The Online Photographer

Black-and-White Update

Submissions for the "Baker's Dozen Black-and-White" are now closed, as of last night at midnight. Counting them was not a trivial task, but I believe I got 223 submissions and well over 350 individual photographs—let's call it "between 350 and 400" and that will probably be correct, although it's possible that if I actually counted the individual photographs the total might be more than 400 or even more than 450. Most people sent three.

From which I now need to select 13.

And virtually none of the 350–400 are incompetent. A few might be somewhat nondescript, but that's the worst I can say. (And even some of those might come alive in context.)

Plus, many people sent along nice letters to me or long explanations of the circumstances of their shot (like Richard Kelley's that I published on Wednesday). I've read all of those, and I beg your forgiveness for not replying to everyone. It would be a week's work or so to write individual replies.

I've completed the first two rounds of editing, and have flagged the entries that I feel merit further evaluation. There are maybe 50 of those. The next step will be to go through all of those again, spend more time with each of them this time, and select the "shoo-ins" you might say—the ones I wouldn't want the feature to be without. That might do it right there, I don't know; we'll see.

With so many to choose from, I'm just going to pick pictures I myself like looking at. I don't know what else to do—the idea that the ones I pick might be "better" and the ones I don't "worse" is silly. We all have our own taste, and I'm sure if any of my friends were doing the editing here we'd all come up with different groups of 13. (Thirteen is a baker's dozen, as you probably know by now.)

And before you suggest it, no, it would be way too much administrative work to actually send everything to someone else and let them edit their own groupings. There's nothing at stake here; no prizes for you, no income for me. We're just having fun.

Mild critiques
Before I get back to work on this (I don't know when I'll finish; sometime between later today and Monday, I imagine), a few observations. First, please allow me to gently suggest that heightening the contrast and "clarity" (it's called "Structure" in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2) in a cloudy sky doth not by itself a B&W photograph make. Second, the same is true for a picture containing areas of white set off from areas of black or areas of black set off by areas of white—the picture still has to work on the level of content—emotion, meaning, connotation, information, feeling-tone—just like any other photograph.

In making "criticisms" I usually like to illustrate what I'm talking about using positive counterexamples, because it's never nice to hold anyone's specific work up as an example of what not to do (what did they do to deserve that?), and there are always exceptions to every rule. So here's a "black on white" photo that I think works very nicely:

Photo by Chris Fuller

It's called "Mueseo Soumaya (Mexico City)" and it was sent in by Chris Fuller of Helena, Montana. "Museo Soumaya was built by Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, in honor of his wife. It contains the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of Paris, including the very famous one in this picture. I liked how the pensive posture of the security guard balanced the statue." Me, too. Taken with a Fuji X100.

I'd also like to introduce the notion that submitting three photographs to a "contest" is a bit of a trap. (Not one I set intentionally, I assure you.) It probably felt to people like they would increase their chances if they included three, but actually I think the opposite is the case. Three pictures in a submission is almost like a mini-portfolio; one strong picture is weakened by being in the company of two weak ones, and three pictures that have nothing in common with each other suggest that the photographer has no coherent vision or style, no concerns that distinguish him or her from the crowd. Even if that isn't really the case.

I'd like to show you two examples of the opposite—sets of three in which each picture makes the others stronger.

The first set is by Dan Rubin of New York City, who uses a Canon S95 point-and-shoot and describes himself as "non-professional":

Photographs by Dan Rubin

It goes without saying that you can't represent your range as a photographer and the range of your accomplishments in three pictures. Many photographers can't do that even in a single book, even with forty to sixty pictures or more. But I think by confining himself to a coherent theme, Dan makes a better case for each picture; each picture reinforces the others and each makes the other two stronger.

Another positive example:

Photographs by David Adam Edelstein

Here, in another effective set, David Adam Edelstein of Seattle, Washington, doesn't make use of a common theme, but rather a common aesthetic approach or "mood" you might call it. (Although all three have in common that they were shot with his Leica M Monochrom in Florence, Italy.) All three are dark, enigmatic, and work through a sense of mystery and indirection—in different ways, but together they speak of an underlying visual intelligence in common.

(David did say of the middle picture, "No, I can't explain the panda," which made us both smile.)

In general, though, I was surprised by how many submissions of three seemed diluted...the strongest picture undermined by the other two, or the effect and impression of the mini-grouping weakened by a lack of coherence between the three.

Another type of exception to that might be this pairing of a high-key shot and a low-key shot together, sent in by Peter Dewar, a retiree who lives near Cape Town, South Africa, and photographs for his local camera club:

Photographs by Peter Dewar

These two photographs (extensively manipulated, as he explains!) work nicely together by means of contrasts...they're opposites, in several ways. I suppose it was just accidental that they appear together in this order in his email, but I liked looking at them together, going back and forth.

One and done
Finally, although chosen by a minority of senders, the best approach when you're allowed to send three photos might be just to make a stand: one and done. Pick a strong picture and live or die by it. It's the no-nonsense approach, the don't-hedge-your-bets, take-it-or-leave-it approach. 

Photo by Michael Knowles

This submission by Mike Knowles of Edinburgh, Scotland, taken with an Olympus E-520 and 11–22mm lens at the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, is a good example of that. It's the only picture Mike sent.

...Although, as we'll see in the final portfolio in the case of readers Lois Elling and Hans Muus, sending more than one picture sometimes does pay off!

A big thanks to everyone who participated. I can't show everyone's photographs because 400 doesn't fit into 13, but I enjoyed seeing everyone's pictures, and I read everyone's comments.

More anon. In the meantime, hope you have a very nice weekend! As for me, I'll be working.  :-)

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

Oskar Ojala: "I enjoy these posts since the topic brings out interesting stories like the one that was featured a few days ago to thoughts and discussion around photography. B&W is particularly interesting since it's your preferred medium and I anticipated the readership of this blog would be quite comfortable with it (me I mostly do B&W for portraits).

"It's interesting to note what the trend is with contrast and clarity (boosting the local contrast). My advice is to look at photographs from various photographers taken at various times and see what makes then work; a lot of classic BW is not all that high in contrast; looking at such images helps to reset my compass after too much time on the Internet."

Tippler: "Can we do a selection of another baker’s dozen, only this time the selection made on the basis of voting by all TOP subscribers. This would yield a selection based on the group perspective and would be interesting to compare to your selection. Setting up automated voting might prove to be too cumbersome an exercise, though. Happy new year to all you snowbound upstaters. We are merely freezing in NYC."

Mike replies: Actually, crowd-sourcing is not the best method of editing. The reason is that editing is in part a creative process; for example, I pay a lot of attention to the mix of work and to the pacing of a group of photos when I edit a set. As a hypothetical example, let's say that the crowd likes landscapes better than street shots, and, for that reason, four very similar landscape photos all score higher in the voting than the best of the street shots, leaving no room for any street shots at all. That would be a worse set of pictures than one which chose the best landscape but also included a street shot, for those who like that genre. Do you see what I mean?

For example, I'm having to choose right now between two flower closeups. I don't think there's enough room in a set of thirteen pictures for two flower closeups; so I really have to choose one or the other. They're both excellent. Which one I choose will not have to do with which one I merely like the best. It will have more to do with the one that suits the overall mix better and provides the right degree of dissonance or distinction with the picture placed before it and the picture placed after it.

Last Hours of the Big Sale

B&H's "Mega Deal Zone" of rebates and promotions ends at midnight tonight. There are hundreds of items discounted, only a few of which I can personally recommend. Most notably, the Silver Graphite Fuji X-T1 is back down to $599 again. Note that in my experience the Fuji X-Trans files convert particularly well to B&W, and I find 16 MP to be fine for B&W. The still-excellent X-T1 might be a great camera for you for B&W shooting. Next, if you've wanted a Panasonic GX8, you can get one for only $748 if you can accept the silver version, which apparently is selling slowly. The black version is still $1,197.99.

A few more items I can recommend—if you trim prints or cut down larger sizes of paper or film into smaller ones, you will find a rotary trimmer invaluable, and $89.95 for an 18" model is a great price.

There's a Manfrotto 190Go! compact carbon fiber travel tripod with head for $289.95. I like the leg locks on the Manfrottos, they're easy to use.

The Tokina AT-X 24–70mm ƒ/2.8 PRO FX zoom is on sale for $619, but only for Canon. The one in Nikon mount is still $949. Compare to the Canon 24–70mm ƒ/2.8L II at $1,699. Tokina was originally founded by former Nikon lens designers who wanted to be a little more adventuresome and were frustrated with Nikon's inherent corporate conservatism.

Freehands fleece shooting gloves are only $14.95 in Men's small, medium, and large, and only $4 more for extra large. Women's sizes too.

Calibrate your screen with the Datacolor Spyder5 PRO. $60 off.

There's also a Canon kit, a Sony kit, and a Panasonic kit that are extremely keenly priced.

Go nuts!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Dave Karp: "You are 100% right on with your paper cutter recommendation. Years ago, I agonized whether or not to buy an older version of the Rototrim cutter. It was available for a great price at a Freestyle Photo sidewalk sale. I bit the bullet and bought it. Cameras, lenses, and other equipment have come and gone, but that trusty cutter has been invaluable. I never regretted spending the money for a moment once I started using it."

Mike replies: My trusty Rotatrim 36" has been serving me well for so long that the clear plastic piece has yellowed. Still razor-sharp, though.

BotY Update

Stuart Hata of the de Young Museum store writes to tell us that Judy Dater has just signed 186 more copies of Only Human, TOP's 2017 Book of the Year, for the Museum. "All proceeds from museum store purchases directly support the Museum and help fund programs such as Judy's upcoming exhibition at the de Young opening on April 7 through September 16, 2018. Thank you all for your support." (Purchases of this book don't help TOP at all—just trying to help put it in peoples' hands.)

"All proceeds from museum store purchases directly support the Museum and help fund programs such as Judy's upcoming exhibition at the de Young opening on April 7 through September 16, 2017. Thank you all for your support."

Here's the link!

Mike

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Ken Tanaka: "I'd like to add that if you have never visited San Francisco's de Young Museum you're missing a treat. I made my first visit to it this past June. It's a lovely, mid-size museum with quite an eclectic collection. The building itself is remarkable, sitting in the middle of Golden Gate Park, not far from the Haight-Ashbury area, ground-zero mecca for the '70s hippie world. (During my visit the museum had an exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 'Summer of Love.' Let's just say it was a 'trip.') So...'If you're goin' to San Francisco, just pick-up Judy's book while you're there?' (Apologies to Scott McKenzie.)"

Ray Hunter: "Of the many benefits of contributing to, and reading, TOP, nothing exceeds the superior book recommendations Mike offers. As a long-time photobook addict, I am trying to slow the number of purchases. But, if Mr. Johnson gives the 'thumbs up,' I listen. Thanks for that, Mike. Never have I been disappointed."

Mike replies: Thanks Ray!

QT Luong: "Shipping from the museum store was fast and professional with several notices, and since I live not far, inexpensive. The book is a gem, and what's remarkable is that, even accounting for 'listmas,' nobody else in the photography world had singled it out as a 2017 standout. When I say that, I am referring to about 100 makers of lists of best, notable, or favorite 2017 photobooks that I am compiling to produce the 2017 meta-list."

Richard Kelley: Francois Cevert on the Day of his Death

Richard Kelley, François Cevert, 1973

Introduction: The tragic death of of the talented French driver François Cevert at age 29 was one of the epochal events in Formula One history, documented in books and in films such as 1: Life on the Limit and The Quick and the Dead. It ended Cevert's meteoric rise, caused Jackie Stewart to miss his last race, and crippled the then-dominant Tyrrell team. Richard Kelley, at the beginning of his 45-year career in photojournalism, was there. 

Portrait and words by Richard Kelley

I was a 19-year old Indiana University photojournalism student who had been an AP stringer for Chuck Robinson at Indianapolis and begged for an AP pass to shoot the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. When the Glen AP editor asked if I was 21, I said, "of course." Luckily, since I had shot for Chuck, it was a wink, a nod, and good enough.

I saw a story in François Cevert that October weekend in 1973. He had patiently learned all of his mentor Jackie Stewart's tricks, and he was now about inherit Stewart's leadership position as well. He confidently told Ken Tyrrell he would put his 006 on the pole. I wanted to try a different approach to capture his character at the Glen. I knew the pictures would be a perfect introduction to his 1974 season. I vividly remember standing next to him that morning in the garages; he was on top of the world. He picked up Helen, Jackie's wife, and gave her a bear hug. François seemed larger than life.

At the beginning of practice, I was my usual "fly on the wall" around the Tyrrell pit, and I noticed François becoming more pensive by the minute. Something was weighing on his mind. I made a series of frames, each one with him alone and lost in his thoughts. I could tell he was replaying his "mind’s tape" of the lap, over and over, looking for a tenth here, another tenth there. I stood up and walked 90 degrees to the left, to stand in the rear of the Tyrrell pit stall, shooting him backlit with a longer lens with Helen Stewart to my left.

I concentrated on isolating the men, first Ken Tyrrell and later Jackie Stewart and designer Derek Gardner bent over François, all in deep conversation concerning his setup. They formed a circle, with François in the center. As the men whispered, I raised my camera and made a frame of François's strained face focused on Jackie as he went through his ideas. I made another frame just as François looked directly into my eyes for a long moment and then, I made a final frame as his eyes seemed to look through me into the distance. Three full-framed images in all, and then I lowered my Nikon FTN. I will never forget the chills that surged through me as I looked into his vacant face surrounded by the total silence of Jackie and Derek. I could not bring myself to make another frame.

A moment later, François buttoned up to leave the pits. He looked up and blew a kiss to Helen; then visor down as he slowly slipped out onto the track. I wanted to make images of him going through the Esses on the back of the circuit; something, anything to erase the memory of his thousand-mile stare. I started walking to the access point; halfway there I noticed that the engines had gone silent. It had only been two minutes. When I arrived at the Esses, I saw his car inverted atop the twisted armco; François was still in the car. Heinz Klutmeier from Sports illustrated ran up, blocking my path and whispering, "...don't go over. He's gone."

I stood there and cried uncontrollably. I can't remember how long. With unspeakable horror in front of me, I couldn’t stop thinking about François' turmoil those few moments before he left the pits and the real significance of what I had seen in his eyes. I had experienced it alone, not recognizing the clue of what was to happen moments later. I felt soul-shaking sadness.

This last frame has haunted me for 44 years. Had he survived, François would have just turned 73 years old. Many believe he would have won multiple F1 World Championships, and how many more Grands Prix races? Present-day Grand Prix history would be different, and François would be reflecting on his long career with his children and grandchildren. As a trained pianist, he would have been into his music, wine, and life.

Today, he would be one of the giants of French motorsport and would revel in the stories that could finally be told. I can accept that being a Grand Prix driver was his dream, and he left this world doing what he loved, then. It's his missing the rest of his life that's an absolute shame, now.

Richard

©2017 by Richard Kelley, all rights reserved

The photo was taken with a Nikon FTN and 200mm ƒ/4 lens at 1/500th sec. at ƒ/4, on Tri-X at ASA (as ISO was called then) 400. You can see more of Richard's excellent and dramatic motor racing work at his website. He originally submitted this picture for the "Baker's Dozen Black-and-White" feature, but I felt the story and photograph deserved its own post and Richard kindly consented. —Ed.

[UPDATE Thursday 2 p.m. from Richard Kelley: "Thanks to you all for your kind words and comments. The moment I walked onto the Formula One pit lane, I knew my life would never be the same. At 19 years old, I could have gone a number of ways, but the 'decisive moment' and 'full-frame' had been drummed into my mind by Dr. Will Counts at IU, and so that was all I was searching for...sometimes I went a half hour between images, other times, it was rapid fire (for a Nikon FTN in those days).

"I just felt as though I had been given the privilege of being with those gentlemen to tell their stories and having a style that was different than all the other shooters, I wanted to do it the right way through my eyes. These images have only been introduced to the public in the last four years. I've had overtures from less than sincere entrepreneurs who wanted to print a book, but wanted to return only pennies. Your words and impressions here give me the determination to carry on and someday make that presentation a reality.

"Thanks again to Michael for the chance to spread these images to quite a few more eyes, and thanks to you all again for seeing what I saw in those men and how I tried to capture those moments."]

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Manuel: "Here's a post on a subject close to my heart. Having a rather rational approach to most things in life, it's odd that I have a fervid passion for cars and motorsport, but I do.

"The blue Tyrrells of Jackie Stewart and François Cevert cast such a spell on me I used to drive my father insane by incessantly asking him to give me a diecast model replica. When I got—I was nine by then—I was the happiest kid in the world.

"Then the news came about the death of François Cevert. Strangely, my acquaintance with the French driver's career came through comics: Jean Graton was the author of the popular adventures of Michel Vaillant, which featured real Formula 1 drivers as well as fictional characters. That's how I got familiar with François Cevert, but also with Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Jacky Ickx, Clay Regazzoni, Jochen Mass, and some other drivers.

"One of the features Jean Graton reproduced admirably in his comics was François Cevert's eyes. They were bright, expressive and intense, just like in real life. (At least as much as pictures and TV coverage allowed me to perceive them.) The picture in this entry captures that intensity in an admirable way, and in hindsight it's a rather troubling look. A bit like the last TV images of Ayrton Senna before he died, which show his anxiety and strain. Both leave us to wonder—in a rather frightening way—whether that was some kind of premonition. That's what's so disturbing—but not in a morbid manner, mind you—about Mr. Kelley's photo.

"Brilliant text, brilliant photo. It's such a shame people in the US have so little contact with Formula One. It has such rich history. The only part of the entry I can't agree is when Richard states that Cevert would be one of the giants of French motorsport if he were alive. Actually, he is one of the giants of world motorsport—despite his single Grand Prix win. As with Gilles Villeneuve, Chris Amon and a few others, talent prevails over stats."

Lenya: "A very sad story, very gracefully told. But my comment is also a thank you to Mike for an introduction to other Richard Kelley photographs via this guest post. The Portraits and Duos on the website are quite extraordinary, even to someone who knows nothing of motor sports whatsoever. Makes one long for a book that does not seem to exist...or does it?"

Earl Dunbar: "I am not much of a car guy, and even less of a racing fan. I consider auto racing an environmental sin. But this is a great, wonderful post and an amazing story, one of the best on ever on TOP, with a most haunting image. Thanks."

James Weekes: "I was at that race. A friend and I went to Watkins Glen for seven straight years. This was the last. Jackie Stewart was our hero and Francois Cevert was poised to replace him in our regard. What a loss. He was an incredibly smooth yet aggressive driver. This is a wonderful picture.

"Richard's website is well worth the viewing, especially if you loved Formula 1, but if you love the look of 35mm Tri-X well interpreted, it will reward you as well."

Inside Sony's Sensor Fab

If you're interested in photo technology, you might be interested in this link Bryan Geyer sent me: "Inside Sony Kumamoto: A rare glimpse inside Sony's super-secret sensor factory," from Imaging Resource.

"I've had a lot of admiration and respect for this company ever since the initial Sony Trinitron CRT was released in 1968," Bryan writes. "Our first color TV set was the original Sony seven-inch Trinitron portable model, purchased in 1968 directly from Sony's 5th Avenue NYC showroom. I was absolutely certain that the RCA patent had it wrong, and resolved not to buy a color TV until there was a tech breakthrough. Although CRT technology is now obsolete, this electronics company has never stopped its obsession to be a creative leader, and this tour of their sensor fabrication site certainly demonstrates that intent.

"And I cannot conceive of 300mm diameter wafers. The standard when I left the microelectronics industry (in 1989, after a 32-year career) was 32mm, with 50mm in sight."

...And a year later, in 1990, Bryan used everything he had to start Really Right Stuff in San Luis Obispo, California, now a leading manufacturer of tripods, ballheads, quick-release systems, plates, and clamps—and all still 100% U.S.-made, "down to the last screw," as they put it.

Mike

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It's a Christmas Miracle! (Open Mike II)

On Christmas Day, I slept till 11:37 a.m.!!

Only you somewhat more mature individuals will appreciate that. Normally, my mind/body figures I'm fair game to be awakened for good any time after about 5 a.m., regardless of what time I get to bed, and I'm almost never able to sleep till 9. It's probably been years since I've slept till anywhere near noon. Like getting two nights' sleep in one!

What a nice Christmas present.

If you're interested in sleep, or, much more likely, beset by bad sleep: Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Professor Matthew Walker, PhD, Director of UC Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab. Good 'un; won't put you to sleep.

Mike

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Open Mike: Snow Tires

My little FWD sedan rocks Cooper Weather-Master WSC tires in cold weather.
Roads like this when it's 13°F (–10°C) are no problem at all.

This seems to be a "lost truth" these days, but the best modification you can make to your car, and the first one you should make, hands down and no question, is better tires.

...Especially in Winter. Little-realized but true fact: even a rear-wheel-drive midsize or smaller sedan with snow tires handles better, gets stuck less often, and is safer in Winter driving than an all-wheel-drive SUV with "all season" tires.

Front-wheel drive sedan, no contest. Far better in Winter driving with the correct shoes on than a four-wheel-drive SUV crippled with all-seasons.

Of course, an AWD or 4WD car or SUV with high-quality Winter tires on all four corners beats everything. But maybe not by as much as you think.

"All season" tires are the worst of all worlds. Road & Track calls them "no-season tires," and for good reason: they're not very good for performance in Summer and pretty terrible for safety in Winter. By working sorta-kinda-okay in all temperatures, they work well in none. Best thing you can do for your driving safety and peace of mind: get quit of the hateful lumpen misbegotten things as soon as you can. [UPDATE: Consider that I'm talking only about climates that get a real Winter. It's quite possible that "all season" tires—since writing this I've also seen them referred to as "three-season tires"—are best for climates that get some coldish temps in the Winter but don't get a lot of snow or ice or actual sub-freezing cold—especially those climates that go back and forth from coldish to warmish in the Winters. As I write this it's 4°F (–15°C) here and the secondary roads are covered with snow. And in my area there are numerous hills, some very steep. —MJ]

Another truth: if "all season tires" is a hopeful marketing euphemism, "snow tires" is also something of a misnomer. Yes, Winter or cold-weather tires—the more correct names—are much better on ice and snow when the temperatures are below 40°F or 5°C, but they're also far more sure-footed on both wet pavement and dry pavement when the temperatures drop. It's true that Summer performance tires are laughably bad below freezing (I once got stuck on an icy incline so mild you almost couldn't detect it was an incline), but average quality no-season tires, while better, aren't that much better. They don't go halfway to what proper cold-weather tires will do for you.

Of course, most new cars come with no-season tires standard, so most of us are stuck with them for as long as they last. But you would actually be better off driving on unstudded Winter tires all year long. Winter tires do okay in summer. They're not great for performance, but they're not bad, and you'll take a slight mileage hit, but performance is a luxury in the Summer while safety in the Wintertime might save your life, or at least save you from some potentially serious inconvenience. Better to have the right tires in Winter and the "wrong" tires in Summer than be stuck with no-season tires in the Wintertime.

Best option: Winter tires in Winter and Summer tires in Summer.

You can do this many ways...the Rolls-Royce option, I suppose, is to have two cars, one for when it's cold out and one for when it's not, but I sympathize with the large number of people who can't do that because I can't either. Most people just own two sets of tires and store the unused set in the garage, ferrying them to a local tire shop or repair garage twice a year to get them switched. If you're lucky you can find a garage that will store the unused tires for you, and if you're well off you can buy a second set of rims AKA wheels so the switch is quick and easy.

Aside from the expense of getting them switched out, you don't really spend more money, either. Although you have to buy two sets of tires, they'll each last twice as long because you'll only be using each set for half the year.

Is that a PITA? On balance, not really. Because if you're currently driving in a Winter climate on no-season tires and you switch to proper Winter tires, you'll be amazed at the difference in cold temperatures...on wet pavement, but especially on ice and snow. Your car will be be much more sure-footed, and you and your passengers will be safer.

Mike

"Open Mike" is the often off-topic editorial page of The Online Photographer. It's supposed to appear on Wednesdays and is often late, but this week it's EARLY!!! O hopeful dawn.

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Noted: In other automotive notes, 2016 marked the end of the remarkable 36-year reign that began all the way back in 1979 of the Accord as the best-selling Honda. With sales of traditional family sedans in freefall, the Accord was outsold by both the CRV and the Civic last year. (Although the current Civic is considerably bigger than the '79 Accord, so maybe it's just a matter of the name....)

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JohnMFlores: "Merry Christmas, Mike. Ha ha you don't need to be rich to get a second set of rims. Whenever I get a new car (which isn't very often, last time was a new-to-me 2005 Honda S2000 in 2008) I shop for winter tire/rim deals online. You can often get those deals for not much more than the tires themselves, and for the winter I ride on 16" rims instead of the normal 17" for more rim protection and a softer ride on potholed roads."

Jim Kinkennon: "A Miata was my daily transportation for 15 years in Nebraska where we get a fair dose of snow and ice. Thanks to Winter tires on all four wheels I was always able to get to work. Now that I have graduated to an AWD vehicle I still use the winter treads. When people ask why I remind them that you have to stop and/or turn occasionally."

Steve Rosenblum: "I live in SE Michigan and always get extra rims and snow tires for my FWD cars. It is like night and day in terms of traction and grip while turning. Discount Tire stores here have a great service where for a fairly nominal fee they will store your Winter wheels during the Summer and the Summer wheels during the Winter. I you buy tires from them the remounting is free. So, twice per year I head over there and get the proper tires mounted. I did the switch just in the nick of time this year, we have been hammered with snow the last few weeks!"

Gavin Mclelland: "I remember my first winter drive in Halifax, Nova Scotia just after an ice storm realising that all the cars in the ditches were 4WD's. They do make life easier but they too many people think that they throw a ring of invulnerability around them."

Øyvind Hansen: "Here in Norway pretty much every car has two sets of complete wheels. I think it goes for the whole of Scandinavia. People usually change over to winter tires in October/November and back to summer tires in April. The winter tires are of the so-called nordic type that differs from the winter tires they use in continental Europe. Both studded and unstudded are common, but studded tires are usually subject to extra taxation in cities and are illegal to use in the warmer half of the year. In Norway it isn't illegal per se to use summer tires in winter, but only as long as the conditions permit. Summer tires in slippery conditions is not OK, and will get you ticketed or, if you get in an accident, even prosecuted. In my experience winter tires are pretty awful and even unsafe in summer conditions. Higher temperatures makes the rubber mixture slippery, and they easily spin on wet ground. Braking distance will also increase significantly. They will also wear out quickly in higher temperatures."

Earl Dunbar: "Ever since I've been using winter tires, I've gone with Nokian. Their dealer network is smaller in the North America, but they are available online. Nokians are consistently rated at the top of the heap, although some other manufacturers have caught up. For some reason the Finns know about driving in Winter. The other financial consideration is insurance deductible. As you stated, Winter tires are about control and stopping. If you save even one accident, you've saved the cost of your deductible and perhaps a premium increase."

Mike replies: The Finns are the best Winter drivers in the world, bar none. They have fabulous driver training programs that put ours to shame.

Herman: "And then, there are the winter tires for bicycles."

Johan Grahn: "As I grew up in the north of Sweden I am used to having studded winter tires. Regarding driving in the snow, few things are more fearful than powerlessly sliding towards doom on an icy road. On the other side, few driving experiences are more fun than driving around on icy surfaces with full control sliding through curves with full control. Not that I have full control always, but it is fun....

"When I was a kid my dad didn't have four studded tires. It was considered enough to have two. I remember discussions about if it was better to put your good tires on front axle or on the rear axle. Or even right front with left rear. Or left front with right rear. Of course nobody drove front wheel drive back then. Except the SAAB owners. These days it's Winter tires on all the wheels. No discussion."

Ramin Miraftabi: "As a Finn I just have to thank you all for the comments regarding Finns as knowing something about driving in the Winter. Winter tires are required by law Dec.–Feb. and you can use studded tires from Nov. to a week after Easter and anytime later if the weather requires. So far Finland hasn't implemented any extra taxation for using studded tires in cities. And yes, using Summer tires during Dec.–Feb. is illegal around here.

"As several commenters have stated, there are differences in tires but tire tests aren't a really good measure as they test extremes and manufacturers have been getting a lot of flak about creating tires for good test performance instead of good performance in real conditions. Also, many poor studded tires are worse in normal conditions than good or decent winter tires without studs. That said I'm currently using studded tires on my SUV, but that's just because I got a good deal on them. :-) "

Merry Christmas! &c.

My little writer's haven in the Finger Lakes, built 1880,
restored 2012. I work on the front porch.

As I do every year about this time, I'll be shuttering TOP for a few days in observance of Christmas. I hope all of you Jewish readers had a lovely Hanukkah, and I wish all of you Christians (and secular Christmas celebrants) a wonderful holiday—not forgetting our friends who celebrate other holidays around this time of year. Special mention for those of you who will find yourselves alone. I hope you have a good, peaceful, restful day on the 25th as well.

Be good to yourselves and be good to others, my friends. Goodwill to all, in the spirit of the season. See you a few days hence.

Mike

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Brendon: "Merry Christmas to you too Mike. Enjoy the break and thanks for all you do for us enthusiasts out here in Internet-land. Certainly different here in terms of the weather in Western Oz, ha ha. Just got back from (Preston) beach with a nice tan for my efforts. Fish weren't biting though, darn it."

Roger Bradbury: "Just the photo for Xmas on a photographer's blog; we can imagine you waiting in the cold as the ambient light level fell until it was just right, then taking the photo and going back in the warm. Happy Christmas, Mike."

Mike replies: Actually quite the opposite! I'm afraid it wasn't intentional at all. I was trudging back from a nice visit with my neighbors Les and Joyce, a way I don't often come, and it afforded me a view of the house I don't often see, so I whipped out the iPhone and made a couple of quick snaps. The only photo-dawg aspect of it was that I had to do quite a bit of work to get the tree of lights to look like it actually looks—digital, or at least the digital I can afford, doesn't do at all well with those tiny LEDs, for some reason rendering them as tiny and mostly white dots—it misses the glow the eye sees, as well as most of the color. So the tree has had some Photoshoppery applied to bring out the color, and then some more to hide the artifacts of the changes. The result is quite accurate to the visual impression of the actual scene, in my judgment, but it's not quite what the iPhone's camera gave me.

I did go out the next day with the X-T2 when the ambient light was just right, with some lights on in the house, and tried to recreate the shot, but some of the snow had melted, the light was different, and what I got when I was trying harder weren't pictures, just snapshots. The X-T2 didn't do any better with the tiny LEDs, either.

I got a wonderfully illustrated e-missive from Michael McCaskey yesterday, of pictures he took in Ethiopia, and he mentioned that he's going to be getting an iPhone X to learn to use its camera. He suggested I try some serious posts about photographing with an iPhone in 2018, and I think I'll take his advice on that. Meanwhile this Christmas picture has joined my Finger Lakes iPhone portfolio, which I thought I was finished with.

Thanks to everyone for the holiday greetings, and right back at ya! Ho ho.

UPDATE: How to Get the Book of the Year

UPDATE to the Update: I just learned that you can buy the book directly from the publisher, with reasonable shipping costs. I don't know what the shipping costs might be to other countries, but when I went through the checkout procedure they were going to charge me $8.50 to Upstate New York. So try this method first. More news as I get it. —Mike the Ed.

-

This one's going to be hard to get, I'm afraid. The publisher is small and Only Human is its first and only photography book.

Hennessey + Ingalls Art and Architecture Bookstore in L.A. have gotten hold of a few copies (Judy did a signing there) and have posted it on Amazon. Only a few, though. [Note: gone as of 1 p.m. Friday. —Ed.] They might be able to get more.

There are only 1,000 copies total in the press run, and most of those will be reserved to sell at the de Young Museum during the exhibition the book is based on. In fact the publisher wasn't even going to release it until then. It's the exhibition catalog.

I got a very nice note from Judy after she read the review. She seemed genuinely touched by what I wrote. If you read the post before the review, you know I had some reservations about my ability to convey the emotional nature of my response to the book and to the work. I think I did okay, though. Judy was a photographer I admired when I was in art school in the '80s, and it's been a rich and relevant experience for me to come full circle with her life's work.

I'm sorry the book is not more readily available, but then, some books are, some books aren't—photography books are inherently difficult to produce and distribute, and there's little consonance between what's good and what's easy to get. Some dreadful books are all over the place and some great ones are difficult to obtain...as any longtime book buyer or collector knows all too well. I didn't know much about the book's distribution before I wrote about it. If you're balking at the shipping costs from the Museum store, I don't blame you at all (and Judy says she'll do what she can to look into that), but it's worth mentioning that after the book is out of print, which is likely to happen fairly soon, the price plus the shipping might well seem like a bargain. Consider our Book of the Year from last year, Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath—it's out of print now and the prices of used copies on Amazon as I write this run from $130 (double the price when it was new) to $296.

The "Only Human" show is at the de Young Museum in San Francisco from April 7th to September 16th, 2018. When it begins I'll try to remind you.

Mike
(Thanks to Greg Edwards and several other readers)

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Winwalloe: "It's interesting that Jörg Colberg's book Understanding Photobooks that you wrote about a few days ago specifically discusses shipping costs as an important part of a publishing project."

Dave Kerr: "Judy Dater was one of my instructors at the San Francisco Art Institute in the spring '74 semester, around the time she made the photo of Imogen and Twinka. As a long time admirer of Ms. Dater's work, I look forward to adding her new book, Only Human, to my library."

Joe: "It's a Christmas miracle! I ordered the book from the de Young as soon as you described it here, and it arrived this morning! Just in time to be wrapped and slipped under the tree for my wife (a portrait photographer)." 

TOP Photo Book of the Year 2017

I've had trouble writing this post—I'm not primarily a critic but rather a teacher at heart—so I guess I'm going to square up to it and say what I want to right up front: I think this book is Judy Dater's masterpiece, and I also think it solidifies her position among the major American photographers of the second half of the 20th century.

That's not entirely why I love it. It moves me. It moves me in many ways: at the basic level, I get a thrill from the wonderful black-and-white reproductions. I love the fact that it's about humans without being about humanity: it shows individuals, even when it's just a back or a pair of hands, never descending to the generic or the symbolic...and especially not to the objectified. The pictures are as gorgeous as fashion photography but they are the opposite of fashion photography; Dater is a respecter of souls. I love it that almost every photograph is individual, too...how does she do that? Every picture is fresh, as if newly seen, unlike all the others (mostly; there are a few classic portrait-style portraits, but that comes off as artistically purposeful in context). I love it that there's modulation to the arrangement of pictures on the pages, sometimes one to a spread, sometimes two, some large, some small, no rules. Even one (just one) that spans the gutter, a common no-no, but in context it's like Judy's saying I'll do that too, it'll be all right. I like the book's design.

You can't get this book from Amazon (yet, anyway, although I don't know if you'll ever be able to). And it's a little awkward that it's dated 2018...does that mean I should have waited till next Christmas to pick it? But it's available now and it's not 2018 yet. The only way you can get it is to go to the de Young Museum website and buy a signed copy from them. It costs $49.95. [See Update below also.] You can take my word for it that this is a good thing to do with fifty dollars.

Every band that's been around a while gets used to audiences calling out the name of their biggest hit at concerts. Legend has it that Ludwig von Beethoven got tired of the eternal popularity of the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. I don't know Judy, but we've corresponded, and when this book was gestating she mentioned to me that she was considering not including "Imogen and Twinka, Yosemite, 1974," which is her Free Bird, her You're So Vain. I argued that she should include it, because people who aren't going to bother to grasp the whole project still need the handle to hold on to her with, some familiar handhold to get themselves oriented. Judy solved the problem perfectly neatly: the famous picture is there, page size, but it's included not in the plates, but in the elegantly written front matter by Marilyn Symmes. So if you will have only one Dater title in your library, it will have her most famous picture in it, peeking in from past the door frame.

A brief description of the book: it consists of 100 portraits and nudes, arranged not chronologically or thematically but "according to the artist’s psychological and artistic perspective over time" as the press release says. The pictures are of people of many races, young and old, male and female, famous and not (the famous ones include some photographers and curators, which is a bonus for us). It does contain genitalia, just so you know—maybe not the thing for the coffee table in all homes. But none of the nudes are of the lascivious sort.

But you want to know what moves me the most about this book? In concert with the photographs, of course. Because of my, and (most of) our, particular identity as people who love photography but don't get to be artists primarily. It's in the luminous, beautiful little artist's statement at the beginning of the book. Judy describes herself at age 23, living alone in an apartment on Haight Street in San Francisco, contemplating a group of photographs she had made for a photography class she was taking. One by one, all the pictures fell away for her but one—one which, for her, had the magic. In a brief sentence, Judy writes, "At that moment, my path in photography became clear to me."

It's called "Anna" and here it is:

It opens the portfolio section of the book. It's as good as any other picture in the book...as lovely as any portrait by anyone, honestly. By a 23-year-old taking a photo class.

It's the picture that told Judy Dater what to do with her life. The clarity, intention, self awareness, and purposefulness of that moment she describes just takes my breath away. Isn't that what we all wanted, my friends? Isn't that the best that could have happened to us? To be so clear about our artistic intention and promise from the very outset, and to continue along the chosen path of bravery and beauty for fifty-two years?

That's just plain wonderful, if you ask me. It's nothing less than artistic freedom the way I look at it. I will always cherish this book for the view it illuminates of that voyage.

In short, then, a must for the library of any one of us who does portraits and nudes; warmly recommended with heart and feeling for everyone else. A lovely book. One to enjoy in many ways. Our Book of the Year, in this season of one year ending and another beginning.

Mike
(Thanks to Judy)

UPDATE Friday a.m.: I've just learned that book can be ordered directly from the publisher, for a reasonable shipping cost at least to U.S. (I wasn't able to determine the rates for international shipping.) I assume Judy will get the most benefit this way, too. So my recommendation if you want a copy is to try this method first.

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Del Bomberger: "Love Judy Dater, have for a very long time. Rushed to the website to order at what I consider a fair price only to be thwarted by the shipping cost. I'm just not going to pay 1/3 of the price of about anything significant for delivery in this day and age. Museum bookstores it seems to me need quit trying to squeeze every last cent from sale. On the other hand, I will certainly work the exhibition into my travels from where I am and will be able to get it there. I really have little interest in signed copies also. It remains the work that has the value to me. Bah, Humbug!"

Tom: "$67 to ship to the UK. Crikey."

Mike replies: Just posted an update about that. I'm afraid this one is going to be very hard for most people to get, and there's little that can be done about that. I'll keep on top of it and if a better way to get it opens up, I'll let people know.

To Del, it's not that the Museum bookstores are "trying to squeeze every last cent from a sale." It's just that they're not set up for mail order sales in any volume. Their main charter is to sell merchandise to in-person Museum-goers, and they only do mail order occasionally as a courtesy.

Open Mike: Keep Trying

["Open Mike" is the anything goes, often off-topic Editorial page of TOP. It appears on Wednesdays, except on those occasions when Yr. Hmbl. Ed. is running a bit behind himself. —Yr. Hmbl. Ed.]

-

My friends will have to be patient with me. I don't know how aware you are of the universe of discussion about writing mechanics, but it's extensive—writers work hard doing what they do, and they find a myriad of ways to struggle with it. Just the descriptions of how writers work is an endless variety—everyone has to work out his or her own method. Anne Tyler cannot listen to music when she writes; it interferes with her ability to hear the music of the words. Balzac wrote in the bathtub, and when his pen got hot he emerged hours later shriveled as a prune. Hyemeyohsts Storm labored for years on her deeply flawed but also magical monolithic masterpiece ostensibly about plains Indian culture, going so far as to translate it, allegedly, into Lakota and then back again into English; whereas logorrheic L. Ron Hubbard cast off books left and right like my Butters sheds dog hair...and Butters-hair collects in drifts in the corners of the rooms of my house like dry snow in blowing wind.

Anyway one of the key skills of the kind of writing I do is suiting the subject to size, biting off just enough to chew on, neither too much nor too little. As a former magazine editor, I can testify that it's a skill not everyone has.

...And it's a skill I have definitely not yet learned when it comes to the "Baker's Dozen" posts. What I have done recently is misstep twice. First, I asked for pictures from people younger than 29. Turns out very few of those read TOP, which I guess makes sense...we stick with our age cohort. Young people don't identify with a guy whose world views started to take shape in the '70s, which to them is the mythical world that might or might not have existed before anything was actually real, like the 1920s are to me. Then, disturbed that that call for work had so little reach, I overcompensated, and asked for black-and-white pictures. Not further specified, just black-and-white pictures. With which I have been inundated. I might be coming up on a thousand submissions by now. I'm not saying you should stop, because I am greatly enjoying seeing the work; but I've gotten so many submissions that the idea of reducing it all to thirteen pictures has become almost absurd on its face.

My sin is simply that I lack the judgement so far to suit the concept to the scale of that feature. I'm going to have trouble putting together as many as 13 pictures by younger people (although some of the pictures I've gotten are very fine), so that feature might end up with six or eight photographs in it. And then I'm going to disappoint a whole lot of people who sent me superior black-and-white photographs that I won't have room to present. Both of these missteps are my fault, the result of poor calibration between the concepts and the calls for work.

No tooth
My other writing problem this week is that I'm procrastinating over the Book of the Year post. I'm actually not very confident of my abilities as a writer; it's a longtime, persistent character defect of mine. I know what I want to say about it, but I mistrust my ability to say it. I'll get back to work on that, but sometimes writing is like pulling teeth.

...Then again, I recently had a tooth pulled, and it went okay. It was easier than I thought it would be. I just had to face it, and deal.

So you see? This post is 675 words, more or less, and the topic suits the length. Didn't say too much, didn't run out of things to say. I've had a lot of practice. I'm pretty sure I'll get better at the Baker's Dozen posts, too, with practice. In the meantime, as I say, you'll have to be patient with me. And, dare I hope, forgiving.  :-)

Mike

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Andrew Eckert: "You might not have many young readers, but I'd wager that they take more from TOP than most other online photography resources. I've just celebrated my 32nd birthday, so I don't make the cut for the under-30 group, but I'm still technically a 'millennial,' and I'd count TOP as a major influence on how my approach to photography developed. Then again, I'm probably among the last group of people whose first camera was a standalone object rather than an app on a phone, so even my perspective might be a little dated."

John Camp: "I was a newspaper columnist for a few years, and had to do three columns a week. It was like a very slow death, and I eventually went back to straight reporting with great relief. I honest-to-God don't know how you do this blog thing, especially at your quality levels. Of course, the need to eat occasionally is always helpful in freeing the creative juices.

"As for the black-and-white photos, why not create some subcategories? As you said, reducing a thousand to thirteen is going to be a problem. I can see getting the number down to a hundred, or even fifty, but after that, it's throwing darts. Maybe B&W portraits, B&W landscapes, B&W street, etc. You also buy yourself a few free columns that way...."

[Former Pulitzer-Prizewinning reporter John Camp, who writes thriller novels under the name John Sandford, has well over 30 New York Times bestsellers to his credit. —Ed.]

A Treat for the New Year

After mentioning the Lodima Press Weston Anniversary Portfolio I bought myself as a Christmas present, I got a nice little note from Michael A. Smith this morning:

"Paula and I have been so busy that we have neglected TOP. Today we received a number of orders because of Mike Johnston's announcement. Although the time is over for the the pre-publication price for the book of Edward Weston’s Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio, which we have reproduced as closely as possible to a facsimile version of the original portfolio, we will keep the offer open through the end of this year. The only place we are announcing this is on TOP. The book is available at www.lodima.org. Recently, the server of our web site was changed, and as a consequence, few of the 58 titles we have published are up. When we get all of the books up we will make a special offer exclusively to TOP subscribers."

So that's something to look forward to. I also mentioned the other day that we will be offering two more absolutely top-flight books from Yale University Press in the New Year as well, for really low prices.

I'll pass along whatever Michael has in mind as soon as he lets me know.

Mike

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O Happy Bachelor (and a B&H Dilemma)

It's a lovely morning here in the Finger Lakes. A vast pearly cloudbank overhead with a band of blue sky showing in the West made for an otherworldly light as the sun was coming up behind the ridge. A dusting of blown snow made patterns on the road.

Being a SSG (sadly single guy), I've hired a Mennonite housekeeper to come in twice a month to help with the chores. She's eighteen years old and very pretty and, moreover, happy (why are all Mennonites so well-adjusted? Do they know something we don't?), and she works for peanuts by city standards—it's very affordable. She keeps right at it, works straight through, never takes a break, so I never have to worry whether she's slacking off. And she's better than I am at every aspect of housekeeping, so it's not like trying to oversee how she's doing anything would help. I just leave her be, and she does her thing.

Then after she departs I spend about a day discovering everything she did and being happy about it. It's like a series of little gifts. Not only is all the laundry done, but everything is folded—even my socks! The dust bunnies under the bed have vanished. Then I notice that a few things are a little out of place in the refrigerator and...omigod, she cleaned out the entire thing! The putrifying kale in the special vegetable drawer my brother calls "The Rotter" is gone, the little pool of brown liquid it was sitting in vanquished. The interior of the fridge is spotless. All the floors have been mopped, the bed is crisply made, and she even washes the outsides of the windows. Amazing. I don't know how she gets it all done in four hours. TOP World HQ is burnished and gleaming, glowing with good order. O happy bachelor.

And then another nice surprise...as a thank-you for being an affiliate, B&H has sent me a Holiday gift certificate. Nice. Did you know you could give B&H Gift Certificates to the photographers you know? You can send it by email or snailmail for any amount, and include a message. Perfect for those of us who tend to be, uh, a little late with the Christmas shopping. Or, better yet, for someone close to you who might be. "You know, honey...." (Amazon has gift cards too, of course.)

Free next-day shipping for hundreds of items at B&H Photo ends soon, too.

So here's my dilemma: I have to spend the $250...can't stash it in the bank it like a good little Ed.

Darn.  :-)

If you had to spend $250 at B&H Photo—forced to—what would you buy? You can of course add more cash to that if you want to...for example, it means I could buy a 27mm pancake for my Fuji for $149 ($399 minus $250) or a 128 GB iPad for $169 ($419 minus $250). But if it makes me spend too much more, then at some point it enters into the realm of a net loss, so I don't want to be thinking, "Oh, great, now I can buy a Fuji GFX 50S for only $6,249.95!"

And I know what the first wise guy is going to say..."You could spend your $250 Gift Certificate to buy me a $250 Gift Certificate!" But of course I can't do that for everybody. Wish I could, wish I could.

And by the way, as I always do, TOP will be on hiatus for several days over Christmas, starting Saturday.

The Day is only days away,

Mike

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Dave Levingston: "I just had to deal with a similar dilemma. The charge card I use the most surprised me with a "points" bonus worth several hundred bucks. And their points can be used effortlessly on Amazon just like real money. So, going through your link of course, that Panasonic 42.5mm lens that I've been eyeing for a year or so is now on its way to my house."

Mike replies: Oooh, yummy. You didn't say which one, but I love both those lenses.

Ken Tanaka: "'It's a lovely morning here in the Finger Lakes. A vast pearly cloudbank overhead with a band of blue sky showing in the West made for an otherworldly light as the sun was coming up behind the ridge. A dusting of blown snow made patterns on the road.' Well I don't think you need any more camera gear. You seem quite able to depict rich landscape scenes with your fingers."

Mike replies: No...I don't need any more camera gear...but...but....

Aaron: "I bought that 27mm pancake a couple years ago when it was on sale, mostly on impulse. It's probably my most-used lens these days. It makes the X-T2 (and X-T1 before that) very comfortable to have around my neck. The camera, with lens, sits between my arm and hip very nicely. Bringing just a camera, no bag, is nice for short outings."

Christmas Present

This was my Christmas present to myself. Having bought few photography books all year, I splurged and bought the deluxe slipcased edition of Edward Weston Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio from Lodima Press. It's a delicate, slender volume and absolutely wonderful—a virtual facsimile of the original, with the text from the original portfolio printed on the same kind of paper, and breathtaking reproductions.

The deluxe edition is sold out but if you're interested you can still buy the hardcover direct from Lodima. I don't have any connection to this book whatsoever, except as a buyer of it.

But speaking of connections to books, while you're on that page, do you remember that several years ago Michael A. Smith of Lodima Press offered copies of his book Edward Weston: Life Work, published at $225, to TOP readers for only $140? The sale copies sold out very rapidly.

Well, have a look on that page at what that book costs now...a cool $1,000. Hope you've already got yours!

Mike

P.S. I'm still working on the Book of the Year post, but I'm already out of steam for today.

P.P.S. We have a great book sale coming up after Christmas, our second one from Yale University Press.

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Paul: "I just received the Edward Weston slip-cased version of this book. The reproductions are phenomenal. You could frame them and nobody would know they are not original prints."

QT Luong: "The Lodima site doesn't mention that the portfolio consists of 12 photographs; they can be seen here."

Mike replies: Thanks Tuan. That page serves as good basic information about what the set is, and its value.

Meet Your Photography Teacher

I don't know about you, but I find those "Master Class" advertisements pretty moving all on their own. People with real authority in their fields offering to let you in on their secrets and tell you what they know. I mean really, Herbie Hancock teaching jazz and Helen Mirren teaching acting? Kinda gets me verklempt. I enjoy the ads and always watch new ones to the end.

I'm not recommending this per se, because I don't know anything about the organization or the classes...haven't taken one, haven't looked into it. But none other than Annie Leibovitz is teaching an online class in portraiture, and, well, wow. I don't know, but I think I'd pay $90 for that. I did quite enjoy her book At Work (now out of print and getting expensive...I hope you bought it when I told you to.)

Gotta think about it. Maybe after Christmas.

Mike

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Marco Maroccolo: "These courses are very well done—I tried some. From a technical point of view, shooting, location, and lighting are exemplary. The importance of the teachers who teach speak for themselves; I would like to recommend one of the first courses that they did, the one taught by Werner Herzog; in all probability it is not for everyone, but considering the duration and the number of pearls of wisdom profused by the director there is absolutely no proportion to the cost of the course. I think it is also of great interest to photography enthusiasts because it mainly talks about how to tell a story through images."

Fuji Bargain!

Today only: Remember when I called the Fuji X-T1 Graphite "One Good-Lookin' Camera"? Remember how it cost $300 more than the then-high-priced regular version of the X-T1? I think it was selling for $1,800. That was back in '14. Well, now you can get that very same camera, brand new, for $599. Wow. The X-T1 is no longer the latest thing, and it "only" has 16 MP, etc., etc....but it's still a very nice camera, with excellent capabilities for general shooting and excellent files. (I have one.) A way to get into the Fuji ecosystem on wings. It's cheaper than the black one for the next 11 hours. And at $599, it's possible you might not even lose much money on resale, even.

As a first lens, I'd suggest the 27mm pancake, the 23mm ƒ/2, or the 35mm ƒ/2 (note that that silver versions are a slightly different color of silver).

I'd rather have this beauty than lots of new cameras in the $600 price class, I can tell you that.

Mike

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Dogman: "I bought a used one of these a little while back. I really wasn't looking for the graphite silver model, just a standard black X-T1 would have been fine. But the silver model was available in nearly new condition (but lacking the box) for less than the black ones so I grabbed it. Pretty camera. Functionally identical to the black body. It makes for a nice permanent home for my 14mm Fujinon lens.

"The X-T1 was the camera that really led me to finally accept EVFs. By the way, I've always shopped for recently discontinued camera bodies and new or nearly new lenses. Missing out on a few new camera features is not a big deal for me. But I always try to use the best lenses available."

TOP Camera of the Year 2017

One of the best cameras of the year was the Leica M10, and it vied hard for TOP's top award.

I've had an ambiguous relationship with Leica products over the years, but it's really only due to the fact that I persist in seeing Leica as a cameramaker, albeit a unique and different one, rather than as an object of either worship or derision. I've been accused of being a Leica lover (I think I coined the term "Leicaphilia" way back in 1992, or at least I made it more widespread), and of being a Leica hater. Such judgements usually reflect more about the accusers than about me. I stopped reviewing Leica cameras after I wrote a two-part review of the Leica M8 when it was new. It was a half-decent camera that a few people still like, but it was a bit of a Frankenstein, a replicant, and had some egregious flaws. An okay first try, but just not a terribly good camera, all things considered. The pent-up desire for a digital rangefinder and for the zombie resurrection of the fabled M was so great at the time that fanatics frantically climbed all over me and grabbed just about any stick that was handy to beat me with. Even in retrospect, though, I still stand by that review. I think I got it just about right...at least, if you, too, are able to consider Leica as just a cameramaker.

In investigating it, I suspect that, after continual improvements, Leica has now gotten the "digital M" just right. Boiled down, the M10 is the size right and has found the just-right mix of simplicity and functionality. Short of using it, which I haven't, I think it's fair to guess that if you're a fan—if Leica is your "party"—then this is the M that might be the biggest yes for you. Le pur sang.

But alas, given its somewhat pedestrian full-frame sensor (which DxO Labs says equals only the very best APS-C sensors) coupled with a breathtakingly high price, I just can't bring myself to give it the trophy, if I'm being my hard-headed self. Even if our award is just for fun and carries no particular weight. Even if the Leica faithful are head over heels about it. And even though, frankly, they are not wrong.

Kitchen patrol?
2017 was not a stellar year for all-new introductions, at least compared to 2016, which saw things like the Hasselblad and Fuji medium-format cameras and the Sigma Quattros. About the only significant new cameras for our typical readers were the Pentax KP (yet another awkward name—in U.S. army slang, "KP" means "kitchen police" or "kitchen patrol," i.e., menial duty peeling potatoes or washing pots) and the Panasonic G9. Other very fine and much refined but (like the Leica M10) essentially derivative designs were the Nikon D850 and Fuji X-T2, either of which could wear the mantle—if not for originality, then for overall excellence and superlative "greater than the sum of their improvements" functionality.

Of those, the Pentax KP is the camera of greatest note, and the one that is sliding undetected under most peoples' radar. On paper it's not the most feature-laden, and it has taken some hits for not being bestest and mostest in certain areas, meaning, it lacks the check-boxes that tend to reassure fastidious but insecure shoppers. On the other hand, it's the K-1 lite, and our readers love the K-1; it's geared toward amateurs and enthusiasts who shoot in a more of an art-photographer manner rather than a pro-photographer manner; and it steps neatly into Pentax's longstanding tradition of having about the best and most sensible handling and control layouts. And as you can see from the picture, it's weatherproof, too. The 20–40mm seen in the illustration would be a splendid little lens for it, and it would be particularly sweet with the small primes Pentax is known for, such as the wonderful 35mm Macro that is still one of my favorites among the digital lenses I've used. (Although I used it as a normal, not as a macro.) It's true that it doesn't offer every little thing the competition offers, but it's a distinctive camera that offers things the competition doesn't, too. My advice on this one: don't let yourself be put off by the off-putting bits of the reviews. For the right photographer this could be much the right camera.

The winner please
Drum roll...and now for TOP's Camera of the Year 2017:

Way, way back at the dawn of the autofocus era (yeppers, sonny boys, that's how far I go back) I was told something that turned out to be very true. When a camera is popular enough that it spawns a family of variations, it signals an especially successful design. This applies to products outside of photography, too: consider that if Toyota's Prius brand were an entirely separate entity all on its own, it would rank high among the world's carmakers.

Nothing has illustrated the principle better in our field in recent years that the outstanding success of the Sony A7 series. It quickly multiplied to three variants, each targeted to different types of users, then began begetting generations as problems and consumer desires were were addressed. Sony has a nice habit of doing its best to put all its latest technology into new products unstintingly up and down the lineup as it becomes feasible, but now the line has gotten a new member as the superfast A9 takes direct aim at professionals—the A9 could be thought of as the "A7III" except that an essential quality of the middle-of-the-road A7 and A7II models is reasonable cost. (The A7II is only $1,298 right now, well under many APS-C and even Micro 4/3 models.) Good for Sony for not ending that tradition.

The A7R enticed many photographers into its corner on arrival (buyers and admirers), and it only got better with the much revamped and improved A7RII. The new A7RIII is not only the best A7 model yet, at least for generalist stills photographers, it's arguably the best general-purpose stills camera Sony has ever made. Ten frames per second, 42.4 megapixels, an "overkill" pixel-shift mode for super-high resolution architectural, still-life, and copy shooting, excellent eye-focus tracking for portraiture, USB-C for tethering and 4K HDR video—and of course that it's a superlative landscape, nature, and general-purpose camera goes without saying.

And Sony really gets high marks for stepping up its lens program, something it received criticism for in the past. The A7RIII would be mainly frustrating if there were no lenses capable of exploiting its abilities. Those lenses exist now, and many of them are getting very high marks from reviewers.

In a year of "Mark X" iterations and refinements of existing models and no truly compelling new models to sweep the field (the G9 being still too new to know), the Sony A7RIII in our opinion noses ahead of formidable rivals at the finish line as the best all-around high-end camera released this year.

The Editors

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Arg: "I thought KP meant 'keep peeling!'"

Mike replies: Maybe it means "keeper pictures."

Stephen Scharf (partial comment): "In my view, for a camera to be in considered for 'Camera of the Year,' it has to be in the calendar year in which the camera actually goes into production becomes availble for sale. Neither the Hassy X1D or Fujifilm GFX 50S can be considered 2016 cameras because, while they were announced in 2016, they were very much still in development, and did not ship for sale until 2017. This means they are 2017 cameras, not 2016 cameras. I also find it your choice ironic given that you just posted the week before last how very few cameras are being made today that allowed photographers to do 'good work' rather than meeting manufacturer's sales goals. Yet, your choice falls exactly into the latter category. For me, the answer is clear: The Fujifilm GFX50S is easily the Camera of the Year for 2017 because of how much ground it broke, the paradigms it rewrote, and the magnitude of impact it had on the camera industry and photographic community as a whole."

[For the complete text of "partial comments," please see the Comments section. —Ed.]

Ken Tanaka: "Good choice, Mike. Perhaps the only logical choice. As I’ve noted in a recent comment, the Sony A7R Mark III has completely taken my breath away, even after having used the A7R camera line since its first model. It truly represents the kind of incremental design and engineering refinement that’s brought it extremely close to perfection in my book. And the Sony FE lens line has left me wanting for nothing as of this year. It’s also appropriate to give an honorable mention the Leica M10. Yup, it’s probably about as good a digital photographic fountain pen as Leica can make the M line, and it will likely be my final M. But while it is not my most frequently used camera I am delighted to have it and I do very much enjoy using it when practical. I would not characterize myself as a Leica 'fan boy' but I do very much appreciate the refinements that Leica has made to this camera to reach the M10. It's the only truly hand-crafted digital camera. Silly? A little clunky? Uber-costly? Absolutely. But lovely to use. My own honorable mentions would absolutely include Fujifilm’s GFX 50S. It represents a bold but very thoughtful initiative by Fujifilm to expand their line. It may not be as stylish of a design as Hasselblad's equally bold new H1D but it's a better, more usable, and more versatile camera and system than the H1D."

Kodachromeguy: "Mike, I agree with you that Pentax is the understated gem in the world of a hundred models of wiz-bang digital cameras that all sort of do the same thing. But my pick for No. 1 is the Leica M10 for three reasons: 1.) The shape of the M body is familiar and comfortable—just like an M3 from 1954. 2.) It is different and simpler than the standard super-featured cluttered digital camera. 3.) The photographers on DPReview despise it, and when the crowd hates or loves something, it is usually wise to do/buy exactly the opposite."

FraserGJB: "I worked as a KP—Kitchen Porter—every weekend for a couple of years. Rinsing plates and loading-up the dishwasher in a hotel restaurant, listening to cheap piped-in execrable covers of contemporary hit songs. Steam, sauce concentrates and bright lights. The horror."

Mike replies: It's not every kitchen porter who can quote Kurtz.  :-)

Eric Brody: "I like your choice for 'camera of the year.' I actually own one along with some of the slightly bulky but optically superb new lenses. In the digital era, I am a former Nikon full frame then Fuji APS-C shooter who is enjoying the return to full frame. After my experience with the Fuji, I fell in love with the EVF and all it can do and grew to dislike the mirror with its need to focus-adjust lenses. The image quality and detail of the A7RIII are not to be believed.

"I got great results from my X-T2. It is hard to distinguish differences in small prints between the Fuji and the Sony but I’m happy. The menus are complex but with the customizable menus and buttons I’ve almost got it fully set up after only two weeks.

"I rented, loved, and almost bought the GFX 50S but when I did the math around size and cost, and realized I could have almost two Sony (or Nikon D850) bodies for the cost of one GFX, I made my decision. I agree with Stephen Scharf that the GFX is a strong candidate. The GFX is remarkable for image quality, handling, for its size, and overall operational feel. I also realize that it is a medium format 'bargain.' But comparing it to the obscene prices of the Phase One and full-sized Hasselblad cameras is irrelevant in my view.

"I hate to mention money, but financially everything is relative to one's own situation. I’m better off than most and worse off than some, definitely not a 1%-er. I’m jealous of those who seem to be able to afford and who also seem to buy each new high-end camera. I am certain some are jealous of me to be able to afford the gear that I do have. The Sony and Nikon seem to hit a spot where the image quality-price equation is right…for me. I can use the Sony for the landscape and nature where my true photographic heart lies, and also for my busy three-year-old grandson. Not many cameras can do as many things as well as the Sony."

Blog Note: Yeesh

I'm a terrible blogger. I'm feeling very sheepish about this morning's post. Here we are into the biggest shopping days of the year, and I'm linking to 42-year-old movies and an opaque, difficult-to-read book of essays on photography by a French post-Structuralist literary theorist. A deceased one, no less.

This would be pathetic if I weren't laughing at myself. It's like I haven't gotten the memo. Yeesh. If I go outta business, remember today....

Anyway, my links to shopping sites appear below, and if you wouldn't mind starting here for your virtual shopping jaunts, I'd be appreciative. Twelve years at this and Mikey still can't seem to focus.  :-\

(More coming up soon.)

Mike

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Dirk: "Well for what it's worth I enjoyed reading this morning's article and I just purchased an iMac through your link. So based off my sample size of one, I'd say you've got this nailed!"

Mike replies: That made me feel a little better. Thanks Dirk.

Manuel: "Aw c'mon, Camera Lucida is not that difficult to read. The central idea—should I cast a 'spoiler alert' here?—is that the photograph must have a subjective point of interest (in that it strikes you: the 'punctum') that's different from all objective considerations (the 'studium') in order to be significant to the viewer. The interest of the photograph is determined by that 'punctum,' which can be absent from highly regarded photographs and yet exist in banal family snapshots. It can be just a detail, as long as it grabs your sensitivity.

"I liked reading it—but then again I'm a complicated European man with an intricate frame of mind. And Barthes' choice of photographs is quite interesting: the book features photographs by Richard Avedon, August Sander, Andre Kertesz and, of course, William Klein. Besides, it's not everyday we have the privilege to read a book written by a philosopher who was run over by a laundry van. How existentialist is that?"

Michael Carrithers: "I lapped up the post about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I saw at noontime in a cinema in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India, which only redoubled the sainted weirdness. And I just bought a Fujinon 80mm macro lens for X cameras through your link, so I’m doing what a guy can to keep the fires burning. All best to you and yours at this tensely celebrating time of year."

Roger Bradbury: "You would think indeed that the writer of a photography blog would know how to focus, but what on?

"Going off on a tangent is good for the blog; your readers never know quite what to expect next, and this keeps the blog interesting. Rather that than a diet of predictable posts that are all very similar. I come here because that's exactly what I don't get. In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that you are not the only one round here who is easily distracted.  :-) "

I've Never Seen Much Photography (and Neither Have You)

Jack Nicholson and Will Sampson in Milos Forman's
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

To enliven my Friday night, I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for the first time in many years. Unlike many movies I re-watch, it was just as good as I remembered it, maybe even a little better. That led me to reading a bunch of reviews, both contemporaneous and retrospective. Which led me to wonder how many Jack Nicholson movies I had seen; I identified with his R.P. McMurphy as an irrepressible rule-breaker. Which led me to a filmography.

My background impression in my mind was that I had seen "most" of Jack Nicholson's movies. At least, I imagined, a majority of them. When I was young and impressionable he was one of the top actors. I remembered seeing him in a bunch of very different things, from The Missouri Breaks (oddball anti-western yoking gay themes and brutal violence together) to The Shining (Stephen King horror flick, complete with famous Diane Arbus meme) to As Good As It Gets (old-guy-gets-young-girl rom-com). Well, guess what? Turns out, when I count, I have seen a grand total of ten Jack Nicholson movies. Out of...

...What?!? SEVENTY-TWO.

Wow. I would not have guessed that.

But it brought to mind one of my favorite points from Barthes, which is that I've hardly ever seen any photographs.

Yep. Barthes pointed out that of all the photographs that have ever existed, each of us has only seen an infinitesimally small fraction. This is hard to fathom; we've been looking at photographs literally all our lives, virtually everywhere, and each one of us no doubt has the impression that if we added up all the photos we've ever so much as glanced at, it would make a relatively large pile. Yet we're wrong. None of us has seen very many photographs at all. A few million or tens of millions amongst the numberless billions.

Consider this: even if you're a loyal and religious reader of this blog, someone who follows every link, there's still very little overlap between the set of "all the photographs I've ever seen" and the set of "all the photographs you've ever seen." Our common ground is a remarkably slender strip between territories.

Given the withering blast of these facts, their tendency to obliterate a sense of common, shared experience, I cling to my beloved photo books as a bulwark against utter nihilism! I'm half kidding with these overblown words. Still, the books that I lovingly page through are my rock. They form a corpus of concrete work that constitutes my connection to the practice of this art and its great accomplishments. Yet it's easy to imagine not just one library the size of mine (~600 books), but many, with not a single volume in common between them. Alas.

I'm not crazy, I'm a fisherman
This was meant to be a tiny, brief post to throw out like chum on the waters before I get back to work finishing up the "Camera of the Year 2017" post, which might take a few hours, and which I will now return to doing. But before I do I thought I'd bring up a thought about Cuckoo's Nest, which is really one of the best movies I've ever seen. (Maybe the novel it's based on should be my annual classic novel for next year—I have the nifty First Edition Library facsimile of the first edition. Somewhere. I'd have to make a fishing expedition to the attic of the barn.)

One big point of contention among critics, and between critics and audiences, is the fishing expedition interlude in the middle of the movie. Roger Ebert, in his famously disapproving review, cited it as a major misstep in the film; other critics take a dim view of it as well. Yet for many audience members, it's their favorite part of the movie. I believe this is because many of us identify not with the hero, nor with the un-villainous (she's merely rigid and controlling) villain, nor with the Zen-inflected Native American who, in the film's exquisitely bittersweet ending, flies over the cuckoo's nest. Not really. We identify with the inpatients. In some corner of our Everyperson psyches, most of us sometimes idly wonder if we're quite sane, and long for a lighthearted jaunt in which everyone gets to be just a person and one of the gang no matter who they really are or what their state of inner sanity. As McMurphy says to Martini near the peak of the hilarity, "You're not a goddam looney now, boy, you're a fisherman!"

Personally, I think the scene serves a crucial purpose I've never seen mentioned. Like the daylight scenes at the very beginning and ending of Asphalt Jungle, another cinematic masterpiece, which otherwise takes place entirely at night, it serves to let a little fresh air and daylight into the movie, which would otherwise take place entirely on the mental wards and fenced-in grounds, which might have asphyxiated the film with an overdose of claustrophobia. It also serves to offer to the audience a sharp sense of freedom and relief, the better to contrast with the scenes at the end of the movie when McMurphy has literally opened the window to freedom but casually neglects to step through it while he can, thus dooming himself to his fate.

Plus, I would really not want to have gone without the touch in which McMurphy introduces the crew as being from the mental institute: "...This is Dr. Cheswick, Dr. Scanlon, Dr. Taber...."

Man, when you're a blogger it's like you get trained to go on and on about anything. This was almost literally written at the speed I type. But to return to the point, we might not be on common ground here: have you seen both Cuckoo's Nest and Asphalt Jungle? How about Ebert's review of Cuckoo's Nest, ever read that? Common ground among us is always shaky under our feet. Even Roger Ebert, whose appetite for watching feature-length films was protean, saw only 3% of the films released in the U.S. in his adult lifetime. (And, poignantly, none released since 2013.) We all need to choose wisely and zero in on the good stuff as best we can. Art, like history or the world, never mind photography, is large, large indeed.

Mike

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Tom Burke: "I remember seeing One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest at the cinema when it was new, so that's a long time ago. Never read the book (although I did read the book about the author, The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test, and boy did that have an impact on me), never read the review (I'm in the UK), never seen Asphalt Jungle.

"The other Jack Nicholson film that really influenced me, for a while, was Easy Rider. As regards apparently-inconsequential bits of movies that actually make a huge difference, my favourite has always the 'building the barn' sequence in Witness. Doesn't advance the plot one iota, but it certainly changes your impression of the Amish, or Mennonites, as portrayed in the film."

Mike replies: I do very well remember that lyrical passage in that excellent movie. Around here, Mennonites will show up to help even mainstream neighbors rebuild their barns if the barns were destroyed by natural disasters like fires.

A little punctum moment (speaking of Barthes...) that grabbed me was the plastic bag dancing in the vortex of wind in American Beauty.

Eolake: "OK, here is a funny thing: 1. Everybody always, always, always wants others to follow rules. 2: Every story always, always, always is about a hero who breaks rules. What the heck is that about? Are all of us really that blind and hypocritical that we want others to always follow rules, but for ourselves we want no rules? I suspect so."

Mike replies: Many of Freud's hypotheses have been superseded because he was early, but he's still a genius, and a surprisingly fine writer. The one book of his every literate person should read [follow my rule or you're not a literate person  :-) ...] is Civilization and Its Discontents, which is about the tension between the unfettered Id yearning to be free and the demands of society's rules, conventions, and laws. Maybe everyone won't read it, but you might appreciate it, Eolake. It has a spiritual dimension I'd say.

Note that it's six days till Christmas and I've just linked to a book by Sigmund Freud. Oy, vey.

Thomas Osborne: "Your mention of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest leads to another work of art rooted in the Oregon State Hospital—photographer David Maisel’s 2008 book, Library of Dust. Maisel photographed the corroded copper canisters that held the cremated remains of the forgotten souls Ken Kesey had brought to life in his novel."

Mike replies: Just the very brief writeup and single picture at that link is very poignant. Thanks for that.

Jimmy Reina: "Re '...of all the photographs that have ever existed, each of us has only seen an infinitesimally small fraction,' Mose Allison said, 'The smartest man in the whole wide world really don't know that much.'"

Coming Up...

...Monday morn: TOP Camera of the Year and TOP Photo Book of the Year.

'Twill be a fun day.

Mike

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