Busker, Spring Street

[sir pball]

6/13/2021
Nikkormat EL, Nikon 35-200/3.5-4.5
Fuji Provia 400@1600
f/11, 1/160s
Epson v750 Pro scanner, calibrated, no processing beyond sharpening and crop

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. A beautiful shot! Great bokeh and wonderful image! Thank you. ♥

[sir pball]

2. Cheers! I definitely shoot film better than digital.

With my DSLR or phone it's just snap snap snap - with film, I take a moment to actually think about it. Probably because there's a significant investment in money and/or labor; that shot cost me about a buck between film, processing, and the hardware!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. That's interesting! I am just the opposite.

My digital photos are (normally) better than my film ones ever were. First, it's easier to fix the digital ones!

Since I see them immediately, I want to get busy and do whatever I can to make them perfect (ha!)!

I do understand what you say, however! I need instant gratification, and digital gives me that!

[sir pball]

4. I find I get too absorbed in the feedback

I totally get what you mean by looking at them right away, checking the screen – I get even worse than just looking at the preview, I'll check the histogram, look for blow-outs, all that stuff that's so easy and immediate with digital…but for me, it ultimately just distracts from the actual shooting, working in the moment to capture images with no immediate concern for "I can't wait to see how how this'll turn out". Not having that thought is very…"purifying" for me, I guess.

I guess that's why my Platonic setup is my Nikkormat with my 50mm/1.4 - backed by the proper film it will shoot a perfectly sharp, perfectly flat picture under any light you're expecting. You have to do everything else to make the shot work, you can't even zoom to make up for bad composition.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. I fully get your POV!

I do believe that what really matters is making a photo that will connect with the viewer in some way.

How you get there is highly personal! Do what works for you. When you connect, it's completely worthwhile, no matter the path you took.

[usonian]

6. A great photo is timely and timeless.

It is timely because there are no digital photos from the seventies, eighties and so on. And, I just looked over some slides of Vermont foliage before climate change did its number on that.

It is timeless because we are in such a rush to post stuff that a lot of photos that look fantastic (possibly because they are over-saturated) do not stand the test of time. Digital memories are long but our human memory banks are good for a day or so. (a few nanoseconds if you are older)

I saw a photo posted of a rainbow at the base of Yosemite Falls. Curious, I somehow found the date on it and it was the same month I took an almost identical photo, less the super-saturated colors. I boosted the saturation all I could do in good conscience and taste, and it was way more subtle.

I even un-saturated it as part of the little experiment that was going on here at DU and it looked very nice, less the rainbow colors. It was just a great waterfall picture.

I was going to post some of these goodies, but imgbb started shrinking my photos rather severely, so I am experimenting with other hosts. Given that any "UGC" (User generated content) site has the same legalese "You grant XYZZY unlimited perpetual right to .... blah blah blah" I can do without them.

Ill update if I find anything suitable to me. Currently trying iCloud, box and dropbox.

Some photos are fabulous in black and white. Flower photos are not. Mine, anyway. I will post some as soon as this insane heat wave ends. I am guessing around Christmas.

[sir pball]

7. The camera I used has been shooting NYC for over sixty years.

I inherited it from my grandfather; he used that piece of gear to shoot scenes in NYC from the 60s to the 80s, plus innumerable images from his world travels: South Africa, Israel, Zimbabwe, Egypt, China, Sweden, Mongolia...probably 80% of the 15,000-odd slides I have of his were run through that body. Its's humbling to see this image, produced just as Gramp did in 1967, on some of the same gear (the lens was my own purchase, the Sigma 20-200 "CD" Macro I inherited sadly died), and just as good as his.

As a side note, I post my stuff on imgur; I haven't read their TOS but they're a pretty chill little community so while I'm sure they do take some rights to your photos it's not a concern for me, plus they do not downscale and have zero problem with merely hosting.

Cheers!

[usonian]

8. Wow.

I looked at my old Nikon F2, and the rubber seals and the mirror damper were just crumbling. I will look for someone to replace them, though it might be doable.

Fortunately, all the old lenses work great with the new mirrorless. Just in manual focus stop down mode. Back to the old pentax pre-auto days. The first lens I bought is (not was) a 55mm. Macro that is just great at infinity. Took some great flower photos this spring.

I will look at imgur for casual stuff. ICloud, box and Dropbox did not pan out for me today in terms of DU, which breaks many kinds of URL's.

I am looking at smugmug and pixieset for selling some prints. I'll try to decide quickly.

Thanks for the reply!
Awesome collection and memories!