my most interesting subjects to date. He was actually one of the very first assignments I received after becoming a photographer… my second editorial assignment to be exact. It’s intimidating enough to be a new photographer and working on only your second editorial shoot let alone having it be Christopher Hitchens (it didn’t help when his wife told me, during the shoot, how Annie Leibovitz photographed their wedding with a Holga).

I was familiar with Hitchens through appearances on shows like The Daily Show and Bill Maher and some of his writing for Vanity Fair. I knew going in I didn’t want to discuss politics with him since I would be far outclassed but given that there was an election coming up, it was inevitable. It was interesting to hear the perspective on the candidates (and their wives) from someone who actually knew them personally. When most people give their opinions on a candidate it’s based on what they see or read in the news, but when you’re with someone telling you about having dinner “at The Kerry’s”, it gives a different level of credibility to what they’re telling you.

The shoot probably went on longer than he anticipated but he was incredibly patient with me and made the shoot enjoyable. It was an honor to get to meet him.

RIP Mr. Hitchens.

Is Tumblr Killing Photo Blogs?

Jeff Singer — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:05:36 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but I never got around to it. Then last night fellow Bay Area photog Timothy Archibald announced that he’s planning on dumping blogger and moving to Tumblr.

It’s my personal opinion that Tumbr is ruining the photographer blog. More and more a lot of the photographers who’s blogs I follow have been moving to Tumblr. And pretty much across the board they went from an interesting informative blog to nothing more than a stream of photos. Worse than that, a stream of Instagram photos of nothing in particular. I love a good Instagram BTS shot as much as the next guy and I think it’s great to show outtakes and other work that doesn’t make the “main” website, but I don’t really need to see the view from your airplane seat on your way to a shoot (that seams to be a favorite on Tumblr).

Of course, it’s not Tumblr itself that is causing this… Tumblr is just a platform and you can do with it what you want. Unfortunately it just seems that photographers are using it in this way. My guess is it’s because Tumblr makes is so damn easy to post a photo with no commentary and move on. But at that point, Tumblr basically a Flickr substitute… and not even a really good one.

Do you like a bit of discourse with your blog? Well, unless the Tumblr blogger does some customization to their theme with something like Disqus (which most don’t seem to do) forget about an interesting comments section. What you get instead is a list of “hearts” and “reblogs”. I couldn’t imagine a site like A Photo Editor on Tumblr without a comment section, where a lot of the interesting content lies.

I of course am no better than any other photographer with a Tumblr blog. I do the very same thing with my Tumblr; replete with Instagram photos that I’m sure nobody cares about. But I’ve always considered my Tumblr blog to be a companion to this blog, not a replacement.*

So go ahead photogs, start your Tumblr blog. But don’t give up on real blogging. Either keep your real blog or use Tumblr the same way you used your original blog. Don’t just post snapshots of your day or outtakes that weren’t chosen for a reason.

*This is in no way implying anything interesting can be found on this blog.

Smile

Jeff Singer — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:01:28 +0000

Today over on A Photo Editor there’s a link to a Rodney Smith blog post about smiling in photos. Rodney doesn’t think smiling photos have substance. I don’t know that I agree with that, but I know I tend to like non-smiling photos. I have a total of seven on my entire website and only one in my portfolio (although it depends on what qualifies as a smile… there are some very slight smiles that I didn’t count). I tend to take things a bit further though… It seems I don’t even like people looking at the camera.

I posted about this a year ago, but looking over recent shoots I think I’m getting worse. I routinely choose the photos where the subject isn’t looking at the camera (I will say, the client rarely chooses those). I keep wondering what this says about myself.

Chloë

Jeff Singer — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:57:41 +0000

So this is what I’ve been working on the last nine months and I’m glad she’s finally here.

I’ll do my best not to make all my posts about Chloë… even though she is pretty damn cute.

Now, I need to go get some sleep. Ok, here are a couple more:

Thanks Steve

Jeff Singer — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:17:38 +0000

I wouldn’t be the nerd I am today if it weren’t for Steve Jobs. My first computer was an Apple IIe back in 1983 (and of course, thanks to my mom for buying it).

80′s awesomeness in this photo:

- Madonna picture on wall.

- Frankie Goes To Hollywood picture on wall.

- Band Aid picture on the wall.

- Playing Spyhunter.

- Rolled up breakdancing linoleum in the corner (yes, I had a linoleum for breakdancing… faster spins!).

- Casio digital watch

- I can guarantee the shirt I’m wearing is a “Frankie Say: Relax” shirt.

New Website

Jeff Singer — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:34:28 +0000

Today I was supposed to be telling you all about my new identity. No, I’m not going into Wit-Sec. I just had my branding redone. But today’s post won’t be about my new identity. Last week when my job was scheduled to be printed, the etching machine that does the engraving process being used on my new print pieces broke down (as old-school mechanical things do at times). So today I’m here to tell you about my new website which incorporates the new identity into it. I’ll have more on the new identity and the process when the printed pieces are finished.

I actually did the website design and coding myself using Indexhibit. That means for the better part of the last week I’ve been spending hours and hours learning the in’s and out’s of HTML and CSS (just how I always wanted to spend my time). I’m pretty happy with what I came up with. But frankly this was supposed to be a temporary solution until I had my designer design a site and have a proper developer code it. It’s a little out of my budget at the moment so I thought getting the main logo and print design work done first and using a template site would be a good interim fix (I was going to use Virb, which I’d been using for iPad visitors to my Flash site). But like I said, I actually like the site so I think it may stick around longer than anticipated.

Let me just say I’m not fan of Flash. So I’m very happy to say that my site is now 100% Flash free. I’ve been with Livebooks for quite a few years and have always been happy with their service. But, they’re pretty entrenched in Flash and while I kept hoping they would move away from it, it’s apparent that it’s not happening any time soon. In fact, they seem to have hunkered down in the Flash camp and just launched their newest service based on Flash. But, if you don’t mind a flash site you should check out the new Livebooks Scaler service.

I really wanted a cleaner simple design without all the flash (literally and figuratively). I noticed more and more, the sites I like the most were quick and easy to load without any navigational bells and whistles. Of course, most of my web browsing is done on an iPad these days, so if a site had Flash I would usually just move on unless I was compelled enough to bring it up on a computer . Thinking that more and more people are going to be using iPads (29 million out there to date) I definitely didn’t want people to get to my website and move on… or see an inferior mobile version of the site. As it is my new site works great with the iPad and any tablet.

I also updated my blog to match the new identity and website… but you knew that already since you’re here.

So here it is, my new site:
http://jeffsingerphotography.com

If you see any issues with the site I’d love to hear about it. I’ve really only tested it on a Mac and iPad/iPhone. I brought it up in Windows XP running in Parallels and some of the fonts rendered somewhat poorly so I’m not sure if that’s just a Parallels/Windows issue or if Windows just renders these fonts uglier in general.

I also created a new Tumblr site as well if you want to check that out.

Tumblr

Jeff Singer — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:18:50 +0000

Things are going to be looking a bit different around here pretty soon with an identity redesign. For now you can head over to my new Tumblr page to see a little of what’s coming. I’m going to start using the Tumblr page to post images and outtakes along with a little bit other stuff mixed in. The blog isn’t going anywhere but will be used when I have a little more to write.

Check out the Tumblr page here:
http://jeffsinger.tumblr.com

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

New York City

Jeff Singer — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:50:46 +0000

I got back Saturday night from my trip to New York. It was a great trip with a total of 24 meetings showing my new and updated portfolio. Jam packed to say the least. I’m very happy with the response I received to my new portfolio. Now, let’s hope the work pays off and leads to new jobs and new clients.

One of my rationalizations for buying the recently released and overly hyped Fuji x100 was that it would be a great camera to carry around New York. However, even though I did have it with me, it was just too damn convenient and quick to pull out my iPhone and snap some Instagram shots (speed is key when your girlfriend is trying to be patient as you stop to take pictures every few blocks).

Here’s a chronological view of my trip:

Welcom To New York, Exiting Penn Station

Cloudy New York Day

New York Port Authority

Wandering Around Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen Building

Making My Pizza @ Capizzi

Cheap Pizza

Doing My Best Not To Buy Anything

Making My Pizza @ Joe's Pizza Greenwich Village

Only Vinyl @ House Of Oldies Greenwich Village

7 World Trade Center

Ground Zero

View From Impossible Project

Waiting Patiently While I Shop @ Impossible Project

Cab On Broadway

Great Burger & Interesting Decor @ The Trailer Park Lounge

The High Line

View Of The Hudson

Sunset Over The Hudson

Creepy Playground Near The High Line

New Yorker

Cloud Over Hell's Kitchen

The Guggenheim

Caught In A Flash Rain Storm With No Umbrella

Brooklyn Bound

Waiting For Train To Brooklyn

Empty Brooklyn Subway Station

Brooklyn

Brooklyn Playground

Great Italian Restaurant In Brooklyn

Photo Shoot In New York

Waiting At The Gate To Get Home

Waiting On The Plane To Get Home

On The Plane Home

Happy To Be Home