On The Road...

Hitting the road. Gear loadout:
Leica M2 & M3
Zeiss 35mm f/2
Zeiss 50mm f/1.5
Zeiss 21mm f/4.5
Leica 90mm f/2.8
Sony A7 w/ Grip
Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1
Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2
Voigtlander 21mm f/4
 

Film, bags, Metz flash, light meter, money maker, computer, tripod, and a whole plethora of other shit I'll never use... Heading South to San Luis Obispo, Oceano Dunes, turn left, Maricopa, Tehatchapi, California City (literally nowhere personified). Up and on to Death Valley, South through the park, Shoshone, Renoville, into the Mojave, and Kelso Dunes. Past Amboy, South to Twenty Nine Palms, Joshua Tree, and on to Palm Springs for Vodka Gimlets and hot tubs at the Ace Hotel...

Follow me on Instagram for updates and pics from the road @joseph.szymanski

Brooke Eva, Digital Tests...

After several unsuccessful attempts I was finally able to connect with Brooke Eva for a quick shoot last week at a new space I've recently found. Great model, totally comfortable, can either take direction or riff on her own. She's all over the place online, but you can check out her work at http://www.brookeva.net/.

I've also just recently picked up a new light, after going back and forth for months, I finally just pulled the trigger and ordered a DigiBee 400 from Paul C. Buff, and the thing is absolutely rad. Super compact with a ton of juice, I also grabbed a 36" octabox and 56" strip box to round it out. Seriously contemplating picking up a second head.

Posting a few digital tests here, film scans to come shortly...

All test shots done with a Sony A7, Voiglander Nokton 35mm f/1.2, Nokton 50mm f/1.1 and 21mm f/4. Processed with RawTherapee / GIMP on Ubuntu Linux.

Ashlyn, Take #2

Last take from a shoot with Ashlyn way back when up in Mariposa... The places we stay up there are kinda funky, this one has a full on cowboy motif happening, at least in half the house. All the couches have the same cowboy upholstery, it's pretty random...

Not entirely sure how I feel about a few of these images, they're a bit more revealing than I typically shoot, and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. But here they are for what it's worth... You can see more of Ashlyn's work here: https://www.modelmayhem.com/2352803

New Year's Resolutions Are Dumb...

I'm not one of those people that stick to New Year's resolutions. Hell, I don't stick to most things, as is evident by the metric ton of unfinished projects on my desk... But I make them, sort of, why not, I know it's early, here it goes...

Break less bones. Should be easy, stop acting like you're still 20 years old. Here's to 2018 being a fracture free endeavor. Seriously. I'm super tired of this crap.

Shoot more pictures. Seems like a no-brainer. Gotta get off the internet and outside and shoot some more stuff. Feels like I live out my life in front of a screen sometimes. Might explain the vitamin D deficiency. Looking to do a bunch more portrait work this year. Drop me a line if you want to collaborate... 

Get more tattoos. Been saying this for years. Haven't been under the needle in probably 5 years. Need more ink. Lot's more. Just covering up the boring. I see another sleeve in 2018...

Make more prints. This is important. I'm really tired of looking at work, my own in particular, on the web and instagram and facebook and all the other platforms that we create the content for for free only to have it digitally trashed and stolen and re-published and our reach throttled and our accounts banned and ads plastered all over them. I want to see prints, in my hands, and turn them over and smell them and examine the signature look at the grain, like a photograph is supposed to be appreciated.

So here's to prints in 2018. Bottom's up...

 

Word On The Street...

We ended up on a twin masted schooner in The Bay back in September. I specifically forbid all my students from photographing the Golden Gate Bridge for my class, so this first one's for them...

The Golden Gate - 2017

Tourist, San Francisco Bay - 2017

And a few more pre-injury snaps... working on getting back into the groove, looking forward to getting back on the street. Hoping to ditch the cane by the new year and get back to shooting on a regular basis.

For the time being it still takes me all day to do what I used to do all day...

Trying to spend a little more time in the darkroom, should be adding some prints to the shop in the near future. Also working on some mock ups for a new book for next year.

Not that I'm making any new year's resolutions, but I really need to get back to work...

 

Mendocino Coast - 2017

Market Street - 2017

Mission Street - 2017

Market Street - 2017

New Montgomery Street - 2017